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On March 27, renowned writer, poet and former three-term United States Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky will come to campus to read his poetry. His reading, a spring School Event, will take place in the Dining Hall on Thursday afternoon, with a special schedule that includes a walkthrough dinner. According to English teacher Michael Cary, who, along with fellow English teacher Frank Henry, is organizing the event, “Mr. Pinsky was chosen as a preeminent American poet whose work evokes a distinct sense or vision of American identity and character. I think he is in the same tradition as Walt Whitman.” Mr. Henry said, “Pinsky is one of America’s most significant living poets. He has a reputation and a record of being an advocate for poetry, in general, and public poetry in particular. He was an apostle, an advocate for poetry and the inclusion of more poetry in daily life—curriculum, posting poems in subways, that sort of thing.” Mr. Pinsky has published 19 books of poetry and prose, including a highly esteemed translation of Dante’s Inferno (1994). He also founded the Favorite Poem Project to encourage Americans to read and discuss poetry. Mr. Pinsky has also released a CD called PoemJazz with Grammy-winning pianist Laurence Hobgod and has performed readings with many other jazz musicians. Mr. Pinsky’s visit will be something for the community to look forward to. Mr. Cary said of Pinsky’s upcoming visit, “I am delighted that he is coming. When I was at Lawrenceville, he came to do a reading and did a spellbinding reading of his poem ‘Shirt.’ I hope he does the same for us.”

On January 18, the Deerfield Robotics Team, started by Alexa Murray during her freshman year at Deerfield, traveled to Greenwich, Connecticut for a qualifying competition for the Connecticut State Championships. The team is made up of 10 core members, ranging from freshmen to seniors. At the beginning of the season in the fall, the more experienced members gave lessons to those who had never worked with robots before. After gaining more experience, these beginner members joined the team at triweekly meetings. The team splits into specialty groups— builders, programmers, and organizers. After weeks of hard work, these specialty groups collaborate together robot moving. Two weeks before the competition, the team practices in their arena on the first floor of the Koch. Among the tasks that the robot must achieve are picking up blocks, raising a dag and hanging from an overhead bar in the middle of the arena. The Connecticut robotics competition, created by the First Tech Challenge (FTC) Company, is comprised of five rounds during which teams are paired with different allies. Upon arriving at Greenwich Academy for the competition, the team—dubbed Big Green— immediately began preparing to evaluate their robot’s readiness. At 10 a.m., the Deerfield team was interviewed by the event’s judges. The judges at a robotics competition typically look for a functional and efficient robot, the team’s organization and outreach to the local community, as well as chemistry and teamwork among the members of the team. After the interview, the team was assigned its first ally, and that team began the first round of competition, with Xander Li ‘17, Kyle Bums ‘14 and Kento Yamamoto ‘16 controlling the robot, while the rest of the team shouted and cheered from the sidelines. DA was paired with a few rookie teams and won only two of the five rounds. The difficulty of being paired with a rookie team is that the points after each round are combined, so if an ally’s robot performs its tasks inefficiently, the points reflect poorly on both teams. Though Big Green did not have enough combined points with their allies to qualify for semi-finals, the team’s high individual score attracted another team to choose them as an ally for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, during the first round of the semi-finals, Big Green had programming difficulties, causing its claw and its hanging mechanisms to fail. Moreover, its allies then lost the next round, preventing Big Green from making the final round. However, after anxiously anticipating the final ceremony, during which the judges would announce who would move on to the State Championships, Big Green was awarded third place and “The Inspire Award,” the highest award given by FTC’s judges. With this third-place award, Big Green automatically earned a spot in the March robotics championships, where they will have the opportunity to qualify for the regional tournament. “We worked tirelessly to finish our robot before the competition, and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come,” said two- year member Riker Bixby ‘15. Burns, another two-year member and head builder of the robot added, “We went out there with all our heart and we came out with the prize.”

Dear Margo, Rita, and Curtis, I don’t have any friends of the opposite sex here. Why? Sincerely, Gal searching for a pal Assuming you’re not a giant jerk (i.e. listening to Nickelback, turning on read receipts, and initiating a college conversation, then saying you’re “not telling people”…), there are a few reasons why this might be the case. As with all fascist regimes, the administration is to blame. What happened to the coed dorms of the Boyden era—that was a thing, right? Nowadays if a lonely but well-meaning girl walks down the halls of Johnson- Doubleday in search of friendship, popping her head into rooms or knocking on bathroom stalls, she is labeled as “creepy,” “stalkerish” or “violating the visitation clause of Deerfield Academy.” Herein lies the issue: Deerfield simply won’t push the envelope to defy typical gender stereotypes. Worry not, we’ve written a few petitions. (Take note, Student Council). Most Deerfield students are housed in single dorm rooms, missing out on a quintessential boarding-school experience of living with a roommate, an instant friend. Now imagine a vibrant, 13-year-old girl marching into her room, shaking hands with her roommate: a 16-year-old double repeat boy. Boom. Wrecking ball to the gender wall (copyright Miley Cyrus). We don’t know about you, but at that age we possessed all the maturity to handle this seemingly awkward situation. Now imagine this same girl returning from an exhausting away game at Exeter, having defended the Green and White, and all she wants is a warm shower. Who better to welcome her into the locker room than her friend and hall-mate: Jimmy, the star of the boys hockey team. Those locker-room bonding experiences are a sure-fire way to budge the widening gender gap, because as we all know: those who sweat together stay together. However, in the event that we are unable to reform the impenetrable dictatorship that is the administration (also known as “The Man”), you can always do it the old-fashioned way: manage a boys varsity team in hopes that after you shuttle their gear for two weeks, one of the players will talk to you. Fight the power, Margo, Rita, and Curtis

Every Friday night, one can find about 30 people baking in the Parker Room kitchen. Claire Collins ’15, Molly Murphy ’15 and Blair Johnson ’14 started the baking club this January. The idea for the club came to Collins and Murphy in their biology class. “[We] were talking one day about how we really liked to bake at home and how much fun it was,” Murphy said. “I told [Claire] that I used to bake in my advisor’s apartment, and she said we should bake. Claire is on food committee so she said, ‘I can get Mr. McCarthy to give us the Parker Room basement,’ and I said, ‘we should start a club!'” Johnson was not originally a founder of the club, but after she went for a trial run, “Claire and Molly asked me to join,” she reported, “because I showed a lot of enthusiasm for the club—maybe a little too much.” The founders’ favorite part about the club is that “[they] have a lot of fun while baking, and it’s a relaxed environment and a social environment,” Murphy said. “I think it’s really cool that all sorts of kids come together,” Collins added. “I also love it, because I’m gluten free, and it was fun learning how to bake sans wheat,” Johnson said. Despite this enjoyment, running the club still presents challenges. “One person can complete a recipe in one to two hours, so it’s hard to find jobs for 30 different people,” Murphy said. “Sometimes we feel bad when we see people sitting, but it’s hard to coordinate what everyone’s going to do and make sure everything has been done correctly so we get a good final product.” In addition, Collins said, she has “to stay on schedule in terms of ordering the supplies we need” from Mr. McCarthy, director of the Dining Hall, who has been “really helpful and supportive.” The club has attracted many students. “I love baking, and I haven’t had as many chances to bake since coming to Deerfield,” said Alex Patrylak ’15. “So Baking Club was the perfect opportunity to do something I love.” “I decided to join the Baking Club, because I have always found baking to be a great activity that relieves a lot of stress,” said Charlotte Carr ’14. “It isn’t like most clubs at Deerfield and is set apart by the fact that we have an activity weekly.” Although the club has just begun, the heads are already looking forward. “We make two things a week,” Collins said. “We eat one and then sell one. We are using the money from what we sell, so we can reimburse ourselves and buy stuff for next week, but eventually we want to see if we can sell enough that we can start putting a pool together of money we can donate somewhere.” The heads of the club encourage students to go to Baking Club because “it’s so much fun, you get food and you don’t have to stay for the entire time,” said Murphy. “It’s something to do on a Friday night.” “You don’t just have to bake, you can be there with your friends,” Collins said. “You can wash, you can sell, you can help pick out recipes for the next week and you can taste test.”

Contributing Writer Last summer, a group of prep school students “on the spectrum” (LGBT) met in New York City to discuss being gay at boarding school. Coordinated by a Phillips Andover graduate, the meeting took place at a small cafe in the Village. I will never forget the response when I said I went to Deerfield. Expressions of shock and sympathy quickly overcame the faces of my formerly jovial acquaintances. One girl even said, “Oh my God, is that even allowed there?” I laughed and began to explain what the last year was like, what it was like to come out, etc. The same gid asked me why I had decided to stay, why I didn’t transfer to Andover, whose accepting community is well- known among prep-school gays. I couldn’t give her a good reason as to why—the truth is that I very strongly considered leaving Deerfield. Andover, among a few other schools, could offer me something that I couldn’t find at Deerfield: an established gay community, somewhere where I wouldn’t feel like such a rare specimen. I decided not to apply in the end, but some mornings I wake up and wonder if that was the right choice. Now when people ask me what it’s like to be gay at Deerfield, I say it’s fine, but that’s it: fine. Why can’t it be better? Why does Deerfield not have a gay community like Andover? Why is it that there are six openly gay students at SYA China, but only one at Deerfield, which has a student body roughly 20 times larger? There seem to be a million answers to these questions, while at the same time none. Maybe Deerfield will be a different place when I get back, but probably not, as change comes neither easily nor quickly to the Academy. Gradually people have been coming out to me in private, which gives me hope that Deerfield has a chance. Maybe that is the reason why I stayed. Underneath the layers of criticism that I hold for Deerfield, maybe my time there has given me hope that Deerfield has a fighting chance at becoming something better than what it is now. Or maybe I just really like the color green, who knows.

In the last issue of The Scroll , there was a powerfully written article by one of my fellow students entitled “For The Girls.” While I commend the bravery of the author to step outside the lines and take a stand for feminism and equal rights, I have to say that I personally prefer my feminism to be of a different sort. In her article, Kay Calloway ’14 asserts that women shouldn’t “try to be Tor the boys’ just to win their approval. Instead of shyly giggling at some guy’s inappropriate joke, counter with an even more inappropriate joke.” Here’s where I get confused. Women’s rights is about equal opportunity, equal treatment, equal pay—equal everything, to sum it up. We want to be treated as men are, while still recognizing that we are women. The way I see it, this means that, if I were to apply to be the CEO of a business, I would get paid as much as my male predecessor, regardless of whether I wear skirts and spend Sunday nights with a friend painting my nails and watching The Notebook or not. Correct me if I’m wrong, but what it seems Calloway is asserting is that in order to prove that we (women) are as good as men, we have to act like men. Make inappropriate jokes, speak without a “filter,” be apathetic about participation. Not only is that stereotyping men to a gross degree—the same thing we accuse them of doing when we resist being told that we must be domestic and reserved —but it is implying that in order to get the same rights as men, we have to be men. Something about that just doesn’t sit well with me. It sounds more like eliminating a gender than equalizing it. My conclusion, therefore, is the same as my fellow student’s was: “love and shout your opinions, because you’re brilliant and you matter.” I would simply like to add that, in this case, “equal” does not mean “same.” When I strut down the hall in my Converse hi-tops, I expect the same treatment from society as the boy next to me in Timberlands, the girl next to him in Jack Rogers and the person who chooses not to identify as either rocking a pair of high heels. Girls: be yourself, whether you are docile or unnervingly assertive. It’s okay to like pink ruffles, and it’s okay to like black leather, and it’s okay to like both. Boys: the same goes for you. Don’t assume that your appearance and demeanor have anything to do with what you think and how you behave.

Physics Teacher Amanda Zranchev has brought more than just her science skills to Deerfield—she is founding the school’s first curling club. She curled for a few years in college, even competing in tournaments with her team. The Deerfield team will likely be starting small, meeting only once or twice this year. But Ms. Zranchev is excited to “test the waters” and knows the creation of a serious and popular curling club will not be instantaneous. “People who do curling are usually interesting and enthusiastic,” she said. “So doing curling will be a good opportunity to meet other interesting and enthusiastic people.” The club’s main obstacle is the necessary traveling time. Deerfield’s rink will not suffice for curling because the ice is too smooth. According to Ms. Zranchev, the sport calls for pebbled ice, which is created by a special machine through a process called “scraping.” The mechanism sprinkles water droplets on the surface of the ice, which freeze and create numerous little bumps. This lessens the friction between the ice and the rock, allowing it to slide more easily down the ice. So far, a variety of students of all grades, faculty members, staff and faculty/staff children have shown interest in trying the sport. Penelope Hough ’17 said, “I signed up for curling because my grandmother did it and I think if would be really cool to try it out.” Jack Lambert ’16 had only “heard of [curling] as the punchline of jokes about the Olympics.” Now he is “most excited to learn how it’s played and to try it out myself.” Science Teacher Ivory Hills, who also signed up for a curling lesson, is looking forward to joining “a Deerfield team, learning a new sport and getting better together.” Ms. Zranchev urges more people to join, calling curling a “super fun, social sport.” Seldom broadcast on American networks, curling will be in the spotlight with the Winter Olympics, making now an excellent time to learn the sport.

This past May, Edward Snowden, a former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA), famously exposed the inner workings of the agency’s surveillance programs. Fueled by the scandal, debates surrounding the privacy of Americans’ data have erupted across the United States. John Breyault, the Vice President of Public Policy at the National Consumers League, works to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers around the world. In an interview with The Scroll , Mr. Breyault said, “I think there’s a natural tension between consumers’ right to privacy under the Fourdi Amendment and the government’s need to collect information to aid in national defense. The current debate about the necessary scope of government surveillance is long overdue.” Chris Stauffer ’80, Executive Vice-President at Ascella Technologies, has delivered technology-based solutions to numerous federal agencies. Although Ascella has never worked directly with the NSA, it has assisted various agencies, including the Department of Customs and Border Protection and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in intelligence gathering. “The public is finally beginning to understand that the government is accessing a significant amount of data about individuals,” Mr. Stauffer said. “And this raises concerns about the right to privacy, and what the government might do with the information it gathers.” The debate regarding data privacy has not, however, been limited to just the federal government. In our increasingly- connected world, corporations and schools are monitoring more and more data from their employees and students. Here at Deerfield, Information Technology Services (ITS) is charged with maintaining nearly a thousand computers and an extensive network. However, the Academy does not regularly monitor student and employee usage. “We are able to get to web history, but it is time-consuming and requires a tool that extracts that information,” said Wendy Shepherd, Director of Deerfield ITS. Unlike most ITS departments, Deerfield’s does not pre-install any remote access software on student or employee computers. “We can’t access directly anything on your computer remotely,” said Kimberly Butz, Associate Director of Administrative Computing. “The only thing we can access is the data that you transmit over our network. If you have something on your computer that you received via the Deerfield network, in theory we could intercept that transmission, but we can’t get into your laptop from the network and see what’s on your hard drive.” Some things transmitted over the Deerfield network could prove nearly impossible for Deerfield ITS to access. Many popular means of communication, including iMessage and Facebook Messenger, can be encrypted, meaning that the contents of these transmissions are unreadable to network administrators. One area, however, that Deerfield IT can monitor is email sent to and from deerfield.edu addresses. “We have the ability to read your Deerfield email,” said Ms. Shepherd. “If we wanted to, yes, we could. But generally we have more important tilings to do.” Furthermore, only a select few within the department have the ability to read emails. “ITS has occasionally been asked to provide data for an investigation,” said Ms. Shepherd. “And there is a formal process in place to ensure that information is shared securely and appropriately.” Deerfield’s Acceptable Use Policy states, “The Academy reserves the right to access, view or monitor any information or communication stored on or transmitted over our network, and it may be required by law to allow third parties to do so. Electronic data may become evidence in legal proceedings. Messages or data may also be inadvertently viewed as a result of routine systems maintenance and monitoring.” Contrary to many institutions and corporations, Deerfield has also elected not to block pornography or illegal media streaming sites. The administration trusts the community to use the Internet responsibly. “Part of what we teach here is responsible behavior,” said Ms. Butz. “Just like we let people go off campus— they could get into trouble. But we don’t make everyone stay on campus twenty- four hours a day as a result. Students are expected to have a certain code of conduct with their behavior. And online use is no exception. If we eliminate everything that you could potentially stumble upon and get yourself in trouble with, we’re not creating a world that’s very realistic.” “We spend more of our time fighting against malware and viruses so that things coming in from outside don’t damage our network,” concluded Ms. Butz. “Our time is spent trying to protect our resources rather than spying on students.”

On January 20 the entire student body came together to package more than 156,000 meals to send to starving children in the Philippines and Haiti. As part of the MLK Day celebrations, Deerfield Academy partnered with Kids Against Hunger, a non-profit organization that ships meals around the world to fight hunger. Needless to say, the event was a success. Not only did Deerfield reach its goal of 133,000 meals, it exceeded it by more than 20,000 meals. What was even more important to Allie Gerber ’14, who came up with this idea, was getting everyone involved. “It’s not just about donating money,” Gerber explained. “It’s about working together for a common purpose.” The Community Service Board began planning the event in November. “Tt was a long process,” said Isabella Tang ’14, a member of the Community Service Board. “We didn’t know if it was going to be a success. We had to fundraise a lot of money in a short period of time.” Gerber echoed these thoughts, explaining, “We had a time crunch, and I am proud of the work everyone did. It was a huge collaboration, and everyone had many good fundraising ideas.” These ideas included selling croissants and raffle tickets and organizing an X-box NHL tournament to raise money. Much work was put into the events, and seeing it all play out on MLK Day made all the effort worth it to the Community Service Board. “I am so proud of the work Deerfield Academy students have done,” continued Gerber. “I am so emotional about it! It’s amazing how much work the whole school could complete.” Kids Against Hunger arrived on campus on Sunday afternoon. Many students and faculty unloaded the trucks filled with food and packaging material into the gym, where the event took place the following morning. Thanks to the help of volunteers, the gym quickly turned into a veritable factory. “It was really community building,” reflected Kay Calloway ’14 on the food-packaging activity. “It was really productive, and I had a nice time. Working together towards a common goal was really good for Deerfield.”

“What’s in a name?” This famous question should be the first one posed by any college advisor worth his or her master’s. How much should the reputation of the university we attend matter to us? Are we superficial, vain even, if we crave that elite Ivy League status as much as, or more than, our actual college experience? Has our society indoctrinated us to believe that true happiness can be attained only when the admission rate is below 7%? Deerfield, a self-proclaimed college preparatory school, is faced with the daunting challenge of educating, nurturing and shipping off 630 teenagers to the most coveted institutions of higher education in the world. So how do we students cope with this burden to be nothing less than the best? What happens if we fail to meet these exceptional standards? Can we be happy no matter how U.S. News and World Report ranks our chosen college, or does Deerfield truly believe we must go “HYP or Bust”? Happiness is such an intangible, vague concept, but the notion that a label holds the key to it is seriously misplaced. Happiness lies in the little things found on any college campus–the chance friendships, the inside jokes, the wild memories–and the truly well-prepared Deerfield student may have the foresight to recognize this opportunity anywhere, at any time, and seize it. Andrea Fleming Opinion/Editorial Editor

If I could let the Deerfield community in on a secret, it would be that we all have a false sense of security in the idea that there is no more racism. It’s a hard concept for some to wrap their heads around. The idea that “if you don’t see it, it’s not there” should not be applied to this particular situation. Why? Because then it creates this elephant in the room for those who can see it. Afraid to be accused of hallucinating, they sit in discomfort. It is true–long gone are the “Whites Only” signs and laws, the racism in our parents’ and grandparents’ lives. But that does not negate the presence of discomfort. The truth is that the more hidden racism is, the more of a problem it is. And then we are led to treat the symptoms and not the problem itself. Hiding from racism is like telling someone that their brain tumor is just a headache and giving them aspirin, a band-aid over a bullet hole, so to speak. Racism is an issue so deeply embedded in the foundation of America that although we have been freed from slavery, the country remains in a state of bondage. We are bound now by the desperate desire to be “color-blind”–an unattainable characteristic in our society. So how do we free ourselves? The first step is to recognize the problem. Recently a situation arose in which I overheard another student remark on how two black students would be first- and second-waiting for his advisory group–“the way it should be.” Once the administration caught wind of this, they reacted swiftly–and the problem turned into a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if they were to act “mildly,” they would be seen as tolerating behavior unworthy of Deerfield students. But if they reacted too extremely, it would be as if they had never heard of such comments–as if the incident had been an isolated occurrence. The administration in this situation went with the extreme, which led me to really question– what can be done? What can we do to change such behavior and attitudes? And how should the school be handling these incidents? For me, the need for education is at the core of these issues– education beyond what the whitewashed history textbooks are willing to tell you–education through narratives and through conversations. Ask questions, you think they might be uncomfortable. If the answer might get you closer to how the other person feels, it’s worth asking, worth trying. But do be cautious of how the questions are posed, as not to be offensive, or restrictive, since most do not come with a simple “Yes” or “No.” And those questions will lead to more questions, and answers, and hopefully understanding, if you are an attentive listener. If you don’t understand, if something unsettles you, challenge it! Ask why. Ask about everything until you think you’ve got it. It’s not just one conversation, either. If this is a commitment about which you really care, you will be happy to sacrifice something as trivial as time. And take as much time as you want–as opposed to having everything forced down your throat. Then it’s your responsibility to not just keep that for yourself. Educate others. Take what you learn and bring it into context in your classes, in your everyday life with friends and family outside of Deerfield. All of this is to say that you should not feel as though you have to walk on eggshells and filter yourself around people of color. Those who want to learn will.

The concept of “liking” things on Facebook is something I’ve never really understood. It’s a mysterious signal that can mean a number of things, from “No one else has liked this, so I got your (*cough* mildly unpopular) back” to “Hello, I am a boy who wants to un-aggressively hint at my interest in you.” It’s harmless enough at a glance, but the disturbing power of Facebook is its ability to put a number on how much interest people have or do not have in each other’s lives. It takes the high school obsession of “popularity” and makes it something from which you can never escape, whether you’re tucked into bed in your dorm room or walking— notifications-enabled phone in hand — on Albany Road. From another point of view, Facebook is a blatant meat market. It’s a stage on which all of us strut our most impressive stuff, baring skin in the places of which we are most proud (you’ll see a lot of plunging necklines in my profile pictures!). Facebook is a forum for the exhibitionists that we have become, people starving to be the objects of envy on the high school scene. Our Facebook profiles, in the end, are not so much “profiles” of who we are as projections of what we want our best selves to be. It’s a contest to out-do, out- interest, out-sell: and the product is yourself. Many people’s excuse for Facebook is that it allows them to satisfy their curiosity. But while curiosity might be the original motivation, the emotion you’re left with is often envy. Often, as you scroll down your endless newsfeed, full of beautiful people in beautiful beach/ mountain/ party settings, you’ll find yourself feeling the way my little cousin felt when his traditional Korean instrument (God bless his nerdy little soul) was pitted against a hamster for elementary school show-and-tell. Except in order for the metaphor to work, the hamster would have to talk and defecate gold. Of course, there is the option of buying out of the system— which most Deerfield students are forced to do, especially as their workload builds up and time for mindless scrolling becomes ever scarcer in their four years at DA. But the visible decrease in use of social media from freshman to senior year also corresponds to an increase of self-confidence among the student population. It is no secret that there is a huge developmental change in an individual from his first year at DA to his last, and the greatest part of this change is the confidence to be able to own yourself. To summarize, I’m not going to tell you, little underclassman, that you won’t be happier with a profile picture with 300 likes (someone someday explain to me how that happens?) rather than one with 30. But I will tell you: being able to live your life with more focus on how you see yourself than how you want others to see yourself will come with time. Because I’m a junior, and I sincerely do not “want to die” because you are “so gorgeous,” I would rather not contribute to the ego of a cute couple by giving their picture their 204th like (singles do you hear me preach?), and would prefer to take a nap than look through the hundreds of pictures you took on some beach or another—unless you’re a really attractive boy (in which case you probably didn’t upload a hundred pictures you took on some beach or another).