DA joined the GCC in its second year, in 2007, when it was a relatively small program of 15 Northeast boarding schools competing. The program has grown immensely since then to incorporate over 120 schools. Last year’s competition in total led to the reduction of over one million kilowatt hours of electricity across all schools, enough to prevent  1.4 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. Deerfield finished 8th place last year in the Northeast Boarding School division (41 schools). Because the Green Cup Challenge looks at the reduction compared to a baseline of your electrical usage from previous years, it becomes increasingly difficult to be near the top of the standings year after year. Each year when you get better, it is that much harder to improve further in future years. Now that we are Green Cup “veterans,” we’ll have to work much harder to fight our way up to the top of the charts this year.

This year we will have 3 related competitions for the Green Cup. The first will be a Deerfield intramural competition between dorms. Each week one boys’ and one girls’ dorm will win a dress-down day and the overall winner will receive a free order-out meal for the dorm. The second competition is a head-to-head competition with Phillip’s Andover. For both of these we can track our relative performance real-time on the Campus Energy Dashboard. The final competition is the larger Green Cup Challenge against many schools around the northeast region.

Tips:

1. Turn your room, hallway, and common room lights off when you are not in the room.

2. Study in the common room or, if you’re an upperclassmen, in the library or a classroom.

3. Turn off your printer unless you’re using it, and print on both sides.

4. Shower in the dark and for two minutes less than you usually do.

5. Turn off your power strip when you are not using it.

6. Make sure you are washing your clothes in cold water. Gets your clothes just as clean but without the energy waste of heating water!

Wealthy individuals are able to contribute increasingly exorbitant sums to candidates, campaign costs have skyrocketed, and advertising wields growing power in the all-encompassing world of social media. At the same time, Deerfield seniors prepare to cast their votes in caucuses, primaries, and the 2012 presidential election. At this instant, the question of our generation comes into focus. What is the relationship between money and ideas, including those such as climate change, reproductive rights, and collective bargaining?

Students, teachers, and alumni, young and old, have expressed interest in holding an open discussion of these issues. The Scroll particularly would enjoy covering a type of student panel, open forum, or teach-in on the relationship between money and freedom of thought in contemporary culture. I believe that this issue—sensitive, complicated, and intensely political and ethical—is of utmost importance to the Deerfield community and that we must discuss it in a serious, thorough manner if we wish to be an intelligent, thoughtful, and moral institution.

To students, especially seniors and especially community leaders: the support of teachers and administrators can only take us so far. One of you must take the initiative. The Scroll offers its full support in the form of knowledge, resources, discussion, and an open forum of publication in launching this talk on campus. Please send any thoughts, however informal or irate, to agonzales@deerfield.edu or ewhitton@deerfield.edu.

“We have a tremendously strong arts program and will finally have a facility that is commensurate with the quality of the department,” said Fine Arts Department Chair and dance teacher Jennifer Whitcomb.

Head of School Margarita Curtis added, “This is one of the more ambitious projects Deerfield has taken on. We have involved every single member of the arts faculty and some of the staff in the project.”

One of the main goals of the project is to attract Deerfield students to the arts. “Our hope is to make the arts program more visible, and [the building] a place where people want to be,” commented Academic Dean and fine arts teacher Peter Warsaw.

Another focus of the renovations will be the large auditorium.

“We are changing the large auditorium and expanding the capacity,” said fine arts teacher and Theatre Director Catriona Hynds.

The Memorial Building also needs structural updates. “The auditorium hasn’t been renovated for over 50 years, and [the renovation] is long overdue, especially regarding the infrastructure of the building,” Dr. Curtis said.

Other additions to the building include a new Chamber Music Hall and an art gallery showcasing Deerfield’s Russell Collection of Fine Art, which will resemble the Hilson Gallery.

“We want a greater balance between athletics and the arts,” Dr. Curtis said.

Judith Hegedus ’92, who currently works for the College Board, asked Academic Dean Peter Warsaw in October to consider the program.

The Curriculum Committee has asked the faculty to submit proposals for new courses and new global studies courses for seniors that would be consistent with the objectives of the Imagine Deerfield strategic plan.

“One of the reasons we are considering the pilot is that we will gain access to a vast network of experts, university professors as well as teachers who are knowledgeable in this area,” said Head of School Margarita Curtis.

However, the program would require a two-year commitment while Deerfield would prefer to launch the program as an (encouraged) option for senior year only.

The program’s course topics include artificial intelligence, endangered cultures, and the religious-secular divide, all of which are global topics that require students to synthesize knowledge, think creatively, and collaborate in a seminar format.

Initially, Mr. Warsaw was hesitant about working with an external organization.

“But when I studied the materials, I realized that their aims aligned beautifully with many of the aims of the strategic plan,” he said.

Some of the goals of Imagine Deerfield are to increase opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning. An interdisciplinary course draws upon multiple disciplines and skills to understand a topic better. There are many different models, such as the double-period, team-taught approach used in American Studies, a junior course that examines the intersection of American literature and history.

“We know that the world you’re going to inherit will require great flexibility and creativity in order to make connections between disparate worlds,” said Mr. Warsaw.

The strategic plan also hopes to integrate capstone courses into the curriculum, which will require students to create an original piece of work by synthesizing their experiences and drawing upon knowledge from multiple disciplines studied over their time at Deerfield.

Potential projects may be a twenty-page research paper or a collection of poems. “Capstones would have implications for the entire curriculum,” said Mr. Warsaw. “Every course would have to be aware of the student outcomes we seek.”

In addition, both the strategic plan and the Cambridge Capstone project hope to develop global literacy skills in students.

“We know that you are going to need to do this in college and in later life, so don’t we at Deerfield have an obligation to give you some practice?” asked Mr. Warsaw.

Our general perception seems to be that this is very much a Deerfield issue. So, the question becomes: why is this an extra-sensitive issue at Deerfield when no one on campus directly opposes the idea girls and guys be given equal opportunities?

Deerfield is a small, isolated school with traditional qualities, a competitive attitude, ingrained social patterns, and little tolerance for experimentation. People feel the effects and constraints of an iniquitous society much more strongly here. One potential solution is a greater tolerance for experimentation in gender policy; more opportunities to cherish our tradition and incorporate as many voices as possible in discussion about change.

There are less-openly recognized factors that tend to inflame and thereby inhibit or even reverse productive conversation. A mistaken sentiment resides that differences between gender roles always and solely represent inequity. We must consider the complex factors other than gender which are present in all social situations.

Let’s examine the gender-divided viewing arrangement at boys’ hockey games: guys on top bleachers, girls on the edge of the rink. This is a manifestation of inequity and an example of Deerfield’s ingrained social patterns. There are factors at play that are not always acknowledged. In general, guys love viewing aggressive sports more than girls, and it’s a boys’ hockey game—the players are dormmates and teammates with guys. Guys are more likely to claim those bleacher seats first. As I said before, I do believe gender inequity is represented at hockey games. I also believe that consideration of other factors suggests a lesser degree.

Another example is the concern about gender distribution between first and second waiters at the dining hall. I understand the benefit of mixing the two jobs equally between guys and girls, but it is silly to think that this historic divide represents a product of gender prejudice. There is no need for perfectly even gender distribution when guys, in general, have an easier time carrying the heavier second waiting tray. These factors should be considered when first and second waiting is used as an example of gender inequity at Deerfield.

The manner of the campus-wide discussion about gender inequity often leaves guys feeling blamed, insulted, and consequently resistant to change. This introduces the false perception that guys are acting out of conscious self-interest. This polarizes discussion.

Girls and guys at hockey games are simply following tradition, as we all do in many social situations. When the gender inequity discussion arises, there is a tendency, or a perceived tendency, to blame guys for promoting iniquitous gender roles. Girls are then blamed for buying into the roles. From what I’ve seen, no one—girl or guy—is consciously acting to preserve gender inequity. Societal forces create gender roles—we follow expectations.

The current students of Deerfield should not be blamed for following old, culturally-ingrained social habits. To get all students, particularly guys, on board with a totally equitable Deerfield, the community needs to take care not to alienate them first. Instead we need to maintain objectivity in discussion and focus on increasing self-awareness and awareness of social forces and the factors that contribute to them.

Tradition is not bad. But because there is a strong sentiment of holding fast to the past—and because many inevitably associate this past with Deerfield’s long stint as a single-sex institution—there exists both a lack of integration between male and female students and varying sentiments of inequality between the two genders.

Male sports, for example, get much more attention than female sports. Females, however, dominate the art, dance, and theater departments in terms of raw numbers. They also tend to have higher averages than males. And males have historically held the majority in Student Council (until last year, that is).

There have only been two female Student Body President in Deerfield’s 23 years of co-educational history.

At this school, male and female students are unequal in just about every field. We are steeped in a culture that has formed acceptable roles for males and females, roles from which the majority of students do not stray.

In terms of social standing and overall respect from the community, male students have the advantage. Many students I have spoken to believe this is partly the girls’ fault—that a change in the system is up to us as a gender to stop being submissive and to empower ourselves.

Such opinions arose after last year’s aforementioned gender equality initiative. Many opposed it on the basis that equality of opportunity, not equality of representation, was right. Yet part of the reason girls are less likely to be leaders in the community is that we are not visibly oppressed—we are given equality of opportunity, and we are not seriously thought to be inferior except by perhaps a margin of boys—thus there is not much fuel for activism.

Subtleties and community cultural trends would be good to discuss, to be aware of, so as not to fall into backward-thinking traps of boys oppressing girls and girls being submissive.

These are thought processes that I’d like to think few students would vocally support, though sadly I think these are somehow facilitated or magnified by Deerfield’s entrenched all-boys’ culture.

Leadership seems to be a good place to strive for improvement beyond campus discussions about culture, which is difficult to change. I don’t mean leadership in the sense of being a proctor or a peer counselor, but more of figures whom the school would listen to for guidance on a more intellectual and less emotional level.

Those positions are important, but because we have gender-segregated dorms, those positions inherently cannot have as much influence in ameliorating gender relations on campus.

Student representation affects the way students perceive how gender works on campus, and is a field above all others that should strive for equality.

Mandatory equality of representation is good because it gives incoming female students the impression that they don’t have to develop an inferiority for themselves based on Deerfield’s past—not in skill, talent, or leadership qualities.

In a few years, no students will be left to remember when positions and roles were not equal. Girls being assertive and bold and running for representative positions will be commonplace. This is something for which we should strive.

Ned Ryun, president of American Majority, an organization that offers Tea Party training, claims, “They don’t care what party you’re in; they just want to know if you reflect their values—limited government, fixing the economy.”

With limited government as one of the most important facets of the Tea Party platform, it’s interesting that Tea Partiers should support Newt Gingrich, who has historically supported big government ideas (compared to the traditional conservative).Gingrich supported an individual healthcare mandate, he “did not oppose” the TARP bailouts, and he openly advocates for increased federal education intervention.

In his infamous radio interview with Glenn Beck, Gingrich reaffirmed his support of an individual healthcare mandate and called himself a “Teddy Roosevelt conservative when it comes to healthcare.” Teddy Roosevelt is, to say the least, not admired by Tea Party activists, for he is credited with issuing 1007 executive orders during his presidency, whereas all ten presidents from Lincoln to McKinley only issued a combined total of 158 executive orders.

Why, then, in a Republican Nominational Preferences Poll conducted from December 1-5 and publicized by Gallup.com, did Gingrich have a 47% approval rating from Tea Party supporters? (The next highest Tea Party approval was given to Mitt Romney, with 17 %).

Why did 82% of Tea Party members claim Gingrich was an “acceptable” candidate, according to a Tea Party Candidate Acceptability Poll conducted in early December?

Finding one answer to these questions is hard to do, but what is clear is an inconsistency in the Tea Party and its values, among which is small, limited government. The Tea Party’s support of Newt Gingrich is truly puzzling.

John Avlon of TheDailyBeast.com recently published an article attempting to answer these questions. He suggested such support could have spawned from Newt Gingrich’s early assistance to the Tea Party during their creation in 2009.

In his article, Avlon wrote, “Gingrich supported the Tea Party movement in its earliest days and helped it achieve critical mass…He earned his affection from the Tea Party despite all the subsequent contradictory details about his high-yield gigs as a historian for archvillian Freddie Mac…”

If Avlon is correct, are the Tea Partiers selling their votes to someone who does not represent their political values? We often claim we vote for one candidate over another because we support their political platform and ideals, but is the Tea Party-Gingrich support system an example of the presidential election becoming a popularity contest?

Another Gallup poll recently published shows voters take into consideration friendliness and “how comfortable voters would be having a beer with the candidates” when voting.

We need to realize we are not going to be having beers with the President of the United States. We need to vote for the candidates who best represent our principles and our political ideals.

While she is known here for her prowess as a cellist, her musical career actually began with piano lessons. But that did not exactly work out, as Pil jokingly remembers, “I always ended up asleep by the end of a lesson,” she said. She tried playing the cello for the first time during her sixth-grade year at her public school in New York City.

When she first began her career as a cellist, her teachers were skeptical about her ability to play the instrument because of her petite size. As many here know, Pil “has very small hands,” in her own words. But that did not stop Pil. She simply found a pragmatic solution in a small cello called a “Ladies’ seven-eighths.”

Pil’s cellist career really took off during her eighth-grade year after she met a small eighty-year-old man who became her teacher. “He got me serious. If I did not make enough progress during our after-school lessons, we practiced an additional five hours on Saturday.”

Despite shoulder pains and calluses, Pil auditioned for a spot at the Manhattan School of Music where she practiced every weekend from nine to five during her freshman year. When she was accepted to Deerfield, Pil had to make the difficult decision to leave MSM in pursuit of new opportunities here, such as participating in the founding  of Deerfield’s student orchestra.

Pil insists the key to learning a musical piece is repetition: “When I was younger, my mom would burn any piece I had to learn onto a CD and then play it on repeat in the car.” Pil maintains a similar technique in her study of music today, listening to every new piece many times before even attempting to play a note.

Beyond being a part of the program from the start, Pil loves Deerfield’s student-led practices: “We run our own practices and decide how many times to play each piece,” she said.

Pil believes the program has developed quickly and she has been able to grow over her time here because “Mr. Warsaw pushes for faster, better improvement by the deadline of each concert.”

You can hear Pil play along with her fellow cellists, violinists, and viola players during choral concerts held each term two nights in a row.

Dr. Curtis’ message of translating our institutional values of diversity and respect into action gave us an opportunity to honestly appraise our school and our behavior towards each other. Speaker Michael Fassberg delivered a thought-provoking, encouraging exhortation to have dialogue from both sides about race.

Perhaps a more unifying theme for the day, and longer or more narrowly focused discussions, would improve next year’s event. Sustained discussion of diversity, tolerance, and contrasting perspectives will underscore the importance of the day.

Harbach manages to weave an unaffected, comprehensive story that makes for a quick, enjoyable read.

Set at the fictitious Westish College, a small school on Wisconsin’s shore of Lake Michigan, The Art of Fielding is about the tried-and-true American pastime of baseball, but Harbach infuses the topic with new life and meaning.

He writes of the sport: “You loved it because you considered it an art: an apparently pointless affair, undertaken by people with a special aptitude, which sidestepped attempts to paraphrase its value yet somehow seemed to communicate something true or even crucial about the Human Condition. The Human Condition being, basically, that we’re alive and have access to beauty, can even erratically create it, but will someday be dead and will not.”

The novel’s protagonist Henry Skrimshander appears to be a weakling in the eyes of the bulky, Marcus Aurelius-reading Westish baseball player Mike Schwartz.

But Skrim-as he is called for short-subsequently amazes Schwartz, the rest of the Westish team, and later major league scouts across the country with his artful skills as shortstop.

Henry seems to embody Renaissance sprezzatura, executing nearly impossible, stunning plays with little effort.

Henry fields with simplicity, restraint, and a Zen-like strategy taught to him by his favorite book (which shares a title with this novel) by his favorite shortstop-the fictional Aparicio Rodriguez (a tribute to Luis Aparicio of the White Sox).  He applies this philosophy to his life as well, not ever doing much besides playing baseball, eating, and sleeping.

But as he submits to the inevitable liveliness of campus life-and of being a celebrity gaining national hype-and forms more relationships, thus spending more time thinking, caring, and trying-rather than just playing-Henry’s game begins to lose its effortlessness.

He begins to hesitate and double-pump in his throws, screwing up plays that he used to perform perfectly, mindlessly.

Harbach uses Henry as the point of commonality for all characters in the novel, each of whom has an individual, fully-realized story that contributes to driving the plot forward.  Other narrators include Guert Affenlight, the campus president (who develops a dangerously close relationship with Henry’s gay, black, environmentalist roommate Owen), his married, conflicted, talented daughter Pella; and the lumbering, coach-like Mike Schwartz, whom Pella dates.

The Art of Fielding reveals the art in baseball, while exploring the meaning of such art in the midst of a confusing, chaotic life.  It is a wonderfully complete, surprisingly profound first novel for Harbach.