Vol. LXXXVI, No. 1 DEERFIELD ACADEMY, DEERFIELD, MA 01342 April 27, 2011

JOHN REESE RESIGNS

By JOSH MARXContributing Writer

What began as a peacefulprotestagainstadictator,oneof manyrecentlyintheMiddleEast,evolved into a multi-nationalmilitary conflict when UnitedStates armed forces fired 120Tomahawk missiles at Libyanground forces on March 19.In late February, President

Barack Obama abandoned hisimpartial stance on the conflictinLibyaandmovedtofreezethecountry’s assets in U.S. banks,seizingover$33billion.Asworldleaders convened to discussfurtheraction,ColonelMuammarQadaffi, dictator of Libya,announced that he would have“nomercy”onhisownpeople.Unable to risk waiting any

longer, Mr. Obama orderedan attack on Libya in orderto establish a “no-fly zone.”Seventeenyearsago,America

was blamed for allowing themassmurderof 800,000civiliansin the Rwandan genocide,

By CHARLES JONESStaff Writer

The newly-minted CultureClub wrote and submittedthree proposals that tacklethe problem of gender-imbalanced representation onStudent Council. These plansrange from establishing dualgender co-presidents with theeliminationof theChairpositionto a more moderate genderequality mandate that wouldmaintain the current president/chair system while requiringthat each class’ representativesbe gender balanced.Science teacher and Culture

Club founder Brian Fry laudedthe club’s stance. “I believegender issues on campus are

IMAGINE DEERFIELD: Roadmap for the Future

By SARAH WOOLFFront Page Editor

As positive trends emergein the economy, the ImagineDeerfieldstrategicplanisbackinactionwiththerecentpublicationand distribution of the firstset of implementation plans.Imagine Deerfield began

with the appointment of Headof School Margarita Curtis.“It was a good moment totake stock and get organized,”said history teacher ThomasHeise, co-chair of the StrategicPlanning Committee. In 2009,whentheboardof trusteesreadover the finalized plans, theywere unanimously approved. “It’s an attempt to sustain

excellence, whether in theclassroom getting a liberal artseducation, at a sit-down mealbuilding character, or partakingin the DAPP program anddeveloping an ethic of service,”said Dr. Curtis. “We areexaminingthecoretraditionsof Deerfield, affirming the best of ourpast,whilepreparingfortheexigencies of the new century.”“Theworldischangingrapidly,

andinordertoremaintruetoourmission, we must consider thedefinition of citizenship in the21stcentury.Wewant toensurethat our graduates are morallygrounded, globally literate,technologically adept, andenvironmentally responsible,”Dr. Curtis continued. A major advancement

already in effect is a boost infinancial aid. In the fiscal year2012, $300,000 was addedto the financial aid budget.

Another major initiativeunderway is the expansion of the faculty. “The more facultymemberswehave,themoretimewe can allocate for their ownlearning and renewal,” said Dr.Curtis,“ensuringthattheyremainvibrant in theclassroom,ontheplayingfield,inthestudio,orinadorm throughout their careers.”There are also tentative

plans to build another dormand to expand global facultyintiativesbysendingmemberstooverseas enrichment programs.Some, however, feel that a

strategic plan brings the schooltoo close to the corporateworld that is so differentfrom the world of education.“People view systematic

planningandfocusonoutcomesas corporate,” responded Dr.Curtis, “but I don’t see thedichotomy. Youcanbeawarmnurturing community whileensuring the delivery of a top-quality experience.” In fact,accordingtoMr.Heise,Deerfieldisoneof thelastof themajorprepschoolstoimplementsuchaplan.“A way to think of it is to

compare it to a classroom,”Dr.Curtis continued. “The teachercreates a syllabus and coursestructure. Goals are definedand students are expected toachieve them. The teacherputs into place a sequenceof activities and assignmentsthat will get them there.”“In running a school, as in

runningaclassroom,wehaveputfortharoadmapforourfutureinorder to achieveour goals,” shesaid.“Andbecauseit’saschool,it’sultimatelyallaboutthestudents.”

manifested in leadership roles,”hesaid.“Statisticsshowoverthelasttenyearsthebreakdownhasbeenroughly70%male,andwe’veonlyhadonefemalepresidentinthat time,” Mr. Fry continued.At a Culture Club meeting

earlier this month, club advisorandhealthteacherKristinLoftuscommented,“StudentCouncilisa representative body; perhapsits membership should moreaccuratelyreflecttheequalgenderbreakdownof thestudentbody.”Currently,thefifteen-member

counciliscomposedof tenboysand five girls. That imbalance

doesnotstretchintothehighestlevel of leadership, however.“ThePresidentandChairare

onanequalplane,andareoftengender balanced,” said StudentCouncil Chair Ellie Parker’11. “The two positions aredifferentiated by delegation of dutiesandnotbyprestige.”Parkercontinued,“Isupportthetrickle-upproposal, inwhichallclasseselectbothagirlandboyrep,whileensuring the presidential andchair elections remain organic.”Another, more restrained

counterproposalcameinlightof thediscoverythatfemalestudents

are indeed elected despiterepresentingonlyasmallfractionof thecandidatepoolonelectionday. Council representativesare now working to encourageuntapped yet qualified girls toconsider running for election.“Iwouldbereallyimpressedif

Council,leadersinthecommunity,andadultscouldsustainaneffortto encourage girls to run…but I realize it might be moreeffective to model a balancedcouncil first,” said Parker.Some members of Culture

Club and Student Councilargued that socially engineering

student government removesthe democratic element, andthusreducesitssymbolicweight.At the Culture Club meeting,variousversionsof theclaim“wewant the best council possible,regardlessof genderbreakdown,”were heard early and often.This cry for meritocracy will

need to be weighed against thenearly unanimous agreement of theStudentCouncilwithstudentbodyPresidentCharlesGiannini’11, who said, “Gender equalitymustbeatoppriorityinleadershippositions. The question thatremainsishowbesttoachieveit.”

NEWS UPDATE: LIBYA

After 27 years, TheaterDirectorJohnReesewillresignattheendof thisschoolyear.When he began teaching

here, play rehearsals took placeafter classes and an afternoonof sports.Thatscheduleprovedtoo taxing forbothhimandhisstudents, so Mr. Reese pushedfor a co-curricular theater spot.The productions and students’academic work improveddramatically.Mr. Reese came to the

school in 1984 because formerHeadmaster Robert Kaufmanwished to enhance Deerfield’stheater and music programsto offer a more fully roundedliberal arts education.Mr.Reeseisnowconcernedthatschedulingcomplications may edge outthe value the school places ona liberal arts education. “It isbecoming increasingly difficultfor students to add performingartstotheirschedules,”hesaid.During his first seven years,

Mr. Reese taught five classesevery term and directed extra-curricular productions whilebeinganassociateinadorm.Healso contributed ideas towardsplansforthenewtheaterwing—the Reid Black Box. Mr. Reesehopes that, in the future, it willbecome easier for students toenrollinaperformingartscourse.“These classes give studentsconfidence, and enhance theirpresentationandcommunicationskills,”Mr.Reesesaid.He believes that “the arts

cut across all disciplines andviscerally enrich students’ lives.They provide new ways of learning about themselves andtheworldinwhichtheylive.”

forever staining the Clintonadministration. Mr. Obama’scritics suggest that fear of asimilar humanitarian tragedyled America into the air strike.The president stated that hewilltake“allnecessarymeasuresto protect the Libyan people.”TheRepublicanPartyopposed

theconflictinLibya,arguingthatitsgrowingcost isunsustainablefortheU.S.inlightof therecentbudget disputes. Many of thesame politicians who resistAmerican intervention in theconflict remain loyal supportersof the Iraqwar,whichhas costU.S. taxpayers over $900 billiondollarssinceSeptember11,2001.Thepresidentmet challenges

in defending the Libyanintervention. Each Tomahawkmissile fired costs an estimated$1.41 million, setting the totalcostof thebarrageonMarch19at $169million taxpayer dollars.Obama has yet to

publicize plans for the endof the conflict, while Qadafficontinues to cling to power.

Balancing Gender on Student Council

page4

Ties:TasteorTorture?

page5

whompwhompwhomp

page6

Tossin’SomeDisc

For a brief moment in time, the sun graces us with its presence.

Ashley So

Results from the April 18 Gender Proposal Survey

By SARAH WOOLFFront Page Editor

2 The Deerfield Scroll OPINION/EDITORIAL April 27, 2011

VOL.LXXXVI,NO.1 APRIL27,2011

Editor-in-ChiefANNA GONZALES

Front PageSARAH WOOLF

Opinion/EditorialELIZABETH WHITTON

Arts & EntertainmentHADLEY NEWTON

FeaturesDANIELLE DALTON

SportsCLAIRE HUTCHINS

Photo EditorBEN BOLOTIN

Video EditorKEVIN TANG

Layout EditorDANIEL HAN

Online Editors

JAKE BARNWELLMARLY MORGUS

Editorial AssociatesSAMMY HIRSHLAND

KRISTY HONGCASEY BUTLER

JOHN LEE

AdvisorsSUZANNE HANNAY & JOHN PALMER

The Deerfield Scroll, established in 1925, is the official student newspaper of Deerfield Academy. The Scroll encourages informed discussion of pertinent issues that concern the Academy and the world. Signed letters to the editor that express legitimate opinions are welcomed. We hold the right to edit for brevity. The Scroll is published eight times yearly. Advertising rates provided upon request.

Opinion articles with contributors’ names attached represent the views of the respective writers. Opinion articles without names represent the consensus views of the editorial staff.

STAFF REPORTERS:Charlotte Allen, Delaney Berman, Nolan Bishop, Caitlin Cleary, Charlie Cory, Ross

Gordon, Charles Jones, Joshua Kim, Caroline Kjorlien, Stephanie Kuo, Maddie Lane, Henry Lewis, Sha

Li, Ryan Logie, Miranda McEvoy, Eliza Mott, Emily Ng, Nicky Rault, Carly Reilly, Justin Schlacks, Nina

Shevzov-Zebrun, Sharon Tam, Tabata Viso, Kyle Wellner, Elisabeth Yancey, Hyun Yang, Nicholle Yu

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS:Sarah Cox, William Fox, Lena Mazel, Louisa Schiefflin, Ashley So

The Deerfield Scrollthisyearaimstobeatoolincreatingawareness,stimulatingdiscussion,andgeneratingactioninthestudentbody.Tothisend,wewishtoworkcloselywiththeStudentCouncil,reportingonchangesinadministrativepoliciesandnewproposalsthatdirectlyaffectstudents.AsImagineDeerfieldisphasedintoeffect,wewillcoverandinterpretkeyaspectsof theschool’sstrategicplan,examiningtheirsignificanceinourlivesintheclassroom,thedormitory,andtheathleticfields.Recognizingthestudentbody’scollectivemembershipinanincreasinglypoliticizedandtechnologicallychangingworld,wewillalsolookoutsideof Deerfieldfornews.Withwell-researchedreportingoncurrentevents,suchasbudgetcutsonCapitolHillandairstrikesonLibya,bothincludedinthisissue,welooktoinformstudents,arousetheircuriosity,andincitedebateandopinionformationonthesetopics.Todothis,wewillrelyuponourstaff writers,who,inwritingpassionatelyabouttopicsthatexcitethem,carrytheresponsibilityandhonorof informingourreadership.

The Scroll’sgoalswouldbeimpossiblewithoutbuildinguponthestrongtraditionof tactfulandintelligentreporting,writing,editing,toughdecision-making,andGlee-soundtrack-listeningthatwenowinheritfromformerEditor-in-Chief Elisabeth Strayer ’11 and her staff, and continue under the brilliant, endlesslypatientadvisoryof Ms.HannayandMr.Palmer.Iwouldalsoliketothanktheneweditorialboardforthediligence,fearlessness,grammaticalandtechnologicalskills,andwillingnesstoreceivean incrediblenumberof emailsthattheyhaveshownthusfar.Wecannotsucceedwithoutreaders,of course,andsobydistributingThe Scrolldirectlytodormitories

andmailingithomeagaintoparentswewantmorepeopletoseethepaperandenjoyitscontents.Wehopethatotherstudents,parents,alumni,faculty,andstaff willfeelinspiredtosendsomethingtoThe Scrollthemselves,respondingtoorwritingarticlesandaddingtheirvoicestotheongoingconversation.If youhaveanideaaboutsomethingyou’dliketoseeinThe Scroll,anopinion,aquestion,orevenanexclamation,pleaseshareitwithusatscroll@deerfield.eduoragonzales@deerfield.edu.Welookforwardtohearingyourthoughtsandyourvoices!

PAX.-AnnaGonzalesEditor-in-Chief

Graffiti on the Koch: Shame and Respect

No Pain, No GainDebatesaboutfederalbudgetcutsdominatedthepolitical realm

recently.PresidentObamaandcongressionalleadersnarrowlyavoid-edacompletegovernmentshutdownbyfinallyagreeingtoaplanthatshouldreducethefederaldeficitbynearly$40billionfromthisyear’sbudget.Butelectedofficials remainfundamentallydividedover thedirectionof nationalpriorities,withRepublicanspushing formorecutsinsocialprogramsandDemocratspetitioningforhighertaxratesforthewealthy.MostAmericanshaveexperiencedfinanciallossesoruncertaintiesrecently.Deerfieldhasnotbeenimmune,withouren-dowmentlowerandtheneedforfinancialaidhigher.Noonewantstofacefurtherpainthroughmoretaxesorcuts.Buttherealityisthatwewillallhavetomakefurthersacrificessoournationcan“livewithinitsmeans.”Aswebecome eligible to vote, it is imperative thatwemakeanefforttostayintelligentlyinformed,andthenselectleaderswhowillprotectindividualrightsandthosewhotrulyneedhelp,whileholdingallAmericansaccountableinbuildingasustainablefuture.

A Place Where Dreams Come TrueBy KEVIN TANG

Video Editor

Acloudof sicklygreensmokefilled the stage and a maniacallaughpiercedthesunnymorning.Maleficent arrived to proclaimthat Disney World was now “aplace where nightmares cometrue.”Obviously, our valiant hero

Mickey Mouse wasn’t going toletthishappen.Hepleadedwiththe audience to believe in theirdreams;Maleficentcouldonlybedefeatedif theybelievedintheirdreamshardenough. “Let’ssayit together now. Dreams cometrue, dreams come true, dreamscometrue.”The crowd, however, didn’t

respond to the participationelement. I heard more of therecording than anybody actuallychanting.Withaboom,fireworksshot out and Maleficent wasvanquished.From the moment you walk

onto Main St. in the MagicKingdom, you enter a fantasylandwhere“if youcandreamit,itcanhappen.”AllMickeyasksisthatyoubelieveinyourdreamsand themagic will take care of therest.Disney, through its influence

onthelivesof childrengrowingup in America, lends its voiceto theAmericandream. Ratherthan the “roads paved withgold” that immigrants heardabout before they arrived atEllis Island, the dream hasmorphed into a roadof infinitepossibilities,determinedsolelyby

Letter from the Editor

Wewishtoextendourdeepestsympathyto

NancyChungloandtoherfamily

onthedeathof herfatherRichardLanen

yourambition.Yet behind all the fireworks,

you must eventually arrive at abold statement: the only reasonwhy your dreams didn’t cometrueisbecauseyoudidn’tbelieveinthemhardenough.As I stood there listening

to the applause, I looked overat my dad, who was taping theperformance. Iwonderedwhathe thought of the whole thing.“Don’tmakemistakes,”hewouldalwaystellme.Mydad’sdoctrinealways focused on reducingmistakes. Beingmeticulous andpreventing mistakes ahead of timewas the only way to reachyourgoal.Anythingworthdoingisalsoworthchecking.My parents learned this

philosophy firsthand growingupinChina.Theschoolsystemthey attended was completelyperformance based. Gradeswere based on mid-term andfinal exams; the college processhinged around a single, long,comprehensivestandardizedtest.A mistake meant you wouldn’tget into the college that youdreamedof.Oddlyenough,afterall those stressful teenage years,myparentsoptedforthemedicalfield, where their decisionscarryseriousconsequences. Myparents succeeded by practicinga lot of self-discipline, doublechecking work and minimizinganychanceof error.My parents’ model offered

a different answer from thatof Disney. If I fall short of my goals, itwouldbebecause Iwasn’tmeticulousenough,simple

asthat. “Don’tmakemistakes,”mydadwouldalwaystellme.How could my dad stand

there, smiling as he taped thisperformance? Didn’t he seethe apparent differences inphilosophy? TherewasMickey,smilinghisunwaveringsmileandwaving at the audience,offeringhismessageof faith.Thentherewasmydad,urgingself-disciplineastheonlywaytosuccess.NomatterwhichwayIrotated

orflippedthetwodoctrines,theywouldn’t mesh. Yet there wasmy dad, fully able to reconcilewhat he saw with what hepreached. Eventually, I cameto the conclusion that they areactually responding to differentquestions. Disney is tryingto distill what the Americandream stands for. My parentsactually subscribe to Disney’sphilosophy;thereasonwhytheyleft their families and venturedhalfway around the world wasbecause America representedopportunity.Belief plays an integral part

infurtheringthedream,becauseyou must first recognize theopportunityisthere.Myparentsaresimplytryingtoteachmehowto takeadvantageof thedream,whatitrequires,andwhatwillaidme.Thetwophilosophiesdidn’trepresent two roads heading indifferentdirections,buttheyarepiecesof thesamepuzzle,which,if piecedtogether,givesusawaytofulfillourdreams.

This is Kevin Tang’s Junior Declamation.

Noneof uswilleverforgettheshameof havingaSecondVisitDay soiledby the cowardly actof oneormoreprotestors.We areall for freedom of speech and we understand that individuals inour communitymay at times strongly disagreewith the actions ordecisionsof others.Butdefacingabuildingwithrantsandaccusationsrightbeforeoneof ourmostpublicoccasionsisnotanactionworthyof Deerfieldstudents.WhenweallgatheredbeforeSundaysit-downdinner to face this situation, the roomwas absolutely silent asDr.Curtisremindedusof theimportanceof characterandrespect.Mr.Emersonhadneverappearedsodisappointed.AndMr.Flaska,whoalongwiththeotherdeanshastobalancehisrolesasfriendlymentorandultimateruleenforcer,spokeabouthisabidingcommitmenttoDeerfieldandtoallitsstudents.Thissituationshouldmakeusallre-examineourcommitmentto

respectingthebeautifulcampusandcommunityinwhichwelive.Howmanytimeshavewewalkedbyoverflowingtrashcansinastairwell,ignoredthepileof dirtyplatesintheGreer,orleftourweightsscatteredonthefloorof thenewfitnesscenter?If wepretendedeverydaywasaSecondVisitDay,wemighttreatourDeerfieldworldalittlebetter.Asspringarrivesandflowersbloom,let’sdoourownspringcleaninginbigandsmallways,anddemonstratethatweallareworthyof ourheritage.

Startingnextyear,theDisciplinaryCommitteewillberestructuredandmemberswillmeetonamoreregularbasis.Thesereformsexpandtheroleandresponsibilitiesinvolvedwithbeingacommitteemem-ber.YettheelectionprocessforDCremainsunchangedthisyear:studentsonlyneedtoself-nominatebyhighlightingtheirnames.Withamultitudeof standardizedteststoprepareforandapplicationstofillout,springtermisbusy

enoughasitis.However,byallowingstudentstosimplyhighlighttheirwayontotheballot,theprocessdoesnotencouragestudentstocarefullyconsiderbeforeapplying.Studentsarenotforcedtocontemplatewhethertheywilldevotethetimeorif theywillbegoodcandidates.Instead,theonlyquestiontheprocessseemstoaskis:DoIhaveanythingtolosebyhighlightingmyname?Formoststudents,theanswerisno.Perhaps,inordertorunforelection,arequiredparagraphaboutwhatmakesagoodDCmembermaychangethis“nothingtolose”mentality.

More Leadership...“Nothing to Lose” Mentality

As Tyannis Carter ’11 so boldly put it, “This is not what Deerfield is about. This is not what my four years are, or

what I want them to reflect.”

Koch Graffiti Commentary:

The Deerfield Scroll OPINION/EDITORIAL April 27, 2011 3

FACES IN THE CROWD: Responses to Race to Nowhere

Race to Somewhere: DA Speaks Out About Success and Stress

By STUART BICKNELLContributing Writer

Is stress a problem here atDeerfield? Truth be told, stressis a fact of life. Some degreeof stress is expected, living inaworldwithhighexpectationsandmultiple responsibilities. It canbeneutral, positive, ornegative.In many school environments,theethicseemstobethatif youaren’t stressed and overworked,you’renotworkinghardenough.Thetalkamongstudentsand

adults is how much work theyhave,howlittletimetheyhavetodoit,andhowlowtheirreservesare(lackof sleep)whenitcomestomanagingit.Stress is a timely topic, one

that has received a heavy doseof attention with the releaseof the documentary film Race to Nowhere. TheNew York Timesand other national publicationsrecentlypaidtheirrespectstotheissue.Highly stressed secondaryschoolandcollegestudentsareapopulartopicof conversationinthelayandprofessionalpress.Research for stressfocus.com

reports that school work andparentstopthestresslistfor78%of teenagers.Inourenvironment,anxietyaboutcollegeadmissionsrises to the top of the list of stressors late in the junior year.Additionally, some students feelstressed about social concernsincluding friendships, dating,appearance, and family financialcircumstances.Whilestresscanbeapositive

motivator, too much stress canbe physically and emotionallydraining.ManyDeerfieldfamilieschoose this school because it isa competitive, action-packed

Redefine Success!By EMILY

GALINDO ’09Contributing Writer

Ring! Ring! Ring! AlmosteverymorningatDeerfieldstartswiththesameloudalarm.Rarely,if ever, is there theopportunitytowakeupwhenonefeelslikeit.Thenthereistherushtoaseven-hour-day of classes, an houror two of practice, a forty-fiveminute sit-down dinner, somefree time and then two hoursof studyhallbeforeabreak fora feed, followed by somemorework before bed.Assuming, of course,thatyouaren’tapresidentof a club, proctor, or someonewhohashobbies.Your two AP classes, team,

club, proctoring, hobbies, andlimited free time for friends areallworthit,though,becausethewell-roundedstudentyoustrovetobecomeforthreeyearspavedthe way for your acceptanceinto an Ivy League college orits equivalent. Your late nightsof stayingup, sacrificingGreer-timefor study-time,doingworkforaclassyoupossiblycarelittleabout, andgoing to the gym totrain for your sport off-seasonwereallworthit!Orwerethey?Recentlyadocumentarycame

out thatmakesmequestion thevalueof thosesacrificesImadeat Deerfield to be the perfectcollege candidate. It is calledRace to Nowhere(aplayon“Raceto the Top?”) and was madeby a filmmaker/mom, VickiAbeles, who asked herself thatveryquestionwhenshesawherchildren getting physically sickfromthestresstheyaccumulatedinschool.Especiallyshockingtoher was a 13-year-old friend of her daughter who committedsuicideafterfailingamathtest.Abeles asks herself why this

girlwouldcommitsuicidewhenkidshavefailedmathtestssincemath tests came into existence.The answer is pretty simple. Itis not the math tests that havechanged; it is our attitudestowardthemthathave.Kidsfeel

environment with the potentialtobringoutthebestintheirsonsanddaughters.Parents and teachers talk

aboutwantingstudentstothrivehere, not merely survive. Formany,that’sindeedwhathappens—the stress they experience isfunctional—andthey thrive.Forothers it can feel like a survivalordeal. Knowing when stressis out of control, and thendetermininghowtobackitdown,canbedifficulttodetermine.Theright amount of push-and-pullforonepersonmaybetoomuchfor another. Students wonderwhether their experience of overload is a personal problemor generated by an institutionalorcommunitynorm.What else can we do as a

community to make thrivingeveryone’s experience? In2009, we delayed the start tothe academic day. That was asignificant move in the rightdirection, an appreciation of the importance of sleep forgrowing adolescents. We try tobe sensitive to minimizing add-ons.Wehave rulesabout lengthof assignments, clustering of tests, and enforced quiet timesin the dorms. Some of thoserules are more respected thanothers. Winter massages anddress-down days are a modestnod toward shifting from acrazypace.Deans,advisors, andteachers are available for extrahelp and support all day andintothenight.Proctorsandpeercounselorsworkhardtosupportstudents experiencing social andemotional distress. The HealthCenterprovidesasaferetreatfortheoverwhelmed.Counselorsareavailable to respond to students

feelingpressedandstressed.Theintroductionof aResidentialLifeCurriculummayalsoprovetobeapositivesteptowardaddressingthecomplexitiesof dormliving.Some of these solutions areintended to be proactive (8:30start) and some are reactive(recuperation at the HealthCenter). These efforts andlimits are necessary —but notsufficient—asstress-reducers.Tackling this issue and

its attending challenges in ameaningful way is well beyondwhat I can discuss here. Howdoes the college admissionprocess play in this quandary?DoDeerfield’spaceanddemandsappropriately prepare studentsforcollegeandadultlife?AreAPsa culprit? Are we, parents andteachers,modeling healthy adultlifestyles? Might we choose tobuildintothedailyscheduletimefor reflection and meditation?Whatisourcollectiveexperienceof “community”?What happened to the “less-

is-more”movement?Howmuchof the stress is self-imposed asstudents push themselves toachieveatthehighestlevels(being“pretty good” at somethingdoesn’tseemtocutitanymore)?Isn’t this a cultural

phenomenon, a problem sharedby, at the very least, all of ourpeerschools?We shouldbewilling to look

at and talk about how andwhywedowhatwedo.Focusingonthe topic of stress will advancetheconversation.

Stuart Bicknell has been a psychologist at Deerfield since 1985.

nowthattheymustnotonlyexcelateverytest,butcompletethemperfectly;asonegirlinterviewedin the documentary asks, “Howdoyouexpectustodowellwhenwecan’tevenmakemistakes?”“The pressures come from

the colleges, from the parents,from the government. It has tostop,” says a teacher from thedocumentary. I agree. Collegeadvisorssaythat“reach”schoolswon’t become “probable” untilwe take another AP, and addon another club. Parents areno better, repeating the samemessage at home, and oftenmuch more frequently thenour advisors do. Ultimately wemustaskourselves,isthisworthit?One official in the

documentary clearly answeredthis question by apprehensivelystatingthatshe’safraid“childrenare going to sue us for stealingtheir childhoods.” This mightbe a bit of an overstatement,because we can’t possibly hateall of our commitments; firingquickcomebackstoMr.Dduringmy art exemption or sitting inFrancoise’s apartment after alongnightof proctordutymakeup some of my best memoriesatDeerfield.Butwhataboutmyfailed attempts at Calculus andchemistry? Did I really need toputmyself throughthosepains?Doyou?Deerfield,Iaskyoutoredefine

“success!” Is it staying up untiltwointhemorningfortheclassthatmakesyourheadhurt,or isit throwingaroundaFrisbeeonthelower levels?Is itsigningupforyourthirdcluborhavingtimeto read Twilight? Only you cananswerthequestionforyourself,but perhaps it is time to openthe discussion to the Deerfieldcommunityandnotonlyredefinepersonalsuccessbutredefinetheimages of the ideal “DeerfieldBoy”and“DeerfieldGirl.”

Emily Galindo ’09 is a sophomore at Middlebury College.

HIGH SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE: DON’T LET STRESS KEEP YOU FROM THRIVING

SILENCED BY THE COLLEGE BOARDBy MEGHANA

VUNNAMADALA Contributing Writer

America was founded on the fundamental principles of freedom of expression, equality of opportunity, and democracy.Each year, the SAT forces

millions of students to sit ingyms and press microscopiclayersof graphite intoabubble.Toacertainextent,theSATputshigh school students in a boxand hands them a number thatrepresents their “net value”—whatthey’reworth.The21stcenturyismarkedby

experimentationand innovation.Why does the SAT—a rigid,objective test—still hold greatvalueintheacademicsocietyand,moreover, the college admissionprocess?When it comes to expressing

yourself ontheSAT,you’regivenameager 25minutes to addressyour opinion on a given topic.

English teacher Frank Henry says...“I spoke to an advisee about her course of study. She picked out every single class based on how it will look on her transcript.”

Rachel Gibson ‘11 says...“I brought the film to Deerfield so that students and faculty could see different opinions about the stresses teenagers endure. The pressures and stresses that some students feel are not unique to Deerfield.”

Academic Dean Peter Warsaw says...“Deerfield Students are by far the happiest students I’ve ever known. But I think Race to Nowhere makes us question how important homework is.”

Hadley Newton

More often than not, studentschoosetowriteanessayarguingthe side with more evidencerather than the one they trulybelievein.Democracy allows for the

voice of every citizen to beheard. Yet the College Board,a corporation, has a loudervoiceandgreater impactonourcollegeadmissionsthanourownaccomplishments.Moreover,theyouthof America are not silentbecause they are too distractedby music pulsing through theireardrums or videos blinkingin their eyes, but because theyhave been silenced by the so-called“reputable”and“reliable”colleges that choose to use thisfaulty marker, the SAT, to mapourintelligenceandpotential.Education is known as the

great equalizer, bringing socialclasses closer together withoutcompletely amalgamating them.America is known for having alarge middle class. America is

known for having a structurededucation system where “nochildisleftbehind.”YettheSAT,a testmeant toreflect the idealsof American education andpromote a middle class, is onlydrivingsocialclassesapart.Isitreasonablethatthefutureof America pays $44 to take a testthat doesn’t even promote theidealsof Americansociety?We should rise above the

SAT, and embrace tests suchas “The Rainbow Project,”created by Yale psychologistRobert Sternberg that aimsto test problem-solving andcreativity rather than analyticalskills. Although unlikely to beadopted by colleges in the nearfuture, “The Rainbow Project”and other similar tests accountfor theprinciplesof democracy,freedom of expression, andequalityof opportunity.

This is Meghana Vunnamadala’s Junior Declamation.

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4 The Deerfield Scroll FEATURES April 27, 2011

By CHARLOTTE ALLENStaff Writer

One would think that the few inches of slushy wet snow that made an appearance on the first revisit day would have affected not only the mood, but also the general feel of the day, but this was proven wrong in the comments of visitor Signe Alh, a student admitted to the class of 2014. “Everything about it was great,” she said, “from the sit-down lunch to the

Arriving as a Stranger & Leaving as a Member of the Community

By ELISABETH YANCEYStaff Writer

On a campus filled with personalities both creative and individual, it is no wonder that, despite the dress code, one article of clothing shines through with colors, patterns, and designs equally as unique as the people sporting ties.

Some welcome the notion of a tie with special vigor. “In a world of such precedent styles and predefined over-worn name brands, the depth of a man’s tie collection can provide a window through which the world may glance at one’s creative individualism…that’s basically what it boils down to,” commented Adam Coppola ’12. Coppola is known for his signature fish tie, a classic piece he discovered in his attic.

Equally enthusiastic about ties, Sarah Sutphin ’13 stated, “Ties

are terrific … I like funny ties. I always compliment someone with a funny tie.”

One such tie can be found in the collection of Laddie Trees ’11. “My favorite tie is purple with zebras on it,” he stated. However, Trees is not the only one to appreciate a bold choice of color when it comes to ties.

Tim O’Brien ’12 enjoys a tie given to him by his brother, not only for the iPods dotting its surface, but also for the electric blue background that, O’Brien said, “matches my pastels.”

But the ties one generally sees around campus may not be exactly what they appear to be. Math teacher Nils Ahbel, known for his signature quirky bowties, replied when asked about his preference for bowties, “What I’m wearing, in fact, is a regular tie. What most people wear are called four-in-hand ties, so I would ask the question, ‘Why do people wear four-in-hand ties?’” Mr. Ahbel himself wears ties corresponding to events, such as his tie with a donkey and elephant on either side of a seesaw, which he wears “on days when there’s a really important political decision.”

Some consider ties a much more serious art form. Chuck Jones ’12 spoke of his favorite tie, “a Dominico Vaca, seven fold, beautiful red with horizontal silver stripes, my most powerful power tie.”

Then again, some choose to forgo ties altogether. Julian Gonzalez ’11 said, “I don’t like ties. A tie reminds me of a noose.”

Sarah Woolf ’11 commented, “I’m glad I don’t have to wear a tie. My neck relishes its air.”

By CAROLINE KJORLIENStaff Writer

“Just imagine the audience in their underwear,” goes the age-old saying that many jokingly cite as the key to delivering a public speech. Many are simply troubled when deciding what to say, or, as is the case for sophomores, selecting an appropriate piece of literature to present to their English classes.

Sophomore English students are allowed to select a declamation piece from “the world of literary merit”: novels, plays, speeches, poetry…their options are limitless. So how should students go about narrowing down their pieces?

English teacher Michael Cary knows what makes a text suitable to declaim. “It needs to do two things: it needs to reflect who you are….It ought to be something that is good enough to engage or interest the people who are listening.” This is where imagining the audience in their underwear won’t help improve one’s declamation.

One way to engage the

Not Another Tragedy. . .Ties: More Than Just Class Dress

By NICHOLLE YUStaff Writer

Peer counselors will no longer be eligible for proctorship beginning next year. The decision, the result of collaboration between Head of School Margarita Curtis, the Residential Program Committee, and the Health Education and Wellness Group, was designed to have peer counselors become a part of the upperclassmen residential program.

Last year, Deerfield students participated in a survey, the results of which revealed that the community does a great job supporting underclassmen but that the support system for upperclassmen is lacking.

“It really drops off with our juniors and seniors who are just as in need of a safety net,” said science and health issues teacher Kristin Loftus, “The new residential program will look

student panel to the welcoming students. I couldn’t tell you anything negative about my day!”

Each spring, admitted students pour onto campus, eagerly awaiting a sneak peek of a day in the life of a Deerfield student. Many current students may forget how terrifying it was to leave their parents behind to follow a complete stranger around for four hours, recalling only the excitement that caused them to leave the fear, and home, behind.

This year the academy

hosted three successful revisit days early this April.

Potential students could not stop talking about the student panel that featured current students and perfomances by the Mello-D’s, Rhapso-D’s, and the acting tutorial class.

Margaret McGraw, younger sister of Maddie McGraw ’12, commented, “The whole day was very well-run and organized and made you feel like you were already a part of the Deerfield community.”

Tim O’Brien ’12 sports his fa-vorite tie, a gift from his brother.

Peer Counselors & Proctors: No Longer One In The Same

Students and faculty talk to admittted students about the many opportunities available to Deerfield students while enjoying cookies and lemonade in the Memorial Building Lobby.

Ben Bolotin

Ben Bolotin

audience, as Assistant Academic Dean, Study Skills Coordinator, and English teacher Peter Nilsson suggested, is to select “a text that allows room for oral interpretation.”

Popular and, some may say, somewhat overused selections in the past have been from The Lovely Bones, The Glass Castle, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird, all very dramatic novels with a fair amount of tragedy involved. As English teacher Karinne Heise exclaimed, “There’s not enough humor!”

Every student wants to recite a piece with a degree of drama present, but are all dramas tragic?

English teacher Suzanne Hannay’s experience begged the more interesting question: are all tragedies dramatic? “In both instances where you have either something that’s really tragic, or something that’s really bright and witty, they can be very obvious and maybe overdone, and I always find them kind of cloying,” Ms. Hannay confessed.

So how are sophomores navigating the rich world of literature? “I’m doing a section

from The Things They Carried,” said Marina Hansen ’13. Like many students as well as their audience, Hansen believes “that declamations that have more of a somber topic move people more than happy declamations.”

Brave enough to take on the challenge of reciting a famous speech, Kyle Wellner ’13 decided to tackle Martin Luther King’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Wellner chose it because “it speaks to the audience; its words are powerful.”

Though students are held to the highest standards, it is important to keep in mind how difficult it is not only to speak in front of an audience, but to deliver a piece with just the right amount of drama.

Mr. Cary would choose John Keats’s poem, “To Autumn.” He explained, “I think it is an interesting challenge to recite a poem. It’s different from reading a page of dialogue or a description from a short story because poetry is condensed language, compressed language, and every word counts.”

By NICKY RAULTStaff Writer

Reading an incredible 2,207 applications, a 17% increase over last year, the admissions office composed an incoming class of students that represent the school’s diversity in the classroom, on the fields, and in the arts.

With the lowest acceptance rate ever, the admissions office faced a difficult decision season, accepting only 13.5% of applicants.

After issuing just 299 acceptance letters to the candidates, 63.8% of students yielded, meaning that 190 new students will join the community next year.

Applications could be submitted entirely online this year for the first time, marking the end of the traditional hand-written essay, which Dean of Admissions Patricia Gimbel was reluctant to give up. The traditional mailing system, however, of the acceptance envelope, poster, and M&Ms remains in place.

Among those coming next year are 17 post-graduates. Every team will be well represented with new, skilled athletes, but boys’ ice hockey did have trouble solidifying its recruits.

The theatrical and arts programs will also be filled with talented performers.

Of the twenty-six new day students, sixteen are children of faculty or staff, creating a total of seventy-nine day students, one more than target and five more than this year.

The new students alone will represent twenty-six different states and twenty-one nations including India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, and Mozambique. Thirty-one new international

More Than a Numbers Game:Admissions 2011

to provide that support to the upperclassmen dorms.”

Dr. Curtis agreed when she observed that several boarding schools have proctors in all dorms, even in upperclassmen dorms. She believed that the new peer counselors would have “enhanced roles, increased responsibilities in the dormitories and the opportunity to work closely with the faculty.”

Proctors are expected to remain engaged in the dorm throughout the year and be aware of their proctees’ behavior. They have to provide guidance and keep dorm rules consistent and enforced. Meanwhile, peer counselors are expected to run bi-weekly freshmen discussion groups and be accessible to peers.

Current proctor and student member of the Residential Program Committee Jennifer Chu ’11 remarked, “Some students are really good in peer

counselors and proctorship roles. However, there is an issue of time commitment. This was definitely a factor contributing to the new residential status of peer counselors.”

Some peer counselors welcome this new idea as it will “spread leadership opportunities around campus and have people take on different roles,” said peer counselor Daniel Rivera ’13.

“The new residential status of the peer counselors would give it more teeth, potentially give it more status and really have [the counselors] more available for their peers. Their job description will be the same, but the new program will emphasize their accessibility and availability in the upperclassmen dorms,” said Ms. Loftus.

Current peer counselor Willa Gustavson ’12 agrees. “Peer counselors would be relied upon when put in leadership positions in the dorms.”

students will enroll next year, bringing the total to ninety.

There has been an increase in interest over the last few years from abroad and the public school system, which Mrs. Gimbel attributes to the spread of the school’s reputation as a host to “lots of new opportunities to try here” which may not be available to students elsewhere.

Parents want to send their children to Deerfield because they are seeking stability in an uncertain economy that holds great education proportional to future opportunity.

With students applying from more diverse backgrounds, the need for financial aid this year became more crucial than ever. Forty-eight percent of all applicants applied for financial aid, a percentage that has slowly climbed.

This year 35% of students receive aid, and that will increase next year. Next year’s tuition of $45,450, which can be afforded by less than 2.2% of American families, shows the need for the strong aid program.

The school will maintain the heavy northeast concentration. Massachusetts with 144 students, New York with 127, and Connecticut with 84 currently compose 56% of the school. California will increase from 34 students this year to 37 next year.

Additionally, Deerfield will welcome six new students from Illinois, five each from Florida and Pennsylvania, four each from Texas and Virginia, three each from Colorado and North Carolina and two from Arizona.

Applications will continue to rise over the next few years as educational stability becomes paramount, and the appeal of the academy spreads to the corners of the globe.

Ben Bolotin

The Deerfield Scroll ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT April 27, 2011 5

of the arts one is interested in and the year one applies to Deerfield, the process can also be extremely competitive.

“Since 2004, the number of portfolios sent to the visual arts increased exponentially,” said art teacher David Dickinson. Over the past three years, Mr. Dickinson has reviewed anywhere from fifty to seventy portfolios of both international and domestic prospective candidates, and only about three to seven of those portfolios received noteworthy recognition, including those of Sonja Holmberg ’11, Grace Murphy ’11, and Laura Whitehill ’12.

In addtion, the Deerfield arts requirements are particularly modest, so the popularity of the department stems mainly from current student interest, rather than from recruits.

“There are many students admitted to Deerfield who are extremely enthusiastic about the arts, and the talent level is remarkably high,” commented art teacher Timothy Trelease.

Academic Dean and music teacher Peter Warsaw explained, “The river must keep supplying fresh talent; the experienced must show the way for the less experienced.”

By SHARON TAMStaff Writer

The heads of the arts

department look for experience and talent in students applying for admission.

When recruiting for the arts department, the Admissions Office encourages prospective students to send in their portfolio and other previous work to be reviewed.

John Reese, fine arts teacher and director of theater explained, “You look for genuine interest in the art. It is not hard to train a novice actor who is committed and determined to succeed.”

Some of the current theater recruits are Aaron Cyr-Mutty ’11, Jem Wilner ’11, Sarah Woolf ’12, and Thomas Shuman ’13, who all demonstrated interest in theater in their applications.

Mr. Reese directs theater productions with these four students, but he also casts students who have never before set foot on stage.

“There should be an opportunity for anyone at Deerfield to improve their area of art, regardless of their experience,” added Music Director Dan Roihl.

Depending on the department

By KRISTY HONGEditorial Associate

“Like open books,” began Daniel Roihl, music director, “our student musicians have been especially receptive to musical ideas and approaches, grappling with the technical and emotional challenges in a piece of such immense scope as Fauré’s Requiem.”

Student musicians, members of Deerfield’s chorus and orchestra, combined forces with ten faculty members to perform a major choral work inspired by the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead on Friday evening, April 15, 2011, in the Brick Church.

Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor Op. 48 is “one of mourning and petitioning on behalf of the souls of the departed, and by extension, for themselves as

mortals,” explained Mr. Roihl. “We look at a small section

of the repertoire at a time, working with one or two isolated elements—whether it be intonation, diction, or ensemble sound,” commented Mr. Roihl. “My hope is that at the end of rehearsal, we put it back together and sum up the progress.”

By DELANEY BERMANStaff Writer

If you attended any recent dances or ever visit the DA-student-run blog soundabovetheseal.com, you are most likely familiar with dubstep.

If not, dubstep is a combination of beats, occasional vocals, and heavy drums with a deep bass born from reggae and London garage rock. Slightly less known, triphop is a pattern of hip-hop beats sans vocals, founded in England around the same time as dubstep.

This term marks one year since Deerfield seniors Aaron Cyr-Mutty ’11 and Justin Kwok ’11 started making music together.

Last spring, they started mixing beats and song clippings to create dubstep and triphop.

Kwok and Cyr-Mutty enjoy these two genres because they rely upon creativity and individuality.

Cyr-Mutty enthusiastically described, “Dub and triphop are pretty minimalist and, therefore, require less engineering than more mainstream genres like pop.”

So, how does one actually create electronic music?

“It’s a little like DJing, sort of making a mash-up of songs but instead of just using a section of the song you can use all of the parts individually,” Cyr-Mutty

explained. “And it’s all done live, like improv,” Kwok clarified.

The pair divide up the different aspects of the music making. “Kwok is in charge of the instrumentation and the guitar, and I manage the production,” said Cyr-Mutty, who uses virtual synthesizers on a computer program.

“Essentially, you repeat a beat or sound and then layer other beats or parts of songs on top. Some artists use sample tracks as bases, but we just use recordings of Kwok playing the guitar,” he said.

“We change up our methods all the time. Whenever either of us comes up with an idea, we

just go with it,” he continued.One year from their start,

the duo, officially called “The Kochmen,” is getting more serious about their work.

This spring they secured an athletic exemption to work on their music in the hopes of producing a CD by the end of the year.

Cyr-Mutty confided plans of their future: “Once we have a CD done, we can send some of the songs to music blogs. If they like it, hopefully they’ll post it.”

“Great free publicity,” Kwok interjected.

Cyr-Mutty quickly concurred, “Hopefully, it’ll lead to a live gig sometime this summer!”

There’s Trey Stephens, “the only public schooler among [them]”; Sarah Jeffreys, who hangs out with the boys after Nora’s disappearance “to avoid the clingy sadness of the girls, their willowy voices, their insistence that ‘It could have been me!”; Sissy Lindell, Nora’s younger sister, who transforms “in one summer, from a middle schooler, a complete annoyance, to a full-blown nymph, a dewy-mouthed ninth-grader whose mere promenade down a hallway drove varsity captains wild with boyish lust”; and many more vividly depicted characters.

Pittard not only makes one forget that she herself did not go through puberty as a male, but forces us to imagine ourselves sitting in a circle in Trey Stephens’ basement, “with neon beer signs and stolen street signs,” waiting for Danny Hatchet to pull out the weed and hypothesizing as to the cause of Nora’s

By ELIZA MOTTContributing Writer

The Fates Will Find Their Way, the first novel by Hannah Pittard ’97, combines lyrical prose with a natural, convincing tone to weave a collective tale of suburban youth.

The novel is centered upon the disappearance of teenager Nora Lindell.

Writing from the perspective of a group of neighborhood boys, Pittard impressively tackles an unconventional narrative method. Her writing style is reminiscent of Jeffrey Eugenides’ first-person plural style in The Virgin Suicides.

Yet Pittard is unique in her divulging of the boys’ and others’ stories and in her sharp psychological analysis.

At the end of the two-hundred-plus page novel, Pittard has revealed more than ten lives, all of which feel fully realized.

disappearance, her possible current life and whereabouts, rumors of where she was last seen, and fantasies of her return.

In the end, Pittard’s story is about that which has gone missing, that which eludes the boys—and us.

The desire for what is now unattainable—whether it is a childhood playmate who has died in a car crash, a missing teenage girl, or our adolescence—and the acceptance of the impossibility of these desires is what Pittard so poignantly captures.

The transition from childhood to adulthood, and from fantasies to reality is romantically chronicled. However, it does not come off as depressing or cynical.

And although the narrative does wander, sometimes aimlessly, and lacks a satisfying conclusion, this ambiguity of objective seems in correlation with the elusiveness of Nora Lindell, fantasies, and youth.

ByTABATA VISOStaff Writer

Kelsey Janik ’11 “is one of the smartest young women I have met on this campus,” declared French teacher and Mather resident Francoise Ellis, who has known her for almost four years.

“It is so hard to put Kelsey into words. Kelsey is Kelsey,” Mrs. Ellis continued. This talented girl spends her afternoons in the art studios drawing and painting.

Janik was awarded a Richmond Scholar Award this February after applying to the University of Richmond.

“The award is a full-tuition scholarship with other benefits,” explained Janik. After making it into the semi-final round, applicants submitted supplementary materials under specific designations, including art, English, and community service.

Soon after submitting the art portfolio that she created during her years here at Deerfield, Janik interviewed as a finalist on the Richmond campus over spring break.

She subsequently became a Richmond Scholar with the designation ‘Artist Scholar.’

“She won it all,” summed up art teacher David Dickinson.

Interested in art as a child, Janik recounted her fourth Christmas, when she received her first art set. “I was so happy, I slept with it that night! But it was a wooden box, so it was kind of uncomfortable.” Her love for art has grown since then.

Janik uses a variety of materials–-from watercolor to acrylics to charcoal-–but she prefers drawing, especially still life. One of Deerfield’s finest artists, Janik always has pieces included in exhibits of advanced student work in school galleries and also appears in Albany Road.

Her patience and gift for art is clear with every piece she completes.

Mr. Dickinson explained, “There are three distinct areas that help Kelsey to raise the bar in her skills: Number one, she focuses very well on detail. Number two, she has a very solid sense of what makes a good composition. And number three, she is very independent in the studio.”

Arriving at Deerfield with raw potential but little training, “Kelsey is a good example of someone who has achieved a high level in a discipline that requires a lot of time and effort. And she did it in spite of the demands of all of her core subjects,” said Mr. Dickinson.

Song for the Dead, Very Much Alive

Dubstep with Kochmen

Hannah Pittard ’97 Writes Novel of Fates, Fantasies and Youth

Artist of the Issue: Kelsey Janik

“I was excited when I heard we were performing the Requiem, because it’s not the type of music most choruses have done,” said Sierra Janik ’13, soloist for the notable Pie Jesu movement (No. 4). “It is great to perform music most people haven’t heard of before to show them that it is out there.”

Chorus and faculty members joined forces at the Fauré Requiem.

Seniors Aaron Cyr-Mutty and Justin Kwok lay down some beats.

Supplying Fresh Talent

Daniel Han

Ben Bolotin

Becca Cooley

6 The Deerfield Scroll SPORTS April 27, 2011

By RYAN LOGIEStaff Writer

Most of Deerfield’s students and faculty rejoice at the thought of being outdoors again in the spring. But for some, the spring brings another season of hard work in the pool. Such is the case for the varsity girls’ water polo team, a hardworking group with both the talent and the desire to have a remarkable season.

“This year we have a very young team. We lost [with last year’s graduation] four of our seven starters. However, we have a lot of new girls who are great swimmers, so it will be really exciting to see them improve and in turn improve the team,” said Liza Bragg ’13, a starter and second-year member of the team.

While many on the team are swimmers who converted to water polo, one new girl is a seasoned “wopo” veteran.

“Water polo in California is the equivalent to lacrosse or field hockey at Deerfield: everyone plays it. At home, people use swimming as a conditioning season for water polo, whereas here, the majority of the team is made up of swimmers learning to play water polo,” explains Lizzie Jeffrey ’13.

Jeffrey is new to the team, but not to the sport, and she demonstrates her skills as a starter and key contributor every game. Jeffrey explained her love for the sport and her role as a largely intuitive player: “What I like about water polo is that it’s a fast game which is all about improvisation. It’s not as much about plays, but more about knowing how to respond to certain guarding and thinking quickly. It is much harder to move around someone in the water than it is to run around them.”

Because the team has such a

By ROSS GORDON Staff Writer

Basketball, hockey, field hockey, soccer, football and lacrosse are the common sports we all know and cherish as a part of Deerfield’s athletic tradition. While these conventional co-curriculars require great skill, strength, and athleticism, there is a new team in the mix, one which proves that, in order to play, all you need is a plastic disc and the will to compete.

Jem Wilner ’11 worked for most of his junior year and most of his senior year, to date, to accomplish a relatively simple goal: create a recreational Ultimate Frisbee team.

It was in fact quite difficult, as a team must have a certain number of players and permission to play Ultimate instead of an established Deerfield co-curricular. Unlike Taft, Hotchkiss, Frontier, NMH, Amherst High School, and Andover, prior to this spring, Deerfield did not have any pre-existing team.

This is how Deerfield’s new Ultimate Frisbee team

will be training. With practices that include running, sprinting and scrimmaging, all the team can do is move upwards.

“Frisbee isn’t team versus team,” said Wilner, “it’s everybody having fun all the time.”

At a collegiate level, Ultimate grows progressively more intense. Athletes can be recruited to top Frisbee schools such as Cornell, Brown, Texas, UC Santa Barbara, Colorado, Stanford, and Wisconsin.

Commenting on his hopes for the season, Wilner said: “My goal [was] to bring this team from a competitive recreational team to an established varsity sport, like the team of almost every other school we play.”

Although the athletic department has yet to recognize the Ultimate group with an official varsity title, the dream continues as the team grows; in a matter of days it went from 12 to 28 players.

The members of the D.U.C., or the Deerfield Ultimate Coalition, look forward to an exciting season after soundly defeating the first opponent, Frontier Regional High School.

solid foundation in swimming, they are able to focus primarily on water-polo-specific skill work in the water, which sets the bar higher for their season.

“Last year our team lost nineteen to three against Choate in the New England finals. This year, however, if you compare our records, we have a chance at beating them, which is really exciting because Choate has such a good program,” added a hopeful Bragg.

Although a successful record is an important part of the team, it isn’t everything. Accompanying the hard work displayed on the scoreboard and the many hours together in the pool, every Tuesday the team participates in community service events such as giving faculty children swim lessons.

With guidance, experience, and team dedication, the girls have much to be excited for this season.

By MARLY MORGUS Staff Writer

Names like Kryzewski and Paterno are thrown around the college basketball and football worlds as symbols of success and evidence of great coaching. Imagine if, as a member of the basketball or football teams, you were informed that one of these all-time greats was coming to coach at Deerfield.

That is how members of the crew team felt when Wayne Berger ’84 joined the school’s varsity rowing program.

Mr. Berger began his coaching career at Groton School, founded the now enormously prestigious Boston Rowing Club for high school rowers and finally made the leap to coach at the collegiate level with Harvard University. He has coached boats to the most sought-after prizes in rowing, including the Eastern Sprint Championships, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, US Club Nationals, the Royal Canadian Henley, the Cromwell Cup, and the Royal Henley Regatta.

The Scroll caught up with Mr. Berger to ask him about

his coaching history and his hopes for the future.Scroll: What’s the biggest difference between coaching collegiate men versus high school women?WB: Interestingly, there aren’t that many differences...Technically, it’s very similar…I would say that girls aren’t as strong in their upper bodies as men, but I do think that women are inherently more able to relax and are actually more coachable than men are.Scroll: What are you looking forward to this season?WB: I’m looking forward to getting better every week and the squad becoming a team and the boats becoming crews, and I’m looking forward to people trying to do something they haven’t done before, row harder, row better, row faster, and if that means winning some races, great, but I’m a lot more about the process than the product. Scroll: What is your vision for the future of the program?WB: My hope for the future of the program is to go to [a higher] level, and that [means] building a culture where people are willing to go outside of their comfort zone and make the necessary sacrifices to produce fast boats. I would love to see Deerfield

be perennial contenders for NEIRAs and nationals, and I’d love to take [crewsto the Henley].

Berger’s arrival at the boathouse has come with a wave of focus and productive intensity. Dance parties have turned into “movement prep” sessions, up-to-date video from each practice has made its way to the official team Facebook page. The hardworking team has caught on to Berger’s powerful enthusiasm, and they eagerly await a season of racing under such renowned coaching.

Wayne Berger recaps the events of a girls’ varsity crew scrim-mage against Winsor.

Compiled By CHARLIE CORY

Staff Writer

Girls’ Tennis: Hotchkiss, 4/30. “I guess it would be Hotchkiss. For over a decade we consistently defeated Hotchkiss. They have aggressively recruited the last 5 years and now rank about #2 in the Founder’s League. DA was soundly defeated by them during seasons ’09 and ’10. What will ’11 bring?” – Mr. Dickinson Track: New England’s, 5/21. “[The] meet we work toward throughout the entire season across all our events is our only

championship meet. Not only is it our goal as a team for the entire season to perform well at that meet, but it is also a great showcase for the sport of track and field that takes place right here at Deerfield.” – Mr. SchloatGolf: Andover Invitational Tournament, 5/25. “For the varsity golf team the highlight of the regular season is the Andover Invitational Tournament, a five-member,18-hole team competition with eight of the strongest New England boarding schools, played at the historic Newport Country Club, one of the oldest courses in America. We won the event three years ago, setting a team scoring record that won’t soon be broken. – Mr. Albertson Boys’ Crew: NEIRA’s, 5/28. “All of our racing during the season is in preparation for the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association meet… Based on a season of

comparative results and margins the NEIRA seeding committee invites the top crews from New England to compete. This is the most important race for us because all crews in the league get much faster throughout the season and this is the final opportunity to demonstrate our speed.” – Mr. HamiltonBoys’ Lacrosse: Salisbury, 5/18. “Our perfect season has hinged on this game for the last two years and both years we have lost. We have to be prepared for every game, but revenge against Salisbury is definitely motivation.” – Captain Bobby Osgood ’11, Girls’ Softball: Stoneleigh Burnham, 5/16.“The Stoneleigh game is always really fun and exciting... my freshman year we won after 13 innings (our games usually last 7)! Hotchkiss was also very close in extra innings last year, so I’m excited to take a few more swings at their pitcher.” – Willa Gustavson ’12

Wayne Berger Has Entered the Building

“It’s not Choate this time, but...” The Biggest Sporting Events to Watch for This Spring

Claire Hutchins

Water Polo Shoots

Remarkable Season

With Talent and Desire

for a

Hannah Broadhurst ’11 and Liza Bragg ’13 practice pumping the ball during a recent practice.

Ultimate Frisbee Makes the Scene

D.U.C. Logo Sonja Holmberg

Daniel Han