VOLUME II ISSUE III THE MADEIRA SCHOOL Winter 2017

the spectator

This February, Madeira put on a production of James

Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. The musical is a twist on classic, childhood stories, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapun-zel, and Jack in the Beanstalk. It is a musical where fairy tales collide, and while accruing the wishes of each character, the individuals face unexpected consequences while trapped in a mythical forest. The musical follows the Baker, played by

before the performance rehears-ing songs for the show and

blocking out scenes. “Into the

Melissa Handel ’19, and his wife, played by Claire Pitzer ’17, and on their journey to reversing on old family curse. Ms. Cowan, Director of Theater and Film at Madeira, directed her 11th musical this year with assistants Mr. Winter, Dr. Wallace, and Ms. Wellington. Mr. Winter, an outside consult with theatre expertise, was the Music Director for the show and has experience in theater, assist-ing with productions at other high schools. The cast of Into the Woods spent the last few weeks

Victoria Akagha ‘19Staff Writer

Woods is a definitely a lot of hard work musically,” explains Melissa Handel ’19, “but it’s very fulfill-ing when you get the counts down for a really hard song.” Although not chart topping hits, the music for this show was incredibly challenging. For example, the Prologue, the first song of the show, is ten minutes long and demands expert vocals for many members of the cast. The concept of design-ing a magical forest was also a difficult task for the technical theater department. “Although [tech’s] work is seen as ‘behind

the scenes,’ [the crew] puts in so much effort over the course of many weeks to create everything seen on stage,” says assistant stage manager Alex Burnside ’19. The show had a very complicated set, with many pieces and magical elements that were incorporated into the final design. However, many students enrolled in tech-nical theater felt that they had a great time bringing the creative set to life. The technical crew not only build the set for the show, but they also learned how to run the lights and sound. Led by technical directors Ms. Newman and Ms. Randolph, and stage managers Millenah Nascimento ’17 and Burnside ’19, the over 300 light changes were a success on each night of production. Theater has been a fun and lively part of the Madeira experience. According to many members of the theater depart-ment, the cast and crew tend to grow very close over the course of the winter season. Prahba Girish ’19 explains that “[she] has spent hours laughing, crying, wondering, and explor-ing while at Madeira, and the culmination of all of those feel-ings has always been the support that [she] has found in Madeira theater.” Chapin Brown ’19 says, “Madeira theater has become a family to me.” Theater is all about bringing people together, and Madeira’s theater program does a wonderful job doing just that, year after year. Thank you for a fantastic production!

Underclassmen Detained in Senior Prank

Into the Woods Takes Madeira by Storm

Claire Pitzer ‘17, Melissa Handel ‘19, Magana Ngaiza ‘17 perform scene. Photo by Teresa Wood Photography.

Anyone who goes to Madeira is well aware that traditions

are a trademark of the Madeira experience. One of the numer-ous traditions of Madeira is the planning and execution of the infamous senior prank. Planning such an endeavor is no easy task and was undertaken by a brave few this year, pioneered by Sasha Alexander ’17. Planning a prank entails many class meeting con-versations, email chains, and last minute touches, all behind closed

doors. The process of getting a prank approved by the adminis-

tration is just as difficult as plan-ning it. It must be appropriate, safe, not too chaotic- all crucial ingredients in the recipe of a deli-cious prank. Since junior year, the Class of 2017 marveled at the pos-sibility of switching classes with a local boys’ school for the day. The result would’ve yielded herds of googley-eyed girls taking Snap-chats of khaki-clad boys shuffling in confusion from Schoolhouse I

to the Student Center. As exciting as this prank sounded, logistical issues shot it down before devel-opment. In previous years, few pranks have exemplified enough gusto or creativity to leave the community in awe at the wit and stealth of the senior class. Exam-ples include seniors attempting to convince underclassmen that it was Founder’s Day (it was funny until it actually was that day),

or High School Musical tunes blasted on the Oval. Leave it to the Class of 2017 to come up with their own clever yet complicated prank. The senior prank took place on Monday, March 6 at a seem-ingly normal CMT in the library. After a singular announcement, the lights went off and four se-niors took control of the micro-phones. The goal was to create a

Purge-esque scene, announcing the “commencement of the an-nual senior prank”. The names of four random students were called out, and it was revealed that the doors of the library were locked (they were not really) and that the fate of the students and fac-ulty lay in the hands of the cho-sen four. These girls were the only ones who possessed the power to “unlock” the doors, but first they had to find the “keys” in the bal-loons that were released by seniors standing on the upper level. The crowd was instructed to pop the balloons, a few of which held the keys to their escape. The prank that the Class of 2017 pulled off was not especially well received by the Madeira community, evident by the plethora of confused faces and raised eyebrows among the crowd. Ms. Heishman labeled the prank a C on a grading scale. Af-firmation looks to be a night of re-flection and perhaps redemption.

Led by technical direc-tors Ms. Newman and

Ms. Randolph, and stage managers Millenah

Nascimento ’17 and Alex Burnside ’19, the over

300 light changes were a success on each night of

production.

Emily Hamilton ‘17Staff Writer

In previous years, few pranks have exemplified

enough gusto or creativity to leave the community in awe at the wit and stealth

of the senior class.

A single balloon hovers over confused, and largely unamused, underclassmen hostages. Photo by Izzy McMahon ‘17.

OPINIONS 2

Dear Lucy, I have always been a democrat, but my best friend is a republi-can. We don’t often argue, but when it comes to politics, it’s a whole ‘nother story. With the elections being the main topic of discussion nowadays, we never seem to agree on anything politi-cally and I feel like it is generat-ing more and more petty argu-ments between the two of us, which gives me the impression that our friendship is gradually tearing apart. I want to do some-thing on my part to keep our re-lationship from drifting, but I’m not particular sure how. What do you think I should do? Sincerely, Anxious Friend

Dear Anxious Friend, There is no need to worry. There are always going to be disagreements when it comes top politics. The elections can bring up an absolutely different side to people that you never knew existed, but it is impor-tant to be civil with one another. Maybe, to be on the safe side, you should just avoid bringing up politics as a whole when you are with someone who seems to

get feisty about issues involving the elections and different candi-dates. On the other hand, if you are a person who feels very strongly about politics and feels the need to advocate your opinion, then there is also no problem with that. Just remem-ber to be open-minded and to think before you say. You don’t want the conversation to become acrimonious, right? It is also im-portant for us Madeira girls to be able to reasonably carry out a discussion about politics without belittling someone’s opinions even though they are the oppo-site to yours. Also, you shouldn’t feel that you can’t be friends with people who support a differ-ent political party than you do. It is sometimes beneficial to be friends with people that have different viewpoints, so you can always be aware of different points of view.

With love,

The Presidential election continues to be the most

popular topic of discussion not only among the adults but also the student body. As an interna-tional student not so interested in politics, I am forced to join this conversation by regularly chat-ting with friends. People are hesi-tating to talk about politics while others would assert their own viewpoints. Even though I am sur-rounded by many different views, oddly enough, I do not find myself being specifically in strong agreement or disagreement in any of them; instead, I pay more attention towards the President’s opinions and policies toward my own country, China. I only find

International Student Viewpoint

Fay Zhang ‘18Staff Writer

myself panicking when the Presi-dent makes a point that may sig-nificantly affect the daily life of people in my country, otherwise, I would not have so many opinions on neither side. Although I have a hard time understanding different po-litical opinions and sometimes shaken by extreme political views, the election did not signifi-cantly affect my daily interaction with my friends. However, I have noticed that some of my Ameri-can friends who hold different political ideas undergo an even more awkward situation than me as an international student. Poli-tics seem to really have the power to spark tension in America. “My friends would openly attack the party I support, but I never said anything. I think they would hate

me if I did. ” voiced one of my friends. I do not understand why people think politics is a sensitive topic and how it can hurt friend-ships. It may result from the fact that I come from a country that is not as democratic as the United States. I do not ever worry about voting and people in my country do not mind discussing politics. I think politics should always be discussed so there is no single idea leading the whole crowd.

However, if no one even dares to discuss politics, I would not consider this to be a country of freedom. The United States in my eyes is one of the most demo-cratic countries, with the right of free speech. People should be able to express what they want to, but in a way that would not hurt other people. We are not identi-cal people and our ideas ought to be different. I hope people can keep this in mind during election season.

Photo submitted by Fay Zhang ‘18.

I think politics should always be discussed so there is no single

idea leading the whole crowd.

DEAR LUCY Letter to the Editor

I have always been used to seeing “the adults” talk about politics. I

grew up watching my parents and other family members endlessly debate both South African and American government and eco-nomic issues. Although I was fas-cinated by these discussions and encouraged to share my beliefs, I always shied away from the subject. However, during the 8th grade, at the time of the Baltimore Riots and the death of Freddie Gray, I was introduced to poli-tics in a whole new way. Perhaps it had something to do with the close proximity of Baltimore and my hometown of Bethesda, or the racial issues, I became passion-ate about fighting against police brutality. From then on, I slowly started to share my point of view and navigate what it truly meant to become an activist. When I finally became comfortable seeing myself as a

“political person”, I ran with it. I became involved in countless ac-tivist movements such as Black Lives Matter, My Body My Rules, and LGBTQ rights. I felt that I had spent too much time hiding my voice, and I was now obsessed with getting it out there. However, sometime during the mix of grad-uating middle school and moving from Maryland, I lost the ability to empathize with those of different political opinions than myself. I began to shelter myself in a liberal community. Although I would like to think that I was never rude or abrasive to anyone I disagreed with, I realize that even in cordial discussions I failed to truly ac-knowledge the different opinions around me. Thankfully, during my first election season at Madeira, I was introduced to the many sixteen year old girls with a strik-ingly similar expertise in politi-cal science to college graduates themselves. Though I had already grown accustomed to being apart of a diverse student body during freshman year, it was only during this school year that I truly took advantage of the different per-spectives at our school. Don’t get me wrong, over the past couple of months, I have had my fair share of emotion-ally charged debates but I have also had discussions with people outside of my political views that have been overwhelmingly posi-tive. Instead of barricading myself in a group of people with my exact views, I have learned what it means to have opposing opinions without sacrificing per-sonal relationships.

During this new presi-dential era, we will continue to grow as political thinkers and young women of the modern world. At some point, we will all be able to vote, whether in the United States or another home country, and formally influence the deci-sion of another presidential elec-tion. In the voting booth, we won’t have the direct guidance of those who taught us AP Comparative Gov classes or the girls we debated during open blocks, we will have ourselves and only ourselves. Our job now is to create a lasting foun-dation that will prepare us for that moment, and to feel secure in our own views and the people we will learn from in the upcoming years. We will need to feel confident in our political opinions, comfort-able if they begin to change, and excited when we meet someone who is different from us.

I h a v e always been a very politically minded person. I grew up in a household that lives and breathes politics, an environment where ev-ery discussion somehow trails off into debate. However, even as im-mersed in politics as I have been since a young age, for the majority of my life these discussions were confined by the walls of my home -- I never really felt comfortable “talking politics” with my friends. It wasn’t until I came to Madeira that I starting sharing my fiery liberal side anywhere outside my family. And that’s a blessing and a curse. In elementary school, you wouldn’t catch me dead calling myself a “fiery liberal” (dispite the fact that my family literally banded pots and pans in the streets when Obama won in 2008, a classic fir-ery liberal activity). Because grow-ing up, my three best friends were Republicans, so I never felt on the “right” side of political discussion. I remember one occasion, while waiting in linefor my smiley pota-toes in Franklin Sherman Elemen-tary School’s cafeteria, where my friends and I began talking about

Obama’s 2008 election. They harped on, al-

beit probably just repeating the

views of their parents, about how Obama wanted to steal money from hard w o r k i n g A m e r i c a n s

and give it away to those

who were too lazy to find jobs. I reme-

ber being hesistant to say anything contradictory

in fear of being shot nasty looks, so held my tongue. And with this mentality I continued my elemen-tary school career, silently dissent-ing. Flash forward to Madei-ra, (ignoring middle school as al-ways) and I am constantly involved in political discussion. Granted, I am much more informed and passionate about political issues, but it’s something more than that which has made me more inclined to talk politics -- sharing my opin-ion is simply easier at Madeira. It didn’t take long after I began as a freshman to relaize that the major-ity of students here share my po-litical ideology. The homogenous environment made it easy to con-tribute because I was preeching to the choir. As great as it was for me to finally feel comfortable sharing my political views, this environ-ment can be unproductive. Be-cause, although it may seem this way, everyone at Madeira isn’t lib-eral (I know, shocking). Those are just the ones who speak up. There are many differ-ent political opinions at Madeira

which are rarely heard. Just as the atmosphere here prompted me to speak up, it prompts many to stay quiet. Because feeling like you’re the only one of your friends who doesn’t share one specific opinion can be uncomfortable and often fosters complacent silence, which only contributes to the monoto-nous uproar. However, as Madeira’s campus is in the liberal heartland of this country, it is to be expected that democratic views are domi-nate conversation. All I caution is to be open-minded and respectful when hearing the opinions of oth-ers who don’t agree with you. Then maybe we’ll realize the importance of spaces like Madeira.

Nandi Ndoro was guest assistant editor for this issue.

OPINIONS3Confessions of a Campaigner:

I’ll admit it: I joined the Hillary Clinton Campaign in late June

not for incredibly lofty, noble reasons. Like most liberals, I dis-missed as dangerous the prospect of a Donald Trump Presidency even before he walked down the steps of that ridiculous elevator; and, like most D.C. types, I dis-missed the idea of Bernie Sand-ers-style “revolution” as foolishly idealistic. That left me with Hillary, who I was on board with since the day she declared her candidacy. But even as late as March 2016, I never would have considered moving to Des Moines, Iowa, to dedicate my life to her presiden-

tial run. But I did, for four months I worked around the clock to turn the closest swing state blue in the American heartland. I quickly found myself internalizeing all the campaign maxims (This is the most important election of our lifetimes! Love trumps hate! Stronger together!), and came to love Hillary Clinton: her tireless persistence, her unapologetic de-meanor, and especially her faith in government as an institution, rather than some political game. She would have made an amazing President. (It doesn’t hurt that, as a 2016 graduate of an all-girls high school, I even see a bit of myself in her.) All of that is only part of the reason I decided to work for Hillary in Iowa. Weeks before I graduated from National Cathe-dral School in 2015, I decided I wanted to take a Gap Year. In late April, over bowls of ice cream

after dinner one Wednesday night, I asked the permission of my two skeptical parents.Think-ing I was the smartest person in the room--amatuer mistake--I framed the Gap Year pitch around my inscrutable, if exaggerated, desire to work for HRC. I knew the proposition of moving to Iowa to live with family and work in politics would assuage my polit-ically-minded parents’ concerns about taking time off school. Then, I privately reasoned, I could spend the spring doing what I ac-tually wanted. And what I actually wanted was to spend the year fos-tering three virtues I had sensed were absent from my go-go-go lifestyle: conviction, patience, and humility. At the recommendation of my favorite author Matthew Crawford, I intended to distance myself from the individualistic rat-race that politics is so often made out to be.

Mary Clare McMahonContributing Writer

Retrospectively, I’m sure my parents were aware of my manipulative plan; I’m glad they played along, though, and en-couraged me to pursue it. In my wise old age, I realize that I was wrong to ap-proach politics as simply a means to an end. Because the other, unspoken reason that I wanted to put off school to work for the campaign was to see if politics was something I actively liked, or just something that was “good at.” I had always read the news and been able to confidently weigh in on political matters; I didn’t know if this was out of habit, or because I enjoyed it, or simply out of a prideful desire to seem in-the-know about things. I still don’t know the answer. Maybe I do like politics because it comes so naturally to me (and I, like most people, am a sucker for positive validation). Is that sense of pride necessarily a bad thing if it’s inspiring me to do work that will do an incredible amount of good? What can I do to make sure that self-righteousness does not distract from the ulti-mate purpose of government: to help people? If I learned anything from Hillary-- my favorite pro-gressive pragmatist-- over the few months I worked as a part of her staff, it was that agonizing over

these types of questions is often-times less productive that just doing something. Working along-side such bright minds in Iowa has strengthened my conviction in the goodness of government; it’s tested my patience with others and myself; and furthered my sense of humility (because shock-ingly, the 18 year old with no experience does not know every-thing about campaigns!). So there I happily re-mained, spending 15 hours a day, 7 days a week sitting in a plastic folding chair at the crowded Iowa Headquarters trying to “politely and persistently” coax volunteers into donating their time to help take part in an historic, although unsuccessful, effort. It was more

than a full-time job; it was an all-encompassing, exhausting lifestyle. But I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Nietzsche ar-ticulated this sentiment well: “[S]he who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how.’” But some-times, how is more important than why.

An Intern Experience Working in a Swing State

Mary Clare McMahon poses in front of Hilliary’s motorcade. Photo submitted by Mary Clare McMahon.In my wise old age, I

realize that I was wrong to approach politics as

simply a means to an end.

The 2016 Election: Where Polls Went Wrong

The US election results an-nounced on November 9,

2016 took the country by sur-prise--at least half of it. Polls and predictions were wrong, Donald Trump won the electoral college by 74 votes, and he quickly took on his role as the President of the free world. How did this happen? How did so many ordinarily reli-able sources get it so off the mark? There are a lot of factors to take into account and many ques-tions that need to be answered. Although Trump may have won, only about one in six Americans actually voted for him; the rest voted for another candidate or not at all. Many who are unhappy with the result of the election have themselves to blame. Those who did vote for Clinton, feel “misrep-resented” and believe that Trump is not the candidate for which the majority of Americans voted. The anti-Trump protesters continue

their #notmypresident campaign and call for resiliance in wake of the 2016 election. However, these protests are not without basis, as Clinton won the popular vote by a 2.5 million margin -- larger than that of Al Gore. This also helps explain what appeared to many to be a miscalculation by some polls. First, their margin of error was often 3% or more, meaning the results that came in might have fallen within their range of pre-diction; and because of the elec-toral college, what mattered more than the popular vote was where the votes were cast, not what the national tally was. This brings us to the ever confusing question of what exactly the electoral college is and how it works. It’s a process that baffles even veterans of the system. In short, there are 538 electors who cast votes to decide who the next president will be, so when the American public goes to the polls, they are actually voting for which candidate receives their

electors’ votes. A candidate has to get a majority (270) to win. Some states have more electors than others, making it possible for one candidate to win the popular vote, but not the presidency. Many think the electoral college played a huge role in this election, especially with Trump gaining those unexpected votes in places like Michigan and Wis-consin. While the absolute cause of the election results is still being

disputed, what led the American people to be so misled is obvious. Some predictions for the elec-tion were so drastically different from the actual outcome, it can be hard to imagine that they were rooted in fact at all. Many pre-

dicted a Clinton win, or at least a single democratic majority; but neither came true. However, credit must be given to the con-ductors of these polls. To capture every demographic with accuracy would be an enormously difficult task in modern America. Polling used to be much simpler and more reliable, using a method that relied on a random generator of home phone numbers. But as cell phones become increasingly more popular -- 91% of Ameri-can adults have one according to Pew Research Center -- many are becoming more reluctant to pick up the antiquated house phone. This is causing some problems in the polling industry as the use of landlines become arbitrary and citizens, young and rural people especially, are living in cell-phone only households. Polling was especially difficult in this election as well. Voting is normally very habitual for most partisan voters, and in the past voting inside your party

is a safe bet for one’s interests. The election this year, however, topples that notion and sent many into a confused panic months before November. With two of the least popular candidates ever, both untraditional in their own right, around 8% of people from either major party ended up crossing party lines according to The Wall Street Journal. Although this was predicted to some extent, it could have majorly thrown off some pollers. Taking this informa-tion into account, as well as usual polling errors and under coverage of those living in the mid-west, these miscalculations seem very straightforward. In short, although we are less sure on how to take an accu-rate research poll than we were ten years ago, and the constant lack of accurate predictions has left many unhappy and restless, there’s really no knowing the implications of this raucous and historic election will be on Trump’s presidency.

How did this happen? How did so many ordi-

narily reliable sources get it so off the mark?

Zoe Brauchli’ 19Staff Writer

Writer Profile: Mary Clare McMahon, sister of Izzy McMahon ‘17, is taking a gap year before attending Yale in the fall. She spent f August - No-vember 2016 working for the Hillary Campaign.

Photo submitted by Mary Clare McMahon.

OPINIONS 4A Braggadocious Inaguration SpeechMara Delta ‘17Contributing Writer

The first thing I noticed when I read the entirety of Donald

Trump’s inauguration speech was that it made no reference to the bitter 2016 election campaign. Most presidents use their swear-ing in as an opportunity to rec-oncile the divisions that stem from electoral battles, and con-sidering the contentiousness and nastiness of the past year, such an attempt at unification seemed particularly necessary. While it is extremely disappointing that someone with as much power as Donald Trump chose to let the nation’s wounds fester by snub-bing those who opposed him, it is

not altogether surprising coming from a man who openly relishes doing the “politically incorrect” and unexpected. The most disturb-

ing and chilling part of Trump’s speech, however, was not his disregard for precedent, but his promise to put “America First.” At first blush this declaration of national pride does not seem particularly abnormal coming from a freshly-sworn in Ameri-can president, but research into the slogan’s history reveals the phrase was first coined by Nazi-sympathizing Americans during the 1930s to show their allegiance

to Germany. The offensiveness of this antiemetic sentiment is further compounded by the fact that Trump was asked by the An-ti-Defamation League during his campaign to cease using it. His disregard not only further fuels comparisons between him and fascists like Hitler, but also proves that his America is an exclusion-ary one, a country that openly disregards and scorns groups of already marginalized people.

Many may say that words do not necessarily translate into actions, but the executive order banning refugees for 120 days and Syrian refugees indefinitely disproves this argument. Donald Trump’s revival of a phrase that promoted the slaughter of 6 million Jewish people translated into the very tangible consequences of con-doning Syrian genocide by ig-noring those seeking one of the ideals our country promises: life.

OPINIONS 4OPINIONS 4

At Under the Shell, we encour-age any member of The Madeira School to submit to the newspa-per. Articles submitted are sub-jected to a staff peer review and edit, then submitted for editorial review. Submission does not guar-antee print, but it does help! Of particular interest to the staff are articles concerning the Madeira community, club news and events, and sports. Submissions should be sent to the editors or the advisor, Ms. Heishman, aheishman@madeira.org

How to Submit to Under the Shell

Under the Shell StaffNandi Ndoro ‘19Callie Jacks ‘17Molly Watts ‘20Zoe Brauchli ‘19

Fay Zhang ‘18

Contributing Writers:Mary Clare McMahon

Mara Delta ‘17 Morgan Wallace ‘17

Ally Edwards ‘18

Issue Layout Assistant Editor:

Ellie Cook ‘19

Editors:Izzy McMahon ‘17

Ejun Kim ‘19

Obama Family welcomes President Trump. Photo by the Associated Press.The most disturbing and chilling part of Trump’s speech, however, was not his disregard for prec-edent, but his promise to

put “America First.”

I would consider Fahrenheit 451 to be one of those books that every

person should have the honor in reading during their lifetime. The opportunity was given to me this year in an English class where we chose a classic American novel and relate it to a major theme in United States history. My choice in reading Fahrenheit 451 was actually a last minute decision and to be frank, I chose it because of its short length. I am sure that a model student would chose a book because a large level of

interest, rather than the page length. My copy is exactly 159 pages; I was sold. In reality, the time it took for me in reflecting and comprehend-ing Bradbury’s ideas compensated for the extra pages in the books my peers read. It’s extremely easy to become immersed in Bradbury’s most blatant message, the detri-mental effects of censorship. With an exceptional amount of power, it is vital to main-tain a controlled sense of influence. The act of government censorship and the suppression of thoughts within the United States are grave issues that American citizens faced in the 1950s and now again in the 2010s. Fahrenheit 451 was written

by Ray Bradbury in 1953. Brad-bury’s dystopian society features a future where firefighters start fires, rather than put them out. Firemen destroy books in people’s houses, as the government has banned books and replaced them with censored media. The protagonist, Montag, learns the true meaning and beauty of books, all the while, is trying to understand why they are banned. Montag’s society suffers from paranoia, depression and blind al-legiance to their government. Not only does Montag’s government have complete control of individual thought, but the ability to easily change cultural norms, as society complete accepts these actions. Montag is the only character who questions the movements of the government, as his wife and society are immersed into a world full of mindless media. Fahrenheit 451 conveys the irresponsibility of the government and its citizens. As I began to dig deeper into Bradbury’s novel, it became quite clear of the ideas he was trying to convey about the 1950s. His idea of book censorship was not at all new, it was only reinvented in a way such that an American citizen living under democracy could com-prehend the vast power of a single person. The idea of living under a dictator was completely foreign to American citizens. Bradbury di-rectly relates the government in Fahrenheit 451 to that of a Fascist and Communist nature. During World War II, Adolf Hitler’s Fascist regime deliberately burned books to prevent any individual ideas other than anti-Semitism from arising.

Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union into a country ran firmly on Com-munism after the war. Commu-nism seems to be a groundbreaking idea because it virtually eliminates poverty and socioeconomic classes. However, it promotes completely opposite ideas from democracy. Stalin’s society featured economic, social, and political equality while continuously evoking the suppres-sion of independent ideas. In the capitalist United States, our gov-ernment made deliberate military efforts in combating the spread of authoritarian ideas. Even so, Brad-bury successfully captured the tense battle between complete equality and individual freedom. I firmly believe aspects of this apprehensive time were fully portrayed because of Bradbury’s ability to bring this global conflict to a single, fictional society. I came to realize my choice of choosing a short book proved to be a larger task than expected. The story itself is quite an easy read and if one is not careful, they can easily

get lost on the surface rather than exploring the profound enlighten-ments Bradbury can offer about the responsibility of regulating govern-ment power. My ability to fully com-prehend this novel was completely

based off of current events. Before I go deeper into the relationships between Fahrenheit 451 and today’s events, it is critical to understand how I came to these conclusions. I believe that one can only fully comprehend a novel by becom-ing immersed into the world the author has created. The audience cannot simply accept the sentences and phrases that are put in front of them; we have the responsibil-ity to question the author’s motive. No words are written by accident. Bradbury wants the reader to ques-tion the how rather than the why. How does society let books become censored? How can we learn from the actions of the characters in the novel? The question of how Brad-bury conveys his thoughts on the government is much more impor-tant than why he does it. We already know the why: Bradbury brings at-tention to the possibility of a future depicted in Fahrenheit 451. I can only accredit the full understand-ing of this book to its connection to current events. I found connectivity in Bradbury’s theme of censorship to post 9/11 era. The Patriot Act supports the newest government surveillance systems in discover-ing and preventing future attacks; this indirectly includes the use of censorship. The underlying mes-sages in the novel can be applied to any historical event that incites paranoia and fear in government or citizens. A government that ex-ercises its power carefully and re-sponsibly by promoting individual thought during times of fear is the only way for people to be individual and dynamic.

Bradbury reveals ideas about government power and exposes truths about the future that is certain to come. In this day and age, the rise of fake media reports has exponentially grown and Brad-bury’s ideas of censorship are not far off. Fahrenheit 451 prepares us for the imminent future of attempt-ed conformity. It is not our job to notice and become compliant,

rather recognizing and combating such attempts. We have seen this prominently overseas in countries such as Eritrea and North Korea. We are successful in distinguishing the severe fault in censored societ-ies, as we are actively questioning the morality of their government. Similar conclusions are drawn from Fahrenheit 451, as question-ing society is the only way for us to understand and grasp limited government. The government has the personal responsibility to keep itself under control and free of cor-ruption. As members of a func-tional society, we have the great responsibility in promoting human liberties and the power to enforce the freedom of individual thought.

How to Understand Our Power as American Citizens:A Modern Exploration of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: A Book Review

Ally Edwards ‘18Contributing Writer

My choice in reading Fahrenheit 451 was

actually a last minute decision and to be frank, I chose it because of its

short length.

Not only does Montag’s government have com-

plete control of indi-vidual thought, but the ability to easily change

cultural norms, as society complete accepts

these actions.

Bradbury reveals ideas about government power and exposes truths about the future that is certain

to come.

NEWS 5

Snowden: Traitor or Hero?

Molly Watts ‘20Staff Writer

Graphic drawn by Fay Zheng ‘18

Before his 2013 classified document leak turned him

into a household name, Edward Snowden was a promising defense contractor for the Na-tional Security Agency (NSA). The Guardian tells us that on May 20th, 2013, Snowden Flew to Hong Kong and released clas-sified documents about NSA programs. Two weeks later, on June 5th, he met up with named Glenn Greenwald, a reporter for The Guardian, Laura Poitras, a

documentary film-maker, and later a Guardian reporter named Ewen Ma-cAskill to provide them with leaked information. There are many different perspec-tives on what Snowden’s actions against the United States. Many think Snowden is a hero because he exposed gov-ernment corrup-tion. He showed that the United States govern-

ment was not only spying on it’s citizens, but also collecting information on everyone in the world, including foreign allied leaders. Our close alliance with Germany was damaged when Snowden revealed that German leader, Angela Merkel was one of the targets of the NSA spying. He also exposed that the United States and British governments were tracking personal data from websites like YouTube to collect information on viewers. Accord-ing to NBC, it was revealed that both governments were “releas-ing computer viruses to spy on

other countries, hackers, sus-pected criminals, terror groups, and arms dealers, spying on jour-nalists and diplomats, and plant-ing wrong information to close enemy communication.” While some see Snowden as a hero, others see him as a traitor. Snowden re-leased thousands of highly clas-sified documents to people that shouldn’t have access to impor-tant government intelligence programs. When he released the documents to The Guard-ian, the newspaper almost im-mediately released the infor-mation to the world. When he fled to Russia, he offered to help the Russians access documents from the United States govern-ment. These documents were all classified, and his release of these documents exposed them to US enemies, which is bad for United States national security. Snowden’s exposure of govern-ment secrets is most often seen as whistleblowing-when people in the government release infor-mation that they think the public should know. Whistleblowers were given rights by the govern-ment in the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act; a law stating that a federal agency “can not take or threaten to take retaliatory

action against any employee or applicant because of the disclo-sure of information from said employee or applicant, unless what they did was against the law, in which the proper charges will be tried against them in court.” Almost all whistleblow-ers stay in the United States to face the consequences of their actions, but Snowden left the United States before releasing the documents. To this day, over three years later, he still hasn’t returned. Nowadays, Snowden gives talks via skype to colleges and organizations, and is the leader of Freedom of the Press, a non-profit organization which supports reporters who have exposed government corrup-tion. In May of 2015, the Federal Appellate Court ruled the NSA’s tracking of phones illegal, a big victory for Snowden. Accord-ing to Business Insider, he told Stanford University in 2015 that he was working on something big but hasn’t yet disclosed his plans because “he believes in being judged by the results.” He is still living in Russia and says he would only return to the United States if they could Guarantee a fair and Public trial.

On January 27, 2017, the newly inaugurated Presi-

dent of the United States, Donald J. Trump, inducted a series of executive orders, numbers pub-lished in the federal registry, that modified United States’ international relations and services. One of the executive

Behind the Executive OrderImmigration Reform

orders was a 120 day ban on refugees from seven countries in the Middle East and a bar on refugees from Syria indefinitely. The order also calls for a 90 day entrance hold on citizens (with all types of Visas) from these seven countries. The countries that have been directly affected are Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and Syria. In order to enter the

United States, and most other countries, one must have specif-ic documentation. When either visiting or becoming a resi-dent (a non-citizen living the U.S.), one must apply for Visa or a green card. However, after President Trump’s executive order, all types of Visa holders from those seven countries (ex-cluding diplomats and UN em-ployees) were made available to

Nandi Ndoro ‘19Staff Writer

Photo by the Associated Press

investigation while hundreds of incoming immigrants were held in questioning at US airports. The ban received a wide amount of praise and backlash, gaining responses from both United States citizens and civilians

around the world. Although the order is still in place, it has been put on hold by Judge. The order has also gained the attention of world leaders. During the week of it’s release, the Prime Minis-ter of Canada, Justin Trudeau, posted on his Twitter, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith.” Shortly after, English Member of the Parliament, Adam Hol-loway commended President Trump during a briefing stating that “there is something quite refreshing about a politician actually doing what they said they would do before they were elected.” After a strenuous cam-paign against democratic politi-cian, Hillary Clinton, President Trump has been quick to act on

*Artcile Originally Pub-lished in 1980

his campaign promises. Beyond immigration reform, Mr. Trump has also signed executive orders that work on repealing Obam-acare and defunding United States abortion services around the world. Although his immi-gration order has been nick-named the total “Muslim Ban”, the president stresses that he is “establishing new vetting mea-sures to keep radical Islamic ter-rorists out of the United States of America.” As to why the United States government chose those specific countries, the decision stemmed from the Obama ad-ministration, when refugees from those seven nations were the only people not allowed the three month automatic residen-cy in the US without documen-tation. According the Trump administration, this previous

policy was the basis of choosing which countries to include in the immigration reform.

After a strenuous cam-paign against demo-

cratic politician, Hillary Clinton, President

Trump has been quick to act on his campaign

promises.

Justin Trudeau, posted on his Twitter, “To those

fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will

welcome you, regardless of your faith.”

COMMUNITY 6Former Madeira Head of School and the

Politics of Being Women Parading upon the Madeira

stage at the Friday morning ASM, Dr. Elizabeth Griffith is refreshingly positive as she re-counts the history of female rep-resentation in politics. Sprinkled with accounts of Abigail Adams’ “sauciness” and slightly offensive but satirical memes, her talk is refreshingly positive in wake of the recent political climate. Any tension slowly evaporated as the entire student body united for her moving talk about feminism. Hailing from the Midwest, Dr. Griffith was raised by successful immigrant parents in a nearly exclusively female family, “Edu-cation was naturally valued. And since there were only daughters, there were even greater expec-tations.” At Wellesley, she met women leaders and friends, among whom was Hillary Clin-ton, the Democratic nominee for this 2016 presidential election. However, friendships and bril-liant professors were not the only things that characterized her col-lege experience. Politics in the streets reinforced her passion for history and social justice. “It was a tumultuous time. I was very much a part of the riots and pro-tests during the civil rights move-ment. It was revolutionary. It felt

Ejun Kim ‘19Editor

like you could make a change.” Afterwards, Griffith began her professional life, publishing her book, In Her Own Right: The Life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1984 and becoming headmistress at the Madeira School in 1988. A self-proclaimed “ex-treme feminist,” Dr. Griffith ex-plains to me that feminism has “without a doubt always been an innate part of her identity.” Her

upbringing and education culmi-nated in her activist professional career, all of which have been ma-jorly contributed to her profound beliefs of equality and social jus-tice. She acknowledges that the feminist fight has been “long and difficult,” and it may continue to be that way for a while. However, she is certain and determined that every step, whether it is a “crush-ing defeat or overwhelming suc-

cess,” will never be a failure, but only “inspiration that will prevail” She advises Madeira girls to al-ways be curious. In fact, she pro-claims it “a necessity.” “Be curious about the wider world, and always accept new cultures, experiences. Be a citizen of the wide world.” In regards to the 2016 presidential election, Dr. Griffith offers a more philosophical ap-proach that doesn’t include the all

too ubiquitous statistics and fact-checking. “People should be first motivated by change, then power. But, sometimes they get caught up in power.” She says that though it was such “a vicious and difficult campaign,” it “doesn’t discour-age as women are encouraged by women.” Most importantly, she addresses the negative sentiment- the sexism, racism, and xeno-phobia- that have been uprooted during this presidential election. Emphasizing the 857 hate crimes that have the occurred in the last two weeks, Dr. Griffith hopes that this is “just a phase and that bet-

ter angel will come to the fore.” She asks, “When did this country become so hateful? Especially on social media- how could anyone be so cowardly to say such awful things behind a screen?” Never-theless, she remains positive and hopeful that during this challeng-ing time the nation’s people will overcome biases and heal with re-spect. She reiterates her conclud-ing quote from the ASM, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

As the end of mod 4 rolled around, Madeira held its

annual Miss Greenway pageant. Faculty and students alike gath-ered anxiously in the student center to watch the five contes-tants, Calla Ritland ’19 (Main), Prabha Girish ’19 (New), Sequoia Ragland ’17 (South), Vei Vei Thomas ’17 (North), Niki Fifield ’17 (East), and Abby Ste-phenson ’17 (West) compete for the esteemed title. Fit with unique cos-tumes, each of the girls embod-ied their dorm themes through outfits that ranged from elabo-rate paper dresses to oversized

UPS shirts and red bandanas. South Dorm’s Sequoia brought out a fish bowl with a live fish to complete her Cat in the Hat persona while Niki from East was clad in a gorgeous paper dress designed by Vicky Garcia ‘17. Introduced by master of ceremonies Mary Clark ‘18, the girls entered the student center in full flourish, inspiring cheers from friends and dormmates. The pageant itself con-sisted of three different sections that tested Madeira trivia, public speaking, and “talent.” The girls first competed in the trivia round that included both common Madeira knowledge and random factoids. Questions about the number of trees on the oval and

Lucy Madeira’s last name were clearly easy bonus points for the contestants, but one question in particular proved to be quite troublesome- “How many seats are in the CA?” At the exclu-

sion of theatre geeks Prabha and Vei Vei, the other girls struggled to find the right answer, with

New Dorm Becomes Training Grounds for Ms. Greenway

Dr. Griffith, former head of school, gives a reviting all school meeting presentation.

Dorm representatives pose for a group picture.

Ejun Kim ‘19 Assistant Editor

It was revolutionary. It felt like you could make

a change.

guesses from 214 to 584 The open-ended answer round was a bit more challeng-ing. The question, as simple as it sounds, stumped a few: “If you could work anywhere for your senior internship, where and why?” With only a minute on the clock, the contestants scrambled for the right words. Nonetheless the answers were all thoughtful, and included Disneyland and South Korea. The grand finale of the pageant was the talent portion. By far the most interesting, the talent section was filled with punny raps, dance routines, and even original songs. Members of both South and North dorms filled in as backup singers and

dancers for their dorm perfor-mances. Accompanied on the piano by none other than Zoe Crawley ‘18, New Dorm’s Prabha sang an original song describing all of her dormmates. But alas, there could only be one winner. After much deliberation, the judges nar-rowed the selection down to East’s Niki Fifield and New’s Prabha Girish. Clenching tightly to their fondue sticks, the audi-ence waited nervously and silent-ly. Finally, the judges crowned Prabha Girish ’19 of New Dorm Miss Greenway 2017, marking New Dorm’s second consecutive Miss Greewnay victory. Con-gratulations to all the contes-tants and to the new winner!

Prabha Girish ‘19 perfroms a winning number.

Fit with unique cos-tumes, each of the girls embodied their dorms’ themes through outfits

that ranged from elabo-rate paper dresses to oversized UPS shirts and red bandanas.

Prahba Girish wins 2017 Pageant

COMMUNITY7

Q: What is your favorite Ma-deira tradition and why?A: “I think that the fact that all seniors hold thirteen red roses at Madeira graduation. I like it because everyone is differ-ent at this school, but there is one tradition that unites ev-eryone.”Q: Who is your role model?A: “My Dad, because he man-aged to get a scholarship to an American school when he was 16, and then he paid for school fees and Ivy league schooling to get his law degree.”Q: Where is your favorite loca-tion on Campus?A: “I think my favorite place on campus is the turf because when I play Field Hockey, all my worries go away and I for-get all my stress for two hours.”

Q: What are the main differ-ences between the United States and Kenya?A: “Humor is very different, the culture is different, the topics you talk about with your friends are different, pretty much everything is dif-ferent.”

Q: If you could go back in time to any time where would you go and what would you bring?A: “1980’s so I could figure out what being a child was like then and what it is now. I would bring back the cast of Friends and make them my friends now.”Q: If you were stranded on an island for the rest of your life, what would you bring and why?A: “Laptop with charger, my family, and my Mum’s photo albums of everyone.”

Snail of the Month

Esi Gadese ‘20

Q: What is the role of BSU in the Madeira community?Elfrieda Nwabunnia ‘17: Black Student Union is the longest running and oldest club on campus. And basically, the goal, as far as I see it, is to be both activist and affinity; to create common spaces for these girls; have conversations to talk about black culture; but then also, to make actual moves toward activ-ism on campus within the com-munity that surrounds us. The goal defers every year -- so maybe one year, the goal is to make girls comfortable on campus and to create spaces where girls can learn about their blackness and learn about each other’s culture. Next year, the goal is to introduce to the community, blackness as an idea, as a culture.

Q: Why is club important? Nandi Gzifa ‘18: I think Black Student Union was one the first places I felt a sense of community [at madeira]. When I came in as a freshman, … even before I came into black affinity groups I came to Black Student Union, and … I met some of the people that I really see as people who facilitate a real sense of community, as far as black people in the Madeira

community. And I also think that what Black Student Union does as far as educating … there was an ASM, and different things like that. Black Student Union does a lot to educate the community things that we find important.

Q: What does Black History Month mean to you?Nandi Gzifa ‘18: I remember in elementary school and middle school, where I wasn’t in a pre-dominantly white institution,

most of the people at my school looked like me or were people of color. I remember black history month was a huge deal… it was a really empowering thing. I feel like it’s a little harder to do some-

thing like that in a different kind of space like this, where not ev-eryone looks like me and you can’t be sure how accepted that would be. Especially because, personally, I felt like it was very empowering but for people who don’t share that same affinity, it could be difficult. I think that we do the most we can but I also think there is still a long way to go.Lisa Oguike ‘18: I went to a school that wasn’t a PWI, so this PWI is a new experience for me. I’ve never had to think about the fact that I am one of the few people of color, or the few black people on campus. So Back History Month really is something that means a lot to me because I there aren’t a lot of times during the year to ap-preciate the color of my skin.Elfrieda Nwabunnia ‘17: I think that, for so many girls, Black History Month can be an intro-duction into learning and appre-ciating your culture. There’s defi-nitely this aspect month of Black History Month should be every month, we should always be talking about who we are, where we come from -- we should make it regular to celebrate our culture in the way it should be celebrated. And I think that, Black History

Month is always an amazing way to begin that, or emphasize that, or bring it to the community. And so, I think that it always has the opportunity to be this amazing time.

Q: Since you’ve been a part of BSU for 3 years, how have you seen BSU’s role at Madeira change throughout your time here?Lisa Oguike ‘18: With the three years I’ve been here, the three dif-ferent BSU leaderships I’ve seen … the participation falters at certain times. I don’t know what that’s a reflection of, but person-ally I’d love for us to be a little more cohesive of a community and also for people to know that BSU is inclusive --- as much as we are a Black Student Union, BSU is open to allies, … who are willing to showcase that they’re for us.

Q: Any Additional comments:Elfrieda Nwabunnia ‘17: Being a part of diversity at Madeira -- BSU, student diversity board -- is an amazing way to show your black friends and people of color that you care. And I think one of the hard things is that as much as you can say you’re an ally, it’s something that you have to earn, you have to show…. It goes past just saying that you are, feeling like you are, or feeling like you care. And I think at some point you have to step up to the plate and be actively doing something, be caring, be a part of these con-versations. And it may not be going out to a march, but putting your voice into the pool is as much activism as anything. Nandi Gzifa ‘18: I think that something that has really made BSU a great thing for me in the past is the fact that it’s such a com-munity, and I want more people to be here to experience that with me. … I’m really excited for the future of us and the future of Black Student Union at Madeira.

Behind Black Student Union: Q and A with Madeira’s Longest Running Club

Madeira at the Women’s March on Washinton

Sequoia Ragland ‘17 paints the spirit rock outside The Hurd.

“And I think one of the hard things is that as much as you can say

you’re an ally, it’s some-thing that you have to

earn, you have to show…. It goes past just saying

that you are, feeling like you are, or feeling like you care.” -Elfrieda Nwabun-

nia ‘17

If you would like to join Black Student Union, email enwabun-nia@madeira.org

Vicky Garcia ‘17 and Sofy Marrufo ‘17

Maddy Caldeira ‘17, Izzy McMahon ‘17, Morgan Wallace ‘17, Emily Hamilton ‘17, Sequoia Ragland ‘17, and Abigail Melton ‘17.

Perrin McHugh ‘19, Audery Birchfield ‘19, Katie Joiner ‘19, and Aves Mocek ‘19.

Mae Hunt ‘17, Claire Pitzer ‘17, Milenah Nascimento ‘17, and Mary Kate Gould ‘17.

ATHLETICS 8

The RAW captains are so proud of everyone’s will-

ingness to get out and spirited! Since the beginning of this year, we have seen amazing participa-tion and support at a variety of Madeira events. You snails are rocking it! There were tons of things that happened this fall that should make you proud. The riding team has done a superb job beating IEA teams and Varsity Volleyball crushed it, winning their regular season. Also, stu-dents who were in and behind the scenes of Get Smart put on an amazing performance. It is so important to acknowledge our community’s successes and to continue cheering and support-ing fellow snails year round. You might be wonder-ing, what are a few events to look forward to in the upcom-ing months. Watch spring sports home games on the fields. It will be exciting to see how far the Varsity Lacross Team can go this year, granted that the final ISL game is at home. Also, stay tuned watching Varsity and JV Softball Teams who are set up for a great and exciting season. Second, you can sit anxiously waiting for the One Acts, which will be a spectacular shows. Remember to stay spir-ited even when it’s cold!

RAW CornerMorgan Wallace ‘17Contributing Writer The New Madeira Mascot

With heavy footsteps slowly walking into the CA, ev-

eryone’s nerves were tightened up. It was so quiet that you can clearly hear breathe of the person next to you. Round face, red bow tie and big eyes, here it comes, our new snail mascot. After the first appearance on parent weekend, I was lucky to chat with our new friend and I

am going to share some fun fact of her. Unlike typical snails, our new mascot is definitely a foodie. She loves all kinds of food that she cannot decide which one is her favorite, but she does have a favorite place for food-Madeira dining hall! She loves all Sodexo food, which is one reason she is so in love with the Madeira School. After over 125 submis-sions, Sequioa Ragland ‘17 won

Snailed It:

Fay Zhang ‘18Staff Writer

Photo by Shayna Riggins ‘18.

Wintery Snails Heat Up the Game

a highly competitive naming process, with the snail’s name being written into Madeira history as “Shelly S. Cargot.” Shelly’s name was announced at her welcoming parade at the winter pep rally. You may want to know where to find where she is now. When all of her friends are at class, she likes to takes a walk around campus. Sometimes she also hangs out at the Black Pond, taking naps and enjoying

the best scenery. However, she does move a lot that you never know where she is and when she is going to pop up. Our new snail is also athletic and spirited, she knows all different sports and she always goes to sport events to cheer for her favorite people-the Madeira girls. All of her clothes are red and white; she loves Madeira so much that these are her favorite colors. Be sure to wave at Shelly when you see her around!

Photos from Madeira SmugMugWinter Sports Photo Essay