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VOLUME 73, NUMBER 1
Editorial This presidential election shows the stark contrast between the two candidates: one, a dedicated public servant; the other, a dangerous demagogue. As “powers for good in the world,” mebers of the Masters community ought to make the moral and intelligent choice this election.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 21, 2016
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Assange threatens to upturn election
Robinson talks creativity MichAel FitzgerAld News Editor Tomorrow during family weekend, Sir Ken Robinson, the man with the most viewed Ted Talk of all-time, will speak to the Masters community. Robinson is an author, a speaker and an international advisor. During his professional career, he served as Director of the Arts in Schools Project, where he worked with over 2,000 teachers, artists, and administrators to develop arts and education throughout England. He later served as a professor at the University of Warwick for 12 years. Another field he specializes in is the development of creativity. He was listed by Fast Company magazine as “one of the world’s elite thinkers on creativity and innovation.” The Ted Talk he delivered, Do Schools Kill Creativity?, has over 40 million total views. In this speech, he discussed how children are taught not to be wrong by the educational system, which leads to limitations of their creativity. Robinson believes that being creative means being willing to make mistakes. Not teaching children to take risks squanders their ability to learn. Robinson’s book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, which was published in 2009, reached the New York Times bestseller list. The book explores the balance of talent and passion. Robinson claims that in order for people to work to the best of their abilities, it is vital that they are passionate about their work. Senior Dan Solomon said about Masters, “For a school that emphasizes discussion and has every class oriented around it, I think it’s interesting how few classes there are that really focus on creativity or creative thoughts as a subject itself.” English teacher Dr. Paul West remarked, “It’ll be interesting. It’s nice having speakers from other walks of life, too. But I think so, also because [Mr. Robinson] comes from another perspective than most of us. I do think it’ll be worthwhile.”
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GETTING THE BIGGER PICTURE in a senior class selfie is one thing, but getting the bigger picture for a long-term plan is another. The “Campus Master Plan” is currently being designed by the firm Blinder Beyer Belle to help future Masters generations enjoy the campus to its fullest ability, and every angle is being taken into consideration.
Masters plans upcoming years AlexAndrA Bentzien News Editor In the past ten years, Masters has experienced a sizable campus expansion with the additions of the Greene Family Field, Morris Hall and, most recently, the Fonseca Center. Now, a committee is planning how the campus can be more effectively enjoyed and accessed by all with the “Master Plan” strategy. “The idea of the plan is to take our campus, understand what works and what does not, and allow the school to change in a smart way,” Associate Head of School Tim Kane said. “We are looking at absolutely everything.” Although the Master Plan has been in development since last spring, planning began in earnest in September, when the architectural planning firm, Beyer Blinder Belle, was chosen by a committee of
Trustee members and select staff. Kane said the plan’s focus is to create “more functional outdoor space” around campus. One of the top priorities is making Masters more convenient for cars and pedestrians alike by developing logical routes for all types of transport to
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The idea of the plan is to take our campus, understand what works and what does not, and allow the school to change in a smart way. - TIM KANE
efficiently navigate campus without creating traffic. Blinder Beyer Belle spent time visiting the campus’ open spaces, like the woods next to Clarke Field, the woods areas behind the middle school, and the green space in front of Esthwerood to examine the possibilities of outdoor science classes
and walking or running trails. The Master Plan also focuses on spaces within campus buildings. “We have spaces that are overutilized and strained and spaces that are underutilized or serving the wrong functions,” said Head of School Laura Danforth. The Mann Dining Hall is one of these spaces. Built in 1967, it was originally constructed to accommodate 300 girls who sat down and were served during meal times; today, the same building is filled with up to 1,000 people at a time, resulting in long lines and a space that seems smaller than it was meant to be. In keeping with the school’s theme of sustainability, the committee wants to reorganize the dining space to successfully host the school’s growing population, as well as to make it more accessible for those with disabilities. Continued on page 2
Julian Assange, creator of Wikileaks, a website responsible for releasing government information provided by whistleblowers or hackers, went on record in September claiming that he would release documents damaging the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Assange claimed that the documents he would release would qualify as this year’s “October Surprise”, a term used to describe a catalyst during the election cycle. Assange called a press conference on Oct. 3, on the balcony of the Ecuadorian embassy in London, later moving it to the following day in Berlin, due to fear of an assassination attempt. The public was met with further disappointment after Assange did not release any documents for another week. Finally, on Oct. 7 Assange released emails sent by John Podesta, an associate of the Clintons and Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton. The subject matter of the emails ranged from information sent from a Bernie Sanders campaign staffer, regarding tweets that would later be posted, to the release of information pertaining to plants in the audience to ask intriguing questions which Clinton had rehearsed. Even with the 17,000 plus emails that have been released, the media coverage of it has been minimal. Senior Oliver Clayton, who will be voting in Continued on page 2
Chairs and spaces dwindle as class sizes continue to grow Phil Minton Opinion Editor The beginning of the school year always brings forth the anticipation of new class members. This year, many students were surprised to see that their classes had up to 18 students in them, four more than the average class. For years Masters has prided itself on small and intimate classes around the Harkness table. Michele Dennis, Chair of the Mathematics Department, explained that even with 14 students as the average class size, 16 is usually the maximum amount of students that can be in a class, considering no more can fit around the table. “Most of our senior math classes are maxed out,” said Dennis, “it would not be the end of the world if we had bigger classrooms.” She went on to say that a few students even volunteered that it was hard to learn in a smaller classroom with more students. Though it seems like many classes are completely filled, Dennis made note of the fact that Head of School Danforth has made it her top priority to create more classrooms. Junior Amanda Taylor said of productivity in the class, “In
classes like Amstud, where there are two classes combined [28 students], having a large class is extremely beneficial to learning because it makes for a more interesting conversation, however, in classes like calculus, it just becomes less productive.” Many students feel that the collaborative process of Harkness helps further their understanding of the material. However, grade size continues to expand faster than classrooms can be constructed. This year the Class of 2019 added 27 new students (a 20% increase) to their previous 108, making them the second largest grade on campus after the seniors. Although the current senior class size [138 students] was deemed an anomaly at first, it seems that it has become the new Masters norm. The Class of 2017 is about 17% bigger than the previous graduating class [118 students]. Similarly, the sophomore class is about 14% larger than the Class of 2016, and will continue to add students for the 2017-2018 school year. Head of Upper School Matt Ives came to Masters 20 years ago, the same year that the Harkness tables were introduced. Over the years Ives has observed that for a Harkness discussion to be
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CLASS SIZES HAVE INCREASED in the past years, resulting in classrooms feeling smaller than desired and a call for added classrooms. effective the students need to feel sweet spot. It really depends on small for 14 or 15 students,” said safe and motivated. He goes on what the class is doing,” said Ives. Ives. Though Masters continues Ives confirms that in the next to grow over time, Harkness reto say that a key aspect of a good 20 years the goal is to create five mains a core part of the school’s class discussion is the number of or six more classrooms amongst identity. students in the class. “Less than other things being created around nine students is too few, which campus. “I think that we need is why we strive for a goal of 16; more classrooms because right however, more than that is not now we have some that are too impossible, but 14 is definitely a