March 2017
IMANI RANDOLPH '18 & claudia levey '19 Editors-in-Chief ali mcqueen '18 Managing Editor
EVENTS DIRECTOR JUDY LIU '19 SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR letty dileo '18 SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS emily wong '19 erica harreveld '18 ALUMNAE RELATIONS DIRECTOR demme durrett '19
FEATURES EDITOR Emma Yee Yick '19 ASSOCIATE EDITOR collier curran '20 STAFF WRITER Aliya schneider '20
NEW YORK CITY LIVING EDITOR veronia suchodolski '19 ASSOCIATE EDITOR pavi chance '20 STAFF WRITER orit guggenheim katz '21
POLITICS & OPINION EDITOR Sara Hameed '20 ASSOCIATE EDITOR naava ellenberg '21 STAFF WRITERS annabella correa-maynard '20 hadassah solomson '20
HEALTH & STYLE EDITOR isabella monaco '20 ASSOCIATE EDITOR antonia bentel '20 STAFF WRITER emma bellows '20
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Allisen Lichtenstein '19 ASSOCIATE EDITOR JULIA TACHE '19 STAFF WRITER anette stonebarger '21
ONLINE EDITOR lilly kallman '20
CREATIVE DIRECTOR sharon wu '18 LAYOUT DIRECTOR anna li '19 PHOTOSHOOT DIRECTOR judy liu '19 PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Peyton ayers '20
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2 - march 2018
A Letter from the Editors
H
ey Readers,
We hope you all enjoyed break — we’re imagining it was full of sun, fun, and most of all, sleeeeeeeeeeep. Too bad that’s over. Not to be pessimistic, but we know how tough the midsemester mark is. But you know what we also know? You’ve got this. Whether you’re in a rush to get to summer, or savoring your last moments on campus, (hint, hint: hey seniors!), try to remind yourselves to live in the moment. Taking things day by day can be deeply empowering; don’t waste your time worrying, or dreaming, about what will be, and seize the moment at hand. To help you resettle into the semester flow, we’ve got a hoard of relevant articles coming at you. Here are a few highlights: Why Sleep Matters, The Seventh Sister, Must Schools Bear Tragedies so That You Can Bear Arms?, Barnard Author Spotlight: Jhumpa Lahiri, and Broadway’s Bronze. Oh, and what’s more? We’ve included a crossword! Happy reading, Claudia and Imani Co-Editors-in-Chief
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3 // Letter from the Editors 5 // Behind the Scenes 6 // Trending & Playlist 8 // crossword
Health & Style
Arts & Entertainment
9 // only as good as your tools 10 // beauty food 11 // why sleep matters 12 // the power of dry shampoo 13 // you've got mail
32 // an ode to dynamic duos 34 // gallery galavanting 35 // barnard author spotlight: jhumpa lahiri 36 // presidential portraits 38 // tips for creative writers 40 // the essential musical theater playlist
Features 14 // in her words: multilingual mother tongue 16 // love, actually: undefined heartache 17 // centerpiece: the seventh sister 22 // abroadnard 24 // on confidence 26 // st. patrick's day parade: hit or miss?
Politics & Opinion 27 // women in politics: nancy pelosi 28 // paid family leave 29 // must schools bear tragedies so you can bear arms? 30 // black panther: the movie, the moment, the movement 31 // an end to gerrymandering
New York City Living 43 // broadway's bronze 44 // the signs as new york city landmarks 46 // fine dining 47 // historical haunts
ehind he cenes Models
alex prado, kayla regan, & imani randolph Photography: sharon wu photo assisting: peyton ayers
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Glossier Lid Star Sparkly, creamy eyeshadow from glossier, guaranteed to last all day and look amazing
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Barnard Bulletin's March Crossword
Across 1. Song featuring “Pop six squish...” 2. People wear green but they should wear blue! 3. The homeland to the newest superheroes 4. Columbia’s Coachella 5. What every Barnard student majors in 6. Our favorite new items 7. What you’ll be listening to this month 8. A goddess and a SCHOLAR 9. The newest Kardashian Kween 10. Low steps are our best comparison
Down 1. A term appropriated by Amaral’s manifesto 2. An extreme profile picture 3. 7 days of delicious! 4. Nancy who gave an amazing speech on the floor of the House 5. It was flowing at February’s launch party! 6. The director went to Barnard so of course it was amazing! 7. Barnard’s version of the Bellas 8. Madame President 9. A friendly doorman or your Sunday night location 10. The DAY OFF is Sunday KEY:
Across: 1. cellblocktango 2. stpatricksday 3. wakanda 4. bacchanal 5. unafraid 6. trending 7. playlist 8. athena 9. stormi 10. beach Down: 1. anthropology 2. portrait 3. restaurantweek 4. pelosi 5. chocolate 6. ladybird 7. bacchantae 8. beilock 9. butler 10. ferris
H&S
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Only as Good as Your Tools by Beth Abbott
ometimes we need a little help to look and feel our best. A bit of makeup or a simple beauty tool can go a long way and help you feel more confident in your own skin. Here are my top five tools help me feel and look beautiful:
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Mascara
Illustration by Letty DiLeo
I only started wearing mascara when I first came to Barnard. In the two and a half years since then, I have found that I can’t live without it. I find it makes my eyes pop, which is especially important since I wear glasses. I also feel more confident while wearing mascara on because I like the way it makes me look. Even if I’m only wearing a little bit, I find that I feel more comfortable in my own skin. A little effort goes a long way. I would recommend Clinique’s High Impact Waterproof mascara. It gives your lashes length and volume and won’t budge.
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Tweezers
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Eyebrows come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing we can all agree on is how difficult it is to maintain them. If you get them done, then you know the pesky, out-of-place hairs start growing back shortly after. There’s only one way to tame them: tweezers. I can’t live without my tweezers, as they help me maintain the polished look between salon visits. If you’re looking for precise tweezers,Tweezerman tweezers are very popular.While they are on the pricier side, I would argue they’re worth it.
Concealer Stick
I’ve dealt with acne since high school, so concealer has been a must-have to cover up my unwanted blemishes. I use Almay’s Nearly Naked Cover Up Stick to cover my pimples, and it has made me feel a lot better about my appearance. I’ve noticed a boost in my confidence since I started using it. Another popular brand is Maybelline’s Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Concealer + Treatment because it has a sponge applicator that makes it super easy to put on.
Lip Balm
Lip balm is a lifesaver, and, out of everything on this list, it is the number one tool that helps me feel my best. My lips are almost always chapped, especially in the fall and winter months. To make it even worse, my lips are not particularly large, so they almost blend into my face without treating them. Lip balm significantly reduces the dryness and restores the natural color of my lips. I recommend Burt’s Bees Beeswax lip balm because perfect to keep in your coat pocket or bag and has minty, fresh smell. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Swivel Stick also works wonders.
Lip Gloss
Lip gloss is a great finishing touch to your overall look. Similar to mascara, wearing lip gloss makes me feel more confident, and it adds a little color and shine to my lips, especially in the winter when they’re pale and dry. If you want to splurge, Nars makes great lip glosses in a variety of shades. If you’re looking for a drugstore alternative, NYX Butter Gloss is thick and moisturizing (and smells like cake!)
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Beauty Food by Antonia Bentel
W
Illustration bySadie Kramer
ith finals season around the corner and professors cramming in a few more lessons before the school year ends, your anxiety levels are probably at an all time high. Adding pimples or an uncomfortable and bloated stomach to the mix is a recipe for a stressed-out disaster—something that no one wants! I have found that a key to keeping myself sane during the busiest times of year is to try my best to feel beautiful from the inside out. That is, eating foods that make me look good and feel even better in order to combat the external pressures of being a college student. After all, nourishing your body with enough key nutrients is vital for strong and healthy hair, clear, glowing skin, and most importantly higher brain function and the ability to focus on the tasks at hand! Here are some of my favorite beauty foods that help to combat stress, clear up your skin, and make your hair shine:
Yogurt—It’s packed with pro- Chamomile—This herb is tein that fills you up and tastes great. It contains a lot of amino acids that are good for eradicating dark circles under your eyes. Additionally, the probiotics in yogurt help you have healthier gut function (i.e., a less bloated stomach). Grab a Greek yogurt for extra protein!
used in teas in order to aid in digestion, reduce swelling, fight bacteria, and promote calm and ease. Grab a large chamomile tea before you hunker down for a long study session in Butler--you’ll feel calmer while you study and look great while doing it.
Dark Leafy Greens— Avocado—This This roughage is packed full of vitamin K and vitamin A, which helps to reproduce healthy skin cells and retain moisture in our skin. If you want to look radiant, pick up a kale- or spinach-based salad at Sweetgreen.
is possibly the best food you can eat to promote healthy skin. It’s chock full of vitamin E, fiber, B vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which keep your skin soft and radiant. Add guac to your burrito bowl at
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Chipotle or swing for a sushi roll with avocado in Diana!
Pumpkin seeds—While
Halloween might be long over, pumpkin seeds should still be a part of your diet. Full of B vitamins, many minerals (including zinc), phytonutrients, and fatty oils, these small but mighty seeds contribute to clear skin as well as healthy stomach function. Head to Westside to pick up a bag (I love the brand Eden’s Organic)—you won’t regret it!
Why Sleep Matters by Emma Bellows
A Photography by Victoria Martinez
t this point of the semester the thought of getting a consistent good night’s sleep seems unrealistic. Just last spring, online magazine The Tab named Columbia “the most sleep-deprived school in the country”. While we all know that we should get more sleep, we are hesitant to make it a priority. Perhaps, this is because we are undereducated on the subject. We know the obvious, shortterm effects of sleep deprivation: we are grumpier and have a harder time paying attention in class. We also are all too aware of the splitting headache we have the day after pulling an all-nighter, but when you have a midterm at 8:40 and did not have time to start studying until the night before, those short-term effects seem worthwhile. Right? Neuroscience says no. Research suggests that sleep helps learning and memory in two ways. First, a sleep-deprived person cannot focus and therefore cannot learn efficiently. Second, sleep has a role in the consolidation of memory, which is essential for learning new information. But how does this all work? A Harvard sleep study ex-
plains that memory consolidation takes place during sleep through the strengthening of the neural connections that form our memories. Many researchers claim that specific characteristics of brain waves during sleep are associated with the formation of particular types of memory. Additionally, different stages of our sleep correlate to different types of memory formation. Our early sleep stage aids declarative memory, which is the knowledge of fact-based information. So, this is the stage of our sleep that helps us ensure that come time for the exam, we’ll actually remember all of the information we studied the night before. Also your brain reorganizes and restructures your facts while you’re asleep, which may result in more creativity as well. Lastly, REM sleep correlates with procedural memory, which is how we do things. There are also some more underrated benefits of having good sleeping habits. In a 2010 study of women ages 50 to 79, more deaths occurred in women who got less than five hours or more than six and a half hours of sleep per night. Another 2010 study found that C-reactive protein, which is associated with heart atTHE BULLETIN -
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tack risk, was higher in people who got six or fewer hours of sleep a night. On a less critical note, “Sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same sectors of the brain,” Dr. Rapoport says in an article for Health.com. “When you are sleepy, certain hormones go up in your blood, and those same hormones drive appetite.” So, that’s what people mean when they say that sleep helps with weight loss. Sleep also helps your de-stress and strengthens your immunity. Hate it when people tell you that you look tired? Honestly, who doesn’t? But, sleeping more really does benefit your skin. Poor sleep is associated with chronic skin conditions. Some research shows that poor sleep, depression, anxiety, and chronic skin problems all go together. A study published in Clinical and Experimental Dermatology found that “good sleepers” recovered better after ultraviolet light exposure. They also showed fewer signs of aging. So, while it might be tempting to accomplish all of your work for the week in the span of one night, when it come to sleep the pros definitely seem to outweigh the cons in the long-term.
THE POWER OF DRY SHAMPOO
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by Mirthia Beatriz Prince
pring semester is in full swing which means that we’re all getting busier, the days are getting longer, and the weather is finally warming up. For those days where we need to freshen up our hair in a rush, dry shampoo is always the answer. As busy college students, a bottle of your favorite dry shampoo is a must-have in your beauty routine. Here are some recommendations for different hair types and formulas:
LIVING PROOF PERFECT HAIR DAY DRY SHAMPOO, 4 OZ, $23
LUSH NO DROUGHT DRY SHAMPOO, 1.9 OZ, $9
For those who are more conscious about using aerosol cans and want a more natural alternative for dry shampoo, look no further than Lush’s No Drought. This formula is free of alcohol and features grapefruit oil for a nice citrus scent. It comes in a light silky powder formula and unlike aerosol dry shampoos that can often leave a white cast, this powder is easily massaged into your scalp and you are good to go with fresh feeling hair.
BATISTE DRY SHAMPOO, 7 OZ, $8
Throwing it back to one of the original dry shampoos that started the trend, the Batiste Dry Shampoo is an everyday aerosol formula that promises not to leave a white cast while giving some slight volume to revive dirty hair. This instant fix brings life to dull hair, while adding texture and body to your style. The best part? Batiste has so many scents (including a formula for blondes and one for brunettes!) that you’re bound to find your favorite one.
Though there are dozens of dry shampoo formulas on the market these suggesting are a great starting point if you’re new to the dry shampoo world or are trying to mix up your hair routine! THE BULLETIN -
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This dry shampoo is definitely one to use on your 3rd, or 4th …or 5th hair day. It has strong oil absorbing power that not only takes away the shine but also cleans your hair. It makes your hair look, feel, and smell clean while adding some much needed volume. It definitely leaves a slight white cast upon application, but give your hair some time to absorb and you should be on your way to the conquering the day ahead with a nice, clean feeling style.
Subject:
You've Got Mail G
by Isabella Monaco
Ann Friedman
If you’re looking for a curated newsletter of interesting, motivating, and entertaining content, Ann Friedman’s newsletter is just that. Every week, she sends out her favorite articles, podcasts, and videos in a concise email, focusing on topics gender, current events, and culture. The newsletter also has content for paying members that includes her hand-made pie charts. She also adds a top-notch gif to each newsletter because gifs make everything better.
TGIMonday
Monday is arguably the most dreaded day of the week, so TGIMonday has taken on the challenge of making Mondays better.
This newsletter delivers inspiration, advice, and work hustle directly to your inbox every Monday morning. It helps you set the intention for the week and encourages self-care! Each newsletter has work/ school advice, podcast recommendations, inspirational quotes, satirical, and, of course, gifs.
Small Victories
In the midst of the Trump administration in office, shedding light on the victories we make as citizens is very important; this newsletter celebrates people-powered wins against the Trump administration’s agenda. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all the “fake news” and echo chambers that creates a feeling of hopelessness for the country. Small Victories highlights
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29 - december 2017
weekly victories, such as steps toward gun reform. It’s an uplifting addition to your inbox, and even gives you a song recommendation to jam to as we triumph.
Significant digits
If you love numbers, you will want to add your email to this listserv. Significant digits presents noteworthy news as digits. For example, under the title “$23 billion”, this newsletter gives the run down on newly announced Spotify’s IPO, which is being valued at $23 billion. This daily digest gives you a quick way to stay up on the news through the simplicity of numbers.
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etting a ping in your inbox usually means something’s due, something’s late, or something’s wrong. Rarely do these emails alleviate stress and put you in a good mood. That’s why there are weekly newsletters that brighten your inbox and your day. Sign up for these newsletters that inspire, motivate, and help you get through the week.
features
MULTILINGUAL MOTHER TONGUE I
by Sara Hameed
hold my phone pressed up against my ear in a bustling cafe, my friends several feet away from me, as I listen for my mother’s soothing voice on the other line:
“Kayf halik habybti?” 1 “I’m fine, thanks,” I answer, as I clumsily make way for a group of patrons to exit the noisy establishment — the cost of standing in the far corner by the door. “Fi ‘ayi waqt satakunin fil bayt?” 2 “Probably around 5.” My mother asks questions in Arabic and I answer her in English. Of course, I think I have to; I live in a region of the suburban south where one feels alarm at the briefest utterance of the Arabic language. I place ample distance between my fully-American friends and me, lest they accidentally hear my mother’s words on the other line. I am thirteen—and recently an official American citizen—but I don’t want to be a cause for fear. … When I would return home later that evening, I would be fully expected to return to my native tongue. Speaking solely Arabic at home would, after all, be the only way I could be sure to retain it, to remember the familiar sounds on my lips for years to come. Along with weekly Arabic grammar and reading lessons at Sunday school, my parents set standards for my speech. They strived to instill in me a love for the Arabic language and a pride for the culture that derived it. The latter part came in later. I began to notice the benefits of speaking another language while perusing the aisles of the local grocery store one day with my sister, gossiping about a nearby passerby. “I think we need more of these.Wait, look… Datshufin hay albinaya?” 3 It was never difficult to switch back and forth between languages so quickly, especially since I could build thoughts in my head with either one. No difficult translations worked themselves out in my mind. Instead, the words flew out of my mouth as smooth and natural as could be. I needed only pay attention to the volume of my voice. I would always be whispering any bit of Arabic in a hushed tone, for my sister’s ears alone. THE BULLETIN -
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The greatests sounds of Arabic always came with my returns home from school, as my mother came into view when I would enter the kitchen. With wild hair and a wide smile, she would be belting along to the loud Arabic music playing as she cooked for us. The making of savory Middle-Eastern dishes in our kitchen would be accompanied with an aroma just as spicy or sweet as the meal we would be eating around the table that evening. Our dinners were always eaten together, with the recollection of our days shared over our plates, spoken always in our native tongue. The sounds of Arabic were supplemented by other sounds of plates clattering and silverware scraping, and by the smells surrounding us. My mother and I share a love for dramatic television, and so together we began watching Middle-Eastern soap operas after dinner time, even if the Arabic spoken on the show was not my exact dialect. Practice made it easier to understand. Eventually, I would notice that I could learn the language even better on visits to Middle-Eastern countries such as my mother’s homeland. I could gain more practice when I read the street signs, listened to the waiters, and spoke with more of my extended family. The Arabic language attached itself to all of these moments. Later, Arabic could never become distinct from these memories. It followed me where I went. I began to notice that Arabic was, indeed, part of my food, my culture, my family. …
Graphic Art by Hibah Rafi
Researchers have stated that knowing more than one language often helps you learn others. I suppose this is true, for when I learned Spanish in high school, I often found similarities between words like “música” and “pantalones” that made memorization easier. However, knowing Arabic has also made my life more difficult. I always need to “keep up” with either English or Arabic. My vocabulary skills have slowly dwindled in each one, and speaking in both tongues has made my overall communication skills error prone. Mixing up phrases is not uncommon. I often tackle on an Arabic suffix to any English word for which I forget the Arabic equivalent. A common example: “invite-oon”. I have attempted on numerous occasions to recall the correct wording to use since then (4 yaezam-oon, ), but it has never stuck. However, what has stuck is a love for the language. … Perhaps it’s the city of New York, that contains such a rich and diverse community with people from all backgrounds and languages, but nobody casts odd glances my way when they hear me speak in Arabic. Regardless, I don’t stay quiet in public spaces anymore. Once I get off the underground subway and head up the stairs onto the busy street, I answer the phone call from my mother in my native tongue. “Kayf halik ‘umy?” 5 Translations: “How are you, love?” 2 “What time will you be home?” 3 “Do you see that girl?” 4 They are “inviting”. 5 “How are you, Mom?” 1
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Love, Actually by Antonia Bentel
I
met Tim* outside of Sc her mer horn on a sunny September day as I was rifling through my bookbag trying to find my sunglasses. He tapped me on the shoulder and awkwardly asked if we had met before (we had, briefly, at an event the spring before). After a few minutes of conversation, he asked for my number and to my surprise, I gave it to him. What happened after that exchange of digits was a whirlwind of texting and the making of plans (“dinner at Thai Market?” “do you want to check out that exhibition at MoMA?”). We talked about our interests and my stomach flipped every time my phone lit up with a text message from Tim. When I ran into him at a party a few days later, we talked for hours as the strobe lights around us flashed. We went on our first date at Hungarian, and on our second to a dumpling shop a few days later. When we did finally hook-up, he texted me a warm “Good morning!” and asked me what I was up to that day. It felt nice to have a guy actually be interested in me and not only my body. I incessantly told my friends that Tim could be “boyfriend material” and that I couldn’t help but feel that I was finally about to accomplish what I previously thought was the impossible at Columbia: seriously dating someone. For those few weeks, I felt like I was on top of the world. However, after a while, Tim’s texts arrived less frequently and he started cancelling plans at the last minute. When we were together,
it seemed as if he was just as interested in me as he was when I first ran into him on that bright day in September, but when we were apart things felt different. And then the ultimate test of relationship chops arrived: winter break.Would we survive? At first, it seemed as if we would. I chalked up his slow texting to the time difference between us; he managed to wish me a merry Christmas and remembered to ask about my family’s plans. And then, all of a sudden, Tim left me on read receipts and stopped communicating with me. After break had ended, I arrived back on campus confused and hurt. I questioned if I had done anything to make him uninterested in me. My friends and I theorized about what could have happened and no one could draw a convincing conclusion. To me, the only obvious answer was that Tim had simply decided that he was not interested in me. When we did finally run into each other again (at a party), he gregariously hugged me and asked me how I was. Angry and embarrassed, I mumbled a terse “Fine, thanks.” He then told me that he was sorry and that he wasn’t in the “right place emotionally” to date me. I pushed past him, not knowing what to say. Now whenever we run into one another, we awkwardly wave or exchange a quiet “hi.” Three months after our “relationship” ended, I find myself wondering how I managed to get over Tim. It ended as abruptly as it began; what we were to one another was never concretely defined. After Tim’s firm “no” decision on dating me, I was left with a terrible feeling in the pit of your stomach. Now what? Was I allowed to feel sad? Was I allowed to feel angry? Regardless of the fact that we both never mutually agreed to be exclusive, it felt as if I had been through a break-up. When I talked to people about THE BULLETIN -
16 - march 2018
my mixed feelings and uncertainty with how to proceed, I realized that no one really knew what to do when things ended with someone you never explicitly called your boyfriend or girlfriend. How you cope with this loss is up in the air, because, after all, how do you get over someone you never even dated? Well, for starters, it is important to put your relationship in perspective-it helps to contextualize your romantic encounters in order to make the initial sting of rejection a little less painful. Secondly, it is important to focus on your own wants, needs, and interests. Did you start missing club meetings and dinners with friends so you could hang out with your hook-up? Get involved again. Make plans with friends who you flaked on. Lastly, the best way to get over someone you never dated is to take a deep breath and ask yourself what you want from your future relationships—be it hookingup or committed dating. Being secure in what you want can help save you wasted time and energy on people whose wants and needs aren’t congruent with yours. If your wants align with theirs (i.e. you want to be in a committed relationship and they also do), your future relationship will most likely be much more successful and you’ll feel more fulfilled by your decisions and actions as a consequence. Breaking up is hard; getting over someone you never even dated can often be harder. *Name has been changed.
Illustration by Letty DiLeo
Undefined Heartache
by Julia Pickel
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history
F
ounded in 1889, Barnard is indeed the Seventh Sister. Commonly thought of as the female “Ivy League,� the Seven Sisters operated quite similarly; banding together on occasion, but their association mostly existing as a cultural phenomenon. The name is an allusion to Greek mythology, in which the seven sisters are the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. According to Greek mythology, the sisters were cast into the sky and now form the constellation Pleiades. Like their celestial counterparts, the Seven Sisters are not far apart geographically, each situated in the Northeast or mid-Atlantic. While geographically close, each Sister has quite a different history and to this day—campus culture and sentiment. Mount Holyoke was originally founded as a seminary while Bryn Mawr had a significant graduate student population, and continues to have graduate programs today. Radcliffe was absorbed by its Ivy counterpart, Harvard, in 1970 through a formal agreement, but remains as a research institute today.
Barnard is and always has been distinct from its fellow Sisters because of its city locale and the closeness with which it works with Columbia. Having Columbia right across the street means that Barnard’s identity as a women’s college is often at the forefront of our experience. Though we take it for granted now, Barnard fought to stay open in the midst of Columbia’s decision to go coeducational in 1983. Barnard was founded in 1889 by Annie Nathan Meyer, as a response to unease surrounding making Columbia coeducational during that time. Meyer acted out of a drive to create a place which would permit women to receive an education, rather than just sit for exams at Columbia, unable to engage in full courses. As many of us know from our own experience, being in New York City is an experience like no other—the ability to be in the middle of everything and simultaneously be a scholar of the liberal arts and a curious city dweller. The Seven Sisters have all remained in existence - with five remaining womens’ college, Vassar as a co-educational institution, and Radcliffe as the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. While almost all have remained, the identities of each school have shifted since their founding. When the schools were founded, they were some of the only options for women seeking a topnotch academic institution, as many schools did not admit women at the time. Although Barnard did not take on an identity as a residential school for a long time, many of the other Seven Sisters schools have sprawling campuses with ample dormitory space, where, for those who could afford it, students could live throughout the year. Now, the schools, although different in many regards, have been collectively considering the role of their identity as a women’s colege.
Photographer: Sharon Wu Photo Assisting: Peyton Ayers Models: Alex Prado, Kayla Regan, & Imani Randolph
the path forward
As many institutions have become coeducational over the past fifty years, the Seven Sisters have been forced to grapple with their own identity, and what it means to be a women’s college when it is no longer one of the only options available to women seeking a challenging and rigorous college education. The Seven Sisters are an unofficial association, which has meant that schools have taken a different approach in answering this question. One of the biggest questions the Seven Sisters have had to confront is in addressing who their institution is for in shaping their campuses. Historically, all of the Seven Sisters have a history of discrimination and have been working to address this in trying to make campuses which are not just a place for an elite few. Additionally, the Seven Sisters colleges have most recently faced a turning point: the creation of a transgender admissions policy. Through each institution adopted a policy within a span of two years, each of the institutions took a different approach. Mount Holyoke College now identifies as a historically women’s college; under their admissions policy, anyone except those born biologically male and identify as male are able to apply for admission consideration. The different approaches in forming these policies are a result of differences in the schools in terms of student, faculty, alumni, and trustee input. While the schools do differ in some regards, there is still value placed on the strength of the association in setting the tone for other institutions. Most recently, the leaders of the Seven Sisters came together in November 2016 when they wrote an open letter to Steve Bannon, in order to oppose and call out the disparaging remarks he made regarding women’s colleges. Particularly as institutions which historically fought for women’s education, the Seven Sisters carry a special responsibility in fighting to continuing to strive for inclusivity and equity.
It is now a conscious choice to attend a women’s college or a historically women’s college. The students who inhabit these campuses made an intentional decision to be in these environments, which in many ways has led to an increased awareness of the institutions’ role and responsibility in inclusive education. While Barnard has a unique place due to its close connection with Columbia, Barnard students are Seven Sisters students.
To forget or ignore this relationship is a loss of strength and power. As students of these institutions, we too carry the responsibility to set the tone, and we can find strength in numbers in doing so alongside our Seven Sisters peers.
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14 - may 2016
AbroadNard On Blackness Abroad
by Imma Duverger
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n the first day of my Modern Literature seminar, ‘Race and Immigration: African-American and Black British Fiction,’I experienced both a familiar anxiety and unprecedented vexation when two thoughts arose as I took my seat: “Looks like I’m the only black student AGAIN,” and “why?” My anxiety stemmed from a series of uncomfortable microaggressions during our discussion of James Baldwin’s Go Tell it on The Mountain: furtive glances towards me when my peers encounter the word nigger in the text, the uncomfortable, obvious avoidance of gaze when the professor hastily murmurs the word as if he looked apologetic for even choosing to recite that line in the first place, are phenomena with which I am all too familiar. I somehow believed that in a world renowned institution for English Literature, things would be different from my experience back at Barnard. It is moments like this which prioritize and minimize various aspects of my identity, with my peers being careful not to offend the only black person in the room, while not realizing that their actions dissociate me, that split me into a black person first, and student second. I somehow held an expectation that I would not be alone in my blackness, that a class focused on race in literature would obviously attract more black students, and perhaps even be lead by a professor of color. Navigating an unfamiliar institution in an unfamiliar country has left me even more aware of my blackness. Anyways I feel like most of my time is spent schooling my face into icy indifference to the form of academic segregation I witness daily as an attempt to hide my underlying anxiety from the pressure of being the only black person in all of my classes, reminding the brits that other viewpoints exist.
THE BULLETIN -
22 - march 2018
The Bridge of Sighs by Kate Lida
“ Disclaimer: The Bulletin does not own any images on this page
If you hold your breath and walk across the bridge,” Ethan said, “the thing you desire will come true. At least, that’s what a guy here told me when I came last week. Should we try it?” I nodded and, taking a deep breath, stepped onto the Bridge of Sighs. It was a Thursday afternoon, less than five days since I’d arrived in Lima, exhausted, sweaty, and dehydrated from an eight-hour flight broken up by a seven-hour layover in the capital city of El Salvador. Gabby, Ethan (two people from my study abroad program I’d met just a few days before) and I had decided to visit Barranco, a “bohemian” district next to the ocean. On our way towards the bridge we’d passed by murals painted on the sides of the road, words like “equilibrio” and “buen onda” pained in large letters across them. On steps beside the ocean, hippie artisans showcased their wares on blankets and towels spread out on the side of the walkway: bracelets, perfumes, notebooks, pipes, ink drawings, woven fabrics, crystals, poetry. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve only been here less than a week,” Gabby said, as we stopped by the edge of the stairs to admire the view of the ocean. “It’s really hard to realize that we’re going to be here for another four months. Like right now, I feel this is the only time we’ll ever be here, but of course it’s not.” I nodded in agreement; I felt the same. Travelling and living abroad seems to have put me in a totally different frame of mind than my regular day to day life. Each day here I feel like I learn to think quickly, analyze, figure things out, and to live by improvising. Even just taking the bus to class and to the study abroad office in Miraflores has made me learn to improvise. The first night before orientation began, my uncle explained public transportation in Lima to me; I did my best to memorize what he said, knowing I would likely forget something important. The blue municipal busses have marked stops, they cost 1 sol 70 cents. Micros are smaller than busses, bigger than combis, they have no marked stops and won’t necessarily stop in the same place every time. 1 sol if you tell them where you’re going, 2 soles if you don’t. Combis are like micros, but smaller. Collectivos are cars that pull up to the bus stops.The driver has his hand out the window.They’re illegal but can take you where you want to go faster if there’s a lot of traffic. Time seems to expand when I’m here because nothing I’m doing is by rote. Whenever something happens, I need to think about it and decide how to respond. This feeling of being so aware and always in the moment is incredibly compelling for me; I don’t want it to end. I’m excited to experience each day here for the next four months, and to see what it’s like to live this way. Stepping off the Bridge of Sighs, I took a breath again. I knew what I wanted for the coming semester.
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23 - march 2018
On Confidence
by Kalena Chiu
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onfidence: a complex and multifaceted concept. It’s sexy. It’s mystical. It’s powerful. Often, it’s elusive. It involves every aspect of one’s personality and life and takes on different forms for each individual. To me, confidence means believing in myself and living unapologetically. In a world full of unrealistic standards, however, it’s not always so simple. Here are some ways I stay positive and confident:
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24 - march 2018
On Stress Culture and Academics (GPAs aren’t that deep, I promise!)
Attending Columbia, one of the highest academically ranked schools in the world, can be insanely intimidating. When I transferred in last fall, there was an academic jump that I had to adjust to. My time management skills were tested. My brain was pushed beyond belief. I had a couple of breakdowns during which I thought I might not be cut out for this Ivy League style of life. What kept me afloat was the constant self-reminder that I was doing my best. I felt like I had never studied harder in my life. I put in the effort. I learned. My hard work paid off in personal growth. The key to academic confidence is to acknowledge that you are doing the best you can, without comparing yourself to others. Instead, compare yourself to yourself. Push yourself to be the best you, not the best one.
On Standing Up and Speaking Out (We all major in unafraid here at Barnard!)
Photography by Aliya Schneider
Marvel Comics’ Agent Peggy Carter remains one of my favorite female characters to this day.Working in the 1940s espionage industry—a time and space in which no one wanted to see a woman succeed–she constantly faced scrutiny and discrimination. When prompted for advice by her niece, her response was this: “Compromise where you can.Where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right, even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say ‘No. You move.’” —Captain America: CivilWar (2014) I took Peggy Carter’s quote to heart even before I heard it. I grew up attending a conservative Christian school whose political and social beliefs I often disagreed with. Over the years, my reputation became the rebel girl simply because I disagreed with my school’s beliefs and had the courage to stand up and say it out loud. I knew I was an anomaly in my high school’s system and that many of my teachers and peers disliked how I rocked the boat. At times, I was afraid of academic repercussions due to my beliefs. Still, I refused to stay quiet and I refused to give in. Confidence is being willing to scream and fight for your beliefs. Don’t allow yourself to be shamed into silence. After all, you believe what you do for a reason. Hold on to those reasons. Be opinionated. Be strong. Be bold.
On Anti-Body Talk
Body confidence is by no means easy. This type of confidence is one that every individual struggles with at some point. I still struggle with it. I’ve always been so in awe of dancers—the way they can move their bodies and how sure of their presence they are. I, on the other hand, feel very awkward moving in front of other people and am very self-conscious of the space my body takes up. To remedy that, I’m making a genuine effort to do what makes both my body and my mind feel good. One time during high school, a bunch of my girl friends and I went skinny dipping. Removed from the male gaze, our sole worry was how much fun we were about to have, and we cherished the safe space. Still, it was nerve-wracking. The concept of nudity, of being completely exposed, is scary. I forced myself to face my fears that night and I left feeling absolutely liberated. I was proud of myself for taking that leap and going for it—that emotional self-love permeated my entire being and I have never been the same since.
Navigating New York City takes a toll on us. We’re surrounded by the seemingly perfect people we always strived to be; the important thing is to remember that it’s not about how we compare to others. It’s about how we compare to our past and present selves.
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25 - march 2018
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
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by Emma Cunningham
rowing up as an Irish-American in New York, St. Paddy’s–NOT Patty’s–was the most wholesome and exciting day of the year. It was especially thrilling for a young Irish step dancer such as myself; being the only day Irish dancing was actually considered cool, this day was always my chance to ditch school, lace up my dancing shoes, and embrace my unique hobby as the people of New York clapped and cheered. My mom made Irish soda bread, my friends and family played the tin whistle and fiddle, and we celebrated our most important day of the year until the cows came home. As I got older, though, I realized that the whooping and hollering was only partially due to my dancing abilities and was mostly the result of New York City entering a collective state of inebriation.This was no longer just a day for me to click my heels and tap my feet to the tune of the bodhrán behind me; it was a day for everyone and their brother to pretend to be Irish so that they could eat, drink, and, of course, be merry. Don’t get me wrong: the whole world coming together in the spirit of Erin go Bragh sounds pretty ideal, and based on my Irish family gatherings, the Irish have all the tools you need to make any party an affair to remember. But, for the less-seasoned Paddy’s folks, here are a few tips and tricks to survive Paddy’s in New York.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
As Barnard students, the art of partying all day does not appear very often in our curriculum. If you are going to go all out for Paddy’s, being smart and pacing yourself can truly make or break your experience. Whether you start your day with a green bagel and a Shamrock shake from McDonalds or a true Irish breakfast (bacon, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, black and white pudding, and, obviously, potatoes), you’ll want to make sure you have energy to keep up when you undoubtedly get dragged into doing a jig later that day (or maybe that’s just me).
Photography by Emma Cunningham
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Hit or Miss?
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Don’t forget your blue! (what?!)
Though New York City turns into a sea of green on March 17th, blue is actually the color that is associated with St. Patrick and Ireland. As you probably know, Ireland has now adopted green as its usual representative color, but St. Patrick’s blue is still the official color of the Republic of Ireland. Stand out, show off your knowledge of Irish history, and add a little St. Patrick’s (and Barnard!) blue to your look for the parade this year. Win-win!
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Bundle up!
If you’re looking for people to kiss you ‘cause you’re Irish, the bulky sweater look may not appear ideal. However, when you’re going on your fifth hour of standing around outside, you’re going to wish you had an extra layer or two to make the day bearable. If you’re as lucky as eight year old me, you might even be able to convince your best friend’s grandma to make you all matching green felt hats for the occasion. Trust me, they were quite the crowd pleaser.
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No matter what, celebrate Irish-style
As they say everywhere in the world (or maybe just in my family), if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough. So, douse yourself with the infamous ~luck of the Irish~ for the day and have some fun! On a day that’s full of food, drinks, music, dancing, and celebration, it’s hard to not get in the spirit; whether you’re braving the hustle and bustle of the parade or you’ve chosen a more lowkey route for yourself, any celebration of Ireland is bound to be a good one. Sláinte! THE BULLETIN -
26 - march 2018
Women in Politics
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Nancy Pelosi
Illustration by Tuesday Smith
s recently as February, in response to the budget deal proposed by the Republican Party, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi broke the record for the longest speech ever given on the House floor. Protesting the absence of DACA legislation in the proposed budget deal for eight hours, Pelosi and her passion for her positions serves as inspiration to many. Pelosi is an incredibly accomplished woman; in her current role, she serves as the Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. This follows on the heels of stints as the House Minority Whip and former Speaker of the House for which Pelosi has earned the unique title of highest ranking female politician in the U.S. Government in the country’s history. She was the first female to hold each of these two positions and served on both the appropriations and intelligence committees as well. Congresswoman Pelosi epitomizes, perhaps, the quintessential career politician. She was exposed to politics at a young age, raised on campaigns and conventions. Her father worked in civil service, serving as both Baltimore, Maryland’s congressional representative and mayor. Pelosi vividly recalls supporting J.F.K’s initial bid for the presidency and has remarked on her attendance of his inaugural address, crediting it for inspiring her political activism, as a “call to ‘the energy, the faith, the devotion...that will light our country and all who serve it.” Her political career began when she obtained a B.A. in political science from Trinity College, a Women’s College in Connecticut, and subsequently interned for Maryland State Representatives. She followed these positions by becoming an active member of the Democratic Party in San Francisco, where she moved with her hus-
P&O
by Hadassah Solomson
band and five children. Pelosi ran and won her first seat in public office representing California’s 12th district in 1987, a position she has held uncontested ever since. In terms of her political persuasion, Pelosi unapologetically identifies with the progressive wing of the liberal agenda. As Speaker of the House, she helped to enact the landmark legislation of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Under her tenure as Senate Majority leader, the House repealed the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, which lifted the ban on the participation of openly gay soldiers in the military, in addition to legislating the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which facilitated access to the judicial system to challenge instances of pay discrimination. Pelosi is passiona t e
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27 - march 2018
about pushing paid family leave policies and enacting environmental protection regulations. Her recent demonstration on the House floor to promote DACA legislation garnered national media attention. In some ways, Pelosi defines the Democratic Party. Pelosi’s involvement and advocacy within the party, both as a member and employee, and on behalf of her constituents as well, has informed many of the party’s positions over the past 20 or so years. Although some within her own party contend that she has overstayed her welcome, the grandmother of 9 does not appear to be slowing down anytime soon, much to her critics chagrin.
Paid Family Leave: Making it Mandatory now and up to 67% by 2021. However, many have noted how maternity leave can work against women’s interests. Recognizing that women - especially young women - are more statistically likely to take leave then men, employers may discriminate against them in the hiring process. While it is too early to evaluate the impact of NYPFL, the effects of earlier policies can offer some insight. Studies of programs supporting women’s workplace flexibility in Europe showed that they increased employers’ tendencies to statistically discriminate against women of childbearing age. In Spain, after the introduction of more flexible hours for mothers, companies were 6% more likely to hire young men over young women, 37% more likely to promote them, and 45% less likely to dismiss them. In the UK, a survey revealed that many employers take maternity leave into account when hiring women, especially for upper level positions. But would the NYPFL simply reinforce the glass ceiling? The most serious negative effects to women’s employment occur in countries with much longer leave programs than any state in the US currently offers. And when fathers have access to paid leave as well, as NYPFL ensures, there are indisputable benefits for working women and mothers. Ankita Patnaik studied Québec’s 2006 policy, in which parents were offered 5 weeks of paid leave that fathers could not transfer to their wives. The reTHE BULLETIN -
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sults were unsurprising: women were more likely to work full-time, spend more time physically at their workplace, and spend less time at home or doing housework, while fathers spent more time at home and doing housework. In 2009, Wen-Jui Han, Christopher Ruhm, and Jane Waldfogel studied United States Current Population Survey data from 1987-2004 to investigate whether increased access to leave impacted leave-taking and employment. Obviously, rates of leave-taking greatly increased. Yet, employment was largely unaffected. This means that although employer statistical discrimination may increase slightly, this is offset by increased long-term job retention for women who can return to their jobs after taking leave instead of quitting altogether. And higher job retention often means higher wages in the long run. A wealth of research by renowned economists like Claudia Goldin and Francine Blau demonstrated the importance of temporal flexibility for closing the gender wage gap, including less emphasis on long hours and compensation for the time women take to raise their children. All in all, it is difficult to know exactly what to expect from the NYPFL policy. Will fathers start taking leave and shift family dynamics even more toward a modern dual-earner/dual-caregiver model? Will women’s employment and wages rise like never before? Or will the United States follow in the footsteps of some European countries and be held back by discriminatory employers? At the very least, it is worth taking a chance on paid family leave as an experiment in balancing our societal values. The rest of the world has recognized that parents are shaping the future just as much by raising children as they are in the workplace. It’s time to catch up.
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aybe you’ve seen the posters in the subway. A father lifts up his daughter joyfully. The hands of a parent and child join together. This imagery portrays the brand new New York Paid Family Leave (NYPFL) policy as a victory and a relief for families. And in many ways, it is. Countries from the U.K. to the Democratic Republic of the Congo have already previously nationalized at least 12 weeks of paid leave for families. However, unpaid family leave did not exist in the U.S. until 1993, and paid family leave has only recently become a reality in a handful of states. New York now joins California, New Jersey, and Rhode Island in providing partial wage replacement for parents on leave to take care of a newborn, adopted, or fostered child or an ill immediate family member. The new policy provides 8 weeks of paid leave beginning January 1, 2018 and will incrementally increase to 12 weeks by 2021. NYPFL offers even more protections and eligibility than preexisting programs. Unlike California’s version, New York’s policy offers job protection. And unlike the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, part-time employees (a significant number of working mothers), family members of active military service people, and employees of small businesses are now eligible. Its wage replacement is just as ambitious as other states, replacing 50% of weekly wages
by Juliet Emerson-Colvin
MUST SCHOOLS BEAR TRAGEDIES SO YOU CAN BEAR ARMS?
A Illustration by Maria Jijon
great many of us bear the distinction of having lived in the time of Columbine. Although we likely do not remember the horrors of that day beyond flashes of newsreel seen long after the fact, the tragedy has inevitably shaped our reality from anti-bullying legislation to the gun law debates that rage on. We came of age during the Sandy Hook shooting, perhaps following the reports from our own classrooms or from the comfort of own homes. After Sandy Hook we watched as gun legislation, even in its most watered-down form, failed to pass congress. Assault weapons remained on the market and schools tightened security, installing cameras and instituting visitor check-ins. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 94.6% of American public schools hold active shooter drills. 67% of school districts require such measures to be carried out on a regular basis. Students today have to be as prepared for a massacre as they would be for a fire. The massacres have continued; while there is no definitive proof that shootings have increased in frequency, data suggests that shootings have become deadlier since the mid-2000s (some studies have blamed this rise on the expiration of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004, but these too have been inconclusive). Since then the American public has experienced the shock of massacre after
by Emma Hoffman
massacre, expressed its grief and horror, and moved on with small measures usually aimed to prepare the general populace against such attacks rather than restrict the means to achieve them. What set the recent Parkland Shooting apart then was the survivors’ refusal to allow the public to lapse into its usual cycle. The shooting claimed seventeen lives, but has produced countless young activists in its wake. The impassioned and articulate statements from Stoneman-Douglas - students such as Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, and Cameron Kasky - have captured the attention of the public. Kasky notably went toe-to-toe with Senator Marco Rubio at a televised town hall, interrogating him over his continued acceptance of NRA donations. They and other students have since formed Never Again MSD and are planning to march on Washington in late March. Yet their demands for reform have been met with skepticism and even open hostility. Shortly after the shooting, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh went on “Fox News Sunday” to suggest that the Democrats and left-wing groups were using the survivors to strip away gun rights across the country, while an aid of Republican Florida Rep. Shawn Harrison wrote from a state email that the survivors were merely crisis actors. These conspiracies continue to gain ground online THE BULLETIN -
29 - march 2018
amongst far-right groups. Many have asked why these students in particular have become so vocal so soon after their trauma. That question, of course, is baffling. Like us, the students of StonemanDouglas have been continuously barraged with news of massacres and school shootings, one after the other. They have hid under their desks and in corners during mandatory active shooter drills. In summary, they have been in too many situations where they have had to ask what would they do if a shooter came down their halls. In an essay for Harper’s Bazaar, Gonzalez writes, “We are tired of practicing school shooter drills and feeling scared of something we should never have to think about. We are tired of being ignored. So we are speaking up for those who don’t have anyone listening to them, for those who can’t talk about it just yet, and for those who will never speak again.” The survivors of StonemanDouglas not only have the right, but the duty as engaged American citizens to demand change from their government. Public schools are meant to instruct young people on how to be productive members of society. Sometimes to be productive is to demand and ask uncomfortable questions, to apply the lessons of AP United States History to the US today in order to create a better society for those Americans in school and beyond.
BLACK PANTHER
THE MOVIE, THE MOMENT, THE MOVEMENT ther shows the strength, capabilities and beauty of African peoples. Wakandians are black people, but rather than seeing Wakandians as fictional, I believe black people are Wakanda. Everywhere and anywhere. From Brazilians to AfricanAmericans to Haitians to Ghanaians. Our inventions and contributions despite the mass oppression we have faced proves that we hold the same capabilities as Wakanda. We’re all the walking and spitting image of Wakanda. We need nonfiction narratives highlighting and embracing this in the future. I, for one, am so happy about the success and beauty of Black Panther, but the idea that this type of spectacular black art being new is ridiculous. Take Moonlight for example, a movie that brought visibility to black people in Miami who are consistently segregated, mistreated, and not given a substantial narrative even in their own home. Moonlight shared a queer narrative and shocked the world when it won Best Picture last year. The fact is, THE BULLETIN -
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Moonlight was ten times the movie La La Land was and could have ever been, due to its meaning, impact, and resilience. La La Land being considered at the same level shows the hoops black art must climb to be considered valid. Additionally, Girls Trip which broke Bridesmaids’ records is not being discussed in the way Black Panther is. It is insulting to even suggest that Black Panther is the change when there have been hundreds of artists and films from Sydney Pointer, to Spike Lee, to Blacksploitation films to Angela Bassett to Denzel Washington to Black Panther. Marvel has the visibility that many of the films I named do not, but do not let this distort the work of plenty. 12Years a Slave, Precious, Pariah, Moonlight, Get Out, Girls Trip, Fences, and Hidden Figures. These are a few of the stunning and ridiculously different movies highlighting black experiences. Instead of sensationalizing Black Panther singularly, lets marvel in all of the contributions and survival of black people holistically.
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he movie that people just can’t stop talking about: Black Panther. A movie that has been named “radical” and “groundbreaking”. A movie that was created by black people and for black people and has been breaking the charts. What’s there not to love? Facebook posts of black little kids getting excited at the possibility of a world of black power, of strength and survival. Black women rejoicing as they are the backbone of Wakanda, and very much so in real life. For many, Black Panther is a form of validation. Black Panther within itself is a spectacular film in its complex narrative for black people. It raises questions of how the diaspora navigates itself and how to unite our Wakandian (aka black) brothers and sisters. The film presents an image of Wakanda where black people thrive and hold resources no one else does, which is true for Africa. There are more images in the world of Africa struggling to survive in despair but not enough of its beauty and strength. Although it is fictional Black Pan-
by Phanesia Pharel
An End to
Gerrymandering Disclaimer: The Bulletin does not own any images on this page
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any of us recall gerrymandering way back from our AP United States Government days; large figures of states littered the textbooks-- one side with accurate configurations of electoral districts juxtaposed with preposterous squiggly lines outlining those districts aimed at racking up votes in a particular state. In fact, gerrymandering received its peculiar name in 1812, when the Boston Gazette issued an article with a now popular political cartoon of a state senate district in Essex County that closely resembled a salamander. The Gazette ultimately dubbed the district, by the fault of then governor Elbridge Gerry, a “Gerry-Mander”. Since then, the definition is now reserved for use as a gerund, where unconventional and
by Annabella Correa-Maynard practically outrageous district lines are redrawn and, in the most extreme cases, created in order to gain votes and party clout come election season. Approximately, every ten years states are required to redistrict electoral boundaries following the census. This political exercise is usually reserved for both the state legislature and the governor. Technically, strengthening electoral boundaries isn’t an area of concern, considering that it is a formality, however the extent of that formality is often contingent upon what party controls office. When both the major party in the state legislature corresponds with the party affiliated with the governor, that particular party is more inclined to redistrict electoral boundaries if they can positively impact a particu lar voter turnout in an election. The New York Times has character ized
this practice as “packing” and “cracking”, where legislators attempt to consolidate all opposing voters into one district while at the same time, diffuse sympathetic voters across many districts. The long and complicated history of gerrymandering is once again in the spotlight, this way garnering the attention of the United States Supreme Court. In early February, after looking at the state’s 18 congressional districts, with particular attention to district 18, the Supreme Court stated that Pennsylvania had “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the states constitution and therefore was participating in partisan gerrymandering. This decision, ultimately struck down the practices of Republican congressional leaders who control 13 out of 18 districts as unconstitutional. But at the same time, the decision provides a new, and potential advantage for democrats in the process of running for office in the upcoming election.
A&E
An Ode to Dynamic Duos
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hat makes a duo “dynamic”? Can it mean best friends? Romantic relationships? Foes? Can it even be all of the above? From the original “dynamic duo” of Batman and Robin, it seems we’ve evolved the terminology from referring to the hero/sidekick dynamic to an attempt at pinning down some immeasurable chemistry between two people. In a way it has escaped definition; all I can truly say is you know it when you see it.
by Sara Walker
Jack & Diane from black-ish
Why they’re so iconic: Wonder Twins who? Jack and Diane Johnson have more than secured their title as the ultimate brother/sister twin duo. They balance each other out. Dianne brings the brains and the attitude, while Jack offers adorable cluelessness and killer dance moves. As the now middle-ish kids of the family (since the addition of little baby DeVonte to the Johnson family and Zoey going off to college in the black-ish spin-off grown-ish, anyways) they could have easily faded into the background, their storylines overshadowed by the new baby or their big brother Junior. But Jack and Diane are impossible to not to watch. Their Pinky and the Brain like dynamic steals the show. After watching them grow up on Black-ish for the past four years, from cute kids who’d pop up with a funny one liner to (still cute) preteens driving their own episodes and building complex personalities, I can safely say these kids are the future of TV, and if you’re not onboard then you’re already behind.
Jim & Dwight from The Office (US version) Why they’re so iconic: Of course one of the duos had to be from The Office. It’s a given that every relationship on the show is amazing, but I, like many, have always had a soft spot for Jim/Dwight antics. The characters, played brilliantly by John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson, evolve from coworkers who get on each other’s nerves to arch nemeses to something that I can only describe as best frenemies. The relationship is honest and simple, their back and forth is amazing. This delightful scene from Season 7 episode 5 “The Sting” best encapsulates the true essence of their relationship: Dwight: How do I look? Jim: Amazing. How do I look? Dwight: Normal. Ugly. Jim: Well, I did the best with what I’ve got. No matter how many times Jim pranks Dwight or Dwight tries to get Jim fired it all just give off some major brotherly love/bromance vibes.
Molly & Issa
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from hbo's insecure
Why they’re so iconic: For the past two years we’ve been screaming in frustration (in the best way possible) at our TV screens watching this duo try to navigate adulting all the while making one questionable decision after another. Those who watch the show have seen Molly and Issa support each other through bad breakups and discrimination at work, check each other when the other is acting up – proving they know the other better than they know themselves. They have seen each other through major, life altering changes and are there with wine and take out to help make it better. They gas each other up, they check each other, they love each other, they support each other. Molly and Issa are your problematic faves who have hot dudes on rotation – and I am so here for it.
32 - march 2018
RAVEN & CHELSEA from that's so raven & raven's home
Why they’re iconic: Raven and Chelsea were who you and your best friend wanted to be. They were completely different, but they complimented each other. Chelsea was the hippiedippy, slightly ditzy, OG vegetarian, while Raven was bold (#barnardbold), often misguided (but always well intentioned), and outspoken – a role model for any kid watching Disney Channel. Chelsea was there for Raven through all of her hijinks, no questions asked (tbt to the iconicTM Liz Anya mega popstar disguise from season 1 episode 10 “If I Only Had a Job”). No matter what ridiculous vision Raven had, Chelsea was always ready to throw on a wig and help her try (and 10/10 times fail) to change the future. Plus now, on Raven’s Home, they raise their kids together in one apartment after divorcing their husbands like total badasses. Illustration by Letty DiLeo
Steve Harrington & his spiked bat from STRANGER THINGS
Why they’re so iconic: Where would Father of the Year, Steve Harrington (played by the incredible Joe Keery), be without his beloved spiked bat? Probably in the Upside Down, torn to shreds by a demadog, but that’s neither here nor there. One of them may be an inanimate object, but Stranger Things fans can’t deny its icon status. The infamous bat makes its debut at the tail end of the first season in a fight with the demogorgon and reappears as Steve’s apparent weapon of choice in the latest installment. Wielding his Spiked Bat, Steve protects the kids from all of the terrible, nightmarish monsters of the Upside Down. Like Arthur and his sword, Luke and his lightsaber, like Benny and the Jets – Steve Harrington and his Spiked Bat were just meant to be.
Gallery Galavanting
ous influences that make up Brazilian culture and history. Amaral, along with other artists and poets including her partner Oswald de Andrade, spearheaded the Brazilian modern art movement, an exciting rebirth and embrace of Brazilian nationality. Oswald de Andrade’s 1928 “Manifesto of Anthropophagy,” appropriated the cannibalistic term “anthropophagy” for this artistic movement, which advocated a cohesive narrative of Brazilian cultural identity based on the union of multiple cultures and peoples influential in the country’s history. From the indigenous Brazilian Tupi tribe to the African slaves brought over during European colonialism, the Anthropophagy movement emphasized a single identity made up of the sum of all Brazil’s parts: digested, processed, and metamorphosed into an utterly unique, exclusively Brazilian individuality. The entire philosophy is based on the cannibalistic rituals of indigenous tribes, though taking artistic endeavor one step further than Picasso’s “good artists copy, great artists steal.” For Amaral and other Brazilian modernists, great artists skip THE BULLETIN -
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the stealing. Great artists eat each other. Preferably Europeans. Fortunately, the Anthropophagists never actually consumed human flesh. However, their triumphant re-appropriation and transfiguration of European cultural influences into a cohesive Brazilian national identity was hugely successful. On show in the exhibition, Amaral’s Abaporu became an iconic image for the movement given its predominant placement on the cover of Oswald’s “Manifesto.” The painting is of a nude figure, resting an elbow on a raised knee and looking wistfully towards the viewer. The figure’s outof-proportion body slowly swells in size until their prominent foot fills the entire lower third of the canvas.The body speaks to the importance of the physical, a nod to the significance of bodily elements to Anthropophagism, while the solid, soft colors used to depict the abstracted sun and cactus honor the Brazilian geography and landscape. Despite the evolving subject matter of her pieces, throughout her life Amaral was consistently a sincere, devoted painter of her homeland. Deeply invested in Brazilian cultural identity, her influence in helping Brazil reclaim a national, artistic distinctiveness, is absolutely unrivaled. Her masterly manipulation of abstracted geometric figures, combined with her use of colors reflective of Brazil’s natural landscape, complement her lifelong examination of the good and ills of modernism, making her one of the most influential artists of her generation.
Photography by Sarah Wallstrom
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ntering Tarsila do Amaral’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art is like entering another, arguably better world. It is impossible not to feel a huge contrast between cold, gray 53rd street outside, and the crowded, bright third floor of the museum, each of its visitors enthralled by the vibrant, proud colors that cover the walls and contort themselves into various shapes and figures. Amaral’s captivating exhibition, the first ever shown in the United States, pays generous homage to the early 20th century artist who not only heavily influenced the modernist movement in Brazil and abroad, but also played an invaluable role in crafting the artistic and cultural identity of her country during her lifetime. A Cuca, the very first painting the viewer encounters on their way through the exhibition, immediately instills a sense of playfulness and delight with its imaginary forest creatures depicted in soft, vibrant tones. The first few walls showcase Amaral’s initial pieces from the 1920s, and her experiments with Cubism, a burgeoning contemporary movement. At length she used these modernist tenets to lay the groundwork from which her own more personalized repertoire could blossom. Indeed, her work is brimming with geometric shapes, her figures – human and otherwise – often abstracted into circles and triangles of mathematical precision. During her travels throughout colonial Brazil, Amaral produced sketches of Brazilian life in the rural towns and favelas untouched by urban development, which compelled her to consider the vari-
by Sarah Wallstrom
Barnard Author Spotlight
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Jhumpa Lahiri
Illustration by Maria Jijon
ack in 1986, Jhumpa Lahiri was like most first-years-—unsure of what she wanted to be. She didn’t yet know she wanted to be a writer. She was only certain of her constant and steadfast passion for reading, rifling through the book stands on Broadway and the local bookshops and discovering her influences early on, including her roommates’ paperback of James Salter’s copy of “Light Years”. An alumna and an English major of Barnard College, Jhumpa Lahiri is now widely known as an author, translator, and winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. It’s strange to imag-
by Noelle Penas
ine her stepping onto this campus, attending classes and reading novels in the Quad. I remember attending her reading this October when she visited Barnard and listening as she described the experience of being young, eighteen, and living in New York City for the very first time. She recalled bringing all the wrong clothes and being “absolutely terrified.” Thirty two years later, solemn and statuesque, voice stepping with cat-like grace, she returns to campus an award winning writer. Born in London, raised in Rhode Island, and daughter of Bengali immigrants, Jhumpa’s self-identity is one that was fragmented and without specific origin. She wrestled with questions of assimilation, belonging, the shifting between separate worlds and the fluidity of borders. This struggle to feel American, combined with wanting to understand her Bengali roots is reflected in her initial works. These often explored the themes of exile, allegiance and choice, and divided identity. One of these novels, The Lowland, was set in 1960s India, a story that melds these themes with ones of family, loss and time. The Lowland reveals Lahiri’s ability to unfold the changing shape of re-
lationships in typical Lahiri style: methodical, surgical, observant. There is a refreshing simplicity in the rhythm of her sentences, a charm in her juxtaposing of words with overlapping definitions. Her writing is immediately recognizable in her minimalistic prose; sharp, clean, and concise like a knife. As Lahiri developed as a writer, her pieces shifted to reflect her interests in translation and interpretation. She fell in love with learning Italian, with its warmth and musicality, and moved to Rome in 2012 to submerge herself in the language. This leap into relearning the ambiguity and strangeness of words compelled her to write a book solely in Italian, In Altre Parole. This concept was originally born from her notebooks written in Italian and expanded into the final composition of In Altre Parole, or, “In Other Words.” This piece is memoir that illuminates Lahiri’s devotion to translation, the specificity of meaning, and the constant challenge of confronting her own mediocrity as a writer. Though it is easy to enchanted by Lahiri’s work, but this particular piece one is strikingly elegant. Lahiri’s voice rings with a quiet eloquence that has always been present in her other works but has reached its nadir here—reflecting her experience and humility. Having written In Altre Parole only in Italian, Lahiri was forced to reconsider writing as a means of making sense of the world, an exploration of the untranslatable, and the struggle of the boundlessness and limitations of language. At the end of the book, Lahiri has left you with a recovered appreciation for writing as transformation; writing born from moments of desperation and hope. Lahiri has never allowed her writing or herself, to be fixed; she is constantly investigating, examining, and redrawing the borderlines. The direction she takes next remains unmapped.
Presidential Portraits by Courtney DeVita
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n February 12th, the portraits of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama painted by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, respectively, were unveiled by the National Portrait Gallery
as part of the exhibit, America’s Presidents. At one time, presidential portraits were often the only existing images of presidents. But in the modern age, where presidents are frequently professionally photographed, the hoopla over a presidential portrait painting can seem unfounded. “Photographs are candids, but the portrait is a more careful, thoughtful, reading of a president and his personality,” Kate Lemay, a historian at the museum who curated the exhibition, told TIME. The first Presidential portrait of George Washington hangs in the White House and National Portrait gallery. If you haven’t seen that one, you’ve surely seen Gilbert Stuart’s similar depiction of Washington on the $1 bill. The portrait, done in 1796, was meant to document Washington’s recent support of the Jay Treaty, a treaty that was meant to relieve post-war tension between Britain and the United States. Senator William Bingham of THE BULLETIN -
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Pennsylvania had commissioned the portrait as a gift for British prime minister William Petty, who was instrumental in ending the Revolutionary War. Presidential portraits come from the European tradition of leaders and political figures commissioning their own portraits as a sign of power. However, Washington’s portrait set an important precedent that deviated from the European tradition. Stuart didn’t want Washington portrayed as a king or a military figure, the very past America was trying to leave, but as a man of the people, elected by the people. Washington stands in civilian clothes, an arm outstretched and lowered in the style of European “conversation pieces” where men and women talk as equals. Until most recently, Congress had contributed funds for the portraits. Now the money mostly comes from private donations to the National Portrait Gallery, who suggest contemporary artists. The Obama’s chose their own artists for the portraits, and their work marks a significant departure from the standard presidential portrait, with presidents typically posing in offices against neutrally colored backgrounds In Michelle Obama’s portrait – by Amy Sherald – she is dressed in a dramatic and flowing white gown, with geometric patterns in red, pink, and yel-
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ow interspersed throughout the skirt. She reclines forward with her hand under her chin in a moment of contemplation. Sherald is known for dynamic portraits of black subjects clothed in bright colors against dramatic backgrounds. One of her most famous portraits, “What’s precious inside of him does not care to be known by the mind in ways that diminish its presence (All American),” 2017, is of a black cowboy in a red and white striped button down. Though this portrait was as vivid as her past work, Sherald gives a rather cool feel to a very warm first lady, through
her aloof expression and cold toned color choices. Barack Obama’s portrait – by Kehinde Wiley – was similarly dramatic. Obama sits in a wooden chair immersed in a lush background of green leaves. Flowers like chrysanthemums, the official flower of Chicago, sprout up from the shrubbery, as well as jasmines from his birth state of Hawaii. Wiley’s past work includes portraits of hip hop leaders like LL Cool J and Tupac. He is perhaps most known for, though, portraits of urban black men that THE BULLETIN -
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are done in the style of majestic European paintings of royalty. “Thanks to Kehinde and Amy, generations of Americans — and young people from all around the world — will visit the National Portrait Gallery and see this country through a new lens,” Obama said in an Instagram post following the portrait unveiling, “They’ll walk out of that museum with a better sense of the America we all love. Clear-eyed. Bighearted. Inclusive and optimistic.”
Tips for Creative Writers by Maya Sanchez
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he only way to become a better writing is by writing. So on the days where writing is as painful as stepping on legos with bare feet, write. It doesn’t matter if all you write is 100 words because that is 100 words more than what you had before. It is 100 words out of your head and more space for you to think. Don’t waste time and wait for inspiration to find you, because then you’re never going to stop waiting. While inspiration certainly makes writing easier, you don’t need inspiration to write: all you need to do to write, is write. Within writing, one of the biggest hurdles one can encounter is finding inspiration. Let’s face it: not all of us can be Lin Manuel Miranda and have the hook to what is arguably the best song on an award-winning soundtrack come to us randomly on the subway while on the way to a party. Inspiration is a fickle thing, sometimes with us in an overabundance and sometimes completely deserting us. So, when inspiration comes to you, make sure to take advantage of it and note down all your ideas lest you forget them…but don’t wait for it.
I’ve found that a good trick to make sure that I’m writing is to set a low word-count goal to meet everyday. Sure, it might only be 500 words a day. But that’s 3,500 words a week and before you know it, you’ll be writing a story. So now you’re writing, but what are you writing? I’ve always found that outlining my work is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, outlining is a process to fine tune and smooth out the kinks in my ideas. Outlining is planning without the commitment, like writing something in erasable pencil instead of permanent ink. But on the other hand, when I start writing, I tend to drift away from my outline without noticing and be left with a chunk of words that don’t quite fit into the structure I created. But outlines are an easy thing to change, so don’t be afraid of them! Take advantage of them and brainstorm. Create a messy outline than makes no sense to anyone but you, then throw it out and start again. Or don’t start with an outline at all. Not all types of writing– short stories and poems in particular– require outlines. Regardless if you use an outTHE BULLETIN -
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line or not, make sure you have a way to go through your ideas before you write. You can bounce off a friend, or even say your thoughts out loud to yourself in the shower. Having a chance to work through your thoughts before you write makes the writing process easier because it won’t be your first time trying to wrangle your thoughts into manageable forms. Thanks to you going over your thoughts, you now know the direction your story takes. But what happens when you hit a roadblock? What happens when you’re stuck at a plot point and you have no idea how to get out of it? It might seem counterintuitive, but the solution is to think about all the ways that you can’t get out of it. Say that your character is stuck in a burning house and you don’t know how to write her getting out of it. Think about it: she can’t stay in the house because she’ll die; she can’t use the door handle because it is too hot for her to touch; she’s already tried kicking down the door to no avail; she can’t wait for the door to become weaker because the house’s structure is starting to disintegrate. It seems
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that both you, the writer, and her, the character, are stuck. Now that you’ve gotten through all the ways not to write it, it should be easier to see the way out. Your character can’t wait, can’t use the door, and can’t stay. What’s left? The window, of course. She can climb out the window and jump down to the lawn and the story can move on. Only by thinking of all the ways not to write the scene, did you figure out how to write it. Your story continues and although it’s not done yet, you read through what you already have. Reading through your own writing is always an adventure because sometimes you’ll surprise yourself with what you’ve written. Sometimes you might not like what you’ve written and want to change it. Editing is good as it allows you to redefine your own words and consolidate your message, but be careful of over-editing. It’s a personal rule of mine to
never edit unless I’m finished with that chunk of writing. I’ve found that if I edit something that is uncomplete, I never stop editing. My writing then becomes solely my edits and I’m left with something choppy and still in the need of being edited. So while it’s good to go over your work, make sure to not get lost in your own head. With your story done and edited and tied with a nice bow in the shape of a title, what happens now? You share it. The best thing about writing is sharing it with others. I love seeing my friends react to what I’ve written and because of their upbeat responses, I always look forward to sharing more of my writing with them. There are a million and a half ways to share your writing, both online and in print. Instagram is a brilliant place to post poetry and I have many friends who have accounts that are dedicated to their poems. For longer form-writing, sites such as Tumblr, Blogger, and Wordpress are al-
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ways a good way to get your writing out there. Even Twitter, although limited on characters, is an interesting mode to post a story on. For print, search for publications both inside the college and outside of it that accept creative writing. Search for writing contests and submit everything that you can. Writing, as all other forms of art, is meant to be shared. But most importantly, be proud of your work. Writing is no easy task and not just anyone can pick up a pen and create a story. So everytime that you reach your goal, whether it’s finishing the short story you’re working on or meeting your word count for the week, be proud of yourself and the art that you’re creating. As college students living in NewYork, we live in a hustling and bustling world and to make time to write is a feat in itself.When you tell others that you’re a writer, hold your head up high and say it confidently because being a writer is not an easy task, but it sure is a wonderful thing to be.
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The Essential Musical Theater Playlist by Annette Stonebarger
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hether you’ve been to countless Broadway shows or have only seen the advertisements on the sides of busses, the bright lights and energy of Times Square permeate throughout the entire city. As a theatre major, one of the main reasons that I chose to come to Barnard was because of its proximity to Broadway. From the all-time classics to spunky rock musicals, musical theatre has something for everyone to enjoy. Use this article as an introduction to some of the best songs in musical theatre, both old and new. If you would like to listen to any of these songs, listen to my Spotify playlist “Barnard Introduction to Musical Theatre Playlist,” or use the link at the bottom of the article. When reading this, please keep in mind that these are just some of my personal favorites, and there are so many more amazing songs that have been left off of this list.
Book Of Mormon: Hello! & Two By Two Genre: Comedy Musical Summary: Two young Mormons go on their mission to Uganda.
Chicago: Cell Block Tango & All That Jazz
Genre: Jazz Musical Summary: A young woman is convicted of murder and uses the opportunity to reach stardom.
Dear Evan Hansen: Waving Through A Window & You Will Be Found
Genre: New Age Musical Summary: Due to the alienating effects of social media, a teenage boy gets caught in a lie he can’t control.
Hairspray: You Can't Stop The Beat
Genre: Musical Comedy Summary: A girl in 1960s Baltimore auditions for a dance program and ends segregation in the show.
Hamilton: Alexander Hamilton
Genre: Historical Rap Musical Summary: A new musical outlining the life of Alexander Hamilton and his involvement in the American Revolution.
In The Heights: In The Heights
Genre: Rap Musical Summary: The show follows a the lives of members in a community in Washington Heights amidst the drawing of a lottery.
Into The Woods: Prologue: Into The Woods
Genre: Operetta Summary: Wondering what this show is about? Come see CMTS’ performance of Into TheWoods April 13-15 and find out!
Les Miserable: On My Own & One Day More
Genre: Operetta Summary: A prisoner during the French Revolution escapes and makes a new life for himself whilst being pursued by his guard.
Rent: Seasons of Love & Take Me or Leave Me
Genre: Rock Musical Summary: A group of friends struggles to make ends meet in Alphabet City amidst the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The Color Purple: The Color Purple Reprise
Genre: Dramatic Musical Summary: A 14 year old girl in rural Georgia is raped by her father and husband all the while struggling with her sexual orientation and relationship with her sister.
The Phantom Of The Opera: The Phantom Of The Opera
Genre: Operatic/ Rock Musical Summary: A bitter man who lives underneath the opera house falls in love with a singer and terrorizes the rest of the company into giving her the lead role.
The Sound of Music: Do Re Mi
Genre: Classic Musical Summary: A young convent girls becomes a nanny for a wealthy family during WWII.
Waitress: It Only Takes A Taste
Genre: New Musical Summary: A waitress in a small town becomes pregnant with her abusive husband’s child and falls in love with her gynecologist.
West Side Story: Jet Song & Tonight
Genre: Classic Musical Summary: This show follows a long standing rivalry between two gangs in 1950s Upper West Side.
Wicked: Defying Gravity & For Good
Genre: New Musical Summary: Follow the Wicked Witch of The West beyond her famous encounter with Dorothy and see what made her “wicked.”
Link to Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/user/annetteleah/playlist/6sD9yLHpqm9XC0kOpsrZ1U?si=T-vpuoRlRO6_UYkYneWtHQ OR https://spoti.fi/2pB23hJ THE BULLETIN -
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NYCL
Broadway’s Bronze
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y now there is a 100 percent chance that, walking to and from Columbia, you have been greeted by the large bronze statue in the Broadway median, and you may have asked yourself— what brings it here? Unique, surreal, and totally adorable, it first caught my attention my first day here, as my sister ran to grab a picture in front of it and my mom mused, “That’s another reason why I love it here. Where else would you find something so cool?”The statue that probably inspired many a move-in day photo opportunity is one of many that spans 72nd to 168th Street on Broadway as this year’s installation put on by New York City Parks’ Broadway Mall Association. The Broadway Mall Association, which also tends the parkland and gardens along Broadway from the Upper West Side to Washington Heights, began featuring annual art installations nine years ago with a mission to “engag[e] both residents and
by Erin Bronner visitors alike” through a diverse range of statues and sculptures. Last year’s display, titled “Broadway Morey Boogie,” featured sculptures that covered over 100 blocks of Broadway and came from ten different artists. This past May, the association brought in the work of artist Joy Brown, who was inspired by her childhood in Japan and the aesthetics of traditional Japanese wood-fired ceramics to create her nine 1200-pound bronze figures. The sculptures, which include “One Leaning on Another,” “Kneeler,” and “Recliner with Head in Hands,” suggest “warmth and lightness of being” as well as “a feeling of stillness and peace,” according to the Morrison Gallery, a gallery in Connecticut which helped organize the exhibition. Brown worked on all nine of the figures in Shanghai at a workshop called the Purple Roof Atelier, before transporting them to New York. This installation marks the first time the sculptures were viewed in the THE BULLETIN -
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United States. Brown’s official website, with the tagline “Bringing Joy to Broadway,” features several candid photos of passersby of all ages sitting on the figures, a nod to the positivity the installation evokes from many New Yorkers, who get the fun opportunity to interact with these works of art every day. This particular installation is, in a sense a call for celebration, in that it differs from so much of art that no one is permitted to interact with on this level (or even stand too close to without a sensor going off!). From time to time I’ll walk by “Kneeler” and think of when I got that picture with my sister on movein day, realizing, in amazement, “Wait, we can sit with it?” The installation will sadly come to an end soon, as it was set to close in February, but the bronze on Broadway, and the curiosity it piqued, will surely be missed.
The Signs As New York City Landmarks by Veronica Suchodolski
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n a city as big as New York it can sometimes be difficult to find your place. Especially as a student at an institution as rigorous as Barnard, you may find yourself being pulled in a million different directions, and that outward tension may leave you wondering where you truly belong. Luckily for you, you can find out what New York City landmark you are based on your zodiac sign and start to feel a little more at home.
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Aries
Leo
Illustration by Aditi Somani
While Leo is often thought of as the most ostentatious of the signs, as the first sign of the zodiac you’re the one that really runs the show, Aries. You are bold, ambitious, and totally cool with being independent, which is why you connect best with the city’s most well-known landmark: The Empire State Building. We cannot wait to see you running the show from your penthouse office one day!
Leo, you are a star, baby! You are spirited, passionate, and you love the limelight, so it is no wonder that you are best represented by Times Square. With its massive 24/7 LED energy and all the big Broadway shows just around the corner, we would not expect to see a Leo anywhere other than center stage under the lights.
Taurus
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most studious of them all? Virgo, you are known for being impressively logical, incredibly diligent, and you have organizational skills to put the rest of us to shame. The stately main branch of the New York Public Library is the perfect place for you to spread out your books and feel right at home in its well-organized halls. The Dewey Decimal System, anyone?
Taurus, you are NewYork City’s gorgeous, iconic brownstones. As an earth sign, you channel your inner peace 24/7, and you are well known for always being elegant without the fuss. You like to take things slow and enjoy the finer things in life, so kick your feet up and stay daydreaming of your post-grad life where you will be living in upscale uptown glamour!
Gemini
Girl, are you a Gemini? Because, like the MTA, you are going in a million different directions and we cannot keep up. Being the MTA may seem bad on the surface, but your 24-hour energy means that you are always available to lend a hand or an ear to a friend in need, and since the subway is so hectic it means that you are incredibly adaptive and know how to make things work in a pinch. Everyone loves to drag your sign, but let’s face it, they would be nothing without you.
Cancer
Cancer, you are deeply intuitive and in tune with your emotions, so you would feel most at home on the beautiful sweeping grounds of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You are most likely the mom friend of your group, and people always feel comfortable opening up to you. That said, that does not mean that you cannot let your hair down every now and then with some gorgeous spring and summer blooms which always blow us away.
Virgo
Libra
There is no greater home for a balanced and intelligent Libra soul than the New York Times Building. As the sign represented by the scales of justice, it may be tempting to chalk Libra up to a courthouse or law school, but that does not quite capture Libra’s humorous, flirty side—Modern Love, we are looking at you. You contain multitudes, Libra, and we love you when you are stubborn just as much as when you are the life of the party.
Scorpio
The Museum of Sex may be a bit of a cliched choice for this sign, but let’s face it, Scorpio: you are a babe. You have a magnetic energy that draws people in, and those that start to get close to you cannot help but want to get to know your dark side. This museum definitely shows off your allure, but also your unique sarcastic sense of humor that makes you a real keeper.
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Sagittarius
When someone is looking to have a good time, they call up their Sagittarius friend, and that is why you are best represented by Coney Island! You are full of energy, optimistic, and adventure is always around the corner when you are at the wheel. No one does innovation and rebellion quite like you, Sagittarius, and we would traverse all of Brooklyn for you any day of the week.
Capricorn
Combine the systematic nature of Virgo with the ambitious drive of Aries and you get the intellectual powerhouse of the zodiac: Capricorn. You are a lean, mean, problem-set-doing machine, and no NYC site quite matches your relentless hardworking drive like the Columbia campus. While you sometimes let stress culture get the best of you (cuffing season who?), it will all be worth it when you power through and start running the whole wide world.
Aquarius
Aquarius, you are the friend that we are all jealous of—you are quick-witted, intelligent, and you somehow manage to excel at no less than three widely diverse pursuits. Because of your broad-minded abilities, you are best represented by New York University, where you can probably be found being dual-enrolled in Tisch and the business school because, like, why not?
Pisces
Often thought of as the most emotional of the signs, as a Pisces you would feel most at home in the Whitney Museum. You are sensitive, creative, and imaginative, so the innovative and moving contemporary art galleries at the Whitney are the perfect reflection of your astrological personality. While some might find you a little intense, you ultimately help those around you to grow both intellectually and empathetically, and we love you for it.
Fine Dining f the many reasons why living in New York City is such a joy, the availability of so many worldclass restaurants just a few stops away definitely stands out. Of course, since these restaurants charge high prices for their high quality, making this opportunity a reality on a student budget can be quite the challenge. But fear not, all you foodies! New York Restaurant Week has arrived again, providing the special chance to have multi-course meals at New York City’s finest restaurants for amazingly affordable prices. This year, Restaurant Week ran from January 22 to February 9, with the promotion available weekdays and Sundays. As part of the deal, a three-course lunch cost $29, while a three-course dinner cost $42 (excluding beverages). To make a reservation at a participating restaurant, all you have to do is Google “nyc restaurant week” and the official website will pop up, where you can search out of 374 participating restaurants using filters such as “Notable Chef,” “Trending Now,” and “OpenTable Diner’s Choice.” All of the booking is done through OpenTable-- a website on which you can make reservations-- and I recommend booking at least a week and a half
in advance (two weeks for larger parties), as that was the soonest I could book my table and still find the time I wanted. For my first-ever Restaurant Week adventure, I decided to pick Butter Midtown, established in 2002 by Barnard alumna Alex Guarnaschelli, who uses greenmarket offerings to create a seasonal menu. Having been a fan of hers on Food Network as a judge on Chopped and Iron Chef on Iron Chef America for years, I had always wanted to visit Butter, and I was so excited to finally go! When I walked into Butter (located on West 45th Street under Cassa Hotel), I was immediately struck by the warm ambiance. All around were wood-paneled walls adorned with scenic outdoor photography. A communal table made a nice addition, and charming decorative accents-- such as a metallic, studded faux moose head by the entrance-- topped it all off. For my three courses, I ordered the Maine Peekytoe crab cakes with classic tartar sauce; the Grilled Portobello Mushroom “Sandwich” with herbed goat cheese, caramelized onions, and spicy upland cress; and the Satsuma Orange Cheesecake with kumquat marmalade and salted butter shortbread. Every dish was composed beautifully. The crab cakes were the optimal size, and the addition of bell peppers to both the cakes and the tartar sauce tied the dish together. Before I saw the portobello “sandwich,” I had no idea the mushrooms would serve as the buns-- what a
delightful surprise! The light char on the portobellos was certainly a plus. In the dessert, the zestiness of the marmalade really complemented the silkiness of the cheesecake-- definitely a combination I’d love to try again. Throughout the meal, impressively speedy service served as yet another reminder of the overall excellence. Out of curiosity, I pulled up the menus on Butter’s website when I got home and found out that the average total of a three-course lunch on a typical day would be $57: $18 for a small plate, $25 for the main course, and $14 for dessert. The finding that the meal came at nearly half the original price made an already unforgettable experience that much sweeter. I would certainly recommend experiencing Restaurant Week, and especially Butter Midtown, to anyone at Barnard looking to get an exceptional taste of New York’s restaurant scene.
Photography by Erin Bronner
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by Erin Bronner
Historical Haunts by Orit Gugenheim
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believe anyone who has lived in New York City has already accomplished something truly special. After all, being a New Yorker requires cleverness, glamour and, of course, a deep love for the subway. Thus, over the time, the NYC lifestyle has created many extraordinary characters. In this article, I’ll name a few of them, highlighting the different places in our beloved New York where these celebrities lived in or strolled around!
AL CAPONE :: Brooklyn
This famous mobster, crime-boss and businessman grew up in the homey streets of Brooklyn! Capone’s childhood home was at 38 Garfield Place, Park Slope. His family also lived at number 21 and 46 on the same street. In fact, there are rumors that Capone hid money in the walls of one of his homes! Elsewhere in the borough, the story behind his well-known nickname, “Scarface,” took place at the bar “Harvard Inn” in Coney Island. Capone was working there a night that Frank Galluccio, his sister Lena, and his date Maria Tazio came in for a drink. Capone was captivated by Lena, and he made an unpleasant comment to her. When Capone refused to apologize Galluccio pulled out a knife and cut Capone’s face. Finally, Capone married Mae Josephine Coughlin in 1918, at St. Mary Star of the Sea Church (Court St. in the Carroll Gardens section of Brooklyn).
LUCILLE BALL :: Jamestown
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While actress, producer, and comedian Lucille Ball wasn’t born and raised right in New York City, the iconic glam of her career in the city and the fact that her hit show I Love Lucy was set in NYC make her more than worthy of the title “NewYorker.” Ball attended the John Murray Anderson School for the Dramatic Arts in New York City, although she was quoted saying she didn’t enjoy it. She later moved out to Hollywood where I Love Lucy was eventually filmed, but the fictional location of her TV apartment was at 623 East 68th Street.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT :: Manhattan
The 26th President of the US grew up not too far from our campus! Roosevelt’s childhood home was at 28 E. 20th St and his family lived there until 1872. However, the house was demolished in 1916, and in 1919 a replica of Roosevelt’s home was erected. Nowadays, the house serves as a museum. It is interesting to visit the house and understand how its different attributes testify for Roosevelt’s life there. For example, in a certain room there is a velvet ottoman that was intended to replace the horsehair covered chairs that irritated his skin. There was also a gymnasium in the second floor that served to facilitate the physical exercise that Roosevelt’s dad thought to be the cure for his son’s asthma.
JENNIFER LOPEZ :: The Bronx
Queen J.Lo herself grew up in none other than the Bronx! J.Lo grew up in the Castle Hill neighborhood of The Bronx. Her academic education started in Preston High School, and continued at Baruch College (where she only studied for a semester). She lived with her then-husband Marc Anthony in Brookville, and she gave birth to her twins in Long Island. Talk about a true New Yorker!
I hope this list of celebrities and their special connections to places in New York have inspired you to go out, explore, and make NewYork your own, too.You never know, one day someone might be writing an article about famous New Yorkers and want to include you! THE BULLETIN -
46 - march 2018
Across: 1. cellblocktango 2. stpatricksday 3. wakanda 4. bacchanal 5. unafraid 6. trending 7. playlist 8. athena 9. stormi 10. beach Down: 1. anthropology 2. portrait 3. restaurantweek 4. pelosi 5. chocolate 6. ladybird 7. bacchantae 8. beilock 9. butler 10. ferris
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THE BULLETIN -
28 - may 2016