The Miscellany News April 16, 2020
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Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866 Volume 153 | Issue 9
Recorded lectures, synchronous classes: a gap in faculty standards Dean Kopitsky Sports Editor
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Juliette Pope/The Miscellany News.
n the soon-to-be-dubbed decade that was March 2020, many students traded in their college classrooms for a less traditional learning environment—home. Gone are the trappings of a traditional college classroom: high-tech projectors, fume hoods, charming old desks (and their charming graffiti). The most striking difference, however? The absence of students and professors. When the college evacuated most students from campus and announced a shift to online learning on March 12, a high-pressure keg of emotions, confusion and nerves burst in the middle of spring break. The overall structure of college—its supportive network of colleagues, resources and advisors—disappeared. Underlying this stress was an increasingly alarming pandemic. Students and professors alike had little over a week to wonder how
online classes, dubbed “remote learning,” would affect the rest of the semester. Questions regarding grading, class style and workload abounded. Professors were largely on the receiving end of those anxious queries. Yet, just as students were faced with the novelty of remote learning, their professors were scant more prepared. “I’ve been at Vassar since 1987, and I’d never taught remotely before,” said Professor of Political Science Stephen Rock. “I wasn’t sure how well this old dog would be able to learn new tricks.” Rock recalled no faculty meetings held on remote learning after President Bradley announced the shift. Tasked with guiding professors through this new reality is Dean of the Faculty Bill Hoynes, who noted several measures in place to guide faculty members: “We have provided technical assistance, including offering a wide range of consultation regarding support See Professors on page 5
Indie pop debut puts life on pause Bringing pets to the people: Pups get the Zoomies Meghan Hayfield Reporter
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his morning I stood in line to get into Whole Foods. It was raining and cold and I was not aptly dressed. My Birkenstocks were collecting raindrops and I looked out into the sad parking lot. A life without people, without touch, without adjectives. Enter Chicago indie pop band Beach Bunny. “Honeymoon,” Beach Bunny’s debut album was released on Valentine’s Day of this year. It feels like it was written on another planet. Its sounds are often dissonant and always vibrant; listening is like looking into a
kaleidoscope, a shifting array of images. Sometimes these images are solemn, like watching water lap across the shore. Against this backdrop, singer Lili Trifilio coaxes herself out of a broken relationship and into the dreamy promise of a new crush as she expounds on love and hate, jealousy and self-affirmation. Motifs of heartbreak and renewal are refreshing in a moment where it feels as if life is on pause. There’s an intensity to Honeymoon that complements this kind of life. The album races forth with a speed that is distracting and commanding and cultivates acceptance of the current
reality while simulating another one. In the opener “Promises,” a steady drum beat pulses alongside Trifilio’s breathy voice, gentle and luring. The tempo quickly builds and Trifilio breaks into a yell: “Do you ever think of me?” She exclaims the simple question over and over. The song does not indulge this aching insecurity but finds momentum in the pulse of a high hat, Trifilio’s youthful voice and an energetic guitar riff. While the album is bound in uneasy love, it is buoyed by sonic exuberance. “Are you out there? I’m still here/I wish that when I said your See Beach Bunny on page 3
Janet Song
Assistant Features Editor
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n an effort to combat loneliness amid social isolation, the Animal Farm Foundation’s “Pets Together” program aims to virtually connect pets and people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these connections, the foundation hopes to bring lovable animals to those who require some fluffy company, offering visitors—who range from elderly folks looking for companionship to doctors working at hospitals in need of a pick-me-
up—comfort at a time of uncertainty. The “Pets Together” program is one way Animal Farm Foundation (AFF) fosters connections between pets and people. According to their website, AFF works to bring dogs and people together as a way of ending discrimination among all individuals, bringing change through its service dog program, PAWS prison program, and training for K9 detection dogs, as well as other initiatives. AFF seeks to See Pets Together on page 5
Under quarantine, columnist concocts comforting cuisine Tamika Whitenack Guest Columnist
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he world we live in under the COVID-19 pandemic finds many of us unexpectedly at home, searching for pockets of peace amidst the chaos. Like countless others, cooking is part of my coping: I have turned to the kitchen as a creative outlet, and four weeks in, I find myself enjoying the opportunity to cook nourishing meals for my family. I am grateful to still have ample access to food, and for my family’s ability to make dietary changes to accommodate the less frequent trips to the grocery store. While I recognize that massive shifts in our food chains are posing difficulty for many across the country, I feel lucky that my own circumstances allow me to take the shift in ingredient availability as a chance to experiment—each night’s meal is a diversion of delicious discovery and edible innovation. Over the past
few weeks, my culinary escapades have ranged from simple staples to newfound nutritious nosh. Cooking is a consistent source of comfort in my life, and I offer this collection as an ode to practices that sustain health and well-being, even in these times. I, like many an internet citizen, have turned to bread baking, as we no longer visit our favorite bakery. Removing a fresh, warm loaf from the hot oven instills a sense of accomplishment hardly worthy of a simple mixture of flour, yeast, salt and water. A crusty round of bread is greatly satisfying, and continues to gift carbohydrate goodness throughout the week in the form of toast! I began my bread endeavors with the easy recipe for NoKnead Bread, but my most recent attempt has been a loaf of sourdough, lovingly made with a sourdough starter bequeathed upon us by my grandma a few years ago. See Culinary on pages 6-7
Courtesy of Tamika Whitenack.
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Womp Womp World
THE MISCELLANY NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR SENIOR EDITORS
April 16, 2020
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Frankie Knuckles Duncan Aronson Lucy Leonard Isabel Braham CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Leah Cates Sasha Gopalakrishnan Mack Liederman Tiana Headley Aena Khan Olivia Watson ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITORS Gillian Redstone Janet Song Jonas Trostle OPINIONS EDITOR Abram Gregory ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR Taylor Stewart ARTS EDITOR Francisco Andrade HUMOR EDITOR Izzy Migani ASSISTANT HUMOR EDITOR Jonah Frere-Holmes SPORTS EDITORS Dean Kopitsky Jackie Molloy ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Natalie Bober SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Mohtad Allwalla ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITORS Rose Parker Yvette Hu PHOTO EDITOR Grace Rousell ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Julián Aguilar GRAPHICS EDITORS Ciara Murray-Jordan Jacqueline Gill ASSISTANT COPY EDITORS Phoebe Jacoby Caitlin Patterson Alexis Cerritos VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER Alex Barnard AUDIO EDITORS Kyle Chung Julian Lindenmaier ASSISTANT AUDIO EDITOR Robert Pinataro BUSINESS MANAGER NEWS EDITORS
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by Frank
Thank ABBA for ‘Old Town Road’ Jonas Trostle
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Opinions Editor
n 1986, three years before he would release “Pretty Hate Machine,” Trent Reznor attended a Depeche Mode concert. As the concert came to an end, Depeche Mode, who were on tour for their new album “Black Celebration,” played their then-biggest hit “Just Can’t Get Enough,” the band’s first single. It was also the last song written for the band by founding member and distinguished ABBA fan Vince Clarke. Reznor, frontman and only member of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) until Atticus Ross joined in 2016, left that concert inspired and commenced a career that would garner Grammy and Academy awards as well as the longest-running number-one hit in Billboard Hot 100 history. Since NIN are known for their rough, mechanical sound, few people know that NIN is actually only a few steps removed from Swedish pop group ABBA. “Head Like a Hole” from NIN’s first album “Pretty Hate Machine,” which was produced in 1989 on a budget befitting a janitor’s salary, sounds like it could have been taken right off a Depeche Mode album. In fact, the similarity in sound between early NIN and contemporaneous Depeche Mode was so strong that Johnny Cash was able to take a song from each band’s catalog and cover them on the same album with no indication that he was covering two disparate genres, industrial rock and synth pop. But where did NIN’s sound really come from? In 1985, Andy Bell and the aforementioned Vince Clarke formed the band Erasure, a synth pop band very much in tune with the times. Bell and Clarke were both infatuated with ABBA—an infatuation which culminated in 1992’s “ABBA-esque,” an EP in which Erasure covered four of ABBA’s greatest hits. Even though “ABBA-esque” came out in ’92, ABBA’s influence was audible
both in Erasure’s lyrical themes and instrumental style well before then. Take Erasure’s “Oh L’amour,” a sad bop of the synthesizer era. With lyrics like “No emotional ties/You don’t remember my name/I lay down and die/I’m only to blame/ Oh, love of my heart/It’s up to you now/You tore me apart/I hurt inside-out,” the song resembles the more taciturn portions of ABBA’s discography, namely songs like “SOS,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “Slipping Through my Fingers.” The non-lyrical parts of “Oh L’amour,” however, resemble some of ABBA’s more cutting-edge songs—“VoulezVous,” “Lay All Your Love on Me” and “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” come to mind—with a wonderful mix of synths and upbeat drum tracks. ABBA clearly influenced Vince Clarke, who, in turn, influenced Trent Reznor.
“Were it not for ABBA, Depeche Mode and 80s synth pop, our modern version of country rap would not be what it is today.” At first blush, Reznor and NIN don’t seem to be the torchbearers for your mother’s ABBA, what with Reznor shouting things like “She has the blood of reptile just underneath her skin,” and “I want to fuck you like an animal.” But to see the connection, you must look beyond the lyrics. NIN has, for the most part, abandoned themes of longing
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and lost youth and instead focused on dr abuse, depression and dissatisfaction. T instrumentation, however, still reveals a of the same style as the progenitors of “Dan ing Queen.” As NIN has progressed, their sound h certainly strayed further from the synth-p ABBA sound. The Academy Award-winni 2010 soundtrack for “The Social Networ doesn’t sound like “Mamma Mia!,” and t Grammy Award-winning 2011 soundtra for “Girl with a Dragon Tattoo” doesn’t sou like “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Agai The instrumental album “Ghosts I-IV” h very little ABBA influence, especially now most famous track “34 Ghosts IV.” B without the influence of ABBA and Depec Mode, NIN never would have taken off, th never would have been in a position to w awards for best soundtrack, “34 Ghosts I would never have been made and the worl longest-running number one hit might n er have been produced. For those in the dark, “34 Ghosts IV” the backing track for Lil Nas X’s “Old Tow Road.” In essence, were it not for ABBA, D peche Mode and 80s synth pop, our mode version of country rap would not be wha is today. And whether you like it or not, “O Town Road” is every bit as much a count song as Johnny Cash’s cover of synth popfluenced industrial rock band NIN’s “Hurt Of course, that’s not to suggest that ABB were NIN’s only 80s influence. Rezn straight up sampled 80s legend Prince “Ringfinger” and the Opal remix of “He Like a Hole.” He called The Cure “One of t most unique, most brilliant, most hea breakingly excellent rock bands the wo has ever known.” Deep down, undernea the monochromatic, leather-jacketed ex rior, Trent Reznor and NIN were produ of the 80s. And like any product of the 8 ABBA flows within them.
April 16, 2020
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‘Honeymoon’ recalls heartbreak, promises renewal Continued from Beach Bunny on page 1 name you would appear, ” Trifilio croons in “April,” a song that swims in doubt. Her voice climbs until it collapses, caught by a bouncy guitar riff that soothes an unseen longing. “I’m not overthinking but I think about you a lot/And lately I am just an afterthought,” she sings, as if she’s falling from a plan only to find she can pull a parachute herself. We see her crawl to the edge of emotion until she pulls back completely and saves herself in a kinetic beat. Each catchy song is like a jewel, reflecting the light you shine into it. Trifilio’s lyics are sometimes idyllic (“More to me than a daydream, you’re my color scheme,” sun-soaked “Colorblind” begins) but at other moments are caught up in a reality that isn’t as colorful as fantasy (“I’m sorry too for wanting you/ Just let me know I’ll change the channel,” comes next as “Colorblind” fades from sunny to sad). “Racetrack” is a slow ballad about recognizing a relationship is over. “Rose colored lenses eventually crack,” Trifilio sings, her voice wispy and accompanied only by a piano, “but if you left leaving I’d let you right back.” While other songs lay out a path to catharsis, only “Racetrack” never gets there. “I always wind up in second place,” she finishes, not resentful but swallowing her fate. To an audience wracked with anxiety and loneliness, there is something comforting in Honeymoon’s depiction of a flawed relationship, flying through emotions as quickly as a chord changes. With lyrics like, “You love me, I love you/You don’t love me anymore, I still do,” in “Rearview,” the album becomes ruthlessly human. We never get a clear narrative, an easy and clean break. Instead we get the muffled, fuzzy form of being a person. Of longing for someone after they’re gone, of aching to be good enough so that
they don’t leave in the first place. Music often serves as escapism, and Honeymoon plunges me outside of this moment of isolation. The electricity that hums throughout the album reminds me that even as our realities are upended, there is room for not just survival, but for life. Before we existed in a global pandemic— or before many Vassar students were made aware of it, at least—I boarded a flight to California for Spring Break. On the plane I read Carmen Maria Machado’s hauntingly beautiful book, “In the Dream House,” and was caught by one phrase: “We can’t stop living.” I read this while flying above the Rocky Mountains, the snow-covered peaks both monstrous and miniature. I turned to my friend Annika as we took in a completely new scene, felt the strangeness of hovering above the earth, both connected and disconnected from reality. We have to live, even when we can’t recognize the terrain beneath us. We have to dance, play music, fall in love, daydream. We have to find closeness, somehow stay connected to the space we occupy and the people who are far away— even when it feels like reality is fading from resemblance. “Every moment I fall to pieces/Every moment I fall apart,” Trifilio professes in “Colorblind.” These words evoke a desolate landscape. But the surrounding sounds are anything but bare—there’s a thumping bass line, a stream of guitar that carries the message to a higher octave. It just depends on how you listen. While life right now feels empty of adjectives, I can think of so many to describe Honeymoon. Colorful, sugary, fiery, invigorating. In listening, I am reminded that certain essentials of humanity—hope, heartbreak, connection—won’t disappear.
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OPINION
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April 16, 2020
Don’t beg me to vote for Biden Alice Woo Columnist
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f you’ve made up your mind to vote for Biden, I’m not trying to convince you otherwise. Thanks to the two-party system, many of you believe that not voting for Biden is akin to voting for Trump. I happen to disagree, and before you begin to belittle the people who will not be casting a vote with the Democratic party, please consider the following. I have not seen a single case for Biden to be elected beyond “he’s our best chance to beat Trump,” which is a weak case, considering a measly 24 percent of his supporters report feeling “very enthusiastic” about their candidate. Compare this mere 24 percent of enthusiastic supporters to Trump’s 53 percent, and recall Biden’s abysmal track record—opposing desegregation, backing the Iraq War, pushing to cut Social Security, persecuting Anita Hill and voting to confirm Clarence Thomas, sexually assaulting Tara Reade, etc. Do you really wonder why he’s had trouble garnering support from progressive voters? I fail to see how Democrats have convinced themselves to rally around a candidate who is so wholly uninspiring and expect a different result than when we ran an unlikeable moderate in 2016. Imagine our current leaders saying “we need to unify and rally behind President Trump in the face of the COVID-19 crisis”—indeed, I know people who stand by this sentiment. But the president fired the experts who were trained to deal with a pandemic; he called the crisis a hoax; he ignored the literal handbook on how to deal with widespread contagion; he suggested hospitals and nurses are hoarding or wasting masks, rather than mobilizing the resources at the government’s disposal to obtain more masks and ventilators. In the face of this purely factual criticism, is the best solution still to blindly support our leader? Think about how disillusioned you are with our incompetent president, and then imagine the same treatment from every politician you’ve ever encountered. Imagine you’ve experienced marginalization, been left unemployed and without healthcare, and then told by Democratic elites that you must vote for their party because they will save you, even though they’ve failed to do anything that remotely addresses your lived experience in decades—that would just be too radical. These are the folks who voted for Trump in 2016, these are the folks Bernie was speaking to and these are the folks who have no obligation to vote blue in November.
I myself question whether President Biden would be that much less of an evil than President Trump. One supposed appeal of Biden’s campaign is that he’s able to appeal to moderates across the aisle; he’s not promising the idealistic, extreme left, “pie in the sky” policies that Bernie was pushing. He’s all about incremental change. Unfortunately, if we keep countering extreme fascism with anything moderate, anything but extreme anti-fascism, then we are going to continue to be pulled further and further into fascism. Consider Biden’s recent promise to lower the Medicare-eligible age to 60 and the praise he’s received for this concession. Then recall that four years ago, Hilary Clinton suggested lowering it to 55. We’re going backwards. The center is sliding further and further to the right. Universal healthcare, which has dominated our debate stage for decades, is perfectly reasonable and functional for 18 other countries, but the American political and moral compass is skewed to the right after years of attempting incremental change. Incremental change is not good enough—a fact that has become especially clear in the face of the global pandemic. Perhaps you’re thinking that I need to remember what matters: beating Trump. To this, I firmly say that if I have to set aside a lot of my principles in order to vote for a candidate, what does it matter that candidate’s party? Based on his track record, electing Biden is a win for the Republican Party in all ways but nominal. This year would have been the time for the Democratic party to evolve by throwing their weight behind Bernie Sanders. Instead, they bet everything on Grandpa Joe, a candidate who represents the Democratic party of an ancient time, but has not given any indication that he is prepared to lead Americans in any way (just look at his response to COVID-19, which is at times incoherent). Biden’s campaign website promises a few progressive policies (such as restoring DACA), but when I search for evidence that he will follow through on those promises, there is nothing to be found. Are you really asking me to put my blind faith in someone whose campaign is funded by 44 billionaires, made up of mainly venture capitalists and real estate moguls? We don’t have two parties. We have a ruling class of elite politicians who work for lobbyists and look out for their own interests. The two parties are simply a “false choice,” like choosing between two brands of shampoo at the drugstore that both come
from the same parent company. Democrat versus Republican is a distraction. The Democratic party has betrayed the ideals that it supposedly represented; it’s time to disrupt the two-party system. If you are truly willing to “vote blue no matter who,” that means that you are willing to compromise on any number of your values in order to keep a Republican out of office. I shudder at the potential for “compromise” to become a willingness to brush aside significant issues in order to vote for a rapist whose policies have historically been very very bad for Black Americans. That’s privilege. Furthermore, if you are pushing that slogan, we will never be able to hold a single Democratic candidate accountable for progressive policies, because they know they will capture your vote regardless. We cannot keep pretending that rewarding a candidate with our vote doesn’t mean anything. I know that my vote has value; that’s precisely why I can’t just give it away to a party or a candidate that doesn’t represent me. Instead of voting for a meaningless party demarcation, I will vote based on policy. If tens of thousands of people said, “Hey, Biden, we refuse to vote for you unless you support Medicare for All,” then maybe he would listen, and I could consider voting for him. But it is simply not sufficient for the media (or for our peers!) to take a candidate and demand our unity. Ideally, a candidate that actually represents the needs of the people will unify us with their actions. If Biden wants to be that candidate now, he needs to actually earn the progressive vote. If your daily life does not drastically change based on the policies of whatever president is in office, and yet you are campaigning with all your might for a presidential candidate, then you might be imagining politics as a reality TV show you get to participate in. How fun, how inhuman! I understand that Biden will reinstate civility. He will restore America’s facade of liberalism and development. He will be less overtly xenophobic and vulgar than our current president. He will let you sleep better at night because you can feel as if you did your part to support progressivism by voting blue no matter who. This peace of mind is exactly what’s so terrifying about Biden becoming president: I worry we will stagnate. Both Trump and Bernie, from opposite ends of the political spectrum, succeeded in stirring people up. Trump’s open racism enraged liberals—and rightfully so. Obviously it’s harmful and embarrassing to have this cur-
Courtesy of SecretName101 via Wikimedia Commons.
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rent incompetent idiot in the White House. But I fear that liberalism, forcibly stirred up by the overt injustices of the current administration, will die a silent death if Biden, a covert conservative, is handed the office. Once we acknowledge the truth—that voting for Biden is mostly symbolic—you have to ask: What’s the benefit of preserving that symbol?
“Based on his track record, electing Biden is a win for the Republican Party in all ways but nominal.” In the 2016 election, the DNC told hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised American citizens that they don’t matter. That is what led to Trump’s election; he was an anti-establishment candidate who (disingenuously) appealed to people who were reaching out for help. Bernie was our only shot at beating Trump; he was our progressive answer to the anti-establishment candidate. Many of the states Biden won during the primary (Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, etc.) are dependably red in the general election anyway. I don’t believe he has even a fraction of the magnetism required to swing the states that really count, and I sincerely doubt that his debate performances will contradict that perception. If you’re voting for Biden, I won’t try to convince you otherwise, but I will urge you to stop trying to guilt progressive voters into choosing him. Perhaps if we make the DNC worried about winning, they could urge their puppet to adopt better policies in order to attract voters. And even if that doesn’t happen, I still believe we are justified in refusing to choose between two rapists. Ultimately, what’s the point of directing energy toward a campaign that will ultimately change nothing about our society, and a candidate who is far from likely to win the general election? Instead of trying to convince disenfranchised people to believe in a system that excludes them, let’s demand more from the Democratic Party. Instead of wasting our votes on a candidate who will continue their corruption, let’s show them that we’ve had enough of incremental change. If the Green Party receives just 5 percent of the national vote, they receive federal funding for the next election as an officially recognized national party. Their candidates can begin to appear on ballots. They will begin to receive attention and resources to further their progressive campaign. We can break away from the two-party system if we stop wasting our votes on party loyalty. Before you wage war on the enormous coalition of voters who desperately want change, consider devoting that energy into something that matters a lot more. We can flip the senate to blue. We can support Shahid Buttar and other progressive challengers of incumbent politicians. We can donate and volunteer with local grassroots campaigns. We can support local candidates who will make change in our communities. If we can’t have top-down change, let’s make it happen bottom-up. Without a truly progressive president, that happens a lot more slowly, but it’s still possible. Activism doesn’t begin or end with a vote. Let’s not lose sight of the battles that are really worth fighting.
April 16, 2020
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Local foundation launches initiative to combat loneliness
Continued from Pets Together on page 1 tackle issues like breed discrimination, as well as empower people with disabilities through meaningful partnerships with dog companions. Traditionally, AFF has only brought therapy dogs to group sessions. But now that social distancing has limited all in-person interactions, and everyone who is not considered an essential worker must stay at home, AFF has began reaching out to individual pet lovers to accommodate shifting needs. To frame the new “Pets Together” program, the foundation worked with Kim Wolf, Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work Candidate at the University of Georgia. “Pets bring us comfort during times of distress, but not everyone is in a position to have one,” Wolf explained of her participation in the program. “I can’t imagine going through this pandemic without my pets, so I wanted to share them with others.” Participants can meet dogs, cats, goats, horses, and other animals of AFF via video conference platforms, such as Zoom, Skype or Google Hangouts, and converse with the animals’ caretakers as well. “Pets Together is a model that brings joy and comfort to those who are feeling socially isolated and lonely,” Wolf elaborated.
According to Executive Director of AFF Stacey Coleman, social isolation and loneliness are not new phenomena, although they have become more ubiquitous under the current conditions. Social isolation in particular can be detrimental for people of all ages, including older adults, as it can lead to “a 29% increased risk of mor-
tality over time” as well as “poor access to health care, exposure to environmental hazards, injury and violence, obesity and physical inactivity, substance misuse and mental health disorders.” Having the company of these pets and other people can remove the perceived distance that we face under isolation,
reminding people that there are still avenues to connect with others. With a pet by their side, people can find solace and belonging from the attention these friendly critters and caretakers offer. Virtual pet visits are available to all, and the animals of AFF can’t wait to make friends with new faces.
Courtesy of Animal Farm Foundation.
Professors face steep obstacles to online teaching, limited support Continued from Professors on page 1 for a variety of teaching techniques; encouraged faculty to collaborate within and across departments and to share resources and ideas.” With that said, Professor Rock’s learning curve is nearly scaled, a small victory he attributes to his students: “It’s actually been better than I expected, and I credit my students for that. They have really stepped up and have been wonderful under very difficult circumstances.” Some students give professors the credit. Phoebe Davin ’23 recounted how Associate Professor of Sociology Arindira Rueda adjusted when her whole syllabus was upended. “I’m really appreciative of the time she’s put into reconstructing the class to make it accessible for everyone, even though the class spans many different time zones and home environments,” said Davin. Sarah Mamlet ’20 appreciated that her professor, Associate Professor of Psychological Science Alan Clifton, accounted for differences in time zones considering the accessibility issues of simultaneous learning practices: “He’s put together wonderful pre-recorded lectures, led a good Zoom seminar (for which attendance wasn’t mandatory because he knows we can’t all make it at that time).” But numerous kinks remain to be worked through despite these successes. For one, not all professors are as open to using pre-recorded lectures or forgoing mandatory attendance. With the student body scattered across much of the globe, the logistics of attending simultaneous classes, still the widely accepted model, are immediately thrown into question. “My Japanese professor had emailed us over break asking us to please join the Zoom call at 9:30 EST,” says Samuel Patz ’23. Patz, who lives on the west coast, voiced concerns to the professor about making a class that now begins at 6:30 a.m. Pacific Time. When he inquired about the time change, he learned that the faculty decided against changing class times to avoid grappling with new timing conflicts. In short, Patz’s new class time is inflexible. “When she told me this, I was kind of just
shocked that the faculty had made a decision that completely neglects all students that don’t live on the east coast,” he shared. Classes in large part have taken place during their on-campus time slots, per recommendation by the administrator. However, some professors have gone ahead and independently changed their course structures, splicing classes into groups or meeting for less time and with less frequency. Still, the broader policy has left some students struggling to adapt. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Patz. “A friend I know from Sydney, Australia said she has to join her economics livestream at 2 a.m.!” Eventually, Patz’s class split into sections to accommodate the time zone discrepancies. Patz feels fortunate to have parents who are self-employed and already working from home. Still, the coronavirus casts a dramatic shadow over him, a weight that renders tackling his work load no small feat. “I found out that two of my elderly relatives who live in NYC were diagnosed with COVID-19, so it’s just been a surreal experience. I’m trapped (by order of the governor) in my house ... It just feels like not a great time to be doing school.” In these uncharted waters, it makes sense to emphasize a retention of normalcy, but navigating the ergonomics of remote learning is tricky on both the learning and teaching ends. The lack of in-class interaction leaves some professors wondering if maninting a semblance of routine is even feasible. Professor of Religion Jonathan Kahn teaches in both the Religion Department and in American Studies. His class size ranges from a handful to dozens of typically eager students. In any of his classrooms, discussion is paramount. Difficult subjects are broached, ideas are fostered. Zoom classes alter the classroom dynamic entirely. “From the faculty side, it is almost impossible to figure out if students are engaged with the class. You can’t get a sense of the room—because there is no actual room,” Kahn pointed out. Many Vassar students may crave the rhythm of a typical class, but the inconsistent reality is cause for some reimagining.
Kahn voiced a concern over conventional expectations given the new format: “I immediately felt that I needed to change my sense of what a class was, its requirements, and what I could expect from students. My first question I asked myself was: If there is one academic goal that I want my students to get from this semester, what is it?” The landscape of class subject and structure at Vassar varies dramatically from department to department. Hoynes, who has been at the helm of the transition, offered an assessment similar to Kahn: “[W] e encouraged faculty members to look carefully at their syllabuses, determine the bottom-line pedagogical goals for each class session.” Of course, the disconnected nature of online classes is not the only disruption that students face. Campus life offered the facade of routine and equitable access to resources. Students congregated in the Deece to eat the same foods, filled classrooms for the same education and walked back to their rooms to sleep in the same dorms. Resources such as the Office for Accessibility and Educational Opportunity and Metcalf were available to all. Outside Vassar’s gates, the previous realities of college life crumble for many students, who returned to varied and inequitable household situations. Some have unreliable access to the internet or food, little privacy or toxic familial relationships. Some students have no home to return to. A remaining few are stuck on campus, unsure of when an international flight home will be possible. Besides providing technical support and resources for faculty, the Office of the Dean of Faculty encouraged professors to meet these students where they are—a tall order. “We have emphasized the importance of supporting students who may be in various time zones, may be working in a wide range of learning environments, and not all will have reliable high-speed internet access,” explained Hoynes. Before classes resumed, many professors asked students about their internet access, if they have mandatory course materials and about other concerns. Hoynes shared, “We
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
suggested that faculty members inquire about students’ capabilities for submitting different types of assignments electronically, and reminded faculty that they may need to reconsider assignments they had planned based on responses from students.” Itamar Ben-Porath ’20 explained how his sociology professor fundamentally changed the class curriculum. “Back in January, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Science Abigail Coplin decided to cut the last week of the semester from her syllabus to talk about the pandemic. Now that it’s gotten this bad, she decided to cut two more weeks out of the semester to talk about this, even though she lost ANOTHER week.” On top of fitting the curriculum to the coronavirus outbreak, Professor Coplin has accommodated her numerous international students who had to abruptly navigate home. “She’s not grading hard, she’s letting all the students who went back to Asia (good chunk of the class) miss synchronous classes and shifting the class in general towards Moodle posts...she gets the shoutout both for respecting both what we can’t do and for thinking what kind of learning space is actually relevant at a time like this.” At the end of the day, the burden falls on professors. “Our faculty must be the final arbiters of how their classes run, and that principle does not change whether we are all in a classroom together, or gathered virtually,” assured Hoynes. Despite the voracious learning appetite and aptitude of Vassar students, and the best of effort of many of their equally dedicated professors, Vassar may miss the mark. Many students are in very normal places, but are not living normally. This is not so much a striking unreality but a profoundly dismal under-reality. Students and professors are still in class, doing our best to learn, only hoping for an eventual return to what many of us consider home. Stephen Rock, the longtime professor of political science, summed his feelings toward remote learning in one word: “Anxious.” The professor who before last semester hadn’t missed a class in over 30 years remains out of the classroom indefinitely. Additional reporting by Tiana Headley.
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FEATURES
April 16, 2020
Kitchen becomes pocket of peace, creati Continued from Culinary on page 1
I’ve recently started investigating what random assortment of foodstuffs we’ve been hiding in o blueberries and egg tart dough! Naturally, this inspired blueberry tartlets. The frozen blueberries dash of sugar, and the tartlet dough crisped up into flaky butte
Upon arriving home after an abrupt departure from my study abroad in Ecuador, I was pleased that my mother had purchased a green Ecuadorian plantain as an appropriate homecoming offering. With this treasure, I attempted one of the recipes I learned from my Ecuadorian host family: tortillas de verde—scrumptious plantain patties filled with cheese and lightly pan-fried. The earthy plantain and gooey cheese introduced a welcome change in our diet from our familiar California fare.
Under the pandemic situation, I am inspired to search for nutrition in new ways, and my newest entertainment is foraging for edible greens. On careful neighborhood excursions, t the small prickles make these greens difficult to consume raw, they are delicious when properly washed, cut into strips and sauteed down in a melty mixture of alliums and olive oil. of vitamins and gree
All photos courtesy o
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
April 16, 2020
FEATURES
Page 7
ive outlet: an ode to cooking as comfort
our freezer, and I was pleasantly surprised to unearth frozen s were deftly refreshed with a healthy dose of cinnamon and a ery indulgence in the oven.
My legume-loving soul rejoiced at the abundant supply of dried beans in our pantry, and I’ve been concocting flavorful dishes that showcase my favorite nitrogen-fixing friends in spice-filled blends that pair well with raw vegetables and interesting breads. Chickpeas take center stage in my adaptation of the Trinidadian street food “doubles,” featuring a warm blend of spices and onions that sits atop fried dough and is garnished with cucumber and hot sauce. As a nod to Vassar’s Wednesday tradition, I peppered in a healthy shot of New Mexico chili powder into a vegetarian chili featuring cranberry beans, black beans and canned tomatoes, accompanied by a savory cornbread.
taking wisdom from a forage-focused cookbook and the wealth of information that is the internet, I have ventured into a world of wild mustard greens and dandelion leaves. While I balance the bitterness of these foraged vegetables with a bit of red wine vinegar, honey or maple syrup, and my family has been quite pleased with this unexpected additional source enery on our plates.
of Tamika Whitenack.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
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April 16, 2020
The Miscellany Crossword
“Nickelodeon Classics”
by Frank
ACROSS 1. area for competitions and performances 6. someone who writes computer programs 11. vicious jaw or mouth 14. bowling alley isles 15. to combine or bring together 16. plural form of ‘is’ 17. diligent, hard-working 19. nothing, zero, nada 20. no win outcome 21. three sounds 23. sergeants, informal 26. Uber eats but door 27. contemplated again 32. fairy tale preposition 33. USSR labor camp 34. broadcaster/channel of NCIS, Survivor and Big Brother
37. historically male version of ma’am 38. fancy word for freckle 40. long-handled gardening tool 41. Solo who made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs 42. upright or straight 43. head of academic administrative branch 44. climate + plank, compound word 47. what a superhero wears 50. viscous sweet dressings, alternate spelling 51. apprehended by the law 56. second month of the year, abbr 57. 2011 animated bird movie set in Brazil 58. pretentious display intended to garner attention 63. hallucinogenic drug 64. a sword on a stick for jousts
65. Parisian river 66. affirmative answer 67. Josh’s brother 68. attempted
DOWN 1. “The Greatest” American boxer 2. jogged, sprinted 3. finis 4. Nick show featuring Jimmy, Boy Genius 5. to appoint a task to 6. mutt, insult 7. taking care of it, two words 8. Christian ----, luxury goods company 9. small ornamental case, French 10. relaxation 11. miraculous sustenance supplied to Israelites 12. current zodiac season
13. relating to Wales 18. golf ball pedestals 22. descriptor of Timmy Turner’s fairy godparents 23. classic tan camera filter 24. squirrel’s snack 25. authenticating seal on a ring 27. show about the boy band that went Big Time 28. double jump ropes 29. select few who are deemed superior 30. a small dingy towel 31. sense of self-confidence 34. inexpensive 35. wild hogs or pigs 36. to deliver or transmit 38. Bruce, famous martial artist and actor 39. time period 43. someone who has qualms or suspicions 44. small or early 45. a fissure or break that separates 46. boob 47. she hosts an internet show with Freddie and Sam 48. to stand up or emerge 49. pokes 52. to have transferred ownership for a price 53. title of the ruler of Russia, formerly 54. active volcano off coast of Sicily 55. Tech, of cards, to punch 59. French for “originally called” 60. WWI, WWII, WW--61. “He [Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen] was Number ---!” 62. single-handedly declassified the school survival guide
Answers to previous puzzle
HOROSCOPES: The signs as abandoned objects in my dorm room Madi Donat
Astral Projector
ARIES
Mar 21 | Apr 19
If you were a fruit, you’d be a fine-apple. And if you were an object that is currently abandoned in my dorm, you’d be my string lights that don’t work. Maybe try changing the metaphorical batteries? TAURUS
Apr 20 | May 20
If I had to assign you an abandoned object in my dorm room, it would definitely be the can of Amy’s Brand Veggie Barley Soup that I paid like $6 for at My Market: homey, comforting and maybe moldy. GEMINI
May 21 | Jun 20
Your government-assigned object from Lathrop 215 is definitely my Whole Entire Art History Notebook: All my notes from all of 105 and 106, not that I need that for my final or anything.
CANCER
Jun 21 | Jul 22
You’ve been assigned my weighted blanket, because apparently Cancers love a weighted blanket. It’s like you’re cozy, and also the touch starvation is somewhat quelled. You love to see it.
LEO
Jul 23 | Aug 22
You would be my annotated copy of “The Great Gatsby” from my junior year of high school that I brought as a comfort object. There’s little justification for this one, it just reminds me of summer. VIRGO
Aug 23 | Sep 22
You would be the beautiful succulent that I bought at Home Depot and named after Claire from Bon Appétit: Usually the most resilient being I know, but right now I’m quite worried for your well-being.
LIBRA
Sep 23 | Oct 22
You’d be my art wall that’s definitely not to fire code: aesthetically pleasing but worried about breaking rules. For a fun game, violate Vassar fire code at home! Hang a bedsheet on your wall for the thrill. SCORPIO
Oct 23 | Nov 21
You would be the laundry that I told myself I’d get back to as soon as I got back. Not to say that you need to be cleaned. Or, maybe you do. I don’t know your life. Take a shower if you need. SAGITTARIUS
Nov 22 | Dec 21
Your object is the Shrek action figure sitting on my window ledge, stuck in a perpetual wave, courtesy of my roommate. No explanation necessary.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
CAPRICORN
Dec 22 | Jan 19
You would be my incredibly useful sneakers that I neglected to bring home with me because I didn’t have room in my suitcase. How does it feel being so damn practical, huh? AQUARIUS
Jan 20 | Feb 18
Your object is my sunglasses: Just like you, they look cool, are super useful and are a great impromptu disguise. And, they have a prescription of -4.5, so they only work if you’re ~unique~ (read: incredibly nearsighted). PISCES Feb 19 | Mar 20 I’m a mattress-pad-user, and I miss it even though it kept falling off my bed and I had to safety pin it and even then it wouldn’t stay. You’re kinda like my mattress pad: soft, dreamy, slipping…