The Loomis Chaffee Log Issue CIV, No. 2 Est. 1915 • 4 Batchelder Rd., Windsor, CT October 25, 2019 LC Goes Solar New Solar Array to Supply Campus with Green Energy By NICHOLAS DARRAS ’21 Loomis buys energy from. The energy de- Contributor livered will substantially decrease Loomis’s power bill,” he said. As Loomis’ energy bill This fall on the Island, Loomis Chaffee decreases, the school will be able to put will finally finish installing a massive solar more tuition dollars toward other needs. array, originally scheduled to open in Feb- “The cost of the array is minimal because ruary of 2019. Set to be finished by early of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) November, this array will supply Loomis Loomis made,” Mr. Hall said. The PPA is an with cleaner, green energy. agreement whereby Loomis will purchase The project was initially developed by energy at a cheap fixed price for 25 years, Jason Liu ’17. Drawing on his research and while a third party company will take care coursework, and working alongside As- of maintenance and installation of the sociate Director of the Alvord Center Mr. array. Jeff Dyreson, Jason developed the idea of During the construction of the array, implementing solar panels around campus finding an appropriate place to put it for his Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship proved challenging. In the area surround- (GEF) project. ing Loomis are various wetlands protected Jason’s goal was to have a solar array that under Connecticut law. Loomis had the could meet 25-30% of the electrical demand option of placing the array in the wetlands of our campus. That amount of energy under the condition that they would replace would be capable of powering over 900 the wetlands somewhere else, but unfortu- homes. nately, the wetland in the desired area was After several delays, the panels were in poor condition. officially installed this past summer. Cur- Ultimately, the array was installed in a rently, everything is finished except the dry area west of the train tracks and outside connection from the array to the electrical of the wetlands and floodplain to avoid substation, which is set to be completed by future conflicts. October 25. The array will then officially be According to Mr. Hall, the school con- put to use in November. sidered other possible locations, including Director of Physical Plant Mr. Lance on the top of buildings or in other dry lands Hall explained that in addition to providing in the western side of our campus, but cleaner energy, the array will have great ultimately rejected them. financial benefits. “The power collected from the array will Photo by Haven Low ’21 be transported to Eversource, the company The solar array is located behind the turf field by the hockey rink. Jason Liu ’17 initiated the plan to install the solar panels, which will be functional by Novem- ber after several delays due to legal and logistical issues. Parents Weekend Becomes Family Weekend By EMILY KHYM ’23 On one hand, the name switch is intend- Contributor ed to help students and their families feel a sense of belonging on campus. Family Weekend Highlights Recently, “Parents’ Weekend” was “People who don’t have parents, and in- changed to “Family Weekend” in an effort stead have guardians, now feel included,” to make the event more inviting for other Kate Shymkiv ’22 said. Friday, October 25 Saturday, October 26 family members or guardians. “The new name makes it sound more “In conjunction with the committee, we open to everyone in the family,” Tony Chun 2:00-4:00 p.m. 8:30-9:30 a.m. changed the name of Parents Weekend to ’22 said. Family Weekend this year. Knowing that On the other hand, Mr. Jeffrey Scanlon International Families Meet & Faculty and Parents Meet & grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and ’79, English faculty member, believes that Greet in Brush Library Greet in Brush Library others participate in the weekend’s events the change was not necessary. and activities, it was determined that ad- “I do not think it needed to be changed,” justing the name to Family Weekend was Mr. Scanlon said. Mr. Scanlon feels that 3:30-5:15 p.m. 3:00-6:00 p.m. more welcoming and inclusive of those who guardians or siblings would have come any- Open Rehearsal for “Macbeth” in Home Games on Campus (see attend,” Mrs. Lisa Ross, director of alumni way, whether or not the name changed. and parent relations, said. the NEO Theater page 10 for schedule) October EDITORS’ CONNECT WITH US! PICKS The Loomis Chaffee Log News (Page 2) Flik Debunks Food Package Rumors - 2 Features (Pages 3-6) The Loomis Chaffee Log Students to Perform “Macbeth” - 3 Opinions (7-8) LC’s Political Culture - 8 @thelog BRIDGEPORT, CT PERMIT NO. 140 U.S. POSTAGE PRSRT STD Sports (9-10) PAID Family Weekend Preview - 10 www.thelclog.org Mélange (11-12) @thelclog Tips to Prep for the SAT - 12 2 | NEWS The Loomis Chaffee Log October 25, 2019 Team Photos Under the ageMost of Susceptible 15 & over Age Group the age of 50 Return to Olcott EEE Found in TotalIncluding 21 SouthTowns Windsor in CT in 2019 11 Deaths Reported in 2019 3 Deaths Near the Southern Coast of CT EEE Stokes Fear in Connecticut By ANNA LI ’21 coma, there have been only 11 total cases of Staff Writer death in the United States in 2019. Connecticut has had three deaths that re- Loomis Chaffee had widely cautioned sulted from an EEE infection, but all human students about the infectious virus Eastern cases of infection occurred far away from Photo by Angela Wang ’20 equine encephalitis (EEE) following its re- Loomis Chaffee, near the southern coasts of The 2019 varsity softball team photograph has returned to its rightful place on cent emergence in Connecticut and Massa- Connecticut. the wall of Olcott Athletics Center. chusetts. Loomis Chaffee, following steps taken A rare disease most dangerous to persons by Windsor and other surrounding towns, over the age of 50 and under the age of 15, had banned evening activities to reduce the EEE has been detected in mosquitoes in a risk of mosquito bites. However, LC finally By KELLY XUE ’21 and question the absence of their team pho- Features Editor tos. total of 21 Connecticut towns in 2019, in- removed that ban this week, after several Ms. Cabot expressed her frustration at cluding South Windsor. cold evenings resulted in a mosquito-killing Photos featuring rows of cheerful varsity the misconception that the Athletic Depart- While EEE causes deadly symptoms such frost. athletes and coaches have long adorned the ment was considering to discontinue the as swelling in the brain, cyanosis, and even walls of the Olcott Center. practice. These familiar, black-framed photo- “I think it’s a wonderful tradition,” she graphs have documented Loomis Chaffee’s said, explaining that halting the picture tra- varsity athletic history for generations. But dition had never been their intent. when students returned to school last year, In previous years, the school spent ap- they found an empty space where they had proximately $3500 on the picture frames Water Warriors expected their team photos to be. annually, according to Ms. Cabot. She be- This fall, however, the photos have been lieved that preserving the tradition justified updated and reinstalled after a brief de- the cost. Receive Sponsorship lay due to a mishap involving the picture “Representing the past is always worth frames. the effort,” Ms. Cabot said, adding that she Before the summer of 2018, the Athletic enjoys seeing alumni finding their old pho- Department ordered frames for team photos tographs during visits. from their usual frame company. The com- The Athletic Department resolved the is- pleted frames, which arrived six months af- sue by bringing the frames to the Pearse Hub ter the order placement, were found to be for Innovation and manually sawing off the too large and unfit for the frame holders. edges to the correct proportions and finally The framers from which they ordered drawing their year-long quest to a close. subsequently went out of business. Athletic All of the team photographs have now Director Susan Cabot explained that look- been added. Ms. Cabot explained that in the ing for other options, the department began future, they may possibly choose to frame a lengthy process in the search for a frame the photographs after each sport season with appropriate dimensions and eventually rather than organizing them all in June as ordered around 15 different frames. they had previously done, so as to partition “It became a difficult process,” Ms. Cabot the work. said. Furthermore, there are plans to switch She commented that with limited extra out the colored photos for black and white time on top of her other responsibilities, ones to create a more uniform look. these unanticipated intricacies, like obtain- At the beginning of this school year, ing the frames, took much longer than ex- when Ms. Cabot was rearranging the photo- pected. graphs to make space for the new additions, The uneven widths of the frame hold- she noticed that many of the older photos ers further complicated the situation as the had also been cut at the bottom as a result of Photo by Skyler Hanley ’20 frames “were not one-size-fits-all.” ill-fitting frames. By then, the new school year was already “If only I had known!” Ms. Cabot said. Trent Hieber ’22, a member of the boys’ varsity water polo team, helps out with well underway and students began to notice the Water Warriors program.