The Summer Times - July 16, 2015

THE SUMMER TIMES ‘The Summer Newspaper of Phillips Exeter Academy’

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Vol. XXXIX, Number 2

New! C o The S ming this w umme r Time eek! s on the W e b !

Watch for it.

Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire

Hello

World!

Courtesy of Alec Greaney PEA'14

Where We Come From At a Glance: The 779 PEA Summer School Students in 2015 hail from 51 different countries and 39 states and territories. See page 4.

Cyber-Bullying Deadly Hazard, Lawyer Warns

By RENEA HARRIS-PETERSON Summer Times Staff Writer

Ralph Blumenthal/The Summer Times Staff

The assembly last Monday morning centered on the topic, “Cyberbullying and Social Media,” presented by Julie C. Fay. A partner at the Hartford, Conn., firm of Shipman & Goodwin, Fay is a school lawyer who taught at a prep school for over 20 years. She provided provocative and alarming information about different aspects of the internet to the Access and Upper School students.

Today, basically every teen uses social media, so as Fay said, there are “pitfalls we inevitably fall into.” With an estimated 25 billion users by 2018, this new wave of technology is rapidly taking over the world, especially in developed countries. For example, 60% of North Americans have at least one social media account. Furthermore, on average, internet users spend 101.4 minutes a day on social media.

Social media is quickly becoming an ingrained aspect of our culture. To sum up the true magnitude of social media, Fay said, “it is changing how we think and how we operate.”

There are many legal ramifications that come along with

Ole! Summer School students got no bum steer when they tried out the mechanical bull featured at the Welcome Carnival in Love Gym last Saturday night. More photos page 8.

See SOCIAL, page 3

Archives Chief New Book Features Jackie Weatherspoon's Writes "The End"

By TAYLOR WEEKS

Summer Times Staff Writer

After 40 years working for the library as an assistant catalogue librarian, a periodical librarian, a reference librarian, and archivist, Edouard L. Desrochers is closing the book on his long career.

Desrochers, the dedicated archivist with a smile always present on his face, will retire at the end of the summer session in August. This will be the end of an era for the librarian at Phillip Exeter Academy’s school library.

When asked why he decided to retire from the school, he replied, “Well, it was

about time for me. To spend time with five grandchildren and wife, and to do things that we put aside. Also, the library is expanding, as well as the archives, so I thought it would be fitting to let the next archivist do the next planned place."

Desrochers also had a lot to say about the archives. When asked what the archives are, he said: “Well, archives can be the official place for the school. It’s either means the records of the institutions, and they could mean the place for the records as well. One would go to the archives to see the archives.”

See ARCHIVES, page 3

"Deep, Strong Roots"

By JAWUAN WALTERS Summer Times Staff Writer

The Honorable Jacquelyne Weatherspoon and Nadine Abraham Thompson recently published a book about AfricanAmerican women from all different fields and the influence they had on New Hampshire.

Last Friday, the two co-authors appeared before a large crowd at the Water Street Bookstore in downtown Exeter to discuss the book, “Influential and Phenomenal Women of New Hampshire.” The tables were decked with colorful fabrics made by Ibo women of Nigeria.

“We really need to let the world know

there are black women in New Hampshire,” said Thompson, a marketing entrepreneur who recalled the days years ago when “you were shocked to see another black person driving up Portsmouth Avenue.”

She also recalled a time when the Ku Klux Klan was active in New Hampshire “but white people came together and said, ‘This will not happen here!’”

The formation of the book began two years ago. The idea mostly came from other women. “Women told me to write,” said Weatherspoon. With her neighbor, Nadine Thompson, they began researching women who fit the role of importance that the authors

See BOOK. page 3

Kampus Skrambl

How well do you know Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School? Unscramble these popular campus attractions. (Answers on page 8) 1. MEL TREETS GNIDIN LALH

6. RALPO REBA WISM

2. SILPLIPH HRUCCH

7. CIE MEACR

3. ANEEL ZEVLASOG NABCOL

8. VELO MYG

4. GOAAR

9. ORESTKOBO

5. LIRLG

10. FLIED YAD

Ralph Blumenthal/The Summer Times Staff

Throwing their pots: left to right, May Xiao, 15, from Sacramento, Calif., and Dawnesty Lindsey, 15, from Memphis, Tenn.

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THE SUMMER TIMES

OPINIONS/COMMENTARIES

THE SUMMER TIMES

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

Textbooks: Cheaper Online?

Summer Times Staff Reporters

Julia Benghiat-Jurist

Julia Benghiat-Jurist Renea Harris-Peterson Angelica L. Martini Cristobal Picon Alexander Puri Kayla Vega Jawuan Walters Taylor Weeks Kanat Yavuz

Summer Times Staff Writer

Summer Times Layout Editors Alec Greaney Michaela Streep

Faculty Advisor

Ralph Blumenthal The Summer Times is written and edited by Mr. Blumenthal's B format Journalism classes and contributing writers throughout the Summer School. It is produced by Summer Times Proctors Alec Greaney PEA '14, and Michaela Streep PEA '16.

The Summer Times welcomes Letters to the Editor, which can be sent via email to peanewspaper@gmail.com. The editors reserve the right to print Letters to the Editor in a timely fashion and to edit them for content and clarity.

D on ' t L et M y M agic F ool Y ou Ryan Wang

Contributing Writer I like magic.

I started learning magic about 5 months ago. I got interested in magic is because I checked out a video on Youtube.

The video was about a magician called David Blaine who performed magic on the street. He is able to float in front of people on the street and do some really cool magic tricks.

Since that day I decided to learn magic and perform to people by myself.

In the next few weeks I started to do some research about magic, I learned about what is magic and also how to perform the magic. After a month I already knew a lot of things about magic and some easy beginner’s tricks, and I started to realize what magic really is. I feel magic is an art that combines everything in the world; in every magic performed there are always some language skills, acting skills and even leadership skills.

In the magic performed, magicians always will use the power of language to create a special environment for the audience. The audience will follow the magician and go into the magic world, and enjoy the illusion that magicians create.

The language helps the magician control his or her audience more easily and makes the magic better. Also, the magician needs to have good acting skills to perform the magic. When the magician stands on the stage he can’t just do the illusion and walk away, he needs to bring a complete show to the audience. Magicians will become an actor on the stage, but instead of being an actor of drama, magicians will become an actor of illusion. By the acting skills and special props, a magician will always make the impossible possible.

Over next few months I always tried my best to learn how to create the illusion in front of people. I practiced every move again and again to get good at it. I try to perform to people who come close to me. In those performances I sometimes succeed and sometimes fail, but I never give up on it. By the love of magic, I always stand up when I fall down. Magic is really not easy to perform, usually a show is only a few minutes, but that few minutes take many weeks of practice.

Now, I am able to perform magic in front of people and have fun. When I know I succeeded in my illusion, I always feel everything I did in those few months are worth it. People always like the magic that I show and like the special shock that this art brings.

After all, magic is not just a few simple tricks for me, it is an amazing art that everyone likes and is a mainstay of my life. Maybe all the illusions are fake, but the magical change of my life is real.

After the first day of classes at Exeter Summer School, the bookstore is packed with students trying to purchase the textbooks they need. Depending on which and how many classes the student is taking, the cost of these textbooks can range from $20 to $300, according to bookstore staff. They also say that the average cost of books is around $100, for the Summer Session students.

Students buy the books for their summer classes, and many sell them back at the end of the session.

According to the bookstore, they usually pay about 33 percent, or a third of their original price. The option to sell back books is beneficial for students who live far away and would not want to bring their heavy textbooks home with them. However, the initial selling price of the textbooks is extremely high. A language textbook I bought was $180 -- used! By selling back a $180 textbook, I could receive a substantial amount back, but the difference is still too high. For some students on scholarship the cost of textbooks is included, but for others it is not, which creates a problem when they cost as much as they do now. This is not only a problem for the summer school, but also the regular session, other boarding schools, colleges, and universities around the world.

However, this problem is not easily solved. Some students suggested including textbook prices in the tuition, but with the number of students and the variety of classes being taken this would become very compli-

cated. Another solution could be giving the students a discounted price for the summer school, although for a $180 textbook, the price could only be reduced a certain amount, which would most likely still be large.

The best solution to this issue is fitting for our generation as a whole; using online textbooks. At my school, for years my math textbook has been online. This is not only more ecological, but also solves the problem of cost. Most online textbook programs cost very little, if anything, and are usually paid for by the school. To institute a change like this requires the textbooks to be available online, which is not necessarily very common, although over time this will become more frequent.

Carrying 2-3 textbooks around to classes everyday becomes arduous, and having these texts online solves that problem as well.

Several years ago a system was instituted at Princeton University called the Princeton Textbook Exchange.

This application connects students and allows them to buy and sell textbooks, within their community. With the variety of courses offered, students are able to purchase a textbook in almost any subject field they could possibly need. With the bookstore no longer buying the books from an outside supplier, and just involving the students, the books would be sold at a much lower price.

Although on a smaller scale, an exchange similar to this could provide Exeter students with a cheaper, easier way to purchase the textbooks they need.

Stop Wasting Good Food

Umbrella

Kanat Yavuz

Summer Times Staff Writer “Food waste is a huge issue here," says Heidi Brousseau, a manager in the Dining Hall. "We try to handle it the best way we can, but we can’t do it all by ourselves. We need the students to cooperate with us.”

It has been scientifically proven that if you eat fast, then you will eat more. It takes a while for the food to reach the stomach. “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” This quote really explains the issue of food waste in the dining hall. People take more food than they can possibly eat.

Brousseau stated that there were two types of waste: pre-consumer waste and post consumer waste.

Pre-consumer waste is the waste the staff makes while preparing food. “The pre-consumer waste is handled very well. It directly goes to a farmer in New Hampshire,” said Brousseau. Post-consumer waste is the huge issue. Post-consumer waste is basically the food that’s left over on people’s plates. What they do with the pre consumer waste is pulverize it.

“During regular session, waste-controlling is better.” said Brousseau.

Lunch is the meal that wastes the most food.

More people come in during lunch to the dining hall.

The more people who come in, the more food wasted.

The dining hall has a machine that absorbs the oil out of the food that is wasted. That oil is given away and is reused as biofuel.

“Every year, the number of students attending the summer school increases," says Brousseau. "This causes more food to be wasted every year. Compared to previous years, more food is wasted this year.

During regular session, when students go elsewhere for their break, the food that is left goes to a food bank in New Hampshire."

Everyone knows the feeling of being very hungry. At that point, you feel like you can eat everything. With that feeling, you take a lot of food. You end up getting twice the actual amount you could eat. Half of the food you thought you were going to eat, ends up as waste.

Students! When you are full, do you ever think about what’s going to happen with the amount of

Nancy Park Contributing Writer Expansion, unfolding out into a new form.

Wider.

Droplets tapping along, rolling down my fabric.

Shielding space beneath me, keeping it dry.

More and more droplets drizzling from above.

Heavily washing away everything from before.

Then, a gush of air taking me upwards, out of grasp of one’s hands, into the clouded sky.

Murky and somber.

Drifting off to another realm.

I think of my destination lying ahead of me, waiting for my approach.

I hope to be picked up in another’s hands, where I cannot forget my reason, my worth.

When I finally reach The place of my journey’s end, I notice a shadow looming over me.

Reaching out for me.

The next thing I feel is expansion. food you have left over? Do you ever think about the children who would do anything to eat that food you have left over? Every 15 seconds, a child dies of hunger. Think about them and stop wasting food. Get the amount of food that you can possibly eat. Instead of putting big portions of food on your plate, start off with small portions. That way, you don’t waste as much food. Do a favor for yourself, and for the school; stop wasting food!

What's Faster Than the Speed of Light?

Anthony Gerges Geha, Contributing Writer

Ever since the Greeks gazed into the heavens, philosophers, scientists, poets and other minds sought to give taste and sense to human lives by wondering if they can predict things. After all, we all have done it, wondering about the future, dreaming and meditating about idyllic lives, destiny perhaps, why not? In the history of humanity this culminated in ultra-deep physics that ultimately gave birth to the famous and brilliant Albert Einstein and others like Max Plank in the 1900s where certainty was dominant yet here we are with the cutting edge minds defying the very foundation of certainty and reality as we know it: the moon may not be quite here when we do not look at it…

Yes, this is the majesty of quantum mechanics, well maybe not applied to the macroscopic moon, as Einstein said: “I would like to think that the moon is here even when I don’t look at it.” However, when we descend to a very small scale, space-time becomes fuzzy and bubbly; we find that nothing can be determined with certainty and matter itself relies on probabilistic events with particles and anti-particles popping into existence from the vacuum of space and vanishing elegantly as soon as they appear. Not

only the vacuum but also atoms and more specifically a subatomic particle called the electron spinning around the nucleus may be seen as having a probability to be found here, not there, but no more! Nothing is absolutely certain like in the Newtonian world which clearly casts doubt on the very foundation of reality.

Moreover, all the science books children carry say that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, and they are all wrong. Einstein himself may be wrong because information in the quantum realm can travel instantaneously and hence faster than the speed of light. The cutting edge experiments suggest that information can travel faster than the speed of light: two atoms linked together, separated by perhaps infinite distance are entangled, they communicate with each other in a sense that if something happens to the first atom it directly alters the state of the other one, a” spooky action at distance” (A.E.) And if this violation is not enough, the dazzling laws of quantum mechanics show us that everything in the universe has wave-like and particle-like properties. How about that?

In addition, it seems like certainty is a result of a col-

lapse of a superposition of state defined by QM, where consciousness, human mind, observation determine reality.

A cat in a box that may be dead for a reason or alive is in fact at the same time in both states and when the observation is made reality turns into one option or the other as if it was the invisible hand of God that governs what we see.

In fact the whole universe has a wave function that keeps on collapsing and splits into two parallel universes like the cell mitosis; it’s the multiverse where universes proliferate; just look at how life and consciousness are closely intertwined with the universe. Consequently, great people confirmed again and again all those strange properties of QM and practical applications arose: quantum computers, relying on quibits, in a superposition of states that harness QM. Quantum computers most likely hold the key to unlocking national secrets and give a new definition to info war by, for example, finding the two huge prime numbers; the passwords when multiplied give a certain answer, a task that drives actual supercomputers trying indefinitely without success. Feeling mind boggled? Great!

A Nobel Prize awaits your breakthrough…

THE SUMMER TIMES

NEWS

Exeter Celebrates Lives of Black Women BOOK, continued from page 1 who fit the role of importance that the authors wanted. But Weatherspoon said, “it was hard to get women to talk about themselves.”

Yet along the way, the authors discovered a significant number of women who could be included in the book. At first, it was difficult to persuade the women to include their stories.

“They felt their stores weren’t significant enough to be apart of the book,” said Weatherspoon. But with calls, letters and emails, the authors were able to involve 29 different women to be a part of the book.

Throughout the pages of the book, the women represented discuss their different fields and roles, which range from Civic Duties and Politics to Religion and Social Worker. One of the women included in the book, Melanie Levesque, is a former New Hampshire legislator. As a child, Levesque faced discrimination but was able attend college and become a legislator advocating for women across New Hampshire.

“Being a legislator in New Hampshire is the ultimate way to give back to society,”

Levesque said.

She and her husband, who is white, once tried to buy a house in Nashua, NH. but the realtor wouldn’t sell it to them. “So,” she said, “friends bought it and sold it to us.”

Thompson and Waetherspoon, the two authors, who also are included in the book, have influenced their own communities.

Thompson, a Smith College graduate by way of Toronto, is a businesswoman who started a beauty products company called Warm Spirit. Weatherspoon, a former NH legislator, has mentored and helped women across New Hampshire get elected to public office.

She is married to the Exeter minister Russell Weatherspoon and is also engaged in the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign.

In the question and answer period, Weatherspoon was asked, “Where do you get your strength from?”

“I have very deep, strong roots,” she replied. “That’s what sustains me.”

Both authors voiced hope that the book would be considered forceful and “impact generations.”

“When you leave a written record, it’s a path to encouragement,” said Thompson.

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

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Text and Tweet at Your Peril SOCIAL, continued from page 1 bullying on social media. There is no such thing as being fully anonymous, so there will always be a digital footprint/memory of whatever you decide to do on social media. She also informed us that when your future employer Googles your name, you need to be aware of what is going to show up, because “what you do in your free time bleeds over into your school or job.”

You may think that your school can not get involved if you do something online during your free time, but you are wrong. In some cases, the school does have the ability to disciple if the offense is directly connected to the school.

Fay mentioned some examples of various ways people have used social media negatively. Even celebrities like Michael Phelps have posted things that they probably shouldn’t have -- in his case, a photo of him taking drugs. Social media is more than just jokes and banter, it can be taken to incredibly horrible levels like cyber bullying. Fay said, some people “put others down in a negative way- it is becoming a sport.” Cyber bullying has become a very

serious problem, and in extreme cases, has even resulted in victims committing suicide. Many people may say, ‘it was intended as a joke!’ and exercise their right of free speech. But, when free speech turns into action and threatens others, it then can become a problem. However, Fay noted that people do make mistakes, and public shaming has also become an issue.

On the bright side, Fay had many informative tips on how to properly take advantage of social media. “Use it in a conscious and deliberate way,” she warns.

One slide of her presentation listed the different things you should think while using the internet. It said: “What does your social media image say about you? Who can see what you post? Is it harmful? Is it putting you at risk?” These are some simple questions to ask yourself, before you end up doing something on social media that can negatively affect your life forever.

When Fay was showing slides about cyber bullying, and students were laughing, she said; “It is pretty funny when it’s not you up there, huh?” So, all in all, remember to take a step back and think before you do something you might regret on social media.

The Three Graces Behind PEA Summer

By KANAT YAVUZ

Summer Times Staff Writer Jawuan Walters/The Summer Times Staff

Jacquelyne Weatherspoon with her new book at Water Street Bookstore.

Why Are We Here?

Students Ponder

By JULIA BENGHIAT-JURIST Summer Times Staff Writer

For some of the 782 students attending Exeter’s Summer School, arriving from a myriad of countries, it is their first visit to the United States. Many were surprised by what they saw from the moment they exited their airplane, and for others their amazement began when they reached the campus, and began meeting their roommates, peers, and teachers.

While talking with friends, many students mention the differences between the environment here, and theirs at home. The differences range from the way classes are taught to the food here. As Ines Vignal from Shanghai, China said: “The diversity is amazing. At home we have in-class discussions but never like the Harkness method. The ‘good’ students usually monopolize the conversation at school.”

Students, as well as teachers, seem to be enthusiastic about the Harkness method, and are surprised to find that it works well even in math and science classes. It allows students to teach themselves and their peers with little interference from the teacher. Especially as most students come from having a much more traditional classroom experience, the Harkness method has proved to be popular. As Tianshu Wang, a student from Beijing China put it: “The Harkness Style. That’s pretty interesting and special in the school. And I guess I’m amazed that there are students here that came from all over the world, different cultures, different religions, different backgrounds.”

Among students, the diversity of the student body is commonly mentioned as the most enticing part of the Summer School. Tiwa Aima speaks about his experience here compared to his home in Allen, Texas.: “At my school it’s almost like teaching to the test. That differs from the attitude of everyone here because everybody is eager to learn.” This ties back to the Harkness method in that it is only truly successful when the students are leading the conversation and are interested in the material, which all Summer

School students appear to be.

Just as classroom life here is a new experience, the social life at Exeter is another. People from around the world share a generally similar idea; that the Summer School is unique in its social environment. As Florence Maggs from Germany described it: “Everyone is so open.

You can go up to anyone and start a conversation with them. In Germany it’s not like that.”

During an assembly, students were encouraged to be friendly to and smile at people, even if they had never spoken to them before. This promotes an “open” and inviting community for students and teachers to thrive in. Elika Rezaeimanesh, a student from Iran, shares a similar view: “People want to know each other. Like in my home, at school, people already know each other so they’re in groups but here they want to know new people so that’s really nice.”

Even for students from as close as a 15-minute drive away, there are unfamiliar aspects of the summer program that take time to become accustomed to. These differ for each student; for some it is the food, and for others it is living with a roommate. Julia Anisimova from Moscow, Russia, talks about the food: “It is really hard to stay healthy in the USA. You have to get used to all the good foods around you. Everything is so huge!”

The dining hall can be overwhelming as well, as the actual food is its own new experience for some. Maria Clara Cobo spoke about the differences between Exeter and her home in Quito, Ecuador: “I love the food, and I love the people, they’re great. It’s really safe, and everything is really organized.”

Another student named Alia Buachale from Bahrain described her experience living in a dorm: “You have to be considerate and you have to think before you act.”

The environment at Exeter allows students to adjust quickly to their new home, with the assistance of their peers and teachers who aid their transition. Regardless of their situation at home, all Exeter students make their time at Exeter full of new, fun, and different experiences.

Who really makes Summer School happen?

Well, Amy Fish, and Karin TenneyHelfrich, along with Brenda Gargas, to name three.

There is so much to plan for each summer session, it’s amazing that it all gets done with only 3 staff people and the director. Their job is to process applications and make sure that all of the required paperwork is submitted to them. This takes a tremendous amount of time. They are busy from December through May processing students as thousands apply. They send notifications, including acceptance letters and rejections, to all students who apply.

They take care of all of the details of hiring approximately 170 teachers for Summer School including housing, teaching load, HR paperwork, art orders for all art teachers, and chaperones for trips. They do marketing and organizing details for the Summer School College Fair. They take care of all details in the Summer School Office during summer session – lost and found, parent calls, ordering keys, student issues. They send grades and comments to all students after summer school.

Amy Fish started working at PEA on June, 2014. She is a full time employee and she works all year long. Karin TenneyHelfrich started working at PEA in November of 2007. “ Why am I still working here after 8 summers? -- because of the students, said Tenney-Helfrich. Both she and Fish work around 7-8 hours a day. They work for even

a longer time during applications. Their job is really, really difficult. (Gargas was away from the office during the interview.)

"My job is hard in that everything we do is very time consuming and detail oriented," said Tenney-Helfrich. “Imagine all of the departments on campus to plan our Regular Session and all of the staff they have, we do everything they do with only 3 people and our director.”

Fish agreed. "My job is hard."

She lives in Exeter. Tenney-Helfrich lives 2 miles from campus. She likes to ride her bicycle and motorcycle. During spring and fall, she likes to walk to work.

Fish is a mother of two. Her husband's name is Michael. Karin Tenney-Helfrich has a husband and a son. “My son is 21 and goes to school in Hawaii,” she said. “This is the first summer that he has not come home and not being able to visit him has been hard I will get to visit him after Summer School is over. I think that this separation has helped me to deal with parents who are anxious about sending their child away to Exeter for only five weeks.”

Fish loves to spend time at the beach, be outside, in her yard and garden. She goes to the gym in her free time. Karin TenneyHelfrich and her husband like to go out to spend time with their friends. “I don’t cook so we go out a lot,” she said.

Fish said, “We get a lot of students calling us from all over the world during the application process. It’s so fun getting to know all of the students and then finally meeting all of you! And I love the regular visitors in the summer school office who make my day!”

Write 4 Us? Right for U! Want to get in on the fun? Contribute to The Summer Times. We have three weekly issues left, and we’re looking for: Articles. Commentaries. Poems. Cartoons.

Camera Photographs (cellphones too blurry).

They must be ORIGINAL, by you and you alone, and not previously submitted to your school, etc.

Email them with your name and contact info (cell phone, dorm, etc) to:

peanewspaper@gmail.com We’ll publish as many as we can.

Ed Desrochers: 40 Years of PEA Records ARCHIVES, continued from page 1 When asked if he was a student adviser he said he was, with “4-7 advisees.”

Desrochers decided to do more than be interviewed. He decided to offer a tour of the archives itself.

In the archives, there were books upon books, as well as old records of school grades and attendance records over the years. There were hundreds if not thousands of written documents organized in sections, school records and student records, in the tiny room. One could spend a year just reading all that

the archives have to offer.

Along a long table were pictures of previous heads of the school as well as a lot of official documents. There was a picture of the first head of the school, John Phillips, on the right hand side of the table, as well as a plaques on the wall above the table inside the room. The corridors and space between the shelves are large enough for a person to fit through and look over documents pulled from the archives, but narrow enough to fit hundreds upon hundreds of more school records on the shelves.

The experience was exhilarating, as if I were walking through a detailed his-

tory of Exeter Academy. It may be the you have a happy retirement, and thanks best thing that one could witness if one for your service of 40 years in the library went here, and had the chance to see the of Exeter Academy! archives. Imagine sorting through the archives and seeing important figures like Abraham Lincoln’s own son, Robert Lincoln, or historical figures like U.S. Senator Daniel Webster or President Franklin Pierce -- who all graduated from here, with records in the archives.

And two people help organize and see all these amazing archives on a daily basis.

Desrochers, an amazing individual, is due to leave after the Summer School session, when he says that he aims to Taylor Weeks/The Summer Times Staff spend more time with his family. May

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THE SUMMER TIMES

COMMENTARIES

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

From The Euro to Global Warming: Greeks on Greece

By MARIA-ELENI KOMNINOU Summer Times Staff Writer

Nicole Pellaton/ PEA Staff

Where in the World are We From? Around.

Tokyo Olympics

By MIKI TAKAHASHI

Summer Times Staff Writer

The Tokyo Olympics that will be held in 2020 has been bringing considerable excitement and joy to Japanese as well as people from all over the world.

With an interval of fifty-six years, it is a second time since 1964 for us to become the host country for this international event .

For the duration of this Summer Olympics, many effects are expected by our government, media, enterprises as well as the people of the nation themselves. An influx of foreign tourists, the opportunity to spread our unique culture, a reconstruction of infrastructure such as rail lines and roads, and an increase in sports facilities are instances of the countless economic benefits that could accrue. Furthermore, many are hoping that the financial profits that will be produced could directly support reconstruction of Tohoku, where the damages from the 3.11 earthquake still remain.

However, a serious problem appeared recently. At the conference held by the Japan Sport Council, the cost of the construction of the New Olympic Stadium has been called into question.

Due to the additional designs and the cost of materials, it has been decided that the total rebuilding expense will be well over $2 billion, which is almost $900 million more than the initial planned cost. To compare this with the cost of the stadium built for the 2012 London Olympics, it is five times what they spent. This poses a big difficulty especially for the citizens. The fact that most of this will be paid from taxes triggers reproaches from the people.

“Considering what the International Olympic Committee is carrying out

for reform, the current cost is far from satisfactory,” said Tsunekazu Takeda, the chairman of the Japan Olympics Committee.

In addition, representatives of civic organizations gave an incisive comment which questions the plan of building a new stadium.

“Instead of building a new stadium, we should be utilizing the existing facilities," Takeda adds, “we should be aiming to create an Olympics that would not put heavy demand on the citizens.”

As this became a serious matter, many Japanese began to feel anxious whether holding the Olympics will truly be profitable for the country, and to claim that spending money for an event like this can be a waste of resources. People wonder whether being chosen as the site for the Olympics would bring us a good or poor result. And this implies that it will take a while to settle this issue.

From the citizens’ perspective, I’m not sure whether we should be sacrificing the taxes that we pay to our country for building a new stadium. However, at the same time, I also think that we should not be missing this great opportunity to represent our country’s advanced technology and skills with with we can impress people from all over the world.

Even though the building expense may be colossal, the solution that our country will come up with will show our sagaciousness, and it will depend on all of us how we will be able to make use of this opportunity. As I am bilingual in English and Japanese, I believe that there is so much that I can do to contribute to the country. Therefore, no matter how this issue of the stadium will end, I am willing to represent this country as a volunteer to spread the beauty and allure of Japan to the world.

Where We Call Home: 51 Countries, 39 States AUSTRALIA 1 AUSTRIA 2 AZERBAIJAN 1 BAHAMAS 1 BAHRAIN 7 BELGIUM 1 BRAZIL 13 CANADA 8 CHILE 1 CYPRUS 1 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 3 ECUADOR 5 FRANCE 6 GERMANY 16 GHANA 6 GREECE 15 GUATEMALA 1 HONG KONG 29 HUNGARY 2 INDIA 4 INDONESIA 4 IRAN 1 IRELAND 1 ISRAEL 1 ITALY 16 JAPAN 10 KUWAIT 1 LEBANON 5 MALAYSIA 1

MAURITIUS 3 MEXICO 3 NICARAGUA 1 NIGERIA 1 P.R. CHINA 80 PAKISTAN 1 PARAGUAY 2 REPBLC KAZAKHSTAN 1 REPUBLIC OF KOREA 6 RUSSIA 8 SAUDI ARABIA 10 SINGAPORE 4 SPAIN 3 SWEDEN 2 SWITZERLAND 2 TAIWAN 19 THAILAND 17 TURKEY 29 UN. ARAB EMIRATES 8 UNITED KINGDOM 11 VENEZUELA 23 VIETNAM 3

International Students

400

Greece is facing a very difficult situation. Over the last 10 years Greece’s debt has ballooned to disproportionate levels, mainly from money borrowed from other European countries and European banks. This money was used mainly to pay salaries and interest payments with little investment initiative. In late 2009, fears developed about Greece’s ability to pay its debt obligations that led in 2010 to the first memorandum and Stability Program implemented by the European Union.

The total debt is $340 billion, which the country owes to various European countries and banks. The new socialist government that came into power in January 2015 promised to renegotiate the existing memorandum but with little luck.

On top of that, Greece had to pay back 1.6 billion euros to the IMF by the 30th of June. But it failed to do so, becoming the first developed country to fail on an IMF loan repayment.

Instead of that, Alexis Tsipras, the prime minister, in order to get out of the difficult situation, proclaimed a referendum to let the citizens decide if the new austerity measures imposed by the institutions, the debtor countries of the European Union, the European central Bank and the IMF-International monetary fund,were accepted or not. Sixty-one percent of Greeks voted “no.”

After a lot of conversations on June 28,

the banks were officially closed and there was a restricted amount of cash that each person was allowed to take out (withdraw) per day and that was 60 euros( capital control).

The European leaders gave Alexis Tsipras an ultimatum to either come up with a final proposal of action or face GREXIT. The proposal stated that the Greek government had to prove that the prime minister was serious about putting Greek finances in order and reforming the euro. He had to do that by Sunday July 12th, otherwise Greece would be out of the eurozone. Greece sent the EU an official plan to cut spending, raise taxes, phase out tax discounts on some tourist islands and much more.

In the meantime the prime minister had a meeting with the opposition leaders and they gave him consent to sign an agreement for Greece to stay in the Eurozone.

After a long night in Brussels, on July 12th, they managed to come to an agreement, that puts the discussion of GREXIT out of the picture and strengthening the ties between the European countries. As the French President Francois Hollande said on twitter: “the Greek program is serious, credible and shows a determination to remain in the euro area. Nothing is done,everything can be done.”

In conclusion, nearly six months after the elections of the “Syriza” party, after the banks closures and the July 5th bailout referendum Greece has a deal. Greece after all will stay in the EU and won’t have its own currency. In my opinion I can say mission accomplished.

Turkish Politics

By LEA BUTROSOGLU Contributing Writer

Turkey’s political system is constituted from four political parties: the Justice and Development Party (JDP) or Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) in Turkish; the Republican People’s Party or Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (CHP); the Nationalist Movement Party or Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP); and the Peoples’ Democratic Party or Halklarin Demokratik Partisi (HDP).

Since 2002, the AKP had been winning the Turkish elections by getting the majority of the votes. However, during the June 7, 2015 parliamentary elections, the AKP won only 40.9% of the votes, less than the thirteen-year average of 51%. Thus, for the first time since 2002, the AKP will not be the ruling party. Before June 7th, the AKP’s goal was to win most of the votes in order to rule the country and even be able to change the constitution.

Right now, the government has not yet been formed in Turkey. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, gave Ahmet Davutoğlu, AKP’s leader, 45 days to form the new government. Ahmet Davutoğlu needs to form the new government with a coalition with either the CHP or the MHP, the two parties who got the second and third largest number of votes during the elections. However, MHP put forth various conditions to form a coalition with the AKP. For example, the MHP said it would form a coalition with the AKP only if the president resigned, because Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has become very authoritarian. We are still in the 45 days period and the end is uncertain since the other parties can refuse AKP’s demand. Furthermore, if they do, there will be anticipated elections.

ALASKA 1 ALABAMA 1 ARKANSAS 3 ARIZONA 1 CALFORINA 36 COLORADO 2 CONNECTICUT 8 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 2 FLORIDA 14 GEORGIA 7 ILLINOIS 29 INDIANA 1 LOUISIANA 1 MASSACHUSETTS 31 MARYLAND 4 MAINE 3 MICHIGAN 6 MISSOURI 1 MISSISSIPPI 1 MONTANA 2 NORTH CAROLINA 8 NEBRASKA 1 NEW HAMPSHIRE 54 NEW JERSEY 19 NEW MEXICO 1 NEVADA

4

Why did people vote less for the AKP this time? It appears that, firstly, people started to rebel against the president’s atrocious acts at the time of the Gezi Park events when the prime minister wanted to destroy a park in Istanbul. Secondly, the event in Soma, a city in the Western part of Turkey, caused a massive rebellion: a drastic mine disaster caused the death of a great number of mineworkers. Before the disaster, people knew that the mine was not secure and that AKP offered scant rescue efforts. This caused fear and distrust in people. Furthermore, people wanted Turkey to be a democratic and secular country.

They dreamt of the Turkey Atatürk, the first president of the country, had built as the foundation of the republic in 1923. On the contrary, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has limited Turkish democracy and modernity by making conservative changes. For example, he imposed religion lessons in schools.

To go further, during this period of 45 days, not only the population, but also foreigners, who looked forward to invest in the country, have been hesitant because of the uncertainty of the situation. The population is worried about the economy of Turkey and they think that an economic crisis could emerge.

Finally, I think that the CHP or the MHP should rapidly collaborate with the AKP so that the instability ends and Turkey’s economy continues to grow. If the coalition takes place in a favorable manner, I believe that the future will be bright. On the other hand, if it does not, Turkey could encounter early elections that could give the AKP the chance of ruling the country once again. Unfortunately, this could lead Turkey’s democracy to diminish even further.

NEW YORK 57 OHIO 2 OKLAHOMA 3 OREGON 2 PENNSYLVANIA 2 PUERTO RICO 7 RHODE ISLAND 3 SOUTH DAKOTA 6 TENNESSEE 17 TEXAS 12 VIRGINIA 6 VERMONT 1 WASHINGTON 16 WISCONSIN 1 WYOMING 1 United States Students 379 TOTAL 779

THE SUMMER TIMES

COMMENTARIES

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

5

Ask Us How to Fix the World A Mideast Friendship

By ANGELICA L. MARTINI Summer Times Staff Writer

Despite recent events of Middle Eastern conflict, Johnny Taic pushes toward cultural unity by breaking rivalries and building friendships here at Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School.

A Tel-Aviv, Israel, native, 15-year-old Johnny is the only Israeli representative in Summer School 2015. “So far my time here has been very exciting and it has been rewarding to meet all of the different culture groups from all over the world,” said Johnny.

Like most, he enjoys the many freedoms Exeter encompasses such as the great opportunity he has to interact with friends from conflicting nations.

Israel has been known to clash with Lebanon, yet Johnny, along with his two Lebanese dorm mates, Sandro Khoury and Karl Azarian, ignore enmities in favor of fellowship.

“I’ve made a lot of Lebanese friends that I would have not encountered in my every day life because of the conflicts of our countries,” said Johnny.

They find themselves interacting in many ways, such as playing ping-pong in the common

room or simply discussing politics in relation to the Palestinians and the Two State Solution.

Taic also noted that in meeting each other he and his friends have broken the stereotypes they had in the past. “Many of the stereotypes that we assumed of each other were related to politics and once we got to know each other we became good friends,” said Johnny.

With Hebrew being the national language in Israel and Arabic/French being the national language of Lebanon, these friends are still able to communicate and gain understanding without fear of prejudice. “It is interesting to see both sides of our worlds,” said Johnny.

Johnny also hopes to continue the bridging of friendships by involving the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School in some of his Jewish traditions. He hopes to engage his friends from Lebanon or anyone who is interested to be part of a Friday night Shabbat dinner he is organizing. In this he hopes to grow his understanding as well as teach others to understand his country and his beliefs as a member of the Jewish faith while also embracing everyone else’s cultures.

“It feels good to know that Exeter has linked such different people to allow them to have an exciting summer,” said Johnny.

Germans on Greece

By PAULA WILKE

Summer Times Staff Writer

On Sunday, July 5, Greece voted against reforms. What does this mean for Europe and Germany?

Since 2010, Germany provided more than 88 billion Euros financing to Greece. Altogether Greece received more than 320 billion Euros.

But now Greece requires around additional 55 billion Euros from Europe and the International Monetary Fund.

Germany has a divided opinion on Greece's financing requests. On the one hand, Germany demands that Greece should save money for paying back debts and should present a credible plan for reforms --especially to raise taxes and to cut off social benefits for retired persons.

On the other hand a discharge of Greece from the Euro carries major implications, with regard to the economy, for Germany and Europe.

German taxpayers would probably have to pay billions if Greece were to be discharged from the Euro, and in addition the European Union would be challenged.

After the Second World War the European Union was founded with the goal that each country supports each other. This was the common understanding for the protection of human rights, democracy and the lasting peace between member states for the future.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the whole government would lose their people's trust because they promised to be able to solve the problem with assurances that Greece would refund the money.

Structural problems, like absence of capital investments and minor tax receipts, are responsible for the economic situation of Greece. Without the European Union, Greece is placed on its own; it is hardly to likely that a timely improvement of the economic situation is a realistic scenario for Greece.

Greece needs strong and long-term help by

stabilizing its finances and insuring long- term development of its economy.

German politicans and bankers lost their trust in the Greek government and they demand that Greece take immediate actions and reforms.

But also the EU Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and eastern Europe and the Baltic countries lost their trust.

For this reason it is so hard to accept the present reforms proposal of last Friday because the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, first fought against reforms and persuaded Greece to vote against austerity. Why should Tsipras change his mind within one week? The Greek government lost its credibility. European finance ministers demanded that Greece implement some of their reforms by Wednesday, in order to talk about the third aid package.

Greece should pay debts back when they improve their economy and implement the reforms. A cancelation of debt is not possible because it would stress sustainable Europe including Germany. When Germany was reunified in 1990, Germany had to pay the foreign debt of the former DDR back. In addition to this, also human reasons justify the repayment obligations of Greece. If one borrows money from someone else, he eventually has to pay it back, unless he goes bankrupt.

The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, demanded that Greece leave the Euro zone for a limited time period of five years. This requirement irritated the German nation. During a term of five years a lot can happen; it could result in a final discharge of Greece from the Euro. Nobody wants a discharge of Greece. The problem is that the discharge is not prevented if both sides, Greece and accounts payable, cannot agree.

It is important that the confidence be restored between both sides, in order that the discharge could be overcome and Europe will not be harmed. Greece should start its reforms, which are credible.

Rating D-Hall Cuisine

By KAYLA VEGA

Summer Times Staff Writer

One of the most important aspects to the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School is the food. Daily, hundreds of students filter through Elm Street in search of something to satiate their hunger. After discussion with both Exeter students and faculty, it’s clear that both can agree that the dining hall is one of our favorite assets to the Phillips Exeter Academy community.

In an interview, Summer School Director Elena Gosálvez-Blanco commented on the significance of the dining hall. She mentioned that the dining hall staff takes extra measures to accommodate all its students, including those who are vegan, vegetarian, or have certain allergies, which explains why the words “soy”, “wheat”, or “dairy” are written on the glass above most foods. Of course, this allows the students to identify what they can and cannot eat, and also gives students the chance to taste and try new things outside of their comfort zone.

This especially applies to international students, who typically enjoy food from different cultures and taste palettes. According to Gosálvez-Blanco, the dining hall serves students from scores of different countries, which could make it hard for most foreign students to adjust.

This is proven by the way that the dining hall staff tries its best to incorporate international dishes, such as the Thai Peanut Chicken Wings and Mongolian Beef, while also offering customizable options, such as the sandwich and salad bar.

Something noticeable at the Phillips Exeter Academy dining halls are the lines. These are extremely prominent at the waffle maker in the mornings, and the ice cream machine in the evenings. These two are the fan favorites on campus, which is clear. Who wouldn’t want an ice cream after indulging at dinner?

Certain people say they don’t like the food offered in comparison to what they usually have back home, and that’s a legitimate claim to make. It’s difficult adjusting to life at boarding school, but although that’s a valid opinion, it’s also arguable.

If you’re like Nishat Uddin from London, England, you’d contend that food is better from your home country. She says that she “expected better American cereals, like Lucky Charms and Cap’n Crunch”, but was slightly disappointed that the dining hall wasn’t serving that. Sometimes, people just believe that the food needs improvement. Micah Frenkiel from Australia is a big fan of the school’s oatmeal, but she believes that on some days, it could be a bit “sub-par.”

However, most students such as Rachel Lee from Hong Kong argue that it isn’t that bad. She says, “my favorite dining hall meal is the spaghetti.” Leo Rutyer-Harcourt from New York City says that his are the chicken wings.

It’s all about opening up your mind to different things, and new experiences. That’s the point of the Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School, to experience life on our own and utilize our independence to make the most of our five weeks here.

The Faces of Italy

By ELENA JACCHIA Contributing Writer

Italy has been one of the most visited and renowned countries in the world for thousands of years. We are known for many things, the good food, the good life, the beautiful lands and sadly the Mafia.

Since the 18th century Italian Organized Crime has infiltrated the social and economic life of many regions, in particular the south of Italy where the famous Sicilian Mafia was first born. Throughout the years they started to expand towards the northern regions, in particular in Campania. Here, in Naples, the Camorra put its roots down in the middle of the 19th century. Soon the Camorra became a very powerful organization in the region and especially after the Second World War it started having a huge influence on the local economies and politics.

The Camorra is an organization that is both entrepreneurial and criminal, a sort of criminal cartel which extends to all fields of the economy. There are many ways with which these families finance themselves.

The most common one is the infamous extortion, an illegal way to get money from common citizens by threating them in some ways, including death. Other illegal fields where the Mafia is present are the drug and prostitution rackets.

But the Mafia and especially the Camorra act also on many legal sectors of our economy and politic. Many labor unions are filled with “Camorristi” who take control of various building and road constructions all over the country trying to make as much profit as possible. From the beginnings of the 90’s the Camorra also took control of the industrial waste in Naples. It started to decide where and how to collect the trash and where to built the landfills -- all of this under the eyes of the Italian politicians and the world.

In 2008 a huge environmental crisis ex-

ploded based on this issue. Roads all over the city were flooded with trash and cars could barely access the center of the city. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, after his second reelection, decided to start a campaign against this huge environmental issue and especially against this group of Organized Crime. The project never really worked.

Still today the problem is present. One of the most beautiful cities in the country is getting ruined by its bad administration, where corruption is fully present. The problem is that is becoming a vicious cycle. Politics are more and more involved in this “dirty business” and if we, Italian citizens, do not do something, nothing is going to change.

Now with the new Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, the situation is getting better, but very slightly. Not enough forces are put against the Mafia, which still acts as a total monarch all over Italy. In fact the problem now is not just restricted in the South, but it has expanded also in the northern regions.

To recall a recent example, this year during the EXPO in Milan, it was found that the “Ndrangheta”, a type of Mafia originally from Calabria, controlled more than half of the building construction involved in the event. The force of order barely intervened and as usual the local administrations let it go for another time.

Although today there is more consciousness among the people about these criminals, not so long ago the problem was denied by politicians and considered just an urban legend. In fact all over Italy new anti-Mafia initiatives are springing up.

Now schools face the problem with specifics lessons about it. But this is not enough to overcome the problem. New legislation needs to be passed and better administrations need to be established. Even if the fight against the Mafia will probably never end, we -- Italian citizens, with the state and the police force -- have to keep fighting in order to prevent it from completely taking over the country.

Tom Powley/ Summer School Faculty

How many trees offset a human? A student calculates.

Your Carbon Footprint

By TIYA BHATIA

searching for our perfect tree. After a lesson or two we had chosen our tree and calculated Despite the fact that this has been our certain characteristics of the trees. Factors first week at the Phillip Exeter Academy such as the circumference, the diameter, Access Exeter Course, it has certainly the species, the biomass and if the tree is been a memorable first week. The constant hardwood or softwood overall impacted the excitement has consisted of field trips to the final factors: the carbon sequestration -also town of Exeter, getting lost on the 600-acre known by how much carbon is stored inside campus and most importantly, the fascinating the tree- and what are the overall benefits of lessons in the clusters we have chosen. The the tree. first cluster, Project Exeter: Leadership to a The answers for each person ranged Greener Earth has consisted of 3 fascinating from Copper Beech to Sugar Maple as species lessons that our teachers have hooked us to a biomass of two thousand kilograms to ten into. In our Environmental Science lessons thousand kilograms. Comparing our trees to that are based of the topic of alternate energy our carbon footprint helped us calculate how sources, we have combined our forces with many trees would be needed to override Art to create the Benefits of Trees Project. our carbon footprint if everyone lived our Overall, the project is a true eye-opener that lifestyle. This resulted in our having to plant calculates how many trees we need to balance a certain amount of trees every year, which our carbon footprint worldwide through our exceeded 40 billion trees for certain people. very “own” tree in the campus of Phillip Other factors we considered were where to Exeter Academy. plant the trees, if it was feasible the positives It started off with us calculating our and negatives of planting these trees, and carbon footprints through an online carbon which species to plant. footprint calculator. As a cluster, the carbon The overall project in the Alternative that we emit into the air ranged from 20 to Energy Class has provided us students with 40 tones in extreme measures. For some a challenge that we are determined to succeed students, what they expected was what was in. For most people, global warming and true. However, for other students, their carbon our carbon footprint are vague terms that no footprint exaggeration compared to what they one really does anything about. This is only thought they would get was eye opening. Yet, one of the many projects we will be doing this made them even more determined to throughout our five week course here. By strive for a better carbon footprint. the end of the course, our cluster will be more We explored different scenarios on how aware of the fragile situation our planet is in, to improve our carbon footprint by taking our impact on the earth and what we can do local holidays, public transportation and to improve it. The Tree Benefits have been a even becoming a vegetarian! Once we had great way to open our minds in the first week calculated how much carbon dioxide we and introduce us into what truly is out there, have emitted into the air annually, we began environmentally, in the world.

Contributing Writer

6

THE SUMMER TIMES

FEATURES

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

Spotlight On: Elena Gosalvez-Blanco

By ANGELICA L. MARTINI & KANAT YAVUZ Summer School Staff Writers

On Friday, July 10, Elena GosalvezBlanco sat down with journalism students of Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School to discuss her new position as Summer School director.

Question: What is it like to be the director of Phillips Exeter Academy Summer School?

Elena Gosalvez-Blanco: It’s great! I strongly believe that the Summer School at Exeter really changes lives. We are the biggest and oldest Summer School in the country, and having worked the regular session a few years I’ve always liked the Summer School better. I believe it has more of an impact in such a short four or five weeks. I love the diversity especially. I feel very honored to have my position that I have in this program.

Q: What is your position during the school year and how is that different from the Summer School?

A: I’ve been at the academy for eight years.

In the beginning I was teaching Spanish and I was a dorm head first in Hoyt then in Merrill.

For the past three years I have been the associate director of the Summer School, so I was working with the previous director just helping him with everything. My job became almost like a preparation to become the director so I did a little bit of everything. In the past, the director only had a dean of admissions that would only help with admissions, but I helped with admissions and worked with departments higher in the faculty: promoting the budget, everything.

Q: What is your favorite task you do on a regular basis?

A: For Summer School we start preparing in September. Right after you guys leave, we are going to be preparing the following summer, so what I like is a lot of different things. Each month is different: September we promote, October we open applications and recruit, and in November I start reading applications. I would say that is my favorite part; reading applications and getting to know you.

Q: How well would you say you are acquainted with the students at Summer School?

A: Obviously I don’t remember all 777 folders, or when I see the face I don’t say “Oh! There’s the girl who said whatever in her essay,” but I have a good sense of who you are as a group. I’ve always worked in the dorm. This is the first summer that I am not working in a dorm, but my husband is working in a dorm and that is a huge connection. I live close to Main Street, Ewald, and Dutch House, so I am getting to know some kids in that area better.

Every time I see kids I stop and ask them how they are doing and how their experience is, so I really try to keep up with the kids. I plan to -- last year I visited a lot of classes and I feel as if going to the classes is a good way to get to know the kids around the table. So this week has been a little crazy for me, but next week as things quiet down I plan to visit some classes.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I am from Madrid, Spain.

Q: What would you say is your biggest aspiration for the Summer School?

A: I want to keep making the Summer School more and more diverse, and I want to promote it more so that kids from all over the place can find out about this great opportunity.

We are very lucky to have about 35% of our students in some sort of financial aid, and that is very rare for summer programs. So, I want to keep finding more donors and create more of an alumni connection so you guys can stay in touch. I know a lot of you stay in touch forever through Facebook and other ways, but to create a more organized way to network alumni is a goal.

Q: What would you describe as the biggest strength and biggest weakness of the Summer School so far?

A: The biggest strength is that we have a

known value. We have kids who have come because they have heard about it from their parents, grandparents, and neighbors. We are really well established in the market. I know some programs struggle to get good students and we don’t; you guys find us very well so that’s a huge strength. Our weakness, that I also observed in my professional life before even coming to Exeter, is that when something is very strong that becomes a weakness because you can get to comfortable. So, the weakness of any institution that is the strongest is to get comfortable so we always have to keep working to make it better and to make it more efficient.

Q: Did you ever go to Exeter as a student?

A: No, I grew up in Madrid, Spain. I went to The British School of Madrid. I went to college in Madrid, and I only came to the U.S. for graduate school. I went to Boston. I was a book editor. I was an executive editor in Barcelona, Madrid for years, and then because my husband was American we decided to move. He knew about the independent schools because his father was a long time teacher and principal, and basically Exeter hired me. I had a little bit of experience teaching college, and so Exeter thought that I had enough experience to understand the Harkness table.

Q: As a director, what do you think of the Harkness method?

A: I am a big, big, big fan of the Harkness method. This is the reason I decided to come here, the Harkness method. I had not taught very much before I came to Exeter, and I immediately fell in love with the Harkness method.

The key of the Harkness method is that it is student-centered and gives ownership to the students so it works. I walk into my classroom when I teach in the regular session with very high expectations from my students and they live up to the high expectations, and that to me is the magic of learning. They are so proud after they read A Hundred Years of Solitude in ten weeks in Spanish and these are non-native juniors and seniors. When I tell people what we do, they can’t believe me and they assume it’s the students, and yes the students are very smart just like you all are very smart, but it is about the expectations and the ownership.

Q: Are there any shortcomings to the Harkness method?

A: Some people say that it isn’t for all students, but I disagree. In my experience it is the shy kids who benefit. But also the kids who talk too much, or think they know more than they do also learn about themselves. No system is perfect, but I think it is the better one I’ve seen in action.

Q: How do you suppose you use the Harkness method in a math class or a language class where solutions aren’t debatable?

A: When I first came to Exeter I first had a mentor that said the subjects are gasses and liquids; gasses are the ones without a right or wrong answer and liquids are the ones with the right or wrong answer. If you think about it, it is about the process of learning and not so much about if you get the right or wrong answer. My kids, let’s say, in an intermediate Spanish class, learn new verbs or new vocab by reading the book and there is nothing we can do about that. But then when they come to the classroom they teach each other and they speak in the language, so I don’t care so much if they get the subjunctive wrong because they are using the language, correcting each other, and learning from each other.

Q: What happens when students do poorly in the Harkness method?

A: It’s okay to have silence in a Harkness class. I know some students new to Harkness have the perception that ,“Oh that class was bad because we didn’t know what to say,” and that’s not necessarily the case. I think the Harkness discussions that go wrong are probably what the teacher and students have learned the most from. Harkness encourages failure. That is how you learn. If you think about everything you learned as you were a kid, you learned to walk by falling, you learned to speak even if it wasn’t perfect. So failure is invited in the Harkness table. So that failure is actually a good thing.

Q: I just want to redirect the conversation

in a different way and talk a little more about you if that is okay. What do you like to do in your free time outside of Exeter?

A: So, I love to travel. My family and I have two girls that are ten and thirteen and we try to go to at least a couple countries, new countries a year. So this year we went to Belize and Guatemala and we are going to South Africa after the summer school. I also love to drink good cappuccino, good coffee, D2 in town is really good, and I also have my own machine and I make a lot of coffee. I love hiking and riding my bicycle and walking outside and enjoying the good weather while we have it cause the winters are really hard here especially for me coming from Spain, I had to learn how to snowshoe cause that’s the only thing you can do outside in the winter. So, yeah. I enjoy the outdoors. I want to go swimming in lakes or go to the oceans, just being outside.

Julia Benghiat-Jurist/The Summer Times

Q: Where do you live?

A: Exeter is a residential school so... almost all teachers live on campus. You’re required to live in a dorm for ten years when you are full time teacher. So, I’ve lived in a dorm for eight years and now I live in an on-campus house. I’m always here other than when I’m traveling or I go to Spain to visit my family but I have an oncampus house that is right next to Main Street.

Q: I read somewhere that you said that you want to better connect Summer School to regular session and I wanted to know what does that entail and I wanted to know how do you plan on reaching that?

A: So, as a teacher of our regular session sometimes I would talk to my girls in Merrill about Summer School and they would be like “Really? There is something happening in the summer?” They were not aware at all. And then when I was in the summer being a dorm head I would tell the girls that were maybe not treating their room nicely or the bathroom. I would say, well the kids that live here are from Ireland, from Saudi Arabia and this is their room during the year and I would sort of maybe think about the kids that this is their home for nine months.

So, I think there is a little bit of a disconnect, we do have a very good amount of teachers that work regular session and summer. So, that’s good and that’s very nice for the Summer School and we do have some students that have done Summer School and then do their regular session, but I feel we can connect more maybe having just more awareness, more collaborations, and just more general awareness that this is what the camp is. The campus just doesn’t go on pause when they are gone.

Q: A student that experienced the Summer School would be prompted then to attend Exeter for the regular session?

A: Yes, yes. Absolutely. So, we have some kids that come to the regular summer and fall in love with it and apply to regular session and some of them get in and some of them don’t because regular session is difficult to get in like we have a thirteen percent acceptance rate.

And we have a lot of kids that are not interested at all in the regular year. They are here for the five weeks and they are very happy have this experience and they are just not interested in the regular session because they are really happy in their school or they would never move away from home. So, we kind of have those three groups. And right now the regular session -we have a thousand students and a little over a hundred did the Summer School and in those three categories they did it first and then they fell in love, so they applied. They did the Summer School because they were serious about getting into Exeter.

Q: Seeing that you have been teaching for such a long time and been around teenagers a lot, what is one piece of advice that you would tell your teenage-self that you wish, now that you have this experience, that you wish you would have known then?

A: Wow. Wow. I really remember my teenage years very well. I got really connected with my teenage years. What would I tell my teenage-self? I guess to not take my self so seriously sometimes. The time brings a lot of change and that’s good sometimes when you’re a teenager you feel like a little trapped. You sort of find that out slowly as you get older. Um, yeah. That’s a very good question.

Q: Do you identify more with the international students that come to Exeter?

A: I identify with both cause now I’ve been in this country for almost ten years straight. I came for a masters in publishing, so I identify with both. I definitely feel like an international member of the community and there are a lot of international teachers at Exeter in the regular session as well. But I also -- because my husband is American and my kids have been here for so long.

So, I kind of see both sides but I definitely understand the international kids very well like how the U.S comes [across] very different. But now I see the American side of things because I recruit a lot. I go to New York and Chicago and Memphis and I feel like I’m also in touch with the American kids. So, yeah. I’m kind of like in the middle. So, like fifty-fifty like our program. So, fifty percent domestic, fifty percent international, which I think is a great balance. We don’t want to go more domestic or more international.

Q: What do you think of the Dining Hall?

I know there have been a lot of people saying there’s chaos and everything is everywhere, and what is your opinion?

A: So, it always takes a bit of adjustment to get used to the Dining Hall cause you guys are not used to it. The first week there are a lot of days where everybody goes to breakfast at the same time or classes end up at the same time, and then as we get into week two lunch and uh... Breakfast and lunch are more scattered because people have class during D or E or F. So it should get a little bit... And people learn like, “Oh I’m supposed to do my silverware here... Oh I’m supposed to do...” So it was progress this morning, I was in breakfast and it was better. People were figuring it out.

Q: Do you think that Exeter attempts to please a wide range of students through their foods?

A: Yeah, we try, to include like more international dishes in the summer. We have the vegetarian options cause we were aware there were more cultures where -- like the meat is not halal so Muslim kids might have to be vegetarian during their time here. So, we try to be more aware of things like that and also label more clearly because allergy kids in the regular session --they’re used to where to find things, but kids that have allergies in the summer... I’m like ‘No it’s a week, try to cater to international kids and allergies as well as we can.” And the ice cream machine, that is very popular. There is only so much ice cream you can eat and that it is not very healthy to only eat ice cream. So, usually by week three you might get sick from eating too much ice cream.

Q: If you were to describe PEA summer school, in one word, what would you describe it?

A: Um... Growth! Growth! Cause I think that unites diversity and kindness. So, growth.

I see the kids here, growing and developing and for me as the key, kindness, forgiveness, diversity and Harkness.

Q: What in your words does the Summer School want the students to gain from this experience?

A: So, I would say because we are so student-centered, we want you to gain whatever you need and that’s not always the same. Some kids are here, clearly for academic enrichment but some kids maybe more for social reasons.

To make friends or to get to know the world without leaving the U.S.

Feeling Homesick? You're Not Alone

By RENEA HARRIS-PETERSON Summer School Staff Writer

Being in a new place that is filled with new faces, and bursting with new opportunities, a person can easily become overwhelmed and become homesick.

Exeter is most likely very different from the various places students have traveled from. With the Harkness method of teaching and a large body of different students, Exeter can be hard to adjust to. From longing for traditional home-cooked meals, missing their comfy bed, and most importantly, yearning for family and friends, it can be hard for students to adjust to the new atmosphere here at Phillips Exeter Summer School.

International students have traveled the furthest, so most people would think that they would miss their home the most.

However, one student, Lucretia Hu from Shanghai, China, has not yet experienced being homesick. “I am not homesick because I can contact my family everyday- and if I want to, I can even see them face to face,” she said.

Yet at the same time, she says she does miss things from home, but not actually being home. Laughing, she declared: “The

vegetables here taste like grass and I hate french fries. Also, the bed is too soft- I sleep on a wooden bed in Shanghai, so sleeping here is uncomfortable.”

Due to cultural differences, international students might have difficulty trying to adjust to life in America.

Nonetheless, even students from America may experience some form of homesickness. For example, after some discussion, one Upper School student from Washington broke down and admitted, “I miss everything from home - especially the weather!”

Yet at the same time, other students from America seem to be doing just fine - “I only miss my dog,” a young Access girl remarked. The beauty of having such a diverse group of kids here, is that everybody deals with situations differently, so no matter where a student comes from, homesickness may or may not affect them.

If a student does experience homesickness, all hope is not lost! There are many ways to combat feeling homesick. One of the best ways is to try and become apart of the community. The Hoyt dorm leader, Kate Hernandez, when asked how she would help a student who is homesick said, “I would encourage them to make connections and engage, because that will make them

feel more at home.”

When people feel like they do not fit in socially, it could make them miss their home and comfort zone even more. To make the experience for every student here the best it could be, try and include people who seem left out.

Another way to help address homesickness is to consider how a student connects with his or her home. In the interview, Kate Hernandez, also said: “If a student is connecting with their family too much, it can make them feel even more lonely. But, if the student isn’t connecting with their family enough, then that can also contribute to feeling homesick.”

The key seems to be to try and find the perfect amount of connection. Some more tips to try and fight homesickness are to do some things you usually did at home and keep familiar things around (but still try and experience new things), talk to someone about how you feel, or write it down, try and keep occupied, and try to think positive thoughts.

Homesickness is a complicated personal topic in many ways that can affect different people. Try the tips listed above, and make the most of your experience here at the Phillips Exeter Summer School.

THE SUMMER TIMES

SUMMER LIFE

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

7

"Sunshiny Moments"... Access Creative Arts Cluster The Arches

By PAULA PEREZ-GLASSNER

David E. Robbins

Contributing Writer

As you walk across campus, do you notice things around you like a carved detail on the side of a building or an old wooden bench? As you cross Front Street after class to go to lunch do you notice the arches you raced through to catch up with your friends who are crossing the street? I did, and I took it upon myself to write down my views. The set of archways on Front Street were always something I overlooked.

I found out they were donated by the classes of 1930 and 1923 as gifts to this incredible campus.

I, being a day student, have probably walked through those arches one million times over the years, but I had never stopped to think about what they really represent. I wondered to myself when observing them, why did the classes of '23 and '30 think these archways would be a good addition to this campus, and why here? As a kid I knew them as meeting places or boundary lines for where not to cross when playing outside after dinner. I never really considered that maybe they had more purpose.

They sit right in the middle of campus, which is why my best guess is that they are meant to represent the crossing from the North side of campus to the South, or vice versa. To me North Side is the academic side. As far as I know, classes are mainly held on the North. North has The Academy Building, The Phelps Science Center and Phillips Hall, the main academic facilities on campus. South has the athletic facilities, many dorms, the beautiful library and more. I consider crossing between those arches a metaphor for bridging the gap between these two sides. I think they very subtly can bring together the campus as a whole while each side still maintains its purpose. These arches, like many other small elements of architecture sprinkled around campus really add to the beauty and meaning of this school and the town of Exeter. So, next time you walk through them, ask yourself why you think they have a place here at Exeter.

The Black Bench

By LIANG-TING "TINA" WANG Contributing Writer

Have you ever feel lost in waves of humans? Have you ever drifted in insecurities? Today is a sunshiny moment. The flames of sun lightly sparkle throughout the campus. I had an enjoyable walk to the Mayer Arts Center. Stopping and sight seeing. After a rough browsing around the campus, I came to a black, polished, plastic bench. Some parts of it were carved with chaotic handwriting and you can easily even see sloppy scratches. To me, the bench seemed to be a nice, approachable old man. His daily routine is to observe quietly from remote places, watching passersby coming and leaving.

Across this spot stand energetic trees. Lively swaying from summer breeze and do not seemed to be bothered by the continuous chirping of birds. The combination of these two items often appears in artistic movie scenes. Imagine when you like to spend a Sunday afternoon leisurely, wandering around the environment. You can always relax and embrace worries in this comfortable zone while letting yourself inhale refreshing sunlight.

I wonder how many pedestrians stop by to share their stories, and I wonder how many people were emotionally healed with security provided by the black bench.

By GABRIELLE BROWN Contributing Writer

Located in the field across from Moulton House is a rectangular, stone memorial plaque. It reads: "In Memory of David E. Robbins Class of 1978." A week ago, I was walking back from cross country when I saw it for the first time. I found myself thinking, Who is David E. Robbins? Was he a past headmaster? Was he a past teacher? Was he a donor? The fact that he has a memorial tells me that he was probably an important person to Exeter. I just didn't know why.

My curiosity got the best of me and I set out to find out who David C. Robbins is. It turns out that after David graduated from Exeter in 1978 he

All it Takes is Flowers

By ROCIO OCHOA Contributing Writer

Would it make a difference if they were to remove the flower pots in front of the Phillips Exeter Academy Center? The home feeling will certainly be gone. But why are we accustomed to feeling welcomed with decorations? The idea of capturing nature in a semi-circle, gray pot is quite unique. There are four sections to these decor pieces. The empty space of the flower pot is filled with rich, dark brown soil.

The roots lead to the blooming, purple flowers. On top of these are bright yellow flowers.

The orange circle within these flowers attracts your eyes. Rows of flowers are the suspenseful music to the long, green leaf sprouting at the top. It takes you to a scene of fresh, cold water sprouting out from a water fountain. Without these decorative flower pots, Phillips Exeter Academy would lose community, comfort,

Life is a Play

By KANIN TANTINON Contributing Writer

Life is a play within theater itself. The people we meet are just like actors in a specific play, in a specific time of life. The play ends just like how a section of your life ends. Plays

Heart of Stone

By KELSEY FRANKLIN Contributing Writer

Poster

By CYNTHIA NOVARO Contributing Writer

It’s a seemingly random poster hung up in the corner. The border is thick and a subtle olive green with the inside featuring a pink and cream coloured woman. Her dainty eyes are almost closed and she has curly, poofy coffee-coloured hair cascading down her shoulder. Her gloved hand is grasping some kind of of cane and she is surrounded by baby pink thorns and roses the same olive green as the border. At the top, written in fat white letters, reads Tosca, an Italian surname, also my mother’s surname. A description at the bottom has something written in Italian, and I believe it is talking about music. What year is this sign from? I wonder. And what is the music that it is advertising? I wonder what series of events led to this poster being here, in the PEA library.

Who got this here? I imagine that maybe an Italian student brought it from their home. It’s may be from a long time ago.

Writing From the Perspective of a Fire Hydrant

By VERNITA ZHAI Contributing Writer

My life is empty. It’s broken. Meaningless.

Day after day, I stand here, amidst this dirt and filth, gazing at the students walking to and fro, their smiles so full of vibrancy, their voices so full of vitality. I used to run like them, I used to laugh like them, I used to live like them. Sometimes, their laughter drenches me with bittersweet nostalgia, but other times, it feels like a mockery of my anguish. It is like they are taunting me, and the agony is excruciating, almost unbearable, like having a thousand heartless daggers penetrate my mind.

Now, after all these decades of standing here, I have become no more than an inanimate object.

I would have escaped a lifetime ago, but I am lashed onto the earth, like a powerless prisoner. My body is mantled with a layer of dirt and dust, the saffron on my skin gradually fading away and peeling off to reveal the crimson beneath. My once-crisp white hat is now covered in fulvous rust, and my lifeless limbs are tied to the ground by merciless chains, my feet sewn into the dirt beneath me, pinned down by screws and nails.

I can’t seem to recall how I wound up here - the memories are like shattered pieces of a painting sinking through a bottomless lake, fleeting further away with every passing moment. Sometimes, I have these flashes of remembrance, but they are ephemeral and distorted, as if I were perceiving the memory through a tapestry of broken glass. I can’t quite see it, I can’t quite reach it, I can’t quite grasp it, but I know it’s there.

I used to wonder what life would be like, the person I would be, if I weren't this helpless prisoner. But I stopped dreaming about that a long time ago, because those dreams are nothing more than fragments of impossibility.

My worth, my humanity, my life. It’s all locked away in an unreachable chasm that doesn't even exist.

And without it, what am I? Nothing but a pile of ashes.

Nothing but a perished flame.

Nothing but a barren wasteland

went to Brown University, graduated in 1983, and then became a research assistant at the Institute for East West Security Studies. I also found out that David died from injuries he got in a car accident in October of 1984. His parents, Larry and Diana Robbins, gave an endowment to Exeter to hold symposiums on third world countries and world development in David's memory. David's friends also gave funds to give him a memorial tree, which is the plaque in the field. Now every time I walk pass the field and I see the plaque I think about David C. Robbins and the type of person he probably was.

1. A black rock shines from behind a mirrored pane in the back of the science center.

Its jagged edges are dipped in amber and the whole stone appears to shine from within. I wonder where it came from. Maybe a generous donor, maybe it was found on campus, but to me, this stone is the heart of a volcano.

It seems to beat with energy, and the orange highlights pulse as lights move over them. I wonder what old mountain had to die to let me see this heart of stone.

2. I watch from behind a closed window as three workers toil through the rain. They are building something, or renovating something. I am unsure which one. They carry a long tube into the fenced in building. I wonder what is being completed. I wonder if I watch for long enough I would I would notice their project being finished. Would I be able to see the walls forming? Could I tell the difference from one hour to the next? One day to the next? I guess I will never know. All I will be aware of is the green fences, orange vests, and hard workers until their job is done. Then I will see the beauty.

Acorn I grew up on a tree branch far away from other trees, I am an acorn. I am an acorn round and small. I have been swinging on this tree for three years already. The climate always changes from -20 degrees fahrenheit to 108 degrees fahrenheit.

One day raging wind came rushing towards me.

It left me hanging by a little piece of wood. I met an acorn about two and a half years ago and he fell off the tree, he said it felt like they were ripping his skin off. Ever since, I have been afraid to fall off. The next day it was pouring rain and guess what…I fell off. It really did feel as if they were pulling my skin off. I lay on the cold, wet ground. For some reason, the wind shifted me to a school campus. The schools’ name was Phillips Exeter Academy. Everybody steps on me, that is

The Lavenders As I lifted my head, I saw the wind whispering at the elegant flowers and telling them to swing softly and gently. The flowers were purple and as a whole unit, they stood there strong and firm. I wondered who took care of them and made them look so alive. They shared the

and peace feeling. The nature around campus distinguishes a prison and a beautiful school.

All it takes is flowers.

Telephone Box

By TANEYAH JOLLY Contributing Writer

You have lost your phone and dial pad too But you remain, not many people knew Telephone box empty and still Telephone box right outside the Grill What will you do in your days to come Maybe you’ll just stay there staring at the sun Without a purpose, you might be taken down Maybe they’ll throw you in a nearby town Hopefully they’ll reunite you So you’ll find your phone and dial pad too

comes in all sorts of genres for all sorts of ages, life also has many stages from an infant to the elder and birth to death. Our life is our stage our own space to show the world who we are and why we are who we are from expressions, gestures and experiences. Sometimes we shine, sometimes we are loved but sometimes they dim the lights around us and sometimes we get the spotlight. Life is unpredictable, just like a play to audiences.

The Girl Who's Always Watching

By ALEXANDRA JONES Contributing Writer

There’s this painting in the lounge area of the Academy Center. There’s a girl touching a pencil to her lips. A book open as she perpetually watches.

Perhaps she’s thinking and staring off into the distance. She is immortalized on the wall. Who is she?

An academic pondering the world? Or perhaps a shy girl staring at her crush? Maybe an artist surveying her subject? I wonder if she’s captivated. Maybe caught off guard? Her presence is far from comforting. No, rather it’s unnerving. Although not in a way that suggests an uncomfortable look or feeling coming from her, I can’t quite explain it but the more I look, the more I desire to know what she’s looking at .

She prods her lip in an almost contemplative way.

Yet, though she’s always there, I’ll never understand “The Girl Who’s Always Watching.” It’s not as though she’s watching us, mind you. We’re hardly interesting, us humans. She’s watching someone, something, an “it.” I’ll never know. It’s perplexing.

I wonder “what is she reading?”, “what is she thinking?”, “what could she possibly be so fixated upon that it became her memory?” There’s a plaque beside her. It reads “”Exeter Girl with Braids.” Then a list of homes carved in it. Which one is she? Or are they all her? So many questions that will never be answered by “The Girl Who’s Always Watching.”

By SOFIA REBEIL Contributing Writer

why I am cracked. I am glad I only have a tiny unnoticeable crack, if I were to completely crack, that would mean death. I am always kicked to a corner where no one ever sees me. This is good because it means that a squirrel will not eat me and I will not be stepped on. I always see many students walk by me. They always ignore me; they probably do not even know I exist. One day, a squirrel came up to me sniffed me and tried to eat me. I tried to push myself out but his teeth were too strong. As long as I did not crack more, I was fine. The squirrel gave up so he swallowed me, I am so glad he did this. I eat what the squirrel eats. For example: left overs, it is my favorite! So now, I live in a squirrel. I do not have to struggle on being eaten or cracked anymore. Life is good!

By ANCA FU Contributing Writer

same land and helped each other grow like we do as a human society. The Lavenders looked so neat and tidy in a row. Their parents must have treated them as if they were their own children.

Their parents were the ones who made them so proud and pleasant.

8

SUMMER LIFE

THE SUMMER TIMES

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

Festive Field Day Heralds Summer '15 Getting into the Spirit: Student Life Day & Carnival

By TAYLOR WEEKS Summer Times Staff Writer

Julia Benghiat-Jurist/The Summer Times

On July 8, at 4:00 p.m., Summer School Life Day, the boys of Exeter’s Mainstreet dorm went out for a day of festivities, to kick off a day of t-shirt making fun.

Since the boys had had a strenuous three days of hard studying and rigorous classes, the dorm heads decided to take the boys out for ice-cream or bowling, and the girls for similar activities before making t-shirts for Field Day since it was due to start that Saturday.

The boys then went to their respective head dean’s classroom, offices, or their dorm’s respective common rooms, to make the t-shirts and enjoy their dairy goodies as well as to relax and reflect on their first few days here at their new home for the next five weeks.

The boys’ attention was focused on Field Day due to the close proximity of its date. They laughed, sang, and joked about

their classes, as well as their home states and countries. They talked and designed their shirts, while undertaking the task of making their t-shirt represent their dorm spirit as they will have to represent their dorms for Field Day. When asked their thoughts on Summer School Life Day, Patrick Reed, aged 16, Austin Mason, 17, and Nicholas Whiteside, 16, said that it was “Really fun and good experience with the dorms,” as well as being “ An active day for every country mile we had to walk.”

Gianni Torti, 15, when asked about what he thought of Summer School Life Day, stated that “I thought it was fun, because I think that the ability to design our own t-shirts was enjoyable.”

Field Day was set for Saturday, July 11, with a barbecue afterwards. The staff encouraged Upper School students as well as the Access children to participate.

Julia Benghiat-Jurist/The Summer Times

Ralph Blumenthal/The Summer Times

Dizzy Bats & Sack Races: Victors Celebrate

By CRISTOBAL PICON & ALEXANDER PURI Summer Times Staff Writers

Merrill and Dunbar dorms took top Upper School honors for boys and girls in last Saturday's Field Day competitions. In Access, Kirtland and Peabody won for the boys and the Dutch, Moulton and Williams houses combined to win first place for girls.

While students enjoyed their Field Day experience -- usually the top-ranked fun activity of the summer -- the faculty were also pleased with how it turned out in what was a great experience for both parties.

Events included the izzy-dizzy bat relay, the sack race, and the three-legged race. During the dizzy bat, students sprinted to a bat, spun around it with their head, and tried to make it back to their team as quickly as possible while dizzy. In the three-legged race, two students would team up with one another, tie one of their legs together, and attempt to make it to the finish line. Meanwhile in the sack race, a single student would place his or her legs in a large sack, and hop to the finish line.

The teams that arrived first in each race earned 3 points while the teams that arrived in second and third earned 2 and 1 point(s) respectively.

Out of the upper school male dorms, Merrill finished in first place with 23 points, beating Wentworth by a single point. Dunbar finished with the highest amount of points from the upper school female dorms with 31 points, 11 ahead of second place Bancroft, which earned 19 points.

In the Access Exeter competition, Kirtland and Peabody finished in first place for the boys, with 39 points, while the Dutch, Moulton, and Williams houses united to finish in first place of the Access Exeter girls.

Those in the victorious dorms were pleased with their victory.

“I was very excited when we found out that we beat all the other dorms,” said Remy

Naud who was part of Merrill.

Joshua Jun, also part of Merrill, echoed Remy’s delight.

“I was pretty pumped up.”

In some schools, field day includes actual sports, such as soccer, basketball, and relays. However, coach Jim Tufts wanted the events in the competition to be ones that everyone could enjoy.

He said that he and John Walker, who co-planned Field Day, choose these events “because they were silly and fun,” while adding that people "not only enjoy doing them, but enjoy watching them.”

The students who participated were also pleased with the selection of events.

“I think that the field day games were fair and good,” said Joshua.

“I kind of liked the concept of these activities,” said Joseph Thomas, who participated in the three-legged race for Wentworth.

Tufts was hoping for the event to help dorms bond together and simply have fun.

“The purpose for field day is for dorms to have fun and work together,” he said.

“Because its such a short summer, we feel that would build for the next four weeks.”

Several students agreed that field day fulfilled those objectives.

“I liked the atmosphere,” said Joseph.

He went on to add that the event, “really brings people together, and contributes to the life of summer school.”

Meanwhile, Remy echoed Joseph’s satisfaction with the competition.

“It helped us bond together because we worked together as one team,” Remy said.

Tufts mirrored the participant’s optimism.

“We as a department thought it was a special event,” he said. “This year was a great year.”

Kampus Skrambl Answer Key How Many Did You Figure Out?

Ralph Blumenthal/The Summer Times

Julia Benghiat-Jurist/The Summer Times

My New Life in Exeter

By SHIYANG "AMY' WANG Summer Times Staff Writers

王世瀛 That’s how to write my name in Chinese.

A lot of friends said it was like a drawing. It’s true that it’s a little bit difficult to write. But not if you write it every day. Anyway it’s my name.

I’m Amy, from Beijing, China. I’m going to focus on food today. The ice-cream we got from downtown is really big, the MINI one is bigger than the large one in China. I tried chocolate brownie and cheese cake yesterday. I didn’t have food tastes like that before in China. By the way, I really love it. In China, we do eat a lot stir-fried and also steamed food. Maybe you have heard of dumplings or tofu. That’s traditional food in China. What’s more, we eat with chopsticks

mostly for each meal, not fork and knives.

All the classes I took have people from diverse culture. I really enjoy getting to know the culture of others, it’s like traveling the whole world. Thanks to Exeter! They have brought the world together.

The other day, I saw a squirrel under the tree of our campus. It’s not really common in China. But back there, we have bunch of sparrows in our school. Both schools are nice but quite different.

ALL the things are perfect here but SOOOOO DIFFERENT! I'm gonna so miss my experience here at Exeter when I go back to China!

1. Elm Street Dining Hall 2. Phillips Church 3. Elena Gonsalvez Blanco 4. Agora 5. Grill

6. Polar Bear Swim 7. Ice Cream 8. Love Gym 9. Bookstore 10. Field Day