December 2015

BARD FREE PRESS

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY

DECEMBER 2015

VOLUME XVII ISSUE 2

bard free press EDITOR-IN-CHIEF grady nixon

NEWS EDITOR acacia nunes

OPINION EDITOR erin o’leary

PHOTO EDITOR olivia crumm

COPY EDITOR thatcher snyder

MANAGING EDITOR madi garvin

CULTURE EDITOR pansy schulman

SPORTS EDITOR avery mencher :(

ONLINE EDITOR niall murphy

COPY STAFF charles mcfarlane

DESIGN DIRECTOR mya gelber

BARDIVERSE EDITOR mady thuyein

NEWS [04] CULTURE [11] BARDIVERSE [23] SPORTS [24] OPINION [25]

[ TERMS ] the free press reserves the right to edit all submissions for spelling, grammar,

and coherence. we protect our student journalists’ first amendment rights and

accept the responsibilities that accompany that freedom. content decisions are made by the editorial board, and the free press will not print anything libelous or

discriminatory in nature. anonymous submissions can only be printed if the writers consult with the editorial board first.

all articles in the features and opinion sections reflect the opinions of the authors, not those of the free press editorial board or staff. responses to opinions are totally welcome and can be sent to bardfreepress@gmail.com, as can letters to the editors.

all letters submitted to the free press will be considered for publication unless the writer requests otherwise. they will be edited for space, content and grammar.

FRONT COVER BY IZZY LEUNG BACK COVER BY BRENDAN HUNT THIS PHOTO BY GRAYLEN GATEWOOD

LUKE, I AM YOUR PAPER The semester is almost over. Congrats to all! Enjoy your month-long furlough, enjoy your rest, enjoy the cold reminder of how unenjoyable family time can be, so that your mind is tricked into missing this frigid place. Some of us will celebrate holidays, some of us will celebrate the newest Star Wars movie, all of us will celebrate a break. Enjoy it. You worked hard. At the very least you told everyone you worked hard, an exhausting task in itself. Remember that part in The Empire Strikes Back when Luke is hanging from a ledge, and Darth Vader is all like, “join me,” so Luke tosses him a look communicating, “Dude you just cut off my arm.” I guess what I’m trying to say is, join me. A lot of people like to criticize the Free Press, and some months we make it really easy to do so. I think there’s this misconception that the Free Press is this external thing that just quietly comes out, and it’s this shitty thing we can mock for its inconsistencies, its errors, and failures. The Free Press, ego-coaxing as it is for me to think of as great, is just a student newspaper. It’s easy to criticize the Free Press when you contextualize it as a publication devoid of your voice. The reality is that by abstaining, by withholding yourself, you are influencing how the Free Press turns out each issue.

Most of the problems we have come from a lack of submissions, a small staff, and a tight schedule. We are spread thin. We still put something out because we what we do is important. If you don’t like how the Free Press is, come to an assignment meeting. Write something for us, help copy-edit, submit photos and illustrations. If you have an opinion on anything, if your club feels underrepresented, send us a piece. We’ll publish it. We are your newspaper and we are shaped by how the student body engages with us. If you care enough about the final product to rag on it, you just might care enough to help us improve it. Join me.

Grady Nixon Editor-in-Chief

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NEWS ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN’S PRIZED FICTION WINS HER THE BARD FICTION PRIZE

BY THATCHER SNYDER

This year’s Bard Fiction Prize winner has been announced. Alexandra Kleeman, 29, of Brooklyn, N.Y., won $30,000 and a semester-long residency at Bard for her debut novel, “You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine,” published by HarperCollins on August 25, 2015.

The Bard Fiction Prize is awarded once a year to an up-and-coming American writer of fiction. Once at the college, their duties are to give one reading at some point in the semester, to write, and to hold a few informal gatherings for students. The shape of these gatherings is usually determined jointly with the students, and is a great way to spend some time with a writer in a more intimate setting than a class, or at a reading.

Kleeman’s new novel tracks the progress of a woman named A, her roommate and lookalike B, and A’s boyfriend, C, in a near future wherein products are even more aggressively marketed than today and a kind of ashen loneliness has eaten through bodies, creating a flatness – a grayness – in life. Populating this world is also a cult, The Christian Church of the Conjoined Eater, the Manichean doctrine, which revolves around eating foods that contain light, rather than foods “produced in a dark realm by ghosts of the types of people you know;” a processed snack cake, Kandy Kakes, which is ceaselessly advertised in a series of graphic cartoons and the sadistic lunacy of which brings to mind The Simpsons’ Itchy and Scratchy; a popular game show; and a mass of fathers whose sudden disappearance, and subsequent reappearance, months later, seeming experienced of a period of localized amnesia, has specialists baffled.

Disappearing Dad Disorder, they call it.

Kleeman’s novel, alternately dystopic and screwball, insistently explores our American concept of the body — how it is marketed to us, what it means to us, how we abuse it, and what we want from it. The novel’s first line, “Is it true that we are more or less the same on the inside?” cleverly subverts literature’s claim to empathy: the way in which a novel gives us access to another’s consciousness with which we are meant to sympathize — by literalizing its sense: “I don’t mean psychologically. I’m thinking of the vital organs, the stomach, heart, lungs, liver.” The central tension of the novel is A’s desire to escape her body, to leave it behind, even as it remains attached to her, eternally disappointing.

“Fairy Tale,” Kleeman’s first published story, came out in The Paris Review in 2010. At the time she was a student in Columbia University’s MFA program. One of her professors, upon reading “Fairy Tale,” sent it to Lorin Stein, the magazine’s editor, who accepted it without knowing anything about the author — not even her name. Since then, the Fiction Prize winner has been published in a number of prestigious magazines, including Guernica, BOMB, Zoetrope: All-Story,

and Bard’s own Conjunctions. She is also an accomplished essayist, and has a collection of short fiction forthcoming from HarperCollins in 2016.

photo by graylen gatewood

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BY MIRIAM RODAY

From the man who sparked electric discussions on Jackie Robinson, prohibition, and the history of standup comedy, we can expect another piece on the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI).

New York native and filmmaker Ken Burns has been producing works on important political, social and cultural phenomena for over 35 years. According to David Zurawik, a contributor for The Baltimore Sun, “Burns is not only the greatest documentarian of the day, but also the most influential filmmaker period.”

Burns’ next project, one he has been working on for two years, will recount the workings of BPI, an initiative that allows institutionalized men and women to receive a Bard College degree while serving their sentences. He announced his plans for this documentary on October 6, when the inmates incarcerated at the Eastern New York correctional facility beat three undergraduate students of Harvard’s debate team.

The US Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, watched the debate and tweeted, “Someone should make a movie about this true story.” He then responded to his own thread, exclaiming Ken Burns “is way ahead of me, has been working on this movie for the last 2 years!” Over the course of the afternoon, a film crew shot and gathered material for the documentary that will be released in 2018.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Lynn Novick is the director of this project, and Ken Burns is the executive producer. Their tentative title for the piece is “College Behind Bars.”

NOT EVERYTHING IN KLINE IS GARBAGE THROW AWAY THE FOOD, NOT THE PLATES

BY KATHERINE BONNIE

It’s Sunday. I am walking on the Tivoli Bays trail towards the water. It is late afternoon. The fall light is warm, infectious. My feet march through dry grass.

Then, all of a sudden, I stumble upon some dirty relics — a plate and cup are tucked away at the side of the trail, a little weather beaten. Remnants of picnicking?

Someone seeking a little peace and quiet with their meal? This is one of the more peculiar places I have come across rogue Kline dishware. I pick up the dining hall items and carry on.

For Katrina Light, Bard College’s sustainability advocate, the topic of disappearing reusables in Kline is a heated and important issue. Light, who spearheads sustainability and nutrition at Bard, budgeting for local, farm-sourced organic food, and putting together events such as September’s Food Day farmer’s market, notes the harmful increase of disposable use in Kline.

“We’re currently going through 12,000 to 15,000 paper cups a week in Kline alone. That is more cups than people swiping into Kline. We brought new mugs,

cups and plates out at the end of October and they are almost all gone,” says Light.

According to Light, more than 10,000 reusable plastic cups went missing during the 2014–2015 school year. With numbers like these, Chartwells has been financially pushed to put out more disposable paper plates, cups, and plastic silver ware. Talk of switching to a completely disposable system has begun to surface.

Chris McMahan, Chartwells’ executive chef at Bard, also recognizes the increased need for disposables. “In order for us to use more reusables and less disposables we would have to put out new plates, silverware, and cups every two to three weeks to keep up with the amount disappearing. Each reusable costs more [than paper], meaning future increase in rates, and more disposables,” he said.

The problem touches other areas of campus. The librarians collect and return around 10-20 plastic cups every day from the four floors of Stevenson Library. And Environmental Services has been asked to throw away these items when left

unattended and out of place in dormitories. “I really don’t want Bard to turn into a school where we are forced to use more and more disposables because the reusables are being stolen or thrown away,” Light continues. “Although the paper cups are technically compostable, our system on campus can’t break them down, and they are going to the landfill.

This is a problem with a very straightforward solution. Keep the reusables in Kline. Don’t take them to your dorms and don’t throw them away. If you do see these items around campus — bring them back. When you have the choice between paper or reusables, choose reusables.”

Katrina Light and I sit at the back of Kline and we brainstorm possible solutions to this problem. Designated return bins located around campus? Rearrange the location of reusables and disposables around the dining hall to alter usage trends? Whatever ideas crop up between the two of us, one thing is certain. The need for community-wide change is monumental, if we want to keep Bard from turning disposable.

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KEN BURNS FOLLOWS STORY OF BPI DOESN’T FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

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STICK TO THE (HEALTH) PLAN B&G UNION STRUGGLES TO KEEP INSURANCE AFFORDABLE

BY NIALL MURPHY

Ongoing labor negotiations between administration and workers may be chipping away at Bard’s liberal exterior. The three-year contract for Buildings and Grounds workers is up, but talks don’t appear to be going anywhere, as negotiations have repeatedly been met with delays and cancellations. Bard’s decision to require a higher employee contribution for health care ignited the dispute between the administration and workers who had previously paid a reduced rate for their health costs. With the new contract introduced this past June, administration wanted Buildings and Grounds to accept the same rate for healthcare as faculty and staff.

Additionally, the contract would require workers to forfeit their right to negotiate any increases to their healthcare plan over the next three years. As Student Labor Dialogue member sophomore Olive Kuhn explains: “By accepting that rate, changes to that rate would be up to the college and would not be bargained over.” The 45 workers balked at that contract, demanding instead to transfer to a more affordable healthcare plan offered to them by their

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photo by olivia crumm

the college is both a matter of economics and equity. Not only will increasing B&G’s costs work to subsidize the $14 million the college pays annually for providing their employees healthcare, but will also support the egalitarian aspirations of a college working to treat employees across all departments as equals.

However, while representatives from B&G would agree equality is at the forefront of these debates, they argue the college is looking for it in the wrong place. “Jim Brudvig makes $200,000 a year,” says Steve Pinchbeck, HVAC mechanic and the Chair for B&G workers in these negotiations, “Now, is his salary drawn from a fair comparison to the rest of the college?” The answer of course, is no.

The average Bard worker brings in $57,000 a year, Brudvig’s compensation — according to a 2011 release — comes out to $235,463.

Even with this high figure, Brudvig tells me his own costs for college healthcare comes to $217 a month; under his new proposed labor contract, B&G workers on the same plan would be paying $190. As Pinchbeck puts it, “$190 from $57,000 is a lot different than $217 taken from $200,000.”

Instead of deriving B&G’s health care rates by looking at what the rest of the college is paying, Pinchbeck advocates for a comparison to those making similar wages and working in similar capacities employed at some of Bard’s neighboring institutions: “Historically, in negotiations, we have made comparisons between ourselves and Marist and Vassar; the idea being we’re doing the same work in the same location: true comparables. And at Vassar and Marist they pay absolutely nothing for their healthcare.” This is remarkably different form Bard’s current policy, where even those single employees paying no monthly contribution are still subject to a number of costs and fees associated with their supposedly complimentary plan. But at Vassar and Marist, “they have no employee contribution, no copay, no deductibles, no nothing”. Regarding other school’s gratis health coverage, Pinchbeck adds, “we’re not even asking for that, just to stay at the cost we’re at.”

The justification for charging college B&G workers less for their healthcare is tied to the nature of their work. It seems logical that those shoveling snow in the middle of a snowstorm or working with high voltage electrical equipment would be more prone to injury than those who make their living in front of a chalkboard or behind a desk. In fact, when I met with Pinchbeck he described an incident just the day before where work on an electric unit left his face covered in blood. Thus, a reduced cost of healthcare for service workers is not just the convention for schools in the Hudson Valley, it’s also a sign of acknowledgment from institutions of the physical danger service workers place themselves in — a reassurance that if they find themselves harmed or injured, the college has got their backs.

However, Brudvig doesn’t see B&G jobs as possessing the same degree of peril as the workers do. “It’s not dangerous work.

Electricians are never in danger… they don’t work with high voltage equipment.”

Though the college has verbally agreed to worker’s demands to move on to their own healthcare plan, at the time of writing, no labor contract has been formally signed. In Pinchbeck’s words: “We’re in this place where the administration is still arguing against this healthcare plan they agreed to.”

B&G representatives attribute much of the gridlock in negotiations to Brudvig himself.

Even though, as Brudvig and Pinchbeck both point out, Brudvig was an early advocate for raising the underpaid workers’ dismal salaries to competitive wages when he assumed his position, in recent years workers have felt an undeniable tone of animosity coming from the Chief Financial Officer. “The harsh retorts of Jim Brudvig to our absolutely rightful, legitimate requests really strikes at the problem,” Pinchbeck says regarding volatile negotiation meetings that he refers to as being undermined by “a lack of respect.” Brudvig himself admits to “losing his cool” in one particular negotiation session that saw him raising his voice and hurling a stack papers across the desk before workers, inevitably leading to them walking out of the meeting.

Robert Dickson, a carpenter for B&G and Pinchbeck’s vice chair, chalks up labor negotiations and Brudvig’s accompanying demeanor to a conservatism often unforeseen by the college’s academic community. “You have Bard College, the educational institution, which is a great institution...But then there’s the business aspect that has to run the college, that has to make numbers work. There’s a certain logic behind what they do that’s run like a business.

Unfortunately it sort of belies the facade of a liberal arts college. You’re not dealing with a nice history professor anymore.”

Bard’s endowment is a third of what Marist’s is and a tenth of Vassar’s. The paltry endowment, then, results in a fiscal conservatism that, when tied to administrator’s repeated insolence toward Bard’s workers, severely undermines the school’s progressive ambitions. In the words of William S. Burroughs, Dickson regards this as “seeing what’s on the end of your fork.”

The college’s labor negotiations with organized workers such as Environmental Services, Security, and Buildings and Grounds are often exhausting, tedious and repeatedly see attempts by administration to disparage the work these employees do in order to, as Pinchbeck says, “squeeze every last dollar out of us that they can.” What’s perhaps most troubling is that many of Bard’s workers do not have any such union to offer them a platform to voice their frustrations with unfair labor practices. Administrative secretaries, shuttle drivers, and CCS security guards are just a few examples of the institution’s employees who have far less means of resistance to administration than B&G workers do. Considering the college’s tone of disrespect extended to unionized laborers and attempts to raise the price they pay for their health, it is concerning to think how they may compromise the livelihoods of their most vulnerable employees in the future.

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union, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — a plan separate from the the rest of the college and one with a lower monthly contribution. Bard’s Chief Financial Officer Jim Brudvig was the administrator behind this decision, arguing for it from a position of fairness.

“We’re in this together” Brudvig told me in reference to the workers’ desire to remove themselves from Bard’s healthcare plan. “It doesn’t seem very community-like for me to be paying for them and for them not to be paying for me.”

Currently, B&G workers pay little more than half of what the rest of the college pays for healthcare. A professor or dean who has a family and makes $60,000 a year would see roughly $245 deducted for health costs. B&G workers — who average roughly $57,000 — would see about $100 taken from their bi-monthly paychecks.

Furthermore, whereas as single employees (those who are unmarried or whose spouse is on a separate healthcare plan) pay around $75 for their coverage, single employees in B&G pay no monthly fee. In Brudvig’s eyes, “that’s not fair.” For him the administration’s decision to move B&G’s health costs in line with the rest of

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DEMANDING DIFFERENCE BLACK OUT BARD: A WALK OUT

BY ACACIA NUNES

At noon on November 18, dressed in a black shirt and black pants, junior Salim Chagui stood on Ludlow Lawn. “We are not here for the people of color. We are here for the black students.

And I want that to be explicit,” he said. Standing in front of eight other students of color, he was addressing the Bard community at an event titled Black Out Bard: “People’s lives are at stake, if not people’s lives, people’s well-beings and their humanity. We are here because we are invested in preserving that. The first step of that is acknowledging who we’re talking about and who we’re talking to.”

Across the country racism has become an increasingly prevalent and pressing issue. The recent events that occurred at the University of Missouri catalyzed a wave of uproar and outcry throughout college campuses, and Bard did not sit quietly. Chagui, a transfer student majoring in human rights and political science, messaged a group of students asking them to get involved in planning the walkout.

According to Chagui, at peak presence, approximately 500 Bard students walked out of their classes, jobs, and other obligations to stand together in solidarity with Mizzou.

“I was like let’s do this,” he said.

“We decided on Wednesday at 3 o’clock at first, and somebody said it wasn’t disruptive enough.

We decided it’d be best to do it at noon, because the intention originally was to be as disruptive as possible.”

Chagui said that after sending the message it was simply a matter of getting the logistical matters settled. Such matters included writing the speeches, knowing who was going to say what, what demands they would read. Whether or not they would identify as a collective was a decision they decided against. “This didn’t happen in any official capacity, because it was just kind of a group that we pulled together

last minute,” said Chagui.

On the Sunday before the walkout the group met to organize a plan. Unfortunately, according to Chagui, the meeting felt fragmented due to the number of thoughts and opinions that were suggested. “The process behind organizing wasn’t easy, it wasn’t simple, because so many people brought so many different ideas to the table. At the end of the day we didn’t agree on everything,” he said. Junior Abiba Salahou, a biology major and co-facilitator of the walkout, also noted the difficulty in too many voices. “There were originally 21 of us in the Facebook group. One of the challenges was just having so many people in an online forum, it’s hard to figure out what the initial message is,” she said.

Ultimately, though, the group was able to come to a working intention, and on the Wednesday following the meeting, held a major rally. Following Chagui’s opening remarks, junior Tayler Butler took the mic and gave a detailed timeline of racist events that have occurred on U.S. college campuses, which, together, led to Bard’s walkout. They span from August 2014, with Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson to Missouri to protests held by black students at Mizzou during this year’s homecoming. “It doesn’t end there,” said junior Natalie Desrosiers, taking over the microphone and continuing the timeline. She went on to describe an occurrence at Yale University involving racist Halloween costumes, and the university’s poor response.

Salahou was next to speak and informed the community of a group she and Chagui are starting comprised of students invested in making an actual change on campus. “Complacency is part of the problem,” she said.

“And at a certain point complaining becomes pointless. We have to do something that will affect our tomorrows and our next days and our next days.” Salahou then went on to read quotes she heard

across campus prior to the walkout. “To those of us who think that ‘everyone is on the same page about race,’ and that ‘these kinds of gatherings are just an excuse for white liberals to protest,’ I want to read to you some quotes that I’ve heard in the past few days in regards to the walkout,” she said. They included: “I’m not leaving a class that I am paying for a demonstration that doesn’t need to happen.”

“We are all on the same page about this whole race thing, that’s what they don’t get.”

“These kids should think thoroughly before they bash an institution that worked hard to get them here.”

“I don’t even care about this shit, I’m just happy we don’t have class.”

From there, sophomore Funto Omojola addressed the faculty directly and asked for more people of color to be hired, stating that the number of current faculty of color is “unacceptable.”

“Part of the job of a university is to prepare students for life beyond the university,” she continued. “As such, it is an act of negligence that there is no explicit requirement to learn about any form of social justice at this college.” She went on to demand that the college make it possible for faculty and students to engage in social justice discussions in a structured, safe way.

Sophomore Adela Foo then spoke to the need to change the Rethinking Difference requirement. “The goals of this requirement must be made clear to students,” she stated. Perhaps one of the most notable take-aways from the walkout was the vocalization to alter the FYSem curriculum. “The changing nature of our society and world must be reflected in the FYSem curriculum in terms of diversifying the authors chosen for the class,” said Foo. “It is unacceptable to introduce a black author only in the context of slavery.” Since the walkout the group of students

Salahou referred to has drafted a list of additional authors for FYSem syllabi. Additionally, a recent meeting took place consisting of Dean of the College Rebecca Thomas, deans from DOSA, faculty members, and students to discuss the list of demands, specifically alterations to the FYSem curriculum.

Three other student organizers spoke following Foo’s portion, after which they opened the floor to any students of color who wished to say something. More than 15 students and four faculty members spoke about their experiences with race relations on campus and in their own lives.

Each statement garnered snaps and applause from the audience as students eloquently offered on-the-spot honest opinions and thoughts. “Everyone contributed something powerful,” said Salahou.

Since the walkout, several other events have occurred on campus including another walkout for students against police brutality, which took place on December 1, the Race Monologues on December 4, and a race workshop held the following day during which students addressed specific changes in race relations they hope to see at Bard. The walkout helped raise awareness about events happening around campus, and as a result, conversations are taking place and student presence has increased.

However, as Salahou stated at the walkout, “complacency is part of the problem.” Various students spoke to the fact that there is still work to be done, and we as a community should not applaud ourselves for attending only to sit back now. The importance of these conversations will not diminish. If the walkout had a closing message, it was a call to action. Chagui urged of us to be more than allies — we must be “co-conspirators,” he stated. We must show up.

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photos by forrest ward-cherry

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STI EDUCATION ON CAMPUS SPREADING AWARENESS, NOT HIV

BY OLIVIA SMITH

At 8:05 p.m. on November 17th, only a dozen people had arrived in Weis Cinema. “People will stream in. It’s the Bard way,” Health Services director Barbara Jean Briskey assured the two guest speakers. Sure enough, the audience doubled in the next few minutes. Even so, more than half of the seats would remain empty for the rest of the presentation. The occasion was a Q&A lecture organized by Health Services, titled “Sex Can Be Fun. STIs are NOT Fun. Sexually Transmitted Infections: The FACTS.” The event was organized in response to a recent increase in sexually transmitted infections at Bard and in the surrounding areas.

The keynote speakers were Dr. Charles Kutler, an Infectious Disease Specialist based in Kingston, and Andrew Evans, MPH, from the Dutchess County Health Department. Both have been working in their field for decades, and have witnessed the rise, slight fall, and the recent steady rise of HIV. “We both go back to New York in the ‘70s. We both were there when HIV was killing our friends and patients, and they were dying in our arms,” Evans said.

The information was presented in two separate slideshows. The first focused on specific diseases and infections and of the vari-

ous symptoms and treatments associated with them. After each slide, an image was shown depicting that disease or infection at it’s most advanced and puss­-filled stage.

Sophomore Analiese Dorff, who worked as a promoter for the event, had some criticism: “I was upset that there was no content warning for the pictures, which were quite graphic and disturbing.” Many in the audience literally shielded their eyes when a picture of a newborn baby infected with syphilis appeared. The second slideshow consisted of graphs and charts relaying disease and infection rates in Duchess County. By the time it was shown, more than a few people had already left.

Overall, promoter Analiese Dorff was less than thrilled. “I was actually pretty disappointed with how the presentation was put on,” she said. “I really hate the use of scare tactics in sex­-ed, I believe it only serves to further stigmatize something that is actually quite a normal part of sexual behavior.” To address the issue in a format with less shock-value, Peer Health will start having dorm programs about safe sex beginning next semester.

CULTURE

BARD BARS: THE BIRTH OF A RAP COMMUNITY

BY MADDY FIRKSER A new club has made its presence loud and clear on campus.

Bard Bars is a hip hop club, comprised of diverse members, whose talents range from self-written songs and beats to onthe-spot freestyles.

During the short time that Bard Bars has been around, it created a community that has been very helpful for Bard’s emerging artists. Bard Bars member and first-year student, Eli Odinga, has found that the collaboration the club promotes has had an immensely positive effect on him, and his musical process. “It’s good to be surrounded by people that want to see you succeed with what you’re doing...Being around other artists frequently makes you want to be a better artist.” The club’s inclusive atmosphere is palpable. At their meetings, or “cyphers,” the members discuss contemporary topics of hip hop culture, and practice freestyling.

Bard Bars has gotten a lot of attention for bringing some change to the Bard’s music scene. Eli Odinga says “It’s definitely helping [to diversify Bard’s music scene]. There’s usually a lot of alternative music played at the venues we have on campus. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but diversity is a great thing. Bard Bars brings an entirely different world to Bard. A world of honesty, emotion, passion, and lyrics that matter. Bard needs that right now.”

One can witness this new wave of music that Bard Bars is bringing to campus at one of their live performances. At their most recent showcase at SMOG this past October, most members performed both pre-written and freestyled pieces. Additionally, some members, such as Eli Odinga and senior Pete Anchel, have even participated in Root Cellar shows. photo by austin morris

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CULTURE photo by sam williams

PRIMARY SCHOOL BARDIANS’ TOP PICKS FOR TOP OFFICE

BY EVA-MARIE QUINONES

Bard College has a definite political skew: Forbes, The Princeton Review, The Huffington Post, and Niche, have all noted that Bard is a progressive bastion of liberal ideals. In 2012, Bard was rated the most liberal school in America by the Princeton Review. Debate on campus often hinges on which brand of left-of-center politics America should adopt (democratic socialism, anarchosyndicalism, and modern American liberalism are most popular).

Some students worry that assuming only a narrow subset of American political thought exists on campus limits discussion. In October 2014, an opinion piece in the Bard Free Press noted concerns as to how this could harm campus politics: “At Bard, those who find themselves outside of this monolithic and exclusionary bubble are viewed as outsiders; they are seen as individuals who simply do not belong”.

Senior Nathan Susman agreed: “I would like to see more of an effort by students to examine, and accept criticism of, their own progressive practice, without acting like said criticism is inherently anti-feminist or anti-left.”

The view, however, that Bard is politically homogenous is incorrect. While a majority of students identify as liberal, there are a number of students who align with either centrist, libertarian, or conservative ideologies.

The 2016 presidential election has served to mitigate some of the problems associated with perceived tyranny of the majority in campus discussion.

Political conversation has become more inclusive. Students are speaking up in support of their favorite candidates, and by extension, making their diverse political perspectives known.

Aligning with 45 percent of the Democratic party (Pew Research, September 22-27), senior Travis Brock Kennedy is a “most ardent supporter” of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, “because of her experience, efficacy, and vision. She has a long, well established career in Washington and a track record of getting things done

by reaching across party lines. Clinton is a unifier, not a divider. We need a president who can unify in the name of progress.”

Kennedy has some concerns, but they are relatively small: “I’m a proud gay man who has been fighting for marriage equality since before Prop 8.

Part of me is troubled that Hillary came out in support of marriage equality only relatively recently. That said, I’m a political realist and recognize that the rhetoric of marriage equality… is only very recently anything other than politically damning.”

Nathan Susman is a founding member of Bardians for Bernie, a student club that endorses Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) as the Democratic nominee for president. Susman says, “We need a president who will not be for sale, who will be a true fighter for the working class people of this country, for minorities, and for true progressive values, and Bernie Sanders is that candidate.”

Susman takes voting records seriously, and is enthusiastic about Sanders’ history, adding, “He marched for civil rights with Dr. King in the ‘60s, organized one of the country’s first gay pride parades as mayor of Burlington in the ‘70s, spoke out against violation of Palestinian rights by Israelis in the ‘80s, opposed American involvement in Iraq in the 90s, and predicted the financial collapse in the 2000s.”

Arguably one of the most visible libertarians on campus, junior Doron Tauber is a vocal supporter of Carly Fiorina: “I am primarily attracted to Carly Fiorina as a candidate because of her dedication to responsible, accountable, techsavvy government.”

However, Tauber is sometimes at odds with Fiorina’s political views: “I disagree with Carly about a number of issues. She thinks that we can talk to the government of Iran and get a better deal. I don’t think the Iranian regime would honor any deal and I think they, rather than Iraq or Afghanistan, should have been the singular focus of military action in response to 9/11 ... I disagree

vehemently with her on abortion. I support a woman’s unqualified right to bodily integrity and sovereignty.”

Ultimately, Fiorina’s appeal outweighed Tauber’s concerns: “One of the biggest things that draws me to Carly is her personality and presence.

I may not agree with her as much as I do with someone like Rand Paul, but I trust her to learn and to be relentlessly strong and honest in pursuit of freedom and prosperity.”

Junior J.P. Fisher identifies as a moderate, and remains unsatisfied with candidates in both parties: “I find a lack of moderate Democrats and a complete absence of intelligent, logical leaders in the Republican Party. If the election were held today, I would support Hillary Clinton, as to me she is the closest candidate to being moderate.”

Support for Israel is of particular importance to Fisher, who is “appalled” by the Democrats’ “lack of focus” on this issue. However, Fisher is also opposed to the Republican focus on “how the Christian God will be involved in their administration.”

Junior Jeremy Kaplitt is similarly straddling the political fence, unsure of who to vote for. Annandale-on-Hudson is in a swing district (the 19th Congressional District), with 34 percent of registered voters identifying as Democrats, 33 percent identifying as Republicans, and 25 percent unaffiliated.

With national voter turnout at a 72-year low, showing up to the polls is more significant than ever before. It appears Bard students will be voting for many candidates, and each of those votes matters a great deal.

Campus club Election@Bard registers voters, and the deadline for firsttime voters in New York State (all Bard College students are eligible to register in-state) to register with a party and vote in the primary election is March 25th. If you are not registered to vote and would like to do so, please visit election.bard.edu.

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THE BARD FREE PRE

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ESS RAPPING PAPER

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FEATURED ISSY CA

BY NIALL

Free Press: Recently you’ve transitioned to working with video. What do you see as the benefits of that medium? How have you been experimenting with it?

Issy Cassou: Compared to a lot of other things, especially on this campus, it’s so easy. We have the lab in Avery and Adobe Premier is a really available resource. And you can shoot stuff on your iPhone and it turns out pretty well.

Video is easy to collage. I’m shooting a piece with amateur actors that’s sort of playing off the idea of bad theater.

FP: Where did you get the actors for that piece?

IC: My friends, essentially. The piece is about female friendships, especially at this age. I thought it would be funny to actually use my friends. I gave them the script and they were like, “Wow. These are things we’ve actually said”.

FP: What about female friendships interests you?

IC: The idea that you can have a conversation with someone, give them very clear signals and sometimes they just won’t pick up on it. There’s this miscommunication that goes on, which sometimes can be awesome because it gives it this different outcome that works for you in the long run. In college, it’s easy to sit down in a room with someone, have a conversation, and talk past each other. It doesn’t mean it’s not meaningful, or you’re not

friends, but there is a misunderstanding that occurs.

FP: How has your work evolved during your time at Bard?

IC: A lot my work before this semester has been about family and inheritance.

Specifically I’ve dealt with nostalgia, but almost in this gimmicky way, probably just because it’s hard to think of how to do that in a way that’s not been done. I felt like I was being too heavy handed with a lot of the things I wanted to talk about, so one my professors advised me to figure out a different way to do that in a way we haven’t seen before. So this semester I started looking at how my relationships and the way I communicate in my everyday life relates back to inheritance and nostalgia, but focusing on the more tangible, relatable subject of friendships. It’s hard to talk about big concepts and have people relate to it. It can seem really contrived. I think I finally realized that if you talk about what you know, or what you’re experiencing, it’ll come out a little more concrete.

FP: Relationships seems to be the focus of your video pieces, which is especially apparent in double channel “I ARE…” IC: As the piece goes on, the two actors transition from being father and daughter, brother and sister, mother and son, husband and wife without

any clear indication of their switching roles. Then it loops back, becoming this endless cycle. After a certain point, it becomes uncomfortable, because at the beginning what appears to be father and daughter talking in actuality becomes a husband and wife kissing.

The idea is that things, even if they don’t seem related at the outset, inevitably circle back into each other. I was reading Ulysses at the time. When Joyce mentions a character, he will, at the same time, be referencing three other things. It’s almost like Google before Google. If you research one name, it will be a character in Irish mythology, but also related to a character in Dante.

So, what I’m trying to hint at is there’s this weird connection between people: the connection between a mother and daughter, father and son. We recycle our relationships and they all become tied to each other.

FP: As an artist, what benefits arise from making art as a college student?

IC: I love having the feedback of people who know way more than me. I do a lot of film work, but I’m not a film major. When I talk to people who do film, they have all these other things to say I would never have considered. In that way being on a college campus is so cool, because you have these minispecialists in everything you’re doing.

FP: What challenges?

IC: When you’re in college and making

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D ARTIST: ASSOU

L MURPHY photos courtesy of issy cassou

work, it becomes easy to fall into two pitfalls: “this is about my social life” or “these are all about the things I’m reading and it’s super conceptual.” I’m trying to find a balance between those two. I’m having trouble thinking that work I do in college is anything other than exploration. I’ve gotten a little bit tired of making things that are steps to other things. Maybe that’s just my impatience in wanting to find a final product.

FP: Can you talk about some artists who have influenced you?

IC: Ann Hamilton is someone who I’ve always admired. She makes these very delicate objects but on a huge scale, which I think is kind of an impressive feat. A lot of her work is also based in her sewing practice. She has a lot of experience with textiles.

FP: One of your recent pieces involved you cooking and giving out free soup in the studio building.

IC: The soup thing was kind of an experiment in seeing how people would react to free soup. I love talking to people about art and what art can be — why they might not think something is art. So one of the most interesting parts of handing out free soup is the conversations that could come out of it.

FP: What were people’s reactions to free soup?

IC: A lot of people got it right away, but I did it here [Fisher Studio Arts Building], so a lot people were in the art department and knew the context in which I was doing it. In pieces like that, relational aesthetic things, the setting becomes everything: Who is your audience, who are you talking to?

In the studio building it was hard to do.

So again, the challenge was “How do I do this in college?” The original prompt was to talk about labor — different types of labor you interact with as a regular person, or as an artist. In that in a sense, it was a failure because I didn’t get the scope I wanted. Even if I had done it by Kline it would have been a little more successful than in Fisher.

Sometimes it’s hard here, because I think people are so ready to engage in things on campus. If a guy on his way to work were to encounter the soup piece, I wonder what his reaction would be.

FP: What forms or mediums would you like to experiment with during the rest of your time at Bard?

IC: I just started working in textiles, doing all these sewing and embroidery projects. There’s no program for it here, but it’s interesting to see how I can work it into what I’m already doing. I like writing, but that’s been such a big part of my practice since high school. I feel oddly liberated when I write. Knowing most people won’t understand what I’m trying to say, my

words almost become signifiers — they don’t have to mean anything. I think a lot about empty, very slow communication, having to read a lot of text just to get one idea. Most of my work is supposed to be slow, mostly because I have this weird thing with breathing and spaces. I think text and the speed you ingest something all tie into that.

A lot of my writing meanders, so, in a weird way, text slows my work even more.

FP: Breathing and spaces? Is that some sort of claustrophobia?

IC: Well not so much small spaces, but the idea that if you explore alternative, non-physical spaces like a mental space or, more literally, spaces in your work, you discover that just because something’s empty doesn’t mean it’s not active.

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NEIL GAIMAN IN CONVERSATION WITH ARMISTEAD MAUPIN

BY ARIEL BLEAKLEY

Over what seemed like a conversation two friends catching up over a drink in a bar, Neil Gaiman and Armistead Maupin covered a broad range of questions: What their sources of inspiration were and remain to be, their greatest fears, and the people that they wished they’d met. Throughout the conversation, each question was tied back to their careers as writers of fiction.

An acclaimed author, Gaiman is well-known to the Bard community as a visiting professor in the Written Arts program, and as the partner of anomalous Amanda Palmer. He interacts with his fans or ‘followers’ in a natural manner; he embraces his own fandom. Critically celebrated in the literary world, Gaiman has accumulated 2.33 million Twitter followers. His eccentric manner is seen in his everyday uniform; completely clad in black, sporting a pair of Doc Martens. Gaiman blends right into the Bard community. Maupin came more formally dressed, though his steady humor during the talk made me feel as though he were my jovial uncle, cracking jokes at the dining room table.

Gaiman began the talk by communicating his devotion to Maupin, whose “funny, fierce, original voice” left an impression on Gaiman, inspiring him to begin writing.

Maupin’s ability to transmute ordinary life into fictional gold — Gaiman’s words — was key in forming Gaiman’s image of fiction, and in establishing his own career.

One of his earliest impressions of the literary world was devouring Maupin’s Tales of the City series.

First, Gaiman and Maupin talked about Dickens, and the strangeness of writing serial fiction. Maupin delved into his past, connecting the essence of Dickens to his first efforts as a writer, while working at a newspaper. Through the work, Maupin began to recognize an ability for writing. He had a deadline, and in a last minute hustle to spit

out the article, found himself inspired by those around him, and the elements of himself he saw in these people.

“I was using characters that were pieces of myself…” he said, “We have to live in everybody’s bodies.”

Both Gaiman and Maupin expressed gratitude for the inspiration and guidance they’ve found in the criticism of their work. As Maupin said, “I’ve always felt the audience. I’ve never been an ivory tower.” Gaiman nodded his head in agreement, adding, “I’ve always made them send me letters each month.” To Gaiman and Maupin, it seems writing is largely tied to the reactionary component of their audience: They live to please their readers. Gaiman remarked, “I want them turning the pages because they want to know what happens next.”

The conversation between Gaiman and Maupin was a series of questions which brought to surface intriguing aspects of both authors’ lives. The conversation’s conclusion described the need to truly be perceptive to those around us. Coming back to Dickens, Gaiman closed with a sentimental line about the writer’s relationship to people and the power of perceptivity. “Key to Dickens, he was obviously incredibly interested,” he said, “We have to listen and be interested.”

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BY GRADY NIXON Although the cry, “World Star,” rarely echoes throughout the streets of Tivoli or in the college’s halls, fighting seems to have become a new pastime for Bard students. Perhaps the uptick in purchased “Fight Club” posters at the annual poster sale is to blame. It could also be a negative consequence of athlete culture. (This would be a great two-birds-one-stone explanation for some students.) However, I have seen just as many students in skinny jeans threaten physical aggression, as I have students in sweatpants. It could be a fundamental issue of human behavior, an internal aggression. But, this doesn’t really align with my own personal experiences.

My first year at Bard I didn’t really think fights happened here.

There were two fights last year that I know of, and countless other instances of nostril-flaring and chest-puffing. This highly anecdotal experience signals for me an increase in fighting culture at Bard. Or fight-threatening culture, more appropriately.

Most threats amount to nothing. Usually, someone involved in the altercation sobers up enough to realize they should probably step away from it. Or, they have a friend good enough to pull them away. Sometimes, though, the fight commences.

The fall 2015 Campus Security report has a nifty table that lists all of the bad stuff students have gotten themselves into over the past few years. Among these were three instances of on-campus aggravated assault. All three instances occurred in 2012, which would indicate I’m wrong and that fight culture has not increased, in fact it has been extinct since the seniors were first-years. The same report shows that since 2012, there have been 496 cases of disciplinary action being taken for liquor law violation. This number seems a little low, or the sarcasm I pick up on in people’s “can’t wait to have my first beer” comments on their 21st birthdays is actually total sincerity. In other words, I think some cases are falling through the cracks. In fact, according to the report, no crimes occurred off-campus over the past three years. So, you know.

The issue with students getting in fights at Bard, other than the entire idea of that statement, is that the College takes physical confrontation very seriously. This is something I remember having been said during some L&T program. An administrator that I have since remembered as faceless told a hall of students that fighting means expulsion. I think to a large extent this explains why the fight culture at Bard is more about posturing than brawling. The looming threat of being ejected from the college seems to curtail the number of “fights” that actually become fights.

Senior Travis Brock Kennedy, the chair of the Student Judiciary Board, explained to me the basic process of disciplinary proceedings. On a weekly basis, the deans and the director of Resident Life hold a meeting to determine how each student’s case will be heard. There are three possible groups a student could be asked to appear in front of: Administrators, the Peer Review Board, or the Student Judiciary Board. Which cases go

where, Kennedy said, is up to the discretion of those in that meeting, but each of the three groups generally hears a certain type of case. The Peer Review Board, Kennedy explained, hears cases “primarily involving minor infractions of the Code of Conduct and first-time offenses.” The Student Judiciary Board, unlike the Peer Review Board, has three faculty members on it in addition to the three student positions (excluding the chair).

According to Kennedy, his committee usually deals with more serious conduct violations or repeated offenses. Under the “Physical Violence/Threats of Physical Violence” subsection of the Student Handbook, the Judiciary Board is listed as one of the groups to hear cases, the Peer Review Board, however, is not.

Members of both committees have the ability to recuse themselves from hearing the case, if they feel they would be biased.

Once the meeting begins, the student has the opportunity to talk about themselves a bit, so that the board can get an understanding of how they are doing. From there, the student’s account of an incident is heard so that it can be compared to the incident report each committee member reads before a hearing. The student the leaves the room while the board discusses the course of action. Kennedy made clear that he aims to find “non-punitive” solutions. Unlike many schools, the student boards at Bard avoid fines as possible means of sanctions. Kennedy explained, “fines put undue difficulty on student from certain socio-economic backgrounds while having little to no impact on students from other socio-economic backgrounds.” This goes along with his non-punitive mindset. The goal of any disciplinary committee at Bard seems to be to craft a solution, not to dole out punishment.

Both Kennedy’s explanation and the Student Handbook’s are very broad. The college clearly doesn’t have one way of handling these cases. However, the possible sanctions do include loss of housing privileges, suspension and expulsion — not to mention potential loss of “social privileges.” I, for one, revel in my various social privileges and would risk my ability to enjoy them for nothing.

What is clear from the laundry list of sanctions is that the situation is unclear. There are many, many ways the college can respond to a reported fight. Kennedy seems aware of his duty to the students and any of the three disciplinary groups are likely going to make substantial effort to gain insight into the event before making their decisions. All this being said, a drunken brawl rarely breaks out because of the actions of one person.

It takes two to tango, if you will. It is up to these disciplinary groups to determine this responsibility. Were you tango-ing?

Were you peacefully doing jazz squares in the corner when some mad tango-er tango-ed out of nowhere and attacked?

Fighting may have its allure when you’re drunk and irritable, but it is not an activity you will emerge from unscathed, both in the literal and the administrative sense.

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FIGHTSOMEBARDIAN

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SEASONAL SUPPERS WE’RE JUST TWO COLLEGE SENIORS HUNGRY AND TRYING OUR BEST

BY JOHNNY CHERICHELLO RECIPES BY EMMA RESSEL AND JOHNNY CHERICHELLO

This Seasonal Suppers was intended for the November issue.

But, a belated “Friendsgiving” can still apply for the final month of the semester! Take a breather from finals, invite some friends over, and get cooking!

Leave the turkey to the grown-ups! In this installment of Seasonal Suppers, we’re focusing on Thanksgiving side dishes — undoubtedly the best part of Thanksgiving dinner. Emma and I knew we wanted to do a play on Thanksgiving dinner for this issue. How could we not? We started thinking about the traditional American Thanksgiving table complete with stuffing, casseroles, and cranberry sauce. For a “Friendsgiving,” we decided to take the staple ingredients of the holiday feast side dishes and present them in fresh, innovative ways.

First, what I consider the true star of Thanksgiving dinner — the stuffing. Stuffing is arguably a gift from the heavens. Why do we only eat it once or twice a year? It is such a versatile dish and lends itself to any number of ingredients. Last Thanksgiving, my older sister and I experimented with a gluten free cornbread stuffing using sage and prosciutto. I enjoyed it, however it was a little dry. I also wished it tasted more like my mom’s sausage and mushroom stuffing. I wanted to try again and bring the two together. With chorizo sausage from Sawkill Farm sitting in our freezer, and shiitake mushrooms from Montgomery Place, Emma and I prepared a chorizo-sage-mushroom cornbread stuffing. It was delicious.

Yes, there are leftovers, but I called dibs.

Though a popular favorite, Emma and I don’t really care for the traditional sweet potato casserole, with the marshmallow topping. Don’t want to offend, but I’d rather have my yams cooked in a savory style. We prepared the sweet potatoes au gratin. After all, what is better than potatoes and cheese? Pretty much nothing. We paired the sweet potatoes with red potatoes to balance the flavor. Next, Emma took on the cranberry and reinvented it, making a savory cranberry apple tart topped with blue cheese and pine nuts. I couldn’t get enough of the sweet and salty, hearty and tart creation. Lately, I’ve been really into brussels sprouts. They are so hated on by children in cartoons and books, but these tiny brassicas have the potential to be delectable. Bacon and apples compliment their flavor quite well.

Perhaps you can bring one of these elevated dish ideas to your Thanksgiving table! Or maybe you’re a traditionalist and will stick to the standards this holiday season, but either way, surround yourself with people you love and enjoy your meal.

CHORIZO-SAGE-MUSHROOM CORNBREAD STUFFING 2-3 chorizo sausages 1/2 lb Shiitake Mushrooms 1 onion, finely chopped 3 celery, finely chopped 2 pounds prepared cornbread, cut into ¾1-inch cubes 3 large eggs, lightly beaten 1-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth Salt and black pepper Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, cook sausage over medium-high heat, stirring often, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

To pan, add mushrooms, onion, celery.

Cook until onion is translucent and then add 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat to medium; cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes.

Season generously with salt and pepper. Add to sausage. Add cornbread, sage, and eggs to sausage and vegetables. Bring broth to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour 1/2 cup over stuffing, and toss gently (cornbread will break down into smaller pieces).

If needed, add up to 1/2 cup more broth, until stuffing feels moist, but not wet. Spoon stuffing into a baking pan; it should reach the top. Bake until top is golden brown. (Optional for prep purposes: Refrigerate stuffing in pan and remaining broth separately, covered, until ready to bake.) *Store-bought stuffing mix is totally acceptable as well. Follow directions on side of the box and do not hesitate to add or subtract as much as you want to the suggested recipe!

SWEET AND S CRANBERRY CHEESE TART

For the filling: 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cra 2 apples, peeled, cored, and 2 tbsp. bacon fat 1 cup beef stock 1/4 cup sweetener such a maple syrup or agave nectar 3 tbsp. cornstarch 1 bay leaf 1 tsp. rosemary 1/2 blue cheese, crumbled Sprinkling of untoasted pin

In a medium saucepan h bacon fat over medium high sauté cranberries and apples fruit starts to break down and saucy. Add beef stock, sweet leaf, rosemary, and cornstarch the heat to simmer, letting the reduce over a period of 30-45 or so. When completely hom and very thick, pour into coo shell. At this point, you can re the tart to save for later. Ju serving, sprinkle on top blu and pine nuts and broil t cheese is melted and bubbly nuts are golden brown.

For the crust:

1 1/4 cups flour 1 tbsp. plus 2 teaspoons cor 1/4 tsp. salt 6 tbsp. butter, diced 1 egg

Combine flour, cornstarch a a large bowl and then beat with an electric mixer (or sm a fork) until it is in very small the egg and mix with a fork u of dough forms — you may knead it a bit with your han the dough into a pie dish or and bake at 350˚until the lightly browned.

4 medium Sweet Potatoes 2-3 Red Potatoes Gruyere, grated Parmesan, grated 1/4 cup whole milk Salt and Black Pepper Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and peel potatoes. Thinly slice the sweet potatoes and red potatoes on a mandolin or with a knife. Oil or butter a baking dish. In the baking dish, create layers of the sliced potatoes. Stagger layers of potatoes. Start with sweet potatoes. Add parmesan, gruyere cheese, salt, and pepper.

Repeat process with red potatoes.

Continue layering in this pattern to the top of the pan. Pour milk over the baking dish. Top with more cheese, salt, and pepper. Bake until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork and the cheese on top is melted and golden.

anberries d diced

as sugar, r

and salt in in butter mash with bits. Add until a ball y need to nds. Press r tart pan crust is

SAUTÉED BACON AND APPLE BRUSSELS SPROUTS A bunch of brussel sprouts (as many as you see fit) 1 apple 1 shallot 2 tbsp. bacon fat or 1 strip bacon, diced

Heat pan. Add bacon fat or 1-diced piece of bacon. Slice brussels sprouts, apple, and shallot thin. Add to pan and sautee. Cook down until shallots and apple slices are translucent and brussels sprouts are a little browned.

ne nuts

rnstarch

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SWEET POTATO AND RED POTATO AU GRATIN

SAVORY BLUE T

heat the heat and s until the d become tener, bay h. Reduce e mixture 5 minutes mogenous oked tart efrigerate ust before ue cheese tart until y and pine

19

EMMA’S AWARDWINNING DOUBLE CRUST APPLE PIE Filling: 4 or so Northern Spy Apples 1 McIntosh Apple 1/2 cup sugar 2 tbsp. flour 1 tbsp. cornstarch 2 tsp. Cinnamon Lemon juice Peel the apples and slice very thinly, and combine thoroughly with sugar, flour, cornstarch and cinnamon. Then, add just enough lemon juice so that there are no powdery traces of the dry ingredients.

On October 17, Montgomery Place Orchards Farm Stand held its 11th annual Apple Pie Contest. A number of entries in double crust and crumble topping made their way to the judging table at the farm stand. An assortment of the orchard’s apples was featured in the pies as well. Guess who won second place in not one but both categories? Emma!! And for good reason! Her apple pie is pretty hardcore (I hope you caught that pun).

Sadly, the season has ended for the farm stand, but we will hold memories of fresh berries and peaches, apples and cheeses dear in our hearts and look forward to June! We end this month’s supper with Emma’s winning double crust apple pie recipe, because what is autumn without apple pie?

For the crust: (Makes enough crust for 1.5 apple pies, or 3 sheets of dough) 2.5 cups sifted flour 2 sticks cold butter, diced A dash of salt 1 egg 1/2 tbsp. vinegar In food processor or large bowl, combine flour and butter and mix until the chunks of butter are the size of peas.

Whisk the egg in a measuring cup and divide it in half, setting half aside in another cup. To the egg in the measuring cup, whisk in the vinegar and then add enough cold water to equal 1/2 cup of liquid. Pour the liquid into the flour and butter mixture and combine until the dough is uniform but still very crumbly.

Gently form the dough into three disks (this is tricky, the dough will be crumbly but just try to pack it together as well as possible) and wrap each disk in saran wrap. Put in fridge to chill. Best to make the dough the night before!

Assembly: Roll out dough with rolling pin (or empty wine bottle, let’s be real) with plenty of flour until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place one sheet in bottom of pie dish, spoon the filling on top, and place the second sheet on top. Roll the edges of the two sheets of dough together and trim the edges.

Find the whisked half-egg you reserved and brush or spoon it on top just to make a very light coating. This will allow the top of the pie to brown. Make sure not to brush the egg on the crimped edges, because those will get brown enough! Finally, sprinkle pie generously with sugar and make some cuts in the top crust with a sharp knife. Pop the pie into a 350-degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until the filling looks thick and bubbly and the crust on top is nicely toasty and brown.

photos by emma ressel

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BARDIVERSE

AL-QUDS CRISIS LOOMS LARGE AT BARD BERLIN

BY AVERY MENCHER

At Bard College Berlin (BCB), with its Cold War history, insular student body, and residential neighborhood setting, it’s easy to feel separated from what is going on in the rest of the world. Apart from events like the current refugee crisis in Berlin, BCB can come off as cold, perfectly matched with the demeanor of many Berliners. However, for junior Mais Hriesh, a Bard College student studying abroad at BCB, events outside Berlin are all too present.

Hriesh, who identifies as Palestinian, grew up in Nazareth, a city in the Northern District of Israel known as “the Arab capital of Israel” (according to Wikipedia). Having spent the better part of the past few years in the United States, Hriesh has gotten used to being far away from her friends and families while they endure the ongoing conflict with Israel. As the conflict began to heat up again this fall, she continued with her studies in Berlin, keeping close contact with her community at home. “It’s not the first time that it has happened, but it’s something you never really get used to,” she says about the problem of being abroad from a violent home. “You’re so far away, and you can’t really do anything…a lot of my friends are going to demonstrations, and I know that if I was there I would be with them. It’s good to have social media to be able to keep track of what’s happening, but at the same time it’s not the most pleasant feeling to find out that one of your friends has been arrested from a Facebook post.”

Around the beginning of October, she began to see an increase in posts about the Israeli Defense Force raiding the Al-Quds University

campus, which prompted her to contact friends who attended the university where Al-Quds Bard is located. They confirmed that the IDF had been paying visits to the campus, accompanied by tear gas and rubber bullets. Many students were arrested during these raids, particularly those under suspicion of stabbing Israelis in Jerusalem, the city closest to the campus. The raids became so frequent that administrators at AQB, in cooperation with colleagues in Annandale and Berlin, decided that those studying abroad for the semester would have to be permanently evacuated and relocated to Bard Berlin.

For Hriesh, being on a campus where the conflict is so pertinent was the perfect motivation to contact friends in Annandale and inquire what was going on there.

The answer wasn’t what she had expected. “I was very surprised when I heard that the pamphlets that Bard Divest hung around campus were taken down. It’s the last thing that I would’ve expected from Bard, especially because it’s their campus [being raided], and they know that what was on the pamphlet was all facts and very real. There was no reason for them to take it down. I guess it made it a little better to hear that Ken Cooper apologized, saying that he was acting on his own and not on behalf of the administration.” This event served as further impetus for her to organize something at BCB. She and some friends, in cooperation with the relocated students, coordinated an information session for students and faculty, in which the transplanted students from AQB spoke about their experiences. Hriesh believes this was the perfect time and

place to host their session, based on the relevance of the situation to the BCB community. “I know it wasn’t easy for these girls, and I think the least we can do is to be supportive and give them the stage to speak about what’s happening.”

The conflict is a sensitive issue, especially when considering the six Israeli students at BCB — a relatively large population at a school of under 140 students. Out of these six, four served in the military, and three of the six showed up for the information session, including one who served eight years as a fighter pilot, leaving midway through his extended period of service in Israel for “political reasons.” Despite this tension, the session opened an informative and honest dialogue, fulfilling Hriesh’s main goal.

Of course, there is still work to do. Some of the transferred students have scheduled a public Skype session with their former classmates at AQB, and Hriesh plans to stage open forum discussions with some of the Israeli students. “I think the most important thing is for people to know what is happening, and then they can choose to show solidarity or not, or how to show solidarity, and it doesn’t have to get into the conflict. We are talking about a Bard campus, with Bard students.” In spite of the impending difficulty, she and her peers at Bard College Berlin are ready to engage with that situation, no matter the changes.

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sports

SPORTS EQUESTRIAN CLUB LIVES TO RIDE ANOTHER DAY

BY BRIGID FISTER

After nearly coming obsolete — or at least more so — Bard’s Equestrian Team is finally solidifying its presence. As a club sport of a somewhat unusual variety, members have been scarce throughout the years.

Each year would start with increased interest, that would eventually dwindle down to a few lone riders. Perhaps it’s the cost, the less-than-ideal situations at previous barns, or maybe just the time commitment. Either way, the team is larger than it has even been and more interest is sparking all the time. Riders are excited to not only ride, but to be competitive in our region and create a real team feeling.

This difference would have to be credited to the transitive state that the team was in for the first few months of the school year.

As previous locations proved to be problematic, the team was re-located to a stable in Saugerties called Vertical Limit.

Immediately upon arriving to the stable on our initial tour we were greeted by a whirlwind of miniature ponies, small children, and

an essence of positivity.

Sharon Bach, head trainer and owner of the business, greeted us and led us around the expansive facility — around sixty horses are housed there. She seemed to pulse with genuine excitement about each and every horse and human within those walls. A few months later and the team (which is still growing) has comfortably settled into this new setting.

Members that have never ridden before are learning the ins and outs of not only riding, but horse care and the different personalities and quirks of the horses they ride. Bach and Vertical Limit have been instrumental in welcoming and producing an inclusive environment for everyone on the team. Sometimes, it can be daunting to be launched into an unfamiliar setting, but the sense of welcome and positivity has been well received by the members of the team and is definitely the defining characteristic that has kept members so dedicated and excited to ride. And the feeling is mutual, Bach says: “I love the energy that each Bard

student brings to the lesson. I’m so excited that everyone is happy to be there and eager to learn.”

It seems that the presence of the team has also altered the dynamic within the existing members of Vertical Limit. She goes on to say, “The barn has definitely changed since Bard has been here. Many of the younger students now find it realistic to pursue their riding careers through college.”

Due to the connotation of “club sport,” the team is often thought of as more of a casual program than it actually is. In reality, the team is gearing up for competitions that begin with a 4 a.m. wake up and are almost always against teams that are varsity sports, fully-funded and recruitfilled. This may seem daunting, especially because of the nature of the competitions.

Basically, the rider is expected to hop aboard a strange horse they have never ridden and demonstrate the best ride out of a horse by using their commands and bodies correctly — all while looking good. Some riders show over fences, which means guiding their

horse over a course of jumps, and some show on the flat, or without jumping. In preparation, Bach has been educating the riders on how to utilize their aids (commands via body signals) to create the desired effect upon the horse.

A focus has been placed upon knowledge and how to use the body correctly no matter the horse: lazy, quick, or stubborn.

Support for the future of the Bard team has spread all around the barn. “The Vertical Limit community is always asking about the team’s progress. They’re excited to support the team in their competition season,” said Bach.

Although the programs of some of the schools Bard competes against are competitive, to say the least (some of their riders actually major in riding to become fulltime trainers), even without much funding or backing, the Bard team is projected to be right up there with them and make their own mark in the region.

opinion

22

OPINION WHITE GUILT Like many other white students, on a social settings it’s very easy for race to recent Wednesday I participated in the become invisible to me, and no matter “Black Out Bard” rally. For me, the expe- how much I vocalize my objections to rience was incredibly powerful, and I left the system, as a white person I still benefeeling all sorts of ways. Acknowledging fit from it. and accepting those feelings isn’t It’s situations like those where people enough, however. In the weeks to come make stupid comments or racist jokes, all of the white students who were in and while it can be difficult to hear, we that crowd—myself included—have a also have a responsibility to do someresponsibility to examine our reaction to thing about it. With awareness comes the event and to recognize that there’s the power and obligation to speak—not a profound difference between feelings just to your friends, but to your relatives, of guilt and feelings of genuine concern. co-workers, teachers, and bosses. Feeling Of course, I felt both—it’s hard not good that you care, or that you have to—but as white people we need to taken steps to educate yourself, while understand that the two feelings are continuing to benefit from the inherent completely different, and lead down privileges of our race isn’t enough. Every separate paths. Guilt motivates actions white student, myself included, no longer that appease our conscience. Concern has an excuse to be passive. motivates actions to change There are classes, events, “Part of my groups, and rallies on this the system, to effect the environment as a whole. As white privilege is that campus that deal directly with people, how we feel about these issues all the time. If you in all-white want to learn more, the opporourselves is entirely contrary to the point: what matter are social settings tunity is there. But as you the actions that we take to educate yourself, don’t forget it’s very easy to ask why and how what you make a difference.

The responsibility to is important. for race to be- learn educate ourselves was a topic Because I am white, learnaddressed in the rally’s speech- come invisible ing about anybody else’s es. Education is extremely experiences with the system to me” important, but the education must also be a process of selfwe receive in classrooms or through the examination. I know I’m guilty of some process of participating in events like of the things the speakers at the event “Black Out Bard” doesn’t matter if we described, and I do feel guilty, but acting can’t find a way to apply it to our lives, exclusively to assuage that guilt doesn’t and to our social world. Learning about lead to change. these issues to feel better, to assuage White liberals, like myself, should recogfeelings of guilt, makes a difference to nize that participating in movements for no one but ourselves. It is fundamentally racial equality isn’t about congratulating selfish. ourselves for identifying with somebody Think for a moment of how many times else’s struggle. That attitude is patronizin the last week you’ve been the only ing, guilt ridden, and counter-productive. white person in the room. For me the Our involvement should be about creatnumber is zero. Now think of how many ing a system that is respectful for all times in the last week you’ve been in a people, and in order to do so we need to classroom, at a table in Kline, in a dorm translate our education into action. If we room, or at a party in Tivoli where you’ve don’t make our knowledge applicable, been surrounded by only white people. I we’re servicing only our guilt, and cripcan’t give a number, because I honestly pling our ability to make a difference. If don’t know, but it’s probably pretty high. you really care, education is only the first Part of my privilege is that in all-white step.

BY WYLIE EARP

photo by flannery harper

23

opinion

Until Wednesday, December 18, 2015, demonstrations had been completely lost on me. However, at 2:34 p.m., two-anda-half hours after the Walkout began, my legs were weak, my heart was heavy. If I hadn’t been convinced of the utility of protests and demonstrations before, this convinced me.

And if there were a time to express the urgency of our bigoted circumstances, it would have been in that moment, when close to 300 students and faculty members stood outside in the fluctuating temperature to speak out against institutional racism in academia, and other societal spheres.

Student organizers realized how much was at stake in orchestrating this demonstration. Yes, an aspect of our mission was to express our solidarity with black students at the University of Missouri. However, even as solidarity was front and center, during the planning meeting that took place the previous Sunday, we didn’t know exactly why.

We came to realize later on in the meeting that ‘standing in solidarity’ meant something completely different for every student organizer. Each of us had an opinion on how Bard’s solidarity with Mizzou should look.

Our dissent was voiced on Wednesday at 12 p.m. when a large influx of students, professors, faculty, and staff members arrived on Ludlow lawn; when we heard the narratives of black students who were experiencing the same things on our campus.

Our solidarity with Mizzou looked like black Bard students standing up against the institutional racism that existed on Bard’s campus. It looked like professors canceling classes in order for their students to attend this event — a plethora of professors standing with students, willing to face accountability for what Black students have been experiencing.

Solidarity with Mizzou looked like prevention at Bard — making sure that the same racial violence happening there would not happen here.

It also looked like drafting eight grievances for faculty and college administrators to take seriously, calling for eager efforts in attracting, hiring, and promoting professors, counselors, and administrators who are of color. Student organizers also called for the establishment of a student-comprised Diversity, Inclusion and Accountability Board, which would “assist in the creation of required faculty and staff diversity training, either in the form of workshops or incorporated into divisional faculty meetings.” This would ensure that faculty and staff members are held to the same standard as students in recognizing prejudice and discrimination in the classroom and in academia. Student organizers called for a better integrated First-Year Seminar curriculum, which has continued over the years to promote a canon of White European authors. The call was for the FYSem curriculum to expand or change the canon to include more authors of color, while also discouraging books that focus on an oppressive narrative of black or colored people. No longer could the excuse be that the selection of authors was a result of the genre of literature promoted, because that would seem more like

a prejudice rather than a preference. And a prejudice practiced in an institutional setting is nothing less than racism.

It was a crucial moment in Bard’s history — one in which students of color were able to create their own space. For the first time, silence and complacency were hidden behind the moving stories of frustrated Black students. It was a time in which faculty members were quiet and deferential to the grievances of black students. It was a time in which white students were, for once, the audience of black individuals, who used their experiences to teach. Wednesday afternoon was probably the first time white students, faculty, and staff had to confront their inherently racist make-up, their comfortable ignorance to race, racism, and bodies of color.

The event captured the power and capability of students with passion, a mission, and an urgency of assertion. Though the purpose of the walkout was to stand in solidarity with Mizzou, Bard students found that it was also necessary for us to stand in solidarity with each other. On that day, we learned that racism takes many forms, many of those existing on Bard’s campus, in Bard’s policies, its curriculum, and its students. Wednesday, November 18 was just the commencement of reform, of calling for a long overdue change. The sentiments expressed have opened our ears to the racial injustices extant on Bard’s main and sister campuses. And, for me, a person once apprehensive to demonstrations, I do believe our hearts were opened as well.

PRACTICE MAKES FOR PERFECT, BUT DOES PROTEST MAKE FOR PEACE? BARD’S BLACKOUT WALKOUT

BY TAYLER BUTLER

RE: BARD TWEETS d r e ‫@‏‬dreBR_ 2 types of people: those who shamelessly check themselves out when passing the full length Kline windows and liars Peter McKormac @Finnatakanap420 whos selling ken cooper the skunk dank? self-awareness @TheGradyNixon the whole noise thing has really distracted tivolians from the fact that their town is carpeted in cigarette butts Charles McFarlane @Chuckymac_94 Being a regular in library during finals is like being an islander on Nantucket during the summer NAUGHT a babie @milkweedie when i took my coat off in class a girl looked at my outfit and said “whoa” which is exactly the reaction i was going for emoji @devonmello i look into the bottom of my 40 and think...go raptors guysbeingdudes @guys_beingdudes Bringing two clementines w/ me to class for flirting purposes honey butter @ayebaybays hes hot but he wants to stay in tivoli after graduation Austen Hinkley ‫@‏‬austenhinkley Man NOBODY needs more than 3 books at a time please stop the showmanship