By Scroll Editors

Since the terrorist attacks in September, Deerfield students have voiced worries concerning their detachment from the political situation of the outside world. Many deem the school's isolated location and rigorous daily schedule as the main sources of the problem, and feel discouraged that nothing substantial can be done to alleviate the situation. Despite what students may believe, however, there are a number of solutions-school meeting just being one of them.

The typical school meeting consists of a string of elaborate announcements. Sports victories are commended, weekend options presented through skits, and PowerPoint presentations given by various campus organizations. The program rarely extends beyond matters directly relevant in the Deerfield community. In order to address the issue at hand, the student body must aim at expanding and diversifying the focus of the meeting agenda.

That having been said, over twenty student organizations exist on campus from which new information and perspectives can be drawn. The Democrat and Republican clubs should be aware of new legislation; Amnesty International writes letters regularly in behalf of the politically oppressed; and the Environmental Action Group fights for open space and more. A brief account from students belonging to any one of these groups would help educate the Deerfield community.

Taking further advantage of student resources, if following the news proves difficult for a large majority of the student body, why not designate a group of students to provide a brief, weekly update every Tuesday? Opening up the bulletin board space in the Main School Building and elsewhere on campus for students to post interesting articles from newspapers and journals is another idea already being pursued.

More invitations to outside speakers with valuable insight may also help externalize the focus. With the five colleges surrounding us, there is a wealth of options to explore. In response to the disconcerting events of September, Northfield Mount Hermon recently invited Professor Michael Clare of Hampshire College to inform students about the Middle East. If something like this would interest students at Deerfield, the school is more than capable of arranging it. Deerfield students, however, must either make known their particular areas of interest or request specific guest speakers to come during school meetings.

Although extremely busy, Deerfield faculty members are yet another alternative worth considering. Mr. Widmer regularly comes to meetings armed with new vocabulary words and grammar lessons, but as students well know, there is much more to be learned from the Deerfield faculty than just grammar. In his Ordinary People, Extraordinary Times classes Bernie Baker frequently draws parallels from past crises in U.S. history to recent U.S. government responses to the terrorist attacks. Tom Heise's Modern Times also compares present military action in Afghanistan to past U.S. efforts in Panama. There are many students interested in learning this sort of thing, but only a handful can attend their classes. The community would benefit greatly from hearing more about these subjects.

At any rate, the Senior Reading and writing exercise two weeks ago were a starting point. The survey question allowed students a moment of much-needed reflection as they tried to put in words varying emotions of anger, confusion, and fear. During those ten minutes, students forgot about the math test seventh period or the English paper assigned the period before, and took the opportunity to relate themselves to the events, the "real world," students feel so isolated from here in Deerfield.

The school administration has begun to address the issue and now it is left to the student body to maintain this effort. It is time we students took responsibility for the quality of our school meetings and geared them to meet the community's needs.