In-Depth
’64 Alumni Remember George W. Bush’s Spirit During PA Days
By Shane Bouchard and Hannah Lee
“[George W. Bush] is the 62-year-old version of the person that I met when [I was] 15. He hasn’t changed at all as a person,” said Clay Johnson III ’64, fellow classmate, four-year roommate at Yale, and 14-year colleague in Austin and Washington D.C., of George W. Bush ’64.
Johnson said, “I don’t think there’s a public George Bush or a private George Bush, which I think is a real strength of his. George Bush is George Bush whether he’s your president or whether he’s your neighbor, or whether he’s your longtime friend. Obviously as an adult he’s more responsible and more focused than he was. [He is] more focused on adult matters and, in his case, world peace and world economy matters, whereas he wasn’t focused on those things [at Andover].”
Bush was always an athletic student. “If he wasn’t playing club sports, or junior varsity or varsity...
Students and Faculty Travel to Washington D.C. for Inaugural Celebrations
By Bryan Ha and Chloe Reichel
While some students and faculty at Andover packed into Kemper Auditorium to catch a glimpse of CNN coverage of the inauguration this past Tuesday, other members of the Andover community crowded onto the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Temba Maqubela, Dean of Faculty and Instructor in Chemistry, Morgan Askew ’11 and Nathan Johnson ’11 were among those who spent Inauguration Day in the nation’s capital, away from the Andover community, but close to the action.
Maqubela saw attending the inauguration as a duty. “Since I had tickets for the inauguration from Mrs. Maqubela, it was our responsibility to represent the community and in particular, I was also doing it for the millions who fought for the freedoms that we enjoy in this country. I thought specifically of them and others who asked me to remember them as the ceremony was going on,” Maqubela wrote in an email to The...
Special Schedule Allows PA Community to Watch Inaugural Address
By Laura Lee
Starting around 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 20, Uncommons began to fill up with students eager to watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America.
After Obama won the election, Andover teachers and administrators knew that a number of people on campus would want to watch the inauguration.
Linda Carter Griffith, Dean of CAMD, said, “To not allow our students to watch the inauguration did not seem an option.” At the same time, the administration, she said, “didn’t want to force those to watch who didn’t want to. There were initial concerns about McCain supporters and students who just didn’t want to watch.”
Andover allowed students to view the inauguration because of its historical nature. Carlos Hoyt, Associate Dean of Students, called it a “critical thinking error” to compare this to any other inauguration.
Hoyt said, “Time stopped because [Obama’s inauguration] was unique and...
Views of the Inauguration
By Compiled By Alice Tao and Andrew Mitchell
“In terms of Obama and the future, one thing will change: optimism. After the last eight years, America is excitedly behind this new brand of politician. However, based on some economic policies already drawn up, many policies won’t change, like simultaneous overspending with lower taxes. I want Obama to succeed, but economically, I don’t see much change.”
-Samuel Dodge ’09 Co-President of PA Republicans Club
“The biggest issue I’ve had with [Bush] was his initial decision to go to war with Iraq. To be fair, it was not only his failure; it was a collective failure of his administration, American journalists and the American people for not demanding concrete evidence for fear of being called ‘unpatriotic.’ It was a catastrophic, unforgivable failure in my mind.”
-Erica Harris ’09 President of PA Democrats Club
“Bush is responsible for the poor handling of many events, such as Hurricane Katrina, and can also be...
A Morning with Robert Asquith and “Big Red”
By Hannah Lee
Students are all too familiar with the roaring alarm clock of the plow on snowy mornings. That alarm clock is called “Big Red,” driver Robert Asquith’s pet-name for the plow. Asquith jokes that “Big Red” belongs at Exeter, although the pair have built a thirteen-year relationship.
Asquith has been a part of the Phillips Academy community for 30 years. His two children were students at PA and Asquith still remembers contentedly the earlier days when “students used to do all the shoveling.”
Sitting straight up against the back of his seat, one would seldom think of comfort. But with an aura of familiarity and comfort surrounding him, his position seems natural and thus comfortable. Despite occasionally breaking his focus on the powdery drifts to address questions, Asquith drives smoothly through the falling sleet. He focuses wholeheartedly on answering the questions, and requires practically no concentration to think of the...
Students aren’t ‘SAD’ Drs. Alovisetti and Keller Discuss Winter Health
By Shane Bouchard
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is real, but does not drive Andover students to Graham House during the winter to seek support. “Contrary to [popular] belief, most students come in during the fall,” said Graham House psychologist Dr. Max Alovisetti.
SAD is the environment’s effect on a person’s mood. Alovisetti said that since students spend more time indoors during the cold months of winter, this changes their brain chemistry and makes students more susceptible to depression.
Dr. Richard Keller, school physician, said that Isham does see a significant increase in visits during winter term. He said, “Winter is a much busier season in any medical practice.” According to Keller, this increase is due to a rise in infections and illnesses such as the common cold and flu.
Keller said that the primary cause of most infections is that students spend most of their time indoors during winter term, allowing more exchange...
OPP Readies for Another New England Winter
By Hannah Lee
Fallen tree branches, icy steps and snowy pathways transform the campus into a beautiful, but treacherous landscape-a frozen expanse that the Office of the Physical Plant (OPP) is charged with making safe for students.
Ron Johnson, Grounds and Vehicles Manager, is in charge of snow removal on campus. He said, “[The crew] will come in no matter what time it is, to start snow removal. We usually start plowing when there’s two inches of snow on the ground.”
“We get a lot of overtime work we have to do… the snow has to be addressed whenever the storm occurs.” said Johnson. He said that grounds employees come in on evenings and weekends to clear snow. Johnson continued, “Right before Christmas we had the ice storm, and then we had back-to-back snow storms. Some of our crew was here for long hours, probably 18 hours. In long events, our crew...
Students Share Studying Tactics
By Hannah Lee
Studying for last winter’s chemistry final was a memorable, if painful, exam week experience for Thomas Hamel ’10. Cringing, Hamel reminisces, “There was a rumor that the final would be impossible since the year before the exam average was really high. I kept studying for it; I felt like I couldn’t study enough.” He sighs, “It ended up that the final was just as bad as everyone said it would be. It was a colossal letdown.” Sitting comfortably on the other side of the block in Morse Hall, Bobby Vardaro ’10 consoles Hamel and agrees, “That was bad.”
The next day, Nadine Khan ’09 ponders the same question, closing her eyes, blocking the bustle of noise in the back of Uncommons until she recalls a similar memory; studying for chemistry had made its mark on her Andover exam week history. “Chemistry was a struggle Lower fall because I...
ASC’S DAVISON SAYS, “KIDS MUST BE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT”
By Shane Bouchard
Don’t shortchange your studying, warn Academic Support Specialists Deborah Olander and Patricia Davison.
“Many students do not form a study plan or organize their materials effectively,” said Olander. Failure to plan ahead can result in students losing sight of the larger context of the course while only zeroing in on details, according to Davison.
The majority of students at Andover, however, have developed successful study skills and strategies, said Olander. Davison said, “Given the number of students who make honor roll, a lot of kids must be doing something right.”
57 percent of students were on the honor roll last spring term. Bowen Qiu ’09, a tutor in Science Study Center, said that he concentrates on studying for one or two finals at a time but does not make a formal study plan. Mathew Kelley ’10 said, “I always organize myself over [Thanksgiving] break. I organize my flashcards and notes...
Students Rally for Obama and Palin in New Hampshire
By David Lowenstein
Against a backdrop of lush fall foliage in central New Hampshire, Barack Obama addressed an audience of nearly 4,000 people a couple of weeks ago; a day earlier, on the sideline of a football field a few towns away, Sarah Palin had addressed an audience of 5,000, as both candidates slugged it out over the nearly 400,000 undecided voters in the granite state. Forget paying attention to the changing leaves up here. This fall, the country was paying attention to the changing affections of those undecided voters. In mid-October, a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll gave Barack Obama only a 5 percent lead, which made a the race close call. “We are not looking at polls because so much of New Hampshire is undecided,” said Larkin Vater, a spokeswoman for Obama’s New Hampshire offices.
At their recent rallies, both candidates wooed voters in Rockingham County, where...