Dean Edwards To Conclude Tenure After Eight

“Veritas
Super
Omnia”
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www.phillipian.net
Volume CXXX, Number 25
Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts
PA Delegation
Discusses
Diversity
Students and Faculty
Attend Three-Day
Conferences in Boston
By CELIA LEWIS
Thirty-eight faculty members
and a delegation of six students returned on Saturday from this year’s
People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Boston with initiatives and
plans to raise diversity awareness on
campus.
“It is always good to be reminded of the incredible diversity we all
bring to the table,” said Deborah
Olander, Academic Support Center
Faculty and Instructor in Mathematics.
The three-day conferences were
held at the Boston Convention Center under the aegis of the National
Association of Independent Schools
(NAIS).
With workshops, speakers and
activities, the People of Color Conference (PoCC), for the adult delegates, followed its theme, “Learning from the Past, Leading for the
Future: Reshaping Traditions” by
creating a comfortable environment
for professionals of color who work
in independent schools.
In partnership with the PoCC,
Continued on Page 4, Column 1
W. Hunckler/The Phillipian
Violin virtuoso Paul Joo ’08 wows the crowd with extraordinary talent at All-School Meeting.
Twenty Years Ago, Phillips Academy Flirted With
Need-Blind Admission Policy, But Ran Short of Funds
NEWS ANALYSIS
By JACK DICKEY and
ALICIA KEYES
This is not the first time Phillips Academy has decided to go
need-blind.
Andover was effectively needblind from 1985 to 1989, though
no policy required the school to
cover all its admitted students’
financial needs and the initiative
was not set in stone.
Last week, Head of School
Barbara Landis Chase announced
that Andover will permanently
go to a need-blind admission process next year.
During the summer of 1988,
the Faculty and Trustee Committee on Long-Range Planning
affirmed that maintaining a multicultural student body open to
students of all socioeconomic
standings as one of the school’s
top four priorities.
However, according to a letter
sent to the faculty by then-Acting
Headmaster Peter Q. McKee,
need-blind admission at Andover
faced a “crisis” during March
1989.
In McKee’s letter, he outlined
three major factors that were responsible for the threat to the
school’s financial aid policy.
“The profile of our candidate
pool has changed dramatically
over the past several years. More
and more of our very qualified
students are coming from the
ranks of those families who need
financial aid,” McKee wrote.
McKee, who passed away in
2005, also wrote that rapid inflation in the economy would
require raised tuitions to cover
increased salaries and financial
aid expenditures, because the existing endowment income would
not sufficiently cover the new expenses.
“When tuition goes up, the
amount of financial aid offered to
each student must increase. Obviously, the financial aid budget
increases,” McKee wrote.
Finally, he wrote that the cost
of transportation, books and other needs for financial aid students
was increasing at a rate faster
than inflation.
Inside The Phillipian
Within the letter, McKee also
announced that this growing “crisis” meant that the school would
be unable to sustain its need-blind
policy without additional support
from other parts of the budget.
After drawing up the preliminary budgets for the 1989-1990
fiscal year, then-Director of Financial Aid Clem Morell announced that Andover would
need a financial aid budget of
$4,750,000 to maintain its needblind status.
However, this amount was
impossible for the school to reach
given its $4 million financial aid
budget, due to faculty and staff
salary budget increases and money previously allotted for building repairs and renovations. Since
then, the financial aid budget has
increased to $12,810,000.
McKee proposed a 10 percent increase in the financial aid
budget to $4.4 million, which
the Board of Trustees’ Finance
Committee approved with the additional suggestion of paying for
some of the construction costs
independent from the operating
budget.
The Admissions Office decided to try going need-blind for U.S.
students only, which cut financial
aid for international students except for European students in the
Kemper Scholars program.
Although the financial budget
was still $350,000 short of the
predicted amount despite the inContinued on Page 7, Column 6
By JULIET LIU
Here, there are no waiting lines
for food, no lumps of soup ladled
into bowls and no resemblance to
a standard soup kitchen. Here, visitors are served as though guests at a
restaurant. Waiters seat all guests
at tables decorated with flowers and
take their orders from a menu of
prepared items.
Cor Unum, a not-for-profit meal
By ANNIE LI
tainly be stronger than the voice of
one individual,” Anderson said.
Each member of ACCIS must
belong to the National Association
of College Admission Counselors
and the National Association of Independent Schools.
ACCIS is open to all independent school counselors because it
hopes to present a “private school
voice” in issues where the interests
of public and private schools differ,
Anderson said.
The organization’s chief goal is
M. Discenza/The Phillipian
After the first snowfall of the year, students lobbed
snowballs in the quad.
NEWS
Four English teachers win Brace Center award.
COMMENTARY
4, 6-7
Nicole Okai ’10 calls for improved hygiene in dorms.
ARTS
Theatre 520 performs the musical “Urinetown.”
FEATURES
Construction Alert for the Great Lawn.
2-3
7, 10
8-9
Dean Edwards To Conclude
Tenure After Eight Years
Internal Search for
New Dean Begins
Edwards Will Stay On
As English Teacher
By CHARLES SHOENER
By ZOE WEINBERG
The search for a new Dean of
Students and Residential Life has
officially begun.
In an email sent to faculty and
administration on December 5,
Rebecca Sykes, Associate Head of
School, wrote, “As veteran faculty
members know, this is the season
in which we begin seeking candidates for faculty and administrative appointments for next year.
Currently, we are seeking candidates for Dean of Students and
Residential Life.”
Sykes said in an interview,
“It was my decision [to begin the
search process].”
This email has asked faculty
and administration who are interested in becoming the Dean to
submit a letter of interest and a resume to Sykes by December 19.
Sykes said that once these
applications have been sorted
through, the interviewing process
will begin in early January.
Sykes intends to choose a new
Dean from the current faculty and
administration, rather than searching elsewhere. Sykes said, “This is
an internal search process.”
Sykes said, “For each administrative position the people who
interview the candidates will
change; it depends on the position
and who else works closely with
that position.”
Sykes wrote in her email that
the interview will involve “those
in the dean’s office, members of
the House Counselor Committee
and members of the Senior Administrative Council who work
closely with the Dean of Students.”
The interviews will be followed by the elimination of certain candidates to narrow down
the field to the finalists.
Sykes wrote, “Once finalists
are identified, we will write to [the
faculty] again to invite [them to]
comment on their candidacy.”
The school hopes to have
Marlys Edwards will conclude
her career as Dean of Students
and Residential Life and resume
teaching as a full-time member of
the English department in the fall
of 2008.
Edwards, who has served in
the position for eight years, reapplied for a final two-year contract. Several weeks ago Associate Head of School Becky Sykes
informed Edwards that the administration would instead begin
a search for a new candidate for
the position.
As her tenure at Dean of Students comes to a close, Edwards
spoke to The Phillipian about the
position.
“I love the students and the
school and I love this job, and
that’s the most difficult thing
about not being the Dean of Students anymore,” said Edwards.
“I’ve broken a lot of molds and
that’s sort of who I am. I think
change is hard but it’s sometimes
necessary.”
While faculty members were
asked for feedback during Edwards’ re-application process,
students were not. Edwards said,
“I think students should have
been asked. I think it’s important
to hear their voice.”
According to Sykes, students
will be given an opportunity to
share their thoughts during the
selection of the new Dean.
During her time as Dean of
Students, Edwards has focused
her efforts on improving the residential experience for students
and developing other initiatives
to enhance student life.
“When I moved into Will
Hall. . . it became apparent that
residential life is the heart of the
school and that we really needed
to create a home environment
for the students,” she said. “It’s
important to me that dorms are
not institutional, but rather are
a home. . . so [since becoming
Continued on Page 7, Column 3
Continued on Page 4, Column 1
center located in the south of Lawrence, Massachusetts, serves free,
hot meals for breakfast and dinner
every day.
Since it opened its doors in September 2006, Cor Unum has served
over 127,000 people. The number
of people served each day averages
around 100 for breakfast and 400
for dinner.
Cor Unum, which is Latin for
“one heart,” is unlike most other
soup kitchens. Instead of shuffling
down a food line with a tray, guests
are waited on at their tables.
“We actually run it like a restaurant. It’s very pretty in there, and
there are always fresh flowers on
the table. It has a lot more dignity
than sending people through lines,”
said Diane Jarvis, Director of Cor
Unum.
“Many meal centers are very
institutionalized and dark, but it’s
nice to come here to something that
feels like a restaurant. Some children even think it’s a real restaurant,” she said.
This holiday season, Cor Unum
plans on serving a special dinner on
Christmas Day, December 25.
Cor Unum will serve a candlelit dinner, with a menu featuring
shrimp cocktail, roast beef and “all
the fixings,” Jarvis said. Cor Unum
will provide a Christmas gift for all
guests as well.
Reverend Paul O’Brien, Pastor
of St. Patrick’s Parish in Lawrence,
is the chairperson of Cor Unum. He
founded the meal center hoping to
address hunger problems in Lawrence.
Jarvis said, “Father Paul’s always been involved with hunger
issues and the poor. When he was
living in Rome, he actually worked
with Mother Theresa. Having
had that experience working with
Mother Theresa made him more
aware of the poor and their needs,
and made him more compassionate.
I think that is really what drove him
into trying to illuminate some of the
hunger problems in the [Lawrence]
area.”
According to the Cor Unum
website, the city of Lawrence is the
poorest in Massachusetts with 33.1
percent of its residents living below
the poverty line.
Of children under age 18 in
Lawrence, 49.9 percent live in
households below the poverty
line. Approximately 75 percent of
school-age children in Lawrence
qualify for government-subsidized
food programs, meaning that three
out of four children in Lawrence are
Cor Unum, Not Your Average Soup
Kitchen, Serves Sit-Down Meals
Anderson Receives Grant
For Counselor Network
Director of College Counseling John Anderson will now have
$9,000 more to help connect a nationwide association of independent
school college counselors, courtesy
of an Abbot Grant awarded last
month.
Counselors at 20 independent U.S. secondary schools are
the founding members of the now
functional Association of College
Counselors in Independent Schools
(ACCIS).
The group plans to open a national office in either New York City
or Washington, D.C., although it is
registered as a nonprofit in the state
of Massachusetts.
Other founders in addition to
Anderson include Marty Elkins,
the director of College Counseling
at the Groton School, and Elizabeth
Dolan, the director of College Counseling at Phillips Exeter Academy.
ACCIS is a volunteer organization, so its member counselors are
responsible for completing most of
the group’s work instead of a paid
staff.
The association plans to provide
professional development opportunities and help its members “be the
best college counselors we can be,”
Anderson said.
The organization hopes to serve
as a network of college counseling
information among its members,
improving communication between
independent school counselors
across the nation.
“The unified voice of a hundred
people, speaking together, will cer-
December 7, 2007
Continued on Page 4, Column 1
M. Discenza/The Phillipian
John Anderson received a
$9,000 Abbot grant last week.
Continued on Page 7, Column 1
In our final issue of the term,
The Phillipian highlights one of
many local service projects that
could use your time or financial
help. Please keep in mind those
less fortunate during this holiday
season. A safe and relaxing winter
break to all.
Courtesy of Nicholas Kip
On Non Sibi Day this year, a group of Phillips Academy students
volunteered at Cor Unum.
THE PHILLIPIAN COMMENTARY DECEMBER 7, 2007
2
Letters to the Editor
Volume
CXXX
NUMBER 22
James P. Sawabini
Editor in Chief
Katherine L. L. Chen
Thomas J. C. Smyth
News
Elinor Garcia-Garcia
Conor McKinnon
Managing Editor
Head Photographer
Business Manager
William Hunckler
Director of Photography
In-Depth
Steven J. Bartz
Executive Editor
News Director
Sally Poole
Advertising Director
Tantum Collins
Murphy Temple
Madeleine O’Connor
Commentary
Deputy Director
Adam Giansiracusa
Kate Iannarone
Michael Discenza
Sports
Head of Circulation
and Publicity
Suzanne Hwang
Circulation
Cartooning Director
Jen Downing
Sara Ho
J.R. Santaniello
Emerson Stoldt
Corbin Tognoni
Matt Sternberg
Copy Editor
Arts
Lisa Lian
Megan Richards
Features
Erica Segall
Alex Dehnert
Frank Pinto
Senior Editors
Director of Delivery
Sports: Chad Hollis
Commentary: Philip Meyer
Jonathan Adler
The Phillipian Online
Nick Sizer
A ssociate Board CXXX
Commentary: Harrison
Hart, Annalee Leggett, Cora
Lewis
Staff Writers: Cassius Clay,
Alex McHale
News: Christine Choi, Jack
Dickey, Alicia Keyes, Zoe
Weinberg
In-Depth: Emma Goldstein,
Sudhandra Sundaram
Arts: Charlie Dong, Nette
Oot
Photo: Sally Poole, Sarah
Sheu
Cartoons: Alex Cope,
Danica Mitchell
Business: Berol Dewdney,
Kyle Rogers
Advertising: Britt Peltz
Sports: Matt Gorski, Mai
Kristofferson, Abby Levene,
Jim Ricker
Features: Lawrence Dai, Eli
Grober
Online: Carl Jackson, Chau
Tran
Publicity: Eddie Zhang
Circulation: Arun Saigal
Common Courtesy
We are constantly taught how to be better students, better athletes and
better artists, but not necessarily better people.
Every Wednesday, speakers at All-School Meeting remind us of our motto,
non sibi, the success of Non Sibi Day and the spirit of community service.
However, students should practice this ideal beyond designated time periods.
We as a community must address the unfortunately typical substandard
behavior that seems to pervade our campus.
As students, we have the responsibility to respect and maintain school
property. All across campus, however, there is evidence of students’ blatant
lack of respect for community space. Commons tables are strewn with dirty
cups and half-eaten bowls of cereal; on Trayless Tuesday, the dining halls are
left in careless disarray. Students frequently deface various desks, bathroom
stalls and school furniture. The lamps in the Garver and Freeman Rooms are
stained with profanity. Our disrespect for our surroundings has become all too
evident.
As members of a community, we should respect everyone with whom
we share our campus, especially the adults who care for us. Too many staff
members are treated not just with indifference, but with rudeness. The janitors
who clean up after us face unwarranted uncleanliness. The PAPS officers who
look out for our safety must put up with indignant teenage attitudes. Commons
workers are presented not only with unnecessary messiness, but also with
aloofness and even occasional animosity. At times, we even tend to question
and slander the credibility of qualified medical professionals at Isham. This
treatment of staff is unacceptable and just plain sad.
As human beings, we owe it to each other to live up to certain standards of
common decency. But on occasion, everyday courtesies are forgotten. Students
frequently pass their peers on the path without so much as a glance. Doors go
unheld. Commons lines are cut. Quiet area policies are not observed. This
disrespect for our peers is unfortunate and wrong.
Somehow, when outside of the classroom and required activities, we hold
ourselves to a lower standard of behavior. We often forget the significance of
our actions toward property, space and most importantly, individuals.
It’s true that we’re no longer in elementary school; we’re not graded on how
well we share our crayons or get along with others. But acting with decency
and integrity should endure beyond kindergarten classrooms. What’s more, in
high school, respect should transcend grades and test scores.
Although it is a responsibility of the administration, as a leading body, to
provide its students with guidance in the practice of common courtesy, the
solution for this problem cannot be accomplished by the administration alone.
It is ultimately the students’ responsibility to embody the spirit of the Andover
Constitution. After all, “goodness without knowledge is weak...yet knowledge
without goodness is dangerous.”
This editorial represents the views of The Phillipian Editorial Board
CXXX.
Corrections
On page A5 last week, a statistic noting the acceptance rate for post-graduates was
incorrect due to an editing error. The acceptance rate for PG’s is 18 percent.
In last week’s page A1 news article titled “Andover Goes Need-Blind,” Secretary
of the Academy Peter Ramsey is incorrectly paraphrased as saying that discussion
with Trustees and potential benefactors of Andover’s capital campaign prompted the
Trustees’ vote on need-blind admission. Instead, Ramsey said that Senior Administrative Council meetings and a discussion by the executive committee of the Board of
Trustees led to the vote.
The headline for a news article on page B1 in The Phillipian last week, “PA Technology Updated Every 4 Years; Old Equipment Donated to Charity,” did not accurately
reflect the process by which old computers are given to charity. Only if no other place
on campus needs the computers, nor do any students on financial aid, are they given
to the Institution Recycling Network (I.R.N.). The I.R.N. then sells the computers and
gives the school a portion of the sales money.
A news article in The Phillipian three weeks ago on the failed Abbot proposal by John
Grunbeck ’09, titled “Student Proposal for Hot-Food Vending Machine Falters in Face
of Aramark, Health Issues and Cost,” misstated the context of a passage from the proposal. The printed excerpt was not the original submission and was instead the revised
proposal in its entirety.
On the front page of Sports last week, Anthony Morlani’s class was misstated as the
class of 2008. He is in the class of 2009.
A quote in the Commentary feature on advising last week was incorrectly attributed to
Andrew Clay ’08. The correct speaker was Okyeraa Ohene-Asah ’09.
The Phillipian regrets the errors.
A Clarification of
Remarks at Last Week’s
ASM on Technology
To the Andover Community:
It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to engage with the Andover
community at last week’s All-School
Meeting. You all are fortunate and wise
to have preserved a custom, by coming
together, in person, in the Cochran Chapel, that both symbolizes and reinforces
your vibrant community. It is quite a sight
to behold, as an outsider to your community.
I hope I made clear my view that
those of you Born Digital (I wish I were,
in many ways) should be supported by
your teachers, deans and others in making good decisions about your use of
digital technologies, not constrained or
overregulated. I think what is going on
online, with many of you leading the way,
is overall a wonderful thing, despite the
challenges that come with changing environments.
I also want to clarify one element of
my presentation that referenced some
recent cyber events at Andover, which
I understand may have given rise to a
misunderstanding. In preparing for my
talk at ASM, I talked with your Associate Dean of Students, Carlos Hoyt, about
some examples of challenges in this area
at Andover. We reviewed an email, a Facebook and a YouTube example of things
that provoked discussion on campus.
I referred to the YouTube trailer of the
“Catboner” video as an example of an aggressive use of cyber technology. By this
I meant that acts in cyberspace very often
provoke controversy, which can spill over
into real-space and lead to calls to rescind,
or to censor online material. I understand
from subsequent conversations with Carlos that I misinterpreted the core thrust of
the issue with this video. I’ve been told
that this particular production aims to
quell, not to provoke, hostility. I regret
that my remarks may have misled some
members of the Andover community.
Again, thank you for the chance
to have spent a morning with you last
week.
Sincerely,
John Palfrey
Praise for Andover’s
Leap to Need-Blind
To The Editor:
I am writing to thank The Phillipian
for its great reporting on the new needblind admissions policy. I would also like
to thank all of the members of the Andover
community who have helped make needblind admissions, a goal at the forefront
of Andover affairs for as long as I can remember, a reality. To finally be a school
where any student, regardless of socioeconomic status, can apply and be considered equally is truly a milestone in Andover’s 229-year history. Our need-blind
admission status has already become a
source of pride for me, and it is something
that I have not hesitated to brag about to
my college peers who went to other New
England prep schools. At the same time,
I would also like to bring notice to the
article “Faculty Discuss Composition of
Student Body” in the November 16 edition and how much more relevant it is
only two weeks after its publication. I am
currently in a position where I speak to
many parents of bright middle and high
scholars, and when I mention boarding
school as an option for their children,
they still dismiss the idea because of their
preconceptions. Even though Andover
has taken great strides in terms of creating
a diverse student body, I hope it uses this
opportunity to gain attention nationwide
and teach people the truth about Andover;
we’re about big brains and the non sibi
attitude, not deep pockets. Sincerely, Arjun Sharma ’07
In Response to
Discussions of
PetroChina and Somalia
To the Editor:
I would like to state that this letter serves as a response to two recent
Phillipian articles that involve Darfur
and/or the Phillips Academy Stand chapter. There are over 700 Stand chapters
around the world. The Phillips Academy
chapter, which was founded in October
2006, has thus far worked, in my mind,
very successfully to educate the student
body about, to advocate change in and to
fundraise for Darfur. This leads to Annalee Leggett’s article
from last week’s paper on the ongoing crisis in Somalia. First, I would like to thank
Annalee on behalf of Stand for reminding the student body that there are many
bloody issues in our world in addition to
the genocide in Darfur and beginning the
discussion of the violence in Somalia.
Her article serves as a perfect opportunity
to express Stand’s goal of tackling other
instances of genocide or possible genocidal acts in the world. In 2004, Stand
officially changed its name from Stand:
Students Taking Action Now: Darfur to
Stand: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, with the goal of working on multiple
issues. Stand (as well as its parent organization Genocide Intervention Network
[GI-Net]) currently addresses the crises
in Burma, Chechnya, the DRC, Ivory
Coast, Uganda, Central African Republic,
Chad, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, as well as
the continuing displacement and death in
Somalia. Only recently has GI-Net begun
to work on these other regions. This delay
is merely due to lack in manpower. The
Phillips Academy Stand chapter currently
works only on Darfur for the same reason, a lack of manpower. Stand welcomes
and would appreciate anyone interested
in tackling the problems in regions other
than Darfur. We would gladly offer organization help, money and a means to connect to the national program. The second topic I would like to respond to is the Phillipian article from
11/16 titled “AES Faces Controversy
Over PetroChina Shares.” In response, I
would like to begin by thanking Trisha
MacRae for taking the initiative in conducting the interviews and writing an article on such an important topic. In this
letter, I will expound on GI-Net’s belief,
based on its extensive research as well as
counter a key statement made by AES. I
will briefly explain the situation with
PetroChina (PTR), especially its relation
with the genocide in Darfur. PTR is majority owned by CNPC, controlled by the
Chinese government.
First, I will explain faults surrounding CNPC. Then I will explain how, in
essence, CNPC and PTR are the same
company. CNPC drills the majority of
oil in Sudan. Nearly 80% of Sudanese oil
ends in China. The main problem is that
70% of the revenue created from this oil
goes directly to support Sudan’s military,
which is mostly used to kill civilians in
Darfur. This CNPC oil makes up seven
percent of oil used in China. Because of
the benefit to China, the country helps
and protects Sudan in many ways. In
this relationship, China has invested $15
billion in Sudan, has built weapons factories and has given Sudan protection
in the U.N. Security Council. China, by
protecting Sudan and CNPC assets, has
managed to destroy countless UN resolutions and sanctions directed towards
Sudan. Not only does China have a very
damaging relationship with the people of
Sudan, but CNPC is also involved with
harmful dealings. Gnpoc, a CNPC led oil
consortium, has a long abusive history of
displacement and racial discrimination.
CNPC created PTR as a subsidiary
for private investors to invest in. PTR
is legally a separate company, which in
fact does not work in Sudan; however,
PTR and CNPC are de facto the same
company. Based on previous activities,
there is no firewall between PTR and
CNPC funds. Many of the same people
hold board and executive positions in
both PTR and CNPC. PTR has even accepted billions in debt from CNPC. Most
startling is that 64 percent of CNPC’s assets are represented in PTR shareholder
equity; therefore, investing in PTR is
like investing in CNPC’s “main source
of profit.” Thus, money invested in PTR
may eventually fall into the hands of Sudan’s military. Because of CNPC’s dealings in Sudan and PTR’s close connection
to CNPC, the anti-genocide community
urges investors to avoid PTR or to divest
and inform PTR that they are divesting
because of the previously mentioned situation.
While AES’ investment is miniscule
in comparison to PTR’s total market value, we hope that AES might consider targeted divestment for two reasons. First,
each dollar invested in PTR can be used
to purchase a bullet that kills, the gasoline
that burns or the chains that bind a woman
to be raped. Second, as a matter of principles, we want to avoid any implication
with anyone involved in genocide.
Lastly, I would like to address one
sarcastic statement made by a member of
AES from the 11/16 article, “Why don’t
we all write letters to the Chinese government telling them to divest their CNCP
holdings.” I will respond to this quote
with something said by Elie Wiesel. “The
silence of the [bystander] helps the oppressor [and we should] scream. Scream
[and] shout. That’s what you should try
to do.” If we all did nothing, then change
would never come. If we all rely on some
else to act for us, then no one will ever
act. The world would be a much better place if we all assumed that we were
alone, that no one else would act. Then
we all would be acting, as upstanders,
changing the world for the better.
Sincerely,
Daniel Glassberg
President of Phillips Academy STAND:
A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition
The Phillipian welcomes all letters to the Editor. We try to print all letters, but because of
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The Phillipian, 180 Main Street, Andover,
MA, 01810.
We Need More Structure
Sebastian Becker
Poor study habits
The great amount of freedom Andover
grants its students may in fact hamper our
motivation and discipline.
Upon arrival at Phillips Academy,
I knew I was coming to one of the most
prestigious schools in the world; where
I live, its reputation was that of a school
with magnificent opportunities. After seeing what this school has to offer, I am not
disappointed. The talent of the students at
Andover is perhaps unmatched at any other
school in the country. A student, however,
will struggle to succeed without a good
work ethic, no matter his or her intellectual
ability. Much of one’s potential will go to
waste without a certain amount of studying
and work ethic.
At boarding school, one loses a parental support system. All parents are different, but being with them is a significant
advantage for most students. Not only are
parents present in person to help in tough
moments, but their comfort and oversight
make it easier to work in general. One will
not be as comfortable at Andover, at least
for the first year, as at home, and this can
make it hard to focus on work, which can
seem trivial when faced by all the new
stresses one feels at a boarding school.
It can be easier for a day student to concentrate than for a boarder. Day students
certainly have their own challenges, but
it is often easier to work at home than at
a place miles away from home. Boarders
have more adjustments to make.
Making the time to work is simply another adjustment, one that can be assuaged:
with closer supervision, the worry of procrastinating will exist in a less powerful
form. For instance, if I were monitored by
an open-door study hall from eight to ten,
not an uncommon rule at other boarding
schools, I would not be so inclined to procrastinate. Instead, many times this term I
have not started my work until eleven, as
other challenges, distractions and the responsibilities of becoming a boarder took
preference.
Andover’s weeknight rules are less
strict than at most other schools. There is
no time at Andover when a student has to
be in the room studying with the door open.
One can visit any Internet site, bandwidth
minding, at any time. Many schools shut
off the Internet at night. Although Lowers and Uppers are supposed to be in their
rooms at a certain time, there is no enforced
lights out except for Juniors. It seems enjoyable to have such relatively loose rules,
but the responsibility that comes with this
freedom can be a difficult burden.
Without a required study hall, a student
has to find his own time to study unmonitored. This can work out well; a student
might find the perfect balance between relaxation, sleep and work. It can, also, however, be a stressful difficulty, as in my case.
Many nights this term, my first at Andover,
I sacrificed a significant amount of sleep
because of the late commence of my work.
The procrastination was completely of my
own doing, but structured hours of study
would have helped me learn how to work
earlier and get into a rhythm.
It feels oddly to be writing on the benefits of less freedom when one’s strong
inclination, including mine, at 15 years
old, is to seek more freedom, but after
three months at Andover, I must be honest in admitting the burdens of this wish.
It is probably naïve of me to ask Andover,
one of the largest of boarding schools, to
emulate smaller ones, but when I think of
the benefits of some of the rules that many
call annoying, it is hard not to wonder why
at least some of them are not still standing
at Phillips Academy.
I am not advocating for a military
school, nor do I think that Andover ought
to enforce all of the rules that stricter
schools have. A bigger school should have
more freedom, but the freedom at Andover
is a little excessive, particularly for younger students. The amount one could accomplish and the amount of one’s free time
would increase substantially if one had
simply two hours of monitored study. Most
students at Andover treasure the freedom
they have and even want more, but a little
less of it would actually benefit them.
THE PHILLIPIAN COMMENTARY DECEMBER 7, 2007
Others Live Here, Too On Responsibility and Free Will
Nicole Okai
Health inspector
You put your feet up on the coffee
tables. You do not clean up after yourself
in the common room. Cartons of greasy
Chinese food scatter the floor. The stench
of last week’s Domino’s pizza seeps from
filled garbage disposals. Friends who
come over to the dorm complain about the
mess; nonetheless, they spill their sodas
on the already stained carpet. Your dorm
duty is left undone. The basement common room smells like a rotting animal
is hidden under one of the torn couches.
The pool table has mysterious marks that
cannot be identified. The foosball table is
missing its ball. Unknown to the dorm’s
residents, the ball has been buried underneath the mold living in the corner since
1980. Commons’ cups and forks are sprinkled in the rusty sink. Rooms overflow
with clothes and abandoned trash. House
counselors hide out in their apartments,
avoiding the chaotic environment that the
boarders have created for themselves. Although this is an exaggerated view of bad
dorm hygiene, keeping a dorm reasonably
clean is undeniably the responsibility of
boarding students and many students continue to fail to live up to it.
Each term, boarders are given duties
to maintain dorm cleanliness. Whether
it is vacuuming the common room rug
or taking out the recycling every other
week, these jobs must be completed.
Sometimes, however it seems as if dorm
duties and custodial cleaning does not cut
it. No matter what is done, a dorm can
never be kept perfectly clean because it
is a residence shared by individuals with
conflicting hygiene habits. Though this
fact is disturbing, it is still essential to
keep the dorm clean because it is a central
place where students can come together
as a community.
There is at least one public common
room that is always open to guests in
dorms. It would be assumed that room
might be kept spick and span since residents relax there. This is not the case because apparently the concept of communi-
ty does not mean much to some boarders.
Somehow, there is always trash to pick up
from the floor before dorm meetings, and
the common room couches have to be examined before lying on them. However, I
will not speak about the filthy conditions
of some of the dorm rooms without congratulating those boarding students who
always find the time to clean their rooms.
With pristine iPod speakers that never
collect dust and sweaters neatly folded
in drawers in perfect piles, these students
put other boarders’ rooms to shame.
Now, for those boarders who do not
regularly tidy up their dorm rooms, you
are not alone. Many boarders unconsciously wait until their rooms look like
a tornado site before they begin cleaning.
I am one of those boarders. Everyday, I
am reminded of my untidy room when
I pass my proctor’s immaculate one.
Though Phillips Academy is stressful and
time-consuming, there is always a sliver
of time to be used for putting away the
clothes on the floor and trash in the common room instead of for going on Facebook. Also, let us praise those students
who perform their dorm duties each week
with ease and consistency. These helpful
students keep the dorm’s public areas presentable for dorm gatherings.
Nonetheless, do clean up after yourself in the common room. Do throw away
your cartons of greasy takeout and pizza
boxes. Do not leave old takeout sitting in
your room for weeks on end. Do not stuff
your clothes under your roommate’s bed
when you hear OPP at the door. Do feel
bad for your roommate when your side of
the room looks like an absolute disaster.
Do sort your trash into the right bins. Do
fulfill your dorm duty. Do return Commons’ items that you took back to their
rightful place. Do flush the toilet after use.
Do pick up your hair from the faucet that
you just used. On that note, be grateful for
this. I am bringing up an issue that comes
up often in dorms, yet very little is done
about it. This is a bigger issue than some
students think, and complete collaboration and effort from all dorm residents is
the only way it might be solved.
Jenn Schaffer
Hobbes
“Free will has always existed in words,
but it stops there.”
-Mark Twain
It is a common, clichéd practice for
man to use “freedom” as a justification for
his errors on the side of irrational action.
In theory, he is correct to use this value as
his shield against authoritarian critics who
approach such irrationality with mandates
and laws. However, in practice man must
(though in only a few cases has) come to
the realization that free will is an illusion,
more a baseline concept than a reality.
gardless of the mind’s input. Which is correct: he who claims man as the only free
animal or he who claims man as the only
animal bound by expectations?
Perhaps neither; it is impossible to say
whether we are entirely free, for the issue
boils down to more than “yes” or “no.” It is
also incorrect to assume the nature of man
has turned upon us as our captor. Reader, do
you possess free will? Are you completely
free to do as you wish, to write what you
wish, to say what you wish, to act and be
as you wish whenever and wherever you
wish?
Maybe yes, maybe no. The answer is,
in fact, irrelevant. For even if you were the
conscious animal released from the chains
taken lightly; in fact, this responsibility
is handled with utmost care by the paper;
freedom of the press must be treated as the
great prize it is, to be both won and maintained by conscientious editors and writers.
The Phillipian is a case study in awareness
of power and responsibility. We enjoy adult
freedoms most teenagers do not have, but
these freedoms are handed over only by
the heavy dose of faith Phillips Academy
holds for us. It is the responsibility of The
Phillipian, as of every PA student, to maintain that faith if we hope to hold onto unrestricted freedoms, including freedom of
the press.
As Andover students we carry great
torches, lit by the name of our old and es-
In terms of our country, we are governed by laws. These regulations, designed
to defend the “greater good,” stand in the
belief that man will not always take responsibility for his free-willed actions. It is
not my aim to delve into criticism of these
laws, but rather to use the law as an easy
and tangible example of the restriction of
your free will. Though its effectiveness is
debatable, the law generally protects us
against instinctual wrongdoers exercising
their own free will; the free will to steal, to
kill, to kidnap, to rape.
“Freedom” cannot and should never
be used as an excuse for these despicable
crimes. We should, however, use these examples as a precursor to the questioning and
critique of “free will,” the ideal preached to
us but denied, both justly and unjustly, by
laws both written and unseen.
To what extent are we truly “free?”
Free will, the ability to do as one pleases
when and where one pleases, is a peculiar
and fickle thing, for, in basic terms, any
creature with a heart that beats and an aptitude for the classic senses is free to do as
instinct would dictate. In this sense, man’s
consciousness is his curse, for the conscious
being is the only animal to carry the burden
of society’s expectations and regulations,
the only animal to look before it leaps, to
weigh its options and to decide against its
gut.
Or perhaps this is incorrect, as impulse
can be said to be the enemy of will. Will
is the application of force in the mind’s direction of choice; instinct is an undeniable
reaction forcefully pushing the body in the
direction it has been programmed to go, re-
of instinct, totally free in body and mind,
would you utilize that freedom? Would you
act upon every whim and desire? Could
you?
Some may argue that free will exists,
regardless of whether it is used or forgotten. The reality is this: the only freedom
that will ever matter is the freedom that we
are free to use. Only the man who can break
free from society’s standards, expectations
and values, will ever have a chance to see if
“free will” exists. Only the man who owns
up to no intellectual or moral responsibility
may do as he wishes without fear of repercussion.
Responsibility is the self-dictator. Responsibility, like our own personal set of
laws, is at the root of our decisions. Adults
are free to purchase as much alcohol as
they please, but are always reminded to
“drink responsibly.” We all have freedom
of speech, but with that freedom comes the
responsibility for the words that flow from
our tongues— no civilized man may falsely
yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater. What does
this mean for us as members of an intellectual society based in honesty and respect?
How free are we…as Andover students, as citizens of society and as human
beings? As human beings we are born with
the blessing of will power and the curse of
consciousness. As citizens of society, we
are instructed to work towards the greater
good. As Andover students, we are, above
all, granted power and responsibility that
most will never possess.
For example, The Phillipian runs each
week with freedom from administrative
censorship. However, this freedom is not
tablished institution and maintained by the
character and passion of every generation
who has walked these grounds. This fire
possesses two powers: the power of destruction and the power of illumination. These
torches are handed to us the day we receive
our certificate of matriculation and will remain ours until the day we die. For from the
moment we become students at Andover,
the name is branded onto our lives. You
have become John Smith, Andover student. And someday, you will become John
Smith, Andover alumnus. Not only do you
carry the name but you carry the set of values associated with our school: values of
illumination, not destruction.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once wrote that
“great power involves great responsibility,” and for the PA student this could not
be truer. As an Andover student, you are not
only responsible for your self, but for Phillips Academy. Because of this, your free
will is curbed even more so than most…
not so much by rules and the Disciplinary
Committee as by the torch you carry; not
by law, but by responsibility. You are free to
will as you please, yes, but you have been
regimented to will, as a responsible intellectual would please. It is certainly a concept to keep in check, lest the Academy’s
values cease to represent your own.
But this is not a bad thing. In fact, it
may be one of the most essential parts of
the Andover experience: our conditioning
has begun by balancing of our animalistic
“free will” with serious responsibilities.
This is discipline. This is growing up. This
is Andover. This is, in essence, the reality of
the world and the reality of freedom.
Michael Yoon
outs.
This particular coach was as considerate as he could be to his players; however,
many other tryouts that I have attended
have not been as enjoyable. I have seen
coaches cut players simply by sending
them insensitive emails or writing names
up on a roster displayed publicly. I can say
from personal experience that there is nothing more disappointing or shocking than
being cut from a team without being told in
person. It is as if they treat you as an item
that is tossed aside without regard. These
types of cuts are insulting to an athlete’s effort and can become personal grievances.
Many of my peers trying out for all levels
of sports have almost heart-wrenching stories of being cut from sports teams at PA.
I do understand that the job of a coach
is to assemble the best team possible and
preferably in a short time. Even so, coaches need to consider the determination that
athletes feel when trying out for a team.
It takes courage and nerve to try to prove
yourself to a coach. When making cuts,
coaches need to take this into consideration
and communicate their empathy with each
player.
Athletes, if you ever are cut from a
team, do not be discouraged. The reality
is that there are only a limited number of
spots on any team. If you just missed the
cut or are dismissed early on, take it as a
challenge, not an insult to your abilities.
Use that motivation to improve yourself
for the next time you tryout. Although they
may seem unfair or unjustified at first, cuts
are necessary to create a team. Cuts can
be unforgiving, but they are necessary and
can be done in a way that does not offend
any athletes. The Real World: Just a Train Ride Away
Cora Lewis
New yorker
Snowy, study-filled weekends on the
cold Andover campus may never be thrilling, but who says we have to stay on campus? The nearby metropolis of Boston,
a huge draw for prospective students of
Phillips Academy, is a forgotten asset for
many once they are here. Students should
take the initiative to go into the city in their
free time, and the school ought to encourage students to take advantage of all that
Boston has to offer.
Currently, students do not have the
time, the knowledge or the motivation
to go into Boston on the weekends or on
free afternoons. The first problem – our
busy lives – will always be an issue, but
students should inform themselves about
Boston, and then the inclination to go there
will follow. Here’s the most important fact:
all of the information is available.
Between the Internet, house counselors, teachers and friends from Massachusetts, of which there is no shortage at
PA, there is no mystery left surrounding
Boston. A brief online search can turn up
museum locations and exhibits, movie listings and train schedules. Most dorms have
lists of car-rental services and maps of
the city. Student Charlie Cards, Boston’s
metro passes, are available at the Student
Activities office and provide a convenient
discount.
In a 2003 Commentary article, Jane
Herzeca ’05 suggested, “In addition to a
listing of school activities, the Weekender
should include a listing of weekend activities in Boston in order to entice Andover
students to take advantage of such a vigorous city. It should also provide opportunities to purchase advance tickets to popular
events. Furthermore, the Student Activities Center should organize more weekend
trips into Boston.”
3
While the school could offer students
the opportunity to purchase tickets early –
or provide more maps and guides within
dorms – students are already able to organize their own trips into Boston, and that is
a significant, oft-forgotten freedom.
It is far more convenient to take the
train with a friends, to walk downtown at a
time of your own choosing and come back
when you feel like of it, instead of climbing into a crowded school bus and being
picked up at a specified hour. Yes, there
could be more organized trips to Boston,
but students do not have to wait for those
few weekends a year. Train tickets are always available at the convenience store
across from the train station and on the
train ride itself.
Few teachers and faculty members
consider Boston when planning their syllabi. In an exception to the rule, Ruth Quattlebaum’s Art History class spent an afternoon in Boston on a trip to the Museum
of Fine Arts this past Sunday. The course
only takes two trips a year, and many other
classes do not have any outside excursions
at all. Other art classes could benefit from
visiting museums, such as the MFA, the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the
new Institute of Contemporary Art. Theater, dance and music classes could take
in professional shows, ballets or concerts.
And other disciplines could certainly do
more to fully use Boston’s many libraries
and archives. Still, if you want to take the
initiative to do outside research or pursue
an interest, go ahead. Boston is waiting.
When students are deciding between
New England’s many boarding schools,
Andover has one enticing advantage that
cannot be matched – its proximity to a
city. If we get too caught up in our lives at
Andover to remember that, then we might
as well be in the middle of the woods – like
Exeter or St. Paul’s. Whenever we want to
get out of our lives for a few hours at a
time, we can. No one is holding us hostage. The rest of the world is just a few
stops away on the commuter rail.
Boston may still be a sleepy revolutionary town compared to other cities, but
it is something. It is a center for the arts, an
academic resource for classes, a place to
relax with friends away from school and it
is something Andover students do not take
advantage of nearly enough. Sports games,
music rehearsals and crushing academic
load aside – our time is ours too spend.
And our apathy towards Boston is only
holding us back.
Coach, Cut Me Nicely
JV2 squash
As tryouts for winter sports are happening all across campus, anxiety levels for
athletes are reaching their peak. Although
an effective and efficient way to select a
team, tryouts are inconsiderate of athletes’
feelings. Hockey, basketball, wrestling,
swimming and squash are just some of the
many sports that are holding tryouts right
now. As athletes are rejected from various
teams, many will be disappointed in themselves and angry at coaches or peers.
As a squash player, I participated in
JVI squash tryouts this past week. With my
mind set on making the team, I did anything that I thought would help me gain the
extra edge. I drank ridiculous amounts of
fluids and tried to get as much sleep as I
could. As the week progressed, I was optimistic and confident that I could make the
team. I watched friends and rivals drop out
of tryouts. Many of my peers were incredibly disappointed in themselves for not
making the team, and some were even on
the brink of tears. Fortunately when cutting
each athlete, the coach was considerate
enough to sit them down and talk to them
one on one, explaining his reasoning to all
of them.
Although I was confident in my chances of making the team, I missed the final
cut from JV1 squash. Like the players
before me, I was incredibly disappointed.
Luckily, the coach was thoughtful enough
to give me advice on how I could improve
as a player before sending me on my way.
Although I did not make the team, I have
taken away valuable experiences from this
tryout that I will carry on to my JV2 try-
THE PHILLIPIAN NEWS DECEMBER 7, 2007
4
Dean of Students Job ‘Never Stops,’ Working with Carlos Hoyt Focuses On
Both Struggling Students and Those Who Excel Student Input in ASM
which allows faculty members to
communicate about problems that
students are having in class.”
Edwards said, “The Dean of
Students really has to work with
all students, not just the students
who are struggling. You need to
make students who are having
trouble feel a part of the community. The greatest reward is working with someone who is struggling and helping them to find
their place. That makes getting
up every morning a joy.”
“At the same time, you need
to celebrate students,” she said.
“I used to put a bag of candy in
the mailbox of every student with
perfect attendance each term. It’s
important to recognize kids who
are going through each day putting
one foot in front of the other and
getting it done. It’s difficult to get
recognition unless you are struggling, and so it is really important
for us to appreciate students. For
example, WPAA, Pot Pourri and
The Phillipian— students putting
in all that time—they need positive feedback and building that
success is essential.”
Edwards has high hopes for
the incoming Dean of Students
but recognizes the demanding
nature of the job.
“The job is constant. You are
always on call and always training people coming in as house
counselors and deans. You are
going to have to devote that time,
the Student Diversity Leadership
Conference (SDLC) strived to bolster equal opportunities and treatment in independent schools for
students of color. The SDLC abided
to its mission of “encourag[ing] participants to reflect personally, act locally and think globally.”
The conference also provided a
Networking Coffee Break in which
participants were divided by race and
gender into affinity groups. These
opportunities gave attendees the
chance to connect with colleagues
or students of similar backgrounds
and to relate personal experiences.
Aya Murata, Cluster Dean of
Pine Knoll and Advisor to Asian
Students, said that “the opportunity
to meet with fellow Asian and Asian
American colleagues from independent schools from across the country
in order to share experiences, challenges, and success stories [was]… a
rejuvenating experience.”
Some of the speakers at the
PoCC included Frank Wu, who
spoke at Andover in 2004; John
Amaechi, the first openly gay NBA
player; and Wilma Mankiller, the
first elected female chief of Cherokee Nation.
Kip Fulbeck, a keynote speaker
at both the PoCC and SDLC, had a
profound impact on many of the faculty and students.
Murata said, “His presentation
[was] particularly affirming and
powerful. I believe his myriad creative forms enable greater access to
the subject of identity and that his
work speaks to all.”
Murata and Linda Griffith, English Instructor and Dean of CAMD,
are both currently working to bring
Fulbeck to Andover next year.
Tori Wilmarth ’09, a member
of the SDLC student delegation,
said, “For me, one of the most valuable parts of this conference was the
experience of being in the minority
within the United States, which is
something white people rarely experience. Although the conference
environment was very safe and welcoming, it still felt like I needed to
prove myself, show that I deserved
to be there.”
She said, “At the conference, we
looked at many different aspects of
diversity: race, religion, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, age and gender, which
we called the Big 8. This helped
me to realize that diversity includes
much more than race, and also that
race in America is not as simple as
‘black’ and ‘white.’”
Meetings among the students
and faculty to reflect on their experiences are currently underway. Initiatives to incorporate more dialogue
between faculty and students within
the Andover community are some
of the many topics being discussed.
Another proposal is to implement more diverse perspectives in
the curriculum of the English and
History Departments.
Alana Rush, Teaching Fellow in
Community Service, said, “I hope
to apply my experiences to the planning process for the Niswarth trip to
India that I will be working with this
summer. We tackle cross-cultural
issues on the trip and I am confident
that my experience at the PoCC will
enhance my ability to make these
issues come alive for students and
faculty who are participating.”
Elizabeth Patino ’09, also a
member of the student delegation,
hopes to create a Latino club at
Andover in the near future.
Patino said that the conference
provided “a reaffirmation of having
a Latino affinity group on campus.”
She also said that the experience
made her appreciate “what we do
have on campus [and] what we need
to continue.”
Olander said, “While Andover
has made huge strides already in
becoming a diverse place, we need
to remember that diversity is a process, not a goal, and that as a diverse
community we need to continue to
engage in discussion about how our
diverse backgrounds influence our
experiences here.”
Andover’s Community and Multicultural Department (CAMD) is
devoted to the studies of multiculturalism in the Andover community.
However, Kelicia Hollis ’08 said
that one of the hardest parts of having a large student body at Andover
is “allowing a voice that may normally get lost…be heard.”
Hollis said, “It was very valuable to talk to other students and
meet with students from other backgrounds.”
She supported the hope for a forum between the adults and students
in the Andover community.
By JULIE XIE
The Phillips Academy payroll
office has asked all employees to
be more careful when documenting
their timecards due to recent employee errors.
Staff members enter the hours
they have worked each week on time
cards to ensure that they are paid
promptly and correctly.
Recently, however, the office has
witnessed many repeat errors.
Timecards frequently lack employee identification numbers and
proper logging of hours worked.
Other timecards have claimed more
paid vacation hours than employees
are permitted.
The payroll office believes that
all of these errors are simply human
errors and are easily avoidable.
Said Interim Director of Human
Resources Maureen Ferris, “We are
asking employees and supervisors to
be more attentive to the completeness and accuracy of timecards before they send them to the payroll
office, as the errors place additional
work on the payroll office.”
Because of the time and effort
needed to correct errors on submit-
ted timecards, it is much harder
for the payroll office to process the
timecards in a timely manner, Ferris
said.
Ferris said, “These errors have
been ongoing to some degree, but
they seem to be becoming an increasing burden.”
Joseph Berardi, a manager in
Central Services, puts the timecards
in the mailboxes of staff members
and delivers them to the payroll office. According to Berardi, the process can get very messy.
“There is a lot of paper going
around,” he said.
It is also not a guarantee that a
staff member or the payroll office
will successfully receive the timecards through the mail system.
Berardi believes that the timecard system would be much more
efficient if done online. It would reduce the number of errors and would
also be environmentally friendly, he
said.
By filling out the timecards online, employees could also correct
errors as they go.
“Instead of going through the
mail system, it would be right in [the
employees’] email inboxes,” he said.
The payroll office has taken a lot
of effort to ensure accurate logging
of the timecards. They have posted
sample biweekly and monthly timecards for the employees to use as
reference.
Ferris said, “We are attempting
to re-educate employees about the
importance of time card accuracy.”
However, many staff members
have yet to encounter problems with
their timecards. They see them as the
regular, systematic way in getting
paid and as a part of their job.
“I just fill out my own time card.
I don’t see any problems,” said Girls’
Locker Room Attendant Nancy
Olenio.
Mary Ellen Witman, staff manager in the PACC, supervises timecards in the computer center. She
said that in her experience she has
rarely ever seen any errors committed in timecards.
However, the computer center
department is relatively small, so it is
very easy for Witman to check over
all timecards ever week. She said,
“My staff is very good about filling
out the timecards.”
Witman said, “Most people want
to get paid, so they probably take the
time to fill everything in right.”
Continued from Page 1, Column 6
Dean of Students] we’ve marched
through dorms with renovations,
putting in kitchenettes and creating places where students can
gather and spend time together.”
“[Edwards] has really improved the training for proctors,
prefects, and house counselor
training. When they come to
school they are more prepared
to handle the challenges and new
students,” said Chad Green, cluster dean of West Quad North.
“There is also a lot more
communication between faculty members about students,”
he said. “[Edwards] has helped
create the Student Alert system
‘Process, Not Goal’ of Diversity
Emphasized at PoCC Conference
Continued from Page 1, Column 4
Timecard Problems for Staff Lead To
Complaints from HR Payroll Office
and it never stops,” Edwards said.
“The most difficult part of the job
is having those difficult conversations that need to be had with
people about their role in the
school when they’re not necessarily meeting the expectations.”
Recently Edwards has been
involved in planning for the Commons renovations, the new daily
attendance system, the One-Card
key system and the PACE program. She noted the challenges
that remain and issues the incoming dean will need to resolve.
“We need to work on our message and how we convey what we
stand for,” Edwards said. She also
cited the need for improvement in
the dorm-based advisor program
for Juniors, a senior transition
program, global awareness programming, and communication
between faculty and students.
Edwards will continue next
year as a faculty member in the
English Department. “I’m very
excited to design a Senior elective and spend more time teaching,” said Edwards.
Edwards also hopes to coach
a sport and is eager to continue
living in a dorm. She said, “I am
and always have been passionate
about the residential program.”
OWHL Buys
Amazon’s Kindle
By YERIN PAK
The Oliver Wendell Holmes Library has purchased a new device for
the modern reader. On November 21,
Amazon.com released the Kindle,
an electronic book reader priced
at $399. Though not the first of its
kind—Sony released the second edition of its Sony Reader device this
October—reviews have tagged the
Kindle as a useful tool especially for
those always on the go.
The device has a wireless connection to Amazon’s e-book store,
in which customers can browse and
purchase e-books that download
within a couple of minutes. Its highresolution screen looks and reads like
paper, and readers can “flip pages”
using buttons.
Amazon has already signed
agreements with 50 to 100 newspaper publishers, including The New
York Times and The Wall Street
Journal. Currently, users of the Kindle have access to over 90,000 books
and publications.
The library’s Kindle will available for student and faculty use. Jeffrey Marzluft, Assistant Director of
the OWHL, said, “It’s our job to stay
on the forefront of technology, and to
look into useful products for teenagers because that’s who we serve.”
The library staff is currently in
the testing stages amongst themselves, and depending on their experience with the device, they may
purchase a set of Kindles.
The library is constantly researching new devices for potential
use by Andover students. Recent
additions include iPods with audiobooks that students may check out.
Aniebiet Ekpa ’11 said, “I would
use the Kindle for leisure reading and
research projects. Using the Kindle
will make things much more convenient because I won’t have to spend
hours at the library trying to look for
books. Instead, everything is right
there for me if I use the Kindle.”
Kristina Ballard ’11 and Audrey
McMurtrie ’11 both said that the
Kindle will make obtaining and accessing information more convenient
for students because it can be used in
any location.
Beth Tompkins, Instructional
Services Librarian, is excited at the
prospect of “offering a variety of
ways to read books”.
She said, “Andover students
have a lifestyle that is very on-the-go,
so using the Kindle would be much
more preferable for them than carrying a thick book around.”
By TRISHA MACRAE
Carlos Hoyt wants more student
input in All-School Meetings.
This is the first year that Hoyt,
the Associate Dean of Students, has
been in charge of planning the mandatory weekly meetings.”
Hoyt’s philosophy on All-School
Meeting is that it should “bolster and
deepen the sense of community”
within the school. He has several
thoughts on how to incorporate students into ASM coordination and
allow these “stakeholders” to join
together and plan useful and interesting All-School Meetings.
Though he says it has been “hard
to be…visionary while having to
learn logistics,” Hoyt has developed
ideas for the long-term future of the
All-School Meeting program. He
has been toying with the idea of creating a group of work duty students
called PACE Partners.
Consisting of Uppers and Seniors, PACE Partners would participate in the Lower PACE classes
as well as voice student opinions in
the planning of All-School Meetings, Wellness Week, and the PACE
program.
Hoyt hopes that the PACE Partners will be active in getting the
word out about the weekly meetings,
as well as collecting short surveys
from students afterwards.
These evaluations, the results of
which would be posted on PAnet,
would ask students’ opinion on the
value of the content, as well as how
All-School Meetings could be improved.
In addition to immediate student
feedback, Hoyt hopes to increase
student content in the meetings.
Currently, students sometimes
make announcements at the beginning of the meetings and perform in
the student talent and entertainment
All-School Meetings, but he would
like to see students presenting in
front of the rest of the community.
Hoyt pointed out multiple issues
in planning All-School Meetings
that would be easier to get around
with students’ help.
Because the student body is
composed of approximately 1,100
students spanning a wide range of
ages, it is difficult to gauge different
students’ perspectives on the purpose
of All-School Meeting, Hoyt said.
Clare Monfredo ’09 said that,
though she generally likes ASM and
thinks the topics discussed are relevant and varied, occasionally reaching outside the school boundaries
to consider issues at large would be
beneficial to the student body.
All-School Meetings, she said,
should “try to make us more aware
of broader, more significant issues.”
One topic she suggested was a
discussion of the 2008 presidential
campaign. Monfredo said that an
ASM on the subject would allow
students to learn about outside occurrences as well as how the issues
Phillips Academy faces are dealt
with on a larger scale.
Hoyt also has little leeway in
planning the weekly meetings, as
only nine out of the school year’s
30 All-School Meetings are not occupied with programs scheduled at
the beginning of the year, such as the
Summer Reflections ASM.
Hoyt has numerous ideas, including a meeting on decorum to say
what is expected of Andover students
and elevated levels of engagement
between international and domestic,
day and boarding students.
Hoyt would like to continue to
find ways to incorporate discussion
of community, diversity, and plurality within Andover, but not all students think that is the best direction
to go in.
“Sometimes All-School Meetings can be informative and fun…
[but] I feel that the continual emphasis on ‘community’ dilutes the effect
that the meetings are supposed to
have,” said Kyle Ofori ’09.
That two of this term’s speakers
were professors from Harvard was
a coincidence. Having heard about
the “psychology of happiness,” Hoyt
was referred to recent speaker Shawn
Achor through another speaker in
the field.
Similarly, he was referred to
technology speaker John Palfrey
after talking to Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes ’02 about an All
School Meeting centered on cyberspace and the Internet.
The search for speakers, however, is only part of the ASM planning process. In addition to securing
a speaker, a difficult task to achieve
if the speaker is popular, Hoyt must
track down funds to pay the speaker.
Different departments sponsor
speakers, so he sometimes receives
funds from the CAMD office, Abbot
Grants, the PACE/Wellness Week
budget or an allotment of money put
aside by the Dean of Students’ office.
Mr. Hoyt called his role as ASM
coordinator a “service leadership
job,” not a directorship.
His vision of All School Meeting, he said, was for it to be “for the
community, of the community, and
by the community.”
Said Hoyt, “It needs a point
guard, and that’s what I play.”
M. Discenza/The Phillipian
Carlos Hoyt is orchestrating
All-School Meeting this year.
Townson’s Top 5 Hello, Underwood
THE PHILLIPIAN ARTS DECEMBER 7, 2007
Andrew Townson
Not only does winter bring
snow, it brings a handful of new
holiday movies. Often released
around Thanksgiving, the films
come too early and bother viewers with repeated TV spots. Most
are cheesy, thoughtless comedies hoping—and failing—to
show audiences “the true meaning of Christmas.” Every so often, however, there come a few
movies that marvel us. They
come with original stories, interesting characters and show
us true holiday cheer. Here is a
list of the all-time best holiday
films..
5. “Love Actually” (2003) is
a heartwarming modern holiday
tale. This R-rated film weaves
the stories of several British
couples throughout the holiday
season. Filled with a catchy
score and beautiful cinematography, this holiday film will certainly win a place in your heart.
4. “The Nightmare Before
Christmas” (1993) is not your
typical Christmas movie. Tim
Burton’s cartoon masterpiece
tells the haunting story of a
skeleton who wishes to bring
Christmas to Halloween Town,
and in doing so, kidnaps Santa.
Not only did this film inspire
filmmakers with its revealing
animation, but it also inspired a
way of life.
3. “Miracle on 34th Street”
(1947) is one of the oldest
Christmas movies ever made,
but its inspiring tale will never
fade. Telling the story of a Santa
during the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade, the film touches all
audiences big and small.
2. “How the Grinch Stole
Christmas” (1966) is one of
the most well known Christmas
stories. Based on Dr. Seuss’
wonderful children’s book, this
classic will make you laugh and
sing all the while showing you
the Whos true Christmas spirit.
1. “Santa Claus is Coming
to Town” is without a doubt the
best holiday film of all time.
With amazing animation and
a simple, enjoyable story, this
movie gives audiences memorable songs and lovable characters to cherish and watch every
December.
have a designated space to socialize, whereas Ryley Room had tables
and sofas that encouraged hanging
out,” said Riley Gardner ’10. “There
isn’t going to be anything to do now,
since Ryley was the one place we
could all go after classes or on the
weekends to relax and catch up with
friends.”
The first official Underwood
Michelle Kown ’09 said, “I
Andrew Khang
thought it was a lot better than the
previous Ryley dances because it
was much more spacious and orgaThere were many teary eyes on
nized. The only bad thing was that
the weekend of the Sadie Hawkins
there wasn’t any food or water availdance as students gathered in the
able, whereas in Ryley you could
basement of Commons to say one
easily sit down and eat whenever
last goodbye to their beloved Ryley
you were hungry.”
Room. With the depressing winter
Without its usual carpeted floors
chill on our doorsteps, however, it is
and awkwardly placed
obvious that these tears were
furniture, the Underwood
not entirely sentimental. The
Room seemed a lot less
library, a previous campus
like a living room and a lot
“During the blacklight dance, I
social venue, is now crackmore suitable for weekend
ing down on students who
felt like a lot more people were
dances. The lighting and
are not studying, the Ryley
newly installed sound sysdancing and that the dance floor
Room is closed and Comtem created a sleek, trendy
mons is about to be replaced
seemed bigger.”
ambiance in which students
by Uncommons. Places
were able to have a surprisavailable for students to hang
-JJ McGregor ‘08
ingly good time.
out and take shelter from the
However, a common
cold are quickly disappearcomplaint that the students
ing.
The Ryley Room, which had dance in the history of Phillips shared was that the heat generated
served as a cozy escape from the Academy, the popular blacklight within the Underwood Room was
harsh New England winters, was dance, took place this past weekend. excessive and almost unbearable.
“It felt like I was in a steamy
arguably the most popular social Many students seemed to agree that
scene at Phillips Academy. Under- the lack of distractions, such as tele- glass room,” said Mollie Lee ’10. “It
wood Room has recently replaced vision and junk food, helped to cre- got to the point where I had to step
the demolished Ryley Room as the ate a livelier atmosphere and attract outside several times to avoid suffocating.”
main room for future dances, social a bigger crowd.
Despite grieving over the clos“During the blacklight dance,
functions and other student events.
“I feel like Underwood doesn’t I felt like a lot more people were ing of Ryley Room, the blacklight
dancing and that the dance floor dance held in the Underwood Room
seemed bigger,” said JJ McGregor proved to be a huge success. With
’08. “It made a big difference that its great music and high energy, it
there weren’t any tables or booths to is clear that Underwood dances are
get in the way, so people were in a events that students can look forsense forced to dance instead of sit ward to as the Winter Term draws
near.
down to socialize and eat.”
Cabin Fever
A Community Festival
MUSICREVIEW
“SAWDUST”
ers and over-production for a simple
live recording. The simplicity of this
cover makes it one of the best tracks
on the album. Even though the Killers do not stray far from the original,
Following the success of “Hot
they still manage to infuse the song
Fuss” and “Sam’s Town,” the Killers
with a bit of themselves.
have released “Sawdust,” their first
“Leave the Bourbon on the
B-sides and rarities album. “SawShelf” is another track worth listendust” was ostensibly released to keep
ing to. The song stands out, because
fans satisfied until The Killers’ next
it leans toward rock and roll much
studio album. This album is made
more than the rest of the album. It
up of a strange mix of songs that
features a catchy chorus and strangefollows the band’s sound from the
ly sweet lyrics. The lyrics are a man’s
early brit-pop vibes of “Hot Fuss”
last plea to an ex-girlfriend. The sento the grander sounds of “Sam’s
timent flip-flops between alcoholic
Town.” The album brings together
and emotional, making it a strange
covers, collaborations, remixes and
new breed of love song. Flowers
unreleased tracks, which leaves it
sings, “Leave the bourbon on the
incoherent at times. While this CD
shelf and I’ll drink it by myself.
may not be made up of entirely
And I’ll love
original Killers
you endlessly.”
songs, they manIf you are going
age to leave their
“This CD delivers hits to download any
distinct mark on
song from this
and misses in almost
every track and
CD, we highly
hold this CD toequal measure.”
recommend this
gether.
one.
Their
first
Jacques Lu
single is the highCont’s Thin White Duke Remix of
ly publicized “Tranquilize,” a track
“Mr. Brightside,” originally from
on which they collaborated with
“Hot Fuss,” holds its own as the
Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Lou
only remix on the CD. Lu Cont is a
Reed. Reed’s partnership with the
well-known British electronic muband’s lead singer Brandon Flowers
sician who has worked with a valeads to a new, distinctive sound for
riety of artists including Madonna,
the band. The song’s introduction,
Missy Elliot and Gwen Stefani. Last
made up of a slow marching beat,
year he remixed the Killers’ single
sets the tone for the rest of the track.
“When We Were Young” and, on
“Tranquilize” is a very unexpected
“Sawdust,” he comes back to do it
first single. Unlike the rest of their
again. He adds a buoyant feel to the
singles, “Tranquilize” lacks the upsong and gives it a whole new vibe.
beat vocals and catchy choruses that
This CD delivers hits and misses
made them famous. Instead, it offers
in almost equal measure. Given the
a darker, heavier and slower sound.
Killers’ previous success, we exConversely, upbeat vocals and
pected more from them on “Sawcatchy choruses are all the Killers
dust” than what we got. Considerhave to offer on “Shadowplay,” a
ing the fact that the stakes are not as
cover of Joy Division’s classic song.
high on a B-sides and rarities album,
However, the Killers’ pop sensibilihowever, we can forgive them. Alties are a poor match for “Shadowthough this album did not live up
play.” The song loses some of its
to the standards set by previous aloriginal melancholy and meaning in
bums, it is still a great addition to
this transformation from heavy perany loyal Killers fan’s collection.
cussion to bubbling beats. While it
It may not, however, be enough for
may not do the original version juscasual Killers listeners. The Killers
tice, this single sounds more like the
experimented with many different
Killers than “Tranquilize.”
sounds and styles on the album,
The Killers redeem themselves,
which makes for a diverse listening
however, with the compelling cover
experience. Their willingness to exof The Dire Straits’ song, “Romeo
periment with the sound is promisand Juliet.” Flowers’ vocals are highing and gives us hope for their next
lighted as the band ditches synthesizstudio album.
Abby Donahue and
Sarah Rodriguez
The Log Cabin in the Sanctuary will host this weekend’s community festival.
Charlie Dong
What do your teachers do
in their free time? This Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at
the Log Cabin in the Sanctuary, you will have a chance to
find out while hanging out with
your friends near the warmth of
a fireplace.
The purpose of the “Cabin
Fever” community festival is
to bring together visually motivated members of the community who may not be aware
of each other’s talents outside
the classroom, office or home.
It allows members of the community not involved in the arts
to appreciate the work of others
and offers a chance to get outside while staying warm.
During this inaugural opening of “Cabin Fever,” a variety
of faculty and staff will display
and sell the arts and crafts that
they have made. Handmade articles will include jewelry, oil
paintings, hand-painted porcelain, bags and belts, fleece hats
and mittens, works on paper,
cards, blank books, lanyards,
soap and home accessories.
People from the Phillips
Academy community can come
to see their work, ask questions
S. Sheu/The Phillipian
about how things were made
and even buy unique gifts for
the holidays. There is no pressure to purchase anything,
though, as the focus of the festival is on creating community
and sharing.
Throughout the day, Don
Whittemore will be painting on
site and Sarah Hackney ’10 will
be playing acoustic guitar.
Emily Trespas, an art instructor who helped organize
the event, said, “I hope that a
diverse group of people will
come to view, share and develop connections with each
other. I think there will be a lot
of great surprises when people
see and learn about what your
librarian does after work, or
how detailed a man from OPP
paints, or that the wife of your
music teacher is an artist! We
might see each other every day
but not know of one another’s
creative talents, hobbies and
crafts”
“Cabin Fever” is open to the
entire Phillips Academy community including faculty, staff
and students and their families.
To get to the Log Cabin
via the Bird Sanctuary on foot,
pass through two gates between
Nathan Hale and Fuess. Take a
right on the main trail and con-
tinue right at each junction. The
Log Cabin is a half mile from
the gate and about a 15-minute
walk. To reach the Log Cabin
by car or road take Highland
Rd. from Salem St. (by Smith
House). Entrance into sanctuary is .75 mile on the left, just
past Heather Drive.
grades, but they are not the deciding factor. If you have been doing
the work in the class this term,
there is no reason you will not do
well on the exam.
The exam does not cover new
material. Rather, it covers material you have already learned, and
your teachers are not intentionally
going to give you harder problems.
The problems, as they cover such a
wide range of information, cannot
be as hard as the in-depth questions
on your regular tests. In fact, many
tests are departmental, so the questions have to be about things everyone has covered. This means that
some of your class’s more difficult
topics won’t even be addressed.
Many teachers even tell you
what to study – math teachers give
study guides or practice problems,
history teachers give key terms and
you already know which words and
grammar structures to review for
your language classes. Even if your
teachers don’t give out reviews,
you can ask them to give you a list
of topics or an overview, and they
will be happy to oblige. As long as
you study, you’ll do fine.
Some of you, however, may
find topic lists to be the least of
your worries. Where are you supposed to find the time to study when
some teachers gave out major assignments last week and you have
papers to write for your assessment
period, in addition to your finals?
The first thing you should do
in this situation is to stop worrying and start studying now, breaking things down into little pieces.
Study for your Monday test for an
Come see
“Cabin Fever”
on Sunday,
December
9th at the Log
Cabin in the
Sanctuary!
Ask Amanda:Finals Week
Amanda Shpigler
The dreaded finals week has
finally graced us with its presence.
Usually filled with food, books and
sleepless nights, there is not a single
person who isn’t stressed out this
week. You worry about how these
tests determine your final grades for
the term, and those determine your
GPA, and those determine whether
or not you get into college, and that
determines whether or not you will
be successful in life… Now that I
have totally freaked you out, let’s
take a minute and rationalize these
thoughts.
First of all, these tests will not
dictate the rest of your life; this is
a common stress-induced misconception. They will affect your final
hour tonight and review a little less
than that for the rest, then spread
out studying over the weekend. If
you do it in pieces, it doesn’t seem
as long or as time consuming. If you
study in half-hour to hour segments
with five or ten-minute breaks in
between, you will remember more
material than if you just sit down
and study for hours.
The worst possible thing you
can do is to cram everything for
one subject in the night before its
exam, because you won’t remember any of it. You may think that
you will forget everything if you
don’t study it the day beforehand,
but that’s why reviewing is important. You need to study more than
just the night before, as sleep helps
you remember things. If you study
three nights before your test and re-
view the night before, that’s three
nights of sleep to help you remember everything, plus more time to
study for the test the day after.
It’s also important not to be
a hermit during exam week; you
aren’t going to see your friends
again until January. A study group
can be a great idea if you are sure
that you and your friends can actually get work done when you are
together. Most groups of friends,
however, cannot. It may be more effective to spend your time studying
by yourself and set aside a little bit
of time to spend with your friends.
Keep in mind that if you do decide
to keep to yourself this week, nobody is judging you, and honestly,
with the amount of stressing and
studying going on, you won’t be
missing much.
5
MOVIE
Review
“Before the Devil
Knows You’re
Dead”
Scott Dzialo
In my family, it is an annual tradition to make a toast at Thanksgiving
dinner. While many toasts are simple
wishes of good health, the strangest
of the bunch is a fairly morbid Irish
blessing: “May you have food and
raiment, a soft pillow for your head;
may you be 40 years in heaven, before the devil knows you’re dead.”
It’s a strange concept, really. And
yet, as director Sidney Lumet tries to
convince us in his most recent drama
“Before the Devil Knows You’re
Dead,” we all have our demons.
Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
is a fairly successful businessman
who can’t seem to get anything substantial out of life. Because his world
seems empty, Andy seeks comfort
in drugs to give him confidence and
hope. Andy’s brother Hank (Ethan
Hawke) isn’t any better off. Unable
to pay his alimony, Hank is a loser
in the eyes of his ex-wife and child.
While Andy needs money to fuel his
addiction, Hank needs some quick
cash to gain some respect in the eyes
of those he loves. Together, the brothers decide to perform a seemingly
“victimless crime”; they plan on robbing their own parents’ jewelry store.
But, inevitably, all hell breaks loose
during the robbery and the lives of
the brothers and their parents spin
out of control.
The most obvious strength of
“Before the Devil Knows You’re
Dead” is the acting. A cast containing
five Oscar nominees is certainly impressive, and every actor completely
delivers. If you are hesitant to see
“Before the Devil,” the acting alone
makes it worth it. No one can deny
the sheer talent shared between Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke
and the legendary Sidney Lumet; the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences have praised all three of
them with Oscar nominations.
Hoffman and Hawke provide
perfect contrast between one another. Hoffman has an arrogant
and self-confident exterior, yet as
the lies become more complex, so
does Hoffman’s acting. In contrast,
Hawke plays the cowardly younger
brother so well that I’m going to
have trouble seeing him play any
other role. Simply amazing acting
doesn’t occur often, and “Before the
Devil Knows You’re Dead” is one of
the few movies where it does.
The next best aspect of the movie
is its story presentation. Sidney Lumet decided to tell the story in many
different parts: before, during and
after the robbery from the perspective of each of the main characters.
As you watch the movie, the timeline
and perspective jump around quite a
bit. Often, risky editing like this can
become confusing and disorganized.
However, this could not be farther
from the truth in this film. The story
presentation flows with just the right
amount of speed; it’s not choppy or
messy. Lumet took a risk, and the entire film benefited from it.
Although the acting and storytelling were really terrific, a few low
points stuck out. First, I was annoyed
with the orchestra throughout the
film. Although it can be a useful tool
sometimes, the entire movie seems
to be guided by obvious, over-thetop music. Music in movies should
be in the back of your mind; you
should recognize that it’s there, but
you shouldn’t have to directly acknowledge its presence
The one other problem I had was
the plot. During the movie, everything seemed logical and believable.
But, after I left the theater, I couldn’t
help but notice many gaping plot
holes. So many actions seemed implausible and brought the entire validity of the story into question. The
one thing that I can’t stand in movies is poor plot structure. If Lumet
had spent more time ironing out the
kinks, this surely would have been
one of the best films of 2007.
What you expect from “Before
the Devil Knows You’re Dead” is
what you get; terrific acting and great
story presentation. However, nottoo-subtle music and some frustrating plot holes bring my grade down.
This is one that you might want to
catch on DVD, but it’s just a little
too imperfect to be worth the trip
through the snow to the Loop.
Grade: 4+
THE PHILLIPIAN NEWS DECEMBER 7, 2007
6
Native American Leaders To Visit
Faculty Discuss Study Environments,
Campus As Part of Recruiting Effort Watch Video of Conference Per. in Library
By JULIET LIU
Assistant Dean of Admission
Jose Powell and Director of Student
of Color Recruiting Susan MantillaGoin recently received a $15,000
Abbot Grant to sponsor a visit from
Native American education, tribal
and community leaders from the
Southwest.
The leaders will determine
whether Phillips Academy, as a
school and a community, is able to
Andover Upset
About A.P.
Course Audit
Continued from Page 1, Column 4
to become a recognized voice capable of shaping public policy issues
that affect independent high schools,
such as standardized testing. It also
hopes to aid its member schools by
improving the practices in college
counseling offices and making college counselors more useful to students.
One issue that will be discussed is the Advanced Placement
Course Audit, which began in the
2007-2008 school year.
This new policy, which required
The College Board to authorize
a course syllabus before deeming
it an A.P. course, brought about
endeavors by public schools to receive funding for more A.P. courses
through modeling their courses to
satisfy the expectations set by College Board.
Private schools, such as Phillips
Academy, differed in their reactions
to the change in policy.
Anderson said, “The curriculum is developed by the faculty; if
that coincides with the A.P syllabus
requirements, then great.”
Andover’s science and math departments offer many A.P. courses,
but in departments such as English and History, A.P. courses are
scarce.
According to Anderson, academic freedom is most important
to the school, so course syllabi are
developed in the best interests of the
students, not in order to meet expectations of the A.P. Course Audits.
“We think we offer the best
course possible in [classes such as]
U.S. History,” said Anderson.
On critical matters, such as the
A.P. Course Audit, ACCIS can add
a stronger viewpoint that is specific
to independent secondary schools.
Given that approximately 300
college counselors recently attended
an ACCIS informational meeting,
Anderson expects ACCIS to potentially grow to several hundred
members.
support Native American students.
The goal of their visit will be to increase the presence of Native American students at Phillips Academy.
There are six currently enrolled
students who identified themselves
as Native or part-Native, according
to data collected from a question
regarding racial and ethnic identity
that students opted to answer on their
application forms. This number has
been consistent in the past ten years,
ranging from a high of 10
Native
students to a low of about four. On
average, this constituency is about .5
of the overall student population.
The visit from the Native American leaders will most likely span two
days and is scheduled to occur in
2008 sometime between mid-April
and mid-May.
“We’ve envisioned [the Native
American leaders’ visit] as an educational opportunity for those folks
visiting to learn about the school to
see if this is something they can see
for their students,” said MantillaGoin.
The number of leaders traveling
to Andover, which is based on the
expenses of airfare and accommodations, has yet to be determined.
Powell and Mantilla-Goin have also
not yet decided which Native American leaders will visit.
“It will be an eclectic group.
Some [of the leaders] will be schoolbased, such as guidance counselors.
Some may be administrators, like
principals. Others may be leaders
within community-based organizations,” said Powell. “But many are
yet to be identified. We’re going to
go through a collaborative process in
terms of identifying which individuals will utilize the opportunity and
maximize the opportunity most by
coming to Andover.”
This Abbot Grant sponsors one
of the first concerted efforts to expand Andover’s recruitment of Native American students specifically.
This year, the Admission Office has
focused more on visiting areas with
higher concentrations of Native students, especially in the southwestern
region of the United States.
“I feel like the community as a
whole and the CAMD office really
tries to support all students,” said
Mantilla-Goin.
“But we haven’t had a critical
mass of Native American students,
so we haven’t had any programming
specifically for them. So this is our
first major initiative, and it’s guided
by the Strategic Plan and the mission
of the school to educate ‘youth from
every quarter,’” she added.
“Through MS2, there certainly
has been a relationship with Native
students. But as an academy as a
whole, this is really our first and exciting step [to expand recruitment of
Native students],” said Powell.
The visit from Native American
leaders follows the visit from Dr.
Whitney Laughlin, an educational
consultant who advised the Admission Office on the recruitment of
Native American students, last Sep-
tember.
After observing Andover,
Laughlin prepared a report that discussed the community’s readiness
to support Native students. In her
report, she stated that Andover was
a diverse community that should be
able to support Native students but
still had room for improvement.
Deborah Murphy, Senior Associate Dean of Admission, “Some
areas where we can improve would
be the recruitment of Native faculty
and the addition of new courses to
our curriculum. Dr. Laughlin found
the community to be welcoming and
receptive to different cultures, which
is also a key ingredient in the transition and support of Native students.”
Powell said that that Dr. Laughlin’s visit and evaluation of the
school was an impetus for the Abbot
grant that will bring Native American leaders to Andover. He recently
returned from a trip to the Southwest
in early November. Powell visited
nine schools that have significant
Native population, primarily in New
Mexico and Arizona.
Murphy said, “We hope that they
will learn about Phillips Academy,
have a positive experience during
their visit and go back to their communities and spread what they have
learned. Their vote of confidence in
our school will empower members of
their community to step out of their
comfort zone and explore the possibilities at Andover. We also hope to
gain their perspective on ways that
Andover can support their students
if they are admitted and choose to
come to Phillips Academy.”
Mantilla-Goin said, “We’re really thankful to have gotten this Abbot grant. We’re really excited about
the opportunities that it presents to
the school, to the potential Andover
students and to the current student
body.”
By PATRICIA YEN
Faculty members discussed
potential improvements to campus study environments and how
to encourage work efficiency last
Monday.
Though no lasting conclusions
were drawn, the faculty agreed
that students work well under diverse conditions.
Catherine Tousignant, Instructor in English, said, “What we’re
trying to figure right now is how
best to support students who are
struggling to find their own best
study environments right now, and
what can we do to offer a range
of environments that students can
choose from to do their best work.
Nobody works in the same way.”
The faculty acknowledged
that approved study areas such as
dorm rooms can provide too many
technological distractions, such as
phones, internet, and music.
This environment can be difficult for students under academic
restriction. While house counselors of smaller dorms can check
in on their few students, ensuring
that students actually follow academic restriction in larger dorms
is difficult.
Catherine Roden, Instructor
in Biology and a house counselor
for the 40-girl dorm Paul Revere,
said, “At the start of a term here
in a large dorm, as a house counselor, we may have seven to eight
girls on academic restriction, and
making sure every one of them is
studying in their room at all times
for one to two weeks is very difficult.”
Roden said, “What was really interesting was that the house
counselors that spoke about those
types of situations often heard,
‘Wow, I got more work done
in that two-hour chunk of time
than I’ve gotten in the course of
a week.’”
The same concerns about
distractions apply to the library.
Elisabeth Tully, Library Director, spoke at the faculty meeting
about the environment that the
library tries to foster and its current state.
Since most of the faculty is unfamiliar with the library environment, she showed a two-minute
video touring the library during a
conference period, when students
often socialize in the library.
Tully said, “It showed kids
just pouring in the doors and congregating over in the computer
area, so we walked into Garver
[Room]. Even though you could
hear the noise from outside, the
kids in Garver were really working. It was very interesting for the
faculty to see that, and I said to
them, ‘The library isn’t an academic atmosphere all the time in
all the places.’”
Despite controversy over
the enforcement of the library’s
rules earlier this year, Tully said
that the library staff supports the
social breaks that students take
when working.
“I think that one of the things
that happens is that 8 p.m. to 10
p.m. is a long time and it’s really
hard for people to concentrate
solidly for 120 minutes. What
we see kids doing is focusing and
then taking little breaks as part
of multitasking. The breaks are
social breaks and there’s nothing
wrong with that,” Tully said.
Based on a recent survey, the
library staff plans on rearranging
the space so students can work in
groups without disturbing silent
study.
Nathan Hale’s house counselor, Kathy Pryde, said that the
girls know how to manage their
studies.
She said, “I think they know
what they need when they need
it.”
M. Temple/The Phillipian
Head of School Barbara Chase speaks at a faculty meeting.
Dreaming of Phillips, Part Two: Students
Apply to Phillips Among Many Other Schools
By THOMAS SMYTH
“I grew up in Lawrence, so everything is much louder. I’ve been
to Andover, and everything’s so
quiet. I think it’s a good change,”
she says.
Madeline Reinoso, only six
miles north of campus in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is dreaming
of going to boarding school.
“Change is good,” she says.
Madeline is applying to Governor’s Academy, Cushing, Pingree,
Nobles & Grennough, Concord
Academy and Central Catholic, in
addition to Phillips Academy.
“I have a bunch of different applications in my closet,” she says.
She chose Phillips Academy
because “it’s so well known,” she
says. “I’ve done a lot of research;
I think it offers a lot of opportunities I’d be interested in.”
“I’m looking for the best education possible. Because I’ve done
so much research, I think it offers
me that,” she says.
Madeline keeps some perspective on the admission process.
Asked whether she’ll get in, she
says, “I don’t know...it depends on
what they’re looking for.”
When she grows up, Madeline
says she wants her career to be
“fashion designer or languages or
doctor or scientist or archaeologist...or kindergarten teacher.”
At Phillips Academy, “I would
probably work on art or debate
team,” she says. “Debating with
people in a mature way will help
me grow up if I want to be a lawyer.”
Madeline says that her top
choice depends on where she
thinks she can get in. “It just depends on how my grades end up
this semester.”
But her family will play a role
in the decision as well. “My mom
wants me to go to Phillips,” she
says.
Madeline says that her mother
told her, “‘I don’t want you boarding, but if you get into Phillips, I
could drive you in the morning.’”
Madeline’s school, South
Lawrence East Middle School, is
“different from most schools,” she
says. “There’s a different variety
of kids. In most schools in Lawrence, you see mostly Hispanics,
but in my school, there’s a variety
of nationalities.”
Outside of school, “I play soccer, a little bit. I do art and I do
choir, and I do field hockey,” she
says.
Madeline is a member of “Respect Court” at South Lawrence
East, where leaders of the grade
make some decisions for the whole
school, like having a pajama day.
In her spare time, “I draw
clothes - maybe I want to be a
fashion designer,” she says. Madeline started designing in fourth
grade, “but those are ugly,” she
says. “I get subscriptions to Seventeen magazine, and since I go to
the mall a lot, I see what’s there,
and I combine those ideas with my
own.”
From Georgia to Massachusetts?
“I just watched this documentary recently; it was on the Dalai
Lama…He seemed like a really
fascinating character, and the way
he goes about and stuff kind of
T. Smyth/The Phillipian
Madeline Reinoso of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
makes you think.”
Maximillian Nguyen, who
goes by Max, lives more than
1,000 miles south of campus in
Augusta, Georgia, and is hoping
to travel north to one of several
top boarding schools next year.
Max is applying to Andover,
St. Paul’s, Deerfield, Exeter and
Milton.
“My parents started all this,”
Max says. He decided to apply to
Andover last summer after seeing
it listed online as one of the top
boarding schools.
Max visited and interviewed at
schools for a few days in October.
At Phillips Academy, “I really
like the look of the campus. The
people seemed really friendly, and
it seemed like a good environment,” he says. “The guy who interviewed me, he was pretty nice,
but some of the questions, I had to
think hard.”
At some other schools, Max
says, “the order wasn’t presented
as well as Andover was,” and he
wasn’t able to see as many students or classrooms.
Max says he wants to go to
Andover to get “the best education
possible.”
Right now, he’s a ninth-grader,
or freshman, at Davidson Fine
Arts Magnet School, a public
Courtesy S. Zellars
Max Nguyen of Augusta,
Georgia.
school for about 700 students in
grades six through 12 located in
downtown Augusta.
Davidson, he says, is “the best
public school in Georgia. The focus is a lot on fine arts as well as
academics...I do a lot of musical
things. I play in a band and play
piano privately,.”
“[Davidson] does pretty well,
but things right now, I guess, aren’t
as challenging as I want them to
be,” he says.
Max’s favorite subject is Biology, in which the labs are “pretty
interesting.”
“It’s more hands-on; there’s a
lot to explore, too,” he says.
Any pressure now that much
of Davidson knows he’s applying?
“Not really,” he says. “I guess it’s
okay if people know.” But friends
“don’t really want me to leave.”
Teachers, as well, “don’t want
me to leave, but some I guess
think it’s pretty interesting and
pretty cool,” he says.
Max says, “I guess I have this
goal to go to one of those big college and universities...Doing well
in high school will help you get
into those good colleges and be
more prepared for the future.”
“Dreaming of Phillips” is going on hiatus until Spring Term.
The Phillipian will hold the remaining articles in this series until
admission decisions are released,
on March 10, out of concerns
raised by Phillips Academy’s Admission Office that extensive coverage of the application process
might adversely affect these students’ chances at admission.
Also, The Phillipian would
like to clarify the relationship between the Admission Office and
this newspaper. The Admission
Office had no prior knowledge of
the series or of the applicants interviewed. The Admission Office
has not endorsed this series nor
played any role in its conception,
sourcing, reporting or writing.
THE PHILLIPIAN NEWS DECEMBER 7, 2007
At Cor Unum, Hungry JSU Celebrates Hanukkah in Commons PA’s Past With
Guests Are Served Hot Food With Chocolate Coins and Jelly Donuts Need-blind
Continued from Page 1, Column 6
at risk for hunger.
For these reasons, Rev. O’Brien
established Cor Unum in South
Lawrence, where there had previously been no center to provide
free, hot meals to the general population.
“In North Lawrence, you have
[soup kitchens] Lazarus House and
Bread and Roses, but they are too
far away for some people in South
Lawrence,” said Jarvis. “We even
serve many children that come by
themselves—anywhere from 30
to 100 children a day. It’s amazing
how many kids don’t have a place to
eat or food at home.”
Said Peggy Oliveto, who has
worked at Cor Unum since its opening, “We found a real need for hungry people in the area—homeless
children who roam the streets and
don’t have meals, and the working
poor who pay their bills and have no
money left for food.”
Construction of the Cor Unum
Meal Center was completed in the
fall of 2006 and cost $1.8 million.
Private donors contributed to the
majority of the costs and the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Boston paid for much of the remaining
expenses. Cor Unum currently costs
around $200,000 yearly to maintain.
According to Jarvis, about 85
percent of the food prepared in the
Cor Unum kitchens comes from the
Greater Boston Food Bank. Restaurants in the region sometimes come
in and cater all the food for a particular meal.
Cor Unum has also launched a
fundraising initiative, “Labels are
for Jars,” whose proceeds go directly to help operate the charity.
The projects sells black shirt
that has a negative label used to stereotype people on the front of the
shirt, such as “minority,” “geek”
or “addict.” The backs of the shirts
read, “Labels Are for Jars.”
“Labels Are For Jars” is the
brainchild of a team comprised of
Rev. O’Brien, talk show host Conan
O’Brien, and Major League Baseball first baseman Sean Casey. Rev.
O’Brien and Conan O’Brien, who
are unrelated, were roommates at
Harvard University.
While the charity does need the
money gained from fundraising, it
also is in need of volunteers.
20 Phillips Academy students
and faculty volunteers worked at
the Cor Unum Meal Center on Non
Sibi Day.
“Father Paul has just done
an astonishing thing with [Cor
Unum],” said Nicholas Kip, Instructor in Classics and Faculty Project
Leader.
“Everybody treats each other
like people over there. It isn’t just
for homeless people because a lot
them aren’t homeless. Many of
them have apartments but they can’t
afford housing and food. It’s that
tough. But this place really helps
them out,” he said.
Student Project Leader Kelsey
Lim ’10 said, “I’ve served at meal
centers before but Cor Unum was really unique because it was more like
a restaurant and it was more interactive than at a normal soup kitchen.
People come in and you take their
order and serve them whatever food
they want. This way, you have more
interaction with the guests instead
of them going through a line and
you dumping food on their tray.”
“We welcome everyone to Cor
Unum and we invite everybody to
come check it out and to volunteer.
The big message we’re trying to
send is that there are hunger issues
out there and somehow we need to
work together to eliminate hunger,”
said Jarvis.
By ZIWE FUMUDOH
Members of the Jewish
Student Union (JSU) offered
jelly-filled doughnut holes and
chocolate coins, known as gelt,
in celebration of the first day
of Hanukkah in Commons this
past Tuesday.
Also adorning the table in the
Commons lobby were dreidels,
an electric Menorah and information cards about Hanukkah
traditions. JSU members enthusiastically imparted their own
knowledge about Hanukkah and
about the Jewish culture to the
curious.
JSU shares other Jewish
traditions and holidays, such
as Passover, with the community as well. The club also hosts
weekly Shabbat services in
Kemper Chapel.
Normally Hanukkah takes
place during winter break, but
this year, the holiday coincides
with school days. Because of
this, Phillips Academy students,
especially boarders, cannot observe these religious traditions
with their families but must celebrate them at school.
Naomi Sobelson ’08, cohead of JSU, was happy despite
being unable to celebrate the
holiday with her family. “I love
sharing the holidays with my
friends,” she said.
Hanukkah lasts eight days
and features the illumination
of the Menorah, which has nine
branches, for each of the eight
days. The ninth candle is used
to light the other candles. The
lighting of the Menorah celebrates an ancient phenomenon
where an amount of oil, sufficient to burn only a day, burned
for eight days.
The significance of oil during this holiday is manifested in
the prevalence of oil within the
foods traditionally eaten during
Hanukkah. Grated potatoes are
fried in oil, a dish known as latkes. JSU also provided oil-fried
jelly doughnut holes, known as
suvganiot, to represent this tradition.
During the lighting of the
Menorah, members of JSU sang
a Hebrew blessing in Commons.
Part of the Hanukkah tradition
involves singing three prayers
every night for all eight days,
and a new song is sung each
day.
JSU has begun planning for
Jewish Cultural Week that will
take place from January 18 to
January 20. Jewish Cultural
Week will feature a cappella
group performances, bagel
brunches, a Seinfeld Fest, Jewish trivia, and more.
bot. According to Braverman,
when she arrived the school
was being re-evaluated, so she
helped create the course “The
Images of Women,” which Fan
later taught.
Braverman wrote in an email
that she was always disappointed
by the limited opportunities for
women as she was growing up.
As a teacher, she wanted her
students to have a sense of life’s
many possibilities. She thinks
that incorporating gender studies into a classroom requires
“consciousness, the recognition,
in reading and in life, of the
equality of men and women.”
Ada Fan, who arrived at Phillips Academy in 1983 and left
last year, taught the course “Images of Women” after Braverman. Fan later renamed the
course, “The Narrow Mirror.”
Fan said that she was always interested in reading about
women from a young age. “I’ve
always had an awareness of gender,” said Fan.
Fan believes that gender
studies should not be necessary
if today’s society truly believes
in equality. However, she said
that there is unfortunately still
gender inequality and that most
cultures are narrow-minded.
In a way, boys and men have
less freedom, Fan said, especially in how they dress.
Fan said that most Phillips
Academy students would not
consider themselves feminists
because the word has a connotation of belief that women are
superior to men. This reputation
has created an anti-feminist atmosphere, Fan said.
Fulton, who also taught “The
Images of Women,” said that
gender awareness “is such a part
of being human.” Fulton said that
people used assume that writing
by male authors could be read
universally, but that writing by a
woman only applied to women.
Kelly said, “Gender comes
into play in our everyday life.”
She now teaches “The Empire
Strikes Back,” which focuses on
women from South Africa, Ireland and India.
“I can’t imagine a world
without mixed dynamics between men and women,” said
Kelly. Kelly said that gender
comes into play in a classroom
because if there are only a couple boys in a class, they have to
represent their entire gender,
and vice versa if there are few
girls.
“It will be an honor and pleasure to stand together on stage,”
said Kelly.
The McKeen Award will be
presented to the four honorees
on January 18.
the 2004 Strategic Plan.
She said, “The plan refers to
support for students…we are always looking to provide more
comprehensive and effective support in the residential program.
[We want to create] more opportunities for learning leadership”
Edwards is currently a house
counselor in a junior girl’s dorm,
Samaritan House, and an English
teacher.
Sykes said that Edwards will
continue to teach English at the
school but that she will no longer
be a house counselor in Samaritan
House because the house is “reserved for administrative assignment.”
She said, “The Dean of Students needs to interact with a lot
of different people including parents, students, faculty, and other
administrators. They also need
to be able to interact with Dean’s
from other schools; it is a complex
area to manage and knowing how
to develop good relationships is
important.”
In the email to faculty, Sykes
wrote, “The dean of students and
residential life heads an office
comprising an associate dean of
students, five cluster deans, the director of student activities and two
support staff. Areas of supervisory responsibility include residential education, student activities,
senior tea, work duty program,
housing, discipline, student publications, student organizations and
summer opportunities.”
Sykes said that the administrators within the Dean of Students
office will continue to hold their
positions unless one of them is selected to become the new Dean.
English Faculty Fulton, Kelly, Braverman and Fan
Receive Award from Brace Center for Gender Studies
By SARAH JACOBSON
Two former faculty members
and two current faculty members were recently honored with
the Brace Center for Gender
Studies’ McKeen Award, marking the first time that multiple
people have won the award.
Given annually to a member
of the Phillips Academy community, the honoree is “a person
who contributes to improve Phillips Academy as a coeducational
school,” said Brace Center Director Tony Rotundo. This year’s
winners were Instructors in
English Mary Fulton and Lynne
Kelly, and former Instructors
in English Ada Fan and Carole
Braverman. The award is given
in the spirit of Philena McKeen,
a former headmistress of Abbot
Academy.
Rotundo said that the synergy of these people ultimately
created an impact greater than
just four individuals.
Kelly, who arrived at
Andover in 1986, said that she
and the other three recipients
are all good friends who find
that their lives converge outside
of the English department. Both
are mothers, and Kelly is a mother of both genders. Braverman
came to teach at Phillips Academy in 1979, only three years after the school merged with Ab-
Candidates for Dean of Students
Must Apply Before December 19
Continued from Page 1, Column 5
chosen the new Dean of Students
by the end of January in order to
allow sufficient time for them to
become acquainted with their new
position.
“We plan to conclude the selection process by the end of January so that the designee will be
able to shadow Marlys Edwards
through the spring term, an especially busy time in the area of
student life,” wrote Sykes.
The new Dean of Students
will assume his or her position on
July 1, 2008 and continue to be
the Dean for a six-year period, until 2014. After the initial six years,
the Dean may be reappointed for
two two-year long terms.
Sykes wrote, “The dean is a
member of the Senior Administrative Council, the Student Response
Team and Community Health
Team and reports to the Associate
Head of School. Given the job expectations residential experience
is preferred and strong communication skills are required.”
In the email, Sykes invited
current faculty and administration to comment on the role of the
Dean of Students.
She wrote, “The transition offers an opportunity to consider
how the dean of students function
can best serve the needs of the
community. Some of you have
already shared your perspectives.
We welcome further input.”
Sykes said that the School is
looking to start new projects with
the Dean which revolves around
M. Temple/The Phillipian
Edwards will continue as a house counselor next year.
7
Continued from Page 1, Column 4
crease, then-Dean of Admission
Jeannie Dissette, who passed
away in 2003, decided to attempt
to stay need-blind within the insufficient budget.
However, most admitted students of that year’s first round of
admissions needed financial aid.
A total of 170 students on aid
were admitted, and only 120 students on aid were in the graduating senior class. In addition, the
increase in tuition consequently
raised the need of all students on
aid.
“Obviously, we had a problem,” McKee wrote.
Andover considered having its
admission officers revisit schools
and retract the offer of need-blind
admission, explaining that even
the increase in the financial aid
budget could not cover everyone’s
financial needs.
However, admissions officers
felt that they had “put too much
emphasis on the needs blind policy,” according to McKee’s letter.
Then-Chief Financial Officer
Neil Cullen and McKee analyzed
the budget further, looking for a
way to stay need-blind. They proposed a solution that would have
required Andover to cut its building repair and restoration budget.
Instead, then-Trustee and
Chairman of the Finance Committee Rick Beinecke ’62 suggested that the Admissions Office
should take $200,000 from the
endowment as an off-budget expenditure. Then-President of the
Board of Trustees Mel Chapin
’36 approved this proposal.
While the additional funds allowed Andover to stay need-blind
for the next year, they would only
serve as a temporary solution.
According to McKee’s letter, trying to sustain need-blind admission beyond Andover’s capability to do so would have created
a school that was “anything but
needs blind.”
McKee wrote, “It is doubtful
that we will be able to be needs
blind next year and for some
years to come.”
Efforts to regain a need-blind
admission process continued, as
the Office of Academy Resources
fundraised to increase scholarship funds in the endowment.
In 1989, Trustees Dick Goodyear ’59 and John Macomber ’46
chaired a committee responsible
for adding to Andover’s endowment. Every million dollars
raised for the endowment guaranteed $60,000 for financial aid.
Although Andover ceased
to be need-blind after admitting
students in 1989, it remained the
leader in financial aid among its
peer schools, McKee wrote.
Andover allotted 33 percent
of its tuition and fees to the financial aid budget, while all other
schools spent at most 21 percent.
Nancy Jeton, Special Assistant
to the Head of School, said in an
interview last week, “There have
been periods when the school has
briefly gone need-blind but hasn’t
been able to sustain it. [In the
past] I don’t believe the Trustees
voted it to be a perpetual thing,
just a goal on a short-term basis.
What Trustees are now saying is
they’re making a commitment to
sustain in perpetuity and needblind.”
Chase said last week, “Needblind is such a moving target because of the growing diversity of
the pool.” She added that staying
need-blind will require continuous efforts of aggressive fundraising and priority compromises
in the budget.
According to Chase, former
Headmaster John Mason Kemper
announced during the 1950’s that
becoming need-blind was a goal
for Andover.
However, according to Jeton,
the Board of Trustees never voted
on Kemper’s initiative, which
makes it unlikely that this was an
official policy.
THE PHILLIPIAN FEATURES DECEMBER 7, 2007
8
BEST OF FALL TERM
Lawrence Dai ’09
fun facts
The Bicentennial Statue is, in fact, a monument created in reverence of male genitalia, something many students revered at Phillips
Academy until 1973, when the school discovered girls.
The Great Lawn is not so great. In recent years, alumni have been
cited as referring to the lawn as “decent,” “mediocre” and “in need
of a good trim.”
Blue Sharks may cause cancer, don’t taste very good, have a shelf
life of just over 40 years, and have white bellies. The Features Section believes that they should be called, more appropriately, “Blue,
but with white-bellied sharks.”
There is a City of Merpeople under Rabbit Pond. Distant cousins of Ariel (a little mermaid once in show business, now waiting tables), these merpeople keep to themselves. They have only
interacted with students and faculty twice before: once to assist Mrs.
Chase in finding her glasses when they fell into the pond, and once
were part of an event during the Triwizard Cup held at Andover a
few years ago.
Seven out of every 11 students can’t stand reading the Arts Section. This is compared to eight out of every 20 students who enjoy
reading the News section of The Phillipian, and 12 out of every 10
students who can’t get enough of the Features section.
The Grading System from zero to six is unique. In fact, normal
schools give grade point averages between zero and four. Phillips
Academy just decided to make perfection even more difficult to
achieve.
The Bird Sanctuary does not contain any birds, in case any new
students are puzzled as to why their updated bird whistles are sounding to terrible results. The donor was fond of “messing with people”
and gave the money for the paths under the condition that he got to
name them. There are supposedly more birds in Lawrence Dai ’09’s closet than in the Academy’s beloved sanctuary.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, the namesake of Andover’s library, did not read one book in his entire life. But he did once read the back of a
cereal box because he was intrigued by the design of the box-enclosed meal.
The Armillary Sphere contains the first Phillips Academy monument or piece of art that stands as a representation of incest. The rest of
the pieces are hidden through symbolism in artwork throughout the campus, but the sphere is the most significant. Also, after reading this,
there is a three in five chance that you will put down this newspaper and run over to the green globe on the great lawn to check that we at
the Features section are correct. We are, and it’s gross.
--Eli Grober
by Jonathan Adler
EL EDITOR DE FEATURES
As our bus sped away from
the busy streets of Madrid and
rolled north through mountains
and farms, the 29 Andover students
aboard grew increasingly nervous.
We were on our way to Burgos, a
small city in northern Spain where
we would spend the next three and
a half weeks immersed in Spanish
language and culture.
After a two-hour journey, the
city appeared upon the horizon.
Its majestic cathedral, known for
its architecture and expensive gift
shop, towered above surrounding
structures.
The moment when we would
meet our Spanish host-families was
fast approaching. I had emailed my
family, particularly my host-mother, Maria. Our correspondence was
cordial and enjoyable, but I was still
worried about moving into their
home having never met in person.
“Remember,” Señora Medrano
said into the bus’s microphone as
she gripped a seatback to keep her
balance, “The verb excitar does not
mean excited. It has a more sexual
connotation.”
I slumped down in my seat as
I realized that I had informed my
host-mother of how “aroused I was
to meet her.”
At that moment, the bus
screeched to a halt in front of the
Burgos bus station in a large plaza.
Crowded alongside the curb were
dozens of people, eager to meet the
American students they would be
hosting.
“We will call your name and
you will step off the bus one at a
time to meet your families. The rest
of you will remain on the bus,” Señora Medrano told us.
The event had assumed the
format of a reality television show,
where the cocky bachelors descend
from a bus to meet the attractive
girl whose heart they hoped to win
in the ensuing weeks.
When my name was called, I
made my way to the front of the bus.
I looked back and waved goodbye
to my American friends.
Maria stood waiting at the door
of the bus. She welcomed me with
open arms. Unlike the people I had
encountered in Madrid, she smelled
along with it, a lesson. I would
learn that when I didn’t understand
something, I would need to ask.
Maria had tried to tell me that the
bathroom door gets jammed when
it’s closed all the way and that
the sink’s faucets get stuck when
they’re turned too tightly.
I entered the bathroom for my
morning shower and closed the
door tightly. Moments later, when
I was ready to leave the small bathroom, I was unable to pry the door
open. The handle wouldn’t budge.
It was sweltering in the tiny room
from the heat of the shower. After
several attempts, I was so sweaty I
considered taking another shower.
Maybe the door is stuck because the heat from the shower
expanded the wood, I told myself.
Good thinking. I’d just wait a little
while and the door would shrink
back to normal size.
I retrospect, I realize the trouble
someone is in if they’re counting on
a shrinking door to escape a room.
To pass the time, I decided to
shave. I turned on the sink’s faucets
to get some hot water and lathered
up my face with shaving cream.
In order to rinse my hands of the
foamy cream before I gripped my
razor, I tried to turn off the hot faucet to use the cold. But the faucet
was jammed and my hands were
slippery from the cream.
Several frustrating minutes
later, my hands were raw and numb
from efforts to turn the faucet.
My arms were covered in shaving
cream. The faucet was adorned
with thick white dollops of shaving cream from my unsuccessful attempts. The mirror, too, had
somehow gotten involved and was
splattered with cheap Spanish shaving cream.
I was trapped in a Spanish bathroom and slowly losing the ability
to use my hands. I figured I could
eat toilet paper and toothpaste to
survive for a few days.
Luckily, my nine-year-old hostsister, Clara, came to my rescue. She
opened the door just as I finished
cleaning up the bathroom. Only a
moment before, the room looked as
though the Pillsbury Doughboy had
sneezed all over it.
It was my first morning in Burgos. And despite my bathroom sheM.Temple/The Phillipian nanigans, I was excited to be there.
as though she showered regularly.
After a short drive, we stood on
the front steps of the house. Maria
opened the door and I stepped inside.
Maria offered me a tour of her
home. As she described each room,
I wished I had studied the Spanish
vocabulary for furniture and home
items three years before. I could
remember why I hadn’t: “All this
vocab is about stuff at home. If I’m
at home, why would I be speaking
Spanish?”
Maria showed me to the bathroom on the second floor. This was
the bathroom I should use, she informed me.
“But,” she said loudly as she
looked seriously into my eyes, “be
sure you do not...”
My first failure had arrived. I
knew I was being warned not to do
something, but I could not understand what. As Maria continued to
talk and move the bathroom door
back and forth on its hinges, I simply smiled and nodded. I figured I
knew how to use a bathroom.
“Beautiful,” I exclaimed, as we
left the bathroom.
The next morning came and
Jonathan Adler ’08 encountered a messy situation in a Spanish bathroom.
FarEastPhenom: ,  ?
LarryD: umm hey... I can’t really read that sorry
FarEastPhenom: 
LarryD: Ok, whoever this is, all I’m seeing you type is a bunch of
boxes.
FarEastPhenom: 
LarryD: maybe change the font?
FarEastPhenom: , 
LarryD: wait... r u from China?
FarEastPhenom: !!
LarryD: oh... awesome! That makes sense now
LarryD: my computer can’t read Chinese characters. I guess Windows 98 can’t handle it. So I’m guessing you’re a relative of mine?
FarEastPhenom: 
LarryD: cousin Chan, is that you?
FarEastPhenom: !!! 
LarryD: or is it you, Wang?
FarEastPhenom: ...
LarryD: wait... I recognize that dry sense of humor! Cousin Yang!
What’s up, bud?
FarEastPhenom: !! 
LarryD: haha sry about before. it’s just that I get you guys confused sometimes
FarEastPhenom: ?!!?!?!?
!!!
LarryD: oh, no no no. I didn’t mean it like that, man. sry, that
didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean u guys as in like... u know u
guys... I meant u guys... like my cousins u guys... u know?
FarEastPhenom: ?!!
LarryD: no, Yang. I do not discriminate against my own race. I
definitely didn’t mean that. C’mon Yang. Give me a break.
LarryD: I apologize once again, but really, it’s kind of hard to have
a conversation with a guy who’s living in China.
FarEastPhenom: ?
LarryD: no, yang. I did not mean it like that. It’s not like we don’t
have anything in common.
FarEastPhenom: ?!
LarryD: well I’m kind of getting sick of that attitude of yours!
First the lead in the paint and now this!
FarEastPhenom: , .
LarryD: well, it’s not my problem is it?
FarEastPhenom:
!
LarryD: that’s it. I’ve had enough of your complaining. you’re
getting blocked.
FarEastPhenom: alright, dude. peace.
LarryD: WHAT?!?! Yang, you could’ve typed in English this
whole time????
FarEastPhenom: yeah, Lawrence. I just like messing with you,
little cuz. See ya.
FarEastPhenom has signed off at 8:37:14 PM.
If My Body Parts
Could Talk
Biceps: We’re getting a little too big. Some women might
not be able to handle us. I’m sure you’ve noticed lately, but
we’re starting to rip through those GAP Kids t-shirts that
you love wearing. Maybe we should ease up on the tenpound weights that you curl occasionally. Perhaps going
back down to five pounds would help. We just don’t want
to make others feel inadequate around us. Let’s just say
the gun show is still selling tickets and they’re going like
hotcakes.
Third eye: Everything is as usual, master. I am keeping a
close watch over the regular proceedings. There is no worthy activity to report. No one suspects a thing. I am always
watching them, but they are none the wiser. I don’t think
they will ever find us out.
Acne: THE ACID!!! HOW IT BURNS!!!
Tail: Why don’t you ever let me out? Seriously, man. It’s so
suffocating down here. Can’t you just cut like a hole through
the bottom of your pants or something? Give me a little
breathing room. I promise I won’t wag too much.
--Lawrence Dai
THE PHILLIPIAN FEATURES DECEMBER 7, 2007
PHILLIPS ACADEMY
OFFICE OF PHYSICAL PLANT
CONSTRUCTION ALERT
Friday, December 7, 2007
LOCATION:
The Penis Statue, Lawn Beside OWHL
CONSTRUCTION SCOPE:
Circumcision and blessing of the statue. Will include
several relatives and close friends.
ANTICIPATED START DATE:
Monday, December 10, 2007
ANTICIPATED COMPLETION DATE:
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
PROJECT MANAGER:
Rabbi Joshua Rosenblum
PHONE: x4941
9
THE PHILLIPIAN ARTS DECEMBER 7, 2007
Phillipian Arts
Singing Satire and Sarcasm
arcasm
Urinetown: The Musical
W. Hunckler/The Phillipian
Nathalie Sun
school. The Andover Dance Group
(ADG) and the theatre department
had previously worked together,
A culmination of the collabobut never on such a considerable
ration of the Andover theatre descale. It was a difficult process,
partment and the Andover Dance
as dancers rehearsed after classes
Group, the much-anticipated
during the athletic block (in addimusical “Urinetown” creatively
tion to standard ADG practices)
blended singing, dancing and actwhile the actors were taking the
ing with a hearty dash of satirical
musical as a course during the day.
comedy in performances this past
The only time period the groups
weekend.
had to rehearse together was from
Urinetown is a production
6:30-9:00 on Wednesday nights.
about the repercussions of a
Judith Wombwell, the co-di20-year-long drought. The use of
rector and choreographer of Uriprivate toilets has been
netown, remarked of the collabooutlawed and all citizens
ration, “I loved working with the
are required to use exstudents in the course… they were
pensive public amenivery enthusiastic about dancing
ties. The amenities are
the numbers, and I am very proud
owned by a company
of the dancers! I knew they could
called Urine Good
handle the dance… but they all
Company, or the
also needed to sing and act. I think
UGC, which relies
when people come see the show
on the local police
they are probably unaware that
for the enforcethey are looking at two separate
ment of the
groups which was the goal.”
toilet laws.
The musical was fastidiously
Those who
thought out and executed perfail to pay
fectly. Aspects ranging from costume and props to performers and
transitions made Urinetown very
enjoyable. Overall, the musical’s
numbers were jazzy and held a
slightly eerie potency. The costumes were dirty and ragged,
portraying the destitution of the commoners,
or crisp and tailored,
expressing the UGC’s
prosperity. The actors
were able to utilize their
three main props (an elevated platform and two
W. Hunckler/The Phillipian spiral half-staircases) to
their maximum potential
Cladwell, played by Nick Anschuetz ’08, is flanked by dancers Cecilia
by moving them around
Worthington ’08 and Mikaela Sanders ’08 as he sings a solo.
the amenity fee are dragged away
to the mysterious Urinetown.
Caldwell B. Cladwell (played
by Nick Anschuetz ’08) is the unethical, exploitative owner of the
company, and his daughter Hope
(Ellie Shepley ’08) has just begun
working for his company. When
the protagonist, Bobby Strong (Eli
Grober ’09), a commoner blindly
abiding by the law and amenity
fee, meets Hope, they fall helplessly in love, and Bobby reevaluates his priorities. Soon, he initiates a revolution at Amenity 9.
Urinetown was a successful
mingling of incorporated sexual
innuendo, spin-offs of other wellknown musicals and fine-tuned
exaggeration. Notably, Urinetown
was the first end-of-term production ever in which Andover’s
dance and theatre departments collaborated, making it
an extremely
pivotal performance for the
“The Ryley Room, which had served as a cozy
escape from the harsh New England winters, was
arguably the most popular social scene at Phillips
Academy. Underwood Room has recently replaced
the demolished Ryley Room as the main room for
future dances, social functions and other student
events.”
Underwood recently hosted the popular blacklight
dance. Did it live up to students’ expectations?
Find out on Page 5
M. Discenza/The Phillipian
the stage to add depth and create
different situations.
Kitten Sherrill ’10 commented,
“I really liked how they used the
whole theatre; there were actors
in the balconies, running down
the aisles… it kept your attention
moving. I also loved the music
because it was a student orchestra
and I was impressed by how well
it set the mood.”
Initially, the theatre department had a tough time deciding
which musical would be performed. When Urinetown was
finally chosen, they had a few
qualms. Wombwell said, “If I had
originally known that we would be
doing Urinetown, I would probably have kept the dance show a
separate entity because there is not
that much dance in this musical.
However, it has been a spectacular
experience for everyone involved
including me, and in the end it
worked out well.”
Many members of both the
theatre department and ADG were
very enthusiastic about the collaboration. “I would say the best
part of Urinetown was meeting
all the actors because as a dancer,
I wasn’t really attracted [by] the
whole acting part of the program,”
said Sayer Mansfield ’10.
Thor Shannon ’09, who played
Mr. McQueen in the musical,
agreed with Mansfield. He said,
“My favorite part about being in
Urinetown, personally, was getting to meet so many great people
whom I otherwise might not have
met. As a new student, it was wonderful getting to meet such capable people who shared my interest
in theater. All of the other students
in the show were so talented, not
Lucas McMahon ’08 lifts up Abby Colella ’08.
W. Hunckler/The Phillipian
to mention hilarious, which made
rehearsals a blast.”
Coming from two separate
worlds, the Andover Dance Group
and theatre department worked
tirelessly to combine such specialized talent into one seamless show.
Wombwell perfectly illustrated the
high level of dedication, creativity
and hard work the cast contrib-
uted to Urinetown: “The dancers
worked in the sport time, and the
actors worked in the course time
and then we had Wednesday night
to put everything together, plus
learn all the music—quite a challenge! If you saw the show you
must understand how talented the
cast is to pull this off.”
sues setting things up; the music was
far too loud for the crowd members
sitting near the front and the performers stopped playing after their
second song because they thought
the audience couldn’t hear them.
Farrow explained this wasn’t the
case, but they still made the sound
guys come back on stage to check.
Stevens made a somewhat inappropriate comment about one of the
sound crew’s “orange boxers” as he
attempted to fix things.
“They’re [performers Allison and Stevens] so obnoxious!”
exclaimed one audience member
while watching this scene.
Despite these low points, their
music was polished and interesting.
Allison played mostly serious songs
about love and fitting in, whereas
Josh’s sense of humor came through
in his choice of music. The two contrasted each other perfectly.
One of their more entertaining
songs was Pepsi-Cola’s new theme
song. The refrain repeated “As long
as there’s rock and roll and PepsiCola!” Stevens encouraged the
audience to sing along, and almost
everyone did.
The duo tried to break up their
music with stories and crowd interaction, but they tended to be too
short and far between. The show felt
like it went by too quickly, with Allison and Stevens just playing one
song after another.
Another issue was the lack of
seating. This has been a problem at
Ryley events before and now that
Underwood has most of Ryley’s old
furniture, the same problem persists.
Students who arrived early enough
secured seats at the tables and on
the couches, but quite a few people
were forced to settle down on the
floor or stand on the sides or back
of the room.
Farrow and Kozloff’s pleas to
the audience to stay for the night’s
duration really worked. While a
few people filtered out, the majority of the audience remained for the
whole coffeehouse, getting louder
and more into the music as the night
progressed. By the final song, the
crowd was clapping and hooting.
It is obvious that Underwood
will never be the same as Ryley.
But, judging by the turnout at this
first event, “The U” is proving to be
a worthy substitute.
Allison Unveils Underwood
Lynx Mitchell
‘Twas the Grand Opening “The
U,” and all through the place, every student was laughing with a
smile on his face. Despite the chilly
weather outside, quite a few students
braved the cold trek to our new
Ryley Room last Friday night. With
enough acoustic music to satisfy almost everyone, Underwood Room’s
first coffeehouse was a success.
Sadiqa Farrow ’09 and Jill Kozloff’s
’09 humorous introductions, several
amazing student performances and
country music by special guests
from Nashville, Tennessee made the
“The U’s” first event an enjoyable
time for everyone.
Although called a “coffeehouse,” refreshments took the form
of milk, apple cider and holiday
cookies that the crowd munched
throughout the evening. For lack of
anywhere better to put them, these
treats were located on top of the old
Ryley trash cans.
Lily Shaffer ’10 started things
off by moving the audience with a
song she wrote herself called “Modestly, Easily, Honestly.” Then, Lucy
Bidwell ’09 and Danica Mitchell
’09 strummed their guitars and sang
“Fake Plastic Trees,” good-naturedly smiling through a few technical
difficulties. Avery Stone ’10 followed, and her musical talents really
shone as she performed her original
song, “Blush.” Veronica Faller ’09
and Kim Kuoch ’09 sang “Ever the
Same” next, strong and clear. The
last student act was Zox’s “Anything
But Fine” by Chris Wade ’08 on the
guitar and Dan Silva ’08 singing.
Farrow and Kozloff then went
on stage to introduce the special
guest performers. Attempting to
prevent the frequently occurring
situation where students repeatedly
drop in out of performances, they
begged the audience “Please don’t
leave!” They made Tennessee T’s
to welcome Meg Allison and Joshua
Stevens to the stage.
Allison and Stevens have both
been on Nashville Star, the country
music version of American Idol, as
well as touring colleges around the
country. But, this was the first time
they had ever performed at a boarding school. Both strummed their
guitars and sang about 15 songs
with topics ranging from serious romance to cocaine addiction.
The sound crew had a few is-
M. Discenza/The Phillipian
Guest singer Meg Allison sings at the grand opening of “The U.”