The Miscellany News
Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866
April 23, 2020
miscellanynews.org
Volume 153 | Issue 10
Living and learning with loneliness of past, present Lindsay Craig Columnist
F
rom the outside, my life might not look lonely. I have a great family, have a handful of close friends and belong to a robust community. On campus, I was never the most popular, but I was satisfied with the few strong connections I slowly and intentionally built over the last 3.75 years. I tried to surround myself with others by hosting dinners, running, volunteering, laughing and playing with housemates. I led prayer meetings, tried a few sports teams and went on leadership retreats. I planned meals, library study sessions, coffee shop getaways, hikes and daily phone calls to connect with family. Although I am proudly (highly) introverted, I never lacked friendship or community at any stage of my life—including college. That said, I struggled a lot with loneliness at Vassar. On almost a daily basis, I had this insatiable desire for intimacy that was never fully met by the friends or faculty around me. I didn’t understand why pangs of loneliness would hit me so often, given how I avoided solitude with a vengeance despite probably needing more of it. Above all else, I feared eating alone. At one
‘Onward’: Fresh, fun, magical Leila Raines
Guest Columnist
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ike many members of my generation, I grew up watching Pixar films. When I was in kindergarten, I obsessed over “Toy Story” and “Monsters, Inc.,” watching them so many times that I began to believe that my toys were secretly alive and my closet was actually a portal to a world of monsters. I can still remember the vibrant orange frosting on my “Finding Nemo” birthday cake when I turned three. All of these movies are an integral part of my life, nourishing my childhood with imagination and adventure. My love for Disney and Pixar has only strengthened over time; being able to re-watch these movies and find new meanings has given me a deeper appreciation for these stories. And with recent hits such as “Inside Out” and “Coco,” the studio continues to tell meaningful, and oftentimes emotional, stories with strong, lasting messages and memorable characters. So, when I first saw the teaser See ONWARD on page 6
point sophomore year, I attempted to schedule both lunch and dinner with a different friend every day, seven days a week. That came to a weekly total of 14 meals with 14 different people: a steady rotation of friends and acquaintances from Sunday to Saturday. This rhythm was exhausting and unsustainable (not to say nearly impossible with so many schedules to coordinate). By the end of each week I felt just as disintegrated and lonely as I did at the start. By the time senior year arrived, I thought I had finally defeated any remnant of loneliness through the housemates and friendships that were secured and strengthened after three years. But I was wrong—loneliness lingered. This persistent reality hit me in the fall after making a “gourmet” meal with a close friend followed by enjoying games and a movie. When she left after hours of being together, I immediately ached with emptiness. She probably didn’t know that I washed the dishes in tears at 10 p.m. I was confronted with my raw self again, uninterrupted by her warm company. It hurt every time someone left my SoCo. This spring, my (almost daily) running buddy and confidant See LONELINESS on page 7
Above is Mickalene Thomas’ “Afro Goddess Looking Forward,” 2017. Rhinestones, acrylic and oil on wood panel. Image courtesy of the artist via artatatimelikethis.com.
We need art in times like these Nina Ajemian Copy Staffer
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hen the first college I applied to rejected me, I watched the pilot episode of ‘New Girl’ for the first time. All I knew about the show was that Jess, the spunky, loving, and, although the word is controversial and I’m hesitant to use it, “quirky” protagonist had just been dumped. I figured that we were probably in similar emotional states and that it was a timely show for me to start watching. I have since turned back to ‘New Girl’ more than a few times
over the past year—whenever I needed to be cheered up or to remind myself that I’m not alone in feeling sad. Recently, I’ve been thinking about how we consume media; my reliance on ‘New Girl’ as a coping mechanism seems to have grown increasingly relevant during my time in quarantine. What is it about a TV show that can make everything in the world feel OK for 22 minutes, even if the world really isn’t OK? On the surface, you could say that television simply distracts.
When you’re watching an engaging episode, you’re too busy focusing on the show to remember why you had been sad or anxious or lonely. But I think it goes deeper than that. Television, like all types of media, is art. And art, whether it’s painting, writing, sculpture, photography, dance, music or film, makes us feel. Everything. Blissful, nostalgic, raging, crestfallen, wistful, exhilarated, hopeful, connected. The power of art lies in its ability to capture its creator’s feelings and throw See ART NOW on page 6
Investigation: Why Tinder, and why today? Duncan Aronson, Frankie Knuckles, Lucy Leonard, Jessica Moss Senior Editor, Managing Editor, Senior Editor, Editor-in-Chief
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ince quarantine became a thing, all the usual (read: Zuckerberg-owned) apps have been hopping—whether with news, memes, recipes, unwarranted opinions, dangerous advice, or what have you. But we at The Miscellany News wondered what became of Tinder, an app that often relies more on a, shall we say, “physical” presence. Each of us created a profile labeling ourselves as student journalists and turned our bios into an open invitation to engage with us in an on-the-record conversation. We swiped right on everyone—including, awkwardly, a collection of classmates—and let the social experimentation begin. Tinder turned out to be far from a social-distancing induced wasteland: Users were present, numerous, and sharply self-aware of why they were spending their quarantine on the app. For many users we interacted with, Tinder conversations serve as a coping mechanism—a low-stakes, but potentially high-reward place to engage in human interaction. Bumping into strangers or encountering cool people at a party may not be possible while quarantine measures are in place, but Tinder can satisfy the desire to move through new social circles. For Tin-
derer Catie, the app has become the “only outlet for meeting new people.” She explained that before social distancing measures were put in place, she didn’t even have an account. For Catie, Tinder’s random collection of people allows her to escape from her present situation: “With not being able to get out into the world and meet new people or even just see a stranger, it’s comforting to know that there’s still people out beyond your houses walls,” she said. A paramedic working in the Dutchess and Ulster area also described using Tinder as a means of escapism. “[Tinder] is nice to disconnect from the news and connect with an actual human which is gratifying,” they explained, but described Tinder as a “superficial” means of socializing compared to a concrete group of friends. This approach seemed to be common among some of the essential workers we talked to on the app. Oliver, a worker at a family owned grocery store, described not feeling safe at work: “I kinda see it as a hub for the virus. If people are afraid to go out in public but need groceries they aren’t going to go far, and they are gonna come to our grocery store. There’s alSee Tinder on pages 2-3
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April 23, 2020
THE MISCELLANY NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR SENIOR EDITORS CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Jessica Moss
Frankie Knuckles Duncan Aronson Lucy Leonard Isabel Braham Leah Cates Sasha Gopalakrishnan Mack Liederman
Tiana Headley Aena Khan Olivia Watson Gillian Redstone ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITORS 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
LIVE EVENTS CHAIRPERSON REPORTERS
COLUMNISTS
PHOTOGRAPHER GRAPHIC DESIGNER PODCAST HOST COPY STAFF
CROSSWORD
Ben Scharf Delila Ames Carissa Clough Olivia Diallo Rayan El Amine Meghan Hayfield Sara Lawler Sawyer Bush Madison Caress Doug Cobb Lindsay Craig Madi Donat Rohan Dutta Alex Eisert Xin Rui Ong Alice Woo Sherry Liao Juliette Pope Sana Zaidi Nina Ajemian Taylor Gee Jason Han Jake Johnson Emma Kahn Tiffany Trumble Frank
CORRECTION (04.18.2020): In the previous issue, an article titled “Don’t beg me to vote for Biden” incorrectly stated that Joseph R. Biden (D-DE) voted to confirm Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Biden was the chairman of the committee that approved Thomas. The clause referring to that vote has been removed from the online version. The previous version also referred ambiguously to the enthusiastic approval rating among supporters of Donald Trump, which is 53 percent; the sentence did not refer to Trump’s overall approval rating, which at the time of this corrections notice is approximately 44.1 percent (with approximately 53 percent disapproval).
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.
Solace, support, stigma: Journalists conver Continued from Tinder on page 1 ready been a woman that has come into the store that said she had gotten over the virus.” For him, Tinder is a place to “find someone to talk to.” The conditions of quarantine and illness have driven many others toward increased use of social media for support purposes, whether to engage with strangers or friends and family from afar. Jose, who shared that his health professional grandmother recently tested positive for the virus, said “It may sound shallow and straight up weird, but Tinder and Netflix are all that’s getting me through this whole mess.” Nicholas Ryan, a user whose mother and cousin— both nurses—have experienced the day-today tragedies on the front lines of the pandemic, shared Jose’s conception of Tinder as a means of maintaining needed social contact. His family has caused him to understand the human cost of the pandemic, which he described as “horrifying.” He explained, “Most of their patients are alive by the time they leave work, but when they arrive the next morning they’re all dead.” With constant awareness that those around us are suffering or at risk, Ryan stated, “We need that connection to stay mentally healthy.” For those whose daily realities are filled with more questions than answers, Tinder provides a way to engage with a broader reality, in an online space less confined than the four walls most of us have become accustomed to by now. As Jose put it, “I think that my fear and uncertainty about the ‘new normal’ are what’s driving that desire to connect.” Most of us found that users, like Jose, were willing to delve deep into their backstories or personal situations, even without us asking about COVID-19 specifically. After establishing that we are journalists and what names they would be comfortable having quotes attached to, our conversations usually began with reasons for using Tinder while under quarantine. Most users openly shared their feelings of loneliness, struggles with personal losses, and, sometimes, shared optimistic visions for the future. Human connection was more than welcome. Throughout our conversations, nearly every user described using Tinder as a pastime. For some users, occupying time was not a side benefit, but the entire goal of using the app. Daniel Goodman explained that even before quarantine, Tinder was a way for him to keep busy during quiet moments. “This situation has been awful for me,” Goodman explained. “[I have been] previously diagnosed with mental illness. The worst thing for me is to stay still.” Although Goodman is a Tinder regular—having even made friends through the app—he reported increasing his use under quarantine. Some users described incredible anxiety surrounding the situation, even though they do not live near hotspots. Tinder user Victor shared that the virus had upended his daily life. “I’m really in fear to go out or get sick because of this. I stay at home now all the time. I can’t go back to work,” he wrote. Like others, Tyler, a first-year college student currently living with his grandfather in rural Ohio after the cancellation of in-person classes and the closure of residential buildings, uses Tinder to fill seemingly empty days. Tyler moved away from his mother and step-brothers near the beginning of the pandemic due to their possible exposure, and now helps out on his grandfather’s farm. However, he said that given the limited number of users in his area, there aren’t many new people for him to swipe on. This in mind, our conversation seemed to be a welcome diversion. We went into more depth about the general experi-
ence of living in the rural Midwest during this time. At the time of our conversation, Tyler reported no cases in his county, but said that those in his community “were taking [COVID-19] more seriously to begin with, but now the older people are still and the younger people are feeling like [government measures and individual responses
“For many users we interacted with, Tinder conversations serve as a coping mechanism—a low-stakes, but potentially highreward place to engage in human interaction.” are] overblown.” For those whose immediate realities are not within hotspots, Tyler indicated that patience and perseverance may be slipping. Indeed, his home state of Ohio has been at the forefront of the Reopen America movement that began in Ohio’s neighbor to the north, Michigan, in the form of “Operation Gridlock” protests in the state capital. Protests have now spread across many states, including Pennsylvania, Maryland and Texas. Several of our matches were more plain spoken about the utility of Tinder. When asked about his primary purpose for using the app, Eric stated, “Boredom really.” Joey (perhaps a potential match for Eric?) responded to a similar query with “Lol I’m bored.” While simply stated, we were compelled by this reasoning; after all, we were spending hours of our lives swiping around for this piece (between the writers, our average time on Tinder was around five hours a pop in total). With our hours of app use, it was perhaps inevitable that we ran into someone we knew. Enter Juliàn Aguilar, Graphics Editor for The Miscellany News. After super liking one another and passing a series of compliments (the previous clause is not actually true), we decided to ask him some of our questions. Aguilar dismissed using Tinder for romance during such uncertain times: “It’s easier to just distance myself from my expectations/wants and just do this as some sort of game to pass time.” For him, Facebook is “chaotic, and there’s so much drama going on.” He concluded, “Tinder is much easier.” Others also characterized Tinder as a relatively low-stakes way of both passing time and connecting with others. Calvin, whose conversation with us unfortunately disappeared due to premature un-matching afterward—revealing the perils of Tinder journalism—described Tinder’s text-based communication as less stressful and anxiety-inducing than other, more visual forms of social media, such as Snapchat. He also noted that on Tinder, one can engage with strangers, instead of having to work to keep established relationships going. Part of the appeal of Tinder, according to Calvin, is socializing in ways that may not trigger social anxiety. Another user, Juan, described Tinder as a low-stress way of connecting and meeting with people from around the world, using the app’s “passport” feature. He stated that using Tinder has bolstered his confidence in commu-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
nicating with people internationally. our interview with Calvin vanished out a trace, the true ephemerality of der-based interaction was revealed. Per this quality mitigates anxiety attach the permanence of online communica the enduring effects of first impression Of course, there are a host of swipers don’t see the app as low-stakes, nor its ent uses as divided from its stated purp For those looking for love, the increa casual users has made genuine, longconnection nearly obsolete. Oliver use der due to a recent breakup. He expl that he’s looking for someone to talk t meet once it is safe to go out in public with the increase of disengaged user feels that many of his interlocutors ar ing interest quicker than expected. “I’v really good conversations with girls on that suddenly end,” he described. “I fee because Tinder users are at home and have much to do, they just kinda swip swipe and swipe, matching with to people, and start up conversations be they’re bored. I’m guilty of that, too.” Sam shares Oliver’s purposes for b on Tinder, similarly open to his co sations blossoming into something after quarantine. “I’m not respondin anyone that’s looking to meet up asa cause of obvious reasons,” he said, w reporting that “20 percent [of matches want to meet up ASAP.” Oliver has obs that many people on the app are pati
A graphical featu
Above, one of our editors
April 23, 2020
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rse with Tinder users about app observations under quarantine
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waiting until they can meet up safely, and that some bios express a willingness to have Zoom or FaceTime dates. He summarized his own thoughts on the matter of in-person meetings during quarantine thusly: “How balls would it be to meet someone you’re interested in romantically only to get or give the virus?” Though we didn’t match with anyone who intended to rendezvous in person with matches, many of the people we talked to have encountered those who plan to do so. We attribute this to the self-selecting nature of these Tinder interactions, given that our bios made our lack of sexual or romantic purposes explicit. Daniel (different from Daniel Goodman) has run into a handful of users who said they would “break quarantine” to meet up. He even said his friend who lives in Italy continued hooking up with people for some time after the outbreak there began. He described these interactions, “Not gonna lie, it’s mostly sexally charged, so I wonder how many people are still hooking up.” Disparaging Tinder users who planned in-person hookups via the app, he wrote, “There’s always a few people who just don’t give a shit honestly … I think it’s still good people have the opportunity to talk online here but it’s also frustrating because most people aren’t patient enough and they’ll eventually just meet anyway.” It seems that many existing Tinder norms, apart from the goal of in-person dates and hookups, have been amplified
due to the current situation—casual users are hardly new, but there are now vastly more of them. In fact, according to a Tinder press release published on April 2 and based on statistics gathered between Feb. 20 and March 26, daily conversations increased by an average of 20 percent around the world, and those conversations are lasting longer; the average length of exchanges has increased by 25 percent. In the United States, where most of our matches live, daily conversations have been up an average of 19 percent and conversations are 8 percent longer. Coupled with these statistical findings, one user named Curt described encountering a different type of Tinder user with increasing regularity: “Tinder has been a little more alive than normal but it seems that Down Low guys have been rising in numbers.” The slang term “Down Low” originated in American Black communities specifically to describe men who identify as heterosexual and have sex with men. The term has historically been used to bolster paranoia surrounding transmission of HIV/ AIDS, but some Black men have embraced the label “DL” as an alternate way of formulating sexual identity outside normative white gay/bisexual male standards. Curt indicated that the term has gained an aditional usage as “gay slang for a guy, girl or someone in between who is basically closeted and uses ‘dating’ apps to hook up with the same gender without anyone learning
about [their sexuality or gender identity].” With the closure of collegiate housing, many LGBTQ+ students have been required to move back to living situations with people who do not support their identities. Other LGBTQ+ people may be left without anywhere to live or with limited resources. Given this climate, Curt’s observation of increased interactions with closeted folx on Tinder is hardly surprising—though the emotional support provided by the app does not compensate for lack of supporting in-person relationships, it does provide an anonymous means of sharing interpersonal connection, which can be especially needed for young queer people. Even as we collectively learned about our sources, the experience of practicing Tinder journalistically occasioned some self-reflection. All of us put ourselves out into the Tindersphere with the goal of gathering sources, which is itself not the app’s intended purpose. We are not the only journalists to try the Tinder approach, either; longform documentary correspondent for VICE News Isobel Yeung recently tweeted about her own attempts to gather information on life in Wuhan under stringent quarantine measures, and BuzzFeed News covered a trend of non-journalist users setting their location to Wuhan in an effort to get direct information about the conditions there. The capacity of generating relatively random source samples is an advantage of the app.
We say “relatively random” because all of us noticed that many more cis male users engaged with us via the app than users of any other gender identity. It’s unclear whether this demographic was more willing to speak on this topic, or whether cis men are overrepresented in the user base of the app—perhaps both were factors at play. It is worth noting, however, that as of December 2019, 78.1 percent of Tinder users in the United States were male and 21.9 percent were female, according to data published on Statista—that means roughly three as many men use Tinder. This is all to say that Tinder is its own complicated social ecosystem, one that we did not merely observe, but became a part of. In trying to answer if and how Tinder has bridged gaps left by social distancing, this project connected journalists and Tinder users throughout the United States and the world. We made Tinder accounts. Mutual swipes turned into questions. Questions invited answers. Answers invited more questions. Have we just described formal journalistic interviews or casual conversations? If we found it hard to generalize about all Tinder users, we did come away with one certainty: Whether we were wearing our journalist hats, or whether our interviewees were simply swiping through time or coping with the times, looking for friends or searching for more than friends, we all came away with one more human connection.
HUMOR & SATIRE
ure of some of our editors’ speculations on the outcomes of our social experiment, documented above. (Or maybe they’re just poking fun at us?)
s offered a visual prediction of how the Tinder project would go. Ciara Murray-Jordan/The Miscellany News.
The question is which of our screens he intended to depict. “Multi-tasking,” illustrated (but not endorsed) by Julián Aguilar.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
FEATURES
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April 23, 2020
It’s preregistration season. Consider these fiv Mendel Jiménez Guest Columnist
I
f you had told me in the fall of my sophomore year that I would be translating 2,700-year-old Homeric Greek by my senior year, I would have laughed. But after several life-changing experiences, here I am, about to graduate with 5.5 units of ancient Greek. I write about my experiences not despite the pandemic, but because they’ve been so central to my perspectives and resilience in the face of this unprecedented tragedy and uncertainty. If anything, contemporary events have shown me the hollowness of the criticisms of studying so-called “impractical subjects.” I hope that in the following five observations about studying ancient Greek at Vassar, readers may gain a window into the experiences available in this kind of study, and be able to question their own assumptions about studying a “dead” language. Before I begin my list, some history is needed: Vassar’s curriculum was first among women’s liberal arts colleges in America to include ancient Greek. The study of Greek has
been a cornerstone of the humanities since the College opened its doors. Unfortunately, this fact reminds us of the history of the study of Greco-Roman antiquity, and the elitism that has both stained its study and rendered it inaccessible. It’s important to note that the label of “Eurocentric” is a misnomer because the civilizations and literature of ancient Greece and Rome existed long before anyone dreamed of a European country, and are more complex (including racially and otherwise) than appropriations by European colonial powers or the United States. It is this appropriation of classical antiquity that has been primarily done in Europe (in the historical sense), that is Eurocentric. Within this context, Vassar’s Greek and Roman Studies Department is a trailblazer among departments, not only by changing the Department’s name but also by documenting appropriations, discussing the discipline’s complicity and making its study accessible and interesting to all with periodic courses that touch on the powerful ways antiquity has been subverted and used in African, Caribbean and American
contexts in pursuit of liberation. Wonder is an important part of education. We all chose to come to a liberal arts college for different reasons, but each of us knows that a Vassar education is more than just career preparation. The intangibles matter. Through my studies in Greek, I’ve learned that wonder, as a feeling of awe before complexity, beauty or impossibility, is central to education. After all, education is about more than just acquiring information; it’s also about exploring and opening the self to new possibilities. In the spring semester of my junior year, I remember struggling to translate some of the choral odes in the Bacchae, a play written in the 5th century BCE by the Athenian Euripides. Working on the surface level of translation, I could connect the dots between grammar and word definitions. But that left me unsatisfied; the lyrics still weren’t making sense. I was feeling ἀπορία (aporia), which is Greek for “lack of egress.” In short, I felt trapped. So, I had to descend to deeper levels
of cognition where words and definitions fall away, and where instead I could perceive with images and sensations. After struggling to connect lyrics that spoke of a fawn fleeing
“Education is about more than just acquiring information; it’s also about exploring and opening the self to new possibilities.” the hunter, the feeling of wind on your neck when running and the joy of being alone in
Shedding adolescence, expressing identity:Vass
Pictured above left to right: Dardan Ukaj ’20, Elizabeth Carpenter ’20, Lucy Horga Olivia Diallo
A
Reporter
change in hair color can be a striking signifier. It’s permanent, at least until the hair is bleached or dyed again, or is cut. It’s also highly visible, unlike tattoos or piercings, those other popular forms of post-adolescent body modification that can often be hidden. There is an appealing element to radically changing your own appearance this way, a thrill in the intentional departure from natural hair color. I bleached my hair myself during my first year of college as a means of shedding my adolescence for a stronger, bolder, more self-assured look. I am one of many college students who has felt compelled to bleach their hair themselves. The bleached look is a fixture
on Vassar’s campus, where students can be seen walking around in various stages of bleached blonde-ness, from pale yellow to a more muted amber. It does not involve highlights or salon coloring—the style is usually grown out, self-done, brassy and fried, creating a deliberately artificial effect. Ideally, the DIY element is obvious in its execution. Bleaching your own hair is a difficult project, especially if the desired outcome is platinum hair that can be worn as it is or dyed vibrantly. Bleach opens the hair’s cuticle, breaking down the melanin and lightening the color. If the hair is dark, like mine, each bleach application will result in various shades of orange, then yellow, before the lightest shade can be achieved. When the color is lifted, colored dyes can be applied.
The dyes will not show vibrantly on most natural hair colors as the hair must be nearly white in order to achieve the brightest shades. To lift my dark brown hair to platinum, I had to bleach it three times. The first time I bleached my hair, I stood in a hot, cramped bathroom. Mixing the powder bleach and developer released a noxious fume, burning my eyes and fingers at contact. I started with a tint brush but my inexperienced fingers fumbled again and again; only a little bit of bleach was deposited at a time. I watched the coated strands lighten as I struggled to deposit the mixture in the rest of my hair. The process was less than elegant. It’s difficult to see behind the head without a strategically-placed mirror, not to mention the contor-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
tion required of the limbs in order to accurately place the bleach. Finally, I picked up the bleach in my hands, raking it through my hair with my fingers. The exactitude required combined with the precariousness of the outcome makes the whole project feel like a dangerous gamble: Leave the bleach on too briefly and the hair will not have lightened sufficiently, too long and the hair might literally dissolve. As bleach can be applied and develop in under an hour, hair color can produce a near-immediate change in appearance. Dardan Ukaj ’20 described his first experience of hair bleaching as transformative. “Every time I looked in the mirror it was like ‘Who is that?’ It was pretty magical,” he said. The change in appearance can affect
FEATURES
April 23, 2020
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ve notes about taking ancient Greek at Vassar the green forests, I understood for the first time in my life the paradoxical nature and experience of freedom. It was an experience with the sublime. Wrestling with the Greek led me to a moment of aporia, and then to a deeper understanding of life. This experience continues to impact me and the choices I make. Serendipity is powerful. As a first year, I thought I knew what to study, and like many others, I had an unhealthy relationship with uncertainty (it was a dreaded thing to avoid at all costs). Coming into college, I even knew which study abroad program I would embark on. I didn’t end up participating in that abroad program, and taking ancient Greek has brought me to places I thought I’d never go, both around the world and in my mind. Every summer, the GRST Department funds archeological digs or language programs, so I went to Greece in August 2019 for a language program. It was a privilege to read Greek in the Garden of the Muses, where I could pick ripe grapes from the vines above as we read about anoth-
er ancient garden. As a low-income student unfamiliar with the liberal arts model, I was afraid of majoring in something without a clear career path. But over the years, I’ve come to recognize the power of serendipity as it has guided me to new intellectual worlds and career possibilities. And I’ve learned to include uncertainty as I chart a path through life that prioritizes my happiness. Find your ἀγών (agōn). “Passion” is a word that gets thrown around a lot, especially at this stage in our lives. For many of us, it’s become grating to the ears. Although in some sense I can say I’ve found my passion, taking ancient Greek has helped me to make some important observations about this business of finding your passion. Sometimes, it’s about finding your agōn, too (briefly, it can mean a struggle, giving us the word agony). My last semester, I chose not to continue with Greek because the seminar topic didn’t interest me, and I made the usual mistake of relying on a faulty assumption. I sat in on the Greek seminar to finalize my choices. As the class struggled with the unwieldy
structures and prose of Xenophon’s Greek, I felt at home. This was a familiar struggle, one that had nurtured me, so I stayed. It’s not a dead language. Ancient Greek is often labeled a “dead” language because it is no longer spoken outside of academic settings. Allow me to complicate this label. I’ve read The Odyssey in translation and some of it in the Greek, and the experiences are wildly different. In the original, I came to see the epic as a living story—one whose antiquity came to me in the most surprising ways, and where Odysseus’s homeward journey came alive within my own subjectivities, a journey whose scope expanded beyond any story I’ve encountered and where I felt small in the presence of human ingenuity. How will the story encounter you? Learn how to learn. There’s a reason why people say “it’s all Greek to me!”—it’s a difficult language, to say the least. The beginner course is usually a challenging two-unit intensive in the spring semester, but it helps you become an excel-
lent learner. Because you’re facing so much new information and so many new patterns, you must take some risks and experiment with your learning style. I became deeply aware of how I learned. My intuition for acquiring information has been invaluable as I’ve faced different intellectual challenges over the years. And you won’t be learning alone— you’ll access a conversation that’s been happening for thousands of years. As I drafted my final paper for the Odyssey class, I consulted scholarship all the way from the 20th century CE to the 3rd century BCE. I’m probably graduating into the worst labor market in decades and an economic depression. It’s the perfect time for the critics to swoop in and ridicule my choices for not capitulating to capitalist pressures. However, my classical studies and encounters with ancient Greek remain an integral part of who I am, from my sense of justice to my vision of making the world a better place. Above all, my experiences have taught me of the indomitable human spirit, and a sense of humility before the possibilities of the unknown.
sar students recount roots of their bleached hair
an ’20, Latoria Bailey ’22, Clara Lerchi ’21. Photos courtesy of Haley Whetstone. the way that the wearer interacts with the world. Lucy Horgan ’20 said, “I think your hair color definitely changes how you act a little bit.” Elizabeth Carpenter ’20 noted that she is conscious of the way that her bleached hair affects her social interactions: “My hair is definitely tied to my self-esteem.” Even bleaching itself can be a social activity. I always bleached my hair alone, covertly eradicating any trace of dark roots. But for some, the ritual can be more communal. Latoria Bailey ’22 recounted the experience of bleaching and coloring her hair together with her mother and cousins. Ukaj, Carpenter and Horgan bleached their hair together as housemates. College is a space that embraces bleached hair, a choice that might not be a viable
means of self-expression while living at home with family or when entering the workforce after graduation. Carpenter plans to wear her hair platinum when she graduates, rather than dyed a bright color. She explained, “My mom said, ‘Elizabeth, when you graduate I want nice hair.’” Horgan concurred. “My parents are definitely more proponents of the natural look,” she said. The grooming of one’s hair has an added degree of complexity for queer bodies. Of his decision to bleach his hair, Dardan said, “I’m a child of immigrants. Both of my parents came from Kosovo, so they have very strict, traditional values.” As a result, he didn’t bleach his hair until leaving home to attend Vassar. He continued, “My hair was something that was constantly surveilled
by them.” Dardan plans to let his hair return to its natural color before graduation as per his family’s wishes. Clara Lerchi ’21 also described a negative association between bleaching and the surveillance of their gender expression: “When I think of hair bleaching my immediate reaction is like a negative, frustration thing because I picture my mom throughout high school being like, ‘Bleach the hair on your face.’ Personally I’m just like, done with that.” Adopting such a dramatic social signifier is not without its hardships. The look requires a dedication to artifice that involves a degree of technical know-how as well as frequent maintenance; at my blondest, I was bleaching my dark roots as often as every two weeks. As a means of self-expression,
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
however, bleaching hair can be an affirming practice. Each time I bleached my roots, I felt like I looked more like myself. “It feels like I’m in control,” said Lerchi. “I think that sometimes I dye my hair as an emotional thing if I’m feeling very intensely. It’s a creative outlet in a way, so that those feelings get out in a relatively healthy harmless way.” All of the students I spoke to mentioned that, though they love their hair, it’s not to be taken too seriously. The hair eventually grows out. While so much of individual presentation through clothing or branding can feel banal and disingenuous, bleached hair is, ultimately, meant to be fun. Bailey agreed, “My hair is like one of my favorite things about myself. It’s like top of the list. Very high up there.”
ARTS
Page 6
April 23, 2020
As life moves onward, the magic of Pixar never fades Continued from Onward on page 1 trailer for Pixar’s newest film, “Onward,” the sight of the little lamp hopping across the screen excited my five-year-old self. The setting, one that mirrors our world except with elves, pixies and rabid unicorns, instantly drew me in, and my excitement only skyrocketed when I recognized the voices of the two main characters: Tom Holland and Chris Pratt (a hunk!). Pairing up Peter Parker and Peter Quill to form a sibling duo imbued the trailer with a Marvelous fanfictional element. At the beginning of April, Disney released “Onward” onto its streaming platform, only weeks after it had been released in theaters. The new Pixar film focuses on the story of two teenage elves, brothers Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt). On Ian’s 16th birthday, the two brothers receive a magical staff that once belonged to their father, who passed away before Ian was born. The staff, one of the last traces of magic left in this fantasy world, offers Ian and Barley an opportunity to see their father for exactly 24 hours. However, something goes wrong, and in true Pixar fashion, the two brothers embark on a ~treacherous~ journey to complete the spell that will bring their father back for the day. Although the plot takes the form of a typical Pixar adventure, “Onward” carries a life of its own as a heartwarming, fun journey for two brothers coming to terms with loss and discovering the familial love and guidance already present in their relation-
Above, the relatable driving sequence. ship as siblings. Even the ending, one of the most surprising parts of the movie in my opinion, deviates from the typical Disney happily ever after. But “Onward” still packs the emotional punch that Pixar movies are often known for; by the end of the film, I was desperately trying to stealthily wipe away fat, sloppy tears. The cast brought the characters and the story to life. Holland captured the goofiness of teenage social awkwardness, first with his role as Peter Parker and now as Ian Lightfoot; Ian’s shy and nervous character is a founding element of the theme of finding self-confidence in high school, from his jittery rambling when he converses with his classmates to the trepidation of ven-
turing out into the real world. As someone who lacked self-confidence all throughout high school, I found Ian’s awkwardness at the beginning of the movie quite relatable, especially when he finds himself struggling to be more outgoing or to stand up for himself. Ian’s first attempts at trying to merge onto a freeway (with the driving instructor screaming “MERGE!” as Ian panicked behind the wheel) perfectly summed up the utter terror I felt my first time driving on a highway; I can still remember my heart racing as I watched all the cars whiz by me. Meanwhile, Pratt’s humor shined through, aligning perfectly with his exuberant, confident character; there were numerous points throughout the movie
where my mom and I were wheezing from laughter at his wizardly antics. Together, the brothers made for a dynamic sibling duo, a relationship that inspired many moments of laughter, and some moments of emotion too. The animation provides an extra sense of fascination for the viewer. Especially when compared to previous animated films, recent Disney and Pixar movies (such as “Frozen 2” and “The Incredibles 2”) have exemplified the enhanced level of detail that animators are able to capture using 3D animation, and “Onward” is definitely no exception. From the elaborate details of the characters’ design (the strands of hair, the fabric of their clothes) to the tiny specks of dust floating around in one of the opening scenes, the film illuminates the growth of animation and all of its possibilities. The move’s bright coloration also incites a new level of magic and wonder in the story. The movie boasts vibrant colors, especially when the characters use magic; for example, when Ian first attempts to resurrect his father, the electric blue, fiery red and rich purple colors that the magical staff emits truly heighten the magical elements of the scene and the movie overall. Among a series of Disney live-action remakes and sequels, “Onward” is a breath of fresh air, providing a new story in a magical world that is easy to get lost in. If you’re looking for a fun, lighthearted movie to add a little bit of Pixar magic to your day, I recommend watching “Onward.”
Online exhibition prompts personal reflection: Why art? Continued from Art Now on page 1 them back out into the world, knowing that someone else out there will feel something too. In a time where physical connections are limited, media seems crucial in helping people feel connected in some way. According to Variety, “When consumers stay at home amid broadly disruptive events, their media consumption rises nearly 60 percent.” In an interview with CNN, Chief Content Officer for Netflix Ted Sarandos said, “[P]eople certainly are watching a lot more Netflix” and that the company hoped to “make people feel a little less isolated while we are being physically isolated.” Similarly, creative institutions have brought their work to people through the internet. Museums all around the world
have opened up virtual touring opportunities through Google Arts and Culture; anyone can now “visit” the museums and enjoy the artwork that they would otherwise has missed. Global Citizen’s “One World: Together At Home” concert on April 18 featured performances from a range of talented artists, such as Lady Gaga, Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift. In addition to allowing fans to stay connected in light of canceled tours and festivals this summer, the concert also raised $127.9 million for healthcare workers and COVID-19 relief efforts. Even an app like TikTok, which I have become a reluctant fan of and could be the subject of an entirely separate article, fosters this network of connection through creativity. As a prospective art history major with a love for photography and museums and
writing, I sometimes feel selfish for considering a career in the humanities or arts. The pandemic has only reinforced this guilt— wouldn’t I be more useful to the world if I went to med school and became a doctor and actually helped people? In response to my spiraling self-doubt, my mom, who often sends me art-related articles, texted me the link to an online exhibition titled: “How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This?” The exhibition is a self-defined “platform for free expression during a time of crisis…It is purely a place of exchange, a place to vent or cry, share anxieties or plan a revolution.” The co-curators, Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen, “hope to open a dialogue at a time of social distancing. Art offers solace or has instigated resistance and rebellion…[They] invite you to
Womp Womp World by Frank MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
join in the conversation and appreciate art responding to times like these.” What immediately grabbed my attention was the title of the exhibition itself: How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This? The title almost begs me to respond with, “But how could we not?” We need art to cope with the confusing world we live in. We need art to bridge the gap between thoughts and reality. We need art to understand and grapple with our own minds. No, art is not going to cure the virus. No, artists are not going to save patients’ lives. But that doesn’t mean art isn’t powerful and isn’t meaningful in a time like this; it’s just meaningful in a different way. Art allows us to feel connected: to ourselves, to other people, to the world around us. A time like this is when we need art the most.
April 23, 2020
OPINION
Page 7
I’m striking for grade equity, and you should too Alice Woo Columnist
L
et’s stop pretending that school isn’t stressful. Deadlines and grades create pressure, and this pressure is supposed to motivate students to work hard and care about classwork. This is the transactional system of education that students and teachers have used for decades. Even under normal circumstances, many educators argue that this system is flawed. Now, in the midst of a pandemic, when over 25,000 Americans have already lost their lives to COVID-19, it’s absurd to expect students and professors to maintain the same level of rigorous, transactional education that occurs when we live on campus. By the time this crisis has run its course, everyone will know someone who has died or know someone who knows someone who died of the virus. We are facing a plague, and the country has never before seen a lockdown situation like this. The stress of the pandemic alone should be enough for educators to consider altering their curriculum and their expectations for students. Imagine trying to complete your schoolwork without an adequate WiFi connection. Or without a private room in which to study. Or with young siblings, whom you are suddenly tasked to look after. Or with financial instability. Or with the knowledge that your parents are “essential” workers, risking infection every day. Or with a mental disorder that is extremely heightened in your home environment. I know many of you reading don’t have to shut your eyes to empathize with this situation: You’re living it. In a system that emphasizes exceptions, students feel pressure to demonstrate need to the AEO or Dean of Studies office in order to receive accommodations; this is the system in place during a regular semester. Whether or not you agree with that system to begin with, we are currently in a scenar-
io where we have hundreds of students who can demonstrate “need.” Instead of making case-by-case adjustments that force individual students to prove their trauma, it’s time for Vassar to make the definitive choice to serve its least privileged members in this time of international crisis. It is irresponsible for the Committee on Curricular Policies (CCP) to maintain a grading system that causes failure to loom over the heads of their students in an unprecedented crisis such as COVID-19. The pass/fail option afforded by the current NRO system only reinforces the discrepancy between the most privileged and least privileged members of our community. The students who are most at risk of failure are the same students who do not have access to strong WiFi, financial stability, food security, etc. An optional pass/fail system means that those of us in the most underprivileged situations may still feel pressure to prioritize school work over our well-being, all for the sake of a “pass” that will still place us at a disadvantage compared to the students who were in the position to obtain a good letter grade. In discussions with Vassar’s administration, everyone from President Bradley to Dean of Faculty Kathleen Susman to Dean of Studies Debra Zeifman cites “agency” as a justification for the current opt-in NRO system. What they fail to acknowledge is that not every student faces the same set of choices. The ability to get an A is based on your level of privilege more than anything else. The concept being docked a grade for failing to work hard enough at your schoolwork is laughable when some members of our community have no choice but to allocate their energy toward an immunocompromised family member or get a job to support a parent who has just been laid off. The “choice” of opting to receive a grade is a fallacy, since only those who feel capable of improving their GPA will opt for a grade. And in this time of global crisis, only those of us in priv-
ileged positions are capable of obtaining an A. We know that many students’ choices are limited by their circumstances; why are we pretending that every student has the equal opportunity to earn a good grade? (Perhaps because if we admit that grades are based on privilege, that calls into question our entire system of transactional education—but we are not ready for that conversation yet.) Many people, including students, believe that these issues should be solved case-bycase, rather than with a blanket policy. To this, I have to ask: How many cases must there be until a policy is warranted? We’re functioning under extraordinary circumstances. More than 200 students have already reported that their mental health has been an overwhelming obstacle to their remote learning. Overwhelming faculty with individual requests for accommodations and varying requirements is not the solution. Forcing each and every student-inneed to bring their trauma to their professors is not the solution when the coronavirus’s death count grows daily. Only a no-fail model can take the pressure off of faculty and students alike who find themselves in vulnerable situations. I know there are many students who are not in vulnerable situations, and it’s easy to ignore issues that don’t affect you. In fact, that’s precisely how systems of oppression are perpetuated. In an environment where true equal opportunity to achieve is maintained, someone else’s A does not diminish yours. However, if we continue to function under a system that reflects the inequalities of our student body, we will only accentuate that privilege in the long run. In the Double A system, the lowest grade a professor can award is an A minus. We recommend this policy because it affords the students who are concerned about graduate or medical school the opportunity to improve their GPAs, but without stratifying our community along the lines of privilege. We know that Vassar students want to
address the inequality advanced under the current policy; over 1,300 members of our community have already signed a petition in favor of Universal Pass. Since the creation of that petition, a coalition of students has begun to take action on this issue under the name Nobody Fails VC. Our complete list of demands encompasses several issues, including fulfillment of work study allocation and financial transparency regarding the emergency fund, but the implementation of a no-fail system is our priority. Though the faculty’s original vote was in favor of the NRO system currently in place, this vote occurred in early March. Circumstances have changed since then; more counties and states have implemented lockdowns and more faculty members have since come to the realization that a no-fail policy is the only equitable solution as more students advocate. When Dean of Studies Debra Zeifman and the other members of the CCP revoted on the issue, the general faculty was not included in the decision. Nobody Fails VC is determined to make another revote happen, this time including all faculty members. Furthermore, even if the CCP is unwilling to implement a formal Universal Pass or Double A policy, all departments and individual professors should consider the importance of grade equity and assure their students by implementing a nofail policy in their classrooms. If you’re hesitant to strike, I understand. Many students have reported feeling uncomfortable refusing to attend class and halting their assignments. Luckily, there are a variety of ways you can help us advocate for Universal Pass. If you’re willing to participate, to any degree at all, please explore the strike guidelines, which were emailed to you last week by Nobody Fails VC. Your fellow students depend on your support. [Correction: A previous version of this article stated that The New School and Pomona College had implemented no-fail policies. This is not the case as of this article’s publication.]
Under pandemic, columnist accepts inevitability of loneliness Continued from Loneliness on page 1 left to study abroad. The ache returned. When she was still on campus, we spent Saturdays in every season running on the rail trail to the Walkway Over the Hudson followed by a hard-earned brunch. Her absence felt heavy and left me vulnerable to a specific kind of loneliness—one incurred by a huge void after a hundred runs with a friend. Now I spent those long runs along the rail trail, hours before the campus (or world) woke up, alone in silence. Sometimes I felt lonely in my studies, too. Certain days I would sit at a long seminar table feeling acutely disconnected from my academic peers, who seemed so much smarter than me. They were able to articulate solutions to the world’s most pressing issues with impressive acuity. I felt like a lonely imposter in a room of world changers. This is all to say: Loneliness has followed me closely during the last 3.75 years. Sure, there were consistent glimmers of deep connection throughout, but the stabs of loneliness never really disappeared despite my best efforts. Today, COVID-19 has only deepened these lonely experiences for many of us. However this reality has decreased for me since being home surrounded by family who know and love me and especially after delving into a newly-released book written on this very subject. Recently, my mom’s colleague Jason Gaboury wrote a timely book on loneliness rooted in Christian spirituality called “Wait With Me.” This book has been an invaluable resource for my own reflection
on this isolating global pandemic and my college years. He asked me to write a review before it officially comes out in May and I obliged. I went into the reading eager and ready to read about the subject so familiar to me but rarely talked about in public. I was intensely curious why someone like him—a busy working father deeply connected to a thriving Anglican community in New York City—had something to say about loneliness. If he hadn’t dodged loneliness altogether, what hope could I ever have? Yet at the beginning of the book Gaboury records a pivotal conversation he had with a Friar Ugo, who told him seven life-changing words as a young adult: “To be human is to be lonely.” Throughout his book, Gaboury explores how loneliness is experienced by all humans everywhere throughout history. I was not alone in my loneliness. At the same time, Gaboury explores how, when leveraged, loneliness can be a powerful teacher—even a necessary one. He says that loneliness is not negative, or even to be avoided. To him, loneliness is a helpful, spiritual signal that we were not made for this world, or made to walk through it emotionally, physically or spiritually alone. Still, the most influential people throughout history have needed to reckon with loneliness to grow in understanding of themselves and others. He also cited Biblical narratives of lonely legends who were forced to reckon with themselves in their deepest, darkest moments of solitude, thousands of years ago. These narratives which are held so dear in the
Christian community are reimagined in this book to address the loneliness of humanity. He talks about the utter loneliness of Joseph in captivity, Moses orphaned at birth, Jesus abandoned by his Father on the cross, Esther waiting for an answer in her palace. Yet each lonely moment or season pushed them to their knees until they entered into a deeper intimacy with the divine. This insightful read on these familiar characters showed me how transformative loneliness can be. Gaboury described the possibility of what he calls “desert spirituality” in lonely times in our lives. Profoundly terrible transformations can occur in the desert of COVID-19—homelessness, unemployment, war, economic recession, climate change, hiring freezes. Being quarantined in our homes or in a lonely relationship might feel like a desert where we feel isolated in our grief about the sorry state of the world, and by the sorry state of ourselves. What do most of us do in the desert of our lives and global reality? Instead of walking through it as wayfarers in silence, most of us try to run through with our necks craning, looking for the next oasis of success and freedom. We aimlessly scroll through Instagram. We mindlessly eat 50 peanut M&M’s. We binge an entire season of Grey’s Anatomy. We go on a two hour run to get muscle cramps and feel out of breath to avoid feeling complicated emotions like grief, confusion or fear. We might drink or try drugs. We spend $150 and two hours shopping for shoes we will never wear to a party that might not
happen at all. We are experts at avoiding this universal human experience called loneliness. I think everyone is struggling with it in one way or another during this pandemic. But the more I consider Gaboury’s discussion of loneliness, the more I see its profound ability to shape us in constructive ways—if we let it. Although I didn’t love it at the time, I see how much depth, creativity and understanding I developed through my lonely moments in college. Some of the best insights about myself and the world were unveiled through hours of unwanted solitude, when I surrendered in vulnerability and humility to my lonely hours. For example, I thought of my thesis topic during a solo run on the Vassar farm after a busy summer of avoiding the subject. I constructed the plot of my creative short story on a walk around the lake one Sunday late at night. I had my most meaningful personal and spiritual breakthroughs in the quiet room of the library long after everyone had wandered home for bed. When I was sick and housemates were out, I relished an uninterrupted viewing of this year’s Best Picture film “Parasite,” which left me enlightened and changed. I’m not saying we should live in perpetual loneliness or that we should not pursue friendship and community at every stage of life, but I am saying there will be inevitable moments of disconnection. When we don’t have the power to change our circumstances, we can either repress these lonely moments, or learn to embrace them.
Opinions articles do not reflect the position of The Miscellany News as a whole, but solely those of the author.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Page 8
April 23, 2020
The Miscellany Crossword
“Crafts”
by Frank
ACROSS 1. official currency of Sweden 6. curved line describing character growth 9. breathing organ 13. super stellar explosions 14. milk’s favorite cookie 15. oblong circle 16. thoughts or concepts 17. basic monetary unit of Cambodia 18. a spiritual teacher, especially Hindu and Buddhist 19. bouncy green spherical rubber item, 2 words 21. show about high school acapella club 22. car fuel 23. regions, spaces 25. to ask insistently 29. more wise 31. title of various aristocrats/rulers in
Islamic nations, plural 32. boundary, entrance to a building 36. singer Simone 37. poops 38. this French word keeps showing up in the crosswords, it’s étui 39. smaller stream that joins a bigger river 41. to uplift or elevate 42. furious, enraged 43. in the middle of, among, plural 44. grows in the ground 46. chain or ornament associated with watches 47. past participle of lie 48. eventually, in the end, essentially 55. intended trajectories 56. largest urban area in Germany 57. plural of logion 58. leg joint
59. test 60. sipped, imbibed 61. active Sicilian volcano 62. crafting activity, involves a needle and thread 63. what one takes in an argument
DOWN 1. crafting activity that involves needles and yarn 2. how they went off into the sunset 3. it was Hansel and Gretel, in the kitchen, with an ---4. circular flatbread originating from Western/ South Asia 5. delegates responsibility to complete a task 6. solo operatic song 7. to draw in (especially in fishing) 8. crafts that composes snippets of other
materials and mediums 9. someone who cuts down trees + skull/ mind 10. dangly bit in back of throat 11. zoological term for nostrils 12. basic craft adhesive 14. spherical mysterious objects 20. unhappy 24. ---life, oversees living situations on campus 25. slight deformity in a hard surface caused by pressure 26. singular form of 31 across 27. smaller version 28. a northern region of Indian Ocean, 2 words 29. home to the hobbits 30. nickname for Arthur, descriptor of a crafty person 32. this or 33. singer Redding 34. sexual desire 35. stops living 37. frames or heights 40. case for ashes 41. indecent, rude, racy, plural 43. biological maternal figure 44. craft that involves brushes and pigments 45. Latin for 32 across 46. hard or unyielding 47. the US boasts 5 Great ones 62. single-handedly declassified the school survival guide
Answers to previous puzzle
HOROSCOPES: Tidbits of advice inspired by Co–Star’s terrifying notifications Madi Donat
Astral Projector
ARIES
Mar 21 | Apr 19
It’s okay to not always do what is asked of you. / Ask yourself what your weaknesses are, and how they can become your strengths. / Wear blue. You will be surprised by what is revealed to you. TAURUS
Apr 20 | May 20
Teach yourself how to get out of bed. / Climb on rocks, or pretend to climb on rocks. / The world is made of love, but only once you can take yourself out of the picture long enough to look at it. GEMINI
May 21 | Jun 20
I don’t know the stars any better than you do. / Fall over in front of someone who intimidates you. / Listen to the birds for lessons in chattering. / Pick a flower, but only one. Choose wisely.
CANCER
Jun 21 | Jul 22
Pretend that nobody is forcing you to do the things you love. / Does it really matter which side you pick, or just that you picked a side? / “Want” has never been a forbidden word. / Do the work.
LEO
Jul 23 | Aug 22
If you don’t have eggs, you can make a cake with mayonnaise. / The list of who wants you around is long, so write it out to kill time. / Be alive. / When was the last time you made yourself laugh? VIRGO
Aug 23 | Sep 22
Stop pretending to be in love—or not in love. / You’re not old, just sick of pressing buttons. / Say “I miss you” out loud. It won’t kill anybody. / Are you keeping track of your memories? / Sleep in.
LIBRA
Sep 23 | Oct 22
Ground yourself. Become one with the earth. / Trust the solid foundation of science. / Fight cruelty in all its forms. / Have faith in yourself, and believe in justice. / When in doubt, shut up. SCORPIO
Oct 23 | Nov 21
When are you least yourself? / Crying over love is not strong or weak, just painstakingly human. / Lucky numbers are fake, but pick one anyway and find it in the strangest places. / Wait for a beginning. SAGITTARIUS
Nov 22 | Dec 21
Calm is not silent, but you knew that./ The sun rises, still. / Are you ready to slow down? / There’s a chance you’re using a word wrong; exalt in the joy of being corrected. Love and attention are the same.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
CAPRICORN
Dec 22 | Jan 19
Are you afraid of the future, or are you afraid that it won’t be like you’d imagined? / Finish your plate and come back for seconds. / Paint every available wall. / Waiting is impossible, but so is love. AQUARIUS
Jan 20 | Feb 18
Do not mistake the shaky hands for home. / Are you holding back? / Stretch your legs if they start to hurt. / You can only blame yourself for your feeling shut out. Open the door—but just a crack. PISCES Feb 19 | Mar 20 Giving doesn’t make you God. / Can simple contentment hold you over? / You are more powerful even than people let on. / Life isn’t much besides air, but the Universe cares little about more than that.