Commentary
A Modest Proposal
Recognizing the need for substantial action in the face of a pressing problem, the Commentary Editors came together this week and devised a schedule that would let us wake up later.
By Sebastian Becker and Jenn Schaffer
Everything about our current schedule works, except for the start time. The schedule is “elegant, in the other words of Dr. Peter Merrill.” It is time-tested and addresses many of the problems that previous models could not. That’s why we have kept it virtually the same, except for one small but powerful change: we’ve moved the start of our day to 9 a.m. We know this plan won’t add another hour to the day, but as Dr. Maas pointed out last week, teenagers’ bodies are set to different biological clocks than those of adults and children. Our levels of melatonin, the hormone that induces sleep, rise later into the night and drop later into the morning. We simply aren’t programmed to be functional that early in the morning.
This proposal does not directly address the issue of sleep deprivation, but we believe that a later start time will...
Aid For Those Who Aid
By Max Png
Ever thought of going to help out in a developing country? You might have to think again. Aid workers nowadays are killed not just as collateral damage but also as targets. On October 20, Gayle Williams, a UK charity worker in Kabul, was fatally shot by two men on a motorbike. The Taliban claimed responsibility. On the same day, a UN worker was assassinated in Somalia. He had been working for UNICEF, a branch of the UN, and was shot several times in the head. Dozens of other aid workers have been killed in countries including Afghanistan, Chad, Ethiopia, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Lebanon in this year alone.
Aid workers are the true heroes of the 21st century. Without any guns or armor, they venture out every day to help ordinary people with their daily activities. They do not get high pay or many material benefits. Instead,...
Why We’re Better Than You
By Lawrence Dai and Eli Grober
Life is too important to be taken seriously. – Oscar Wilde
If we have our facts in order, and we always do (they’re our facts) then we could point out that Oscar Wilde was a child molester. And a drunk. How do we know this? Because we’re better than you. But we’ll get to that later.
Acts of sexual promiscuity aside, the man’s words carry an ounce—no, a pound—of truth. Don’t be so serious all the time, says Oscar. Don’t take yourself too seriously, says Oscar. Well, Oscar, we agree with you. We, the editors-in-chief of the rogue publication known as the fake Exonian, Lawrence Dai ’09 and Eli Grober ’09, four-year Seniors and BFFLs, officially propose that the Academy’s new motto should be changed to “lighten up.”
That’s right. You heard us. Now, lighten up and listen up.
You read the fake Exonian, right? Good. It leads well into our...
Why This Could Work
By Sebastian Becker And Jenn Schaffer
Since Dr. Maas’s first visit to Phillips Academy three years ago, the Andover community has been awakened to the perils of sleep deprivation. Yet nothing has changed. If we want to do more than smile and nod (and, eventually, nod off) at Dr. Maas’s suggestions, we must take the next step.
The Phillipian’s Sleep Proposal is a start. All the evidence stands behind the idea of a later start to the school day. This proposal allows us to do just that. But it will only be a band-aid solution if it is not accompanied by lifestyle changes on our behalf. In a community as open and trusting as ours, it will take not only a change in schedule but a commitment to discipline and a renewed sense of our priorities in order to bring about truly positive change. If the Administration holds true to its word and agrees...
Northern Uganda Halting the War is Just the Beginning.
By Patrick Kabanda
This is the second of a two-part series by Patrick Kabanda about his trip to Uganda this summer.
Like Rwanda, northern Uganda has had its share of political upheavals. On my recent visit there, I was eager to see the country’s developments since I last visited in March 2007. I took a bus along bumpy roads to Gulu, northern Uganda. The war of over two decades between the rebels’ Lord’s Resistance Army and the Uganda People’s Defense Forces has left the region devastated. In an outrageous instance of masking politics with religion, the rebel force, which has committed atrocities such as rape, abducting children, chopping off peoples’ lips, ears and noses and axing people to death, has the word “Lord” in its name and uses the Ten Commandments to justify waging war. While the war has halted, millions are still living a life of unspeakable hardship. Chris Ocowun,...
No Hope For Gay Rights
By Dominic Dejesus
Barack Obama and Joe Biden are the President and Vice President-elects of the United States of America. What does this mean for the rights of sexual minorities? Not much, yet. As a gay political junkie too young to vote, I must begin by saying that gay rights are primarily states’ issues and that I am not a one-issue voter. However, November 4 was still Christmas-come-early for me, because my biggest concerns are healthcare reform and withdrawing from Iraq. Tuesday, in California and the rest of the nation, civil rights and the spirit of our Constitution were hijacked once again. California’s Proposition 8, a gay marriage ban in response to the May 2008 California Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage, was on the ballot. The Human Rights Campaign fought opposite “family values” groups. Private citizens and celebrities contributed significantly on both sides. The vote was very close,...
Obama the Crook
By Jack Dickey
The downfall of public financing is a true tragedy. Many would suggest that public financing is a ridiculous concept — why should taxpayers finance campaigns they don’t support? Such reservations come from a lack of understanding about the public financing system. First of all, public financing has been present in every general election since 1976. 1976...hmm...ring any bells? Obviously, it was the year that the voters had to choose between a football player and a peanut farmer, but more obviously, it was the first post-Nixon, post-CREEP election. Public financing meant that big corporations and individual donors weren’t able to help candidates after the primaries - taxpayers would be in charge of funding all of the major spending during the general election cycle. Additionally, the public financing system isn’t compulsory — it’s a simple matter of checking a box on tax returns, which just re-routes a few tax...
Address the Debt
By Daniel Glassberg
From the beginning of his campaign, Barack Obama promised many things. When asked how he could fulfill such promises in these tough economic times, he never gave a satisfying answer.
I did not support Senator Obama or Senator McCain, for that matter. But now that Senator Obama is President-Elect Obama, I’m certainly rooting for him, simply because the fate of our country rests in his hands. I am not necessarily rooting for his policies, but I am hoping deeply that his leadership will benefit America. My expectations for the Obama administration, however, fall very short of my hopes.
Here are the facts: our national debt is $10, 535, 473, 357, 393.99. Yes, that is $10.5 trillion. According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Senator Obama’s spending and tax policies will lead to a $262 billion increase in our national debt by 2013, and that does not...
Grand Ol’ Failure
By Erica Harris and Jake Romanow Victorious
Congratulations, America. The better candidate has won. Barack Obama’s decisive victory on Tuesday reflects a strong endorsement of Obama’s ideas and a rejection of Bush’s Republican Party.
The victory on Tuesday was not just a victory for Barack Obama. The American people, in addition to voting for the first black president, voted for the ideals of the Democratic Party, increasing the margin of the majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Conservative pundits and strategists have attributed McCain’s loss to Obama’s (admittedly impressive) “star-power,” and indeed, he is an unusually compelling speaker, politician and symbol of our nation’s progress. This magnetism was not, however, the reason Barack Obama will be our next president. After eight years of Republican incompetence and corruption, America is ready for change, and not, as McCain implied, change for its own sake. The election of Barack Obama is a sound condemnation of...
Remember John McCain
By Sam Dodge
The sight of Jessie Jackson crying, Al Sharpton singing hand in hand with his pupils, crazed fans in Chicago cheering the hell out of their man, Mister History, Barack Obama — these are the sights of the most historic presidential victory of our nation. In his triumphant remarks, Mr. Obama thanked his family, his supporters and specifically, the unsung hero of his campaign, manager David Plouffe. While thanking Plouffe, he went as far as saying, “This is the best run campaign in U.S. history.” While sitting back in my blue-cloth seat in the Bishop common room, many seemed to agree. I thought of Bill Clinton winning against a fairly popular incumbent, and that incumbent’s son beating the extension of the very popular Clinton. However, when we look back at Obama’s triumph, let’s remember the guy that facilitated it all: John McCain. Really, as much as we like...