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Dear Reader, This past Thursday, I quickly scrolled the length of the page one last time, held my breath, then clicked. My Early Decision application was submitted. If I later spot a glaring typo or have a sudden epiphany, it is too late. My fate is sealed. I felt a profound sense of satisfaction . . . and fear. But I also feel sadness and disbelief. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was sitting at home over Thanksgiving Break, filling out prep school applications. And now, I have officially completed the first final step in the process of finding a new home. Though I toured nearly a dozen colleges this summer and lost sleep over preparing for college admission tests, the end game all seemed so far off. I have been in denial. I cannot avoid the fact that we are at the beginning of the end. And though any good graduation speaker will tell you that leaving high school is just the “end of beginning,” I have to disagree. Our grade has only just begun to shed the self-consciousness that sometimes inhibited us from building meaningful relationships and from making decisions that would truly have made us happy during the first few years. The places, people, and tasks that seemed so daunting when we first began are now non-events. We finally feel comfortable in our own skin and with the roles we have grown into at the Academy. And yet now our time is running out. Are we ready to leave? This “forever” that I imagined while filling out my boarding school applications didn’t include graduation. Have we accomplished everything that we set out to accomplish? Before it’s too late, let’s strive to make a few more friends, mend fences and set in place lifetime soul mates. In just a short time we’ll be out the door. All the best, Henry Cobbs

It’s no secret what happened a few weeks ago on campus. Between the one student who withdrew from Deerfield facing disciplinary action and the seven students who faced the DC, most members of our community are acquainted with someone involved in what has been widely referred to as “the drug bust.” I was one of the seven. And one of my good friends was the one. Despite the fact that I was as close to the situation as one could be, I still don’t know what to think. I continue to ask myself hard questions. Is it fair that seven students had to go before the DC, while every student who wasn’t implicated by the confiscated phone received amnesty? Is it right that some of the worst drug offenders on campus simply had to put their “stashes” in a cardboard box, while seven of their peers, some of whom had violated the drug and alcohol policy just one time, were suspended? I don’t know the answers to these questions. It makes sense that the administration took action against the students for whom they had incriminating evidence, but why did they stop where they did? Why didn’t they confiscate everyone’s phone? There has been a lot of discussion on campus regarding the privacy aspect of this case. Many members of our community are pondering the following: Why was the administration allowed to confiscate a student’s phone and computer? What gave the deans the power to search through the private property of a student and use it as evidence in a disciplinary hearing? Is that fair? Is that even legal? After a discussion with Dean of Students Amie Creagh, I found the answers to some of these questions. Yes, the school has the right to search through a student’s private property if there is “reasonable suspicion” of misconduct. However, Ms. Creagh stressed that the administration only ever does this in exceptional circumstances. The two examples offered were drug dealing and compromising photos, both of which are punishable by law. At this point, you might be outraged. You might be thinking to yourself: “The school should not have the right to my private property. This is not what I thought I signed up for when I came to Deerfield.” Or you might be neutral: “What do I care if the school can go through my phone? I have nothing to hide.” You might even be relieved that the school is equipped with the tools to combat drug use and other illicit activities on campus. Wherever you are on this spectrum, take a moment, and realize what could have happened. Worst-case scenario: if Deerfield were a public school, the first thing the administration would have had to do if they were forced to confront a case of drug-dealing on campus is call the police. Instead of going home to finish out the remainder of the year, the member of our community who withdrew could be in a juvenile detention center, and have a criminal record to contend with for the rest of her life. Instead Of making statements to read in front of fellow classmates and teachers on the DC, the seven students implicated on the phone could have had to make statements to the police. Even some of our peer schools have to involve their local police each time there is a drug offense on campus. And not just for cases of dealing; if any student is caught using drugs, some prep schools, like Exeter, for example, are required to contact the police. With this information in mind, it’s worth considering that Deerfield might actually be protecting us from a harsh reality that many of us have never even considered. Unfortunately, as is true for many high schools, drug use is widespread at Deerfield– widespread to the point that people who are caught consider themselves unlucky, rather than wrong. We as a community need to address the why of the issue. Not the who, what, where, when, or how. We cannot hope to solve this problem unless we understand why kids are using. Are there addicts on campus? Are kids bored? Are they stressed? Is it a result of this generation of teenagers feeling like they are invincible? Or are some kids using to cope with personal issues that they’re struggling with? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the drugs are not the issue. It’s the feelings, thoughts and pressures that drive people to use. The stark truth is that the majority of people using drugs are only worried about getting caught and having to explain the dreaded three-day suspension to colleges—not with the moral issues involved. And yes, many kids who face a drug-and-alcohol DC will never use these substances on campus again. But off campus? You can be fairly certain that some users will go home for break and indulge over the duration of their “freedom.” Why does the student body react to a drug-and-alcohol DC differently than a DC dealing with the school’s honor code? Why is smoking a joint different from cheating on a test? Or telling a lie? I think it’s because we, as Deerfield students, consider lying and cheating immoral. Drug use, on the other hand, is widely viewed as acceptable. We’re teenagers, and rebelling comes naturally to us. The percentage of kids who experiment with drugs before graduating from high school is huge—so, do we consider using drugs to be immoral? No, because it’s so often seen as typical. This is why a change needs to be made. The way our community thinks about drugs needs to be altered. Restorative measures need to supplement punitive ones. We need more conversations and fewer DCs. What many people don’t know, however, is that we have already started down that path. I think it is important that the school community be aware about what course of action the school is taking to address the drug problem on campus before it judges the administration for its decisions. It is clear that the administration, as well as other leaders in our community, are working to combat the drug problem with measures that surpass the merely punitive. And while we have a long way to go, we are taking the right first steps. The administration has spoken on its plans for the next few months: •Ms.Creagh’s comments at school meeting encouraged students to get help from the Health Center. She hopes she made it clear that she understands adolescent mistakes, as she made a lot of them. More than anything, her hope is for Deerfield students to be healthy and grow healthy habits when they’re here. •The administration offered an amnesty/”reset” so that kids could begin to remove drugs and alcohol from their lives freely. Doing right after wrong is a big point of emphasis for those in the Deans’ Office because it shows growth. •The administration held a faculty meeting just after these drug events to help colleagues support students who may be struggling with drugs and alcohol. The hope was to raise both awareness and support. •The administration is going to meet with proctors and peer counselors about drug and alcohol use on campus so they can refer students to the Health Center for help. •A group of students on campus who’ve been involved with drugs and/or alcohol will meet with younger students and health classes to talk about the very stressors I articulate in this article. Ideally, this impacts a full “generation” of DA kids, who then move on to handle stress and boredom, for example, without harming themselves with drugs and alcohol. •Ms. Loftus is tapping into a similar pool of students to work with the Circle of Trust / Gordie Foundation. •The Deerfield Magazine plans to write an article about use on campus that highlights these very leadership moments for former users, sharing their positive stories so that others might then learn most effectively from their mistakes. •Ms. Creagh has emailed all parents in an effort to partner with them in these important conversations about use, reasons for it and ways to deter it. If our conversations here at school are mirrored and echoed at home, the message might resonate more loudly with students. •Ms. Creagh met with the Student Life Committee of the Board of Trustees last weekend to talk about ways they might get involved and help. •The administration rearranged the full academic schedule on November 13 to accommodate Chris Herren and Project Purple. We hope to show this ESPN 30 for 30 prior to Chris’s visit: http://espn.go.com/espn/espnfilms/story/_/id/6961212/unguarded •On January 28, Dr. Mark Stonkus will be our School Meeting speaker. (One of Deerfield’s former users has worked closely with him already.) Dr. Stonkus runs FitOut, a group that focuses on peer pressure and some of the other reasons kids may choose to use drugs. Before his visit, this current student/former user will distribute a survey of the student body so we can begin to gather data on use. We’ll use this data to measure our progress in addressing the problem. After the FitOut presentation, students will be asked to participate in student-led, “grassroots” monthly meetings, each of which focuses on a different cause of use. •Ms. Creagh has reached out to two recent graduates who were involved with drugs and/or alcohol to see if they might come back to talk with seniors in the spring. It would augment our meeting about the 16-day rule in ways that would probably be more impactful.​

Due to the extreme stress that students experience from grades, Deerfield has decided that teachers will not show grades to freshmen students until the end of the term. While sophomores, juniors and seniors will still receive marks on assessments and midterm grades, the freshman class will not. They are encouraged to focus more on teachers’ comments, and move away from the attention that Deerfield students passionately apply to grades. We here at The Scroll believe that Deerfield’s decision to give qualitative reports emphasizing different skill sets, rather than number grades, for freshmen fall midterms will enhance the learning experience of the student body in upcoming years. The change enables freshmen to focus more on the process of learning than on a number that may inaccurately reflect a student’s efforts. Especially during the first half of a student’s first term at Deerfield, it is difficult for all aspects of a student’s efforts and progress to be encompassed by a single number. Our mode of academic evaluation for freshmen is rightly starting to emphasize that the learning experience is a two-way discussion with room for mistakes, reflection and improvement, not a one-way handing down of judgment. Can preventing knowledge of one’s grade cause stress for a student? Perhaps, but the Scroll Board encourages freshmen to embrace this more liberal style of evaluation, at least for their first term at school. We believe this is Deerfield’s attempt to establish a healthy attitude towards academics in freshmen early on in their Deerfield careers—an attitude that focuses on improving skills, rather than raising numbers. We here at The Scroll have learned through many years of experience that though it may seem otherwise at times during one’s career at Deerfield, the true value of a good education ultimately lies in the means, not the ends.

Describe A Typical Rehearsal Tarek: We start, we do warm-ups, and then 15 minutes later, Tomas shows up. After that, Will gives a little lecture about not being late. Then we start singing, but everyone is singing whatever they want. Juan starts busting out Beyoncé, and we have to calm Juan down. Then we actually start.. Your Favorite Part About Being A Mellow-D? Michael: Probably wearing my penguin suit. Henry: Singing without instruments makes me listen more to everyone, instead of just focusing on what I’m doing. If You Were Stranded On An Island, What Three Things Would You Take With You? Taro: A pot, a Nutrigrain bar and a water bottle. Tomas: A piano, a very attractive woman and a boat. Liam: Starbucks coffee, Los Angeles and a spaceship. How Did You Get Into Singing? Ken: Throughout middle school I was really jealous of my brother, so I started singing. Will Darling: I started singing at a very young age, I think, simply, because I liked to perform. Actually no, that’s a lie; I actually started singing to meet girls . . . But over time that grew into a love of music, of the emotions that can be conveyed through it. What Is Your Happy Place? Will Blauvelt: On a medium-sized sailboat going top speed and skimming the water with my hand. Michael: I’m happiest playing music, whether it’s on stage or in a practice room. What Is One Dream You Have For The Future? Juan: I want to be a singer. Taro: To keep dancing as long as I can. What Is Your Spirit Animal? Michael: A dog. I generally get excited easily when I see something cool. Matt: A puppy, really friendly and outgoing and energetic. The Mellow-DS strike a pose after a Parents Weekend performance. What Is A Unique/Weird Fact About Yourself? Adam: I was born with six fingers on one hand. [The sixth] was removed. The doctor, when he removed it, asked my mom if she wanted to save it. Vishawn: I am sort of obsessed with Beyoncé and I can probably finish a whole tray of vegan brownies all by myself. What’s The Best Piece Of Advice You’ve Received? Will Darling: Be happy with yourself and don’t define your life on someone else’s terms. It took me a while to realize that. But when I did, my life got so much easier because I could focus on what really made me happy. Liam: It’s good to be foolish; it’s good to try things and always stay hungry and never be satisfied, and to keep on pursuing your dreams. Seniors, What Will You Miss Most About Deerfield? Matt: There’s just something nice about the community here, like walking down Albany Road and saying “hi” to people; I’m going to miss that. Will Darling: I can’t choose! Every person on campus, the land, the River-but I’m gonna miss the Mellow-D’s a lot. It wasn’t until the Mellow-D’s performed at Revisit Day that I thought, “I have to come here and be a part of that.” It’s been more than just fun, it has helped me grow as a person, and I’m gonna miss the guys and the singing and the music and the happiness that we try to bring to the community. Superlatives: 1. Most likely to be late to every rehearsal: Tomas. 2. Most likely to flirt with one of the Rhapso-D’s: Ken. 3. Most likely to break out into song in the Greer: Juan. 4. Most likely to be in the practice rooms on a Friday night: Michael.

In early October, a group of six Deerfield students boarded a plane for Amman, Jordan. Accompanied by English teacher Anna Steim, Global Studies Director David Miller and Chief Financial Officer Keith Finan, the student delegates—Serena Ainsle ’16, Arianne Evans ’16, Hannah Casey ’15, Ally Edwards ’17, Quentin Jeyaretnam ’16 and Jeffrey Sun ’17—were headed to the King’s Academy in Jordan to represent Deerfield at the 2014 International Round Square Conference. Round Square is a global association consisting of more than 100 member schools, hailing from over 80 countries, which all share a common philosophy and goal. These member schools seek to instill in their students a dedication to personal development and responsibility through service and experiential learning. This development is achieved by supporting the six pillars— or IDEALS— of Round Square: internationalism, democracy, environmental stewardship, adventure, leadership and service. In the words of Nahla Achi ’15, a Round Square conference alum and current committee member, “The goal of Round Square is to bring together students from around the world and shape them to become future leaders.” Once the Deerfield group arrived in Jordan, before meeting the delegates from the other attending schools, they began the trip with a two-day cultural experience. This “pre-conference” was designed by Ms. Steim, who taught at King’s Academy for two years. The intention of this experience was to allow the students some time to process and adjust before the conference started. They visited various important cultural and historical sites in Jordan and undertook reading to familiarize themselves with the region. During this immersion experience, Mr. Miller, usually one of the leaders of the Round Square trips, reported, “The students were participating in seminar discussions just like you would around a Harkness table at Deerfield, except we happened to be in a marketplace in Jordan talking about how what we were seeing related to our understandings and misperceptions of the Middle East.” This idea of misperceptions was related to the conference’s central theme, which was Al Salamu Alaikum, Arabic for “Peace be with you.” Every year the conference changes its location and theme, which usually serves as a means to focus the conversation on a specific issue or topic. According to Mr. Miller, the topic was the biggest difference between this year’s conference in Jordan and last year’s conference in Florida. He compared the two, saying, “The topic of this [year’s] conference was much more urgent and relevant, thinking about peace and thinking about stereotypes in the Middle East.” Mr. Miller noted the powerful impact that the location of the conference, during such a critical time in international events, had on the discussions and the conference as a whole. Jeffrey Sun ’17 also commented on the impact of the location: “The fact that the conference was situated in Jordan, surrounded by many major ongoing conflicts, added magnitude to it. It provided a sense of urgency, an overwhelming feeling of responsibility that you can’t just simply push away.” Sun added, “During the week of conference, Pakistan began its first round of airstrikes on Syrian ISIS targets, the UN proposed a reconstruction project in Gaza, and 47 civilians were killed in a bombing incident in Yemen.” With these conflicts occurring in close proximity to Jordan in the weeks leading up to the conference, safety became a major concern for a lot of the member schools, including Deerfield. “In the end there were 10 schools that decided not to go this year,” Mr. Miller said. “My primary job [as the Director of Global Studies] is to advise the school on assessing the risks of travel.” In researching the situation, Deerfield was extremely careful. The Global Studies Department spoke with contacts in the U.S. State Department and people in Jordan, and even ran the entire itinerary through a team of security analysts. Mr. Miller added, “The challenge is the geography; the Middle East is very small, so Syria and Iraq have borders with Jordan; and the violence going on in the West Bank was in locations where, if you took binoculars from some of the locations we went, you might be able to see [it].” However, Mr. Miller wanted to emphasize, both to the students and to the parents, that in going to Jordan they would not be entering a war zone: “At the time that we were going, the risk of things happening in New York City or New Jersey was more elevated than they were in Amman, Jordan.” Nonetheless, the prospect of the trip was worrisome to many parents, including Mr. Miller’s, so the school remained open to canceling the trip, no matter the cost to the school, up until the moment the group boarded the plane. After moving past the logistics and the safety concerns, the group became fully immersed in all the activities of the conference. Through lively barazza discussions, keynote speakers, adventure trips to surrounding cultural sites, and service projects, the students and faculty of the 60 different schools in attendance were able to interact and create meaningful relationships. Quentin Jeyaretnam ’16 said, “The primary objective of these discussions, and of this conference, was to create understanding and connections between some of our generation’s shakers and movers.” Sun added, “The essence of the conference lies within the intellectual discussions between the student delegates.” And Hannah Casey ’15 said, “I really felt like we were building a small international community.” A large part of Mr. Miller’s focus on the trip was concentrated on developing Deerfield’s relationships with other member schools. “A lot of time,” he said, “was spent trying to make partnerships that would create more opportunities for students from other locations and also from Deerfield, to get a more robust global education.” Arriving back on campus, Arianne Evans ’16 declared, “Round Square is a unique opportunity,” different from any other Deerfield trip, “because it allows students to learn about global issues from the perspective of peers our own age.” Ally Edwards ’17 agreed: “Round Square is different from other global studies trips because it gives you the opportunity to meet students from all over the world as well as hear their opinions and learn about their cultures.” Now, in an effort to promote the IDEALS and share the experiences of both the 2013 and 2014 conferences, the committee is trying to determine the role of Round Square on the Deerfield campus. Maddie Nelson ’15 said, “With many clubs, the new center [name this] and other extracurriculars on campus that pertain to all of Round Square’s ideals, it has been difficult for Round Square to find its niche.” While in the process of determining its own role, the committee has also developed a few ideas that it is considering for the future of Round Square at Deerfield. One is to hold a small conference at Deerfield and invite a few local schools to explore the Round Square IDEALS and discuss the issues that the program currently faces. The committee is also looking to expand the ideal of adventure on campus, possibly by implementing an adventure experience over Long Winter Weekend. According to Mr. Miller, “Figuring out where the direction of Round Square is going was a big focus of our time at this conference; and as the organization grows, they are evaluating what they want to be as an organization and we are evaluating how we can take advantage of those opportunities.”

Over the past three years, the Deerfield girls crew team has looked to Claire Collins ’15 to drop seconds off their race times. After receiving encouragement from both her older sister and former DA coach Wayne Berger, Collins started rowing for Deerfield during her freshman spring in 2012, and she quickly won a spot on the girls first boat. Impressively, only three years later, Collins has recently committed to rowing at Princeton University next fall. Coach Eve Goldenberg described Collins as “one of the most gifted athletes I have ever coached.” According to Ms. Goldenberg, “Not only is she physiologically gifted in terms of her strength, muscular and cardiovascular endurance, and awareness of how her body moves through space, she is also extremely coachable. She has the psychological and physical fitness to make important technical changes and is patient with herself in the process.” During the summer before her sophomore year–months after having started the sport–Collins earned a seat on the Junior National Team’s 8+ boat. After winning silver at the Junior World Championships in Bulgaria in 2012, she returned to place fifth in the 8+ category in Lithuania in 2013. This year, Claire won silver in Hamburg with the 4- crew, the priority boat in sweep rowing on the Junior National Team. Ms. Goldenberg attributed Collins’s success to her hunger to improve, “aligned with a strong work ethic and passion for the movement of the sport itself.” Of this experience on the Junior National team Collins said, “It was a lot of hard work, but I love being with my teammates, and I have made some of my best friends through the team. It is such a privilege to train at a high level and represent the United States.” Collins also observed, “I’ve definitely become a more confident and content person. I’ve been inspired by my teammates and the opportunities I’ve been given. I’ve learned a lot about how to prepare mentally and physically to be successful.” Collins has brought her summer experience to her Deerfield team and has inspired all the girls, as captain of the team, to tap into their potential and improve. Teammate Garam Noh ’15 remarked, “Claire is an amazing teammate. She is a natural born leader. She never has to grasp for her chances to be a leader—people automatically look to her for advice because in every practice, at every race, she herself embodies all the best values a rower could have.” This past spring, Collins helped lead the first boat to gold at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Regatta and then again led the boat to gold at Nationals. She is excited to work with other Deerfield rowers to achieve the same success as last year.

My experience at Deerfield can be summed up into four years of failing math and French tests—and crying in every building on campus (yes, even Johnson-Doubleday). Life at Deerfield is difficult. Once I received my acceptance letter to DA, I was pulled into a different world. I was the star at middle school, acing every test and working the hardest. But the second I unlocked my room on Mather II in 2011, I was no longer the best. I had to repeat Algebra I freshman year, something that remained a constant reminder for the rest of the year that I wasn’t as smart as I’d thought I was. I started using makeup my freshman year. I was forced into a culture in which I couldn’t be the real me. I felt inferior to the people I passed on the sidewalk every single day. I wasn’t the prettiest, the coolest or the smartest. I was just me. Thoughts of leaving school have drifted in and out of my mind as I navigate the challenges that weigh down my shoulders every day. I have been obsessed with my appearance, my grades, whether a boy liked me, and who my friends are. There is a culture here that demands that we always act like we all have everything together. As Deerfield students, we’re not allowed to have flaws. Every time I break down, shame swells inside of me. People will tell me that I’m not alone, but it’s hard to believe when you don’t see it anywhere else. I don’t know if everyone else is stronger than me or if I’m just overly sensitive. It takes merely a prick for tears to rush down my face and my breath to shorten. Each time this happens, I feel lonely, even though words of support echo in my ears. I don’t have anything together, and last year showed me that I had allowed external forces at this school to tear me apart. This school has made me feel ashamed of who I am and the amount of times that I have fallen apart. Trust me, it sucks when you start crying in the middle of a math test and everyone just stares at you like you’re crazy. Deerfield has this ability to confine one to a corner if one doesn’t adhere to its image of an ideal student, the kid who has everything together—Cum Laude, community service hours, proctor, peer counselor, DC member, captain, etc. And if you fit that mold, you are expected to be on top of your game and to never show emotions—sadness, anger, jealousy, and the rest. If you tell someone how you feel, you are ostracized, and the blame is placed upon you for feeling that way. There is no room for openness. Sometimes it feels almost like the school motto is not “Be worthy of your heritage,” but “Don’t tell me how you really feel.” Although there are the select few members of the community who will take the time to hear you out, expressing your emotions is like a cardinal sin . . . not allowed. It’s looked down upon to say that you’re going to meet with Dr. Bicknell or Dr. Fritz because people think that you’re dealing with way too many issues, or that you’re weaker than everyone else. You’re seen as a basket case or a drama queen. Nobody thinks for a second that, maybe, you just needed someone to really listen to you without judgment. I like to be open. Crying in every building on campus is something of an accomplishment, and I know, in the end, I must not be the only one who feels so lonely here sometimes. Rather than hiding behind a cloak of emotional invisibility, we here at Deerfield need to start telling people how we really feel. At moments, I have allowed my frustrations to come to a point of eruption, and when it gets to that point, those emotions are hard to deal with. The community should be accepting of every member; it shouldn’t force students to hide their true selves. Everyone should feel like they can express how they feel without being considered weak. Being unafraid to admit when you need help, when you’re having a hard time, is not cowardice. Sometimes, it’s even the braver thing to do.

According to The Recorder, the local Greenfield newspaper, the Northeast Energy Direct (NED) project entails the construction of a 177-mile high-pressure gas pipeline that would cut through the town of Deerfield. One of the proposed routes would cross the North Meadows, just north of the Academy’s Small Loop. The project is being developed by Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, an affiliate of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the third largest energy company in North America. The pipeline will travel from Wright, New York, to Dracut, Massachusetts, before meeting up with existing pipelines to create a route linking Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts. The entire project would be completed in 2018. The pipeline is scheduled to cross protected wildlife habitats as well as agricultural areas. In total 16,000 private, town and conservation properties will be affected by the project. Many people from the town of Deerfield and nearby have voiced their opposition of the proposed route and have advocated for public safety and sustainable forms of energy. A representative of the project explained to The Recorder that the scheduled project is “the only proposed pipeline project that can provide the transformative solution that New England needs to reduce energy costs and enhance electric reliability. [The project] provides economic service to several geographic areas in Massachusetts and New York that are not currently served by an interstate pipeline and are not economically viable for competing projects to serve.” Other opponents to the project are against the non-sustainable natural gas which will be used for the pipeline. Natural gas is obtained from hydraulic fracturing commonly known as fracking. The process is very controversial. It involves the pumping of a mixture of water, sand and various chemicals about a mile deep into the ground in order to dislodge gas and oil trapped between rocks. Serena Ainslie ’16 described the controversy surrounding this process: “It can be bad if the pipe that transmits the fracking fluid in and out of the ground cracks because in those cases the fracking fluid can leak into aquifers above the shale deposits and those aquifers provide sources of drinking water. The disposal of fracking fluids is also very controversial. Right now fracking companies dispose fracking fluids by injecting large closed containers with the fluid inside deep into the ground in places like Oklahoma.” “The positives [of fracking] are that natural gas is so much better than coal, the other energy source that our nation runs on,” Ainslie continued. “Coal has negative effects on the environment and individual health. In China 1.2 million people die per year from air pollution due to coal. Fracking decreases our need to buy foreign oil from countries we don’t have great relationships with. Fracking will only continue to improve this independence.” Deerfield alumnus Jim Cutler from Ashfield will be directly affected by the pipe’s construction. Cutler opposes the pipeline because it would violate conservation laws, negatively impact his homeowners insurance, and has the possibility of leaking. Another Deerfield Alumnus, Tom Clark ‘67 of Clarkdale Fruit Farms, opposes the pipeline and has previously refused to allow surveyors to survey their land. “We’re going to be 100 years old next year,” Clark explained. “We’ve done a good job as stewards of the soil, and the community.” Clark believes the best way to continue this mission is by protesting this project in hopes it will be abandoned. Ken Park ’15 also posed the question “Who is [Tennessee Gas Pipeline] TGP to say that they can build a pipeline under multi-generation farm lands?” underscoring the dissent regarding the new pipeline Supporters of the pipeline, including the labor union, argue that the new pipeline will lower the price of gas, increase the reliability of gas and electricity and create business in New England. They claim that high-energy costs discourage companies in Massachusetts and the project could create 3,000 jobs for residents. Tom Andrews from the Labor Union represents local 596 out of Holyoke. He explained, “A [$3 billion project] does not happen in Western Mass.” During a town hall meeting on September 10, 2014, the Deerfield Board of Health raised their concerns over the project. They questioned Kinder Morgan’s safety record after reports of safety violations on previous projects. Additionally, the board discussed the dangers a pipeline poses. Leaks can cause fires, explosions and contaminate the wells and water supplies. It is estimated there are roughly one thousand gas leaks every year. Many of these leaks are considered hazardous, and explosions erupt if the gas comes in contact with an ignition. According to The New York Times, “There are more than 1.2 million miles of gas main pipes across the country. Last year, gas distributors nationwide reported an average of 12 leaks per 100 miles of those pipes.” Gas leaks can result from natural causes such as frost or accidents that occur when digging during construction projects, and are especially concerning for this new pipeline, which packs more gas into the pipe, meaning if a leak did occur it would result in a larger quantity of gas being released. Deerfield Board of Health members also raised concerns about minimizing negative impact on private property and Kinder Morgan’s reaction to emergencies. This is especially concerning to many since the liability of the project is only one million dollars. According to the board’s legal council, “local health boards have ‘unlimited power’ to stop activities or projects that are deemed a threat to public health and safety.” Additionally, private landowners can deny Kinder Morgan permission to survey their land. In this case, Kinder Morgan would have to be granted permission by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. On October 23, the Board voted to ban the proposed construction. Carolyn Shores Ness, the chairwoman of the Board of Health, cited the “unreasonable risk to the health and lives of the residents of Deerfield” and called on Kinder Morgan “to cease immediately all of its activities in Deerfield related to the construction to the proposed pipeline within the boundaries of the town.” Kinder Morgan replied by telling the town to raise any issues regarding the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). According to Cristobal Bonifaz, representative of the town’s legal council, the board ruling gives Kinder Morgan two options: “to appeal to state courts… or to move the pipeline outside the boundaries of Deerfield.” Bonifaz says she is willing to represent the Town of Deerfield all the way up to the Supreme Court if need be. Other surrounding towns have already contacted Deerfield and hope to adopt similar approaches to protest the construction of the pipeline.

Have Deerfield sports declined over the past 20 or 30 years? “Yes,” said J.J. Briones ’82, assistant director of admissions since 1996. “If you look at the win-loss record,” said Nick Albertson, history teacher and assistant varsity football and varsity golf coach since 1978, “we are not as successful as we used to be.” Many people, like English teacher Mark Scandling, coach of varsity boys and girls water polo as well as varsity wrestling, argue that the success of sports should not only be measured in victories. “For me,” Scandling said, “it has always been about participation, sportsmanship and competition. That is how I measure success.” Scandling, who first arrived at DA in 1987, feels that even when defining success in terms of participation, Deerfield may be on the decline. He explained, “The main decline is in participation. The number of students who play two or three sports is very small, and although a good majority play two, there is a significant amount who only play one sport.” English teacher Frank Henry ’67, who began teaching at Deerfield in 1982, agrees with Mr. Scandling. According to Mr. Henry, “The raw truth is that far fewer students play as many competitive sports as they did when I was a student. There are so many new programs that compete with the student-athlete, most notably exemptions of one sort or another.” Another possibility for the decline is the ever-increasing “specialization” culture, in which many varsity athletes will concentrate only on their primary sport during their off seasons, rather than play a different sport. Mr. Albertson confirmed that athletics as a whole are being hurt by specialization: “Specialization works against our competitive ideals. There used to be athletes whose goal was to play football at a collegiate level but [who] also played a winter and spring sport. Now that is very rare.” While these down sides may be true, many people still argue that specialization is necessary to prepare the next generation of athletes. Mr. Henry stated, “The world of college has asked us to prepare athletes for collegiate level athletics.” Some believe the answer to our problems lies with the Admissions Office. R.J. Shamberger ‘16 asserted, “Our admission directors need to acknowledge that we need more players to compete within our intense league. When our historically great JV football team has nine players, there is an obvious problem.” Many students fear that a continual lack of performance will deter students from choosing Deerfield. Nonetheless, Deerfield teams are still performing at very high levels. In recent years boys and girls crew, boys lacrosse, boys and girls water polo, and girls cross-country, among others, have enjoyed high success. The development of the arts program —and the need to maintain it with the completion of the Hess Center for the Arts—has brought an influx of talented dancers, musicians, and other artists. This change could explain a slightly decreased emphasis on athletics in the Admissions Office. As noted by many, balancing success in various sports, academics and the arts is always going to be a difficult proposition for a community as small as Deerfield. Mr. Scandling would like to remind the community, “If decline is measured in terms of wins or losses or even participation, there is no question that the success of sports, in recent years, has declined. But has the experience of being on a team declined? No. In the end, that is what is most important.”

Deerfield Academy will be welcoming alumna Tiffany Franke ’02 on December 3rd to talk about her work to educate and inspire people about how their actions affect the world around them. Franke has developed a diverse and varied career in business where she has focused on how companies, through their core products and services, can have a net positive impact on the environments and communities they serve. After graduating from Yale with a bachelor degree and more recently Cambridge University, with a master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership, Franke wants to help connect the dots for people between the systems they live in and their own ability to bring about change. “We live in a time where,” Ms. Franke explained, “many of the systems we operate in have become so vast and complex that our own ability to understand them has become obscured.” In 2012, she took a trip around the world to capture the stories of traditional artisans in an effort to help consumers better understand how their purchasing behavior impacted remote communities and cultures. She went as far afield as the Kalahari Desert in Africa, where she met San women upholding an ancient beading tradition. Martha Lyman, consultant in the Head of School’s office who knew Franke while she was at Deerfield, explains, “Tiffany traveled around the world to meet local artisans and examine the state of traditional arts in a rapidly changing world.” Ms. Franke fostered a love for international travel during her time at Deerfield, where she eagerly joined classmates on trips to Cambridge, England and Paris. As a senior, she represented Deerfield at the Round Square conference in Alice Springs, Australia, an experience that inspired her commitment to community service and cultural learning. While at Deerfield, she fondly recounts exploring the woods with friends, visiting teachers in the evening, swimming in the river, dancing and painting. The guidance and instruction of many teachers including Mr. Heise, Mr. Palmer and Ms. Lyman deeply influenced her world view and reinforced a love for the arts, history, language and culture. Deerfield opened her up to the world and gave her the ability to express herself. According to Franke, she “came of age at Deerfield, and in many ways it has helped to shape the person who [she is] still becoming.” Currently, Franke is working with a tech startup that hosts online forums to allow people across different industries, functional areas and geographies to discuss issues that influence a sustainable future. “I chose the position because I admire and respect the people involved,” explained Ms. Franke enthusiastically. “I love building things and inserting creative energy, and because I really believe in the importance of what we’re doing.” Having had over 25 clients across seven industries in her management consulting career, Franke explained that she had some interesting encounters. “I actually gained the most from the quirkiest clients… the Yale Center for British Art provided among the strongest client relationships and impacts of my consulting career.” Not just a busy woman, Franke also enjoys singing in a Manhattan rock band, skiing, exploring, and practicing her Chinese. She explains that her interests include learning about people, the edges of our systems and their natural wonders, and new models of education. When asked what advice she would give to Deerfield students, Franke explains: “Be thoughtful of how your life and decisions affect the people and world around you. Live your values with humility and integrity. Be yourself and be kind to yourself. And don’t forget to enjoy the ride!”

Recently, Deerfield obtained a TEDx license, which will allow the school to host an official TEDx conference on February 22, 2015. TEDx is a program that was created to help spread communication and conversation within both small and large communities by issuing licenses to presenters who are interesting in promoting discussion in their communities and beyond. As stated on the TEDx website, “The TEDx experience is about bringing big ideas to your local community to spark connection and deep conversation.” TEDx lectures are often filmed and presented on the TEDx platform, so as to be shared publicly on the web. Last year, after Cat Wyatt ’14 introduced the idea of TEDx talks at Deerfield to the Student Council, Nahla Achi ’15, Haidun Liu ’15, Megan Retana ’15 and Academic Dean Peter Warsaw created a ommittee to work on bringing TEDx to Deerfield. In order to host TEDx talks, an organization needs an official license, which allows the community to host one TEDx conference that will be shared publicly through the TEDx platform. According to Achi, the committee decided to introduce Deerfield Talks at School Meeting in order to see whether any of the presenters “could prepare Talks that had the potential to be presented at a TEDx Conference.” Deerfield Talks in the past have included the presentations of Ken Park ’15 on “water” and David Liu ’15 on the Chinese government, which used Deerfield as a model to explain the Communist hierarchy in China. Among the Academy’s favorite Deerfield Talks was one by Matt Morrow ’15, who asked the question “How many countries are there?” Matt explained that certain countries and/or organizations, such as the United Nations, recognize some countries that other organizations, such as the US Olympics Committee, do not. Katy Gray ’16 commented, “It was so interesting to see that countries, which I always thought of as being set in stone, could be so debated worldwide.” Not only did the Deerfield Talks prove that students and faculty presenters are ready for the conference, but also they sparked conversations around campus about topics beyond Deerfield. As Emerson Logie ’16 noted, Deerfield Talks can be “useful in this community because they give people the opportunity to expand on topics not only relevant in our community but to the world around us.” After seeing how well our community responded to the Deerfield Talks, the committee took on the task of applying for a TEDx license. This required an “organizer” to fill out an application for the TEDx organization to approve. According to the TEDx rules, if the organizer has not already attended a TEDx conference, a maximum of 100 people can attend the organizer’s conference. However, the committee hopes to simulcast the conference in the Hess Auditorium so that the entire school can watch the conference live. The TEDx website states that the conferences are to be “community-driven” and include “bias-free content,” meaning there will be no “commercial, religious, or political agenda.” The committee plans to fulfill this expectation in February’s conference, in order to further the positive impact that Deerfield Talks have already had on the community. The TEDx Deerfield Academy conference will exclusively represent members of our community, including students, faculty, staff and potentially parents and alumni. “I think TEDx talks will connect our community by initiating curiosity in each other’s passions and discoveries,” said Retana. Although Deerfield will be hosting an official TEDx conference, the community will continue to hear Deerfield Talks at school meetings. Achi stated that “[Deerfield Talks] are as important as TEDx talks.” Additionally, from now on, the Deerfield talks will be recorded so that they too can be shared with the world.

Dear Margo, Rita & Curtis, Is it too early to ask someone to Semi? Signed, Ready to dance ‘til I drop Dear Dance ‘til I drop, You don’t have a date to Semi yet? I got mine over the summer when my date parachuted chocolates from an airplane onto my lawn spelling out “SEMI?” Naturally, I said yes. Don’t fret, though, not everyone can be as lucky as I am. A general rule of thumb is that it is never too early to ask someone to Semi. In fact, I recommend booking your sophomore, junior, and senior dates now, because we all know that going to Semi with someone is only a small step away from being engaged. However, keep in mind that if you haven’t had classical training in swing dancing from the time you could walk, don’t even bother asking someone. You are an undesirable date and a potential hazard on the dance floor. If you‘ve passed the first prerequisite of dance training, you may advance to thinking about how to ask your date. First rule of asking: When in doubt, do it in public. This may seem counterintuitive—you may ask yourself, “Why would I want to be rejected in public in front of the entire student body?” But that’s the point!!! If it’s in public, your potential date literally cannot say no to you or else he or she risks looking like a terrible person in front of the whole school. This method is basically a fool-proof way of forcing someone to attend Semi with you. If you are more confident in yourself, I recommend thinking big when trying to figure out how to ask. For example, release a pair of doves into the Dining Hall that land on your target’s shoulder and drop a love poem into his or her lap. And you might think that’s enough, but you’d be wrong—now it’s time to cue the orchestra. After he or she has been serenaded, the ceiling panels open, and you glide on a wire down to your soon-to-be date with at least a dozen roses in hand. If he or she says no then, that’s social suicide—no one is ever going to top that ask. No one is going to top it, that is, unless they set off fireworks or enlist Brad Pitt, at which point you’ve been one-upped. You can also always subscribe to the KISS mentality: Keep It Simple Stupid. Although not as grand as releasing live doves into the Dining Hall, it works 70% of the time, which isn’t quite the slam-dunk that asking over the microphone at sit-down is, but pretty close. The simple yet slightly awkward “Will you go to Semi?” has always worked with me. Peace and Love, Margo, Rita & Curtis