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also!
Meet Eva Sasson: the 20 -year-old CEO
Barnard girls rce fo k r o w e h t g in r e t n e
ne’s Day the guys’ take on Valenti
. .. is r e n in W e h t d n A ur 2012 Oscar Line-Up
O paigns Religion in the GOP cam
eim & more nh an M ie an ph te S i, qu di mid, Safa Sid with artwork by Rhea Sch
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Photography by Ayélet Pearl letter from the editors / 3
headline/bottom line / 12 she said - she said / 13
behind the scenes /4
made in the USA / 14
see what’s up-and-coming on our website...
religion in the campaigns / 16
trending topics / 5
new york city living
these are a few of our favorite things!
how to get your downton abbey on while stranded stateside and tips to work off those
features
fish and chips
three women making waves and one Barnard
anglophilia in America / 18
grad dreams big
exercise to a breaking point / 19
three women not on your radar/ 6
YOTS / 20
interview with an alum / 7
guy’s view on Valentines Day / 21
NAILING IT / 8
arts & entertainment
we’re talking money, honey: the do’s and don’ts of
place the bets for this year’s winners and
choosing your major and finding an internship
indulge your low-brow sensibilities with
with your wallet in mind
redneck tv Oscar preview / 22
politics & opinion
Cindy Sherman / 23
we want our music free and our iPods cheap. plus, tUnE-yArDs / 24 how the GOP is going biblical
pages from New York / 26
hillbilly TV / 27 spring fashion preview/ 28 spotlight / 29 q&a with Eva Sasson bear essentials / 30 the best way to stay in the know about this month’s campus activities the calendar / 31 events worth leaving your Morningside bubble
RD BARNA '$# T A D R % EA '1 + OVERH +.#$%!&#/+0#$%.+ #+"# 4.+5 *++,##(23(& + #$ ( ' & ("$&7 $%(#!& .4#&$'4 62."2
Letter from the Editors
Transitions As we sink into the trenches of February, January’s novel beginnings seem like a shinny, distant memory. Resolutions have since been forsaken, diets ruined during a drunken binge at Tom’s, and our pledge to stay sane for this semester is buried under a evergrowing stack of unread tomes. Yet just as we say goodbye to the optimism that always accompanies the start of a new year, this month also marks an opportunity to give into the faint, seductive call of summer. With global warming creating a wishy-washy winter,
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spring shoots have already started to do war with frost-bitten sod. These early warm weather signs promise hot sunny afternoons to come, but also apply pressure about shoring up plans. Summer internships? Graduation goals? February is the month decisions are made. It has filled the Bulletin staff with a mixture of nervous anticipation as we collectively wade through a period marked by indecision and possibility. Our articles follow suite. While politics regularly bear witness to this sense of hesitant immobility, the country faces particularly halting concerns, both within the GOP debates on the home front and the job market abroad. Meanwhile, in Morningside Heights, summer employment looms over campus in a communal cloud of universal ambiguity, just dense enough to prompt frantic drop-ins to Career Development. On a more optimistic note, the month of February brings “sexpectations,” highlighting the poignant prospects of this new semester. We have purposely released our first issue of 2012 on Valentine’s Day
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to bring a positive glow to our skeptical musings. No matter how we spend February 14th, whether on a date or curled up with a box of chocolates, warmer weather is just around the corner.
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visit http://thebarnardbulletin.com for our online exclusives Athena Film Fesitval Get the before and after scoop! A Day in the Life Student-actress, Olivia Levine, takes us through her drama-free schedule The Single Girl’s Guide Ditch the couples and set out on your own this Valentine’s Day Upcoming Bands in 2012 Who’s who and what’s what in the music scene Jack’s Mannequin Review A fan’s take on the soldout performance
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1. Paris in the Spring - Slovak Republic
the playlist BEAT THE WINTER BLUES
2. Under Your Spell - Desire 3. Waiting On You - Sun Airway 4. Put the Days Away - Sun Airway 5. When The Night - Annie 6. Five Fold Kiss (Don’t Sleep) - Psychic Babble 7. Leave Me Amor (The Bloody Beetroots Remix) - Ryskee 8. Promises (KOAN Sound Remix) - Andain 9. Verona - Geographer, Animal Shapes 10. Call Your Girlfriend - Robyn, Body Talk
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spottedmoth.com / An online shopping experience that marries Urban Outfitters EOS Lip Balm and ModCloth / Duane Reade
Features Three Women Not On Your Radar Champion of the Middle Class:
Liza Darvin /
A
Elizabeth Warren
cursory look at the Elizabeth Warren’s bio reads like the Republican Party’s dream female candidate: she rose up from a humble, working class Midwest family, took time off from her career to focus on raising a family, and has only been married once. Of course, Warren is about as
Republican as Santorum is sane, and as a thoroughly progressive, left-wing thinker she is looking to take the 2012 Democratic nomination for the Massachusetts Senate seat. Warren’s straightforward rhetoric and earnest interest in alleviating the suffering of the middle class allows her stand apart from a political landscape that has become increasingly peppered with indecipherable double speak and buzz words. This is a lady who once called big corporations “a bunch of cheaters” and was the prime proponent for the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that looks to protect the struggling middle class from big corporation’s reach. Where’s my button?
The Impact of an Extraordinaire:
C
Carol Raphael / Ayah Zaki
arol Raphael, the first non-nurse to head the Visiting Nurse Service of New York and a graduate of Harvard’s School of Government, has differentiated herself from her generation of healthcare professionals by pursuing a unique career path that positioned her as an active reformer. Begin-
ning her journey to the top as a public school teacher, Ms. Raphael took the steps to become CEO of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York while simultaneously serving as Medicare-policy advisor to Congress. To say she merely impacted New York’s community would be to underplay the far-reaching implications of Ms. Raphael’s decades of service. Under Ms. Raphael’s management and supervision, the VNSNY has become the nation’s largest nonprofit home health care organization. In fact, VNSNY provided more than $300 million in charitable care to under-insured and uninsured New Yorkers during her tenure. Her selfless mentality is reflected by the fact that she took deliberate efforts to ensure the organization’s well being VNSNY, Ms. Raphael continues to advise the organization’s board and look after the organization’s future so that it can continue to prosper and remain a great benefit to New York citizens.
M
Hannah Miller /
Initiator of Global Girlpower:
Melanne Verveer
elanne Verveer is the first person to serve as Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, a position created by President Obama in order to promote female empowerment in social, economic, and political spheres around the world. She works to ensure that all foreign policy
decisions are coordinated with women’s interests in education, healthcare and nonviolence. In January, Verveer received the “I Witness Award” from the Jewish World Watch for her role in combating the injustices women suffer in conflict zones. Much of Verveer’s life prepared her for the important role she holds today. She was born on June 24, 1944 in
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Pottsville, PA, and received her B.A. and M.A. in Russian Studies from Georgetown University. She went on to serve as then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff. After her work in the White House, Verveer cofounded the Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international nonprofit that trains and empowers women as leaders. Through her many achievements, Verveer represents Barnard’s values in action. She shows us what it truly means to be a woman in charge. !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
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as it transitioned CEOs following her retirement at the end of 2011. Although she is no longer the head of
Where Is She Now? Sydnie L. Mosley graduated from Barnard in ’07 after pursuing studies in Dance, Africana studies, and Christianity. These three areas of interest helped inform her sense of identity, carrying through to her life after graduation and influencing her choreographic work. Ms. Mosley, who recently completed her MFA in Dance from the University of Iowa, is also a faculty member at Brooklyn Ballet where she teaches classes themed around Afro Modern dance. Yet despite her many commitments, she remains actively involved in her community and connected to Barnard, even serving as an Alumnae Fellow at the Barnard Center for Research on Women. By Kelly Kang BB: How has your career, between teaching
to terms with. One of the advantages of being
smarts, and quality product when you do get
and dancing, been influenced by your years
a (dance) college student in New York City is
the opportunities.
at Barnard? Is this the path that you expected
that you have an extremely real understanding BB: Many Barnard women struggle with their of what your life and financial situation will desire to pursue their true passions, perhaps
to take? SLM: Barnard affected my current career
be like once you finish school, as compared
within the arts, versus something more “fiin two ways: it gave me the opportunity to to college graduates from elsewhere who nancially stable.” What is your opinion/adexplore working in all aspects of the dance then choose to move to the city. I’ve always vice on this? field, allowing me to choose what I wanted known that I wasn’t going to become wealthy SLM: Do the best thing for you right now. My to pursue most, and it gave me the self confi- as a dancer, and that’s fine with me because craft uses my body so there is an immediacy dence that I could indeed pursue and live an I’m not in it for the money. I’m in it for the about pursuing dance performance before love of my craft, and what dance can bring to artistic life in New York City. I always enI’m old and fall apart that other artists may visioned myself as a performer and chore-
ographer, and sometimes envisioned myself as a dance educator so I am certainly doing what I want to be doing, but the path? No, I never knew exactly what the path would be and I couldn’t have imagined that my career options and opportunities would work out the way they have. BB: Your website mentions your mix of academic pursuits like Dance, Africana studies, and Christianity. How do these three very different subject areas come together for you, in your life and in your career? SLM: I don’t think of these areas of study as
I never knew exactly what the path would be and I couldn’t have imagined that my career options and opportunities would work out the way they have.
“
”
my academic interest in these areas is because I identify with them -- and because I identify with them I want to know more deeply about them. BB: There is the well-held stereotype of the “starving artist” and the struggle to “make it.” Do you feel like you’ve come to terms with this aspect and overcome it? Is it something that really exists?
financially I do have the privilege of family and friends who will be there to catch me if I don’t make it. Financial stability is not to be taken lightly, and every day of my life is a plot and plan to figure out how to become more stable, but I also live my life on a faith that doing what I love and do well will eventually have its financial rewards. BB: What are a few lessons you’ve learned at Barnard that have directly influenced your
the greater community; however, I’m nowhere life today? near as financially stable as I should or could be, had I pursued another field. Yes, “starving
so different because they all come together artists” exist, but we are artists -- we make it in me: an African-American woman who work. dances and is a Christian. I’m positive that
not have. Also, while I do support myself
BB: What are some challenges, either internal or environmental, that you have dealt with to get where you are today? SLM: I think my biggest challenges to date
SLM:
{Lessons learned at Barnard}
1
Support the people who support you. A community functions and moves forward when we all work together.
are the ideas of having to prove yourself, and learning how to play the game. “Making it” in any field is a delicate balance of having good relationships and connections with people, knowing how to seize opportunity when it
presents itself, and understanding the poliSLM: This was never a concept I had to come tics of a situation, but also having the goods, !"#$%&''#!()$*$
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2
The learning never stops.
3
Speak your mind, talk to people-- cause a ruckus when you’re content and discontent.
AyĂŠlet y b s h p a r g o t o Ph
Pearl
T I G N I L I NA
uild up your b d n a , e e r g de u w to help yo lities of your a ie e v r r ic te in m o g n in o lch wn the ec nt, gut-sque ta r o p We break do im ll a r that confidence fo ig. at pays b score a job th
Declaring Your Salary What do you do with a B.A. in English? It’s a question that plagues the 13% of Barnard’s English majors, as well as other humanities students in their perspective departments. We brought together the opinions of several professionals across the career spectrum to weigh in on what it means to graduate from a liberal arts institution, and how it may not be as career-limiting as one might think.
I
n a recent USA Today article, Anthony Carnevale, Director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, made a sobering comment about the current worth of a college education: “Getting a college degree matters,” he conceded, “but what you take matters more.” In this bleak economic climate, Carnevale follows the recent trend of ranking majors by salary.
Carnevale’s study, What’s It Worth?, catalogs majors and their corresponding salaries to create a “success scale.” On the low end, Counseling Psychology majors can expect to earn an average of $29,000 annually, which starkly contrasts in comparison to Petroleum Engineering majors and their lucrative average of $120,000 per year. This scale, which selects financial payoff as the most important outcome of an undergraduate education, is quick to dismiss liberal arts majors as the future breadwinners of America. For a great number of students, financial success is the goal of a college education. Carnevale’s study is one in many that highlights the pressure of the current economic climate on college undergraduates—and indeed the economy is bleak. While some hold onto the hope that the economy will improve by the time they receive their degrees (and maybe even graduate degrees), others are more hesitant to risk financial uncertainty. Money-minded students see a near immediate payoff in certain fields and shape their educations accordingly. In other words, Carnevale is yet another voice questioning the effects of a well-rounded education compared to a more technical one, but is this any reason to transfer to SEAS and leave English, philosophy, and classics behind? How has this groaning wage-wise mindset altered the current goal of college education in America? Don’t go chucking your Norton Anthology in the bin too soon; many critics are quick to point out various flaws in Carnevale’s assessment. Loren Berlin, in an article titled “Oh the Humanities: Why Not to Pick a College Major Based on a Salary Chart,” highlights the value of an education that comes from enjoyment and interest. Students who are passionate about their studies are apt to seek out higher opportunities or apply their skills to more lucrative fields. The article mentions such esteemed graduate programs as the Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s Humanities and Medicine Program, which gives students the opportunity to pursue a humanities major before entering the medical field. A Mount Sinai representative describes, “These students are successful and in some cases more successful than their traditionally educated classmates.” A technical education may in fact be limiting. A recent recruiting session by Goldman-Sachs focused on the same points: a well-rounded education provides an opportunity to excel, especially in aspects of critical thinking and application. Furthermore, students who pursue degrees in subjects of their interests may place a different emphasis on their education: value of enjoyment, not of finance. Many students are willing to take less lucrative positions if it means pursuing a career in a field that they truly enjoy. Dance majors and art students are constantly warned of the selective positions in their fields and choose to remain faithful to their art, to their passions and their dreams. As Loren Berlin describes in her article, “There’s much more to that choice [of major]—and to a person’s long-term success—than a number on a salary chart.” Long live humanities majors, because in the words of Barnard professor and writer, Mary Gordon, when engineering schools and jobs become obsolete and knowledge must be relearned, “James Joyce will always be there.” English majors may have the last laugh.
by Gloria Noel
S
“
The humblebrag is your friend.
”
THE INTERVIEW by Sabrina Singer
Nerve-wracking interviews may be the norm, but they don’t have to be the requisite. The Barnard Bulletin sat down with Robert Earl, Director of Career Development, to learn how to nail a job interview, take advantage of alumnae connections, and get the most out of summer break. Here, we save you a trip to Career Development and spell out how to present the best possible you
weaty palms, a nervous twitch, that slight twinge of panic slowly blossoming in the pit of your stomach--these are but the early symptoms brought on by the encroaching interview season. February marks the start of the official job hunt, as college gals unearth their professional best from the back of the closet and bravely go marching to meet potential future employers. But even a perfectly tailored blazer is flimsy armor against a relentless round of interrogation. Where do you see yourself in ten years? In twenty? What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? Why should we hire you? It could hardly be more intimidating than if the interviewer took a page out of Alice and started blowing smoke letters to spell out the true question at the heart of it all: “Who R U?” But don’t resign yourself to life as a Starbucks barista just yet— there is hope, and it’s right here on campus. Barnard’s Career Development, recently named one of the top 5 career services offices in the country, will hand-hold students through every aspect of the internship process: from finding an internship to mastering the art of the interview to affording the attire. So wipe your sweaty palms, calm your jittery feet, and let the Bulletin and Career Development help alleviate your worries. There is no denying that the interview is often a critical component to landing a prized job or internship position. In fact,
the significance of the interview often creates unnecessary anxiety and fear for students. “Fear can come from many sources: articulating one’s liberal arts education, joining an industry that’s predominately male, or thinking one doesn’t have the necessary preparation,” says Robert Earl of Career Development. Undoubtedly, Earl advises, the best way to overcome trepidation is through preparedness. “Do research on the organization you are interviewing for and figure out how to align their mission with your interests, skills, and abilities. Know your resume and be able to articulate it in relation to the job you are interviewing for.” Those in the Career Development offices work with students to uncover these connections and build a resume that students can speak intelligently about. Additionally, during a one-onone interview it is important that applicants come across as excited about the job opportunity and comfortable in their surroundings. Robert Earl recommends having an icebreaker to help an applicant relax, although he recommends avoiding a mundane topic like the weather or something controversial like the Republican primary. “Talk about something in the office—a piece of artwork or something else that’s noticeable,” suggests Earl. In a competitive job market Barnard girls need to be their own best advocate during the interview. Unfortunately, female applicants may struggle
with communicating their accomplishments to the employer. Earl remarks, “Research has shown that males may be more apt at talking about what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve gotten out of a particular experience.” Translation: the humble-brag is your friend. Therefore, students shouldn’t be shy about explaining not only what they have learned, but how it counts as a personal success. Earl says, “When we [Career Development] are coaching our students for the interview we teach them to talk functionally about what they’ve done and what they’ve achieved so that companies and organizations can see how they are going to bring something exciting to the table.” Councilors at Career Development will sit down with students and have them list out their accomplishments, even if they are already laid out on the resume, so that during the interview the students will be comfortable highlighting their achievements. It is important for students to remember that in many ways the interview is about selling oneself to the employer. Be vocal. Express how you are, indisputably, the best candidate for the job. While it is important to demonstrate your “go get ‘em” attitude, that’s not to say there isn’t a place for introverts in the interview process. Introverts make for naturally good listeners, a quality, although difficult to demonstrate in an interview, which can make all the difference in a hectic work environment. Introverts are less likely to go off on tangents when answering questions and may have an easier time tailoring their responses. They also have a tendency to think before speaking, which greatly elevates the quality of their side of the in-
terview, particularly in comparison to the more rambled, lengthy interview of an extrovert. There are pros and cons to both personality types, but remember these often neglected positive features if you find yourself in the introvert category! Non-verbal statements are also fundamental to giving a great interview. Earl notes that a firm handshake given with eye-contact is a key to coming across as confident and in control of the interview. Equally as important is the golden rule: dress to impress. “It sounds comical but image is everything,” says Earl. He advises that students “research what’s appropriate for the culture of the industry.” For those students who don’t own appropriate attire, Career Development offers a program called Suitable Suits, which allows students to borrow suits for interviews, information sessions, or career fairs. The suits are always freshly dry-cleaned and the closet is replenished annually with new outfits for students. While Earl warns students to air on the side of conservative, especially in skirt length, when going in for the interview, it is possible to let your attire reflect your professionalism and confidence while still revealing some unique aspect of your personality. Earl remarks that a Barnard student can often be identified at Columbia career fairs because they incorporate a nice scarf or interesting jewelry that reflects an independent sense of style.
the internship opportunities available to students are unpaid but Earl says the interview is the time to ask the employer for pay or a stipend. “It is absolutely appropriate to ask for compensation or a stipend,” assures Earl. If the employer says that they are not able to offer pay, it is suggested that students sit down with the employer and walk through the job description to articulate what they want to get out of the internship and the skills and abilities they want to hone. “It is important to get something substantive out of your internship experience,” continues Earl, “so it is worth your time.” If an unpaid internship is in your future, Barnard can help you afford it by offering school year and summer grants. The grant process is competitive, but students can win up to two thousand dollars and housing in New York City for a summer internship. In order to give as many students as possible an opportunity to win, it is almost impossible to win more than once.
Before you begin the upcoming interview season, be sure to stop by Career Development’s weekly interview workshops where students are recorded while giving a mock interview that is later analyzed for feedback by one of the councilors. Additionally, students are given a digital copy of their interview so that they can re-watch themselves in the privacy of their homes and work on weak areas without the scrutiny of the councilors. Whether you’re an underclassman, or a seaMaybe most importantly of all, don’t soned interviewee, Career Develbe afraid to get down to brass tacks opment will help you nail the interby bringing about the question of view! payment. Because after you nail the interview, you need to know whether or not you actually can afford to accept the job. Similarly, many of
POLITICS & OPINION HEADLINE, BOTTOM LINE By Sarah Lipkis
They Start to Drop like Flies Beginning in January the GOP Primary/ Caucus season began in full swing. Between now and June, all fifty states--as well as the District of Washington and Puerto Rico--will have the chance to pick their favorite Republican candidate. Barring Herman Cain, poor primary results have pushed the GOP candidates to drop out of the race one-by-one. Michelle Bachmann was next to go, followed by Jon Huntsman, who dropped out before the South Carolina race after a poll predicted that he would lose to Stephen Colbert. Finally, Rick Perry took a bow at the SC primary and put an end to those hysterical YouTube parodies of his advertisements as well as the inevitable fodder he provided for late night talk show monologues.
BOTTOM LINE
Your New Personal Assistant
Year of the Fallen Dictators
iPhone 4S owner: “What is the meaning
In 2011 the world witnessed the end of
of life?”
Mummar Gaddafi, Zine El Abidine Ben
Siri: “42;” “All evidence to date suggests
Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Kim Jong-il, and each
that it is chocolate;” “I can’t answer that
of their respective regimes. In addition
right now, but give me some very long
to the downfalls of these dictators, sur-
time to write a play in which nothing hap-
rounding Arab countries broke out into
pens;” “I don’t know. But I think there’s an
violence--most notably Syria--in an at-
app for that.”
tempt to overthrow oppressive regimes.
Owner: “What are you wearing?”
Tunisia and Egypt now have the opportu-
Siri: “You’ve got the wrong personal as-
nity to create new governments while Syria
sistant for that.”
still tries to overthrow Bashar al-Assad.
Owner: “Where can I get good pizza in Manhattan?” Siri: “Here are some restaurants. I’ve ordered them according to rank.” Owner: “Where can I bury a dead body?” Siri: “Do you prefer swamp, river or cement?” Owner: “Where can I get an abortion?”
It’s been a nasty race; the GOP candidates
Siri: “I’m sorry, I cannot help you at the
have spent more time beating each other
moment.”
up than wooing voters. We’re now left
BOTTOM LINE
with five months and four candidates.
BOTTOM LINE If you happen to be Sasha Baron Cohen, these recent events might make for a new movie--The Dictator (cleverly titled) will in fact be coming out this May. With excitement brewing for this film, the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Arab Spring approaching, and the surprising death of Kim Jong-il, the world seems to have postdictator life on its mind. However, the exit of many dictators does not translate im-
There’s Mitt Romney, the out of touch
What’s up with Siri? She’ll tell you where
mediately to democracy for their countries.
politician who believes that “corporations
you can bury a dead body (she prefers
With the exception of North Korea, Tunisia
are people too” and makes $10,000 bets;
bodies be thrown into the East River rath-
and Egypt are in the process of creating new
Newt Gingrich, who enjoys blurting out
er than the Hudson River), but not where
governments and both countries recently
any random thought that enters his head
a woman can get an abortion or the morn-
held elections, in Tunisia for the Constituent
no matter how offensive (poor children
ing after pill. This seemingly innocent
Assembly, and in Egypt for the Parliament.
working as janitors) or ridiculous (lunar
mistake has many female activists groups
Both countries have now begun writing new
colony for the win); Ron Paul, who ac-
wondering if Siri, and Apple as a whole,
constitutions. Though the media is constant-
cording to John Stewart looks suspiciously
is trying to promote a pro-life agenda.
ly reporting on the violence that is still hap-
like Rumpelstiltskin; and Rick Santorum,
These groups are worried that besides not
pening in Egypt and Tunisia, it is important
who advises women impregnated by rape
finding abortion clinics, Siri cannot lo-
to remember that forming a new government
to “make the best of a bad situation.” The
cate Planned Parenthood or other female
from scratch will likely be a long, drawn out
saddest thing about all this is that one of
health clinics. Apple has publically stated
process. The world must still be patient while
these men will be our Presidential nom-
that it has no agenda regarding the issue
waiting for developments in Egypt and Tuni-
inee--and I offer my condolences to any
of abortion and never imagined that a
sia after the Arab Spring. And until then, The
Republican waiting for a knight in shin-
person would want to ask that of a phone.
Dictator will be coming to a theater near you.
ning armor to reclaim the White House. !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
am$$*+#%,&-,.$/01/
SHE SAID - SHE SAID Free Speech in the Digital Age ANTI REGULATION
E
“
very political good car- legislation, so extreme in its poried to the extreme tentially repressive nature that must be productive of the ultimate “political good” is
evil,” wrote Mary Shelley on the reduced to over-regulation so French Revolution’s Reign of intense that the lives of most Terror, lamenting as the worthy Americans will be affected sogoals of liberalism and republi- cially, academically, and profescanism were devoured by a wave sionally. SOPA and PIPA were of intolerance and violence.
T
PRO REGULATION
here’s no denying that our society has very little respect for intel-
lectual property. In an age where virtually anything is available for free online, few people still pay for the privilege to be entertained from their computer screens. Rec-
defined in incredibly broad lan-
ognizing the downside of a world
guage that would allow for shutThe Stop Online Piracy Act downs of entire websites rather and the Protect IP Act come no- than specific infringing content,
wide web, Congress recently at-
where close the horrors of the forcing popular sites like Faceguillotine, but Shelley’s eloquent book and YouTube to tyranniwarning against extreme politi- cally monitor all content or pay cal action remains relevant. The hefty fees to fight inevitable legal bills, proposed in the House and battles. What new legislation the Senate respectively, con- will Congress draw? Even graver
tain various Internet regulation than SOPA or PIPA would be measures developed to curtail the federal regulation of Domain the online distribution of copy- Name System (DNS) -the basic righted materials. While both structure of the Internet. This bills have sincebeen set aside, wave of governmental interventhose in Congress are still push- tion can only be compared to ing a less dramatic form of on- the Internet censorship already line regulation. Many, however, demonstrated in countries like are concerned – and rightfully China and Russia. so – with the constraining effects that such radical regulatory
The problem of online pira-
measures will have on Internet cy must be fixed, but it must be freedom.
erwise spread unique inventions copyright infringements that are or novel thoughts. fair and do not encroach upon Yet the answer certainly cannot be an overarching piece of
our liberties.
!"#$%&''#!()$*$$
starving artist trying to make ends meet while others unfairly copied and distributed your brainchild? Unfortunately, Internet piracy
sible for infringing on copyright ject to incrimination, so that only laws. However, we cannot continue those who enable Internet piracy to ignore that there is a need for would be liable. For now, it’s imsome sort of government regula- portant to remember the principle tion online. I’m probably one of the few people today who still purchases music. Though I’ve occasionally slipped up, I am proud to say that most of my digital music library was ripped from a CD or
for free off the Internet is stealing from another person. Musicians, writers, filmmakers, and artists make their living by producing media for the expressed entertainment of the public. When we illegally watch an episode of Keeping
of the situation – our inflated sense of entitlement and disregard for art has driven Congress to consider such a draconian legislation. It’s up to you to respect the people who make the music, books, films, and other media that you enjoy. There are plenty of outlets that allow you to enjoy media legally – think Pandora and YouTube – without having to pay anything more than your Internet bill. Sadly, we’ve proven that we cannot handle the responsibility of using the Internet fairly, and it’s gotten to the point where the government wants to intervene.
Up With the Kardashians on the recently deceased Megavideo, we are not just denying the Kardashian Klan a percentage of the profits.
- Ayélet Pearl
their work. What if you were the
our right to free speech and would adhere to copyright laws. Any webmake libraries criminally respon- site that isn’t licensed would be sub-
popular belief, downloading files
protected under law, there is about practical ways to end the little incentive to publish or oth- harmful practice of piracy and
nothing to gain from continuing
and PIPA would both be ineffec- sites providing copyrighted materitive and severe as they encroach on al to obtain a license to ensure they
icies like SOPA and PIPA do lit-
Without certainty that an origi- should not be knee-jerk protests, nal concept or creation will be but rather serious conversations
these talented individuals have
for hostile responses to convince against SOPA and PIPA. However, the legislative branch that SOPA it might be feasible to require web-
purchased on iTunes. Contrary to
serious problem to the integ- to set the government on an easy rity of the free market of ideas. path of censorship. The solution
ly. If they’re not fairly compensated,
tempted to cut down on Internet isn’t an easy thing to justly legislate, piracy. However, it didn’t take long as shown in the intense backlash
done so carefully. Sweeping pol-
There is no doubt that copy- tle to actually counter copyright right infringement presents a infringement while doing much
summer interns are hurt financial-
The cameramen, editors, and even
an$$*$+#%,&-,.$/01/
- Laura Garrison .
USA MADE IN THE
THE DEBATE ON OUTSOURCING By Jordan Borgman
A
lthough things have improved since manufacturing giant it is today. In fact, many what it really means to compete with China. the 2008 financial crash, the econ- Americans place the blame of their own un-
Thanks to a series of exposés that began omy has not recovered enough to employment on countries like China, where with This American Life and continued in The completely free the nation’s students from an overwhelming number of jobs have been New York Times and several other media outthe anxiety that grips us as senior year rolls
outsourced. With 2.1 million jobs (and count- lets, we know exactly what “Made in China” around, and with it, the great job search. All ing) riding on the line, many are calling for means for Apple. It means that, when Steve the same, the prospects of a recent Barnard the return of these jobs to the United States. Jobs wanted an emergency screen change for or Columbia grad are much less grim than The question, however, is whether the U.S. is for workers with less education, especially up for the competition. in fields requiring relatively unskilled labor like manufacturing, the sector around which
President Obama devoted much of his
iPhones that were about to be released in mere weeks, workers who lived eight to a room in company dorms were woken up in the middle
State of the Union address on January 24th to of the night, handed a spot of tea and uncer-
most of the buzz about outsourcing has been pledging the “insourcing” of jobs to American emoniously directed to the assembly line. coalescing. workers, and many of the Republican presiIt means that workers at Foxconn, Apple’s In a 2011 Huffington Post article Shahien dential hopefuls have based their campaigns largest supplier, normally work more than the Nasiripour cites manufacturing job losses at on this same promise. President Obama is sixty-hour limit a week that Apple sets, which 2.1 million – with that number, significant proposing tax cuts while the Republicans amounts to more than ten hour shifts at least devastation hit families across the U.S. The want to slash regulations, hoping that this, main reason for this loss is the rise of glo-
coupled with American companies’ sense of
balization, and with it, the lure that many patriotism, will be enough to bring businesses companies feel towards the low wages and like Apple away from China and back into faclittle regulation that developing countries offer. These factors allowed China to rise as the
tories on U.S. soil. Alrighty, then. Let’s do it. Seriously. Let’s see
six days a week. It means that some workers have legs that are so swollen from standing continuously that they can no longer walk. It means that the average wage is less than
$140 a month (this boils down to four sixty-
ably frowned upon, Apple’s versatility would disbanding a lot of regulation. While no one
hour work weeks and roughly sixty cents an
be crippled. Moving Apple jobs to the U.S. is eager to talk about the former pair, many
hour). Workers are often not paid for work-
would mean longer intervals between prod-
politicians have readily jumped on the latter.
ing overtime. All of this means that labor is ucts and, when a new product is released, a The way that regulation is discussed nowacheaper than machines, so the iPhone that much, much longer waiting period before it
days, one would think that it was nothing but
you just used to send that text message about gets into your hand. This in turn means less
a worn-out collection of needless red tape
the cool new cover of the Barnard Bulletin
innovation—and rapid technological innova-
and annoying bureaucracy. To some extent
was made almost entirely by hand.
tion has arguably created more jobs at home it undoubtedly is, but even the most frustrat-
And it means that trying to form a union is than end up being lost to outsourcing in Chi- ing of America’s regulation was the product of na. The problem, of course, is that jobs gen- decades of struggle. Regulation is what prean offense punishable by jail time. Looking at what it truly means to compete for jobs with the world’s manufacturing giant significantly influences the terms of the debate on outsourcing. The question is not whether we should be bringing manufacturing jobs to America’s shores. The question is what we are willing to give up if we truly want to make that happen. Because, of course, there are reasons why Apple and many other American companies have shifted their operations oversees. There are the infamously lower wages, the comparative lack of regulation, and other factors that the U.S. would have difficulty reproducing, such as the close concentration of many suppliers in certain cities that are manufacturing hubs. We want these jobs to come back home, but as a nation we haven’t thought the ramifications through. As Americans, we’re conditioned into thinking we can have it all, but in this case having it all simply may not be possible. Bringing these jobs back would require sacrifice, and in this time of loss, more sacrifice isn’t something many people are willing to contemplate. Much of Apple’s fame and incredible profit
erated have been “white collar” jobs, rather vents another Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; than the “blue collar” trades concerning un-
the lack of it is what prompted grisly exposés
employed Americans.
such as Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Is there
The question is not whether we should be bringing manufacturing jobs to America’s shores. The question is what we are willing to give up if we truly want to make that happen.
“
”
Then there’s the obvious hike in price that
needless red tape in regulation? Certainly. But there is also that element of it that protects American workers from sixty-hour work weeks, hazardous nerve-damaging chemicals, preventable deadly explosions, and child labor—all of which Apple has confirmed exists in its suppliers’ factories. What, then, are we as Americans willing to give up? If it’s not the 2.1 million jobs, what will we give to get them back? Human rights groups have rightfully attacked Apple’s suppliers, but for now the truth remains that our current model is successfully profitable. Should Apple have a clearer commitment to human rights simply because that is the moral
would come with employing American work- thing to do? Many will say yes. Should Apple ers. Jon Stewart revealed on The Daily Show return jobs to the U.S. simply for the good of that if workers weren’t working in conditions the country that created it? That is the tie that like those at Foxconn, an iPod would cost
many politicians are banking on. Yet will any
twenty-three percent more. (In reference to of these moral arguments ultimately prove the recent spate of suicides at the factory, a more important to the company than its botfrowning Stewart complained, “I would ex-
tom line? That remains to be seen, and for
pect if we were working people to death we’d many of us, it remains out of our hands.
be getting, like, thirty to thirty-five percent Is it, though? This article was typed on a has been built on its frequent incredible tech- savings.”) With customers accustomed to Mac. Tomorrow I’ll be checking for e-mails on nological updates and new models—be it carrier contracts that guarantee them a new my iPad. Most of the people I text will receive computers, phones, or never-before-seen tab- phone every one or two years at no extra cost, the messages on their iPhones. We have trelet devices. Aside from the necessity of having the ripple effect of higher costs to Apple and mendous power as consumers. If we demand a gigantic labor force to produce mountains companies like it would not pass without that manufacturing jobs be brought back to of gadgets in extremely short lengths of time, complaint. the U.S.— from Apple or from any other comthe company also needs flexibility—the flexAssuming that American consumers are pany—our voices may just be heard. ibility to, say, wake up hundreds of workers in unlikely to happily welcome either higher But if you decide to use this power, first the middle of the night to change a product, costs or lesser innovation in their products, tell me this: what, precisely, are you willing to which is possible because all these workers the only option left to lawmakers is to make give up? are housed in the dorms of factories that run the U.S. more like China. This means slash24/7. If these jobs were to be moved to the ing wages and benefits, lowering taxes and U.S., where this sort of thing is unquestion-
MORMONISM & THE GOP: Integration of Church and State By Noël Bohl-Fabian
“H
ow would your religious beliefs seems perfectly acceptable to keep faith a private George W. Bush.” impact the decisions you make issue, particularly when discussing matters of in the Office of the Presidency?” state. On the other hand, we are left to wonder if
In the current GOP campaign, religion con-
It seems like an innocent, less-than-hard-hitting this separation of religion and politics could pos- tinues to play a definitive role. In August, Rick question to ask of the four GOP candidates. sibly stems from a fear of publicly acknowledging Perry held a much-criticized “prayer meeting” in However, Jacksonville resident Suzanna Bass may one’s personal beliefs. If this is the case, the fact Houston, to pray for what organizers were calling not have realized just how loaded her question that it is more strategic to ignore religious affilia- the “historic crisis” facing America. was at the GOP debate earlier this month.
tion than discuss it in depth shows just how crippling America’s false perceptions can be. Rather
This current race for the GOP nomination has than risk discussing their religious orientation to been an interesting one to behold. For one thing, comment on larger issues of religious intolerance, it is the first GOP election in which two of the both candidates proved reluctant. candidates (Mitt Romney and formerly-running Jon Huntsman) are members of what is perhaps
According to American religious history pro-
the most controversial church in America, the fessor Randall Balmer, faith has been an imChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
portant issue in presidential campaigning since
the mid 1970’s. During his 1976 campaign for The Mormon question is a serious one to con- president, Jimmy Carter publicly announced that sider, as much for its novelty in current issues as he was a “born-again” Christian. The transpar-
for its ability to highlight the religious and cul- ency of his religious convictions (and evangelical tural prejudices harbored by many Americans to faith) was in large part what emboldened so many this day. You would think that a country founded evangelical Christians to back Carter in the 1976 on providing freedom of religious expression, we election. would have become more accepting of the plural-
ity of different belief systems that have flourished in the United States.
And then there’s Mormonism. It is almost understandable why both Hunts-
!
The Mormon question is a serious one to consider, as much for its novelty in current issues as for its ability to highlight the religious and cultural prejudices harbored by many Americans to this day
!
Jimmy Carter’s staunchly Christian viewpoints were particularly attractive to a morally impov- man and Romney would shy away from publicizerished post-Watergate American public. In a ing their Mormon faith. In an article published
However, the campaigns of both Mitt Romney way, Professor Balmer explained, Jimmy Carter in The New Republic last May, Matthew Bowman and Jon Huntsman seem to indicate, if anything, became a sort of “Messianic Savior” following the wrote, “Mormonism, according to its detractors,
the continuing limitations of religious under- Watergate scandals. Since then, the “language of was secretive, authoritarian, esoteric, hierarchistanding in our own country, and perhaps more piety” has become inextricably suffused onto the cal, and cultish.” The accusations are symptomsignificantly, our inability to talk about religious political stage. beliefs in an effective way.
atic of a generally biased attitude that evangelical
Christians and other Americans have fostered
Take the 2000 election, when George W. Bush towards Mormons since the days of Joseph Smith
Both Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman have famously stated that his favorite political philoso- and Brigham Young. repeatedly shied away from making Mormon- pher was “Jesus Christ”. Or in 2004, when John ism a key political issue throughout their cam- Kerry carried around his Catholic prayer book In October 2011, CNN’s John King inter-
paigns. While Romney has repeatedly stated, “If and rosary with him on the campaign. Even viewed Southern Baptist leader, Robert Jeffress, you want to know about my faith, ask my church,” more recently, an article published in 2009 sug- over a controversy sparked when Jeffress referred Huntsman took an alternative approach, call- gested that “Obama invokes Jesus more than to Mormonism as a “cult”. “Mormonism is not ing himself “spiritual, not religious.” To most, it Christianity,” Jeffress remarked in the interview.
Mormons, he said, “do not embrace the histori-
In an article published in January by USA To- conservative Christian voters. But perhaps the
cal tenets of evangelical Christianity.” Although day, Lynn Grossman writes that most reserva- underlying problem here is that we have yet to Rev. Jeffress is considered a fundamentalist, his tions expressed by Americans towards Mormon- develop a proper way of talking about religion remarks still ring true to many conservative vot- ism are based in unfamiliarity. ers, and thus present a considerable hurdle for any Mormon trying to gain political office, particularly in the Republican party. Jeffress
and
other
in the political system. Politicians discuss their
religious views with the intention of gaining votTheir effective proselytizing is part of what ers. However, as Randall Balmer points out, this has made them the fastest-growing religion in undercuts the need for honest communication. America. Combined with their strong sense of
conservative
When religion and politics are
Christians fear that Mormons repre-
intertwined,
sent a threat to traditional American
tends to produce what Balmer calls
values. Of the 6 million Mormons in
“gauzy affirmations of faith.” Rath-
the U.S., 76% of them live in only a
er than clarify a candidate’s per-
handful of Western states. Mormonism
sonal values, these statements have
is also primarily discussed in academic
little or no actual meaning, and
settings in terms of legal disputes over
are often taken at face value rather
polygamy, although the practice was
than analyzed for their moral and
banned by the LDS Church in 1890.
ethical content. “In America, reli-
Still, the association between Mor-
gion serves as a proxy for morality,”
monism and polygamy has been per-
he says. “We don’t know how else
petuated continuously by popular T.V.
to ask the question, is a candidate
series depicting polygamous Mormon
moral or not? So, we use religion.”
families, like HBO’s Big Love and TLC’s
the
combination
And yet, faith remains an im-
Sister Wives.
portant element in the White
In addition polygamy, Mormons are
House for many reasons. A rhet-
also well-known for their unique belief
oric of faith allows a president or
in the principle of “continuous revela-
presidential candidate to convey
tion”, that God continues to communi-
the deeper, spiritual motives that
cate with mankind through modern-
guide their political decisions. It
day prophets. Presidents of the LDS
allows them, perhaps more impor-
Church are believed to be such proph-
tantly, to establish a connection
ets who are capable of receiving divine
with the 83% of Americans who
revelation.
say that they believe in God, and
Yet, these concerns are largely unfounded. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and American Life, Mormons are some of the most traditional members of American society: they value family and education, 71% are married, and 61% have received a college education. This represents what Laurie Maffly-Kipp calls the “double legacy” of Mormons: “just as Morprovoke typically American fears,” Maffly-Kipp writes. “While Mormons embody the economic
organized force in the political arena, and are credited (or blamed) for the passing of Prop 8 in California, which overturned the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In a 2007 Speech on Faith, Romney evoked the need to restore America’s “political religion;” that is, a commitment to upholding the Constitution, and the principles of liberty and human equality.
Despite the controversies, the latest poll shows “[These principles] are not unique to any one deRomney in the lead of the GOP nomination at nomination,” he said. “They belong to the great 31%, ahead of Newt Gingrich by 5%. Should religion matter in the GOP debate? Despite our nation built on a foundation of
moral inheritance we hold in common. They are the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.” Perhaps this sense of morality’s return to poli-
and moral success endorsed by the American separation of church and state, religous beliefs tics via open and honest discussion is one creed Dream, they also subscribe to beliefs that, to may play an important role to those who con- we can all agree upon. many, seem peculiar—even bizarre.”
sider it an important qualifier, and especially to
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mons seem to be ideal Americans, they also
to comfort those who face distress community, Mormons have become a potent and anxiety in a difficult world.
NEW YORK CITY LIVING Anglophilia in America ternoon tea complete with scones and cakes.
come down with a wicked case of an-
If you don’t feel like poking your pinky in
glophilia, as people host Downton Abbey viewing parties, don fascinators,
and keep up with Kate Middleton. New York City is no exception to this love of all things British. The following guide is chock full of
and furniture on Duane Street.
the air over a cuppa, then check out the Park
If you prefer cleats to couture, check out
Slope Chipshop in Brooklyn. This quaint
the New York Rugby Club, the oldest rugby
eatery prides itself on its authentic fish and
team in the United States. Watch a game or
chips as well an abundance of Brit décor that
actually play in one, for the Club has leagues
includes a bathroom cheerfully labeled “loo.”
for all ages. To cheer for the home team, just
The hot pink Chipshop Mini
head over to Baker Field to support the Co-
Cooper even delivers “take-
lumbia Men’s or Women’s Rugby Clubs.
away.”
For the more artistically inclined, the
Every good Englishwoman
Mid-Manhattan Library Picture Collection
needs a proper watering hole,
has an exhibit inspired by the runaway tele-
and one may be found at
vision hit, Downton Abbey. This TV series
The Way Station, a Dr. Who-
focuses on the aristocracy in twentieth-
themed bar in Brooklyn that
century England and has accumulated a
will send fans of the interna-
huge following stateside. The exhibit pres-
tional hit TV series into par-
ents of a photo display inspired by the show
oxysms, especially when they
and even includes memorable quotes from
see the life-sized TARDIS
favorite characters. Hurry, because it ends
used for time travel. Hosting
mid-March!
a full bar, live music, and quiz nights, The Way Station will definitely make your night something special.
Feeling a bit peckish after a busy day at the museum? Stop by Meyers of Keswick, an authentic British grocery store on Hudson Street (between Horatio and Jane streets).
If you’re looking for a re-
The shop sells English food and household
laxing Sunday after a night of
items that are usually only available across
dance and drink, then grab
the pond. Pick up a box of Scott’s Porage
a paper from Around the
Oats or a freshly baked pork pie. Meyers also
cheap and fun things to do in the city that
World Fashion Publications on 40th Street
sells British souvenirs and holiday themed
will be sure to get you in a London state of
between Fifth and Sixth avenues. This maga-
sweets such as Cadbury Easter Crème Eggs.
mind.
zine shop carries all those shameless British
If all of this still doesn’t quite satisfy your
In order to be like a Brit, you have to drink like one. Though British food isn’t usually on top of anyone’s list of great cuisine, their tea
tabloids that recently caused such a scandal, so you’ll be the first to know if Kate Middleton has a bun (or scone) in the oven.
surely hits the spot. The restaurant Tea and
Maybe after perusing The Sun, you’ll fan-
Sympathy is a little slice of England in the
cy some clothes similar to those worn by UK
middle of Greenwich Village. With food that
celebs. Head down to Topshop on Broadway
sounds as though it comes straight from a
for British fashion worn by the likes of Kate
Harry Potter novel, Tea and Sympathy pro-
Moss and the Middleton sisters. If you’re
vides English favorites such as bangers and
looking for something a little more authen-
mash and Yorkshire pudding. Before saying
tically English, pick up a Macintosh or col-
“Cheerio,” you can sample an authentic af-
lege scarf at The Working Class Emporium, a
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English fix, then stick around for Britfest NYC. A feeding ground for all Anglophiles, Britfest runs from June 4-11 and includes live music, barbecue, and beer. There it is: The Brit lover’s guide to New York City. Side effects of the above activities include speaking with a bad British accent, possessing a hankering for treacle tart, a surprisingly intense desire to say “bollocks,” and an all-around jolly good time!
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purveyor of British clothes, art, accessories,
photography by Ayelet Pearl
I
t seems like the United States has
By Hannah Miller
Exercise to a Breaking Point By Elyse Pitock
W
ith the semester already best fitness program to adopt and how often damage to professional and recreational athweeks old, the memories we should participate.
letes’ bodies.
of our New Year’s resoluMartial arts, bodybuilding, aerobics, yoga, Both these articles focus on extreme cases. tions have died as quietly and pathetically as and Pilates--all major fads at some point over Most Barnard students are in more danger of Jon Huntsman’s bid for the presidency. Though the last forty years--have been permanently injuring themselves in high heels than from gyms are as empty as they’ve ever been, those incorporated into American exercise culture. vajrasana. Appropriately, students don’t appear who are sticking to their exercise routines in The most recent phenomena that have yet to to be too concerned about the risks—yoga is 2012 are faced with several decisions. Thirty prove their staying powers are “boot camps” one of the most popular physical education minutes of aerobic physical activity six days and dance routines like Zumba, a dance- classes in the department. Across Broadway a week? Seventy-five minutes of vigorous, in- inspired fitness class incorporating elements at Dodge Gym, students can pay $53-$80 for tense aerobics and muscle-strengthening ac- of salsa, martial arts, belly dancing, hip-hop, yoga of all sorts: Core, Vinyasa, Hatha, or Iytivities with muscle-strengthening activities mambo, and more. While the consensus engar. There are also twelve Pilates classes, one two or more days a week? Four days a week but among public health officials seems to be that kung fu class, and six Zumba classes. Anyone not two days in a row? Yoga? Zumba? Pilates? Americans don’t get enough exercise, it cer- with a Dodge membership is eligible to sign The contradictory fitness advice, be it from tainly isn’t due to lack of options.
up.
magazines, gyms, or doctors, can be dizzying.
None of these fads, past or present, are Both the Barnard FitBear program and For as long as people are unhappy with their without controversy. A recent New York Times Dodge Gym offer weekly supplemental gym bodies, questionable and/or presumptuous Magazine article by William J. Broad detaiLs classes in various types of yoga, swimming, Pihealth advice will continue to plaster the pages several bizarre and debilitating yoga-induced lates, Zumba, body sculpting, cardio mix, and of Cosmopolitan. (“Sprint to the bathroom, injuries, including a man who experienced dif- even scuba diving, in addition to club sports. hover over the toilet seat while you pee, and ficulty walking after he started to “sit upright When all is said and done, be a wary consprint back--30 calories”). And as long as our on his heels in a kneeling position known as sumer—enjoy Zumba, kickboxing and “boot
hearts have an ambiguous expiration date, the vajrasana for hours a day, chanting for world camp” exercise classes while they’re in, but Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the peace.” Another article by Gina Kolata de- stop if anything hurts and make sure to have American Heart Association (AHA) will of- scribes the “increasing focus on extreme exer- a varied routine. fer their own slightly revised accounts of the cise” and the resulting skeletal and muscular !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
at$$*$+#%,&-,.$/01/
!"#$ YEAR OF THE
%&'(")*+','-+#.+
Welcome to 2012, sluts! I hope everyone’s winter break was happy, relaxing, and full of great sex. guy was sweet, although for many reasons not
be a fun, light-hearted day; let it be just that!
real life. Our fling’s definite expiration date allowed me to enjoy his company free of overanalysis. And for the record: we didn’t have sex until the second night he took me out, January 3. New Year’s Resolution: still going strong.
In anticipation of the big day and fueled by YOTS optimism, Laura and I bought tickets to a pre-V-day mixer, replete with an open bar, a comedy show, and the promise of guys. This article was due before the mixer, but be sure to tune in next month to see how my first time at a singles event turned out…
ALEXA - My Resolution for 2012 is to not someone I would ever consider dating in my have sex the first night that I meet someone. Perhaps this seems anti-YOTS at first glance, but just as a refresher: YOTS is about having the confidence to do what’s right for you. I’ve had a lot of first nights in the past, and I’m currently interested in what I might discover after the first night.
And now it’s Valentine’s Day! I love Valentine’s Day. I think single people hold too many Laura and I were lucky enough to stumble preconceptions about the holiday, on both ends down to Curacao and into a resort filled with of the cliché spectrum. Some wallow in the law-school students, where we found love. . . or “sadness” of being single and feel disappointed at least, lust… for the week. Picture a liquored- and sorry for themselves, and others hate really up dinner date overlooking the Caribbean hard on February 14th while watching horror shoreline, ending with hours in a hot tub and movies and dissing Hallmark. I implore you a furtive dash back to the hotel room as the all to approach this V-Day with a new attitude. sun is coming up while trying to avoid seeing Embrace the happiness in the air, feel the high my rise-at-dawn parents who also happened from all the sugary treats, and break open a to be staying at the resort*. Scandalous! The bottle of champagne for yourself. It’s meant to
LAURA - Welcome to the second annual Year
In our real lives, Vacation Boyfriend lives in LA and I’m here in NYC, so the expiration date on our fling coincided with our plane flights to opposite coasts.** In our temporary romance, there were no expectations for the future, no stressful relationship conversations, no jealousy, and no drama. In the few days that we spent together, I could fully live in the moment and just enjoy myself.
While it may be impossible to live constantly in the Now (á la Eckhart Tolle), having a vaAs Alexa shared in her column, we started cation boyfriend reminded me of how much 2012 off right on the beautiful island of Cu- easier it is to be happy when you focus on racao, where we reveled in our R&R and even your present instead of dwelling on your past nabbed ourselves two amazing vacation boy- or worrying about your future. If you are curfriends. I met an adorable, self-described “real rently seeing someone, forget about where the cowboy” who swept me off my feet and into the relationship is going; instead, appreciate all of hot tub, the shower, the bed...Oh my! (Seri- the fun (sex) you are having now. And if you ously. The sex was awesome. And surprisingly have chosen to be single—like me—focus on YOTSing as much as possible. It is a new seintimate—he loved to cuddle!) mester and the weather is getting warmer, so If you have any questions or comments for Alexa or Laura, don’t be shy! Email the Bulletinedboard@gmail.com, (subject line: YOTS) and we promise to be in touch!
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*I have a good relationship with my parents. They knew where I was and who I was with, as did Laura. Don’t be stupid on vacation, k? You know better. That being said, I still don’t need to see my parents as I’m embarking on a walk of shame.
embrace the fact that you are young and single and living in the best city in the world! Valentine’s Day is here and love is in the air (read what Alexa had to say about this great holiday), so challenge yourself by doing something spontaneous in the name of YOTS, like asking your crush to hang out, or giving your go-to drunk dial a call when you are sober! Alexa and I are going to a pre-Valentine’s Day singles party (it was a Groupon!) and we will definitely be YOTSing our pants off (you should know by now that I mean that literally). *See our first column in the October 2011 issue of the Bulletin to read the YOTS Constitution ** He may be/actually is flying to New York to visit me for a long weekend this month. So much for temporary! Yes, I’m excited about it. Yes, I’m also completely freaking out. I’ll let you know how it goes!
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of the Slut! I am so excited and optimistic about the year to come. (Yes, that pun was intended. I regret it already.) If this is your first time reading this column, “Year of the Slut”—or YOTS for short—is where my best friend Alexa and I get to tell you about our dating experiences and sex lives as single college girls in NYC. As seasoned ambassadors in the field of love, we hope you’ll enjoy our stories and maybe learn a little something too*.
Ready… set… get some!
GREAT
By Bob & Eli
SEXPECTATIONS With months of advertising in storefronts and on television, Valentine’s Day makes us realize that we’re not Hugh Grant, we’re not Robert Redford, and we’re certainly not the suddenly attractive Neville Longbottom. We are clumsy, forgetful, and sometimes burp while whispering sweet nothings in your ear. On Valentine’s Day, we don’t stand a chance. Romance has beWhen we were asked to address Valentine’s come a Platonic form: it is an ideal that exists in Day from the straight male’s perspective, we commercials, not in the real world of chapped couldn’t help but think, “How much will we lips and erectile dysfunction. be paid for this?” Because Valentine’s Day is Our everyday attempts at passion seem halfexpensive, and so is our addiction to online poker. But we’re not here to discuss our career hearted in comparison to the affection we are aspirations. We’re here to discuss the reign expected to display on the massively signifiof Saint Valentine. His day is loved by some, cant day of Valentine. Why should we let one loathed by others, and spent “doing it” by the girthy day of the year own spontaneity and romance? Yes, we can cover the bed with rose popular kids. petals on any random day, but then we look like It’s tough to maintain a steady opinion re- we’re trying to hide the fact that we accidengarding Valentine’s Day. Some years we’re tally lost that thing you gave us from that place alone, drinking whole milk out of the carton. you went. So how can we expect an everyday Other years we’re tied to a bedpost wondering, gesture like presenting you with a two-thirds “Who are these people?” The latter years are majority of our Batman covers to go anything but unnoticed? Romantic gestures — grand or the best. petite — often don’t feel genuine unless they’re Unfortunately, the years that we expect to done on Valentine’s Day. be a part of a goddamn magic show, we end In that sense, Valentine’s Day is like Mondo up catching the 9 p.m. showing of Beauty and the Beast 3D and going straight home to our Burger from the seminal 1997 film Good Burgseparate twin beds instead. With a holiday as er. In the film, the corporate burger joint Monunpredictable as Boost Mobile’s cell phone ser- do Burger makes the small-time, big-hearted “Good Burger” irrelevant by monopolizing the vice, how can anyone’s expectations be met? burger market. Have we learned nothing from Frankly, Valentine’s Day is like the 2010- Nickelodeon? We can’t let Mondo Burger ob2011 Miami Heat. When you’ve got LeBron tain Ed’s secret sauce recipe, and we certainly James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh on your can’t let Valentine’s Day monopolize the roteam, and you host a giant welcoming celebra- mance market. tion to brag about it, it’s going to be humiliatWe don’t mean to come off as sappy romaning when you lose in the NBA finals. Similarly, when there’s a whole holiday dedicated to rau- tics. We’re just a couple of guys who happen to cous lovemaking, the holiday is inevitably go- be above-average cuddlers. And to us, Valening to fall short of expectations… or should we tine’s Day just seems insincere. It’s all stuffed into 24 hours, like Jack Bauer’s character desay, sexpectations. Get it? Because of the sex. velopment. Why not redistribute the romantic Anyway. Therein lies the disappointment. wealth that Valentine’s Day has hoarded? We’re Before we begin, we would like to make one thing very clear. As a couple of Caucasian, Jewish, private school educated, heterosexual males, we clearly represent the human experience in all of its glorious diversity. So keep that in mind if, at any point, you start to think that other opinions might exist.
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We’ll tell you why—because of Mondo Burger and the Miami Heat. Because of girthy Saint Valentine and Neville Longbottom. Because as exciting as Valentine’s Day can be (remember when we were tied to a bedpost?), it makes all of the other days look like Rob Schneider in an Adam Sandler movie: overcompensating and forgotten. Are we saying we should get rid of Valentine’s Day? What, and get rid of candy hearts, too? Of course not. We’re not barbarians. We’re just suggesting not taking a non-federal holiday so seriously. And maybe we shouldn’t be afraid to buy you red roses in July. Or whatever that thing is that you like.
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not saying we’re going to sweep you off of your feet every day of the year. Look at us – we’re in no shape to do that. But aren’t those nights when we order Chinese food and watch two seasons of America’s Best Dance Crew better than the rouge-covered panic attack that is Valentine’s Day? Why can’t it all just happen organically?
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT And the Winners Are...
By Hannah Miller
I
t’s that time of year again, when movie buffs anticipate a much more cinematic (although perhaps equally brutal) Super Bowl: The Oscars. Here’s a quick guide to the nominees so that even if
you were too steeped in studies to hit the theater last semester, you can still place a smart bet on who will take home a statue.
Best Actor
This year saw a lot of good-looking men in very interesting roles (though Michael Fassbender’s parts, I mean part, in Shame was not
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
enough to garner him a nod). George Clooney and Brad Pitt are the category’s big names. Clooney was nominated for his portrayal of a
Best Actress
dorky dad in The Descendants while Pitt worked a windbreaker in his Moneyball role as baseball manager, Billy Beane. The Oscar will
The Best Actress category has some stiff competition this year.
most likely go to Clooney for his easy charm, but my personal choice
Four of the five nominees underwent physical transformations for
is The Artist’s Jean Dujardin. In my opinion, the debonair French
their roles and the fifth, Viola Davis, has already gathered a Critics’
actor’s dancing beats Clooney running in flip-flops, perhaps one in
Choice Award for The Help. Overall, the competition is probably be-
a handful of surprisingly unsexy Clooney moments.
tween Meryl Streep for her stirring portrayal of Margaret Thatcher
Best Supporting Actor
in The Iron Lady and Michelle Williams, who captured the emotion-
Though this category saw some surprises (who would’ve thought the
logistics into consideration, the critics will probably give it to Streep,
chubby kid from Superbad would be getting an Oscar nod?), I think the runaway winner here is Christopher Plummer, who poignantly portrayed a septuagenarian coming out of the closet in Beginners. Plummer already cleaned up at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards and proved that he can give a clever speech, so his acceptance at the Oscars should be a treat.
who is long overdue for another little man.
Best Supporting Actress This category holds the least surprise since The Help’s Octavia Spencer is a lock. Her portrayal of the tart-tongued Minnie Jackson, made Spencer, a previously unknown, the toast of Tinseltown. As good as
Best Film
Spencer was, however, my secret wish is for Melissa McCarthy to win for her hilarious role in Bridesmaids. If her acceptance speech is
Though it seems like twenty films have been selected in this cat-
half as funny as her performance, it’ll bring down the house.
egory due to the Academy’s 2009 decision to expand the number of
Best Director
Best Picture nominations, the award comes down to only two movies. The category saw a wide range of films from tearjerkers such as
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al fragility of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn. Taking the
The two biggest names in the this category are Martin Scorsese and
Warhorse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, children’s mov-
Woody Allen, but it’s possible neither of them will come away with
ies such as Hugo, a few films no one really understoods like Tree of
the statue. Though Scorsese’s Hugo was enchanting and Allen’s Mid-
Life, and then there are the two standouts: The Descendants and The
night in Paris was intellectual and clever, the two frontrunners of
Artist. Although the The Descendants is a sweet story with standout
the category seem to be The Artist’s Michel Hazanavicius and The
performances from George Clooney and Shailene Woodley, I think
Descendants’ Alexander Payne. I’m going to go with the director
that the film will ultimately lose out to The Artist, a movie that pays
whose name is harder to pronounce on this one. Hazanavicius did a
homage to silent film as well as to cinema itself. Despite the Avatar
great job crafting a silent, black-and-white movie that appealed to all
obsession two years prior, The Artist proves that all movies do not
generations--even to those of us who came out of the womb with a
have to be modern to be great.
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Cindy Sherman: Transformative Art By Valerie Wang
A
merican contemporary artist Cin-
photographs that mimic black–and-white
clergymen, and milkmaids as well as her
dy Sherman assumes several artis-
film stills of anonymous women. Sherman
larger-than-life society portraits (2008)
tic roles. Serving as set designer,
commented, “Film has always kind of been
that address the experience and representa-
make-up artist, director, and photographer,
more influential to me than the art world.”
tion of aging in the context of contempo-
These particular photos are inspired by Eu-
rary obsessions with youth and status. The
ropean film-noir, in which, she says, the
exhibit will also include Sherman’s recent
women tended to seem more expression-
photographic murals (2010), which will
less: “The face looks like it’s in between a
have their American premiere at MoMA.
she dresses in different guises and photographs herself in real and digitally created settings. Using prosthetic facial parts, masks, and costumes, as well as technology, Sherman transforms herself into endless characters influenced by all realms of the world. The personas she appropriates and recreates range from private to ostentatious, from clowns to Hollywood starlets, from tea-sipping society women to airheads who have overstayed their welcome at tanning salons. She even makes jabs at renowned masterpieces and jokes about traditional prototypes of Renaissance or Medieval portraits. Yet, each individual character is rendered refreshingly unique. By projecting the stereotype on the individual, Sherman always adds an edge, provoking such questions as, Is that her body or a smear of blood? Sherman has used herself as a model for 30 years, yet her photos are anything but self-portraits. She treats her body like a blank canvas, which one needs, but whose purpose is rarely central to conveying a meaning or to playing an evocative role. Instead, these photographs highlight the limitlessness of possible personas; the more unlike her true form, the better. Sherman refers to the artworks as “she,” further distancing them from herself and showing the way she sees each product as a char-
Uniting over 180 of Sherman’s pieces, her MoMA exhibit will present art that ranges from her work in the mid-1970s to
just happened, what’s about to happen.” Sherman says that she did not want the photos to look like art that requires a certain understanding or knowledge and is therefore only interpretable by an elite group of people. Conversely, her pictures are meant to be universally relatable, precisely due to their nameless and non-individual nature. This effect prompts each work to resonate in a different way for each individual.
the present. One of her most famous series,
In addition, the exhibit will display her his-
“Untitled Film Stills” (1977-80) will be in-
tory portraits (1989–90), in which the artist
cluded in the exhibit. This series comprises
puns on old master paintings of aristocrats,
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Sherman’s retrospective may prompt intimate reflection or provide a broader understanding of the global culture of arts, entertainment, and social classes. This exhibit provides, as is often suggested, an examination of the female, but it is equally or even more so an examination of society, culture, and the individual. Sherman’s work is, however, not only about content but also execution, as she has generated a whole new approach to creating art. Cindy Sherman opens at MoMA on February 26th..
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acter, not an item to be hung on a wall.
reaction…You don’t know as a viewer what
I
t’s hard to define the genre of music created by the up-and-coming band tUnE-
tUnE-yArDs
yArDs. Wikipedia defines it as some sort
of Lo-fi, R&B, experimental, Wonky pop, Afrobeat mix, and with a description like that, this unique style developed by the band’s singer and songwriter, Merril Garbus, is sure to turn some heads. After graduating from Smith College with a degree in theater, Garbus worked several years as a puppeteer in Vermont before exploring a career in music. Alongside bassist and partner Nate Brenner, tUnE-yArDs selfreleased their first album BiRd-BrAiNs in 2009 and their second, w h o k i l l, came out last year under the label 4AD. During this time, the band has established a faithful following of fans who have discovered the brilliance of this eclectic sound as well as Garbus’ incredible live performances, in which she relates drum loops layered with ukulele, voice, and the bass played by Brenner.
by Cleo Levin
The Bulletin was lucky enough to interview Ms. Garbus before her American Songbook performance at Lincoln Center on February 9th.
BB: You’ve talked about how the very styling ing, or reading, and observing, is so crucial,
case an album or a song, as much as I do the
of your band’s name, tUnE-yArDs, is designed particularly if you’re going to create some- piece of art itself. I first created cassettes and to get people to slow down when approaching
thing out of nothing. I suppose you need to the capitalization as a way to get people to take
your music. This seems like a worthwhile con-
get down to the nothing first.
time with my music. It doesn’t always work,
cept, but perhaps a difficult one, especially for
The notion that we have to create our own of course, and with this new album and new the younger, technological generation. How rules and boundaries for how to deal with our world I’ve found myself in, there are plenty of would you explain the importance of taking own time (and our own space, and our own other trappings and things to overcome. creation) is something that’s always been a
BB: Your first album, BiRd BrAiNs, was re-
part of tUnE-yArDs. I was 28 and 29 when
corded with a handheld device, and distribut-
people started paying attention to my music,
ed on vinyl as well as digitally. Analog record-
artist is finding space and time for art. The and by that time I wasn’t going to conform
ings suggest a different kind of experience
general? MG: In my experience, a big part of being an
brain needs some space in order to create. I to anyone else’s opinion about what I should than that of a kid who may hear one of your have always found it hard to “do nothing,” that
be doing—I was creating my own boundaries
tracks on Pandora, followed up by Lil Wayne,
is to say, not rush through my day from one about what my music would embody. I care while they play RuneScape. Is the digital age activity to another. But that time for ruminat- about what accompanies a piece of art, in my
of listening at all problematic for you?
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a more leisurely approach to music and art in
MG: I hope I’m followed by Lil Wayne on Pan- our culture is doing anyway.
cians doing rad stuff. Whether the media and
dora! That would be success.
BB: This is complete conjecture, but being a fel-
the music industry pay attention to them is
arts. Maybe a little more playfulness or room
my life, and St. Vincent and Wye Oak and Wild
matter that much. It is what it is. I think my job for experimentation than somewhere like New is to create something that isn’t afraid to be sin- York? Bread and Puppet, a politically radical
you might not have heard about yet, like Ava
And I don’t even know what RuneScape is. Sigh. The “digital age of listening” is a great way to put it, and I don’t see how my problems with it
low New Englander, I feel that more rural areas another thing. But yes, EMA and Grimes are create a different set of goals for students of the awesome, and Bjork and MIA certainly changed
gular, to stick out like a sore thumb... a kind of puppet theater currently based in Glover, VT, music that doesn’t mind not sounding like the for instance, just seems like a troupe that makes others. If someone can find humanity in your music and connect with it on a personal level,
and my own sister, Ruth Garbus. BB: Your songs cover a variety of important top-
the places you’ve grown up and lived have in-
ics, ranging from female insecurity to threats of
they first heard it next to Lil Wayne on Pandora MG: Well, don’t forget that Bread and Pupor in their older sister’s bedroom, full album, on pet used to call New York home. But I think BB: The skill you demonstrate in looping on-
Mendoza, Matana Roberts, and Mozart’s Sister,
the most sense in Vermont. Do you think that
they’ll be drawn to it more and more, whether formed the way you make music?
repeat nine times per day.
Flag and Sharon Van Etten and other women
violence on the streets where you live. It seems that the concept of reaching an audience and making approachable songs is very important
New York back then was much different than to you. At the same time, you’ve spoken of an New York now. When it’s really stressful just aversion toward music as a commercial enter-
prise. As tUnE-yArDs becomes increasingly stage, along with your dancing, and unique to make a living, there’s often less room for art popular, how do you negotiate this balance? physical presentation, seem to make your work to be art, instead of art being the way to make a more than purely musical. How important is the living. Spending the majority of my life in New England and Montreal was wonderful in that I performance aspect of your work to you? MG: I came up in the performance world, so that’s always been an element that I think about when I am creating music. It’s also the thing I’m most afraid of... shaking my body around in public and opening myself to criticism in that particular way. I try to dive into the things I’m most afraid of, particularly with music performance, because my goal is to get people to lose
MG: Not sure yet. I got stopped on the train
by a man the other day, and he said that he’d
needed less money to support myself, so I spent
discovered my music because a woman wrote
more time on activities that made me no mon-
“tUnE-yArDs” down on a piece of paper and
ey, like playing music. There wasn’t necessarily
said, “She doesn’t want to be found!” Which
pressure to be financially successful, and shows
made me proud, but is definitely not true the
were usually gatherings of friends who were
way it used to be. I think I’ve sacrificed the
trying to create for each other, and for that joy safety of relative anonymity for access to more of creation, instead of for their shot at stardom.
ears. But maybe my role will be more powerful
That said, at a certain point I really felt that be-
as an underground musician, and I’ll slip into a
themselves, and how can I inspire them to lose
ing in more of a fast-paced, urban environment shell again...
must do...” (Eleanor Roosevelt).
were isolating, and I felt that in order to grow,
pected myself to make when I was 23 or so. For
I needed to expose myself to new, larger audi-
me, it was important to be able to call music my
themselves when I’m not willing to go that dis- really gave me a lot of energy to push forward. I’ve had to find peace with the decisions that tance myself? “That which you fear doing, you Eventually the New England winters and quiet have felt right for me, versus the decisions I exBB: Do you see your major in theater or time spent as a puppeteer as accountable for the complexity of your performances? Have you felt compelled to continue to apply the artistic skills you’ve learned in the past?
ences. So every place I’ve ever lived has really full-time work, so that I could dedicate my life informed the music that I’ve made, and the pro-
to it, instead of working at the grocery store or
cess of making music. I do often long for and as a house cleaner and doing music on the side idealize places where people are more comfort- as I used to do. That way of life was taking away
able with taking life slowly--I think those places from the music work I felt I had to do. MG: Certainly. I don’t even think about it, it would be conducive to restful, passive creativBut I’m still young, and I’ll continue to wrestle just comes through. tUnE-yArDs is a synthe- ity, which is something I could probably use with these questions throughout my life. What sis of all that I experienced in my life before I about now... does money do to music? Can you make radibirthed it. Because of my training and the parBB: You’ve stated that the empowered women cal, ground-breaking and revolutionary music ticular things that captivated me as a student of artists of the past, performers like Debbie Gib- and have it be popular? And what will more art, I tend to view the complexity of life through son and Cyndi Lauper, were inspirational for fame and exposure do to me, and to my perthe lens of theater and performance. Luckily, you at a young age. Today, there seem to be an spective on the world? Ask me again in another that isn’t just confined to theater or music, but it increasing number of artists defying the dulcet decade and we’ll see what I say then. can take on elements of dance, poetry and spotones of the female songbird. Would you say ken word, visual art... I’m so happy to be able to that any contemporary women musicians are combine art forms in what I do because it endoing Cyndi proud? riches the whole experience and it blends the boundaries of these art forms in the way I think MG: Of course. There are always women musi-
Redneck Reality By Lauren Wingenroth bad, so have the northern boys – the Jersey muscle shirts, the combative Bostonians, the rough and tough New Yorkers – all vying for the love of Paige Duke, former Nascar Spirit Cup ambassador, South Carolina native, and southern belle. “I think I like southern girls more than Jersey girls,” professed a Jersey boy, one of many of the men who showed signs that they had bought into the idea of the sweet, but highly sexualized, southern girl. “People in ‘the country’ are trashy people in my mind,” commented another city boy, although Ms. Duke’s sexuality later seemed to have convinced him otherwise. Throughout the show, the southern contestants stood out against the badly tempered northerners, proving to be true gentlemen.
R
With charming naïveté, quaint sensitivity, and polite chivalry, the southern boys captivated arely in New York do we hear the hour ride away from their Louisiana home. Paige. These traits, appearing both in Paige’s sweetly twanged greeting of “Hey “What do we do if they don’t have a Walmart?” southern boys and the Louisiana Clampets, Y’all!” This phrase, along with an a member of the Clampet clan asks.
entire set of traditions, colloquialisms, and
make people watch shows that transport them
squirrel meat, and a four-wheeler in tow, an to those of the northern city-dwellers. The preconceived notions about what their lives RV crammed with native southerners heads show includes groups from both categories should be. When viewed with open eyes, the north to the Hamptons where they will be in a reality show similar to The Bachelorette. shows that use the south as a vehicle for envacationing for a month. The Clampets, the Though past southerners featured on the show tertainment may more importantly be inforfeatured family on CMT’s My Big Redneck Va- certainly fulfilled many stereotypes, good and mative, enlightening, and stereotype-defying. cation, have never ventured further than a two !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
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The Clampets are a closely-knit, (quite lit- to a place outside of the city limits. pride only exist in the American South--a erally) down-to-earth family, and they hardly The way southerners are portrayed on realplace where many world-traveling, cosmo- have a clue about what awaits them in New ity TV isn’t inherently harmful--in fact, these politan Barnard women wouldn’t dare go. York, or as one family member accurately puts shows have the ability to act as an escape for We call the residents of the deep south names it, “There are lots of pollutin’ people.” After those of us who have never thought to spend like “rednecks” and “hillbillies,” monikers in having a shooting contest to decide which our days fishing for catfish with all thirty of which they themselves often take pride, but couple earned the master bedroom in their our closest family members. It is the way that that also hold severely negative connotations Hamptons house, and after having some hithese traditions are seen as low-brow, outand unload a John Deer truck full of stereo- larious misunderstandings with the locals, dated, and barbaric that is harmful, especially types onto these Americans. Today, the trend the Clampets develop a relationship with their when paired with names like “hillbilly.” These of reality TV exploiting the lives of stereotypi- new northern neighbors. “They taught us how dishonorable terms undercut the strong famcal Southerners raises questions. What exactly to let go and have fun,” says one northern-bred ily values, simplicity, and respect for nature are these stereotypes? How are they created neighbor, whom the Clampets had invited on a that make the south an important part of and perpetuated by the media, and how det- day-long mudding and hunting trip. American culture. Refreshingly enough, realrimental are they to the public image of our Another CMT reality show, Sweet Home ity TV seems to be living up to its name in this neighbors? Alabama, also demonstrates the differences instance--portraying the lives of southernWith two chickens, five coolers full of in southern attitudes and culture of compared ers for what they are without exploiting our
A Common Experience
N E W YO R K D I A RIES: 1609-2009 By Sara Miller in December. This creative
Carpenter’s anthology proves how New
format renders an interesting
York City has been and remains to be an in-
arch that captures the multi-
fluential source of inspiration and awe. Read-
ple personalities of New York
ing hundreds of journal entries that relate to
throughout the seasons.
New York City is a staggering reminder of our
From the cold, gray days in January to the sluggishly hot in July, the compilation becomes New York’s personal diary. Although innovative, the style hinders a coherent
city’s history. As most of the diarists express, New York can drag you down with its infinite crowds and gritty atmosphere. Still, an undeniable attraction pulls us to this city in a common experience that Carpenter’s book exemplifies.
narrative thread. Each speaker represents the city as a whole, but the various quotes remain disjointed. Reading entry after entry becomes choppy and monotonous, and it is difficult to connect with any type of character or engage in a sense of something at stake. It is not the type of book to curl up with on a rainy day or
“
read cover to cover, but rathToday I arrived by train in New York City, which I’d never seen before, walked through the grandeur of Grand Central
Terminal, stepped outside, got my first look at the city and instantly fell in love with it,” (Edward Robb Ellis, May 1947). This is just one of the myriad of quotes you will find in Teresa Carpenter’s new book, New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009. The sentiment is not un-
arts & entertainment
common and neither are most of the other
er to flip through a specific month or day. With over one hundred diarists, each reader will find her favorite icons or discover new personalities. From Charles Dickens, Jack Kerouac and e.e. cummings, to a British Foot Guard in 1776 and a blogger in 2003, the span of characters are endless and reminiscent of the hordes of people who are attracted to New York City, regardless of the century.
remarks made by New Yorkers throughout
Almost every entry is filled with simple, yet
the years, whether in love with the city or
thoughtful reflections and the text contains
depressed by it. Carpenter reinvents the pre-
many gems such as Andy Warhol’s musing, “I
viously dreary clichés of New York City into had a lot of dates but decided to stay home a collection of moving diary entries that are and dye my eyebrows,” or Mark Twain comboth relatable and refreshing. The anthology compiles journal entries by unforgettable New Yorkers across four centuries. Organized as its own diary, the book spans a year, beginning in January and ending
plaining, “My experience is that a man cannot go anywhere in New York in an hour. The distances are too great - you must have another day to it. If you have got six things to do, you have got to take six days to do them in.”
THE BULLETIN -
bq - FEBRUARY 2012
a peek inside! “I have been roaming far and wide over this island of Manhatta. Some portions of its interior have a certain air of rocky sterility which may impress some imaginations as simply dreary - but to me it conveys the sublime. - Edgar Allan Poe” (May 14, 1844) “Up early, and reading in the journalls of how the great steamship Titanic hath sunk. THence and away to my office but learn there all on board are saved, of which I am very glad. - Franklin P. Adams” (April 15, 1912) “Seems like I finally arrived at that special plateau in AMerican culture - I made it into The New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle. Sixty-six across. Hint: Bella Abzug is one. Answer: Woman of the House. - Bella Abzug” (December 12, 1971) “The heat is unbearable. We keep gulping down coca-cola, sparkling water, soda, even milk, and water (with some honey, for taste) and nothing helps. Whatever you drink it immediately comes out in sweat. - Jonas Mekas” (August 30, 1953)
FASHION FEATURE
Fashion Confessionals 2012 By Sophia Mossberg
W
hen I was nine, I had a breakdown at an outlet mall in Virginia. My dad and brother sat
in the Subaru while I wept in front of Perfumania and baffled volunteer Christmas carolers. “I don’t have cool clothes,” I sobbed to my mom. “Everyone hates my outfits.” I had yet to learn that in the grown-up world of fashion (though perhaps equally judgmental), trends often erupt in isolation from the collective aesthetic of “everyone,” stemming from design perspectives of whimsy and organic sensibility—ironically, one closer to that of my fourth grade self who would match two differently patterned socks. From malls across America to Fashion Weeks across the globe, the conversation continues. As NYFW comes to a close this month, the city is buzzing about trend forecasts for the season. It’s no secret that Ready-to-Wear collections are not always, in fact, ready to wear. (Or if this is news, then woops, the cat’s out of the Birkin.) Interpreting this season’s standouts for wearability is all about identifying which elements highlight individual style. The term may be a dirty word to some fashion elite, but wearability is crucial for marketing to the masses, the bulk of whom don’t strut a runway daily in haute couture.
!
Band of Outsiders’ collection epitomizes spring with its muted hues, soft, flowy shapes and evocation of a pastoral, natural aesthetic that suggests a lightness still grounded in the subtle detailing.
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narrow color palettes, and references to eras of simplicity and conservatism. Band of Outsiders’ collection epitomizes spring with its muted hues, soft, flowy shapes and evocation of a pastoral, natural aesthetic that suggests a lightness still
also work well when they highlight one’s personal aesthetic and sensibility. Take it from fashion icon Diane von Furstenberg: “The biggest mistake a woman can make is not to be herself in public or private.” Roger that, DVF. Authenticity is always in vogue.
"
cry from past seasons’ boldness, ornamentation, and eccentricity (McQueen’s famously elaborate Alice in Wonderland themed show comes to mind), this season’s standout and recurring looks have the benefit of timelessness. No heads off here—the designs are bold and imaginative, and display true craftsmanship. When asked about surviving the frenzy of this spring’s Fashion Week, designer Rachel Roy wastes no words. “Enjoy what you do, or don’t do it.” This sage sentiment can be applied to life beyond the tents, and perhaps in more significant ways: to the morning
moments
in
the mirror, to decisions about school, work, and friends, and yes, fashion. Because after all, style is all about the presentation of the self to the outside world. So: style this spring? Get dressed to be your best—a best based on !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
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Think classic silhouettes, neutral or
rial form that may take. Trends from one season or another are not only cyclical, but
grounded in the subtle detailing. Though a far
Minimalist design emerges repeatedly in the spring collections.
who you are at your core, whatever sarto-
THE MOGUL
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Eva Sasson year
CLASS OF 2014 Eva Sasson is a Barnard Sophomore majoring in Economics. Sounds pretty typical, right? Think again. When she’s not in class, Eva manages Tappmob, an innovative mobile app company that she founded after her first year at Barnard. As the founder and CEO of Tappmob, Eva had to learn how to run her own company while keeping up with her demanding course load, but her passion and motivation has helped her overcome the obstacles and thrive.
Photograph by Rhea Schmid
Q&A Eva, tell us about your company, Tappmob. Tappmob is a mobile app development company, specializing in simple, one-touch applications. We’re actually redefining ourselves right now to be specifically “by students, for students.” What has changed now that you’ve redefined the company?
And the tiny app came just as a burst of inspiration? The idea developed. We started off thinking we wanted to do location sharing. We wanted to make an app that was simple because when you’re trying to meet up with someone it can be difficult. After we had our first app defined, we realized that the look that we had designed of a button and a scroll bar could really be used for anything. From there we could take apps that are doing well in their market, and make them simpler.
At this point we are 100% student-run. There’s not a single professional consultant anymore, and at first it was majority professional consultants doing our work. We’re also working on creating apps that relate to students. For exam- Can you tell us about some apps you’ve creatple, we ask, as a student, what kinds of prod- ed that Barnard students could benefit from? ucts do you need to be using on your phone, There are a few that aren’t on the appster, but and what do you need to be using quickly and they’re going to be launched soon. One of simply? them is called Tapp Lingo, and it’s a translator. The slider bar at the top is the target language. How did you get started with Tappmob? You can flip through the target languages, click I started Tappmob after my first year at Bar- and speak into it, and then it will translate for nard. I wanted to do something interesting you. There is another one that is a one-click with my summer. I wanted to find work at Facebook photo uploader. Right now when home because my family didn’t want me to you want to take a photo and upload it, it takes be in New York, but I really couldn’t find any- around 12 clicks to take the picture, open up thing. So I talked to my dad and he said, “You the app, find, upload, send the photo, and know, if you can’t find a job, you could always maybe write a caption. With “Tapp Facebook,” start your own.” So I got a few friends together you can just take the picture, and it’s automatic. from my high school class who were engineers and business students, and just started work- Not many students run their own companies while in college. How do you balance ing. running your own company and keeping up !"#$%&''#!()$*$$
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with Barnard’s demanding workload? It’s not easy. Over the summer I was full-time Tappmob, but then I got to school and it was a really big struggle in the beginning. My life was just crazy. Now we have a bunch of interns who are part of the team. Not having everything on me and being able to distribute tasks makes everything a lot easier. Also I love that Barnard has been so supportive; all my teachers, my advisors, the Athena Center. Everyone has been very helpful, and they’ve taught me a lot about being a woman leader. I don’t know if I could have done it in the school year without Barnard. Any last words of advice for our own aspiring and ambitious readers? Yes! I think that entrepreneurship is just so cool. It’s amazing, because especially right now when the economy is sort of in a weird place, there really is a lot of room to innovate. I think that if people have an idea for something that society needs, they should just go for it and figure out a way to make it happen. Keep an eye out for Tappmob’s newest apps coming out in March, and remember, if you have an idea, don’t be afraid to make it happen. Students like Eva are changing the world every day, one app at a time. By Margot Gardin
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PRE-LAW STUDENTS:
GILMAN SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION SESSION:
Financing Law School Workshop - Wednesday, February 15, 5:00-6:30pm in 401 Lerner Hall. Learn the nuts and bolts of financing law school. Stephen Brown, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, Fordham Law School, will cover all aspects of financing and repaying a law school education. The information he presents is not specific to Fordham applicants/students, but useful for all law school applicants no matter where they attend law school.
Thursday, February 16, from 12 to1 p.m. in 307 Milbank. Thinking about studying abroad and looking for ways to make it affordable? The Office of International Programs invites you to an information session about the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, which awards U.S. citizen undergraduate students of limited financial means the ability to pursue academic studies abroad. Applicants must be Pell Grant Recipients. The Scholarship awards up to $5,000 for U.S. students to study abroad for up to one academic year. Recipients are eligible to receive an additional $3,000 Critical Need Language Supplement from the Program, for a total possible award of up to $8,000.
STUDY ABROAD GENERAL INFORMATION SESSIONS: Tuesday, February 14, 4:30 to 5:30 pm, and Monday, February 27, 12 to 1pm. Come learn the basic policies and procedures about study abroad from the Office of International Programs! 237 Milbank Hall.
PRE-HEALTH LISTSERV: Dean Starks strongly encourages all current Barnard pre-health students (i.e., pre-med, pre-dental, pre-nursing, pre-pharmacy, pre-vet, or other) to give your Barnard e-mail addresses to Administrative Assistant for the Pre-Professional Department, Ms. Paula Hercules (phercules@barnard. edu), so that you can be added to the pre-health listserv and receive notices
TO BECOME A TUTOR AND ACADEMIC FELLOW:
Applications for positions as Barnard College peer tutors (i.e., Academic Fellow) in specific biology, chemistry, math, economics and language cours- regarding important information and relevant events. es are also available online. To access these forms, visit http://barnard.edu/ dos/academic-support and click on “Tutor Packet” which is located on the LAST DAY TO DROP A COURSE ... right side of the screen. If interested, we strongly encourage you to submit your application to the Dean of Studies Office as soon as possible. for the spring 2012 semester is Tuesday, February 21. Please pick up the appropriate form at the Registrar’s Office. All students are expected to enroll in a minimum of 12 points each semester. Academic advisers must approve INTENT TO STUDY ABROAD FORMS DUE Students interested in studying abroad for the FALL TERM ‘12 or for the ENTIRE ACADEMIC YEAR ‘12-13, must electronically submit an Intent to Study Abroad form (via eBear) by February 15 at 5pm. If you do not submit this form by the deadline, you will not be allowed to study abroad for Barnard credit for the upcoming semester. If you submit your Intent to Study Abroad form but do not end up studying abroad, you will not be penalized for submitting this form. To submit the form, log onto your eBear account, click on the Study Abroad tab; choose the Intent to Study Abroad form in the left-hand navigation bar. Complete and submit.
TUTORING AVAILABLE: Forms to request a peer tutor in specific biology, chemistry, math, economics and language courses are available online. To access these forms, visit http://barnard.edu/dos/academic-support and click on “Tutee Packet” which is located on the right side of the screen. Tutoring will be provided in small groups (2-3 students), once a week, for two hours. The deadline to request a tutor through the Dean of Studies Office’s Academic Assistance Program is Friday, March 16, 2012. If you are interested in a tutor for CHEM BC3230 (Organic Chemistry I), PHYS BC2002 (Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism), or CHEM BC3232 (Intermediate General Chemistry), you should go to the tutoring workshop rooms for those particular courses. Please either see the Pre-Health Board which is located outside of the Dean of Studies Office (105 Milbank Hall) or call 212-8542024 for specific information.
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course drops.
APPLYING TO HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS: All students planning to apply to health professions schools in summer 2012 should have submitted the materials that were due on Monday, January 23, 2012 to the Dean of Studies Office. If you have not yet submitted these materials, please, schedule an appointment to meet with Dean Adjua Starks as soon as possible (T: 212-854-2024) or stop by during her walk-in hours. Please access and make note of all of the upcoming deadlines in our pre-health packet which is located online at http://barnard.edu/dos/ after-barnard/health-advising. Also, please familiarize yourself with the AMCAS website by visiting www.amcas.org.
IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE FLU...OR A FREE FLU SHOT! Protect yourself--and your community!--this flu season with a free flu shot, available for students in the Barnard Primary Care Health Service, 9am-4pm, Monday through Friday. Just walk in. Students with chronic illnesses are especially encouraged to get a flu shot. Please be advised that students are required to remain in Primary Care for 20 minutes following any vaccination.
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February 2012
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Sunday
5
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Monday
6
Tuesday
7
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
1
2
3
8
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Saturday 4
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Valentines Day
19
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IT’S OSCAR NIGHT!
16
18 Barney’s Warehouse Sale Begins!
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Leap day!
HIGHLIGHTS
8
17
Top of the Rock Winter Starlight Music Series w/ La Maison du Chocolat
15
23
JACK’S MANNEQUIN AT IRVING PLAZA FEBRUARY 8 AND 9
TOP OF THE ROCK WINTER MUSIC SERIES FEBRUARY 15
TASTING AT THE 92ND ST Y ON FEBRUARY 7 AT COLUMBIA
Currently promoting the release of their third album, People and Things, the band led by Andrew McMahonmade an appearance in New York earlier this month. Be sure to check out our upcoming online exclusive detailing the concert!
Pay the normal admission price and find yourself greeted by live jazz musicians and hot coco from La Maison du Chocolat! Help yourself to a glass champagne for purchase, all while taking in the breathtaking view of the New York City Skyline!
Forget being a wine connoisseur at this beer and cheese tasting. Discover a variety of beer styles and complement them all with tasty cheeses! 21+ only.
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Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D today!