News
Jennifer Tierney Discusses Doctors Without Borders’ Role in Haitian Reconstruction
By Thurston Smalley
Published on March 4, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 5Jennifer Tierney’s presentation on Doctors Without Borders last Friday shed valuable light on international relief efforts in Haiti and other third-world and extremely poor countries.
Tierney is the US Development Director of Doctors Without Borders. In her presentation, Tierney said that Doctors Without Borders has performed 28,251 surgeries in Haiti alone as of February 18.
Doctors Without Borders, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, serves 60 different countries, and is funded mostly through private and corporate donations. Doctors Without Borders does not accept funding from the governments of countries that play a part in the conflicts that it attempts to address.
According to Tierney, there were 3,177 staff members in Haiti as of February 18, a great number of whom were deployed from other countries. During the earthquake, the Doctors Without Borders’ Haitian hospital collapsed, creating the need for makeshift facilities as well as additional staff.
In addition, Doctors...
Gay Straight Alliance Sponsors Andover’s First Ever Transgender Awareness Week
By Andrew Cho
Published on March 4, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 5Last week marked the first Transgender Awareness Week sponsored by the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA).
Throughout the week, Phillips Academy students engaged in discussions regarding the relationship between gender identity and expression. According to GSA, to be transgender is to be in a state in which the gender that a person self-identifies to does not match the person’s biological sex.
All students and faculty were invited to the three GSA sponsored programs throughout Transgender Awareness Week.
On Monday, keynote speaker Toby MacNutt, a diversity consultant and a former student at Phillips Academy, delivered an in-depth presentation on gender identity and gender expression distinct of one’s actual sex. The presentation began with an overview and explanation of gender terminology, followed by a question and answer session and a group discussion facilitated by MacNutt.
Talarico said, “The presentation was very interesting and opened me up to aspects of transgender issues that I had...
Upper Girls to Pilot New Mentor Program Focusing on Female Leadership
By Trey Jennings
Published on March 4, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 525 Junior girls will partake in a pilot mentorship program this spring. The program consists of 21 Upper girls and 25 Junior girls, and its purpose is to encourage Junior girls to take leadership positions in the PA community through the support of Upper mentors, who already serve as leaders on campus.
On Tuesday, the Juniors and their Upper mentors met for the first time. At the meeting, the Juniors were assigned to their respective mentors. A group of Upper girls who collaborated with Becky Sykes, Associate Head of School, found the program last winter. Kathleen Dalton and Tony Rotundo, Instructors in History and Co-Heads of the Brace Center for Gender Studies, were also involved in the execution of the program. Sykes said, “[The program] came from the girls. Last year a group of girls met with Alana Rush and Malin [Adams, Former School President]. The group decided...
Beloved Arabic Instructor Mohammad Harba Steps Down from Teaching Position
By Brian Delaney
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4A crowd of upperclassmen gathers in the lobby of Samuel Phillips Hall for a class picture. Amidst the chatter of his students, Mohammad Harba, Instructor in Arabic, smiles.
After the picture, all the students line up to say their last heartfelt goodbyes to their teacher. This bittersweet farewell followed Harba’s announcement this past Friday that he would be stepping down from his position as the Instructor in Arabic.
“[At Andover] I was given the opportunity to work with some of the brightest men and women, and I was so impressed with how much they wanted to learn Arabic not only as a language, but also as a culture,” he said.
Harba never pictured himself leaving because he built such strong relationships with students and faculty. He said he felt blessed and honored to be a part of the students’ lives.
“I really don’t look at what I do here as a...
Andover Model UN Club Participates in a Variety of Assemblies in BOSMUN
By Danny Gottfried
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4Phillips Academy won “Best Small Delegation” at the Ninth Boston Invitational Model United Nation Conference this past weekend. The “Best Small Delegation” award is given to the school that won the most individual awards per delegation. Andover competed against over 1100 students from around the world. “I am so glad that I got to know these kids and got a chance to see their hard work pay off,” said Teruyo Shimazu, Instructor in Japanese and Faculty Advisor to Andover MUN. “These students gave up their weekend of social time in order to participate in this conference. Usually I don’t care about winning a trophy, but this time I was overwhelmed with pride,” Shimazu said. This was the MUN’s first time participating in the conference sponsored by Boston University. While Andover usually attends the NAIMUN Conference at Georgetown University, budget cuts prevented Andover from doing so this year....
Murphy to Review Blue Book Internet Policy
By Alex Salton
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4The school is considering adding a passage to the Blue Book outlining the difference between acceptable and unacceptable Internet usage, according to Dean of Students Paul Murphy. The protocol will also establish specific disciplinary responses to improper Internet conduct. The school dismissed a male Senior during a DC last Thursday. The DC involved a video the student uploaded to Facebook on February 11. Murphy said, “Did this case make us want to review the Blue Book? Yes. All disciplinary cases create an opportunity for us to review The Blue Book.” “We will be trying to put a tighter policy together about what gets posted in public areas. The policy would put together a set of parameters for students to follow,” Murphy said. According to Murphy, administrators have wanted to review the Internet usage mentions in The Blue Book since before this disciplinary case. While there is no...
Winter Pep Rally Moved to the Den
Decision Made Sunday Morning by Blue Key Heads and Efinger
By Dennis Zhou
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4Not every Varsity team will perform a skit in this year’s Winter Pep Rally, which will be held in the Den in lieu of the usual DiClemente Basketball Court. The change was made because not enough varsity teams had prepared skits for the new screening process.
The Blue Key Heads made the decision this past Sunday morning with Cindy Efinger, Director of Student Activities, after hearing that many of the teams did not have skits planned, due to the increased strictness of the administration in regards to pep rally performances.
This past fall, Paul Murphy, Dean of Students and Residential Life, implemented a screening process by which all teams must present their skits to the Blue Key Heads and Efinger before the pep rally for approval.
These new restrictions have been implemented due to inappropriate team skits in previous years.
The new event is intended to be a combination of the...
Ogilvie Pledges $5 million
Funds Will Support Goal of $65 Million Toward Financial Aid
By Apsara Iyer
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4Donna Brace Ogilvie ’30, Honorary Co-Chair of the Campaign for Andover, recently pledged $5 million to help establish a financial aid endowment in upcoming years. Ogilvie’s contribution goes toward the Capital Campaign, Andover’s initiative to raise $300 million dollars. Since July 2006, the school has collected a total of $195 million, according to Secretary of the Academy Peter Ramsey. The campaign is expected to support the school’s budget until the end of fiscal year 2014-2015.
$41 million has been raised toward the $65 million goal for financial aid. The money donated towards financial aid will help support the need-blind initiative proposed by the Board of Trustees in Andover’s 2004 Strategic Plan. “Mrs. Ogilvie, along with Mr. Underwood, is the honorary co-chair of the Campaign for Andover and is an enormous benefactor of the school,” Ramsey said.
“It is because of her role that she has been having conversations with...
Susan McCaslin to Retire After Three Decades of Service in the Andover Community
By Connie Cheng
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4This profile is the eighth installment in an ongoing series about the retiring faculty members in the Voluntary Retirement Incentives Program (VRIP).
After three decades, Susan McCaslin, Instructor in Philosophy and Religious Studies and Associate Dean of Faculty, will depart from Andover to enjoy a relaxing retirement. During her tenure, McCaslin has served many roles on campus, including Dean of Studies, Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, a faculty trustee member on two different Strategic Planning Committees, a house counselor, Girls Junior Varsity Squash Coach and Associate Dean of Faculty.
McCaslin has also served as the second Director of the International Academic Partnership, a program in which Andover collaborated with schools in the Aga Khan Development Network to help communities in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia and the Middle East. McCaslin said religious studies have always been her “enduring interest” but that she initially did...
Bourote to Teach Arabic for the Remainder of the Year
By Brian Delaney
Published on February 25, 2010 in CXXXIII no. 4Hafida Bourote, a native Arabic speaker originally from Morocco, will assume Instructor in Arabic Mohammed Harba’s duties for the remainder of the year.
Harba, the only Instructor in Arabic at Phillips Academy, stepped down on Friday, February 19.
Bourote will take over Harba’s Arabic language classes as well as his Arabic Culture class.
Temba Maqubela, Dean of Faculty, wrote in an email, “[Harba] resigned on his own accord to pursue an interest to serve in a different manner.”
“We tried to intervene and ask him to postpone his resignation, and he told us he could not as he was looking forward to pursue a dream in the next stage of his life,” Maqubela continued.
Peter Merrill, Head of World Languages, said, “[Harba] was a really dynamic and interesting person. That being said, we are all looking forward to getting to know Ms. Bourote.”
Bourote said, “The structure of the course will not change....