36.6

The Milton Paper PARENTS DAY EDITION

OCTOBER 19th, 2018

VOL. 36 NO. 06

MILTON’S INDEPENDENT WEEKLY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

News Understanding Milton’s New Standalone Sexual Misconduct Policy

BY NATASHA ROY '19

On Monday, October 15th, Upper School Principal David Ball announced to both students and parents Milton’s new sexual misconduct policy, the product of months of focused harassment-related work on campus. “Our primary goal with this policy was to ensure the safety of our current and future students” Mr. Ball said in an interview.

The idea for the policy came from the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network organization, or RAINN, which “identified the value of crafting a standalone sexual misconduct policy,” said Mr. Ball. “In the Student Handbook for a number of years we’ve had a number of policies that outlined the school’s values, including prohibitions of sexual assault and harassment. Similarly, in the Faculty and Staff Handbook there have been clear policies. RAINN recommended that Milton create a policy that covered all members of the community, and it be identified separately as our Sexual Misconduct Policy. Now, when you go to the website, you can find our sexual misconduct policy without looking through the Handbook. That ensures an appropriate kind of consistency; all sections are guided by the same principles and definitions articulated in the community section.”

The administration and Board of Trustees decided to work with RAINN last year. “We believed that RAINN could support our institutional goals in a variety of ways,” explained Mr. Ball. Over the course of the 2017-18 academic year, the organization facilitated training with both adults and students and performed a thorough investigation of the school’s current practices regarding sexual misconduct. At the examination’s end, it provided the administration with a list of recommendations to address sexual misconduct.

“When we received their recommendations late last spring, we examined all of them. When we began implementing them, we focussed first on the ones we could complete over the summer… As we revised our existing policies, we also recognized that the sexual misconduct response team belonged with the rest of the policy, so we combined those two recommendations in that way,” said Mr. Ball. When asked if RAINN made recommendations that we have yet to act on, he responded that there are currently ongoing efforts to re-evaluate existing sexual misconduct-related practices.

Over the summer, a lead consultant at RAINN worked closely with several Milton faculty members to design this new policy. The efforts were fronted by Mrs. O’Toole, Chief Human Resources Officer, the school’s primary liaison, Mr. Ball, Mr. Ruiz, the Dean of Students. Ms. Morin, Director of Counseling, also offered advice on the counseling elements of the policy. “What is in this revised policy

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Opinion The Sports Bra Run Debate

By EVITA THADHANI '20

On the first Wednesday of October, the Girls’ Cross Country team went on its first sports bra run of the season.

The temperature had climbed over 80 degrees, and our head coach, who doesn’t allow us to wear only sports bras because it makes him “uncomfortable,” was absent. We took off our shirts and, feeling much cooler, completed a run in the sweltering heat. We came back to the ACC lobby and found that most of the boys had the same idea of taking off their shirts. And, despite the fact that the lobby was packed with shirtless boys, Mr. Reddicks immediately yelled at a female runner to put on a shirt. Astonished by this mistreatment, the girls refused to comply, deciding instead to keep their shirts off.

We knew it wasn’t a crime to work out in sports bras, and we weren’t going to let anyone tell us otherwise. If the boys could walk around shirtless, we could walk around in sports bras.

Over my 6 years of running on cross country and track teams, I’ve felt attacked by the school whenever we go on sports

bra runs. In 2018, girls post bikini pictures online and wear whatever they want; so, isn’t it somewhat contradictory that a school which teaches girls to be proud of our bodies doesn’t allow us to wear sports bras when it’s too hot out? Although wearing a shirt seems like a small price to pay to appease our coaches, it can make all the difference for girls who run up to six miles on a given day. More importantly, when girls are prevented from doing something that guys do all the time, we feel less-than, as if having a female body is a crime we need to pay for. Not only should the same dress code apply to all genders, but girls should have the right to wear whatever makes them comfortable at sports practices.

Now, you may be thinking that “different bodies need to be covered differently, so different genders should have different rules.”

Here’s where it gets messy: if you make gender specific rules, how will you enforce them without assuming people’s genders?

A person’s biological sex may not match the person’s gender, so you can’t assume everyone of

Inside This Issue Gun Violence pg. 7|| The Depot pg. 9|| Parents' Day pg. 12-13

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Parents, you get the worst of us. The Milton experience can often be draining and excruciating, and our parental relationships bear the brunt of that constant anxiety.

Earlier this week, TMP sent out an anonymous poll to the Upper School asking “If you could say one thing to your Parents right now, what would you say?” Several of the responses we received offered an apology for neglecting parents’ affections or not showing enough gratitude. One student said “I know that outwardly, it doesn't seem like I appreciate you guys, but deep down, I always do,” while another said “I'm sorry I'm mean to you when I'm stressed, I feel bad that I take it out on you both.”

Parents: we know that we can often seem rude or ungrateful.

Day student parents see us in the morning while we’re rushing out the door, already late for assembly, and then again in the evening, when we’re deep in our daily panics about how we’re going to finish all of our homework. Boarding students’ days are so tightly scheduled that we struggle to even find a time to call our parents, and when we do, we’re exhausted, stressed, or both. Milton sucks us dry of every last ounce of energy, and as a result, our parental relationships can suffer.

It’s telling, however, that by far the most popular response to our poll was “I love you,” followed by “Thank you.” Though in our snarkiest, most stress-addled moments, we may appear unaffectionate or ungrateful, we recognize how much you’ve done for us and, above all, we love you. Still, our intense environment cannot help but foster a divide between students and parents, and TMP would like to take a step towards bridging that gap.

Our parents can sometimes disregard the constant dialogue and student activism on campus, because in their eyes we’re here to learn. While that’s true, of course, we’re also here to discover our own perspectives and build our worldviews. Our education relies on every conversation, club meeting, and peer interaction. To its’ students, Milton is so much more than the classes we take and the grades we get; the people we become by our senior year will have been moulded in large part by the discourse at Milton.

And yet, we can feel often as though our parents overlook the many ways in which we contribute to the community outside of the classroom.

It makes sense: our parents sent us to Milton to get a great education, and some may think that begins and ends in the classroom. In reality, however, Milton students rarely get to school at 8am, move through their classes, and call it a day at 3pm; this school is all-encompassing, and so many of us spend our entire days here, practicing on sports fields, rehearsing at a cappella practices, editing during publication meetings, or simply working in the library, collaborating with our peers. Therefore, TMP asks parents to value even those qualities that define our Milton experience outside of our coursework; when parents are connected to the non-academic elements of our school lives, the parental relationship will be infinitely stronger.

We know we’re asking a lot from you, but please, bear with us when we’re being cranky, uncommunicative, or withdrawn. Yes, it’s annoying to hear a bunch of privileged, prep-school teenagers complain about how hard their lives are—in fact, it can come across as downright bratty—but the fact remains that being a student at Milton can incredibly difficult, mentally, emotionally, and physically. We can only survive here if our parents truly comprehend that and meet us where we are. •

A Day of Service

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Sports Bra Debate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

By KENDALL GRUBBS '20

On Wednesday, October 10, juniors and sophomores who repeated a year took the PSAT while seniors spent the day focusing on college applications. While the upperclassmen were away, the underclassmen participated in Milton’s Community Engagement Day. Every year, Milton takes a Wednesday off to focus on underrepresented communities in the Boston area. Students spend their day engaging in projects ranging from visiting the elderly to preparing breakfasts for homeless shelters. This special day allows underclassmen to take a break from the monotony of the school day and immerse themselves in volunteer work.

Community Engagement day started in 2001 after the Self Governing Association (SGA) worked for two years to have it approved by faculty. According to Andrea Geyling-Moore, Director of Community Engagement, the students at the time wanted something that was “hands on” to alternate with seminar day.

Thus Community Engagement day was established.

Underclassmen started off the day with an assembly in King Theater, where the Community Engagement board gave a run down on the events ahead. Kayla Mathieu ’21 explained that sophomores on the board lead the conversation by speaking about the “historical significance” of the day and the “reciprocal joy” that comes from serving others. Mr. Bland then finished the assembly by emphasising the importance of continuing community service outside of one day. Milton builds strong, lasting relationships with the communities it works with by helping them year after year. Kayla explains the service trips are not just for show

but instead are a way to give back to the underserved.

After the assembly, students left campus and headed towards various work sites from Boston to Mattapan.

The work differed for each location.

Autumn Gay ’22 spent time with her advisory in a library at Winter Valley, an elderly community only three minutes away from campus.

She recalled that her advisory split into groups and moved books from one building to another. Though the task was laborious, Autumn felt that day was fun and a way to bond with her advisory.

While the day might seem insignificant to some, the impact spreads ten fold. The sites students volunteer at are in need of help and even one day of service produces substantial accomplishments. After students leave, the work sites usually send messages of gratitude. Ms. Geyling-Moore states, “Most often I’ll get emails the same day after the group has left or the days following thanking for everything they did.” Whether it be Urban Farming or working with children, every group appreciates the help they receive.

After the day finishes, students reflect on their experiences with their advisories. This time allows for them to share funny and introspective stories about their volunteering. Year after year, students continue to enjoy the day and further community service into their daily lives. After her day bagging lunches for Father Bill’s Place, a homeless shelter, Chiemerie Akunyili ‘21 now wants to sign up for Community Engagement during the year. She says, “I feel like this experience has helped me realize that we as Milton Academy students are in such a position of privilege and need to give back.” •

the same gender has the same body. Even if you do make gender specific rules, you can’t tell if the rules of one gender are equivalent to another. If having gender specific rules doesn’t work, how does an institution create a fair dress code? It’s simple: the institution needs to list specific body parts, regardless of gender, that need to be covered. In fact, our dress code is genderless and does specify these body parts. The problem is that the lack of mention about sports leaves the door wide open for faculty and administrators to make unwritten policies about what girls and boys should wear at practice. To get rid of these unwritten sexist policies, the school just needs to specify the sports dress code in the Handbook.

What should the sports dress code be? Well, if shirtless boys have been running around campus for years, the school must not have a problem with students showing their stomachs at practice. Boys are doing it— all I ask is that everyone can do the same.

It’s only fair. Because taking shirts off at practice is socially acceptable for guys, telling girls they can’t wear sports bras sends the message that our bodies are more of a distraction than boys’ and somehow we are responsible for that distraction. Can someone please tell me what is so different about a girl’s stomach and a guy’s? What is so distracting about a stomach anyway? Even professional runners rarely wear shirts.

I urge the school not only to specify the rules in the Handbook, but also to treat girls like human beings and let us do what guys have been doing for so many years. I’m pretty sure the school’s reputation will survive if the school allows cross country girls to wear sports bras in 80 degree weather,and we’re more likely to survive our run if it does. •

RIP PETE & ARIANA; AT LEAST HE STILL GETS THE ROYALTIES

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New Sexual Misconduct Policy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

represents both what we had been doing already and what RAINN recommends for a strong approach,” said Mr. Ball.

Among the chief differences between the new policy and earlier rules outlined in the Handbook is the Immunity clause, which offers immunity for offenses, like the consumption of drugs or alcohol, that a reporting student may have committed during the incident. The writers included this protection because they “recognized that there may be reasons why people choose not to come forward to share with us harms that have been done to them,” said Mr. Ball. “As a community that wants to respond firmly and clearly to those harmful actions and provide support to survivors, we needed to signal our priorities in formal policy.” Milton hopes this policy can eliminate some of the barriers that prevent cases of sexual harassment from coming to light. The school hopes too that the ”Sanctuary Policy makes clear our prioritization of our students’ safety,” said Mr. Ball. Because, however, Sanctuary can only be called during an unsafe

moment, and not after, it would be insufficient in aiding survivors to come forward.

Administrators are committed to maintaining confidentiality while also notifying those who need to be notified, namely parents and, in some cases, external authorities. Mr. Ball said he “wanted to make sure that students knew that if we needed to report to external authorities, we will need to communicate that with parents. At the same time, we will work with students to discuss how best to make that communication.” The main objective is to “maximize confidentiality within some bounds,” and “not compelling people to share more than they want to”. In some circumstances, however, confidentially will necessarily have to be compromised. “We want people who are considering speaking to us about an experience they’ve had—or one other people have had—to have an understanding on the limits to confidentiality as well as our belief in confidentiality,” said Mr. Ball. “What we want to avoid is someone coming forward thinking something is confidential and then finding out it

wasn’t.”

The school is still considering a process for students to sign a statement saying they’ve read the policy, as exists with the Student Handbook, in order to ensure the student body fully understands the policy. In the meantime, Mr. Ball’s aim, with the rest of the administration, is to “highlight sections in the student section that seemed different from the handbook, because some of the things I didn’t cover in detail were very close to existing policy, so presumably students would be familiar with them”.

Moving forward, Mr. Ball anticipates that this new policy will be examined and revised before the next academic year.

“What seems firm for us, and this is at the heart of RAINN’s work, is that we remain victim standard and trauma informed,” he said, stressing an intention to “continue to examine the ways in which we educate members of the community about sexual misconduct.” •

Second Annual Heal Week at Milton

By OSCAR BURNES '21 Two weeks ago, Milton Academy held its second-ever HEAL Week. Project HEAL is an organization which provides support to people with eating disorders by raising awareness for them and providing them with a supportive community as well as insurance to pay for treatment they could not otherwise afford. Milton’s HEAL Week started last year when Eva

Westphal ‘18 brought it to Milton after she did a summer internship with Project HEAL. Last year’s HEAL week accomplished its goal of raising awareness for eating disorders on the Milton campus.

This year, students at Milton worked to create an equally successful event; they held assemblies and planned all-school activities to raise awareness. Additionally, in the spring, the students involved with HEAL Week—Erinma Onyewuchi ‘20, Shalimar Pujols ‘20, and Tamara Cowham ‘19—want to have a more organized week with events, fundraisers, and mental health checkups.

Eating disorders are a widespread mental health issue. According to ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders), 30 million people in the U.S. suffer each year from an eating disorder. Data from ANAD also shows that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate out of any mental illness.Without organizations like Project HEAL to raise money and spread awareness, this statistic could keep getting worse and worse.

According to Erinma, this year, “[HEAL Week] is really about letting people know that we’re here for them.”

While not as many all-school activities were planned this year, the students involved wanted to make sure that everyone who might be struggling with an eating disorder knows that there are people out

there who can help them.

Erimna explains that the worst part of eating disorders is that people can feel like they are going through it alone and no one feels their pain. “Our goal for [HEAL] week is to make sure no one feels like they are going through [an eating disorder] alone,” she stated. If you are struggling by yourself, reach out! Reach out to a friend, a trusted adult, the health center, or even Project HEAL. That is the first step to recovery. Erinma notes, “reaching out can be one of the scariest, but also most important things in this process.” While the act of reaching out and admitting you have a mental health disorder seems daunting, it is the single most important thing in the process to getting better. After doing that, you can start recovery.

When dealing with an eating disorder, “setting small goals is one of the most important things,” says Erinma—if your goals get too big, it becomes harder to motivate yourself to accomplish them. If you are a student who is not affected by an eating disorder, but is still looking to help out with this cause, there are some ways to help, like donating to Project HEAL. Most importantly, letting everyone struggling know that you are there for them and that there are ways to deal with what they are going through can go a long way. •

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Three in One: Milton’s Upper, Middle, and Lower Schools

By CHARLOTTE KANE '20

Milton’s mix of Upper, Middle, and Lower School students creates a unique relationship that many comparable schools don’t have—700 Upper School students share the Milton Academy campus with 315 Middle and Lower School students. However, most Upper School students at Milton rarely interact with members of the other two areas of our school, so what does this relationship really entail, and how does it affect the Upper School?

Todd Bland, Head of School, explains the three principals met this week to discuss “life in between the three divisions.” He notes that the principals of each respective school have a “good relationship” with one another, as all three principals “seek out meaningful and authentic connections.”

Bland encourages “respect and balance” between the three principals.

Curriculum comes up in many of discussions the three principals have, as the administrators want to make the transition between each grade as seamless as possible. Nancy Anderson, the principal of the Middle School, explained that she has been in close contact with the Lower and Upper School principals to ensure that the new curriculum “aligns with the principles and goals of all K-12 English Levels.”

Anderson notes that the Middle School aims to prepare its students by teaching them “study skills that will allow them to engage with increasingly rigorous coursework,” such as taking notes and making flashcards. Such skills, Anderson said, “are...not always intuitive,” so it’s important that the Middle School teaches its students these techniques.

Despite the coordination between the three schools, Bland emphasizes that each school still aims to create an environment appropriate for the different ages of the students. He explains the “danger in creating a mini-Upper School curriculum [in the Middle Schools] that can make [the] learning process not what it should be” for younger students. Similarly, Anderson explains that one of her priorities is making sure that what is taught in her school “is meaningful to the students now.”

As for the benefits this unique relationship has on the school, Bland believes that having students here for so long “closely connects [the students] and their families to the institution,” making them “incredibly invested

in the School’s mission.” To him, this type of investment is good for everyone at Milton. Furthermore, he believes that having younger kids around, with their energy and enthusiasm, can create a “lighter,” more family-like atmosphere than 9-12 schools. Bland also cites “opportunities for mentorship, coaching and tutoring” as ways the connections between the Schools provides Upper School students with a great opportunity to lead younger students. He hopes that older students recognize their status as role models and set an example.

While having younger students on campus can have its benefits, Mr. Bland acknowledges the limitations of this relationship; he “understands [that] Upper schoolers aren’t always aware of lower divisions” because the pace of our lives is completely different than that of younger students.

Student have varying opinions on the impact this relationship has had in their own lives. For example, Eloise Stikeleather ‘19, a “lifer”—a student who has attended Milton since kindergarten—feels like “the Upper, Middle, and Lower schools are like three completely different institutions.” She notes that “classes did not begin to prepare [students] for High School until the later years of Middle School,” so she had a hard time transitioning into the rhythms of high school. However, this distinction also meant that students were able to enjoy the ages they were without having to prepare for High School since their first day of Kindergarten.

Two freshmen boarding students that were interviewed feel like “a lot of drama from the Middle School came up to the Upper School,” and that socializing can be awkward at first because some friends groups have already been formed. However, almost all former Middle Schoolers make good friends outside of their pre established cliques as they are thrust into the entirely different environment of Milton’s Upper School.

Milton’s lower divisions put the institution in a unique position. Regardless of how much Upper Schoolers interact with younger students, a large portion of each class has been shaped by the experience of the lower divisions; for example, this fall fifty five students matriculated from the eighth grade to freshman year. As Mr. Bland says, it is up to every student to make the most of this relationship.•

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Class Rep Elections

By SHILOH LIU '22

After over a month of school, Class IV students have had chances to get to know each other and to settle into their new high school lives. The election for Milton’s Class IV representatives is a sure sign that the school year has kicked into full gear. Class representatives are two students with different gender identities whom the whole class elects. The elected representatives will participate in the Self Government Association (SGA) meetings and co-host Class IV assemblies with their class deans, Mr. Lou and Ms. Kelleher.

The self-nominated candidates must submit statements to be reviewed by their classmates and give speeches during a Class IV assembly. “Then, voting on myMilton will open up for a particular day and all students in the grade will get a chance to vote for their top two choices,” explains Asia Chung ‘19, one of the head monitors for the Milton student body.

This year, there are seven girls and five boys running for the two positions. One of the candidates for this year shared why she wanted to run for Class IV rep. She found assemblies not as exciting as she had expected and, quite frankly, tedious. “I want someone to put effort into making something fun,” she said, “I don’t want a representative who is only good at speeches.” She didn’t know who the candidates would be, so she chose to run for it. “I have many good ideas in mind,” she added. She wanted to see those ideas come to life and turn the assemblies into energy boosts that would benefit all the incoming freshmen.

When asked how she felt about her upcoming speech on Tuesday, the candidate said she felt very nervous because “everyone else who gave their speeches on Friday was really good so far.” The pool is very competitive, especially since every one of the candidates is eager to win the election. “I feel that I am prepared and not at the same time,” she said. She has started writing her speech, but, regardless, she is still anxious of “making a fool of [herself], which wouldn’t be a great start for the year.” Running for Class IV rep is certainly a challenge for freshmen, especially when they have such a large course load and activities.

On another note, Chung sheds light on the SGA as a whole, an organization which “consists of the two head monitors, day monitors, boarding monitors, and a pair of representatives for each class” that strive to improve the school as best as they can. Together with their faculty advisors, Mr. Ruiz and Mr. Skinner, the students “talk about both current and upcoming events at Milton, plan fundraisers, discuss student and faculty issues, and sit in on Disciplinary Committee meetings.” The Class IV representatives will not only be involved in the planning for Class IV activities and assem-

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Food Waste

By DANIEL SIEGEL '20

You walk into Forbes and smell the sweet aroma of whatever SAGE is making that day. Walking straight through the lunch line, you fill your plate with pizza, pasta, fruits, vegetables, and possibly a brownie or two.

After taking a few bites, you realize that you ate one too many breakfast sandwiches from the Snack Bar and dispose your delicious lunch. You are certainly doing SAGE a service by throwing out your food into the trash can before giving it to the lunch lady who then cleans it, but, in general, throwing out excess food does the environment, and people around the world, a disservice.

According to an April article from sciencedaily.com, every day 150,000 tons of food are wasted in America. This represents approximately one pound of waste per person. The total volume of discarded food is equivalent to the use of 30 million acres of land, 780 million pounds of pesticide, and 4.2 trillion gallons of irrigated water. Additionally, theatlantic.com notes that America wastes sixty million tons of produce every year, which is equal to one hundred and fifty billion dollars.

This volume of waste is a problem for many reasons, but the two main reasons are environmental and humanitarian. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asted food is the single largest occupant in landfills.

These organic materials, such as food scraps, are compacted and covered with other things when they are put in landfills. According to Environment Victoria, an Australian environmentalist nonprofit, landfills remove oxygen from the process of breaking down the food, and instead anaerobic processes break down food, releasing methane—a greenhouse gas which is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Campuses around the world have different for dealing with all of this waste. There are three main non-profit programs in the United States that help campuses manage and reduce their waste: Campus Kitchen Project, Food

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Recovery Network, and Post Landfill Action Network. The missions of all these programs involve recovering of waste, transforming waste (cooking it and turning it into meals), and delivering waste to people who don’t have food or who are unable to afford their own meals.

After contacting Linnea Engstrom, chair of Milton’s Sustainability Committee, and Alexandra Brown, Office Manager of SAGE Dining Services, I was pleasantly surprised to learn what Milton does with its food waste. If you haven’t noticed, there are large brown bins and smaller grey bins that serve as locations to dispose of food waste.

The food that ends up in those bins is sent to a compactor behind the dining hall. From there, a local waste hauler, Troupe, collects the waste and transports it to Hidden Acres Farm. Hidden Acres Farm is the only traditional, open-air composting farm that serves our area. Milton has been composting for 3 years. It is important to note that everything in Forbes, including plastic cups and plates, is compostable with the one exception of oyster cracker wrappers.

Composting at Milton is not only limited to Forbes—there is also an opportunity to compost in the dorms. There are three, 5-gallon buckets located in all dorms where food scraps can be deposited. Every week, these buckets are picked up, sent to Hidden Acre Farms, and replaced with new buckets.

This initiative is handled by Bootstrap Composting, a business that is run by Milton Alumnus Andy Brooks. In the Milton Academy Lower School, Ms. McGuinness, Milton’s environmental specialist who directs the composting program, states that once this food is composted, the compost is scattered among 4 raised beds around campus.

These beds are used to grow food which is then sent to the Milton Food Pantry; last week, approximately 30 pounds of bok choy, arugula, and swiss chard was donated, the first delivery of the year. •

Class Rep Elections CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5

blies, but also help to organize whole-school events that will affect everyone’s experience here at Milton.

Going through the election process herself as a head monitor, Chung also shared why she wanted to run in the first place. “I was on the SGA last year and working with our past head monitors, Kailee and Greg, as well as the rest of the SGA, was really amazing,” Chung said. She later mentioned that the can drive for Milton Food Pantry is one of her favorite events that the SGA hosted last year. Her experience as Class II representative motivated her to run for head monitor.

“I just really wanted to give back to the school, because Milton has done so much for me and provided me with so much over the last 3 years.” Chung expressed. As head monitor, she can contribute the most and voice her opinion to help improve Milton as much as possible.

The Class IV representative election that has taken place for the last two weeks is both exciting and stressful for the candidates. But however the election comes to a close, the ultimate goal for the representatives is to make Milton a better place for every student. •

THE US HAD 1,788 YEARS TO WRITE A CONSTITUTION,WE GOT A MONTH. THANKS FOR THE 3 DAY EXTENSION :)

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Gun Violence: How Milton Responds

By AVA SCHEIBLER '22 Due to recent cultural events like the powerful student-led protests after the Parkland shooting last winter, people in America have become increasingly aware of the issues of school shootings and gun violence. Across the country, many people—especially students—have used their voices to fight for legislation they believe in, and fight against the legislation they don’t support. Gun violence affects students and children at high rates, so it only makes sense that they are the ones speaking up about this issue; based on data from Everytown and and Vox, one in every four mass shootings in 2018 has been a school shooting. In fact, death from firearms is the second most likely cause of death in children and teens, according to an article by the organization Everytown.

Here are a few facts from The Hill about federal gun law: 1.In order to buy a handgun from a licensed dealer, you must be 21 or older.

2.To buy a handgun from an unlicensed private dealer, you must be 18 or older.

3.You must be 18 or older to buy an AR-15, a type of automatic weapon, from a licensed dealer.

4. There is no age minimum to purchase an AR-15 from an unlicensed dealer.

According to Science Daily, 60% of mass school shooters are between 11 and 18 years old, and, according to the

Washington Post, 85% of shooters took their assault weapons from their homes or their friends. It is crucial for people to keep these facts in mind when considering gun legislation.

Since the start of the twenty-first century, the U.S. has experienced more deaths from school shootings than occured in the entire twentieth century, as stated in an article in Science Daily. According to an ABC news station, there have been more school shootings in 2018 so far than in all of 2017. These increases can be attributed to an increasing number of manufactured automatic weapons that have the capability fire multiple bullets at once, as well as to distinct lack of enforcement of current gun laws.

While most shootings have happened far from our campus, and it may seem like something that horrific could never happen at a school like Milton Academy, the same was likely held true by the more than two hundred thousand students since the year 2000 who have been at school while some sort of gun violence occurred (according to the Washington Post). Campus safety is important at every school, including Milton, and we should all know what we should do if a potential threat entered campus.

I interviewed Jay Hackett, Director of Campus Safety, to learn more about Milton’s policy on gun safety, as well as to find out more about what happened during a lockdown last spring where several buildings were not alerted: How do you think Milton Academy approaches gun safety?

Milton Academy works closely with local, state, and national organizations focused on campus safety to ensure that we are prepared in the event of an emergency…We continually update our policies and procedures to ensure that we have appropriate safety approaches in place for our buildings and campus, keeping in mind that we are a K-12, residential campus, which may require best practices to vary by area. We work extensively with local police, who are familiar with and have maps of all buildings and open space across our campus. We employ many tools, both electronic and otherwise, to ensure we are as prepared as we can be in all possible circumstances…We also invite the regional SWAT team to train on campus each summer as part of their school-related training, providing them a high level of familiarity with our buildings and campus.

What precautions have been taken recently to protect against a possible

school shooting?

School shootings are rare, but we must always be prepared. This fall, we again brought in outside SWAT team experts to train all faculty and staff on what to do in the event of a shooter on campus.

The training involved...presentations on best practices as well as live scenarios on campus, including [practice scenarios] in classrooms, assembly spaces, and outdoor open spaces. We’ve conducted this faculty/staff training in the past, and will continue to provide it at regular junctures in the future.

Do you believe that the new ID security system is enough to protect students from a potential shooter?

The use of swipe IDs on campus has been in place for years in some buildings, including student residences. Our increased use of this ID swipe system in other buildings, including major updates this past summer, is to ensure that visitors on campus—those who do not attend school or work here—have access only to certain buildings, as appropriate…We [are continuing] to review buildings on campus where swipe enabling would be beneficial.

Buildings like the Student Center-Wigglesworth-Warren complex are lockdown enabled at ALL doors, not just the doors that require swipes. Lockdown enabled doors lock automatically once a lockdown is initiated and cannot be opened from the outside until an “all clear” is issued, and/ or someone with a special ID opens the door.

Could you expand about what happened last spring, where during a lockdown several buildings on campus were not alerted? Why did this occur?

We do routine drills [of our lockdown system]—both drills known to students (“live tests”) and “silent tests” that you can’t hear—to ensure that our equipment is working. Last year, we experienced a major storm that took out power lines on Centre Street, causing one of our relevant computers to shut off during a long power outage. During our follow-up routine drill, the lockdown system worked, but a few system speakers did not go off as expected. The speakers were brought back online in a matter of minutes once the problem was identified.

[In order to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again,] we added battery backup to ensure future coverage during a long power outage. •

PAGE 8

Opinion

To All the White Girls I Misjudged Before

By WENQI ZHAO '19 Just like any normal recess, there was a long line at the snack bar. I stood there, ready to put my order in. Shortly before it was my turn to order, a girl and her friend came in.

They were clad in typical Boston off-work white girl wear: Lululemon pants, poofy goose down vests, and small Michael Kors bags that slung across their lean bodies. Instead of standing in line, they hovered over the glass case of pastries and studied the fridge. As I began saying, “May I get a breakfast sand—” to the black lady at the register, the girls started to place their orders too, to the busy young employee behind the coffee machine. The cash register lady muttered, “So, I guess we’re doing double orders now,” in obvious irritation.

I turned to look at these violators of basic queue etiquette and rolled my eyes, thinking, “Typical. Entitled, rich, white, skinny blond yoga-pants wearing Michael Kors toting girls.”

I headed to a table in the corner of the Stu. Before I sat down, I saw a young girl at the table next to mine.

A cloud of dark brown hair, a slender, pale, neck, and trembling shoulders were all I could see though: she buried her face in the crook of her arm sobbing quietly from some invisible sorrow. I sat down with my back to her to give her privacy, but I wanted to go over to her, to steady her heaving shoulders with my hand and say to her, “Whatever it is, you’re not alone. You are never alone. We are women. We are strong. ” The temptation to divide ourselves—by political affiliation, race, socioeconomic status, or even handbag preference—always hovers above us. Lately, I have been torn between a temptation to resign myself to the “us v. them” mentality and a powerful sorrow for all women. One in three of us will have experienced physical or sexual assault. One in three of us will have suffered from

an eating disorder. All of us live every day thinking “it’s too dark to walk alone,” or “I have to put on more clothes to avoid attention,” or “where’s my mace?” And we suffer in silence—at three A.M. with the covers pulled over our heads or with our faces buried in our arms at the cafe around the corner or with our lips set in grim determination while standing in line for a breakfast sandwich.

I was wrong.

I was wrong to judge the yoga pant-wearing ladies who cut in front of me in line. I was wrong to relate only with the black lady behind the register in favor of a pair of women who, in all honesty, would probably have apologized their faces off when accused of their infraction. I was wrong to assume their faux pas was a function of their “whiteness” or “wealth” or “privilege” and that the only women in the room who understood the concept of waiting for your turn or pain were me and the black lady grumbling behind the register.

My mother and grandmothers taught me to speak Chinese, to pick perilla leaves at the thickest part of the stem, to wait for the chiles to turn dark before collecting them into my t-shirt like a trove of emeralds.

They taught me to think of others before myself, to say “xiexie” (thank you) whenever the opportunity arises, and to bow when saying goodbye.

My mother and grandmother also taught me that “hurt” is more jagged than a bee sting, that pain is sharper than the knife my grandma used to split the green chilis, that suffering is indiscriminate and wrenching, and that nothing—not even the screen doors of our youth—can keep all nightmares at bay.

“We are women. We are strong. You are not alone. You are never alone.” •

NO CLAPPING IN CHAPEL :(

We’re not Sensitive, You’re Just Not Funny

By ERINMA ONYEWUCHI '20

Everybody loves to laugh. Your Dave Chappelles, your Eddie Murphys, and even your TV shows like Martin, The Office, The Boondocks, and Seinfeld are still regarded as comedy classics. Older comedy routines and TV shows are especially notorious for jokes that we’ve since grown to understand as ‘problematic.’ When people discuss how much they love these emblems of comedy, they always add in that these jokes would never fly today because people have become too sensitive.

Let’s be serious, though. People aren’t more sensitive now— they’re just louder and exposed to more people. Eddie Murphy’s use of the f-word in his stand-up Delirious and his borderline ableist comments in The Boondocks’ were always harmful to those communities.

There was never a time in entertainment when oppressed groups were comfortable in their position as the butt of the joke; the difference was that comedians and the audience couldn’t hear or wouldn’t listen to these oppressed groups.

Information about what was problematic wasn’t as easily accessible, allies were fewer and farther between, and mainstream media production companies portrayed majority groups even more than they do today. As visibility of minority groups increases in the digital world, it only makes sense that consumers of media now know better and are becoming louder about issues they see in old media. Today, consumers have a platform too.

Others will argue that because everybody has a platform, some get carried away and thus contribute to a hypersensitive, ‘social justice warrior’ culture. Although nobody can say the definite difference between going ‘too far’ or just being ‘picky,’ some examples do come to mind.

With so much information out today, there are bound to be those who misdirect their enthusiasm for valid causes. Instances of people doing ‘too much’ on social media in the name of activism should not take away from the very valid cause of equity and representation in media.

So, I’m always skeptical of people who talk about the ‘good old days’ of comedy when people weren’t so ‘sensitive.’ Learning to deal with these issues is a process. You don’t have to feel guilty for laughing at your favorite shows or movies, but it is still essential to educate yourself and demand the bare minimum: equity from the media you consume. I think it’s important to realize that more acknowledgement of what it means to be a good person and ally is not a loss at all. There’s a difference between sensitivity and awareness. If that difference makes you laugh less at homophobic or ableist jokes then... good.•

Opinion

PAGE 9

Are Later School Start Times Practical at Milton Academy?

By NIKHIL PANDE '21

Teenagers need more sleep.

In the past few years, this idea, though consistently repeated by both teenagers and adults, has sparked major debate within governments and school boards.

Indeed, scientists believe that the circadian rhythm of teenagers requires not just that teens need to sleep more than adults do, but also that teens need a shift in wake time.

Most schools across America have examined the idea of later start times, with supporters quoting “better focus” and “more productivity” for teenagers. However, Milton’s intense academic schedule, as well as hours of sports practice or rehearsal after school, creates problems with this idea of later start times. All aspects of a Milton student’s school day are vital for many different reasons, so eliminating or shortening classes, sports, or activities is not an option. Another compelling solution to the issue of teen sleep is to alter the time frame of these commitments, shifting school’s starting to a later time during the day. However, the timeframe of these commitments is usually ironclad for teachers and coaches as well as students, so later school-day start times are impractical in the near future for Milton Academy.

On most days at Milton Academy, class deans require students to check in by 8:00 AM. Occasionally, the deans

By OLAYENI OLADIPO '19

Hey, Team! Welcome to ‘The Depot’, a storage facility for the topics of our time: the victories and defeats, the reliefs and worries, and the mindsets in the space of Milton Academy. Today marks the start of Parent’s Weekend, a time when our guardians take a step into our shoes and experience life at the academy.

As one can imagine, this day captures various feelings. Some students want to impress their parents by uncharacteristically speaking up in class; others thrive in the crowded classrooms where the chances of being called on are fairly low.

Boarders reunite with their parents, and parent-teacher conferences induce scary flashbacks of middle school. I would say that Parent’s Day heightens everyone’s emotions. So, why not capitalize on these amplified feelings? Today’s deposits showcase students’ perspectives on their parents. I asked the student community,

cancel assembly and hold a “rolling checkin” where students are allowed to check in at 8:15, and therefore get a few more minutes of sleep. The normal, 8:00 AM start time for schools across the country was enacted to support the 9 to 5 working day for corporations and businesses; it’s most convenient for parents to drop their kids off at 8:00 to arrive at work by 9:00.

But according to US News, teenagers need about 2 more hours of sleep than adults do. With this information, the start times seem backwards; shouldn’t work start at 8:00 and school at 9:00? Well, as practical as that change sounds in regards to the amount of sleep people need, the current order of start times is necessary, as some teenagers cannot get to school by themselves. As separate as school life is from corporate life, the daily schedule of a school is still fully dependent upon the schedule of corporations.

A Milton Student’s schedule is fairly simple: 8 class periods, including up to seven classes and one lunch period; an activities period from 3:00 to 3:30; sports practice or rehearsal at varying times in the afternoon or early evening. Postponing school start times, even by thirty minutes, will cause major alterations in the schedules of teachers, coaches, and students. For example, many outdoor fall sports practices end from 5:45 to 6:00—around the time when the sun begins to set. Sunset only gets earlier as the season progresses. If these practic-

es were expected to end thirty or more minutes later, at 6:15 or 6:30, the absence of light would become an issue; coaches would be forced to end practices short of their regulated time frame because the sun would set. Sit-down dinner would be pushed back thirty minutes or more, causing a small rush from dinner to study hall. If study hall were pushed back to a later time, students wouldn’t start their homework until later, thus encroaching on their sleep time and negating the benefits of more sleep in the morning. The day students’ arrivals at home would also be delayed an extra half hour or more.

Later school start times would alter endof-day plans and only produce more chaos for students and families.

Although most teenagers would benefit from extra sleep time in the morning, the overflow of daily issues make this strategy impractical for Milton Academy in the near future. The 8:00 AM start time was enacted for the convenience of the corporate workday, and an amendment of that time would create major problems for almost everyone. Even though we probably won’t see school start later than 8:15 for the rest of our Milton careers, we could still try our best to get to sleep just a little bit earlier, giving ourselves more time to sleep and our parents less trouble.•

Column: The Depot #5

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

“How do your parents make you feel?”

“Pressured at times.” - Anonymous Freshman “Stressed but also loved.” - Anonymous Senior “Proud of myself.” - Anonymous Senior “Great… until I spend too much time with them or we fight.” - Anonymous Freshman “My parents make me feel so uncomfortable.” - Anonymous Freshman “Stressed. I am a boarder so when they get here it feels weird to have them tell me how to live my life. Like, you sent me here.” - Anonymous Junior

True facts. While from only six Milton students, these responses most likely capture a lot of what students here feel. Parental pressure to get good grades and have good friends who have both good morals and good grades leads to stress.

That stress weighs on top of preexisting stresses and can result in students’ feeling pretty uncomfortable. Still, even with inevitable periods of discomfort, parents love their children, and their children feel that love (I hope). This edition of ‘The Depot’ is dedicated to parents. So, reader, if you’re a parent of a student at the Academy, I ask of you to read carefully.

While the deposits are anonymous, the slight chance that your child could be one of these students is reason enough to pay attention. If I was a parent, I can imagine myself thinking, “Pressure?

Stress? Love? Discomfort? What am I to make of this? I guess I could be nicer… but they know I want the best for them. Right?”

I’m always surprised how the best intentions can still result in tense climates. So, in an effort to provide insight to these prior responses, I followed up with another question: “What’s something that you want your parent(s) to know about

PAGE 10

Opinion

A Juggling Act: Student Athletes at Milton

By SERENA FERNANDOPULLE '19

I’m sitting at my desk at 11 PM with the light from my computer burning my eyes. The words on my English book swirl off the page.

I have a new bruise on my foot from soccer that stings each time I take a step. I look at my planner and realize I have three full subjects of homework left.

This scene is a daily occurrence for me. I think I share this experience with many other students at Milton. In my 4 years here, I have found it increasingly difficult to juggle both academics and athletics at Milton. Milton should make it easier for students to be both athletes and students. Sports and academics don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We should change our culture of expecting nothing less than excellence in both athletics and academics, and instead encourage more people to participate in sports by not perpetuating a social divide.

In both academics and athletics alike, we are told that we should aim for perfection: that we should always work harder and better.

In school, we are expected to spend hours studying for that math test while also putting in 100% in practice. This attitude of perfection is great in the short term because we can see the results. However, the problem with constantly going full throttle is that, by the time graduation comes around, student-athletes have exhausted themselves both academically and athletically.

Both school and sports make me happy, and my biggest fear is that, in attempting to give my full energy to both areas, I will stop enjoying these important parts of my life.

Some may say that it is part of life to make sacrifices to do all that you love. I agree to some extent; however, high school doesn’t have to be as intense

as we make it. In the end, we are all just motivated 14 to 18 year olds who believe we can do basically everything.

Should we really have to chose between finishing our homework or getting five hours of sleep so that we can perform in our game the next day?

Sports have been a major part of my life since I was little. At age four, barely able to kick the ball two feet ahead of me, I started playing soccer on my Cambridge town team. People of all backgrounds were on my youth teams for both soccer and lacrosse. However, as I have gotten older, the sports world seems to have narrowed.

Whether it be a result of differences of socioeconomic status, race, or just self selection, I think that the athletic community has become further separated from the larger community. Especially at Milton, the presence of varsity sports further perpetuates the divide between “athletes” and non-athletes. I’m not saying that I don’t love varsity sports.

However, I have seen that the disconnect between the academic culture and athletic culture, and this disconnect makes it harder for students to manage both together. I think that the athletic community should be widened, not narrowed, so that the academic and athletic communities aren’t as separate. Also, sports teach important life lessons like teamwork, grit, and leadership, so deterring students from participating in them only serves to hurt the student body.

Milton is a rigorous school, and being a student-athlete is not easy. I think that we could gain so much more by having a more balanced approach to athletics and academics. High school is the time to experiment and do what you love, so students should be able to participate in both sports and school in a manageable way. •

The Hypocrisy of Modern Day Liberalism

By WILLA DUBOIS '20

Though many liberals claim that politics should include every voice, their behavior can oftentimes fail to reflect those values. Especially at Milton, liberals often discount conservative perspectives without even considering them. This practice lies in direct contrast of the ideal that all people deserve equal voice. People liberals disagree with are still people, and thus they deserve an equal voice. Not only do liberals dismiss conservative perspectives, but many liberals also generalize and demonize the right wing, which is the very action they claim to condemn. Ultimately, generalization and demonization are never acceptable or humane, and the leftist tendency to claim acceptance but condemn those who disagree demonstrates hypocrisy.

I have observed this most egregious hypocritical behavior in the common liberal jokes. I’ve heard friends and relatives make off-hand comments like, “they must be a Trump supporter” about people they don’t even know: bad drivers, strangely dressed people, and anyone that provokes even mild annoyance. These comments are harmful, destructive, and just plain rude. It’s clear that driving ability and fashion sense are not at all tied to political ideology, save for the odd bumper sticker or campaign shirt, so these comments must stem from the harmful stereotype that everyone who voted for Trump is aggressive and stupid

“Must be a Trump supporter,” is only one example of these under-the-breath comments, and I’m sure anyone who has spent a day at Milton has overheard other degrading one-liners about Trump, conservatism, and the right wing. There is a strange sort of arrogance associated with these comments, spurred simply by distaste. The thought process can go; I don’t like Trump, and I don’t like her shirt, I’m right about her shirt, and I’m right about Trump, so she’s wrong, so she’s dumb, so she’s a Trump supporter. People cannot claim to oppose stereotyping and still allow themselves to be dictated by biases and laugh at jokes based on the premise that all Republicans are stupid.

Though generalizations based on ideology are arguably less destructive than those based on fixed characteristics, cruel comments based on stereotypes have never been productive. A difference in political ideology is just a difference, and it is not one that redefines someone’s objective worth. Though we may disagree with someone, and have excellent reason too, no one person can “cancel” someone else. There is no inherent superiority of liberals or conservatives that should allow members of either group to discount or write off the other.

Ultimately, different beliefs are the same as any other difference, and there is nothing that justifies discounting someone purely based on perceived difference without even entertaining a conversation. Liberals claim they are superior because they are accepting, but many simply aren’t. Trump jokes are not that funny, and they only serve to alienate and write off people who are different.

Discounting conservative voices, or worse, conservative people is not fair, just, or even effective, and it definitely is not worth the cheap laugh.•

PAGE 11

Opinion

The College Process: the Good, the Bad, and the Uncomfortable

By ABBY FOSTER '19

Let’s just admit it: the college process is weird. It’s scary and hard to navigate, both for people going through it and for those witnessing it from afar. I remember how during my junior year I desperately wanted to know where my senior friends were applying, but I was simultaneously afraid of offending them with the question. The only time I ever broached the subject, I prefaced my question with about a thousand versions of “I know you might not want to talk about this, and tell me if I’m pushing any limits, but…” The senior I asked was really nice about explaining her application choices to me, and she patiently answered my frantic questions about the difference between Early Decision and Early Application. As a junior, I felt like I was teetering on the edge of a world I knew very little about—a world I was about to plunge into—and I was desperately clinging to the thoughts and experiences of others.

As the year progressed, whenever I heard which school a senior was going to, I would file the information away into my growing vault of college data that I jealously hoarded. It didn’t help that these tidbits of information were usually whispered—traded like gold nuggets between those who were only witnessing the mysteries of college acceptance. We knew that, sooner than we wanted to believe, we would have to be thinking about Common App essays and CSS profiles, so we devoured every bit of advice we could get.

What I’m saying is—I get it. I understand the desire to interrogate seniors about their every college move, and I know that these questions come from a place of genuine curiosity.

However, as a senior, I now know what it’s like to be on the other side of these questions. And if I were to give advice to any juniors (and underclassmen, too), I’d recommend trying to bring up college with only the seniors you know really well. Think of this college questioning as asking them what grades they’re getting in their classes, or asking them if they think they’re smart or stupid.

Here’s the thing, though: it shouldn’t have to be that way. I give the advice above because, in my experience, that’s generally how people view the college question. People see which colleges they’re applying to as a value judgement, when, in reality, there are innumerable factors that go into the application process, and very few of them

have to do with your academic prowess.

Most colleges look at extracurricular and community service activities. They take a “holistic” approach and want to get a full, three-dimensional picture of applicants. However, there are still lots of factors that students can’t control.

Where you apply to college can be dictated by financial circumstances or family legacy: two things completely out of the hands of those applying. These two factors, as well as other non-academic circumstances, aren’t at all indicative of a students “value.” When you think about it, it’s ridiculous that we take college to mean so much, when there are so many variables at play.

I think we’re frightened of the judgement of others. That’s why when someone approaches us and asks the Big Question, there’s a beat before we respond; we’re trying to figure out how to best answer the question. This deliberation is ridiculous because it’s not a hard question to answer, but there’s a layer of vulnerability in telling someone where you want to go to college, especially if we see where we’re applying to college as a value judgement of our success. Even up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t know which schools some of my closest friends were applying early to. I didn’t want to ask because I was afraid of making them uncomfortable. It felt like an awkward question to ask.

This awkwardness isn’t felt only by those who are ashamed of where they’re applying to college. I have a friend who’s applying early to Harvard but told me she felt uncomfortable about telling anyone. She said that there are two options when you tell people you’re applying early to Harvard: either people think you’re full of yourself, or they think you’re utterly delusional.

The pervasive weirdness of the college process affects everyone applying because the issue is a cultural mindset. Beyond a certain threshold, what college you’re applying to—and what college you eventually get into—has very little to do with your academic success. So the question “what school are you applying to?” shouldn’t be synonymous with “how smart are you”. We need to acknowledge the complexity of the process and understand that it’s not a black and white issue. However, until our society, or at least our student body, can learn to let go of these connotations, it’s best to avoid asking a senior where they’re looking. •

The Depot

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

your life at Milton?”

“I work. A lot.” - Anonymous Senior “We're all stressed here, and it's not just me.” - Anonymous Senior “My life at Milton is really difficult and I need them to understand how hard it is to be a student here so they can expect realistic things from me.” - Anonymous Freshman “It’s busy—I feel bad for not calling every day, but sometimes I just need to do my homework.” - Anonymous Junior “I’m having a great time and there’s no need to worry.” - Anonymous Freshman “It’s hard but ultimately we are grateful.”

- Anonymous Senior

Well, these responses progressed in a positive manner, but they did start off pretty bleak. Milton can be a stressful environment. These days, it seems like a rigorous education isn’t rigorous without stress.

However, I do believe that such educational institutions can exist. Anyhow, parents, your children are asking you to understand that life at Milton challenges everyone, not just them. Don’t lower your expectations, but contemplate a positive way to translate your hopes for your child. As for not worrying, I’m not sure if any parents can truly stop worrying. This set of deposits ends with an idea that, I think, is most important to retain. Life at Milton is “hard”, but ultimately, we —your children— are grateful for this place and appreciate your allowing us to be here. You do stress us out, but we love you anyways! We aim to be our best in front of you, and we simply ask you to be proud of us. Students, thank your parents for everything they do. Parents, tell your child that you’re proud. And all readers, try and have fun this Parent’s Weekend. Until we meet again at ‘The Depot’. •

Make a deposit to ‘The Depot’ today. Email olayeni_oladipo19@ milton.edu and note

whether you request anonymity. You can also drop off your letter in the TMP Office in Warren 304.

PAGE 12

Voices

on

Parents' Day

It's Fake Nature

By LYNDSEY MUGFORD '19

The vast majority of the Milton student body has suffered through a Parent’s Day class before. If you haven’t, let me describe it for you: your teacher has you do some “special performance” you’d otherwise never do; your mom breaths down your neck and gives an eager double thumbs up whenever you open your mouth; the usually-grumpy teacher suddenly acts downright angelic. Let me say just say it now; parents’ day classes are fake, but not just because of the pressure on students to “perform.”

Don’t get me wrong—I understand why parents’ day classes have that performative atmosphere. Everyone’s stressed. We all know that students are on edge; the invisible parental pressures that are usually distant are suddenly physically present, sitting directly behind students and carefully scrutinizing every comment or contribution. In response, students either over-participate in attempt to show off or go silent at the fear of scrutiny.

Both reactions disrupt the normal flow of the classroom and prevent an inaccurate glimpse into the class’s typical function.

However, teachers, too, feel they must impress. I’m not a teacher, but I imagine that parents’ day creates pres-

sures to appear confident and capable in order to be taken seriously. I’ve even seen teachers dress up for the occasion, exchanging casual everyday-wear for jackets and ties. It’s easy to imagine that this pressure affects younger teachers especially, some of whom are meeting parents much older than they. Within a brief, 45-minute window, teachers must convince parents to trust them with their child’s education—a daunting task. Not to mention, teachers must face the age-old question: do they conduct a “regular” class to give parents an accurate experience and just have them sit idly by, or do they create a relevant but singular activity that parents can actually engage in? The former is awkward and dry, while the latter isn’t realistic. Either way, something in the class feels off.

Parents act strangely on parents’ day too, possibly because some see it as their one chance to understand their child’s daily life. I know that I’m not always the most communicative kid, and when my parents have asked me about my day, I’ve definitely delivered the vague “it was good” response. So, when parents act over-enthusiastic and participate without being asked, I really see the spur-of-themoment weirdness as a strange attempt to connect with their child’s experience.

Parents are usually just excited to be here and see what we do. Just like students and teachers feel pressure to perform, parents feel pressure to make the most of this singular experience.

My point is, parents’ day is fake because everyone feels a need to be perfect and, consequently, everyone is just weird. Ideally, I’d tell everyone to take a deep breath and just go through the day normally, but I know that quick-fix, vague solution won’t do much immediate good.

Instead, I want to give the parents a simple message: don’t put too much weight into what you see today, good or bad. Use parents’ day as a data point rather than the full picture, and try to use the experience as a tool to better orient yourself to your child’s surroundings. Don’t rely on it for an accurate understanding; instead, check in with your child throughout the year to ask about what their experience is really like. And, students: in return, we should probably answer them with more than, “good.” If both sides agree to do their part in this dynamic, parents can gain a deeper understanding of what actually goes on here, and everyone can stress a little less about making parents’ day perfect. •

Oscar Worthy

By KAYLA MATHIEU '21

Parents’ day. Many mixed emotions come along with this day, but one thing's for sure: it is most definitely not a regular Friday at Milton Academy. From students, to dining, even to teachers, the campus develops a whole new atmosphere. While I’m sure parents would like to think that what they see on this one day every year is daily conduct, I don’t think anyone is buying the act.

The day starts off with an awkward morning assembly as your parents trail behind you. You check in with your deans who are just hoping that they remember your name in front of your parents instead of mistaking you for someone who “looks like you” as they usually do. For those who haven't already lost (or ditched) your parents by the end of assembly, you head to first period with them. Your first class could go a few ways.

If you are not really an avid talker, you might start by surprising your class with your sudden and significant contributions to the conversation.What may be even harder than speaking up, however,

is toning it down for those with strong opinions. Milton is a place that encourages students to speak their minds, but just because the school encourages this verbosity does not mean parents accept all opinions; kids on parents’ day recognize that fact. A strong advocate for racial equality turns into an apathetic bystander in witness of racism. Someone who is proud to call themselves non-binary reverts back to she/her pronouns.

These changes are a result of the conflict between home values and the values developed in the absence of one's parents.

While behavioral shifts are expected with your parents present, is it fair to say that your values must change as well?

Lunch time comes around, and by now you are hungry, exhausted, and so ready for your parents to stop watching your every move. But somehow, with the thought of the extra care that went into preparing the food on parents’ day, you manage to make it down to Forbes for lunch. As you sit down to eat, your mom critiques your unbalanced meal as your dad asks you why you didn’t answer that easy question in math. Meanwhile, you

think to yourself “this is a more balanced meal than my usual lunch, and I didn’t answer that question because I didn’t know the answer.” What have become your daily practices at school become jumbled when suddenly your parents are there critiquing you on everything from what you eat to what you believe. A large part of what a school is meant to do is to help students grow not only through learning in the classroom, but also through a development of their own values.While Milton gives students the space to cultivate their own beliefs, the carrying out of these ideas may be hindered by the values of one's parents.

The end of the day comes and you leave your parents for your afterschool activities. Finally, something you do without your parents breathing down your neck. The day of suddenly becoming the most talkative member of the class or no longer speaking up about liberal ideas comes to end. However, I can’t help but wonder whether or not the space that Milton gives students to explore their values is null and void when competing against parental values. •

Voices

on

Parents' Day

PAGE 13

Making the Best of it

By MAYA BOKHARI '20

Since I started at Milton in 2013, Parents’ Day has, believe it or not, been something I always look forward to. Anybody who knows me well could tell you at least one of two things: I love going to school, and I am very close with my parents. Naturally, any combination of the two would make me absolutely ecstatic.

Unlike some of my peers, I will usually be disappointed about Parents’ Day only once it is over — most likely because it fell short of the excitement I expected.

Still, I find a way to maintain my enthusiasm around Parents’ Day for each coming year, so I have collected a few of my thoughts on what makes the best Parents’ Day experience.

I can wholeheartedly say that my favorite course of the Class IV year was Physics. I was beyond thrilled that my parents would finally have a chance to meet the teacher whose class I so looked forward to each day. However, my Friday schedule did not include physics, so I would have to settle for just a parent-teacher conference. No matter how productive or insightful these meetings may be, our parents will never understand

our true experiences in each class unless they sit through one. This year, even though I am taking two science courses, my parents will not see either of them because of my Friday schedule. Since I spend almost seven hours in science class every week, the sliver of Milton my parents will see on Parents’ Day totally eliminates what I consider to be some of the most exciting parts of my experience.

Not only do I not have the opportunity to share what I love, but my parents miss out on an opportunity to make sense of the projects I have to work on late at night in open lab, the study groups I participate in, and the goggle marks I have on my face when I leave Pritzker. Students, parents, and teachers would benefit from an adjusted schedule to include all classes on Parents’ Day.

On the other hand, making the most of the classes our parents do see is largely up to the teachers’ lesson plans. Over the years, I have seen teachers struggle with the decision to either demonstrate a normal day in the classroom or engage parents in a more exciting, inclusive activity. In a sense, the “normal” interpretation would seem boring in comparison to the specific Parents’

Day plan, but some parents may want an accurate representation of their children’s learning experience. However, the class periods I have enjoyed most were the culmination of projects we had worked on in the days leading up to Parents’ Day. In my Class III Performing Literature class, we put on our performance of Oedipus for our parents. A play would not necessarily be out of the ordinary in a performance based class, but it was not representative of how we spent the majority of our class time. Even so, performances, debates, discussions, and games that involve students and parents alike, either as participants or audience members, highlight some of Milton’s greatest classroom events.

While our parents might not see all of our classes today, we have the opportunity to show them what we cannot describe. Milton’s atmosphere of genuine interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity comes through only in person. Our parents finally have the chance to experience these intangible qualities that we students feel everyday. Giving our parents the thrill of being a student again should be simple if we exhibit the true highlights of being a Milton student. •

IF YOU COULD SAY ONE THING TO YOUR PARENTS RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? STUDENT RESPONSES TO AN ANONYMOUS POLL

I love you (18) Thank You (9) I'm literally trying please leave me alone Stop talking to me about college, I'm only a sophomore I don’t say it enough, but I love you!

Thank you for everything that you guys have done to help me. I know that outwardly, it doesn't seem like I appreciate you guys, but deep down, I always do.

I'm sorry I don't spend enough time with the family I'm so tired, so sorry I can't always do everything you ask of me.

Please stop limiting my homework time!

I am trying my best.

Please bring me ramen I know I don't say this enough but thank you for pushing me to be the best person that I am today.

"Are you avoiding the phrase girlfriend?"

I don't know if I am making the right decisions in life but I really love you guys.

I need more freedom I’ll make you proud and become a true prodigy! please get off my back about college I know we don't really talk that much but I love you and appreciate you guys I doing work, I swear!

I'm sorry I'm mean to you when I'm stressed, I feel bad that I take it out on you both. I'm actually really thankful for you guys.

Thanks for everything :) I'm sorry I work so late and am stressed all the time. I appreciate interacting with you guys and miss when I don't get to see you. I know you want the best from me.

If I come home and I'm not very talkitive, please don't call me rude. I probably just had a bad day and this is making it worse.

A/B is not a bad grade!

You’re embarrassing me and I'm doing fine •

PAGE 14

Arts & Enterainment Why Modern Horror Movies are Dying

By DYLAN AREVIAN '22 When a person mentions the topic of horror movies in a conversation, they are usually met by a wide variety of reactions.

Instantly, people, from obsessed horror fans raving about their favorites to people who look downright terrified at the very mention of Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees, shout out a flurry of rushed, diverse opinions. However, for the true horror fans out there, the source of scares this year may not be what you actually see on the movie screen but instead the cheap tactics used by production companies to rake in as much money as possible without putting any real effort into their “horror” movie.

To start, let’s define exactly what a horror movie is. A horror, suspense, or thriller movie introduces a frightening concept, often accompanied by creepy imagery, and contains a series of suspenseful moments. The movie’s objective is simple: to make the viewer want to curl up into a ball and/or check their closet for monsters before they go to bed. Some horror movies have other objectives, but we’ll stick with this broad category ones for now.

Many historic films, such as The Shining, Halloween, and Misery have achieved this perfectly; each of them shows the viewer a terrifying concept and deftly shows that very concept play out in a real life scenario. In addition to its unique format, each of these horror movies, as well as all other good ones, such as Scream, The Witch, and Get Out, has at least one jump scare, the most dangerous tactic used in movies today.

A jump scare usually contains a loud noise and a sudden movement that makes the viewer, well, jump. In order for a movie to have a “good” jump scare, it must be completely unexpected, giving the viewer a sense of instability. However, jump scares go wrong when filmmakers use them liberally, usually more than six times, and give them an obvious set up.

These instances pose a problem because as the movie gradually becomes more about making you jump three feet in the air with a loud noise, the previously-mentioned essential pieces of a good horror movie are forgotten, leaving movies with all jump and no substance. Today’s movie studios use this common tactic to dedicate the

least amount of time, money, and energy into their movie while maximizing profits at the same time.

To examine this process more closely, let’s look at Corin Hardy’s recent horror movie The Nun. Despite the (usually) constant popularity of his films in the Conjuring franchise, The Nun took a critical panning in September, earning a dismal 26% on Rotten Tomatoes. The plot of the film focuses on the investigation of an old, abandoned monastery: surprise, the building is haunted by an evil nun. While an evil, zombie and ghost-like nun that hunts whoever comes near the old church does sound like a terrifying concept, The Nun ultimately fails to terrify because of its overuse of predictable jump scares that effectively render it plotless.’ Reviews mocking the 96 minute nightmare of a film include Rolling Stone’s Bilge Ebiri’s, which says “Once everyone gets to the abbey, the film simply gives up the ghost and cynically indulges every horror trick in the book.” My personal favorite, which sums up the movie perfectly in my opinion, is Stephen Rebello’s simple and clear statement, “[The Nun is] a money grab about pop-up scares and bloated special effects.” Now, one might think the big losers in all of this are the production company, the directors, and anybody else who was involved in the making of this movie. However, they probably don’t care what you think, as they walked away from this movie with an immense 347.8 million dollar check in their back pocket.

While recent, independent films, such as Hereditary, The Witch, and It Comes at Night- usually coming from smaller studios like A24-are amazingly frightening and deeply disturbing, big producers’ need to overstuff today’s “horror” movies threatens the whole genre’s integrity. Next time, before you go see a big budget horror movie, remember that the real source of terror could be the people snatching your eight dollars before you find your seat in the theater. •

"YANKEES IN FIVE?"

Arts & Enterainment The Boston Women's Film Festival

By KENZA CHRAIBI '22 Fine Arts to attend the Boston Women's Film Festival, a splendid showcase of new international films directed by women. Focusing on gynocentric plotlines, the festival strives to provide opportunities for women to excel in a male-dominated media industry and also increases recognition of women’s cinema. The festival proudly featured films from a diverse group of women from across the globe who delivered an array of culturally influenced themes and perspectives. The four-day festival encompassed films of different genres while embracing the power and virtuosity in women’s cinema.

The movie we watched, I am Not a Witch, was directed by Rungano Nyoni, a Zambian-Welsh screenwriter and director. Set in Zambia, this satirical, magic realism movie vividly portrays the life of nine-year Shula, who is accused of witchcraft and sent to an open-prison “witch camp.” These so-called witches are tethered to spools of ribbon to prevent them from mystically flying away. Each witch is faced with a choice, forced upon them by the government, to reject her witch identity; however, doing so would transform her into a goat, reduced to a life of ostracism from all communities. Shula chooses the path of a witch, and she is dehumanized and labeled as government property. However, she finds a sense of family, inclusion, and affection within the witch community, which mostly consists of old, frail women. She becomes a valuable asset to the government, who believes that she has the supernatural abilities to summon rain and to immediately discern the guilty among a group of accused individuals. Even so, the impairment of her education, the absence of freedom, and the immoral robbery of her childhood begin to shroud Shula in depression, which she courageously attempts to combat with her roaring inner strength. She experiences an identity crisis when she fails to bring rain when ordered, and she starts to question her decision to become a witch instead of pursuing the despised—but free—life of a goat.

Although she says very little throughout the movie, her countenance is enough, acting as a physical representation of her struggle and emotions, evoking admiration and commiseration among the audience.

The ending scenes of the movie (no spoilers!) arouse many questions; however, the ambiguous nature of the movie leaves room for personal interpretations.

Accusations of witchcraft and demonic possession against children still exist around the world. According to CNN, in the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River there are “15,000 children branded as witches, and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets.” I am Not a Witch succeeds in illuminating the ludicrous nature of these accusations through juvenalian satire, while highlighting the universal theme of objectification through the pain and dehumanization of the innocent Shula.•

PAGE 15

Banksy: Shredding Our Perception of Fine Art

By KAT STEPHAN '19

Banksy, the elusive artist famous for his graffiti work throughout the streets of Europe (specifically London and Bristol), recently sold his piece “Balloon Girl” for $1.4 million dollars. Minutes after his piece sold, “Balloon Girl” slipped through its frame and, to the dismay of onlookers, began shredding itself. An artist who uses his art as a form of social criticism, Banksy is known for his thought provoking—albeit seemingly over-exaggerated—work.

The painting’s self destruction was not a fluke; rather, Banksy had been planning this demonstration for a few years.

To most, destroying a painting after it was sold for over $1 million is counterintuitive. However, when put in the perspective with the rest of Banksy's work, the rebellious and flamboyant statement he made by shredding the painting is completely in character. Banksy claims that the purpose of art is to “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Each of his pieces—ranging from an image of a young black girl spray painting a pink floral pattern onto a swastika to a child holding a machine gun loaded with a clip filled with crayons—strives to provoke the audience; the paintings force each person to think about where they stand in the modern world and, ultimately, where they will stand when they become part of history.

In this case, many believe that the shredded painting was a pointed criticism of the art world’s stress on the monetary value of art rather than the cultural significance of the art. In addition to feeling frustrated with the art world’s relationship with the fine arts, Banksy, in an interview with The New York Times, explained that he feels that “graffiti art has a hard enough life as it is before you add hedge-fund managers [who want] to chop it out and hang it over the fireplace” Ironically, art collectors and specialists have decided to focus on

the new value of the piece; Leon Benrimon, Heritage Auctions’ director of modern and contemporary art, claims, “I think [the fact that it’s been shredded is] going to double the value of the work.”

Rather than taking Banksy’s message to heart, the art world has become obsessed with the stunt, and people now see it as a way to increase the piece’s value.

To a certain extent, Banksy is right—modern art is now centered around the buying and selling of the literal “goods” rather than the emotions conveyed through the media. Jay Z explains the phenomena in his song “The Story of O.J.” when he raps that he “bought some artwork for one million/Two year later, that sh*t worth two million/ Few years later, that sh*t worth eight million/I can't wait to give this sh*t to my children.” To most, art is an investment. This means it’s no longer a medium of the people: it’s inaccessible. When a piece of street art is copied onto a canvas, it is suddenly worth $1.4 million dollars. Then, on top of this absurd pricing, after the piece was shredded, the value of the piece increased.

However, not all of the blame for the reception of Banksy’s piece can be put on his audience.

If he views the art world with so much “awareness,” Banksy should have realized that his stunt would be perceived this way; he should have known that dealers and “art connoisseurs” would be so invested in the piece’s economic value that they would be focused on the design of the frame rather than the statement the artist tried to make. Although Banksy’s message is important—art is designed to reach everyone, so it should be affordable for everyone—he needs to think about how his pieces will be received. Although he may not like the art world, if he wants to see a change in the modern day perception of art he needs to start taking into account how the art world recieves his work. Otherwise, no matter how truthful his message may be, it won’t elicit change. •

PAGE 16

Arts & Entertainment

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

By NARA MOHYEDDIN '21

In 2014, Ana Lily Amirpour released the Farsi-language film, “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” to a predominantly Western audience. Down to the amazing, eclectic soundtrack, the movie is an collection of everything Amirpour had ever seen or wanted to see in movies. Therefore, it encompasses a thousand genres, including Western, thriller, new-wave Iranian, film noir, vampire, and perhaps even feminist. While these elements may sound difficult to harmonize, critics overwhelmingly agree that the movie turned out to be a success.

And frankly, I agree with the critics; the movie inspired me to pick up a skateboard and take a film class, and it’s a favorite to this day.

The title is ominous–and, indeed, so is the movie itself, but not just because of its underlying connotations. Amirpour’s film is thrilling because it’s a role reversal of the predator and prey of our Western imaginations (although the film is in Farsi, the actors are from the Western-located diaspora, and it was filmed in a Californian town for a Western audience. The film is banned in Iran). The ultimate spot on the food chain is held by a hijabi, challenging our perceptions of power and highlighting the dichotomy between truth and appearance.

A girl walking home alone at night may be the most vulnerable character of our real lives, but in this movie, she is the city’s vigilante justice-bearer.

Set in Bad City, the film features a nameless character, called 'the girl’ (a lonely chador-clad vampire), serving as the guardian angel to a prostitute, making sure none of Bad City’s male characters can harm her without retaliation.

She’s fine going through her routine of stalking citizens and jamming out to her favorite records when she meets Arash, a James Dean-esque sweetheart and a troubled son.

While the actors, soundtrack, plot, and nearly every feature amazed the audience, the thematic depth and cinematography of this movie were what really made it stand apart. The takes varied drastically from slow and long until they were violent

and treacherous. Each shot with its interesting focusing techniques could be a photograph on its own.

The black and white only intensified the shadows, adding to the theme of good and evil. And what about this theme itself ? The main character/ love interest, Arash, represents good to some extent, but not even he can escape Bad City without some marks on his morality. While Arash’s white T-shirts make him stand out visually as a pure force, he is still a petty thief and a drug dealer. While the girl, who is never named, may be justified in her cynicism on the worth of human life, even she threatens little children and murders the homeless.

Now, we’ve established that this film’s unique combo makes it appealing to the artsy, but why should you watch it? Well, it’s the season for a movie like this: spooky season! The movie is in black and white. Many people die, only to be dragged unceremoniously onto a pit of bodies near the highway. The city is enshrouded in doom and a vampire is shrouded in the monochrome darkness of her chador.

There’s even a costume party: Arash leaves it high off his own supply and dressed like Dracula when he formally meets the girl for the the first time. Not to mention the quirky beat of some of the scenes and exchanges. As the girl is surveying the prospective meal that’s too incapacitated and naive to run away, Arash is trying to hug her and make a new friend, assuring her that even though he’s Dracula, he won’t hurt her.

Come on now, let the temptation of Bad City overcome you. As with most deserted towns, it has plenty of vacancies for you to occupy. Wander its streets, inhabited only when the local supplier is leaning off the wall or standing on the corner. Meet its residents: let them help you embrace evil; let them show you that it exists even in angels, even in those you love the most dearly. Find a new world view in an old and sad vampire. And at the end, if you still want to, you can leave. Believe me, though— you won’t want to.•

The Meaning of Art

By CALVIN CHEONG '20

After reading the title of this article, you’re probably groaning at the fact that yet another fool is ready to present his clichéd opinion on a subject so vast and amorphous that only a heavy cliché will do the trick. And you’re probably right. Perhaps my opinion will come across as a cliché. But before you move on with a dismissive sneer, I implore you to consider these words: what is the meaning of art?

What is its purpose?

Art brings people together from all over the world. Art is whatever we want it to be. Art has no meaning. Art is doing what you love. Have you heard these platitudes before, in some form or another?

Maybe. Can you think of others that are just as relevant? Probably. Are they overused? Definitely. But more importantly, are they correct? They absolutely are. After all, it’s difficult for such broad statements to be incorrect, abstract as they are. But maybe a more precise answer to the question would be a shrug and perhaps a half-committed nod because in reality, each proverbial claim has its technical truths and untruths. For example, art, based solely on taste, can just as easily estrange two people as it can bring them together. So how do we mash all of these—and many other—artistic clichés together?

Put simply: we don’t. We can’t. The sheer number of contradictions and discontinuities that would result from such an immense union is impossible. Does this mean the question is unanswerable, then? What is the meaning of art?! We can’t compile all the different meanings into one ultimate, transcendent definition. Just like having a complete understanding of everything is impossible, the meaning of an all-encompassing, ethereal concept like art is unattainable. But what we can do is add another “cliché” to the list, so to speak. We can clarify the definition of art and refine it; we can approach the true answer, and thus get a vague impression of what it might be. So that’s what I’m going to try to do: contribute a little piece to the giant puzzle.

Have you ever witnessed a sunset, the great ball of fire casting abnormally mellow hues across the sky?

Have you ever listened to the two-seconds of a song during which a shiver runs down your spine but with a feeling of pure satisfaction? Have you ever experienced the timelessness of perfect contentment, in a moment where a single moment is drawn out into eternity? How about the feeling of irreversible hopelessness when the teacher asks to see homework that you didn’t do? The red-hot, unquenchable anger at all the injustices of the world? The inexplicable yet ever-permeating fear of being ostracized for some reason or another?

Each of the above experiences on the spectrum of life, can represent a particular emotion, a unique slice of the human psyche. Incidentally, the same emotions (or sometimes the lack thereof) are what inspire art: a creation, imitation, or expression of our feelings; of ourselves. Art is not only a verifica-

Sports

PAGE 17

The Art of Scorigami

By KATHERINE MCDONOUGH '19

Sunday, October 14th was quite the night for Boston sports: the Red Sox beat the Houston Astros 7-1 to tie up the American League Championship Series, the Patriots defeated the previously-undefeated Kansas City Chiefs 43-40 in an important conference game, and ‘Scorigami’—a term coined by SB Nation sportswriter and video producer Jon Bois—happened. Scorigami is achieved when an NFL game ends in a score that has never happened before in NFL history.

Scorigami is possible in all the other “Big Four” sports, basketball, baseball, and hockey, but football remains the only one in which Scorigami is both interesting and prevalent. Baseball, Basketball, and Hockey are each scored in increments of 1, which means that the “building blocks,” as Jon Bois describes it, are not that interesting. Yes, 3-pointers exist in basketball, but someone can score just one point on a missed free throw as well, so the building blocks of the game are in increments of 1, 2, and 3, meaning that any score can be pretty easily achieved with those three intervals. Football’s scoring, however, is notoriously strange.

Football’s point system consists of building blocks of 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8. A team can score 2 points with a safety, 3 points with a field goal, 6 points with a touchdown with a missed extra point or conversion, 7 points with a touchdown and an extra point, and 8 points with a touchdown and a 2-point conversion.

Some of these building blocks are more

common than others; for instance, in the 2017 season, there were 1,225 touchdowns but only 37 safeties. In order from most to least common in the 2017 season are the 7pt Touchdown, according to Pro-Football Reference, (51% of all scoring opportunities), 3pt Field Goal (41%), 6pt Touchdown (6%), 8pt Touchdown (<2%), and 2pt safety (<1%). Football’s strange building blocks and massive discrepancy between frequency of each score, combined with the fact that most football games have a good amount of scoring, means that some scores are super hard to obtain. For instance, a team ending a game with only 2 or 4 points means that throughout the entire game, the team only scored safeties. A team ending with a score of 8 would mean that they scored one touchdown with a 2pt conversion, or they scored a touchdown, missed and got a safety, or got two field goals and a safety. Any of these outcomes are unusual in the natural flow of a football game. Because of these trends, there are plenty of low-score Scorigami games to be played; however, the odds of them being played are very slim.

High-score Scorigamis are another game all-together. High-score Scorigamis occur when one or both teams dominate on offense, racking up an unprecedented amount of points in one game. One team crushing the other is most common in this case: the record blow-out Scorigami is 73-0, where the Bears defeated the Redskins in 1940. The highest scorigami in more recent years (post-2000), however, is the absolute demolition of Colts by

the Saints, 62-7, in 2011.

High-score Scorigami in situations like last Sunday are, in my opinion, more interesting. Where not just the winning team, but both teams score an insane amount of points. Sunday’s Patriots game didn’t have any trademark Scorigami signs, no safety or 2pt conversion, just a ton of offense. It achieved Scorigami since both the Patriots and Chiefs offenses played so well that no other team in NFL history has been able to make that score before. That’s not to say there hasn’t been closer or higher scores in the NFL (the highest Scorigami tie in NFL history also belongs to the Patriots in 1986, 43-43, and the highest 1-pt discrepancy is 48-47 in 1983), but the fact that no other game in the history of the sport has been able to make that score is pretty cool.

Since there have been a total of 16,100 games played in the history of the NFL, the art of Scorigami becomes harder and harder with each passing week. Football exists in this strange, dreamlike land that harbors Scorigami: the point-system is weird enough that each game is different, but there have been so many played games and so many common scores that the achievement of a Scorigami is still special.

Next time you’re watching a football game, I recommend you go to nflscorigami.com or check out the Scorigami Twitter handle (@NFL_scorigami, they give the score updates and the real-time odds for each game’s chance at Scorigami) to see if the game might just end in a victorious Scorigami.•

THE MEANING OF ART CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16

tion of our sentience but also of our ability to replicate that which the universe crafted: us. Shaped by the sculptor of self-awareness and tempered in the fires of past experience, we seek to make our own mark on this world, and that mark can take a number of forms. That mark is art. As the playwright George Bernard Shaw once said, “You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.”

This amalgamation – one of feelings, identities, random thoughts, struggles, compulsions and more – makes up who we are, and it’s also what we end up putting on the canvas, or the paper, or the score. We are art. And that’s why we create it.

So, there’s my theory. And, full of philosophical plot holes it may be (as many vague definitions of art are), it’s an alternative response to an age-old question deserving an answer. Whether you agree or disagree doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things; in fact, like fog dissapating in the sun, the contents of this article will likely evaporate from your mind in the wake of Parent’s Day. But I would have been able present my perception of art, based on my experiences, my feelings, and, ultimately, my self. If I have all of that, what more could I ask for?•

PAGE 18

Sports

My Experience Being On A Varsity Team

By RIYA SINGH '22 Last year I was able to play on the Girl’s Varsity Tennis Team here at Milton. Not only was this a super fun experience, but it also taught me a lot about being on a team.

Tennis itself is an individual sport that comes with a lot of pros and cons. Some of the pros include the independence and problem solving skills you gain out of matches and practices. A few of the cons are feelings of loneliness and harsh self critique. It can be difficult in a solo sport like tennis, because at the end of the day, you are alone on the court and ultimately it is only you who takes all the credit and blame for every win or loss. Few times in a young player’s career are they able to be on a “team” for tennis, as there are only doubles and singles tournaments, and playing with one other person isn’t exactly the same as being on a team of 7 or 8 girls.

The beginning of the season was really nerve wracking, but these nerves were mostly due to the fact I did not know anybody previously.

As the season progressed, the social anxiety slowly faded, and I was able to meet and get to know most of the people on the team. Everyone was so welcoming and kind that practice became the best part of everyday. There was no doubt it was also pretty cool to be on an upper school team when I was an eighth grader, but the experience would have been just as enjoyable, if not more, had I been in the upper school. The practices consisted of talking, laughing, and playing tennis—all of my favorite things—so there was nothing to dislike about spending 2-3 hours there, everyday.

The matches themselves were probably the best part of the season. It was a little tough near the beginning, trying to learn all the team traditions, but after finally understanding the 4 different things we did in the 20 minutes before the match, I finally understood why the traditions have standed for so long.

Something as small as putting your left hand into the hundle instead of your right made the whole

team feel synced together and like you were about to all go play the same match. These moments are also when I really feel the difference of playing a match “alone” as opposed to with a team. Playing next to some of the best people I know was so fun that the outcome of the match didn’t even matter at the end of the day. Celebrating our wins and comforting each other in losses brought us together the most. Hearing that other people got nervous during their matches and stressed out before them gave me comfort that I was not the only nervous one. At most of my previous tournaments, everybody was so focused on themselves and winning that you end up getting inside your own head and making the whole experience miserable. Having girls and friends you can talk to, even if it is about how nervous you are about your match, helped tremendously and was an entirely different experience for me.

My highlight of the season was definitely when we traveled to Andover for the ISL tournament and played Groton. It was probably one of the most stressful matches I’ve played despite playing in many National tournaments. There’s just something different about seeing

your team on the bleachers, knowing you all woke up too early for this on a Saturday and already put in too much effort for you not to give 100 percent. It definitely was not my best day, but because of my team’s support and cheering I was able to win, and I could not imagine what would have happened had they not been there.

My whole experience was full of highlights and it was great to be able to go into highschool already having a few upperclassmen friends to whom I can ask questions or voice concerns. Spring is truly my favorite season because I get to share it with an amazing team full of amazing people for the next four years.•

Patriots New Star Receiver

By GIANNA GALLAGHER '21 Recent excitement from New England Patriots fans has focused around Josh Gordon, a former Cleveland Browns Wide-Receiver, getting drafted to the Patriots. In early September, the New England Patriots traded for Gordon, causing much excitement among players, coaches, and fans.

Gordon, originally drafted to the Cleveland Browns in 2012, was released by the team in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft. For the past 6 years, Josh Gordon has struggled with drug addiction. According to nfl.com writer Nick Shook, Gordon’s drug addiction allowed him to play in only 41 games out of 98 possible games; Josh Gordon has been eligible to play in less than 50% of his games during his career in the NFL. In contrast to the shockingly low number of games Gordon has played, he has managed to earn remarkable stats. As Ben Volin stated, “there is no denying Gordon’s talent. A second-round supplemental draft pick in 2012, Gordon had 805 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie, then exploded in 2013, catching 87 passes for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns.”

Throughout a sportatic career with Cleveland, Gordon was able to secure several impressive records, such as the most receiving yards in a game as well as in a season, the most receptions in a game, and the most 100+ receiving yard games. Because of these stats, the Patriots, willing to risk Gordon’s chance of not playing, decided to sign him. Making a trade this big was of course not of “free costs.” Shook explains that in order for Gordon to be placed on the roster, the Patriots had to cut another player: Corey Coleman, previously a Browns’ first-round pick, was cut to allow for space on the New England Patriots roster.

On September 30th, Gordon played in his first game with the Patriots against the Miami Dolphins.

Despite his jaw-dropping records, his first game only resulted in his catching two passes for 32 yards, assisting in the final 38-7 win. In an article uploaded

by CBS Sports, John Breech explained that although Gordon only caught two passes from Brady, both catches occured on third down, allowing the drive against Miami to continue. John Breech of CBS Sports also shared that “Brady was so impressed with his newest teammate,” highlighting the excitement and hope the Patriots have for Gordon as the season progresses. Pats Nation keeps an optimistic outlook on Gordon for the 2018 football season. Although this amazing Wide-Receiver was not seen that much in his first game with his new team, it is Gordon’s incredible talent that keeps Patriots fans enthused about the upcoming season with him. The Patriots fans could not be more eager to see the prodigious outcomes that Gordon will bring to our football team this season, as he is partnered with the one and only Tom Brady.•

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Sports Khabib Vs. McGregor

By ANTOINE WILEY '20 The buildup to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 229 was compelling due to the striking differences between both fighters. Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor are near polar opposites of each other both as fighters and people: Khabib is a soft-spoken, devout Muslim from the Russian Republic of Dagestan who regards mixed martial arts as a sport of respect, and McGregor is a braggadocious, endlessly colorful Irishman whose trash talk observes few, if any, boundaries. Khabib is a ground-and-pound menace and two-time combat sambo world champion whose lethal fusion of sambo, pankration, ARB, and grappling have made him one of the most successful fighters in martial arts history, having won all 27 of his fights.

McGregor, on the other hand, relies on his lightning striking ability, which earned him an 86 knockout percentage and, after his victory over Eddie Alvarez in UFC 205, made him the only fighter in UFC history to hold two belts in two different weight classes simultaneously.

However, the fight was far from the

epic contest advertised. The Eagle absolutely dominated the fight, completely outclassing McGregor on the ground and keeping it close on foot. McGregor had no answer to Khabib’s unrelenting grappling, and, despite an improved offensive performance in the third round, tapped out in the fourth round when Khabib locked him in a rear-naked choke. Despite the fight being overshadowed by an ugly brawl that erupted when Khabib leapt from the octagon to attack Dillon Danis, a member of McGregor’s team, the fight held pretty major implications that couldn’t be ignored. Khabib destroyed McGregor, and it wasn’t close. The Eagle reigns supreme, and it’s hard to see his reign ending anytime soon. He now holds the longest winning streak in MMA history with 27 wins as well as the most career wins of an undefeated player. This sheer domination is no accident— since he was a small child, Khabib has been trained by his father, a veteran of the Russian army well-versed in wrestling, sambo, and judo (as seen in a now-viral clip, Khabib’s training as a 9 year old included wrestling a bear). His ground fighting is so formidable that it decisively sets the tone of all

of his fights, with opponents desperate to avoid the takedown. McGregor’s coach, when reflecting on the pre-fight strategy and mindset, stated in a post-fight podcast with Joe Rogan that he was “going into this not to lose but not to win.”

UFC 229 marks the end of an era in UFC history: the relevance of Conor McGregor, once the UFC’s favorite son, seems precarious for the first time in a long time. Gone are the days of the legendary “Mystic Mac” and his stunning knockout victories— the same “Mystic Mac” that knocked out Jose Aldo in 13 seconds and once held two UFC belts simultaneously. The tepid performance of McGregor after his two year hiatus since the Mayweather fight suggests that the the old, loved McGregor, firey and hungry for success and money, has been tamed by his $100 million boxing payday. If McGregor is to stand a chance at regaining his MMA clout, he must learn to overcome his shortcomings on the ground and rediscover his punching power. For now, Khabib is head and shoulders above his peers and reigns as the clear, undisputed UFC lightweight champion. •

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