Unnecessary Reform

By Editorial Board

More bureaucracy is rarely the solution to a problem.

Last week, Paul Murphy, Dean of Students, submitted a Letter to the Editor suggesting that the school think about electing co-presidents to ease some of the work associated with running the school. Dean Murphy said, “It always struck me as a good idea to spread the work out between co-presidents, just based on the enormity of the job.”

While this proposal is well-intentioned, there is another aspect of the presidency that would suffer under a changed two-person system.

Faiyad Ahmad ’10, current president of Student Council, commented, “I think it would be very difficult to work with the public aspect of the presidency—the speeches and such—with two people representing the face of the student body.”

Although Dean Murphy acknowledged these potential difficulties, he was confident in saying, “I think we have the ability to figure out how to institute such a change.”

On...

The Andover of the Individual

By Jenn Schaffer

“To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.” - E E Cummings

For the past four years, I have encountered two Andovers. From one, I faced criticism; from the other, feeble-minded attacks. And as every Commentariate should, I have embraced the former and ignored the latter. Attempts to silence what is said on these pages run more rampant than one would expect on a campus as “open-minded” as our own. For every bold opinion taken, I have faced students and adults who have attempted to intimidate me, with collectivist mentalities, out of expressing my point of view. In articles and editorials, I have sought only to express a new perspective, never to offend. Yet I have faced ad hominem attacks and unfounded accusations on...

Donate to Haiti

By The Phillipian Cxxxii Editorial Board

Recently on campus there’s been a lot of discussion of Spike Lee and different conceptions of racism. While this kind of kind of discussion is good, the focus of the complaints raised about Spike Lee seem particularly trivial and self-absorbed when compared to the condition to the situation Haiti is in. As a student body, we should be wary of appearing ungrateful or disappointed with Spike Lee’s visit. Not agreeing with what he said is different than not appreciating his visit. Ruminating about the issues raised in his speech is positive and constructive. Nevertheless, there is a distinction between complaining about something and discussing it constructively.

The issues in Haiti should remind us of the privileges and opportunities we have here at PA, including but not limited to visits from people such as Spike Lee.

We live in, globally speaking, one the most privileged and safest communities in the...

Stifled Discourse?

By Phillipian Editorial Board Cxxxii

No matter what one may have thought of his address at Monday’s All-School Meeting or the content of his work, it is undeniable that Spike Lee provoked discourse and impassioned debate among all members of our community. However, that debate was only possible because of the impromptu question and answer session that focused on Mr. Lee’s views on racial issues rather than pedantic points on his filmmaking. The question and answer session initially began as a panel that presented student-produced queries that were preselected. Rather than informing the community of his often-contentious social viewpoints, these questions focused on specific elements in Mr. Lee’s films. Once he opened the questions to the audience, Mr. Lee geared the meeting towards a more meaningful and relevant discussion. The subsequent questions asked provoked dialogue and rendered both the address and the ensuing community discourse worthwhile. Last May, several students debated affirmative...

It Takes Trust

By The Phillipian Editorial Board Cxxxii

Andover students have a lot of ideals. We call for freedom, liberty of thought and autonomy of action. But chief among those ideals must be the ideal of trust, without which all others falter. In a community, it takes a trusting relationship between those who may restrict liberties and those who demand them. At The Phillipian, we call for freedom of the press. But if you want the liberty to go uncensored, you must be trusted not to break the conditions of journalistic integrity. Therefore, the trustworthiness of the Phillipian is integral to publishing an uncensored, student-run newspaper. If you want the liberty to take a test unsupervised, you must be trusted not to cheat. If you want the liberty not to be breathalyzed, your word must be trustworthy.

And if you want the liberty not to be monitored by house counselors throughout the night, a liberty we...

February Frees

By The Phillipian Editorial Board Cxxxii

As we begin a new term on the heels of both a new year and a new decade, The Phillipian would like to welcome all members of this community back to the Andover campus for the next eight weeks. For many, the progression of winter term signals a lengthy trek through darker days, colder nights and more challenging coursework. But this year, winter term brings something else – a newly established All-School Meeting policy dubbed “The February Freeze” that was announced at last Wednesday’s ASM, eliminating All-School Meetings in February and March. The benefits of this decision are twofold. Eliminating February All-School Meetings could lead to a student body more engaged in and better prepared for classes. Unfortunately, All -School Meetings often turn into last-minute cramming sessions or sleeping periods for exhausted students by the latter half of winter term. From the student point of view, a...

Book vs. Person

By The Phillipian Editorial Board Cxxxi

As reported in “Senior Dismissed After Refusing First Breathalyzer Test Request” this week, Chris Massie ’10 was dismissed after refusing to take a breathalyzer test on Friday, which the Blue Book defines as a positive test. Due to the confidential nature of disciplinary proceedings and the ambiguity of what constituted Massie’s “behavior, presentation or circumstance,” The Phillipian cannot comment on whether or not Massie’s situation warranted the implementation of the breathalyzer policy.

However, we can comment on the inflexibility of the Disciplinary Committee process. The Disciplinary Committee recommended a second term of probation without dismissal, a divergence from the Blue Book’s rule. And Paul Murphy, Dean of Students, did not follow this suggestion, instead following the Blue Book interpretation that two probationary offenses are means for dismissal. It is perfectly reasonable for Murphy to adhere to the Blue Book. It’s his job. But the system outlined in the...

Honoring Our Veterans

By Editorial Board CXXXII

One of Andover’s mottos is “non sibi.” We take pride knowing that our school is firmly-rooted in the continued tradition of fostering selfless and global awareness in students. Yet despite such initiatives as Non Sibi Day and Andover’s commitment to service, the men and women in our nation’s armed forces often play a faceless role at our school.

Members of the Andover community tend to lead incredibly busy lives, and we rarely take the time to acknowledge the actions of those in the armed forces who serve to defend our right to even have an “Andover community.” We hardly ever stop to appreciate the selflessness of people like Hanson Causbie ’08, Dale Hurley, or Mr. and Mrs. Efinger, and in that regard, their work is faceless. On Veteran’s Day and every day it is important to acknowledgethe selflessness and dedication of our nation’s past and present armed servicemen...

Taking the Effort Further

By Editorial Board CXXXII

Student Council is making an effort to deliver on one of the campaign promises made by Faiyad Ahmad ’10 last spring: the guarantee of more School Congress meetings. We commend the effort Student Council is making in this area, but there were some problems with Monday’s School Congress that need to be addressed. The facilitators chosen were the senior representatives rather than the most skilled student speakers who would be comfortable controlling and moving the discussion in the direction they deemed necessary. The strength of some meetings were curtailed by the moderator’s lack of public speaking experience. The problems were also too open-ended. We under that the questions were intended to provide an opportunity for candid discussion, but they ultimately made it difficult for the discussions to begin, as several rooms struggled with semantics. Other problems included students coming in with specific agendas. Irate students, armed with...

Our Foundations

By The Phillipian Editorial Board Cxxxii

In the next few years, many students will leave Phillips Academy to employ the skills we have developed here in another educational community. As for now, we are in the process of building our own foundations for the future. Securing resources so that this opportunity will continue for future decades, however, comes with its own challenges.

On Thursday, members of the greater Andover community streamed into Cochran Chapel for the official launch of the public phase of Phillips Academy’s capital campaign, ‘Building on the Surest Foundation.’ But what is a capital campaign and what does ‘Building on the Surest Foundation’ mean? A capital campaign is the effort of a non-profit organization to raise a notable amount of money within a specific period of time. In this context, Phillips Academy’s capital campaign is an effort to raise $300 million from July 2005 to tentatively June 2012.

Phillips Academy has raised...