3/1/18

The Miscellany News

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org

March 1, 2018

Volume CL | Issue 15

Vassar Haiti Project to Children’s books hold sixth annual gala tell refugees’ stories Aidan Zola

Guest Reporter

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Kelly Vinett

Guest Reporter

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he eye sees what it wants to see.

We tend to render certain forces of society invisible, especially when they lean toward the uncomfortable, controversial, and even painful. However, how can we make these invisible societal forces reveal themselves?

On Thursday, Feb. 21, talented artists Christopher Myers and Kaneza Schaal gave a talk in the Old Bookstore arguing the importance of turning the unseen “other” into the seen “something.” Their talk was titled “How

Stories Provide Safe Spaces in a Constantly Shifting World.” The talk was sponsored by Creative Arts Across Disciplines (CAAD) and the Helen Forster Novy 1928 Fund. Myers is a contemporary children’s book author and illustrator and Schaal works primarily in theater.

Myers draws inspiration from his father, who became a full-time writer at age 48. He is the National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers. The Myers men collaborated in See MYERS/SCHAAL on page 7

Courtesy of Ashley Pecorelli

ou might have heard the buzz, seen some posters or been to one of their events already—the Vassar Haiti Project (VHP) is everywhere.

From Vassar’s own campus to the greater Poughkeepsie community to the mountain village of Chermaitre in northern Haiti, this student-run group has had a significant impact since it was founded in 2001.

According to its official website, Vassar Haiti Project was created after 9/11 when Andrew and Lila Meade decided that it was time to do something positive for our world. Since then, VHP has flourished, creating new initiatives and reaching its goals at an astonishing pace.

Co-President Kidus Girma ’18 has been involved with the organization since his first year at Vassar and now acts as one of four leaders of different initiatives.

He explained VHP’s three-part mission: “The first part is the partnership with Chermaitre. We do that through five different initiatives— water, health, reforestation, a women’s cooperative and education. The

second part of the mission is partnering with Haitian artists and artisans, so we do a lot of our fundraising through Haitian art and handcrafts.

The last part is student development, so our executive board is student-run.

Stateside, there’s a lot of students involved in positions of leadership.”

To realize its mission, the organization takes two trips a year to Chermaitre in order to work with the people on site. One of them takes place during spring break when a group of 10 students embark on the journey abroad.

Girma described the org’s process in each initiative in Chermaitre: “The program started with education, so there’s a primary school composed of about currently 260 students. With reforestation we’re at about 60,000 trees. The women’s cooperative is the latest initiative[…]And so, that’s in the process of increasing their economic security. That ranges from them growing and roasting coffee to creating crafts like earrings and such.”

To actually fund the various initiatives in the village of Chermaitre, VHP must coordinate several fundSee HAITI on page 10

On Thursday, Feb. 21, artists Christopher Myers and Kaneza Schaal gave a talk on “How Stories Provide Safe Spaces in a Constantly Shifting World,” examining the role of picture books as mediums.

Goldtooth prioritizes VC Swimming places Indigeneous activism well at championships Izzy Braham

Assistant Arts Editor

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hen topics are hard to talk about, sometimes one of the only things people can resort to is humor. This week, Vassar welcomes Dallas Goldtooth and his all-Indigenous social media and comedy group, the 1491s, to campus. Goldtooth is an Indigenous activist who is committed to fighting issues such as climate change, environmental destruction and economic injustice. Goldtooth and the 1491s will be giving a comedy performance to talk about these issues

in Sanders Classroom Auditorium on March 2 at 7 p.m.

A multifaceted and activism-oriented force of nature, Goldtooth is a film producer, actor and comedian, as well as the national Keep It In The Ground campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network. He has worked extensively on the campaign against the Dakota Access Pipeline and is an outspoken voice for the rights and needs of Indigenous people. Associate Professor of English and Native American Studies Molly McGlennen See GOLDTOOTH on page 8

Inside this issue

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OIS event promotes discussion, FEATURES engagement

17

Guest Reporter

After four days of the final Liberty League Championship competition hosted by Ithaca College last week, the men and women of the Vassar College swimming and diving teams have come to the end of their seasons. With only eight swimmers and two divers sent to the competition, the men managed to secure seventh place overall.

The women finished in fourth place overall, breaking a Vassar record for total points scored at a Liberty League Championship meet.

The championships for each team began with preliminary swimming rounds, followed by the same for diving in the afternoon. The 24 swimmers that finished at the top of these preliminaries returned later that night to compete in the A, B or C finals.

The men’s team started off the four days of competition with a bang, besting handfuls of school, personal and lifetime records alike. First-year Max White, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, started his day by breaking the longest-standing 500 freestyle record for Vassar College men’s swim and dive.

The previous record of 4:43.55, set by

Perfumes emerge as environmental HUMOR scourge

Ben Chung ’03, stood for 18 years before being smashed by White’s time of 4:40.39. This impressive performance during preliminaries locked in White for second seed of the A finals. The Brewers continued to break records in the 500 freestyle swim, as sophomore Jordan Kalina shaved over 16 seconds off of his season best, earning a personal best time of 4:46.24. This secured him a slot in the A finals as fifth seed.

First-year Finn Belanger then shattered his lifetime best in the 500 freestyle, earning a time of 5:11.13 and a place in the C finals.

The record-breaking performances did not slow as the day continued.

As the second swim of the day began, senior standout Jonah Strand raced to finish the 200 individual medley in his best time of the season, 1:56.76. In the finals, Strand earned not only a personal best in the same swim, but also a new school record, with a time of 1:55.20. In the night’s finals, White came back to swim against the defending champions of the 500 freestyle, earning a time of 4:35.18. This astounding time not only reset a school record, but also broke a Liberty League Championship record, See SWIM/DIVE on page 18

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Rep. Sean Maloney visits VC Clark Xu

Assistant News Editor

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he November 2018 midterm elections may be several months on the horizon, but politicians and other political commentators are already thinking of election day and its potential impact on the course of Trump’s presidency. New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney visited campus on Wednesday, Feb. 21 to discuss the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017 and other legislation passed

by Congress in the past few months. Maloney also considered the Democratic Party platform and student political involvement in midterm campaigns as possible responses to these developments.

In Congress, Maloney represents New York’s 18th district, which encompasses Poughkeepsie.

During the discussion in Rockefeller Hall, Maloney suggested that the federal government’s decision to increase the annual deficit has continued to sacrifice the future well-being of U.S. citizens to maintain living standards in the U.S. today. Maloney considered the Bipartisan Budget Act that became law on Feb. 9 and reported, “They just passed with bipartisan support the spending bill that has 500 billion dollars of unfunded deficit spending, which means the annual deficit is going to [be] 1.1 trillion, 1.2 trillion next year.” The larger annual deficit implies that the total debt owed by the federal government will grow at an increasing rate. Comparing the annual deficit to a credit card bill and the total debt to a debit card statement, Maloney continued, “On top of 20 trillion on debit card [debt] we have, that’s going not to 30 trillion over the next 10 years, it’s goSee MALONEY on page 3

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Courtesy of Hannah Benton

Vassar will bring Dallas Goldtooth and the 1491s to campus on March 2.

Goldtooth will discuss the importance of the environment within the Indigenous Movement for All Campus Day, incorporating humor into his approaches.

Fiona MacLeod

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who represents New York’s 18th district, visited Vassar’s campus on Wednesday, Feb. 21 and met with students to discuss politics.

NCAA’s flaws give Sports SPORTS Editor pause

The Miscellany News

Page 2

March 1, 2018

Editors-in-Chief Emma Jones Elena Schultz

Senior Editor Talya Phelps

Contributing Editors Eilís Donohue Rhys Johnson

Courtesy of Brendan Wirth

Pictured here, Freetown Christiana in Copenhagen, Denmark, where Brendan Wirth ’19 is spending a semester abroad. Wirth discusses Danish culture and “hygge” in his first blog post, explaining, “Roughly translating to “comfort” in English, hygge is unique to Danish culture, and is very important to the maintenance of Danish identity and the continuation of the strong social-welfare state. Hygge can be found anywhere: in a local coffee shop, in a restaurant, or basically anywhere that fosters community among people and promotes quality of life.” To read more about Wirth’s adventures abroad, plus those of his fellow JYA-ers, visit farandaway.miscellanynews.org!

The Miscellany News 1

March

Thursday

Tennis (M) Individuals

10:00 a.m. | Walker Field House Bay 2 | Athletics

Late Night at the Lehman Loeb

5:00 p.m. | Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Atrium | The Loeb Art Center

Paul Farmer Lecture

6:00 p.m. | Villard Room | History Dept.

Weekender_ 2

March

3

Friday

March

Volleyball (M) vs. SUNY Poly

Fencing (M/W) Scrimmage with Marist

3:00 p.m. | Walker Field House Bay 5 | Athletics

The 1491s

7:00 p.m. | Sanders Classroom 212 | Creative Arts Across Disciplines

Board Games and Ice Cream

9:00 p.m. | College Center 223 | Big Night In

A Little Night Music

2:00 p.m. | Vogelstein Center Martel Theater | Drama Dept.

Lacrosse (M) vs. Swarthmore College

3:30 p.m. | Prentiss Sports Complex Weinberg Turf Field | Athletics 4:00 p.m. | Kenyon Hall Gymnasium | Athletics

7:30 p.m. | Vogelstein Center Martel Theater | Drama Dept.

Details on Dallas Goldtooth and the 1491s, who will perform at Vassar on March 2, can be found on the front page and on page 8.

Pink Noises

4

March

Sunday

Monthly Transitions Community Lunch

12:00 p.m. | CN 223 | Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development

A Little Night Music

2:00 p.m. | Vogelstein Center Martel Theater | Drama Dept.

Assistant News Clark Xu Assistant Features Imogen Wade Andrea Yang Assistant Arts Izzy Braham Matt Stein Assistant Online Jackson Ingram Abby Lass Assistant Design Rose Parker Assistant Copy Claire Baker Jessica Moss Web Master & George Witteman Technical Advisor

Reporters Youngju Chang Kelly Pushie Marusa Rus Columnists Jimmy Christon Jesser Horowitz Sylvan Perlmutter Blair Webber Design Maya Sterling Scarlett Neuberger Copy Isabel Bielat Natalie Bober James Bonanno Teddy Chmyz Jillian Frechette Abigail Knuckles Anna Wiley

36th Annual Bardavon Gala 3:00 p.m. | Off-Site Bardavon Opera House | Dance Dept.

Paper Critique

9:00 p.m. | Rose Parlor | The Miscellany News

4:00 p.m. | Rockefeller Hall 201 | WVKR Radio (91.3 FM)

SASA Diaspora Dinner

5:30 p.m. | Ely Hall AULA | South Asian Students Alliance (SASA)

Courtesy of Mitch Davis

Courtesy of US Embassy Canada via Flickr

8:00 p.m. | Sanders Classroom 212 | No Offense

12:00 p.m. | Kenyon Hall Gymnasium | Athletics

Volleyball (M) vs. UCSC

A Little Night Music

No Offense Show

Saturday

News Laurel Hennen Vigil Opinions Steven Park Humor and Satire Leah Cates Yesenia Garcia Arts Sasha Gopalakrishnan Sports Mack Liederman Photography Sumiko Neary Social Media Kimberly Nguyen

36th Annual Bardavon Gala 8:00 p.m. | Off-Site Bardavon Opera House | Dance Dept.

HEL Show

8:00 p.m. | Sanders Classroom 212 | Happily Ever Laughter

Board Games and Ice Cream

9:00 p.m. | College Center 223 | Big Night In

Vassar Repertory will hold their Bardavon Gala featuring various

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Dance Theater 36th Annual this weekend, dance genres.

CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only accept corrections for any misquotes, misrepresentations or factual errors for an article within the semester it is printed.

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

March 1, 2018

NEWS

Page 3

Paul Farmer discusses public health and Ebola crisis Misha Awad

Guest Reporter

F

Courtesy of Possible via Flickr

our years ago, the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa shook the world with extensive media coverage of its impact in the region and the public health threat faced by the world.

Around 28,000 people contracted the virus, and about 11,000 died from it. Here at Vassar, we have a unique opportunity to understand the questions and debates around the Ebola outbreak through a campus visit by Professor Paul Farmer, a Harvard medical anthropologist, physician and co-founder of Partners in Health. He will be lecturing on structural violence and the Ebola epidemic in the Villard Room at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 1.

President Elizabeth Bradley, who is also a public health expert, noted, “[Farmer] has been an inspiration for a whole generation of people.

He demonstrates the best of the field of Global Health. I am honored and delighted that he is visiting Vassar.”

During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the world was on edge. In China, airports were full of warnings about the disease and announcements were made on airplanes about the lethality of Ebola. In the United Kingdom, Ebola screening stations were set up at airports. Despite the panic, the grim projections and intense debates on how to counteract the apocalyptic Ebola virus, the outbreak did not become a global pandemic.

While a few Ebola cases did surface in the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and Nigeria, the epicenter of the outbreak was in three countries in West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Even in these countries, the disease was mostly confined to impoverished urban areas and rural communities. The Ebola virus spread through bodily fluids of infected people as well as through contact with certain animals—in this

Harvard professor and public health expert Paul Farmer will give a lecture at Vassar on Thursday, March 1. Farmer’s work was instrumental in the fight against the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa. case, bats. The 2014 West African Ebola outbreak was not the first case of the disease in Africa; there have been smaller recorded outbreaks of the disease in the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan since 1976, when the Ebola virus was first identified.

If outbreaks of Ebola in other parts of Africa had been contained fairly quickly, how did the 2014 West African case spiral out of control and become so dire? This question is being debated amongst scholars of all disciplines interested in the character of the Ebola virus and global and national public health systems, as well as in politics and culture in the most affected countries.

Scientists researching the Ebola virus are trying to understand how the virus spreads from animals to humans, and how best to treat infected people.

The outbreak has also brought the lack of training and resources for healthcare providers in West Africa to the rest of the world’s attention. The impact of enslavement and colonialism, the neoliberal and capitalist structures resulting from them and the ecological damage and economic inequality they have created are also part of the debate.

One of the scientists at the forefront of fighting the 2014 outbreak was Farmer, who was personally involved in the medical efforts to contain the West African epidemic. He is currently working with survivors of the disease in Sierra Leone and Liberia and is completing a book on his experiences and research on the outbreak.

Beyond his work on the outbreak, Farmer has dedicated his life to providing healthcare for peo-

ple left without it and fighting against inequalities and infringements of human rights, especially in West Africa, Rwanda and Haiti.

A student who plans to attend Farmer’s lecture, who asked to remain anonymous, echoed this positive view of Farmer’s work, stating, “I feel that Dr. Farmer’s work highlights the political economy of Ebola. What made this [outbreak] possible has to do with the colonial structure that was left behind, and people need to appreciate the fact that colonialism still exists today.”

Understanding the 2014 Ebola crisis in West Africa is, for many people, about trying to grasp how inequality, inefficient healthcare structures and political corruption limit the ability of people— especially those living in poverty—to take proactive and preventative action to safeguard their well-being. As Farmer iterates in his advocacy for universal healthcare and medical work on behalf of those in countries with inefficient healthcare systems, understanding the outbreak is about viewing the world through the eyes of its most impoverished people. He is committed to developing proper healthcare systems that offer services for people who would otherwise be unable to attain them. He is deeply sensitive to historical injustices, especially amongst communities of color, and he remains critical of the structures that deprive people of healthcare, representation and agency.

Professor of History Ismail Rashid, who worked with several departments and programs and the Dean of Faculty to bring Professor Farmer to Vassar, commented, “[I hope] Paul Farmer’s experiences in West Africa would inspire students on how to engage people in other parts of the world in ethical and empathic ways.”

Farmer will meet with students at the Alumnae House at 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss his work.

Congressman advocates change in midterm elections with over 42,000 deaths that year.

Looking at collaboration at the federal, state and local levels of government, Edwards elaborated, “Federal funds to address a crisis such as the opioid epidemic can also make a huge difference. But we can strive to build a more just society block by block, family by family, child by child, and local governments are very well suited to do that kind of work.”

Student involvement in addressing these political issues remains a crucial course of action for achieving progress. Cecilia Bobbitt ’19 of the Vassar Democrats—which hosted the event— suggested, “Vassar students can get involved in campaigns at all levels of government, as well as at local non-profits, such as Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, that seek to affect structural and policy changes.”

Speaking to his volunteer work in campaigns for the Democratic party, Seth Molwitz ’18 indicated, “I’ve worked on Rep. Maloney’s campaign before … I always enjoy hearing the honest opinions of representatives. I think representatives connecting with constituents is always important.”

Representing another part of the political spectrum, Pietro Geraci ’18 noted, “I am most excited for Young Americans for Liberty’s new program, Operation Win at the Door, which places activists on campaigns for pro-liberty state legislature candidates in a concerted effort to get them elected … It’s easy to stay active; anything from tabling on campus to hosting speakers to volunteering or working on campaigns counts.”

Maloney’s personal experiences have led him to believe in the power of grassroots movements to bring sociopolitical change to American political institutions. He offered, “I believe that it still matters that when you work this thing will work.

And the reason that I believe that is because I’ve seen it in my lifetime, you know, I’m the first LGBTQ [person] elected to Congress in New

York, never happened before, never happened since.” Seven members of Congress this year openly identify with the LGBTQ community. Maloney continued, “It came out of the AIDS crisis … A lot of people said we got to come out, we got to organize, we got to raise money, we got to run as candidates … We’re going to knock on the door and we’re going to demand change. And over time the system opened itself to that progress.”

Focusing on the importance of voting for officeholders that better reflect the wide range of identities and viewpoints in the U.S., Edwards emphasized, “I think progressives have, in recent years, underestimated the opportunity to bring about change through elections. Getting someone into office is direct democracy and can make a big difference.” For this reason, Edwards urged, “I’d encourage students who are registered to vote at their home-away-from-campus to make sure they are linked into political information so they can follow the fall campaign, secure an absentee ballot on time, and make their voices heard. If you vote here in Dutchess, there are many opportunities to get involved and learn about the candidates and issues.”

In terms of making informed voting decisions, Molwitz advised, “The easiest way to be informed is to follow diverse sources of news regularly.”

Along similar lines, Geraci specified, “I believe Vassar students would remain best informed by reading across news sources on all degrees of the spectrum, from [The] Daily Caller to CNN to the Huffington Post. They would also be wellserved by robust conversations with people they disagree with.” Geraci concluded that thoughtful discourse between Republicans, Democrats and representatives of other political perspectives on campus can enrich students’ educational experiences.

Maloney’s appeals to student political involvement found a positive response among those who attended his address. Bobbitt and the Vassar

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Democrats commented, “Many of us had never met him before and found that he was incredibly personable and articulate. Congressman Maloney is highly capable at his job, and his responses to students’ questions demonstrated his expansive knowledge and experience. Additionally, he did not talk down to students and engaged with them on a high level.”

His visit was part of a larger campaign for the midterm elections this year. Edwards said, “I think Congressman Maloney is doing a great job, and I hope that, combined with the current political landscape, will result in his re-election in the 18th district.”

Considering ways for students to gain a voice in politics, Maloney concluded, “If you want to be in politics, it’s real simple, you got to show up and be useful.”

Courtesy of Wikipedia

MALONEY continued from page 1 ing to 31.5 trillion.”

Federal policies have started to limit the options for policymakers in state and local government seeking to make the best decisions for their constituent communities. Dutchess County Legislator and Vassar Professor of History on the Eloise Ellery Chair Rebecca Edwards reflected, “County and municipal laws can’t overrule state or federal ones, so of course there are limits to what can be done on the local level. We’re already beginning to see the impact of last fall’s irresponsible tax bill, for example, and dangerous changes in immigration and environmental policies, and other Trump-era initiatives.”

President Trump and other Republicans in 2017 backed a plan to sustain three percent annual GDP growth by passing tax cuts in Congress designed to stimulate the economy. In the question and answer period of the event, a member of the audience pointed out, “The three percent tax overhaul is bad news for the middle class and lower class, but in polls it seems to be getting popularity.” For Democrats, the tax cuts represent the federal government’s decreasing commitment to social welfare programs and increasing emphasis on personal income as a work incentive.

Maloney explained, “The narrative is it’s terrible for New York. Why is it terrible for New York?

Because we’re whacking the state on deductions that people really care about … There’s a billion dollar hit to New York just on this tax bill.”

Among the programs that require federal support is a nationwide response to the opioid crisis. Maloney suggested, “It used to be a criminal justice issue only, but now it’s a public health issue, which is a big step forward … We gave this stuff away like candy for years and we got people hooked; the doctors and pharmacies have a lot to answer for.” The 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated that over 11 million Americans abused opioids, which are associated

Representative Sean Patrick Maloney, of New York’s 18th congressional district (pictured here at a campaign event), paid a visit to Vassar College on Wednesday, Feb. 21.

NEWS

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March 1, 2018

Poughkeepsie residents hold fundraiser for Puerto Rico Youngju Chang Reporter

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keepsie. In September, Dutchess County Legislator Francena Amparo held a relief drive at Café con Leche in New Hamburg (The Poughkeepsie Journal, “Relief drive held Sunday for Puerto Rico in wake of Hurricane Maria,” 09.25.2017). According to an event page on Facebook, Vassar’s Caribbean Students Alliance also organized a relief drive last fall (Facebook, “Vassar College Hurricane Relief Drive,” 09.12.2017).

Town of Poughkeepsie Councilwoman Jessica Lopez, along with Stephanie Gibbons organized Sunday’s fundraiser at BC Kitchen to provide assistance for eight orphanages in Puerto Rico.

Lopez explained the purpose of the event, recounting, “[Gibbons] and I, over the past year and a half, have begun doing charity work, typically in our own community, [that is] often focused on children in need. We [were] really

Courtesy of Hannah Benton

n Sunday, Feb. 25, a fundraiser for hurricane relief in Puerto Rico was held at the restaurant BC Kitchen on Collegeview Avenue.

Surrounded by a vibrant atmosphere with Latin American music, art, snacks and drinks, attendees donated money and discussed their support for the island. There was no admission price, but there was a suggested donation of $20.

Last September, Hurricane Maria severely damaged Puerto Rico. This powerful Category 4 storm was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Puerto Rico in 85 years. The island lost power, buildings were destroyed, trees were pulled up and many areas flooded. As a result, numerous Puerto Ricans fled their homes and sought refuge on the mainland (CNN, “In Pictures: Hurricane Maria Pummels Puerto Rico,” 09.2017).

Five months after the disaster, the restoration process in Puerto Rico is far from complete.

Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rosselló announced in October that the goal was to restore 95 percent of the damaged electricity system by Dec. 15. “This is an aggressive agenda, but we cannot be sort of passive in the face of Puerto Rico’s challenges,” Rosselló said. “We are going to need all hands on deck.” Unfortunately, this did not come to pass (CNN, “Puerto Rico governor plans to restore 95% of power by December,” 10.15.2017).

Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Todd Semonite noted, “I am not satisfied that people in Puerto Rico should have to wait that much time for power … But I am telling you, there are no other knobs I can turn to go any faster” (Newsweek, “Top U.S. Army Engineer ‘Not Satisfied’ with Puerto Rico’s Post-Hurricane Maria Recovery,” 02.22.2018).

One group particularly impacted by the slow restoration process is refugees. Puerto Ricans

who lost their homes and moved to the United States are currently depending on aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Almost 4,000 families spread across the States—mostly in Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York—are staying in hotels under FEMA’s transitional sheltering assistance program. However, FEMA announced that it may no longer be able to support the refugees due to its limited budget. As a result, refugees who cannot go back to their homes immediately and do not have enough money to sustain their lives in the mainland United States are living in a state of extreme uncertainty (The New York Times, “Time is Running Out for Puerto Ricans Sheltering in Hotels,” 02.12.2018).

In order to help these refugees, there have been numerous fundraising events in Pough-

Local residents, led by Town of Poughkeepsie Councilwoman Jessica Lopez and Stephanie Gibbons, organized a fundraiser for Puerto Rican orphanages at BC Kitchen last Sunday, Feb. 25.

Letter from the Editor

News Briefs Gates pleads guilty in FBI investigation

[Trigger Warning: This letter discusses sexual assault and harassment] Dear Students, Since the results of last spring’s “What Happens Here” survey are slated to be published in the near future, The Miscellany News is currently working on an article about students’ experiences with sexual harassment and assault on campus, and we would greatly appreciate your help with this piece.

We’re interested in talking to any students who are willing to share their stories with us about either reporting sexual harassment and/or assault to the Title IX office, experiencing this on campus but choosing not to report it, or filing a report with the Town of Poughkeepsie Police or any other law enforcement agency. For those who have filed a report with either Vassar or an outside entity, we know students have a broad range of experiences, and we want to learn about all of them; whether your experience making a report was positive, negative, or neutral, we want to hear about it.

The resulting article will take into account the perspectives of as many respondents as possible and will primarily focus on the institutional structures that influence how Vassar responds to cases of harassment and assault. We’re endeavoring to keep it as survivor-centered as possible, so we’re hoping that any student who chooses to be interviewed will be a collaborator who can help us figure out the best possible way to tell this story.

We’re also happy to do anything we can to protect our sources’ privacy and identity, if they so choose. Sources’ identities will remain completely anonymous unless they give us permission to use their name in the article. Those who don’t want their name published will be identified in the article by either a pseudonym or a first name, depending on what they’re comfortable with.

If you’re interested in talking to us for this piece, or have any questions about it, please reach out to misc[at]vassar.edu or lhennenvigil[at]vassar.edu in the next few weeks. If you would prefer to use a non-Vassar email for more privacy, you can also contact miscnews1866[at]gmail.com.

Thank you so much, Laurel Hennen Vigil News Editor, The Miscellany News

successful on a drive for school supplies, Hudson River Housing and Christmas gifts for kids living at the Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie.

This time we wanted to work with orphanages in Puerto Rico because it was such a tragedy when the hurricane hit.” She added, “There was all the immediate relief as there often is after tragedy, and there was a shock [that] wears off when relief pulls back. But they are still desperate for support. So we wanted to do whatever we could try to help.”

Lopez and Gibbons also clarified how the donations reach Puerto Rico. All the physical donations, such as water filters, hygiene products and food will go directly to the orphanages. The goods are gathered at the Reformed Church of Poughkeepsie and will be taken to Puerto Rico by a Poughkeepsie resident who is Puerto Rican and has connections to the orphanages. The money, however, is going to the Hispanic Federation, a New York City-based nonprofit. Lopez explained that there is a specific branch of the Hispanic Federation that deals with relief in Puerto Rico.

Lopez also clarified why Puerto Rico was chosen as the place that would receive the donation. She noted, “My husband is Argentine and my mother-in-law is Puerto Rican, so I have a strong bond with [the] Latino community … The way I can make sure to stay connected with [the] Latino community is sticking with people who are in different Latino committees.

Through fundraising, I can help them. So here I am.”

Lastly, the organizers pointed out the significance of this event. Lopez said, “This is a benefit for two reasons. One is to raise a monetary donation. Number two is to raise an awareness of how you can continue to support [Puerto Rico].

This is a way to make money for the charity but also to say thank you to everybody for supporting.”

The FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election has again focused on President Trump’s former Campaign Chief Paul Manafort after Rick Gates, who was Trump’s deputy campaign manager and Manafort’s longtime associate, pled guilty to various criminal charges on Friday, Feb. 23.

The most recent charges that were filed on Friday show that in 2012 and 2013, Manafort secretly paid a group of former high-ranking European politicians more than two million euros in exchange for their lobbying on behalf of a pro-Russian government in Ukraine and pro-Russian former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych (CNN, “New indictment accuses Manafort of paying European politicians,” 02.24.2018) The allegations made by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation show that Manafort paid for services from a secret group of former European politicians, nicknamed the “Habsburg group” after an old Austrian royal family, which ruled much of Europe for centuries. The group was tasked with taking a position that would favor the pro-Russian Ukrainian government by lobbying in the U.S. It is apparent from the indictment that they lobbied Congress and the White House. Officially, the members of the 2012 group offered their independent assessment of the events in Ukraine to their U.S. counterpart, while they were being paid in private to take a favorable position towards the Ukrainian government (The Telegraph, “Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort ‘paid senior former European politicians to lobby for Ukraine,’” 02.24.2018).

Manafort supposedly led the group in 2012 and 2013 when he was a consultant for Yanu-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

kovych. The group was managed by an unnamed former European chancellor. According to Politico, this could be Alfred Gusenbauer, who was an Austrian chancellor from 2007 to 2008. Gusenbauer and two other members of the 2012 group have, according to the U.S. Justice Department, met with members and staff of the U.S. Congress (Politico, “Former Austrian chancellor appears to have lobbied as part of Manafort scheme,” 02.23.2018) The charges made in Friday’s indictment are in connection to Manafort’s and Gates’s business in Ukraine, conspiracy against the U.S., money laundering, tax evasion and other criminal offenses. The accusations against Manafort span from the time he worked for Yanukovych in 2006 until 2014, thus predating his work with the Trump campaign. The indictment does not charge Manafort with a criminal offense directly in connection to the workings of the 2012 group. However, the group’s activities are cited as evidence of his lobbying for Ukraine. He violated the law by not registering lobbying activities in the U.S. (The Financial Times, “Manafort allegedly paid 2m [euros] to European politicians,” 02.23.2018).

Gates admitted on Friday, Feb. 23, that he had been lying to the FBI about lobbying for Ukraine during Mueller’s investigation. He pled guilty to financial fraud and lying to investigators and agreed to cooperate with the investigation in exchange for a decreased sentence.

This confession brings a new advantage to the investigation and puts additional pressure on Manafort to begin working with the FBI. For now, Manafort stands by his plea of not guilty (CNN, “New indictment accuses Manafort of paying European politicians,” 02.24.2018).

—Marusa Rus, Reporter

NEWS

March 1, 2018

Page 5

Updates from the VSA Consensus Agenda – Passed Finance allocations —5000/5000 from Speakers to Women’s Center for feminist activist Jamia Wilson to come speak for “Embracing Global Feminism and Transcending Women’s March Activism.”

—3000/3000 from Capital to Vassar Student Musicians Union for card access relocation to new music practice room in Blodgett Hall.

—187.10/187.10 from Capital to VC Bikes for work stand for holding bikes off the ground when doing work on them.

—680/1500 from Community to Habitat for Humanity for Spring Break service week for food and transportation.

Appointments —Kci Archibald to the position of Chair of Planning —Mari Robles to the position of Strong House Programming Director Bylaw Amendments —The VSA Senate adopted an amendments to the VSA Bylaws and Constitution abolishing the positions of appointed Co-Chair of Equity and Inclusion and appointed Co-Chair of Residential Affairs.

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up

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Senate Procedure —Senate considered a number of potential changes to the way meetings are structured, the result of conversations that have been ongoing since last semester. Measures discussed

M arusa Rus In this week’s headlines…

Gun control was at the forefront of political debate this week, in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 shooting in Florida. New information about the shooting has surfaced, namely that the FBI had received warning calls about the shooter prior to the shooting. Moreover, many are outraged by the news that an armed deputy hesitated for a full four minutes of the six-minute shooting before entering the school.

If he had entered immediately, some believe he could have stopped the shooting and saved many lives (CNN, “Florida shooting: Bullets flew for 4 minutes as armed deputy waited outside,” 02.23.2018).

Survivors of the shooting are speaking up and taking action by starting an advocacy campaign urging lawmakers to pass stricter gun laws. On Wednesday, Feb. 21, survivors and parents who lost their children in the shooting traveled to Florida’s state capital to talk to state representatives. Florida lawmakers, however, rejected an assault weapons ban by a large margin, while the survivors watched from the gallery (CNN, “Cheers, boos and tense exchanges on day of confrontation over guns,” 02.22.2018).

On Wednesday evening, CNN held a town hall on gun regulation in which the students debated with NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Representative Ted

include: -Permanent changes to the Senate meeting location and time -Opening weekly Executive Board meetings to Senate members -Mandating reports from closed Executive Board meetings -Abolishing the use of Robert’s Rules of Order in Senate -Requiring updates from committees to be submitted in writing -Formalizing a check-in procedure to be added to the beginning of Senate meetings.

Programming Committee —No updates.

Health and Wellness Committee —President Bradley gave the go-ahead to begin work on the student database for mental health care providers.

—Health and Wellness will be collaborating with Vassar Health Education on planning a day of wellness, to be scheduled for a weekend near study period.

Planning Committee —No updates.

Joint Committees —The President and Vice-President met with members of the College administration about the implementation of a new system to replace Ask Banner.

Academics Committee

Deutch (D-FL) on the issue of gun control and urged them to take action. The students are also planning a march against gun violence in Washington on March 24 (CNN, “Cheers, boos and tense exchanges on day of confrontation over guns,” 02.22.2018).

President Trump has expressed support of the idea of banning bump stocks, devices that make semi-automatic weapons operate like fully automatic firearms. As a response to shootings in high schools, Trump has proposed arming and training teachers to increase school safety, suggesting that teachers willing to carry firearms would receive a bonus.

The Teacher’s Union and much of the public strongly oppose the proposal, and Trump has received criticism for largely avoiding discussions of gun control (CNN, “Trump suggests arming teachers as a solution to increase school safety,” 02.22.2018).

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner has broadened. In addition to looking at Kushner’s contacts with Russia, Mueller is also focusing on Kushner’s dealings with foreign investors. Kushner supposedly tried to secure funding from Chinese investors for his company during the presidential transition, in which he played a key role as a leading contact for many foreign governments (CNN, “Exclusive: Mueller’s interest in Kushner grows to include foreign financing efforts,” 02.20.2018).

Walmart’s shares dropped by 10 percent this week, which is the largest drop in the last 30 years and which dragged down the Dow Jones industrial average. The fall in the stock was caused by the announcement that Walmart’s online sales have slowed down. Currently, e-commerce represents only a small part of Walmart’s sales, but the retailer plans to increase its online presence in an attempt to compete with Amazon (USA Today, “Walmart’s biggest one-day drop since 1988 halts Dow’s six-session win streak,” 02.20.2018).

—No updates.

Committee on Equity and Inclusion —Equity and Inclusion did not meet this week. At the next meeting, the committee will be discussing appointments to the review board for Dean of the College Christopher Roellke.

—Chair of Equity and Inclusion Tamar Ballard attended the meeting of the College Joint Committee on Inclusion and Excellence. This committee discussed the use of affinity spaces on campus, including ways to use the phrase “affinity space” while clarifying it is not exclusionary and adding information about affinity spaces to the handbook to provide information to incoming students. The committee also considered bringing speakers to campus to discuss the importance of affinity spaces.

—Ballard will be meeting with Jodie Castanza, director of the LGBTQ+ and Women’s Centers, to discuss the Gender Neutral Bathroom initiative.

—Chair of Health and Wellness Tanyx Madrigal asked that Ballard raise concerns about the Chosen Name Initiative as pertains to commencement and diplomas.

Finance Committee —Chair of Finance Robyn Lin will be meeting with CIS in the coming week.

Committee on Residential Affairs —Residential Affairs met to discuss how it can work best to fulfill its mission; this conversation is ongoing.

Around the world…

On Friday, Feb. 23, Trump announced a new package of measures against North Korea, calling it the “largest ever.” The sanctions will target sources of revenue and fuel for North Korea’s nuclear program by focusing on ships and companies that are smuggling oil, coal and many other products into North Korea and failing to respect the United Nations sanctions on the country (The Guardian, “North Korea sanctions: Donald Trump announces ‘largest ever’ package,” 02.23.2018).

Tensions between China and India are slowly escalating after reports that China is strengthening its air defense. The report, released by Chinese State Media, claims that China is developing new air capabilities close to the Indian border. The relationship between the two countries has been declining in past years. 2016 saw the two countries having a months-long border dispute in the Himalayan Mountains (CNN, “China strengthening air defenses with eye on India, says state media,” 02.22.2018).

Civil war in Syria continues, with the Syrian government fighting to take control of one of the last rebel-controlled areas in the country.

The Syrian government has stepped up its efforts and started intense bombing of Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. At least 250 civilians have died, and Amnesty International said, “The Syrian government is committing war crimes on an epic scale.” The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights marked Monday, Feb. 19, as the deadliest day in the area in the last three years (CNN, “‘War crimes on epic scale:’ 250 deaths in two days in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta,” 02.21.2018).

Jihadist militant organization Boko Haram attacked a school in Nigeria on Monday, Feb. 19, kidnapping around 80 girls. Local media outlets reported on Wednesday, Feb. 21 that the Nigerian army had managed to rescue the girls. However, this has not yet been verified by

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Organizations Committee —Pre-org applications have closed. The Organizations Committee will present the results of its deliberation at the next Senate meeting.

Vice President —Operations is releasing to the Executive Board a database to track the results of meetings between Executive Board members and representatives from the College administration.

—After a trial period with the Executive Board, this database will be made accessible to all members of Senate, to be used in any meetings with administrators and joint committees.

President —President Anish Kanoria attended the Board of Trustees meeting in Los Angeles this past weekend. He reported that the meetings went as expected. Two trustees discussed their eagerness to visit campus; they will be arranged possible meetings.

—Kanoria met with President Bradley and Dean Roellke to discuss the process of reporting alcohol citations to graduate schools. The College is required by law to report “major offenses” to grad schools, but “minor offenses” are reported only at Vassar’s discretion.

—Next week, Senate will host a forum with Director of Health Services Dr. Irena Balawajder.

—Julian Corbett, VSA General Intern

outside news outlets. The attack is reminiscent of the 2014 kidnapping of 270 schoolgirls, of which over 200 are still in captivity (The New York Times, “Boko Haram Storms Girls’ School in Nigeria, Renewing Fears,” 02.21.2018).

A humanitarian disaster is threatening the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations. Reportedly, millions of people are being displaced due to fighting between the government forces and militia. The Congo has become the African country with the highest number of displaced people (Reliefweb, “Caritas Warns of Humanitarian Crisis in Congo,” 02.22.2018).

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Venezuelan government launched a virtual currency called petro, which is being backed by the country’s large oil reserves. This move comes as the Venezuelan government tries to deal with an economic crisis and is an attempt to bypass the United States’ sanctions, which ban purchasing Venezuelan securities in American markets (The New York Times, “Venezuela Launches Virtual Currency, Hoping to Resuscitate Economy,” 02.20.2018).

Keeping up with 2020 hopefuls…

More and more Democrats are setting the stage for their bid for the presidency. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has already announced she will co-sponsor a bill legalizing marijuana, arguing that it is not only a social justice issue, but also a moral one (U.S. News, “Democrats Prep For 2020,” 02.20.2018).

On the Republican side, Ohio Governor John Kasich is seriously thinking of challenging Trump in the 2020 primaries. Some speculate that he is more likely to run in the Republican primaries if Trump does not seek reelection. Many of Kasich’s advisers reportedly believe this is a very probable scenario. Kasich is also thinking about running as an independent (Politico, “Kasich’s team gears up for possible 2020 bid,” 02.23.2018).

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March 1, 2018

Marvel’s representation long overdue in ‘Black Panther’ Eloudia Odamy Guest Reporter

Black Panther

Ryan Coogler Marvel Studios

T

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

he first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I saw was “Iron Man.” It was a great movie and I enjoyed it, but never would I have imagined that after 10 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe would still be thriving. From “The Incredible Hulk” to “Thor” to “Captain America to Guardians of the Galaxy,” each movie added its own story to the overall plot of a group of heroes called The Avengers coming together to stop the powerful villain, Thanos. Out of all these movies, the latest installment, “Black Panther,” has been the best one, exceeding all my expectations.

“Black Panther” is about T’challa, who returns to his isolated, technologically advanced country, Wakanda, hidden away in Africa, and is crowned king after the death of his father. As the film’s hero, Black Panther, T’challa has to deal with the pressures of being king and fighting a new enemy, Erik Killmonger, who threatens to change Wakanda forever.

The beautifully woven and incredibly crafted storyline of “Black Panther” is part of the reason it has become such a worldwide success. The summary does not do the movie justice because it is so much more than T’challa coming back home to Wakanda. Additionally, despite thrusting viewers into an opening scene that was particularly confusing, director Ryan Coogler was able to tie it into events that occurred later in the movie. The plot progressed at a fine pace, with plot twists that made the two hours and 14 minutes worth

sitting through. The action was accompanied by instrumentals from an absolutely sensational soundtrack. Curated and produced by Kendrick Lamar, the music amplified the impact of the actions scenes. Another aspect of the film that I loved was the humor. Even in a superhero movie, it is nice to have a mix of other genres, and “Black Panther” excels in infusing the film with comedic elements.

When the first trailer for “Black Panther” dropped, it generated a lot of buzz, but as the premiere got closer and closer, publicity exponentially spiked. People were lining up to see it as soon as it came out, given the unprecedented move of having a big-budget superhero movie with a predominantly Black cast and an African setting.

Marvel movies typically feature all-white main characters, with people of color only occasionally cast in supporting roles in a rather tokenizing way.

The long overdue representation was likely to stir excitement amongst people of color.

“Black Panther” has also been extremely popular because, unlike previous Marvel movies, it discusses some key issues that are relevant to our world today. One issue that comes up is the idea of combating racism. The villain, Erik Killmonger, believes Wakanda should give its advanced weapons to Black people all over the world so that they can use them to fight oppression against the oppressor. Unlike T’challa, he grew up in Oakland, CA, not only bearing witness to the Black struggle but being caught right in the middle of it as a Black man himself who has extensively experienced racism. He is unable to grasp the reason why Wakanda chooses to remain isolated rather than showing the rest of the world what they have, and using their resources to help struggling Black bodies everywhere. This connects to the issue of whether countries are obligated to interfere in the

Marvel’s latest box office success “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong’o, acts as a long overdue inclusive space with its predominantly Black cast. problems that occur in other countries.

Chadwick Boseman plays T’challa, our hero; Michael B. Jordan plays Erik Killmonger, our villain and Lupita Nyong’o plays Nakia, T’challa’s love interest. The cast also includes Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker. The superb acting of these five actors contributes to the immense success of “Black Panther.” Boseman turns out to be a perfect fit for T’challa, Jordan’s performance immerses the viewer in his character and Nyong’o’s portrayal of Nakia’s sends a larger message about female strength. The chemistry that all these characters share is exceptional, as they act their hearts out to bring a comic to life. With phenomenal direction,

minority representation and breathtaking visuals and costumes, the film was an absolute feat.

So far, “Black Panther” has been shattering box office records everywhere. Pre-sales for tickets were the largest ever for a Marvel film, and, already two weeks in, it has grossed $704 million worldwide. Of course, there are some people who claim that “Black Panther” is just another Marvel movie and that it is not really a movement. I disagree because “Black Panther” is a Marvel movie that finally has some much-needed representation, sending out a message about how films don’t have to feature predominantly white actors to be successful.

‘Ex Machina’ director makes comeback with ‘Annihilation’ Jimmy Christon Columnist

Annihilation

Alex Garland Paramount Pictures

I

f you asked the conceited, arrogant and ignorant individual that was my high school self what my favorite movie was, I would have scoffed at you, following it with a disdainful look before I spat out my answer: “Ex Machina.”

That movie came out my senior year, and something about it just did it for me. I loved, and still love, the basic color palette, the geometrically shot compositions, and the slow sci-fi story.

But that was then, and this is now. I still like “Ex Machina” quite a bit, but I think that the reasons why I like it have changed. Earlier, the movie used to make me feel smart, and I looked at it from a snobbish angle (Now I’m an English major, so I only look down upon books). I was willing to look past some of the clunkier parts of “Ex Machina” because of how the movie made me feel, not necessarily because of the movie itself. But there still is a lot to love about it, and this duality of clunk and brilliance is also on display in director Alex Garland’s new movie “Annihilation.”

“Annihilation” is a somewhat loose adaptation of an excellent book of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. The plot of both the film and the book centers around a mysterious field known as “the shimmer” begins to grow across an area of the U.S.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Alex Garland, director of Ex Machina, re-enters our imaginations with his newest film, “Annihilation.” While it’s a stellar addition to the sci-fi genre, the film does have a few loose ends.

after a meteor strikes the planet. A shady scientific agency sends teams of people beyond the technology-rejecting shimmer to stop the alien growth.

And here is where the movie’s greatest strength resides: Garland and company did a stellar job at depicting the world inside Area X. With the descriptions prodding responses from the reader’s imagination, Garland presents a fantastic display of a realized conceptualization.

In interviews, Garland said that he really tried to focus on developing a psychedelic quality to the alien area of the film, and he positively nails it.

This isn’t the zany rainbows and pop-up nonsense of other half-baked “psychedelic” aesthetics, but rather it is a soft layer of distortion that permeates the entire experience of the film. It pulses throughout the movie and produces some of the most intense and nightmarish images I have seen on the big screen in quite some time.

As an aesthetic endeavor, “Annihilation” excels.

However, as an artistic statement, “Annihilation” is only competent. Garland embodies the movie’s themes quite well, but there is a sense of stumbling that holds the film back. It isn’t necessarily that something is handled poorly, but that other, secondary narratives within the film are much more effective than the primary narrative. I am talking about Jennifer Jason Leigh’s and Tessa Thompson’s character arcs.

The title “Annihilation” is more than just an ominous portent that looms over the movie. There are several resonances with the word throughout. Two such resonances occur in relation to Leigh’s character Ventress and Thompson’s character Josie.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but easily the two most moving moments of the movie come from these characters.

As a metaphorical piece of fruit, “Annihilation” has some noticeable bruises. The deepest, mushiest bruise has to be this movie’s undeniable clumsiness. Garland, who wrote the screenplay, is a great writer, but the script for “Annihilation” shows most

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

blatantly some of his faults. Take, for instance, the character Josie whom I was just praising so highly.

I like what this character represents thematically for the film and I think that Thompson’s performance is truly a standout among the cast. But some of the routes the screenplay takes to portray Josie are fairly dubious. The other clunky gear in this engine is Natalie Portman. I don’t think she performed poorly per se, but all of the movie’s longest and most tortuous scenes are unfortunately hers. Again, a lot of these come from the script: Portman’s character is introduced as a biologist, and Garland really wants you to know that, so Portman’s character becomes a walking biology textbook for a good part of the exposition. A quick note on the claims of whitewashing leveled against this film by audiences: Natalie Portman’s character in the book is Asian, but this isn’t revealed until the second book, which wasn’t released until after Garland had already written and casted his script.

There’s also a sex scene that keeps reappearing.

That scene was fine the first time it came on, but the same exact scene reappears approximately five more times throughout the movie. But then, later in the movie, we see what happens after the sex in a scene that is assuredly the worst instance of pillow talk I have ever seen in a film. The script makes it clear that these two people aren’t very into each other, so bad pillow talk makes sense. But dialogues were so ham-fisted and bluntly delivered that I was left cringing for all the wrong reasons.

And then there was the climax of the movie. Like it’s other faults, the ending wasn’t a poor plot point, it was just clumsy. While it was overall effective, we have to go through a lot of out-of-place muck to get there first. This is a shame when compared with the book, which was as lean as a figure skater.

All this being said, it would be hard to disown this movie. It’s an enjoyable watch that will ultimately leave you satisfied, but it just doesn’t pull it off without a hitch. It’s something high school me, and the me right now, are both okay with.

March 1, 2018

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Artists Myers, Schaal speak on power of storytelling MYERS/SCHAAL continued from page 1

2011 to create the father-authored and son-illustrated children’s book, “We Are America,” which presents the nation’s diverse landscapes and stories with stunning visual and lyrical depictions.

Lucky for Vassar-dwellers, Myers’ breathtaking prints that illuminate elements of diaspora from “We Are America” are on display in their original size in the Old Bookstore.

Schaal directs and acts in avant-garde, experimental theater. One of her goals, she explained, is to make experimental theater more widely accessible. She has started to achieve this by hiring a formerly incarcerated man as an actor for one of her projects. Laughing lightly, she asked the audience, “Do you guys know how many lawyers it takes to prove to the court that acting is a legitimate source of work?” They laughed back. It probably takes a lot.

As if these artists’ professional accomplishments weren’t enough, their individual self-expression further revealed their appreciation for art. Myers sported an all-black jumpsuit complete with gold zippers while Schaal, accessorized in gold, layered a black textured tank top over a white dress shirt. Both standing at well over six feet, Myers and Schaal had radiant, awe-inspiring presences.

Together in Munich, the duo sought to give child refugees the resources to tell the stories of their displacement. Countries from which the children had fled included Syria, Mali, Iraq, Nigeria and Afghanistan. When working with young people who have experienced trauma, Myers and Schaal sought to give them the tools to tell their story on their own terms.

The audience later gleaned what universities Myers and Schaal had attended when they gave anecdotes about being people of color in Ameri-

ca. To Myers’ father, it was important that people knew his son was Ivy League–schooled. In a stark recollection of a loaded quip, Myers recounted his father’s advice, “Tell the doctor you went to Brown,” to which Myers replied, “For him to use big words with me?”

Schaal, a Wesleyan alumna, reflected on the importance of having women of color in academia and remarked that they are often overlooked in places of historical and intellectual prestige. However, as an undergraduate woman of color, she depended on her female Wesleyan professors “just to get by,” as she put it.

Honest, funny, and unfiltered, Myers and Schaal tell their stories candidly. The artists believe that it is essential for everyone, especially the child refugees they worked with, to tell their own stories to create safer spaces in a war-torn world.

Myers and Schaal spoke about an exercise that they conducted with the children using soundscapes to tell their stories. A 12-year-old boy from Mali made a soundscape of machine guns. Myers said, “For him, that’s what home sounds like.”

Here, the stories of child refugees were rendered not only visible, but also audible.

For Myers and Schaal, their work can be summarized into a single essence: to turn the invisible visible. Myers spoke about the island of Kos, which is both a destination for tourism and for child refugees. But when people visit the island, they don’t want to see the refugees. They make the children’s trauma—what they don’t want to see—invisible.

Myers raised the question, “What does it mean to not be seen on this island?” He said, “The choice we make to not see is everywhere.”

Relating the concept to the local community, he added, “Poughkeepsie makes a choice.”

To elaborate on community outreach, Myers and Schaal’s Thursday-night talk was a part of a larger Vassar project that involves the spring-semester class “Hello, Dear Enemy!” which also works in collaboration with CAAD (Creative Arts Across Disciplines). Vassar professors Elliott Schreiber, who teaches in the International Studies and German Department, and Tracey Holland, in the Education Department, are creators of the class that studies picture books on experiences of war and displacement. Enrolled Vassar students are challenged to create an art exhibit to display picture books and posters about child refugees. Then, the students will share them with children in schools and libraries in the Hudson Valley.

Interdisciplinary Arts Coordinator for CAAD, Tom Pacio, speaks on reaching beyond the Vassar bubble and into the city in which the college is situated. Containing the “Hello, Dear Enemy!” student-created exhibit, CAAD’s 24-foot mobile trailer is leaving Vassar property for the first time. Residents, especially children, from the local community are encouraged to view the exhibit inside the trailer. Pacio enthusiastically elucidated, “CAAD keeps finding arms that reach beyond Vassar’s gates. And that’s pretty exciting.”

Pacio spoke more about the importance of art in building meaningful communities, commenting, “The arts aren’t just here to represent other work of the same nature, but the arts can be instrumental to change-making. I think bringing these very dynamic, successful artists into a public school will help that.”

Schreiber first came across Myers and Schaal’s work at the International Youth Library in Munich, which is the largest library devoted to children’s literature in the world. “Myers’ and Schaal’s residency was extremely special. Over

the course of several weeks, they worked with refugee youth from over 12 different countries,” explained Schreiber. “What I loved about what I saw of their work with the children was that they approached it as artists, sharing with the children the tools of storytelling, theater, music and visual art, in order to help them tell their own stories in both direct and indirect ways. There was something about this approach to refugees and the refugee crisis through art that I thought would speak to students at Vassar.”

Schreiber also vocalized his thoughts on the exhibition: “I would like the art and posters on display to...pull people in and allow them to engage with some really difficult but urgent themes, especially the devastating effects that war and displacement have on children. I feel that these picture books can move us deeply in ways that even good journalism may not be able to do, and help us approach current global crises with greater understanding, imagination and empathy.”

On why picture books have a unique impact on reader, Schreiber further continued, “Picture books tend not to be intimidating; rather, they are inviting. Even when they deal with challenging themes, they do so in narrative and visual ways that connect with their audience. I hope that this exhibit will help us all to better appreciate the depth and beauty of the picture books on display, and to take this medium seriously as an art form.”

To this pair of artists, what makes a good story is to accept what is unexpected. As Schaal elucidated, “What it means to tell stories is to render ourselves more visible.” With overwhelming insight, Myers and Schaal spoke to the vitality of an unapologetic story: “We are in the same rooms all the time. But the question is how do we gather together?”

Comics, cosplay, costumes take over College Center Olivia Feltus Reporter

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its presence: “This year we made some big efforts to increase our promotion and outreach and improve our organization from last year.”

It is also notable that the convention incorporated external guests and programming.

This year’s event included authors, filmmakers and artists such as author Thomm Quackenbush and writer and artist J. M. DeSantis. Each of these guests provided programming for the event including talks and panels. In addition, as evidenced by the program on the convention’s

website, specialized programming was in no short supply. There were five different events going on relating to card and board games on Friday alone.

So, what is the goal of No Such Convention?

Webster elucidated, “No Such Convention mostly wants to bring as many special interests together to share in the collective awesomeness of people’s hobbies.” This goal shined brightly through the event’s execution, as fans of all forms of media mingled in the College Center.

Courtesy of Andrea Yang

ne weekend out of every year, the College Center is flooded by Vassar students, community members and visitors from far and wide who all share similar interests like anime, gaming and comics. Multitudes of vendors selling items from anime figurines to vintage comics line the Villard Room, crowds of cosplayers—i.e., people who engage in costume play—swarm the area and the Rose Parlor transforms into a gaming central. This is No Such Convention.

No Such Convention (NSC), which is run by Vassar’s No Such Org (NSO), is an annual event that draws many of NSO’s aspects into one event. This year, it ran from Feb. 23 through 25.

NSO can’t really be defined, as co–Vice President and Head of Convention Noah Webster ’18 stated, “NSO could best be described as a sort of confederation of special interest groups, or as Andrew Schrynemakers ’19, the other VP, calls it, ‘several small orgs in a trench coat.’” The special interest groups include Board Game club, Video Game club, Warhammer club and multiple tabletop role-playing groups.

According to an email from Webster, the convention has been a tradition for quite a while now, with plenty of loyal supporters: “No Such Convention goes back 15+ years at Vassar, and we have contacts who have been with us pretty much since the beginning. HKT Mugen (imports and toys) and Panther Dragon (dice, leather goods, etc.) are two vending partners of ours who were here this year too.” In addition, new vendors were added for the 2018 convention; as Webster added, “We also welcomed a number of new artists and vendors this year, some of whom we believe will continue to be valued contacts and supporters!”

One of the new vendors who is planning on returning next year is Julianna Bencze ’21, along with her partner, Gabby Ho ’21. They ran a table

together under the name “Ho & Co.” Though it was Bencze’s first time vending at a convention, she remarked, “It was a positive experience overall. I was impressed by the number of large and professional vendors that attended. I was selling handmade buttons along with my friend who was selling hats.” Ho & Co.’s best selling products were Bi Pride buttons and “The Gay Agenda Hat,” a hat knitted out of rainbow yarn.

Though Bencze is not yet an experienced vendor, she is an avid cosplayer: “During No Such Con, I cosplayed human Vriska Serket from Homestuck and Heather McNamara from the musical ‘Heathers.’” To some con-goers, seeing cosplays was one of the most exciting parts of the entire event. Ny Jackson ’21 conveyed, “I thought everyone’s cosplay was really awesome.

I saw Bakugo, I saw Pikachu, I saw Banner from The Breakfast Club, I saw Jahee Kang…I went up to her and said ‘Yes!’ and she said ‘Thank you.’”

While Bencze’s cosplays touched on webcomics and musicals, the characters that Jackson mentioned come from anime and games. About the con in general, Jackson remarked, “I really liked all of the merch and the fact that people from outside of Vassar came here.” The merch was a true selling point for many at the con. Attendee Tommy Tomikawa ’21 also spoke on his experience at NSC: “I bought prints and comics. I got a really cute comic about Asian American life from a local author. I like the representation.”

Though the goods sold were numerous, the organization’s broader goals were far from simply monetary, as the con’s visitors were valued immensely. NSC is a relatively large event for a Vassar org. As Webster stated, “Attendance has usually been pretty impressive at our events. It was a little lower this year than in some past years, and we haven’t counted the exact numbers yet, but based on my preliminary estimates we saw 200–300 people over the weekend.” He also explained that the con is trying to improve

No Such Organization strikes again with its annual comic convention “No Such Con,” where community members and visitors alike bond over shared interests in anime, gaming and comics.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

ARTS

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March 1, 2018

Drama, Music collaboration overcomes weather disaster Matt Stein

Assistant Arts Editor

D

a Shakespeare of musical composers to me. His music is so tricky and so intricate and complicated where it’s kind of like looking at Shakespeare texts where every time I listen to it, every time I look at it, I discover something new because there’s so much behind it, which I really love.”

Renowned composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim first gained acclamation for writing the lyrics for “West Side Story” in 1957. In total, Sondheim has received eight Grammy awards, eight Tony awards and an Oscar and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.

Grabowski addressed the neglect that often goes into directing musical theater, which he has made it imperative to avoid, “If you’re not really centered in the material, it comes across as bad musical theater acting, which seems simplistic.

You have to remember that you’ve got to keep doing that psychological and subtextual work to support the book scenes and how they change when

they’re underscored and how people move into song, you have to balance all those different levels of theatricality together.”

The Drama Department has other noteworthy events later this semester, including “The White Moth,” an original play by Caleb Featherstone ’18; Actors from the London Stage performing “The Taming of The Shrew;” a staged reading of a new play by Alexandria Smalls ’18; and “)essay)e,” a senior presentation in Drama by Sofia Gutierrez ’18.

As a graduating senior, Ingerson commented on ending her time with the Drama Department with such a distinctly mammoth production that has managed to overcome such abnormal conditions: “It’s weird to be finishing off with such a big bang, I guess, because it’s been such a big endeavor. And honestly, it’s been quite stressful. So it’s weird to have this process, which has been a very abnormal process, be my last show. But it is kind of fun to be going out with, ‘Go big or go home.’”

Courtesy of Ella Baum

uring winter break, a bomb cyclone struck the East Coast, ushering in a bitter ripple of snow, wind and ice in subzero temperatures from Florida to Maine. As a result of these conditions, cars remained locked from the ice, lakes were frozen solid and people were snowed in, unable to leave their homes. Vassar wasn’t spared from this destructive weather either. Amongst the places left most battered in the aftermath was the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film (CDF). Pipes froze and broke in the costume room and the scene shop, inducing immense damage that is still being repaired.

Despite these setbacks, The Experimental Theater and the Music Department will defy obstacles and present “A Little Night Music,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, in the Martel Theater on Thursday, March 1, at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. The production is stage directed by Director of Theater and Professor of Drama Christopher Grabowski and musically directed by Adjunct Artist in Music Miriam Charney, with choreography by guest artist Teddy Kern.

Before the end of last semester, the show was already cast and production elements were already outlined. However, once the bomb cyclone struck, plans changed.

Grabowski explained the alterations that needed to be made to the production on account of the damage to the CDF: “On the eve of starting production, the costume stock and scene shop was wiped out. The scene shop was just put back into service. So what was going to be a substantial setbuild is instead to just expose the theater and store everything in the space to foreground the theater

metaphor. We’re doing period costumes but they too were simplified because of the demands of restoring costumes too and the time that took.”

Based on Ingmar Bergman’s 1955 film “Smiles of a Summer Night” and with a title referencing Mozart’s serenade “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” “A Little Night Music” follows a series of former and current lovers in 1900s Sweden. The musical features a fading actress and a hypocritical count as well as five singers that constantly pop up in the show.

In the role of Petra, Abby Lass ’21 [Full Disclosure: Lass is Assistant Online Editor for The Miscellany News], was thrilled to join this production for her first show with the Drama Department: “I’ve always been a fan of musical theater and I heard exciting things about the grant the show was using. It sounded like an exciting opportunity to get involved as a freshman, to do something that was bigger than they usually do and something that wasn’t a senior project. It just looked like a really exciting opportunity.”

Lass elaborated, “It’s definitely been a commitment. We’ve been rehearsing for 24 hours a week, which is significant. But it’s honestly been really exciting. I’ve done loads of theater at home but this is a different environment with different expectations. There’s such a sense of professionalism mixed with community. The cast has been really lovely and supportive. So it’s been an exciting new community to find.”

The original 1973 Broadway production of the musical was directed by Harold Prince and featured frequent Sondheim collaborators Glynis Johns and Len Cariou. It was nominated for 11 Tony Awards and won six, including “Best Musical” and “Best Original Score.”

Playing the role of Countess Charlotte Malcolm, Tonya Ingerson ’18 related Sondheim’s elaborate detail to that of Shakespeare: “I see Sondheim as

The Drama and Music Departments will present their large-scale production of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” in the Martel Theater on March 1 at 7:30 p.m. and March 3 and 4 at 2 p.m.

Goldtooth prioritizes Indigeneous, environmental activism GOLDTOOTH continued from page 1

commented, “Mr. Goldtooth represents the type of activism that stems from long-standing Indigenous perspectives toward and relationships with land and peoples; it is an activism that, at its foundation, places peoples in a sacred relationship to lands rather than having dominion over it. It’s not a practice of conservation; it’s a practice of lived experience with it.”

While Goldtooth and the 1491s’ activism engages a personal and nuanced angle to Indigenous rights, a unique aspect of their approach that is incredibly impactful is their incorporation of humor. Interdisciplinary Arts Coordinator Tom Pacio commented about the group, “They were able to take advantage of the platform that YouTube is to satirize some of the issues that face them as a community both socially and politically.”

Likewise, Associate Professor of Geography and Chair of Earth Science and Geography Mary

Ann Cunningham, who helped organize the event, praised the group for their unique way of discussing these issues: “Politics and injustice are angry and bitter topics, and it’s hard to see them as funny. So I think anybody who can find ways to laugh at this craziness is doing us a big favor. A lot of times you have to loosen up to look at problems squarely. Everybody can get upset about injustice in the world, but not many of us know how to find humor to deal with it.”

This interesting use of humor and the pertinence of the group’s content were some of the reasons that McGlennen, Cunningham and Associate Professor of Chemistry and Director of Environmental Studies Stuart Belli wanted to bring Goldtooth and the 1491s to campus. With the help of Pacio, the Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Music Jonathan Chenette, the events were able to be funded. Pacio commented, “Three very different faculty members from three very different

Courtesy of Hannah Benton

Comedian and environmental activist Dallas Goldtooth, along with his Indigeneous comedy group 1491s, use humor and social media to lighten the heavy discussion of serious societal issues.

disciplines wanted to bring him here.” He emphasized how the significance of Goldtooth’s work and the lack of visibility around Indigenous issues in general made it all the more necessary to try to make these events happen at Vassar. McGlennen agreed with Pacio, saying, “We came together from different perspectives towards Indigenous activism—Professor Belli and Cunningham as scientists and myself as a Native American Studies scholar wanting to understand the ways which our approaches toward environmental advocacy and activism overlapped. We also noted the tremendous student interest in land issues and Indigenous peoples’ rights, especially since Standing Rock.”

Goldtooth also gave a lecture entitled “Defend the Sacred, Build the Power” on Tuesday, Feb. 27 about how the Indigenous movement centers the sacredness of land, how it relates to other movements such as the Black Lives Matter movement and how our extraction-centered economy ultimately violates its vision. Additionally, he and the 1491s are slated to participate in a public conversation about the role of comedy in activism on All College Day. Cunningham commented on the events’ importance stating, “At Vassar, conversations about environment and conversations about identity and justice tend to be pretty separate a lot of the time. This is sad, because these issues have a lot in common, but we fall into these separate conversations and forget the common ground.”

More generally, there seems to be a lack of visibility of Indigenous people and a lack of awareness of Indigenous issues on campus. As McGlennen pointed out, “I think Vassar has a long way to go when it comes to Indigenous peoples, issues and activism. The fact that we don’t more creatively and critically recruit and retain Native students is entirely problematic. The fact that the ALANA center uses the NA in its acronym but a Native Student organization cannot be maintained in any real ways is irresponsible.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

McGlennen hopes that the events with Goldtooth and the 1491s will not only increase students’ awareness about Indigenous rights and issues, but will also teach students effective ways to be active in creating positive change both on and off campus. She commented, “We need more than conversations. We need action on this front.

What would an Indigenous peoples initiative on campus looks like? That’s for people who go to the event this week during this residency to determine for themselves. There’s always more work to do.”

Among the faculty that brought the 1491s and Goldtooth to campus, there is a widespread hope that one of the main points the audience will take away from the event is how strong and inspiring Indigenous leadership is and can be. McGlennen said, “Native peoples are still here, and not only that, they are providing—as they have throughout history—profoundly essential leadership toward healing so many contemporary problems that all people are affected by, whether that’s environmental degradation, human rights, sexual violence and so on. It is up to all of us to actively reckon with the message they bring to campus.”

Cunningham agreed with McGlennen and drew parallels between the Indigenous movement and other historically powerful movements.

She highlighted, “The Civil Rights movement was a movement of people of color, and white people were not about to invent it, but it benefited everybody. I think that principle still holds, that change isn’t going to come from the center.”

The performance by the 1491s will be kicking off an already comedy-filled weekend. The group’s performance is not something to miss out on—Pacio remarked, “I have been on the phone with them and they are just hilarious. Every time I’ve spoken with them about this residency, I’m in a better mood after talking to them. I’m looking forward to this residency from an academic point of view, but also as someone who likes to laugh.”

ARTS

March 1, 2018

Campus Canvas

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

Page 9 submit to misc@vassar.edu

Excuse me,

WARRIORS from the moment I first blinked my eyes in this battleground we now call home the world painted me silver and baked me in clay until I had turned soldier

What is your favorite smell?

were it not for you the brown backed, slender necked blessing of my homeland I would have harmed my enemies so long ago but your hands pressed on foreheads and your arms that shouldered newborn limbs shielded me from bloodshed and taught me I’m not fit for fury

“The smell of laundry is my most favorite scent in the entire world.”

— Genevieve Waller-Whelan ’21

I watched you smother forest fire with nothing but the raindrops from your supple cheeks you knew earth would turn green once more and disaster might help gardens bloom

“Lavender.”

— Charlotte Konner ’21

at night I sit between your knees the moon sits fat and heavy crying golden tears above our heads you comb out rage from cherished curls and remind me to have mercy on the armor hearted bullett eyed souls who will never know the breath altering joy of loving another

“Vanilla. It smells pretty good. ” — Eli Kaufman ’21

how can I repay you for allowing my tears to replenish the pool of our infinite journey for handing me rosepetal bullets and waterfall blades for showing me that blood does not make a warrior

“Maybe bacon.

I like the smell of bacon. I like bacon.”

— Issachar Beh ’21

“The smell after rain. ” — Stephen Jin ’20

“Orange.”

— Ruvarashe Mubaiwa ’20

Mary Retta is a sophomore International Studies major at Vassar College. She turns to her writing to find joy, solace, and understanding about the world and her place in it. To see more of her work, follow [at]myradicaldiary on Instagram.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Hannah Benton, Photography

FEATURES

Page 10

March 1, 2018

Hidden lives: secrets of a notable fanfic writer revealed Abby Knuckles Guest Reporter

O

Courtesy of MaheTheOne via Deviant Art

ver the past few weeks, I’ve become increasingly interested in the sides of others’ lives that I might not get to see. I find the idea that every human being is living a life equally as complex as mine fascinating, and I love the moments when I learn something truly surprising about someone I think I know well. Recently, I experienced this phenomenon when I found out that one of my friends is actually a popular author of fanfiction.

This past Thursday, I caught up with my friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) to talk about her everyday life over some much-needed lavender tea. As we waited for the scalding temperatures of our drinks to cool, she gave me the low-down on her day from start to finish.

“Well, to start off, my alarm went off at eight.

Then I snoozed until 8:40, sat up, looked at my roommate, and we mutually groaned and got out of bed,” she informed me. I remembered having run into them both in the bathroom that morning, looking dejected as they put themselves together for the day.

We laughed, I took a tentative sip of my tea and scorched my tongue slightly, and she continued her tale: “I hobbled to the Deece and made some raisin toast, which I tragically burned. It’s an improvement over my usual breakfast: a bowl of yogurt and exactly five pieces of honeydew.

I’d always end up leaving half of one.” I nodded, having witnessed this phenomenon over more than one hurried breakfast with her.

Continuing on, she told me about her classes that day, which went somewhat better than her breakfast had. Her two classes passed without any major incidents or embarrassing verbal mis-

Artwork depicts two characters, Kuga and Shizuru, from the Japanese animated series MaiOtome and Mai-Hime. Since the 90s, anime’s fan base in America has grown exponentially. steps. Then she studied for an upcoming test, which she made sure to tell me she had been neglecting all week.

As the tea cooled, the conversation turned to the real topic at hand: her secret other life.

I already knew the gist: She publishes the occasional fanfic for various anime fandoms, and she has something of a following. I had talked to her about her fic on a few occasions, but I wanted to know more details. “So, how did you get started writing fanfiction?” I asked, eager for her response.

“Well…” she began, “The summer before seventh grade, my older sister got a job, and I got really bored. This is kinda pathetic, but I would

just sit in her bedroom and wait for her to come back. Then, one day, I looked up at a poster on her wall, and I really read it for the first time.

I took it in. It said, ‘If there’s a book you want to read, and it hasn’t been written yet, write it.’

And I had pretty much exhausted watching all of my favorite shows over and over, so I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll write some fanfic.’”

She paused to laugh. After recovering slightly, she drank some tea, then continued: “So I started writing some of my random ideas. But I didn’t have any idea how to plan a release schedule or anything, so I had five fics started and updating sporadically. It was because I just started posting whenever I had an idea. And I guess people

started to follow my stuff and it got pretty popular. People still flame me on occasion for not finishing my fics from 2013.”

I took this as a sign that her following might be larger than I originally thought; to really attract the trolls, the work has to be at least fairly popular. Curious, I inquired how many followers she’s accumulated over the years. “I don’t have an exact number or anything offhand, but last time I checked, it’s around 35,000 followers and maybe like 100,000 views across everything I’ve written.”

Even though I knew she had been writing fic for years, this still caught me off guard. The idea that so many people have read, and mostly appreciated, something my friend has created struck me.

I then asked her if her process has changed since the beginning, or if she still follows the same steps from coming up with the idea to posting the finished product. “Well, I just kind of write when I feel the need to. Sometimes something happens in my daily life, and I think ‘Oh, this would be a fun situation to see Yuri and Viktor in,’ and that becomes my next fic.” Delving deeper, she added, “Or, I can use fic sometimes to sort of play out a scenario that would never work in real life.” I certainly related; using storytelling as a way to process real-life events is one of my go-to strategies as well.

What began as a way to fill the void left by her sister’s absence spiraled into online fame as well as providing a creative outlet. Even if it may be unconventional, I still see that as a productive use of time. As a closing question, I asked why she doesn’t tell too many people here at Vassar about her online fame. “Well, I like to have friends,” she replied simply. I nearly choked on my tea.

‘Art and Soul’ reception makes waves around the world SERENADING continued from page 1

Courtesy of Vassar Haiti Project

raisers and events throughout the year. One of these is the sixth annual Art and Soul Gala, which is set to take place on March 1 at 4 p.m. in the Alumnae House.

Girma further acknowledged that one of the biggest challenges that VHP faces as a nonprofit organization is funding. He remarked, “Sometimes people aren’t eager to give a lot [of] money, so it’s a way of finding a process that makes sense. And for us that’s been a combination of the arts and handcrafts that we sell, as well as grants.”

It appears that people are more inclined to donate money to a good cause if they are also buying something in the process.

Gabriela Mandeville ’19 has also been involved with VHP since her first year and now directs its Health Initiative. As one of the team members responsible for organizing the event, she talked about the Gala in detail, specifying the purpose and structure of the event: “Art and Soul is how we fund the medical clinic in Haiti for the whole year, so all of the money from the Gala goes to that. This is solely a health initiative event.”

She went on, “During the event, we have an art sale among speeches and performances.

We’re also catered by Twisted Soul, which is nice!”

Girma elaborated how the medical clinic in Chermaitre came to be: “The clinic was built about three years ago through previous Art and Souls. The way it came about was the community stated they were relatively far from the closest hospital, and needed better access to medical care, so we made it a goal. In 2016, the clinic saw around 3000 patients.”

Proceeds from the single event manage to cover a wide range of the clinic’s expenses, including the salaries of one part-time doctor and two full-time nurses, as well as regular medica-

The organization Vassar Haiti Project is committed to the sustainable development of Chermaitre, Haiti, engaging in 9 different committees composed of a joint force of students and faculties. tion and equipment. The far-reaching impact that the organization has had is staggering.

Mandeville discussed the weeks leading up to the event, saying, “It’s a lot of meetings, and it really kind of becomes a dance between all of the different committees. The Health Initiative meets every week, and we’ve been going through a to-do list of things we need to knock out one by one—seemingly small things, but everything needs to be ironed out before the event starts.”

Many of the students in leadership positions

agreed that the extensive planning was worth it, however. Co-President Serena Lee ’18, a part of the organization since her first year, explained that she is most excited to hear Paul Farmer speak at the Gala. She stated, “The event is usually in May, but this year it got pushed up to March because we found out that Paul Farmer was coming! So, we had to start planning a lot earlier in the fall.”

When it isn’t time to plan large-scale events like the Art and Soul Gala, however, VHP focuses on its long-term goals. Mandeville explained,

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“The things that we are able to do take time. It takes time for things to come to fruition, which is a good thing. We want to make sure that we’re communicating well.”

Lee agreed, “There’s this huge separation between us in the U.S. and the people in Haiti, and we try to be very conscious of that. This is why we make trips to Haiti to really listen and learn, and to make sure that their needs come first and their voices come first.”

Speaking to VHP’s long-term goals, Mandeville noted, “The health committee’s goal is to build a lab! That’s where we’re going. We built a clinic in 2014 and staff[ed] it, and [are] now following several comments from the medical staff at the clinic about how patients deal with getting lab exams done…it’s really hard for them to get to the hospital to get these exams done.

So, we’re hoping to build on site at the clinic.”

Girma elaborated on VHP’s vision, saying, “Our overarching goal is sustainability, which is a bit of a buzzword. But it is what we’re aimed for—sustainability in the sense of the community being actors in their own lives. Making decisions for themselves, and finding ways of being partners and making that more applicable and realistic.”

Lee concluded, “My favorite part of the group is being able to work alongside people who are just as passionate about it. I feel like the org really works because it’s full of relationships, including our relationships with our partners in Haiti.”

From the Meade’s humble ambition to affect positive change, an internationally impactful organization was born. It shows that you really can change the world, or at least a part of it.

The Vassar Haiti Project’s student leaders encourage anyone interested to contact them at vhp.vsa[at]vassar.edu, or to attend a committee meeting. This semester, VHP’s Health Initiative meets every Sunday at 3 p.m.

March 1, 2018

FEATURES

Page 11

Toi La Nguoi Viet Nam—existing in between cultures Kimberly Nguyen

Social Media Editor

I

Courtesy of Emily Nguyen

Courtesy of Linh Phuong

t sounds familiar enough to be true.

“You’re a Viet-American.” “You’re not really Viet though.” “Do you even speak Viet?” “What’s your Viet name though?” “Wow, your Viet is so good!” “If you were Viet…” And the one that brought me to my knees sobbing: “You don’t have a motherland.” Sometimes I feel like a broken person, like an unfinished painting, too ugly to bother completing.

I often wonder how differently the conversation about my identity would go if I had been born in Vietnam and had grown up there. Maybe I’d never question who I am. Maybe I’d hate myself less. But I was born in and grew up in Omaha, NE, which was one hour away from the larger Viet community in Lincoln. It was too close to be detached but too far to be included. I remember my childhood home vividly: The mother-of-pearl lacquer paintings were hung directly above the dining table, all the rooms were lightly fragranced with the smell of nuoc mam (fish sauce) and Truong Vu was always playing loudly from the basement.

My mother grew up in Saigon and my father grew up in a rural village in Soc Trang. They met each other in a detention centre in Cambodia after they fled Vietnam. Eventually, my mother got adopted by a family in the U.S. and Canada took my father. They found their way back to each other and then they had me. Their trauma lingers on me like a birthmark. I can cover it up, but I can’t get rid of it. They know what devastation looks like. My father doesn’t know how his brother died. My mother left her mother behind.

Vietnamese was my first language and yet it’s broken. I watch home videos from before English colonized my tongue and surprise myself

with my proficiency. My father had always said to me, “Con oi, dung bao gio quen con la nguoi Viet Nam.” Child, don’t you ever forget that you are Vietnamese. But 12 years of away from Vietnam made me forget anyway. Eight-year-old me spread gossip all the way down Nguyen Dinh Chieu street better than she spread butter on her toast.

Twenty-year-old me just fights with her mom and says salty catchphrases.

When I feel homesick, I really do long for my home in Saigon, where I spent a majority of my summers as a kid. I miss the blue gate and the tile floor. I miss the couch where I taught myself how to read. I miss standing in the doorway to watch the neighborhood pass by: the ice cream man, the kids selling lottery tickets, the motorcycles, the pedlars. Most of all, I miss my family. I remember the first time my grandmother heard my voice on the phone. I asked her if she was well and only heard labored breathing on the the other end.

“Hang on, she’s crying,” my father said. I started crying too.

A lot of people ask me why I don’t feel a connection to where I was born. To be honest, Nebraska is the worst place for a Viet-American. I remember in the seventh grade when my classmate told me to go back to Vietnam where I belong. I said quietly that he massacred my people. My isolation from my peers, along with the detachment from my family, did little to make Nebraska feel like home. But I grew up there, so somehow it’s still a part of me.

But it’s also hard to call Vietnam home. I wasn’t born or raised there. I hold a U.S. passport and citizenship. My friends and family question my authenticity as a Vietnamese person at every chance they get, pick me apart like a specimen, like I don’t already do that. My white name stands out, and everyone gets confused when I say I don’t

The author glowing up in her áo dài, which is a form of Vietnamese traditional clothing that literally translates as “long shirt.” It is typically comprised of a gown worn over trousers. have a Viet name. I’m only half literate, I can’t spell, and I only know enough Vietnamese to be a good housewife, not a good conversationalist. My identity feels like broken eggshells, and the world feels like a wrecking ball when what I need is glue.

But in the moments I feel like I don’t belong anywhere, I remind myself of my mother. My junior year, the night before a school ceremony, my mother and I were fighting about what I should wear. I was sixteen and awkwardly shaped, and my skin hadn’t been clear since I was ten. I was convinced I was going to be ugly forever. I wanted to wear baggy clothing to hide my awkward shape, but I begrudgingly followed my mother into her closet and watched as she unwrapped her

ao dai (our traditional dress) that she’d brought all the way from Vietnam. She helped me into her dress. “Look, you are beautiful,” she said, and she was right. For the first time, I was staring into a reflection I didn’t completely hate; I saw myself for the first time.

My identity right now is my 16-year-old self: beautiful, just unrealized, trying to fit into a pair of Miss Me jeans when it should be blooming into an ao dai. I’m learning how to better push away the voices that try to alienate me because they don’t have the right to tell me who I am. Only I do. So I replace their doubts and my own with my father’s echo. “Con oi, dung bao gio quen con la nguoi Viet Nam.”

Funded by alumna, ‘Discover America’ fosters discussion Duncan Aronson Guest Reporter

H

ave you been wanting to get more involved on campus? Would you like to converse with a wide range of people about their life experiences? Or are you just craving mac ’n’ cheese? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” you should consider coming to the upcoming event, “Discover America,” hosted by the Office of International Services (OIS) and the Office of Campus Life and Diversity.

“Discover America” is an event where people share personal narratives about their encounters with the American landscape, values and people. OIS intern Brian Lee ’20 unpacked these ideas in an emailed statement: “To share stories about what America means we attempt to answer questions in the likes of expectation

versus reality, experiences of cultural shock and the metaphor of a [U.S.] melting pot[…]and its impact in our collective lives.”

Post-Baccalaureate Fellow for the OIS Ria Ghandi ’17 emphasized that there is no expectation that the stories have to be from an international perspective. She explained via email, “It is an evening of sharing stories and vulnerabilities about people’s experiences in America.”

As the senior guest speaker during last year’s “Discover America,” Ghandi decided to share her own story. She disclosed, “I came to America in 2013, excited to learn and explore more about the country as well as the liberal arts educational system. While I really enjoyed my time at Vassar academically, I struggled a bit with the social environment.”

Ghandi added, “I realized that while a major-

Courtesy of the Office of International Services

Captured here is the Director of Community Engaged Learning Lisa Kaul as a guest speaker for another culture event, “Lenses,” hosted by OIS. It took place on Nov. 1, 2017.

ity of Vassar students were liberal, they weren’t necessarily open minded, in the sense, they did not possess a lens through which they could encounter international students, since they lacked a global perspective. This made me look for a community in different ways and I stumbled upon the OIS, which made me feel like finally I had a home at Vassar!”

The attendees of “Discover America” will be divided into tables of 10, balanced between domestic and international students, faculty and administrators, along with facilitators including OIS interns and Asian Peer Mentors. Ghandi described how they are equipped with a range of guiding questions, some funny, some light and some serious and provocative, such as “What is one aspect of America that you’ve grown to enjoy/love?” or “How is the hook-up culture similar/different where you are from?” The event’s guest speakers, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy Li Kang and VSA President Anish Kanoria ’18, will be sharing their experiences with the audience in order to provide additional insights into cultural differences for table groups to reflect on.

Facilitating this dialogue is important on two counts. Firstly, having an inclusive conversation about culture is central to the OIS mission. Lee said, “The OIS strives to improve campus life with the international community at its core.

With the support of passionate members who believe in the importance of globalization and representation, we seek to integrate the diversity at Vassar to maximize the college experience for all.” There is no better way to do this than to discuss American customs in a diverse setting and welcoming atmosphere.

Furthermore, Ghandi explained, “‘Discover America’ is a part of a larger program called the Sophonpanich Program run by the Office of International Services. The Sophonpanich Program was made possible by an endowment

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

to OIS by the family of Chotiya Sophonpanich Ahuja ’96, a Thai Vassar alum. A lot of programming occurs out of this endowment, which gears itself towards ensuring successful transition and integration of Asian international students and scholars at Vassar and within [the U.S.]” She continued, “‘Discover America’ is one such event that arose out of the fund. It is an evening of sharing stories and vulnerabilities about people’s experiences in America. It is an event open to not just Asian Internationals, but to everyone—such as domestic students, administrators and faculty. Hence, all are welcome!”

America has recently been plagued by political discord and gun-related strife. It would not be a surprise if the conversation on the night turned to current affairs. However, Lee observed, “Our students will always be affected by the media, not specifically to the recent tragedies and political climate. The current events are not the focus of our discussion, though we do welcome elements of agitation and resolution derived from them in conjunction with other relevant personal experiences. These experiences are important to be discussed as we will have the perspectives of different members of the school to engage in perhaps not a usual conversational setting.”

Ghandi stated that she believed a discussion of America’s positive aspects would prevail over a discussion of the country’s negative ones. The focus is on personal experiences rather than engaging with the political sphere, although a conversation about the former may be woefully incomplete without a nod to wider issues. Ultimately, OIS wishes to foster a fruitful, dynamic conversation about what life is like in America.

The event is being held in the Villard Room on Friday, March 2 between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. If you would like to contribute, or simply learn more about America, drop by for what looks set to be an exciting and thought-provoking evening.

FEATURES

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March 1, 2018

Misc Comics by Paul Cannata

submit to misc@vassar.edu

A Very Cryptic Crossword

Ben Costa

ACROSS 18. England's spongiest 8. Moon-bound musician queen 9. Levine's landline 19. Extend your stay upon 10. New York City's GMO the rack 11. What's worn by the wind 21. A famed app logo 12. Gives rotten gifts 22. Graphite skirt 13. How an Evil Queen plays 24. Soak in and listen games 14. A majestic tax on frond-wavers 16. Letter to a young woman 20. Rattlesnake down a well 23. A suitor, 'n the banking “A Very Cryptic business

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The Miscellany Crossword

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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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March 1, 2018

OPINIONS

Page 13

The Miscellany News Staff Editorial

VC must redouble commitment to undocumented students Last week in their newsletter, the Career Development Office (CDO) advertised a webinar for Women in Law Enforcement that promoted the services of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Several students expressed discomfort and acted quickly to have this listing removed from the CDO newsletter and a public apology issued to the campus community. Students Nicole Gonzalez ’19 and Emily Rosenzweig ’18 reached out to President Bradley via email, writing, “The posting of this webinar has made many students at Vassar, particularly those who are at risk of deportation, feel unsafe on their own campus. Especially in this tumultuous political climate, Vassar should ensure that every student feels safe here.” A representative from the CDO has since issued an apology and agreed to remove the listing from the newsletter, also stating the Office’s commitment to better discretion in the future. While the administration responded and took measures to address students’ concerns, this incident still raises several larger questions about the status of undocumented students here at Vassar.

ICE, a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has been widely criticized for its arrest methods, treatment of detainees and detention center conditions. Their policies have been responsible for the trauma and separation of countless families throughout the nation. ICE has become increasingly infamous for targeting individuals who pose no threat to society. Last year, they were responsible for conducting raids in which half of the detainees had no minor or criminal offenses (Business Insider, “Half the undocumented immigrants rounded up in February

raids had no criminal records or minor offenses,” 05.01.2017).

Given ICE’s reputation, this matter calls into question the ethics of government institutions having a presence at private colleges and universities. The webinar advertised was part of an initiative led by the Homeland Security Office of Academic Engagement. This organization states that its goal is to work with schools nationwide to promote the department’s core mission and that it is actively reaching out to engage with students who may be interested in the field (Homeland Security website, “Overview”). Although colleges that receive federal funding are obligated to allow military and Department of Homeland Security recruitment on their campuses, students across the nation have demonstrated that they feel unsafe having this intrusive presence on campus. Last year at New York University, students organized to protest the inclusion of ICE recruiters at a law school job fair (NYU Local, “NYU Students protest the inclusion of ICE Recruiters at Law School Job Fair,” 02.02.2017). While the event advertised by the CDO was a webinar and thus did not physically bring recruiters to the College, the sentiment— and thus the possibility of making students feel unsafe on their own campus—remains.

Furthermore, it is important to recognize how the advertised webinar attempted to use identity politics as a way to attract a certain demographic of students. This event was branded as a way to empower feminist college women. However, there is nothing inherently progressive about promoting women in law enforcement at the expense of undocumented people of color. While it may seem commendable to promote women

entering fields where they are currently the minority, it is important to remember that it is neither progressive nor revolutionary if it is not accessible to all women. Moreover, it is important to realize that by beckoning marginalized groups to careers and industries that have historically ostracized them, such as law enforcement, these institutions are not being groundbreaking. Instead, the system is doing what it must to minimize reproach (BlaQueerFlow, “Revisited: Why letting transgender folks serve in the military isn’t progressive or radical,” 07.26.2017).

Vassar has publicly declared its support for undocumented students: Former Interim President Jonathan Chenette confirmed that the College would take steps to protect undocumented or DACA students on campus (Vassar Info, “Statement Supporting DACA and Undocumented Students,” 12.09.2016). In addition, according to a CDO representative, Vassar submitted an amicus brief in support of DACA students to the New York State Appellate Division and to the US Supreme Court and has also arranged to provide legal support as needed. While Vassar has advocated for legislative protection of its undocumented students, this action must also be extended to further interpersonal and structural support. This begins with taking proactive steps to ensure undocumented students’ success once they are at Vassar.

This process requires making sure that the admissions process is accessible to undocumented students, and that once they are here, they have access to the financial and legal resources they may need to ensure success. Although a petition went out to declare Vassar a sanctuary campus Nov. 20, 2016, we remain officially undeclared as

one. Moreover, simply signing a petition is not enough; those of us who are documented, especially, must redouble our efforts to attain justice for our peers through concrete action and activism. This also means having a clear policy and plan of action in the case that ICE officers show up physically on our campus, and circulating this plan to students. Vassar could follow the lead, for example, of the University of California, Berkeley, which shares a poster on the website of its Undocumented Student Program explaining students’ rights and where to report an unexpected ICE visit (University of California, Berkeley, “What to do if ICE comes to your door.”). Successful steps could take the form of planning more lectures and visits, disseminating information on rights and advice for undocumented and DACA students via emails or postings or even mandating informational seminars for first-years during Orientation and peer leaders during House Team trainings.

As the conversation around immigration becomes increasingly turbulent, Vassar must rise to the challenge of ensuring systemic support and accessibility for those we have sworn to protect. We, as a whole institution, must reevaluate our structures and policies to guarantee that we are both an attainable institution for undocumented students as well as one within which undocumented students can thrive. We urge the College to take administrative steps to make undocumented students and students with undocumented family members feel safe.

—The Staff Editorial expresses the opinion of at least 2/3 of The Miscellany News Editorial Board.

Embracing concept of ‘Kairos’ improves mental health Catherine Bither Guest Columnist

T

ime has passed rapidly since the beginning of the semester. It feels as if Feb. 1 was just yesterday, yet March is already here. If any of you feel as I do, you might think that you are not ready for the semester to be over. It seems as if classes have just started and that we have only just gotten into the material. Yet, in eight weeks, we will be done with the 2017–2018 year.

Thinking about the rapid passing of this semester has made me wonder about time and the many ways to track its passage. To some, time passes in days or weeks. To others, time elapses in breaths or heartbeats.

However, to most, time is measured via dials on our wrists with infinitely turning hands. It seems strange to me that these knobs govern our daily lives. From needing to wake up on time, get to class on time, walk to work on time and meet up with friends on time, we as humans find ourselves constantly looking at our watches, our phones and any other time-telling device for answers. A cultural fear of death generates a fear of losing time, and people are constantly afraid of wasting time.

Time clues are present everywhere. Bell towers chime and electronic signs broadcast the time and temperature. Access to the time is nearly universal through phones, wall clocks, car radios and the news. The concept of time is figuratively forced down our throats, seemingly constituting the force that keeps all life going, without which the world would collapse and cease to function.

However, is it really? If time cues are ignored, there is no such thing as early or late.

The stresses of being on time are gone. One is given a luxury seldom acquired in our modern world. Guided by the trajectories of the sun and moon and the human internal clock, without the

constraints of time, people are able to do what they want, when they want. From this comes creative freedom.

Without time cues, humans’ dependency on technology would substantially decrease. People would spend more time connecting with one another, talking and sharing stories and experiences. Bodies would be allowed to relax during down-time instead of being required to worry about how much time is left before the next commitment arises.

Many people and many communities live without time cues. For example, the Pirahã are the original inhabitants of the Amazon Forest in Brazil and their language, also called Pirahã, has no numbers, no words for colors, no quantitative terms and no past participles.

Additionally, there are no leaders and no social hierarchy within the community. The Pirahã do not rely on time cues to govern their lives. They rely solely on current, personal experiences and do not even keep records of community history. The Pirahã rely solely on the here-and-now (The New Yorker, “The Interpreter,” 04.16.2007).

It is a bit easier to live without the concept of time in an isolated rainforest, but for those of us who live in the hustle and bustle of the capitalist, consumerist realm, it is difficult to exist without time cues for extended periods of time. Our society is devoted to constantly improving and progressing, usually within time constraints.

Efficiency equals perfection and idleness is seen as a waste of energy and resources. In such a world, it is difficult to find time for oneself; however, it is beneficial, at times, to switch off our phones, ignore the passing of time and enjoy the moment.

Kairos time is a concept that I was introduced to a while ago. The idea was popularized

by the Greeks, who distinguished the difference between chronos and kairos time. Chronos is quantitative, the time to which we are accustomed.

Kairos, however, is qualitative, measuring opportune moments or permanent time. The idea around kairos is to ignore the happenings of the outside world, including the passage of time, and to focus on enjoying the moment. Without the pressures of time, one is allowed to reflect on one’s life, one’s relationships and oneself. Inward thought is beneficial in coming to terms with experiences of our presents and our pasts, provoking less worry when we return to the real world.

Kairos is extremely beneficial to one’s mental health, and should be practiced by everyone. I find it helpful to have a day of kairos time once every month, or whenever I am feeling especially stressed. There are several ways to go about stepping out of the real world, forming a space that is conducive to kairos time.

The night before, I prepare my space. I make sure that I have no prior commitments to attend to. Either I choose a free day or I take a mental health day, making sure to cancel all my appointments. I then get rid of all time cues, turning off stove or radio timers and making sure all my clocks are stopped. I put my phone in airplane mode and do not check it unless an emergency arises. Without setting an alarm or checking the time, I fall asleep.

The mornings of my kairos days are regulated by my body’s internal clock. I wake up when my body tells me that it has gotten enough rest.

I don’t check my phone to see the time or what has happened in the world while I am asleep.

Instead, I marvel at the beautiful sun’s rays shining through my window. I hear the birds chirping and the buzzing of street-life below me. Yet, remarkably, I do not hear the ticking of clocks.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

It is refreshing.

I then take the time to make the kind of breakfast my body tells me it needs. Not worrying about how much time it takes to make or eat it, I can fully engage in the preparation of my meal.

I take time to actually taste what I am putting in my body.

Afterwards, I let the fate of the rest of my day fall to my body’s needs, along with a bit of serendipity. Some days, I simply read in a comfy chair. Other days, I take walks, exploring my neighborhood. I take the train and, instead of worrying whether I am on time, I observe the beauty of my home. High-rises are juxtaposed with elegant trees, stubby bushes and green fields of neighboring parks. I observe how lucky I am to get to live in such a beautiful city.

Sometimes, I find a café and try to read, but inevitably I end up people-watching. I make up stories for the people I see on the street, observing strange encounters and staring at their cute dogs. Once, I saw an elderly man walking a tiny pig, and for the rest of the day, I wondered how their relationship formed and how one cares for a pig in a city.

I think of my kairos days as retreats. I retreat from the obligations of my everyday life to organize my thoughts, to make sense of and re-evaluate my current life-status and to allow my body to rest and recover from day-to-day stresses.

Over the course of the day, I settle into a headspace that makes no sense of the numbers that create time. Even if I glance at the clock in the train station or hear the chiming of a bell tower, the stimuli mean nothing to me. I am truly living in the moment.

Everyone should make time for kairos, whether it be as long as a day or simply a few hours.

After all, if you never pause to take a breath, are you really living?

OPINIONS

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March 1, 2018

California senate race reaffirms democratic ideology Sylvan Perlmutter Columnist

I

n a terrible blow to her campaign, Dianne Feinstein failed to win the official endorsement of the California Democratic Party as she seeks reelection to a fifth term in the senate.

On Feb. 24, State Senator Kevin de León won 54 percent of the party delegates’ votes while Feinstein received only 37 percent. De León failed to reach the 60 percent necessary to receive the official endorsement of the party, but his performance against Feinstein is a reason to be optimistic for the future of progressivism in the coming years.

Since she first became a California senator in 1992, Feinstein has repeatedly tacked to the right of the state Democratic Party. She supported the Patriot Act, which made it easier for the government to spy on ordinary Americans, and the Secure Fence Act of ’06, which aimed to fight illegal immigration by building 700 miles of new fencing along the southern border with Mexico.

Not only that, she expressed her support for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which served to regulate the activity of U.S. banks and whose repeal was speculated to have helped cause the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Feinstein also continues to stand against marijuana legalization and single-payer health care despite the high popularity of these policies in her home state (Vox, “Sen. Dianne Feinstein Is Running for Reelection. The Left Isn’t Happy About It,” 10.09.2017). To her credit, she has progressive stances on the environment, gun control and women’s rights, but that is not enough to justify perpetual incumbency in the most influential of blue states.

Her opponent Kevin de León is a stalwart progressive who designed and passed ambitious healthcare, environmental and sanctuary city legislation during his time in the California State Senate. He is a prominent representative of a generation of Latinx Californian politicians who were instrumental in steering the state leftwards after California Republicans alienated the Latinx population by attempting to prohibit undocumented migrants from receiving social services and public health care and attending public schools (California Voter Foundation, “Illegal Aliens. Ineligibility for Public Services,” 1994).

“Long-term incumbency when left unchallenged is damaging to democracy because it leads politicians to lose touch with their constituencies.”

At the moment, it is highly unlikely that De León will beat Feinstein for the Senate seat. He trails her by at least 20 percent in most polls and has a tiny fraction of her campaign fundraising numbers (Slate, “Dianne Feinstein’s Democratic Challenger Has Little Support but Lots of Time,” 02.14.2018). Feinstein remains relatively popular with everyday Californians despite alienating the bulk of Democratic party activists.

However, California has “jungle primaries,” in which all candidates, regardless of party, are put on the same ballot and then the top two move

on to the final round (Los Angeles Times, “California’s ‘Jungle’ Primary System Could Blow Up in the Democratic Party’s Face,” 01.30.2018). The projected scenario is that De León and Feinstein will face off in this final round, which could give De León the increased public profile he needs to mount a successful insurgent campaign.

Democrats nationwide, regardless of whether they prefer Kevin de León or Dianne Feinstein, should be heartened by the existence of such intense debate within the party. Feinstein has been senator for 26 years. Long-term incumbency when left unchallenged is damaging to democracy because it leads politicians to lose touch with their constituencies. It also spreads apathy among voters because they are not exposed to a diverse set of choices.

Kevin de León is doing Dianne Feinstein a favor because she is now being forced to pay more attention to the voters she represents and must now articulate an adequate centrist response to the demands of the left wing that she has ignored. Even if he loses, the California Democratic Party will be a more democratic institution for it.

There is a commonly held view in establishment circles that progressive challenges to centrist Democrats will harm the party’s performance and enable continuing Republican dominance.

Politicians like Feinstein, who refuse to get on board with widely popular policies like Medicare for All because of their own rigid ideological convictions, are painted as unideological pragmatists who are the only ones able to deliver electoral and legislative victories (Bloomberg, “The Left’s Shoddy Attack on Fein-

stein,” 02.27.2018).

There is some substance to this viewpoint.

Maine elected proto-Trump Governor Paul LePage with only 38.1 percent of the vote because the left vote was split between the party candidate and independents. However, California’s “jungle primary” system renders this risk negligible.

Opposing De León’s run is not promoting smart tactics but rather is a cynical attempt to maintain party discipline in the short term at the expense of the long-term health of the Democratic party. Clinton, the ultimate “pragmatist,” failed to win, and it was not because of the challenge posed to her by Bernie Sanders in the primaries.

“Kevin de León is doing Dianne Feinstein a favor because she is now being forced to pay more attention to the voters she represents...”

California Democrats should look to how the Democratic Party reconciled after the primaries and created the most progressive platform in its history by bringing Sanders and Clinton supporters together in productive sessions. This is a model that the party can emulate in crafting a legislative agenda either De León or Feinstein could eventually bring with them to the Senate.

For now, they should not seek to stamp out the multiplicity of voices in their party. There can be no representative democracy if there is only one representative to choose from.

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The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

March 1, 2018

OPINIONS

Page 15

Deodorant, perfumes contribute to smog Steven Park

Opinions Editor

W

hen it comes to presenting yourself in public, one of the top concerns that many people worry about is body odor. I’m sure many of us have been given “the talk” during puberty and have been told how we have to start paying attention to how we smell. Even in middle school and high school, we’re bombarded with messages about how we have to do everything we can to make our body smell nice and pleasant like a field of wildflowers. During health class, our health/P.E. teachers never fail to mention how using deodorant is crucial for good hygiene. At the same time, girls are taught by both their friends and popular media to incorporate perfume into their personal grooming.

As a result, applying these chemicals on our bodies has become a normal part of our life.

It isn’t uncommon to see advertisements that depict expensive cologne as something “sexy” and magazines like Cosmopolitan give popular advice like “Carry a travel foot spray in your purse” and “Spray your bare torso with fragrance” (Cosmopolitan, “14 Incredibly Easy Ways to Smell Great All the Time,” 10.18.2013).

As such, it should come to no one’s surprise that the deodorant and perfume industries are make an enormous profit every year. According to Emmanuelle Moeglin, Global Fragrance and Colour Cosmetics Analyst at Mintel, the United States continues to be the biggest market for deodorant worldwide, hitting over $3 billion in 2015 and showing a growth of nearly 5 percent in just one year alone (Cosmetics Business, “Global Deodorants Market Shows Marginal Growth,” 08.03.2016).

The perfume industry is even bigger--the annual global perfume industry sales revenue is about $28.95 billion, with the U.S. market making up $6.1 billion of that profit (Statistic Brain, “Perfume Industry Statistics,” 08.05.2016). Not only that, but perfumes aren’t often known for being cheap. About 46 percent of designer perfume brands are priced at over $75 and can even cost up to $440 for one bottle (The Huffington Post, “Why One Bottle Of Perfume Can Cost $440,” 12.06.2017).

But is all this necessary? We’re told that these products are essential for our daily lives, but is that really true? According to researchers, our frequent use of aerosol products like deodorant and perfume may not only be gratuitous, but it may also contribute to the declining health of our planet. The first misconception to clear up is how deodorant and perfume actually work.

For one thing, deodorant doesn’t actually target the underlying cause of the bad smell that you’re trying to prevent. Despite its notoriety, sweating is a pivotal mechanism for maintaining proper homeostasis. It helps regulate body temperature, but it also flushes out toxins from clogging up your skin, prevents the buildup of excess salt and calcium in your bones and help fight dangerous pathogens (Medical Daily, “Sweat It Out! 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Sweating That Actually Don’t Stink,” 11.07.2014).

Sweat also typically doesn’t have a smell. The terrible odor we often associate with sweat is actually caused by the skin bacteria that break down the sweat components (Medical Daily, “Got Sweat? Use of Deodorant and Antiperspirants Is Just a Social Construct,” 01.21.2016).

What deodorant does is mask the smell with a more pleasant fragrance or kill the bacteria on the skin that is causing the smell. There is also a subcategory of deodorants called antiperspirants which use aluminum salts to kill of bacteria by blocking the sweat glands with aluminum salts.

However, the most important thing to know about deodorants is that they’re not as necessary as we tend to believe them to be. In fact,

when the first deodorant came out in late 19th century, very few people actually used it, mainly because they handled the body odor problem by washing regularly (The List, “This Is Why You Should Stop Using Deodorant,” 03.06.2017). Deodorants only started gaining popularity when advertisers started targeting the insecurities of young women in the early 1900s by convincing them that they “carried repellent odor” (Smithsonian, “How Advertisers Convinced Americans They Smelled Bad,” 08.02.2012). The marketing strategy worked, and by 1927, sales of deodorant had reached $1 million.

According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital, the use of deodorant is dictated more by social norms rather than good health practices (Medical Daily, 01.21.2016). In fact, several experts question the safety of some of the chemicals found in many deodorants and antiperspirants. For instance, research has shown that the chemical compounds known as parabens, which may interfere with the body’s hormone levels, are often used as preservatives in deodorant (Time, “5 Things Wrong With Your Deodorant,” 07.05.2016). While there is no conclusive evidence that link parabens with cancer, lab results suggest that they may promote the growth of cancer cells in both men and women. Another disturbing ingredient class found in deodorant is phthalates, which may impact fetal development in pregnant women. Scientists have also linked phthalates to higher rates of asthma (Time).

Of course, this doesn’t mean that deodorant actively harms your body. There isn’t any concrete evidence of that yet. However, several studies have shown that many people who use deodorant don’t smell or even need it, and yet people continue using it, because its use has become so ingrained in our society (Independent, “A Lot of People Are Using Deodorant When They Don’t Need To,” 02.01.2016).

On the other hand, what about perfume? Typically, a perfume product is made up of alcohol, water and various molecules that are designed to evaporate at room temperature. A fun fact about perfumes is that they don’t produce the desired fragrance all at once. Instead, almost all perfumes are engineered so that three different types of chemicals become active during three different phases (HowStuffWorks, “How Perfume Works,” 03.02.2009).

The first phase is composed of “top notes,” chemicals that you smell immediately when you apply the perfume, but which evaporate completely after 15 minutes. In the second phase, chemicals known as “heart notes” come into play after about three hours. The smells produced by the heart notes are what you typically associate with the perfume. Finally, the “base note” chemicals appear five hours after application; these boost the strength of the other scent notes.

Are there any health risks to applying perfume? According to scientists, it’s unclear, because perfume ingredients are fiercely guarded to protect trade secrets (Scientific American, “Scent of Danger: Are There Toxic Ingredients in Perfumes and Colognes?” 09.29.2012). While most sprays will use trace amounts of natural essences, they also contain potentially hazardous synthetic chemicals, some of which may be derived from petroleum.

“A rose may be a rose...But that rose-like fragrance in your perfume may be something else entirely, concocted from any number of the fragrance industry’s 3,100 stock chemical ingredients, the blend of which is almost always kept hidden from the consumer,” stated the The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an American environmental organization that specializes in researching toxic chemicals to protect public health (Scientific American).

According to a report by the EWG, the average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. These secret chemicals include those associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, including diethyl phthalate, which is linked to sperm damage. This information could explain why some people experience symptoms such as contact dermatitis and why about one in 10 people have allergic reactions to chemical elements in fragrances (The Huffington Post, “Perfume Health Risks: Fragrances Can Contribute to Health Problems Like Allergies and Rashes,” 09.19.2012).

However, it’s important to note that the health risks of using deodorant and perfumes are nothing to panic over. For the most part, you probably won’t even notice anything and are probably about as safe as you are when using any other hygiene product. More significantly, these aerosol products pose a danger to the environment.

According to a recent study published in the journal “Science,” both deodorants and perfumes are contributing significantly to air pollution at levels as high as emissions from cars and trucks (The New York Times, “Want Cleaner Air? Try Using Less Deodorant,” 02.16.2018).

This type of news is not unheard of. Back in the early 1900s, it wasn’t uncommon for aerosol products like deodorant to contain chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons. These anthropogenic compounds were very popular with manufacturers because they were not only non-flammable but also non-toxic and non-reactive to most compounds. As a result, they were also used commonly in refrigerators and air conditioners.

Unfortunately, scientists in the mid-1970s discovered that chlorofluorocarbons have a shocking side effect: They contribute heavily to the thinning of Earth’s ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays (American Chemical Society, “Chlorofluorocarbons and Ozone Depletion,” 04.18.2017). By 1984, researchers gathered conclusive evidence that chlorofluorocarbons were the culprit, and in 1987, 191 countries signed the Montreal Protocol which banned their use (Scientific American, “Bad Hair Day: Are Aerosols Still Bad for the Ozone Layer?” 08.17.2013).

Yet despite the phasing out of chlorofluorocarbons, modern aerosol sprays still emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, a key component in smog that scars the lungs and can cause heart attacks and lung cancer. In other words, the use of deodorants (both the spray and the stick kind) and perfumes contribute to the creation of smog and other air pollutants just as much as vehicle exhaust (The New York Times).

To many people, this discovery might sound unbelievable. How can something like deodorant or perfume release more VOC emissions than a car? According to the researchers behind this study, automobiles previously produced a lot of VOC emissions, but recent developments in technology have greatly reduced how much air pollution they cause. Nowadays, even though many drivers use several gallons of gasoline every week, most of it is converted to carbon dioxide instead of VOC emissions (these carbon dioxide emissions may not form smog but they do contribute to climate change). In contrast, the damage caused by VOCs found in products like deodorant and perfumes add up and may heavily pollute the air we breathe.

Therefore, it may be a wise idea to start reducing our use of these hygiene products. While their negative effects on our health may still be in doubt, it’s clear that we must do everything we can to stop these VOC emissions and seek out other hidden threats that may harm our planet.

Word on the street Tell me about your favorite pet “My dog named Chichi. It was a white bichon frise. The dog was scared of being alone.”

–Elias Contrubis ’20

“A pet rat. Her name was Tonks ... If I called her name she would crawl up to me and crawl up on my shoulders.”

–Mary Reid ’21 “I come from Africa so my favorite was an impala. Name was Smiggaoe. I used to really like it and ride it, but we had to eat it. ” –Braison Liemisa ’18 “My favorite is my golden retriever, Sheriff, and my fish, Cosmo, who’s been alive for 15 years.”

–Robert Elizardo ’20

“I’m against the pet industry of buying, selling and breeding animals. ” –Min Wu ’18

“My old cat Buddy, who I used to sit on when I was two years old. ” –Talia Sheinkopf ’21

Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Hannah Benton, Photography

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 16

March 1, 2018

Breaking News From the desk of Leah Cates and Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Editors Sun suffering from severe case of stage fright, disappears behind curtain of clouds after spontaneous appearance Ten tips on how to survive this never-ending winter Ivanna Guerra

Amateur Meteorologist

L

ast week, Vassar experienced 48 hours of sunshine, warmth and no snow. It was beautiful.

Students bloomed from the muddy quad to enjoy the rays of sun that smiled upon them. They adorned the campus grasses with brightly colored attire. They shed their sweater-shells and became stress-free butterflies that spread the covers of their books to absorb the literature and the heat.

The prospective students were amazed to see signs of spring in February. Many exclaimed, “The students did not hide from the shadow of their overwhelming stress!” Unfortunately, the springtime did not last. The weather changed drastically in a matter of a few hours, and the campus returned to being a winter wonderland.

Google tells me that there are 25 days left of this horrible winter. It seems like a long way away, but out of the kindness of my heart, I am here to share some survival tips that will make the rest of winter seem much shorter!

1. Use old papers that received bad grades as fuel for a fire. (Follow fire safety rules, of course.

And don’t forget to buy marshmallows, graham crackers and Hershey chocolates for s’mores!)

2. As you are finishing your Pity Bonfire Spectacular, make sure to use your tears to be extra sure that you’ve put the fire out completely.

3. As you probably have plenty of warm tears to shed, take a few moments to pamper yourself.

Tears are an efficient way of heating water, so sit in a tub, cry and soon enough you will see the tears react with your colorful bath bomb that you saved money for from your work-study earnings.

4. Steal cucumbers from the Deece and use them to cover the dark circles from your constant all-nighters. They will freeze in the time it takes to walk to your dorm, so they will be nice and fresh!!

5. Once you’ve walked out of your tear bath, you are ready to go to bed. As a bedtime story, watch

the video of the UT student who arrived late to a final, forgot her blue book and realized she to went to the wrong classroom! There’s nothing like empathy to help you relax for bed.

6. Cover yourself with the heat of existential crises. Just think, the dinosaurs were really warm when the meteor struck the face of the earth. (If we’re lucky, the next will hit before finals!)

7. If you are fortunate enough to live in Raymond this semester, you probably already have a heater that keeps you company with all that rattling noise!

If you listen closely, it’s probably cheering you on!

Sit close to it and listen. It might be able to give you study tips after seeing many students before you study and eventually graduate!

8. Be a good samaritan and guard the clothes of those unfortunate people who forgot to take their things out of the dryer. As payment, you can envelop yourself with the freshly dried clothes. It will keep you warm and the aromatherapy of their fabric-softener will help you relax.

9. I suggest you make some new friends and then ask if they are willing to huddle with you and your other new friends in the College Center. The goal is to make a lot of new friends so then you can all huddle together and use your body heat to keep each other warm. Don’t worry, I am sure everyone on campus is reading this so no one will think you are up to something suspicious, like starting a cult.

10. If you are from a place that rarely sees snow, like myself, remember that slipping on ice/snow is embarrassing for everyone. It will go much better if you laugh it off. It will still be embarrassing, but at least you are replacing tears with cackles.

A good way to signal to onlookers that it is okay to laugh is to make a joke. Just yell, “GRAVITY CHECK! IT’S STILL WORKING!” It has not worked for me, but it might for you! In all seriousness, know that there are students who can relate to your seasonal slump, and you can always talk to them. Spring is coming, so have hope!

Wondering what to do with the mountains of crummy essays and failed tests you have littering your floor? Put them to use as fuel for the fire to keep you warm in these waning weeks of winter! Read more to discover nine other tips that will get you through the drafty days of this never-ending tundra.

‘Hey, that’s great advice!’ Ask the two Mice of Main Hannah Gaven and Josie Schermerhorn, Certified Advice-Givers On the warm days last week I impulsively cut the sleeves off of all my shirts. What do I do now that it’s cold and all I have are muscle tanks?

—Sleeveless in Seattle Dear Sleeveless in Seattle, If you saved all your sleeves, then you have a few options. The most obvious one is to duct tape all of them back on. Get some zany zebra-print duct tape, and you’ll be warm while rocking some high fashion. We’ve heard that all of the designers are going to be doing this for next fall, so you’ll be ahead of the curve, plus you can complete the outfit with your duct tape wallet and hair bow from middle school. If you want to get more creative, then turn those sleeves into arm warmers. You’ll never get a farmer’s tan and your arms can now be featured in an ’80s workout video. Finally, if you decided you don’t need sleeves and can tough it out, then cut and sew the sleeves into tube tops. You get new shirts that you can either rock or sell on Free & For Sale for some extra cash that you

can use to get some new long-sleeve tees. If you have already turned all your sleeves into hand puppets, then embrace who you are now. Buy a fabric marker and write “suns out, guns out” on your shirts. Spend your free time at the gym and only work on your biceps—leg day can wait until you cut all your pants into booty shorts.

My friend group has been described as “homoerotic,” and I don’t know how to explain that all the talk about group orgies is a joke. How do I set the record straight, especially when people see us all cuddling together in our MPR? —Too Close for Comfort Dear Too Close For Comfort, We’ve come up with a few steps you can take to make it look like you’re not dating your entire friend group. Reduce the amount of time you talk about masturbation and sexual fantasies, especially at the Deece. Make up a boyfriend from home, and when people look at you confusedly and say “Aren’t you a lesbian?” just show them

a poorly edited photo of you cuddling Amanda Bynes in “She’s the Man.” Actually sleep with your friends so it stops being a rumor.

Perhaps you could pretend you have other friends, even though we all know you don’t. You should consider dropping the pending lawsuit against the roller rink for not letting all of you hold hands. On the subject of holding hands, you should probably stop doing that while walking everywhere you go.

Also, keep your one-month “friendship” anniversary on the down low. When discussing celebrity crushes, don’t just mention the girls you love. Gush about how hot Chris is in that one superhero movie. Odds are eavesdroppers will just agree. Stop calling each other “babe” and “honey,” even if you are pretending to be girlfriends.

The most important thing is to not publish the semi-erotic video you made last weekend.

Even though you finally got to use the flogger you bought for your roommate, that doesn’t mean the rest of the world wants to see it.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

My elbow’s itchy, what do I do?

—Itchy Elbow Dear Doesn’t Understand the Purpose of an Advice Column, Scratch it, and if that doesn’t work, WebMD is your friend. It will say that you’re going to die, so start planning how you’re going spend your last few months on earth. It’s time to let people know how you feel about them, and that starts with your enemies. Your loved ones can wait.

Now that you know you’ll be dying soon, you can do all the things on your bucket list. Visit Chernobyl, engage in BDSM and cut your own toenails. Finally, complete your life goal of visiting a haunted hospital in every state. You will inevitably be knifed by a ghost and honestly, that’s a better way to die than an itchy elbow.

Feeling sleep-deprived, heartbroken or generally disoriented? Send questions to Hannah (hgaven@[at]vassar.edu) and Josie (jschermerhorn@ [at]vassar.edu) with the subject “Mice Advice.”

HUMOR & SATIRE

March 1, 2018

Page 17

Deece suffers food fight tragedy, reform proves messy Blair Webber

Wannabe President

D

Courtesy of Wikipedia

ear all, I am writing in regard to the recent events affecting the All Campus Dining Center.

Like so many other colleges across the country, ours has experienced the heinous vandalism of an isolated, unhealthy individual in a space we all cherish. We all remember too vividly the horror of walking into our beloved ACDC, or “Deece,” as some of you who follow me around trying to spot me using my phone, have called it. The sight of the oversized eggplants tumbling down the front steps, the spinach coating the ground, the remnants of vegan shortbread cookies shoved into the soda fountains and above all the splattered balls of hamburger on the walls and ceilings. This meat mayhem has become an all-too-familiar sight, copying exactly the mode of vandalism in university dining halls from coast to coast. Clearly, the American higher education system has a problem. I hope here at Vassar, we can begin to address issues within our own community.

First, after careful discussion with the VSA, we have decided to take some preliminary steps.

Considering that the calling card of these kinds of incidents is the spheres of raw, ground beef on the walls and ceiling, clearly the perpetrators of these attacks enjoy throwing balls. In an effort to strike at the heart of these occurrences, all baseball players attempting to swipe into the All Campus Dining Center will be denied. They are welcome to enjoy all three meals at Express or the Retreat under close supervision.

Already, the administration has come under criticism for this measure, but I assure you that

Prototypes of the raw meat with which the administration plans to arm all Deece employees.

This innovative, cutting-edge tchnology is particularly aerodynamic, pungent, and also squishy.

We Hear You. We considered this decision from every possible angle. Some of you have written to me wondering why members of the softball, basketball, soccer, tennis and frisbee teams (Yes, we do know you are a sport, frisbee!) are not included in the ban. The pattern of these isolated incidents proves our reasoning: Lone males who love to throw things commit these acts.

Men don’t play softball, and tennis only involves throwing balls in limited capacity, and no hands are used in soccer with the exceptions of throwins and the goalie. Anyone who truly loves to wind up and throw would not play these sports.

No, it is evident to all of us involved that the young men—nay, children—who commit this sort of heinous, disrespectful act in our community simply love to throw, and the only sport in which you truly throw balls is baseball.

Others wonder why raw hamburger is available to any student in any college dining hall.

The raw beef splattered upon the walls and ceiling have become emblematic of these incidents; however, Vassar College sees no connection between the ready availability of uncooked patties and these incidents. Students wishing to perpetrate these acts would buy their own hamburg-

HOROSCOPES

er, probably expired, from off the streets. Some students counter that that is a financial and logistical impracticality for most students tempted to behave in this way. It would be too expensive to buy that much chuck from a grocery store, too difficult to get it back from the grocery and too noticeable to walk across campus with a mountain of ground beef without someone stopping you. These arguments seem unfounded. Clearly these criminals are ready to disobey the codes of respect and decency expected in communal living. How can we expect mere bans on where and how much raw meat is left in the ACDC to even begin to address this issue? It is simple logic.

Students are welcome to voice their opinions at any time, but I would like to make it clear that until banning baseball players from our dining halls proves ineffective, we will enact no student-suggested methods to temper these offenses. We encourage all students who must use the Deece daily to exercise caution so they do not bring these events upon themselves again. The administration is currently working on a plan to provide Deece workers with satchels of their own raw meat to throw at anyone seen behaving suspiciously. By arming Bon Appétit employees with their own patties to hurl at potential Deece trashers, these events can be prevented. Nothing stops a bad guy with a raw hamburger better than a good guy with a raw hamburger.

Thank you all for your patience through this.

There will be $5 K-Cup gift cards for anyone willing to carry raw hamburger with them around campus as an extra safety measure.

Sincerely, Wannabe President of Vassar College

Hannah Gaven

amateur astrologist

ARIES

March 21 | April 19

TAURUS

April 20 | May 20

GEMINI

May 21 | June 20

CANCER

June 21 | July 22

LEO

July 23 | August 22

VIRGO

August 23 | September 22

It’s probably been a while since you’ve had a date.

No need to feel sad. Other people are the worst! So instead, pamper yourself with naps and the “Men of Hawaii” calendar because you deserve it, boo! If you’re still feeling lonely you can come cuddle with me @hannahgaven.

So your Tinder date didn’t go so well? What a surprise! Maybe you can try broadening your search radius and age range. For example, Matt Damon is 47 years old, but he’s still really hot. However, he has a wife, so instead I would go for Jonah Hill’s mom (who is on Tinder).

You will have luck with pick-up lines this week.

I suggest using, “I’m sorry you lost your VCard, but you can take mine,” “Wanna come to shipping and receiving with me? I have a huge package” or “Did I see you in the Loeb last night? Because you’re a masterpiece!”

Cancer, you may have had your heart broken and given up on love. However, all hope is not lost! You should sign up for “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.” While others might not be there for the right reasons, your reasoning is pure: You want to date 25 people at once.

The Romans believed that love is sweet. However, too much sweetness, like too much ice cream, can be unhealthy. Remember, you need to be equals in a relationship, unless this is some sort of “Fifty Shades of Grey” thing. In that case, I suggest you get far, far away, even if he is hot and rich.

Love will come when it’s least expected! So pay attention in restrooms, as you may just walk in on the person of your dreams. Instead of feeling embarrassed, strike up a conversation. Just be sure to wash your hands before you try and hold theirs!

LIBRA

September 23 | October 22

SCORPIO

October 23 | November 21

SAGITTARIUS

November 22 | December 21

CAPRICORN

December 22 | January 19

AQUARIUS

January 20 | February 18

PISCES

February 19 | March 20

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Just because none of your relationships have ever worked out doesn’t mean that you should give up on love. I suggest you text all of your exes to see what you did wrong. Hopefully you’ll change yourself entirely to please other people, and then maybe someone will want you.

Do you like lesbian musicals? Of course you do!

So use the last days of your free student Amazon Prime account to watch “Liberty’s Secret” with your S.O. And if you don’t like lesbian musicals, then you and I are probably not meant to be.

Your crush will never love you back. Isn’t that crushing? Instead, make a kissing bet with your roommate. If things work out, you won’t need to worry about being sexiled from your room. Also, when you want to sleep, you won’t have to make the walk of shame back to your dorm room.

It’s a little sad that you probably spend all your nights Netflix-and-chilling alone. Maybe you will be able to find another single who watched “Emo the Musical” four times last night. I recommend inviting them over to Netflix and chill with you tonight.

You know that nerd-girl trope, where she becomes instantly hotter when she takes off her glasses? That could be you! So just take off your pesky glasses, and I guarantee you that you’ll find love!

Probably because you won’t be able to see and will end up physically running into your soulmate!

The freezing weather may cause your hands to go numb. One way to remedy this is to grab your crush’s hand and never let go. Valentine’s Day has passed, so there is no pressure for a romantic date.

Instead, you can just follow them wherever they go.

I guarantee this will not make you creepy and weird.

SPORTS

Page 18

March 1, 2018

Swimming and Diving breaks records at championships SWIM/DIVE continued from page 1

and made White the second male swimmer ever to win a conference title at Vassar College. Belanger posted a lifetime best of 5:08.68 in the same swim, while Strand swam a personal best of 1:55.20 in the 200 individual medley, setting a new school record in the process.

The following days of the competition saw some equally-impressive performances. On the second day of championships, White crushed another school record in the 200 freestyle. He later teamed up with Strand, Harrison Taylor ‘20 and Matthew Imiolek for the 400 medley relay, earning a place in the A finals with a time of 3:39.07.

On his own, Taylor advanced to the 400 individual medley finals, posting a lifetime best of 54.45.

Taylor, one of the captains of men’s swim, continued to improve his game. On the third morning, he posted a season best time of 2:07.75 on the 200 fly to make it into the consolation bracket. In the finals, he pushed even harder to earn a lifetime best of 2:04.32, finishing 14th overall. Strand earned a spot in the 100 breaststroke championship final with a time of 58.09, the best time he has earned all season. Kalina followed the smashing trend in his 1650 freestyle, finishing in just 16:23, a lifetime best and the second fastest in Vassar history. Junior Marvin Corleto, one of the two divers sent to the championships, earned a 225.85 in the one-meter diving event, the highest score of his life thus far.

Imiolek kept his composure as the final day of championships rolled around, swimming a lifetime best in the 100 freestyle to secure a spot in the finals. Once there, he beat this record once again, posting a 49.81 to bring points home for the Brewers. White continued his outstanding performance, cracking another Vassar record, which he already held, in the 200 backstroke with a new time of 1:56.48. The first-year was named Liberty League Male Rookie of the Year, joining Vassar’s

only other Rookie of the Year, Chung, who won this title in 1999. White contributed 86 points to the Brewers’ total of 568, which put them in seventh overall. “I’m very excited that I was recognized by the Liberty League Conference,” White commented. “I’ve put in a lot of extra time and effort by going to morning practices, changing my routine and more to help prepare. Considering some of the freshmen talents on other teams this year, as well as the amazing freshmen on the Vassar swim team, it’s a great honor.”

Though the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute took home the gold with 1621 points, the four days were filled with countless smashed records and outstanding personal performances all around.

Placing seventh was a great accomplishment for the Brewers at this competition, considering the small quantity of swimmers and divers that attended the championships. “For having such a small squad on our side, placing where we did was amazing,” White said. “We had so many people earn best times, and even improve their times from preliminaries to finals!” With the end of this competition, the Brewers graduate seniors Strand and Connor Martin from the program.

The women came out just as fiercely once championships began, sitting in third after just the first day. Junior Kael Ragnini was one of three swimmers who made it to the finals for the 500 freestyle, reaching the A bracket with a time of 5:16.80. She shaved off almost a full second from this time that night in the finals. In the next swim, senior Emily McDaniels made it to the B finals by finishing the 200 individual medley in 2:17.15, a season personal best. Similarly to the men, the women saw multiple newcomers crush their lifetime best times in various swims. First-year Stephanie Kaplan swam a quick 25.52 in the 50 freestyle, heading to the B final, while fellow firstyear Brynn Lautenbacher qualified for the A final

with a 24.70. She slightly beat this time yet again that night with a 24.62. Lautenbacher had an exceptional following day as well in the 100 butterfly.

With a time of just 57.84, she flew by the rest of the swimmers in the preliminary race, finishing in first place and earning a clear ticket to the A final.

She later on beat this time with a 57.31, becoming Vassar’s first Liberty League Champion, and securing the first-ever Liberty League 100 butterfly title for the Brewers. “I’m very proud of my 100 freestyle performance,” Lautenbacher expressed.

“I’ve trained sprint freestyles a lot more this year than I have in the past, and it showed in my race.”

However, she believes she can push this time even further down in the years to come, adding,“There is definitely still room for improvement. I hope to beat that time again next season.”

The second day saw another impressive show from the 400 medley relay team, consisting of first-years Rhea Randhawa and Stephanie Kaplan and juniors Haley Schultz and Lautenbacher.

They posted a time of 3:55.43, shattering the old Vassar record of 3:59.81. In this medley, Randhawa hammered out a lifetime best of 57.96 in her leg of the race.

Going into day three, the Brewers still sat in third place with 525.5 points. Despite falling into fifth early on in the day, Schultz and first-year Shannon Schrope helped the Brewers crawl back up to fourth place with their 100 breaststrokes.

Schultz swam a 1:07.10 for third place, while Schrope earned a 1:06.14 to qualify for the championship finals. In the same swim, Kaplan swam a season best of 1:11.63, while sophomore Abby Kirsch swam a season best of 1:16.62.

That night, at the finals, Schrope finished in second place for the 50 breaststroke, while Kaplan finished second in the consolation finals for the 100 breaststroke, earning a season best 1:10.51. For the same 100 breaststroke swim, sophomores Lau-

ra Vidano and Sarah Boese earned participation in the bonus C final, swimming season bests of 1:06.63 and 1:06.43 respectively.

The Brewers finished the third day needing 822 additional points in order to break the Vassar College record that was set at a Liberty League meet in the 2015 season. Halfway through the finals on the last day of the competition, the women met this goal and ended the meet with a total of 963.5 points. While Vassar has finished higher than fourth place before, the peak of total points that the swimmers and divers accumulated suggests their growing strength in individual and team performances. Lautenbacher started the final day with her typical 100 freestyle, qualifying for the finals, where she took seventh place with a season best time of 54.24. Junior Sammy Stone won the consolation final for the same swim with a 53.96, which is the fastest anybody on the team has swum all season. The record-breaking moment for the Brewers came when first-timer Randhawa finished third for the 100 freestyle in a time of 2:06.8, earning 27 points and tipping the Brewers over the past school record.

For her last Vassar swim, Cali Corbett earned 12 points on a season best mile time of 19:05.81, while senior Nora Kyrkjebo earned a total of 347 points for the Brewers for her final diving performance.

The team will not only graduate these two impressive contributors, but also senior captains Madison Carroll and McDaniels, as well as senior diver Katie Nordstrom. These five leave Vassar holding the new school record and an impressive fourthplace finish. “Our team is beyond proud overall,” Lautenbacher concluded about the final meet of the season. “Earning the most points ever for Vassar is a huge accomplishment for us. We were also the highest-scoring team without a full roster, which goes to show how much more we can still accomplish as the team grows.”

In tough road loss, women knocked out of basketball playoff Kelly Pushie Reporter

A

season. It was a huge learning experience for us, especially because we had never played in that intense atmosphere before,” Teta noted.

Teta also commented on how this learning experience has helped her pinpoint specifics that the team needs to focus on for next season. “The game taught me a lot about what our team needs to do next year in order to not produce the same result.

We need to focus on doing all of the little things that do not appear in the stat line,” she explained.

“This may seem minuscule and tedious but it is the difference between good teams and great teams.

During our semifinal game, Skidmore did all of the little things which helped make them successful.”

While Teta still has one season left as a Brewer, this loss was bittersweet for Cook, who will be graduating in May. “I am going to miss the team and the experience of playing basketball immense-

ly...Getting to the semifinals was a huge accomplishment and an exciting journey to be a part of,” Cook elucidated.

However, for Cook, it was not just about the wins and the losses and the many accomplishments of the team. Rather, it was about the whole experience of playing basketball. Cook explained, “There is a distinct feeling that I get while competing that is only present when I step onto the court.

To have that feeling in the company of incredible women while playing the sport I love will be one of the things I miss most.”

The Brewers will graduate three seniors this year: Cook, Rosenthal and Romanoff. Roellke noted, “We wish we could have gotten a Liberty League title for our seniors, who have contributed an indescribable amount to VCWB in their tenure here. Their leadership will be missed.”

Courtesy of Ed Burke

fter a hard-fought game and an incredible season, the women’s basketball team fell 60-45 in what ended up being their last game of the season on Saturday at Skidmore. The Brewers finished out this season 17-10, their winningest season in four years.

The Brewers offense was paced by sophomore Isa Peczuh, who posted 13 points, 12 of which came from three-pointers. Senior captain Ariella Rosenthal put up eight points and grabbed seven rebounds. Senior Kim Romanoff and junior Julia Roellke rounded out the top four scorers, posting five points apiece. Sophomore Sophie Nick led the Brewers in rebounds with 10 and added in four points.

Vassar struggled with shooting from the floor, posting a 0.283 FG percentage and a 0.241 percentage from the three-point line. Comparatively, Skidmore shot 0.411 from the floor and 0.417 from three.

Skidmore shot nearly twice as well as the Brewers, which proved to be a huge issue for Vassar’s players, who just couldn’t seem to break down the Thoroughbreds’ defense throughout the whole game.

However, the first half of the game was a much closer contest than the second half. The Brewers were down one heading into the second quarter, but were then able to outscore Skidmore by one, leaving the game tied at 25 at halftime.

Skidmore came out fast in the second half, going on a 15-4 scoring run, which put the Brewers in a tough position to recover from. They went into the fourth quarter down by 11, having only posted six points in the entire third quarter.

The Brewers showed no signs of giving up, however, and even got the game to within five with 2:14 remaining thanks to a layup by senior Samarah Cook. Unfortunately, this was the last time the Brewers scored, and Skidmore put away 10 more

points to close out the game 60-45.

While this loss knocked the Brewers out of Liberty League tournament play, the women’s basketball team still has a lot to be proud of. Skidmore went into this game as the number one seed, but Vassar had already beaten them twice in the regular season. VC also picked up huge wins against RPI, St. Lawrence and Clarkson.

Cook attributed the loss in this third matchup to lack of grit and execution. “I think the main difference between yesterday and the previous times we’ve played Skidmore was that they wanted it more and were hitting their open shots when we weren’t,” Cook said. “Their zone is very difficult to puncture, and we deferred to shooting from outside. Compared to the previous two times, we were hitting our outside shots, but yesterday that was not the case and we ended up digging ourselves into too deep of a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”

Roellke expressed that it hurt to lose to a team that the Brewers were capable of beating: “It’s obviously not the way we wanted to end the season, but reflecting on it, we had a fantastic year. Losing to Skid is never easy, particularly given that we swept them in the regular season and had the potential to beat them in playoffs on their hardwood.

As Sophie Nick always says, ‘it’s hard to beat a good team three times in a row.’”

VC ended the season with an average of 61.9 points per game, while Skidmore averaged 56.4 points per game. The Brewers also averaged 40.1 rebounds per game and 14.4 assists per game. The team had an incredible 0.691 free throw percentage and a 0.407 field goal percentage with a 0.326 three-point field goal percentage. Nick and Rosenthal ended the season with the most points on the team, posting 354 and 307 respectively.

Junior Nicole Teta is very happy with what the Brewers have accomplished and the direction in which the program is headed. “This is the first time our team has made it to the playoffs since the 2014

First-year Skylar Schmid jumps to block a shot in Vassar’s second rouund playoff game against Skidmore last Saturday. The Brewers dropped the contest with a score of 45-60.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

March 1, 2018

SPORTS

Page 19

Thoughts from the Editor: NCAA is its own enemy Mack Liederman Sports Editor

W

eathering the midst of a grueling 2013 season, Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino decided to motivate his team with a challenge.

If Louisville won the national championship, the 60-year-old would ink himself with a commemorative tattoo.

March Madness soon rolled around, and the Cardinals, raising their play in the tournament, forced their coach to make good on his promise.

Pitino received his first tattoo, a brightly colored (and very permanent) “L” with the words “2013 NCAA Champions” underneath. Last week, the NCAA voided the school’s championship, although Pitino’s back shoulder will beg to differ.

The decision was the culmination of an NCAA investigation, which followed allegations that Cardinals staffers hired exotic dancers to strip and have sex with recruits (ABC News, “Louisville must vacate basketball title, NCAA denies appeal,” 2.20.2018).

A separate FBI investigation published last week also named Louisville among 20 top-tier programs involved in a system of bribing players for commitments to their schools. The findings were the result of two years worth of wiretaps on the phones of coaches, donors and sports agents (Yahoo Sports, “Federal documents detail sweeping potential NCAA violations,” 2.23.2018).

Nothing about these reports is groundbreaking.

Around college basketball it is the quintessential open secret that top players are given money under the table. No need for a wiretap; former college

stars are not embarrassed to admit that on their own. Doing so is a progressive act of protest.

“Someone take down the ncaa for generating billions of dollars to only pay its student athletes a cost of attendance of $900 dollars a month,” tweeted current Laker and former Utah Ute Kyle Kuzma, who was cited in the FBI report as receiving $16,000 for his time in college (Twitter, [at] kylekuzma, 2.20.2018).

“You got $900???? Bro I got $273…” quipped former Villanova Wildcat Josh Hart in response to his teammate (Twitter, [at]joshhart, 2.21.2018).

Under the student-athlete model of the NCAA, payments in the hyper-competitive environment of big-time college basketball are inevitable. So much so that sports culture has made it a cliché to even point it out. Every basketball fan remembers Coach Bell’s press conference in the fictitious film “Blue Chips”: “You just got to get your mind out of the gutter, it’s right there in front of you, for Christ’s sake we didn’t just give him an automobile, I mean it was a fully loaded Lexus!”

The lack of originality in the extremely thorough FBI investigation makes the whole report seem merely petty. Corruption in the NCAA has always been implied, but only now has the FBI finally decided to look. The report reads like an offbrand version of McCarthyism, a storm that moves randomly and recklessly, chastising top prospects that could really be anyone.

Michigan State sophomore guard Myles Bridges was one of those unlucky enough be named. Last winter, Bridges allowed an agent to buy dinner for his family members. The NCAA ruled Bridges

ineligible, but has reinstated him after he donated the equivalent cost of the dinner, a grand total of $40, to a charity of his choice (Deadspin, “Unpaid Athlete Resolves Paid Dinner Scandal,” 2.26.2018).

This “punishment” is every bit unnecessary. It is particularly sad to see a player like Bridges, a guy who chose to stay an extra year in college as opposed to jumping straight to the NBA, be so victimized for such a trivial matter. The move does little to deter future corruption, and does much more to incentivize top players to leave college as quickly as possible. Also, shouldn’t the FBI be spending its time on more important investigations at Michigan State? Anyone remember the systematic cover-up of sexual abuse by school physician Larry Nassar?

Fortunately for Bridges, a $40 donation pales in comparison to the heat taken by other top recruits.

Jahvon Quinerly and Shareef O’Neal were both pressured into decommitting from Arizona after Head Coach Sean Miller was connected to paying recruits. It is a weird irony to see Shareef, the son of millionaire Shaquille O’Neal, be the one to suffer from the fallout, given that the young man was likely not in need of a bribe.

O’Neal does not profile as the typical basketball blue chip—many of these young men come from low-income backgrounds, putting them in tough positions to turn down any kind of money or assistance. Being a broke college student with a demanding unpaid work schedule is frustrating, particularly when you are only a year away from making millions professionally.

“Yeah, probably. I needed the money,” NBA star Kevin Durant said when asked if he would have

entered the NBA out of high school (CBS, “Kevin Durant against one-and-done rule,” 2.23.2018).

In the wake of the report, public opinion has only come to reinforce support for paid college athletes, turning blame towards the NCAA itself.

The organization currently operates in a muddy legal system of its own creation, punishing players and programs without a clean formula and with little precedent. Louisville deserved to be sanctioned for the extent of its corruption, but taking a championship away from innocent players is a harsh and empty gesture. No matter if the banner comes down, we all saw the championship game happen.

At its roots, the NCAA model is a great one: Colleges utilize high revenues from popular sports to offer free college educations to athletes across many different programs. However, the system fails top athletes, who are left unable to capitalize off the tremendous profits resulting from their athletic success. I am not one to advocate that all athletes should be paid, but those with the ability to pursue extra financial gain should not be restricted from doing so, whether it be by signing a endorsement deal or appearing in a commercial.

It is all these added restrictions the NCAA has forced upon its student-athletes that have turned them into the villains. They appear as an organization in desperate need of casting penalties, a cheap attempt to assert themselves as the good guys.

As long as they continue to do so, any investigative findings will always fall upon deaf ears. Nobody cares that top athletes are paid. Most believe they should be anyway. It’s up to the NCAA now to enact progress, rather than deter it.

Despite weak title race, Why not give Formula One, Premier League back on top tire-shredding racing a shot?

Jonathan Levi-Minzi Guest Columnist

W

ith ten match weekends remaining in the 2017-18 English Premier League season, there are few matters to settle. Who is winning the title? Manchester City. Who is getting the coveted Champions League qualifications? Not Arsenal.

Is the non-climactic season climax a problem?

In a sense, it is. One would like to see a round-robin tournament in the long time.

But I want to caution the Premier League fan against declaring it a lost season. Very much the contrary: 2017-18 has been a revelation, a turning point for the competition, and the results of this shift have begun to show up in Europe, where English teams have been coming up notoriously and inexplicably short for the past half-dozen years.

Anyone familiar with Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola’s previous ventures in (highly financially backed) football managing was not too surprised when the famed Spaniard’s Manchester City almost immediately made their intentions of league domination clear. But, despite Guardiola’s credentials, his first season in Manchester left doubt in the minds of many. City finished third in the 2016-17 iteration of the league and earned no tournament wins, a first for Pep’s entire managing career.

Pep had little doubt, though, and neither did the Manchester City board, which doubled down emphatically on the Guardiola experiment with a net transfer spend of over $300 million this past summer. The squad’s new fullbacks alone cost over $185 million. The new arrivals had the desired effect—goalkeeper Ederson and right back Kyle Walker have been fixtures in the first 11. It would be easy to look just at Manchester City and forget the rest with how the title-race has gone, but “the rest” have been no slouches either.

Manchester United, managed by the wily mastermind Jose Mourinho, have finally re-established a stable superiority. With superstars all across their frontline and a similarly star-studded midfield balanced with the addition of Nemanja

Matic, United have firmly broken away from their post-Alex-Ferguson malaise and look a good bet to reassert themselves amongst the European elite.

Liverpool also has a lackluster recent past that they were desperate to put in the rearview.

Though by no means a return to the domineering ways of the legendary ‘Pool sides, this year’s iteration has put on quite a display. Like United, the frontline is absolutely world-class. Liverpool are apt to score three goals every time they step on the pitch. Now a potent threat to any team in the world, they announced their European intentions with a convincing 5-0 drubbing away at Porto.

Tottenham, which boasts league’s national team darlings in Harry Kane and Dele Alli, have remained competitive amongst the elite at the top.

Though not in a title race as they were last season, they have nonetheless progressed, evidenced by two away goals at the normally impenetrable Italian giants Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round.

Chelsea, last year’s surprise league winner, has struggled to match their feat from a season ago.

Their form has slipped precipitously in the last few months, with manager Antonio Conte naturally taking the brunt of the blame. Nonetheless, I would argue that the team has held its own very well this season. Amidst a busier schedule and the considerable rearming of City, United, and Liverpool, the team has, somehow, steadfastly remained in the Champions League conversation.

All four challengers certainly have room for improvement. Manchester United would do well to renew the quality in their center-back corps. Liverpool might consider considering defending at all. Tottenham and Chelsea need higher first-team investment if they want to better represent London against their Manchester counterparts.

Yet all four teams are currently serious, legitimate contenders on the European stage. Manchester City’s improvement to league dominance belies the corresponding improvement in the level of England’s top clubs.

Daniel Bonfiglio Guest Columnist

H

ere in the northeast United States, motorsports are not exactly a priority. Nothing could be more taboo than a gas-guzzling beast, shredding its tires as it goes around a track, polluting the world. We generally prefer football or baseball. Down south, the story is little different.

The Daytona 500 kicked off the 2018 NASCAR season on Feb. 18 and drew a crowd of over 100,000 screaming Floridians. If we move out west to the Indianapolis 500, crown jewel of the Indycar championship and self-proclaimed greatest race in the world, the 2017 incarnation drew 300,000 people: more than one-third of the city’s population. Racing in the United States is synonymous with the South, the Heartland, and the Republican Party. For many northeasterners, a general distaste of racing lies as much in culture differences as it does in the sport itself.

In others part of the world, motorsports are less viewed along political lines, nor are they considered boorish. The art of speed and precision is embraced. Last week, Formula One teams unveiled cars to be used for the 2018 season, beginning with pre-season testing in Spain this week.

The cars bear no resemblance to the big body of a NASCAR. Instead, they are lower, sleeker and faster; more like a large go-kart than a minivan.

They take no influence from roadgoing counterparts as the Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion NASCARs do. Instead, it is Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren that draw technology for their exclusive roadgoing machines from these technological masterpieces, representing the true pinnacle of motorsport. Manufacturers like these compete not only to gain a pedigree around the world for their customers, but also to test their most advanced technology in a competitive environment.

Believe it or not, many technologies that we find in road cars today were created or are developed in racing environments. The World Endurance Championship (WEC) is instrumental in the

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continuous development of fuel-efficient hybrid engines, as the long races make apparent the relevance of fuel efficiency. Toyota directly implements technology it develops at the WEC into to its Prius and other hybrids. The new Formula E championship established in 2014 is the first-ever all-electric racing series, and manufacturers like Audi and Renault – and soon Porsche and Mercedes – compete to further develop electric racers, and the future of the automobile itself. Even Formula One has moved on to less noisy, cleaner hybrid V6 engines since 2014, specializing in capturing all excess energy from motion and heat around the car and turning it back into power.

Formula One is an international sport, with drivers hailing from all across the world. There will be 21 races in 2018, each in a different country, covering five continents. The tracks themselves are each unique, with tons of corners and elevation changes: a stark difference from the ovals of NASCAR. A Formula One car must be able to accelerate, brake and change direction in an instant, and they can. Drivers often experience forces of up to 6G as they brake or corner sharply, and stresses over the course of a race can cause drivers to lose many pounds of water weight.

Completing a race has been likened to running a marathon. Thus, Formula One drivers are highly tuned athletes, more akin to fighter pilots than the stereotypical NASCAR drivers. There will be 20 drivers in 2018, each part of 10 two-car teams, and they are the best drivers in the world.

Formula One teams will spend the next few weeks testing the technologies that they spend millions developing each year, and the drivers will prepare and hone their craft of pushing each car to its absolute limit. So when the lights go out in Australia on March 25, instead of sighing and thinking how boring it will be to watch cars go around a track, remember that it’s much more than that.

We all love fast-paced sports, played by athletes at the top of their game, performing with the utmost precision. So why not give Formula One a try?

SPORTS

Page 20

Why

we

Madison Carroll Guest Columnist

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down and dedicate myself to getting better at the game in a way that, as a naturally strong and fast kid, I had not had to before.

I loved basketball in such a different way than I loved soccer—it was high-intensity and fast and made me feel strong. There’s nothing in the world as satisfying as draining a three or making a smart steal on defense. I made the varsity team my sophomore year and ended up being a starter that year as well. It was something that I knew I had worked for and was proud of, and despite being on a team that basically never won a game, I relished playing and knowing that I left everything I had on the court. Basketball taught me how to be gritty, how to deal with and learn from losing and how to work above and beyond to get better.

I joined a summer swim team when I was nine years old. Swimming was my first experience with an “individual” sport—though I never quite felt it was truly individual, it was different to be racing completely on my own. My little thoroughly-competitive self thrived in that environment, especially because swimming really did come naturally to me. I knew how to work hard, and I loved to go fast. I was obsessed with feeling successful and knowing that I had crushed my personal best or touched someone out at the wall.

While the individual aspect was incredible, I also found joy in being part of a team in a different way. I can’t articulate the euphoria that you feel when you see a teammate who has put everything into swimming for months crack a smile when they see their time up on the board. I joined the varsity swim team in eighth grade, and even though it kept me from playing soccer on my high school team (both were fall sports, and I continued to play travel soccer year round), I loved it and I loved my team with everything I had. Varsity swimming had such a positive impact on me and my leadership skills, led me to make the decision to swim in college—one of the best decisions I think that I have ever made.

Swimming at the college level has meant the world to me. I have developed and nurtured my love for swimming in an even deeper way than

10 15 18 20 24 35 37 38 42 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 12 16 19 21 22 23 25 27 32 33 34 36 45

“Why We Play” is a weekly installment where Vassar players write about what their chosen sport means to them. This week, we feature senior swimmer Madison Carroll, pictured above.

I did before. It’s a big transition to move from swimming a couple of times a week on a club team while also participating in other sports to swimming six days a week multiple times a day for five months. Becoming purely a varsity swimmer, I learned even more of the intricacies of swimming: how the tiniest of details can change a person’s stroke for the better, how to write a practice and how to be a better leader.

I find so much joy in cheering for my teammates and watching them succeed—and it’s of course it’s fun to swim fast myself. However, finally getting to the prompt of this piece, I have had to confront the question of “Why We Play” in a pretty serious way.

October of my junior year, after experiencing severe back pain for the better part of 10 months, I learned that I had two herniated discs. I was faced with the possibility that I would have to quit swimming. However, I found definitively that this could not be an option for me. I could not handle being without my teammates and this sport that I loved so much. I had to put my head down and basically relearn how to swim, and

how to be a part of a team where I was not swimming as fast or as much as I wanted to. It was not and is not an easy thing for me to face, but I had to continue swimming in whatever way possible because I could not imagine my life without it.

So, I find myself now having completed my last swim meet on this past Saturday. I did not get to swim at full capacity for the past two years, but I truly believe that I became an even more present teammate and that my appreciation and love for swimming grew beyond anything I could have imagined. I am constantly amazed by the dedication, talent and drive of my teammates. I know that swimming will continue to be a part of my life for the rest of my life, and I owe that to everything athletics have given me since I was four years old, running around without purpose on a tiny soccer field.

So, why do I play? I play because my team is my family. I play because I love the feeling of pushing my body to do impossible things. I play because it teaches me about myself and the people around me. And I play—basketball, soccer, swimming—because it is what makes me happy.

Men’s Lacrosse

Women’s Lacrosse

Vassar College 12, Drew University 7

Vassar College 14, Drew University 8

February 24, 2018

February 24, 2018

Vassar College #

Madison Carroll

play

Courtesy of Carlisle Stockton

henever I am asked to describe myself, the first word that comes to mind is “athlete.”

Though I am now a varsity college swimmer, my love of athletics began a little differently: with soccer and basketball. I started playing soccer at four years old, and without quite understanding why, I fell in love with competition.

I loved the feeling of running as fast as I possibly could to make a play, learning footskills, making successful defensive tackles, scoring goals and most of all, being on a team. When I was in fourth grade, a group of players split off to join a U10 girls’ travel soccer league, and suddenly I had 14 other girls who became my family.

From a young age, we all bought into what it meant to be a team: We were a true unit, friends on and off the field. I always felt excited to go to practice and get better with my teammates, and I know that they felt the same way. I felt (and still feel) at home on a soccer field with my shin guards and a muddy pair of cleats on my feet. I consider the girls on that team, the majority of whom I played with until I graduated high school, as some of my best friends in the whole world.

Soccer taught me what it meant to work hard: what it felt like to be a part of a team and to love something to my core.

In first grade, along with many of the girls on my soccer team, I began playing in our town basketball league. Basketball was a very different beast, and it did not come naturally to me.

Though I did not have the prettiest technique or the sharpest skills, I remember being that kid who went after it with everything that she had, even if that meant stealing the ball from the point guard and missing the breakaway layup in dramatic fashion (One time the ball went all the way over the backboard and hit the fire alarm…).

In seventh grade, when I tried out for the modified team for the first time, the coach point blank said to me that my skills were not good enough to be on the team, but that I had made it because I was a fighter. Though that was a tough thing for my 12-year-old self to hear, it made me buckle

March 1, 2018

Player M. Lowery TK Murphy S. Fleps N. Diamond Z. Henig M. Boyd C. Erdman M. Mullen A. Mello C. Vorel P. Sargeant L. Neville J. Thomas K. Cherry J. Hueston D. Adams P. Gibbons A. Georgalas N. Lyman P. Zimmerman T. Meade C. Croghan E. Burns D. Stebel R. Weiss S. Duryee J. Bradley R. Quattlebaum C. Landolt C. Koester C. Arney M. Killion Totals.......

Drew University

G

A

P

SH GB

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

9 3 2 0 2 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0

12 6 18 24 28

# 2 3 7 9 10 21 23 25 26 28 1 4 5 6 8 11 16 18 19 22 24 37 30

Player J. Bronander K. Goettlich J. Palmieri S. Smiley J. Crowley N. Sanders K. MacDonnell R. D’Alessandro C. Furman G. Swenson J. Fatone D. Lyons T. Ensmenger B. Hamm M. Malone C. Maynard T. Garner T. Euston R. Connors C. Curland J. T. Pojero S. O’Connor M. McGeeney

Totals.......

G

A

P

SH GB

0 2 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 2 0 0 2 0 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

0 2 3 1 1 2 0 0 8 3 0 1 6 2 4 4 0 0 0 30 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 0

7

5

12 28 24

Vassar College # 2 3 7 9 11 12 13 16 18 22 24 31 4 5 6 14 15 19 20 21 25

Player

G

3 F. MacLeod 4 T. Waters 0 O. O’Loughlin 0 T. Newcomb 0 A. LaMere 0 C. Congo 2 K. Pushie 2 S. Sidelau 0 A. Rivoir 0 G. Patick 0 S. Nemphos 0 E. Chancey S. Herrera-Ross 0 0 E. Hamburger 1 L. Wolk 2 A. MacEwen G. Goodwin-Boyd 0 0 M. Kokinis 0 J. Sledzik 0 H. Hallman 0 A. Fable

Totals.......

A

P

o 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0

3 4 1 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 1 0 1

14 7

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Drew University

SH GB

5 9 1 0 0 0 9 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 0 0 1 0 0

5 3 3 7 3 0 1 0 0 3 6 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 1 0 0

21 36 38

# 2 6 7 8 11 13 14 15 17 22 24 25 00 23

Player

G

1 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

A. DiDario M. Griswold M. Campanale L. Cassella J. Morelli D. Zola M. Hascup S. Johnson S. MacKinnon C. Nolting C. Breski K. Michalski C. Grimm B. Moukoulis

Totals.......

8

A

P

SH GB

0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 1 3 2 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 1

5 0 3 7 0 0 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 2

5 1 1 0 2 3 0 4 3 0 1 3 0 1

4 12 24 24