Volume CXXII, No. 9
Friday, February 24th, 2017
Let it Snow! The Administration’s Recipe for Calling Snow Days Chris Mathews ‘17 News Writer Even with the winter season almost over and temperatures beginning to rise, “snow day roulette” appears to be just as popular now as it was when the snow first began to fall. It’s not hard to see the appeal in forgetting about your homework for the night if a snow day seems imminent the next day. However, many students don’t really understand the snow day decision making process and therefore can’t beat the gambling odds. I, for one, know just how painful and frustrating this reality can be. Two Thursdays ago, I completed 0 out of my 5 assignments due Friday. I had thoroughly convinced myself that Milton would have a snow day. All of the Boston public schools, Milton public schools, and Thayer Academy were closed, so I assumed that the administration would succumb to peer pressure. “Stonewall” Ball, however, stood firm, and all I got from my snow day gambling was a two hour delay, several late grade deductions, and no idea where my logic went astray. When asked about the
Keisha Baffour-Addo
Robbins House takes advantage of the snow days to play in the wonderful New England snow
decision-making process behind calling a snow day, Mr. Bland explained how a “‘snow team’ of administrators all
logistics.” As such, Milton Academy is often not as quick to call snow days as its public or day school counterparts.
life is dope. Snow days don’t affect me. It’s not like a foot of snow will make it that hard for me to walk from my dorm
“Cohasset native Mark Bodner (I) pointed out that ‘Jesus didn’t die for me to drive to school on snowy roads!’” collaborate in advance, with the Head of School making the final decision.” Although Mr. Bland acknowledged that “occasional snow days can be a real positive for the community,” he stated that “there is a lot of planning that needs to happen around snow day
Naturally, Milton Academy’s status as a fifty-fifty day and boarding school affects the administration’s ability to call a snow day during a storm. Commenting on how snow days affect his day-today life, Wolcott House’s T.J. Brennan (I) remarked, “My
to the Stu.” Day students, on the other hand, face an entirely different reality. When asked to comment on how snow days can affect his commute to school and back, Cohasset native Mark Bodner (I) pointed out that “Jesus didn’t die
for me to drive to school on snowy roads!” Despite his sarcasm, Mark does make an important point. Even without any snow on the roads, some Milton Academy day students face a 30-45 minute commute each way – on a normal day. So when you add four-plus inches of snow to the road, the length of that commute can triple. These day students, especially drivers, can be put in danger. In the last month, I can recall two separate instances where I myself have narrowly avoided a devastating car crash caused by snowy conditions. Generally speaking, most of us within Milton’s day student community feel that Mr. Ruiz’s weird and wonderful snow day voicemails only come on days when they are truly needed. Still, in the wake of the latest rounds of snow day roulette, many students would encourage the administration — most of whom live within walking distance of campus — not to underestimate the potential danger that snowy conditions can add to a day student’s commute. Besides, Mr. Bland, who doesn’t love a good snow day?
Leora Tec Visits Milton to Discuss Memory and the Holocaust Leydn McEvoy ‘20 News Writer As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles, the need to recall the unvoiced stories of victims only becomes greater. The silences and inaccuracies surrounding the Holocaust must be replaced by the multiplicity of stories from the victims. Leora Tec, the founder and director of Bridge to Poland, an organization that showcases non-Jews memorizing Jewish life, explained how “the nuances of individual experiences vanish as the accounts of the incidents become more distant.” The Jews were liberated from the subjection of the Nazis nearly 72 years ago. However, as the number of survivors di-
THIS WEEK’S MEASURE
minishes, the question now is “how will the memories of the Holocaust persist when all the survivors are gone?” Through her experiences as a daughter of a Holocaust survivor and eminent scholar, Tec explores her mother’s accounts of the war. Many years following the war, Tec’s mother’s memories reemerged through a Holocaust memoir. After the memoir was published, Tec embarked on a deeper exploration of her family’s history. She discovered the intricate details of individual family members and their life stories. Many victims’ stories, however, are not documented. Instead, the stories are embedded in the memories of the living. Although the
stories exist, the absence of the victim spurs uncertainty about the value of the stories. As time continues to separate the Holocaust from the present, the accounts of the Holocaust fade into ancient lore and, the details of true Holocaust experiences are dismissed as false or distorted from their truths. To avoid the dismissal or distortion of events, Tec felt that “we must read history with an open mind to fully understand the details of the victims.” By considering the unforeseen events of the Holocaust and understanding their meanings, we can restore the truth of the stories and the memories. Tec, along with two Polish scholars dedicated to preserving the memory of Jews,
compiled old archives, photographs, and documents of unnamed victims in an attempt to connect the missing personal identity with the brief life stories of the victims. By assembling the individual lives of the unnamed victims, Tec reconstructed the lives of the victims, revealing their stories and experiences. Tec explained how victims’ voices live on through the people who remember their stories. With few survivors left to commemorate the deaths of the Jews, Tec stated that if we disregard the value of the victims, “we will lose some of the humanity of those who perished and those who survived.” We must acknowledge the stories by treasuring the details and sharing the memories of the people. By
recognizing the Holocaust and the victims, we highlight both the blight on the history of humanity but also the people’s stories. Tec emphasized how we must overlook the brutality of the events and how we must strive to remember the beauty of the people’s lives. As students, we must preserve the memory of the Holocaust victims by preserving their life stories in our memories. Tec raised a concern to the audience stating, “If no one can access the memories, then do they even exist?” For the lives of the victims to persist, we must share their stories and experiences.
NEWS
OPINION
A&E
SPORTS
HS&R - Page 3
Rose Sale - Page 5
Nesto Gallery - Page 9
Corner Kick - Page 11
Niche Rankking - Page 4
Sports Reqs. - Page 8
The Cruicble - Page 9
Ski Team - Page 11