The Miscellany News
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Volume CLII | Issue 6
October 10, 2019
Meet the 24-year-old progressive running for mayor Aena Khan, Mack Liederman News Editor, Editor-in-Chief
al candidate that has ever brought what I brought to a candidacy.” Ward’s candidacy has found its headquarters in the middle of Main Street, Poughkeepsie’s struggling business center, which today is a physical reminder of a once-thriving industrial economy. Sprawling across a spacious second-floor apartment, campaign posters, pins and policy proposals written in marker on poster paper fill the living room, dining room and kitchen. The space is more than enough to host Ward’s grassroots campaign, which amounts to about 20 on-andoff volunteers—six of whom are his See MAYOR on page 5
Courtesy of Grace Rousell
A master’s in law from King’s College, London, at age 23. An internship in the Obama White House, along with a gig at the United Nations. A degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse, at age 19. A distinction as the youngest valedictorian in Poughkeepsie High School history, at age 16. If there is anything that now 24-year-old Poughkeepsie mayoral candidate Joash Ward lacks, it’s certainly not confidence. “I am a very good representation of what life after Poughkeepsie
High School could be,” declared Ward, only eight years removed from his senior year. He spoke with an air of determination. Backing his words with vibrant gesticulations, the millenial sat across the coffee table in tight-fitting black pants and a manila-colored turtleneck—a subtle rebuke of the politician’s expected suit-and-tie uniform. Ward continued, “Few people have the experience that I have in my background, professional and academic. Few people have lived their entire lives, gone through the struggles of growing up in this city, and then been asked to represent that city. So, I would say there is no mayor-
Pictured in front of his plans to combat the school-to-prison pipeline, 24-year-old Joash Ward is vying to become the youngest mayor in Poughkeepsie history. His endorsements include the Justice Democrats.
College investments fund ‘Vassar plague’ spreads on campus ongoing climate crisis Lucy Brewster Guest Reporter
Olivia Watson News Editor
O
ver the past two weeks, Vassar has hosted both a climate strike and a community tree planting day to fight climate change. Although these events were led by students, the College has taken a public stance for environmentally
friendly policies. In 2016, the administration released a Climate Action Plan, detailing how Vassar hopes to reduce its impact on the changing climate. The plan aims to make the campus carbon neutral by 2030. The Sustainable Investment See ENERGY on page 3
W
ith the picturesque autumn leaves turning red and yellow, fluttering onto Vassar’s quad, the annual change in the season brings cough drops and tissues alongside foliage and apple picking. In addition to the sound of intellectually stimulating conversations promised by Admissions ring the sounds of raspy voices
and hacking coughs. It is not uncommon for viruses or illnesses to spread quickly across Vassar; sleep-deprived college kids living in close quarters is a recipe for germs to become epidemics. Yet, according to Chloe Kellner ’22, it seems like this particular sickness going around has taken more victims than other colds she has seen at Vassar. “Everyone on my floor is either sick or get-
ting sick,” she told me. “I had a sinus headache and a sore throat for three weeks,” she elaborated. Maria Ziaja ’22 echoed Kellner’s sentiments, describing her current state—fatigue with a persistent cough—as “certainly a popular condition” around campus. Sulekh Fernando-Peiris ’22 additionally noticed many students absent from classes and heard of profesSee PLAGUE on page 3
Students accept imperfect planning Baseball scrimmages for pediatric hearts Am Chunnananda Guest Columnist
A
Inside this issue
6
ARTS
The body as a canvas: Spotlight seeks Vassar’s world of ink
13
OPINIONS
day. These pages are sandwiched between spontaneous spreads of ideas or lists. Messy as it is, it currently works for me, even if that might not be the case in a couple weeks’ time. In one of his videos, YouTuber and procrastination-conqueror Thomas Frank quoted David Allen, creator of the famous “Getting Things Done' time-management method. Frank said, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” Thus, it’s important to create and use systems that catch your floating thoughts, so that more room is left for having those thoughts rather than attempting to retain them. And while a large part of me wishes my disorganized written thoughts were neatly housed in pre-planned spreads embellished with themed doodles and an established color scheme, the past five years of attempted, self-modified bullet journaling has taught me that that’s just not how I think. My messy pages allow my ideas to be held, and that’s good enough. My planning journey has taught me a good deal about self-acceptance. Samantha Steeves ’21, a daily bullet-journaler, and I both See PRODUCTIVITY on page 10
Intellectual or just plain elitist? A critique of art critique
Alessandra Fable and Jackie Molloy scrimmage that supported chilGuest Reporters dren with heart conditions, like aseball in October means Jack. many things to many people. The squad decided last year to Playoffs. Championships. Lega- begin using their fall scrimmages cies. But for a young heroic boy to draw awareness to causes like named Jack, it meant a chance to this one, with benefits reaching pitch for one of his favorite teams: beyond the team itself. This year, the Vassar Brewers. The Brewer’s Head Coach Matthew Righter baseball team concluded their fall and the team wanted to focus on ball season with an inter-squad See BASEBALL on page 19
B
Courtesy of Matt Righter
s the midterm season rolls in, alongside the turning leaves that gather on the ground, there’s just one thing I wish I had more of: time. I wish I had more time to write that paper, more time to lay on the grass and savor the sun, more time to attend that film screening for that really cool org. I wish, I wish, I wish. Time can be a strange and difficult concept to grasp a hold on. Even after discussing its different modalities in my cultural anthropology class, rewatching Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” and practicing “being present” during a mindfulness workshop in Metcalf, I still don’t quite know how to wrap my head around what it really means, and, more importantly, what I am to do with it. Do I let time naturally unfold and allow the moments I experience to guide me, or do I meticulously plan what to do with my life by the minute? I find myself, in many ways, more compelled to resort to the latter; indeed, as students, we’re often told that planning is crucial to succeeding, academically or otherwise. Given that planning is a means
through which I, a feeble, lone human being, can only grapple with the grand concept of time, and that it is supposedly pretty important to achieve and accomplish things, I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out the best way to do it. I’ve color-coded categories of events on my Google Calendar, burned through at least seven A5 dot-grid journals from MUJI (an Ryder Carroll’s Bullet Journaling obsession that was sparked by discovering Ryder Carroll’s Bullet Journal method in 2015), archived a bajillion Google Keep notes and posted more post-its than should be humanly permissible. And yet, I’ve found no stability; my planning system just keeps on changing. As of right now, I’m relying mostly on a quaint 64-page yellow notebook my mom bought me as a small gift. Some of its pages are filled with lists numbered nine through 24, corresponding to the times of activities scribbled in adjacent blocks. This makeshift daily schedule, which I (try to) write up for the upcoming day every night, is nested in a vomit of tasks, reminders, notes and other chicken scratches from conversations or meetings throughout the
Eight-year-old Jack Foley poses with outfielder Connor Levchuck after throwing the first pitch of Vassar’s scrimmage last Saturday. The event benefited Gift of Life International.
18 SPORTS
The NBA’s performative activism prioritizes profit
The Miscellany News
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October 10, 2019
Editor-in-Chief Mack Liederman
Senior Editors
Frankie Knuckles Jessica Moss
Contributing Editors Isabel Braham Leah Cates Sasha Gopalakrishnan
News Aena Khan Olivia Watson Features Duncan Aronson Opinions Jonas Trostle Arts Abby Tarwater Sports Teddy Chmyz Design Lilly Tipton Copy Lucy Leonard Social Media Natalie Bober Photo Yvette Hu Managing Robert Pinataro Online Mohamad Safadieh Emerita Laurel Hennen Vigil
Courtesy of JNick Gorman ‘21
“Photo I STILL cannot believe I took myself, from the sunset hike of the Great Wall,” writes Nick Gorman ’21, who is currently studying abroad with CET Beijing’s Language Intensive Chinese Program. Gorman studies at Capital Norman University, located in Beijing’s Haidian District. He adds, There’s something so universal about a good sunrise, with a morning moon hanging in the sky, that made me feel not so far from home after all.”
3
October
Thursday
Self-care as Liberation work: A Black Feminist/Womanist Approach 5:00 p.m. | RH 200- Auditorium | Political Science Department
Psychology & Tezkatlipoka: Clinical applications of indigenous knowledge 6:30 p.m. | RH 300 | Dean of the College
4
October
Friday
The Films of Stefani Saintonge 5:00 p.m. | Vogelstein 109 | Film Department
Volleyball (W) vs. Ithaca College
8:30 p.m. | SC 212- Auditorium| Amnesty International
Esperanza Dutchess County Hispanic Organization Awards Brunch 7:00 a.m. | Environmental Co-op Barn MPR | The Environmental Cooperative
Lacrosse (M) Scrimmages
Priyadarshina Quartet
9:00 a.m. | Prentiss Field | Athletics
6:00 p.m. | TH 102 | South Asian Students Alliance Courtesy of Vassar College
Amnesty International Trivia Night Fundraiser
Saturday
7:00 p.m. | KH Gym | Athletics
THE FLICK 8:00 p.m. | TH 203 | Drama Department
5
October
How We Gather: The Vassar Sukkah Project 8:00 a.m. | Library Lawn | Religious and Spiritual Life Office
Rugby (M) vs. Hofstra 12:00 p.m. | Vassar Farm | Athletics
Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference 9:00 a.m. | RH 200 | Education Department
3:00 p.m. | SH Martel Hall | Music Department
Students of Sobriety Group
Ecumenical Christian Worship
9:30 a.m. | RH 211 | AA Poughkeepsie
Shape of Light Lecture Vassar College Orchestra 8:00 p.m. | SH Martel Hall | Music Department
Reporters Delila Ames Ariana Gravinese Jonah Frere-Holmes Tiana Headley Columnists Alex Barnard Abram Gregory Copy Samantha Cavagnolo Amanda Herring Phoebe Jacoby Caitlin Patterson Crossword Frank
Sunday
Faculty & Guest Recital: Milica Jelaca Jovanovic and Marija Ilic, pianos
5:30 p.m. | TH 102 | The Loeb Women’s volleyball will face Ithaca and RIT in home Liberty League matches this weekend.
6
October
Assistant Arts Dean Kopitsky Taylor Stewart Assistant Humor Francisco Andrade
4:00 p.m. | Chapel Tower| Religious and Spiritual Life Office
Catholic Mass 5:00 p.m. | Chapel | Religious and Spiritual Life Office
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Correction (Oct. 3): Last week’s article “Third eye and beyond: Ratnam traces memory, violence” misnamed one of the main subject groups and their language. The people group is Tamilian, not “Tamilnese.” The language is Tamil, not “Tamilnese.”
CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only accept corrections for any misquotes, misrepresentations or factual errors for an article within the semester it is printed. The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
October 10, 2019
NEWS
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Annual cold epidemic strikes, student body falls ill PLAGUE continued
from page 1 sors canceling class due to being sick themselves. “I’ve definitely been feeling under the weather,” he added.
“Everyone on my floor is either sick or getting sick. I had a sinus headache and a sore throat for three weeks.”
garlic cloves in her tea. Romani’s advice to students? “Washing your hands is huge.” While washing hands after using the bathroom and before meals would hopefully be common sense, Romani cited the lack of hand washing as the biggest reason that illness spreads around campus. She emphasized that while students are doing their daily activities, they are frequently encountering high-contact surfaces, hosting thousands of different germs on them. In addition to preventing the common cold, she also mentioned that washing your hands is the biggest way to prevent the spread of another notorious college campus plague:
If this isn’t the notorious flu, then what has been going around? The symptoms students are reporting are usually a form of the common cold. In most cases, it seems what is going around campus will resolve itself without a trip to Baldwin, even if this illness is annoying and persistent. Kellner said her key tip on avoiding and getting rid of colds is to put
gastroenteritis. Romani also recommended that students rest and get enough sleep, which supports immune system health. This is something many college students struggle with. Between class, homework, extracurriculars and social life, securing a full eight hours of sleep is often what is sacrificed first. Yet, Romani emphasized that if you’re trying to stay healthy, sleep is one of the most crucial factors. While no method is foolproof, washing your hands and getting enough sleep will help you avoid feeling sick. Maybe incorporate some garlic cloves while you’re at it.
Courtesy of Vassar College
While it may seem to students and professors that the entire campus is sick, for Health Services at Baldwin House, it is business as usual. Nursing Coordinator Bridget Romani assured me that common colds often spread around this time of year, and that nothing that Health Services has treated would suggest that this year is worse than any other. She added that the number of sick students coming to Baldwin is standard. Surprisingly, Romani shared that there “hasn’t been one case of the flu” at Health Services this year. If this isn’t the notorious flu, then what has been going around? The symptoms students are reporting—sore throats, runny noses, fatigue and occasionally fevers—are usually a form of the common cold, according to Romani. “In some cases, a common cold can lead to bronchitis, which may cause a fever,” she explained. Bleu Chambers ’22, whom Health Services diagnosed with bronchitis, described having a sore throat, cough and headache for four weeks. He says he feels better since going on the antibiotics Health
Services prescribed him, but still has a constant cough. One reason Baldwin Hall may not seem particularly alarmed by the current illness going around is that many students do not seek out Health Services when they experience symptoms of the common cold. Kellner, Ziaja and Fernando-Peiris all opted to rest in their dorm rooms instead of visiting Baldwin. Kellner didn’t see the point of visiting Health Services with a cold when “there is nothing they could give me that I couldn’t just get myself.” When asked why she didn’t go to Baldwin, Ziaja concurred: “Whenever I’ve gone to Baldwin they always snake me and send me some wack bill that takes months to resolve. It’s always like ten phone calls and ten trips to financial services…it’s ridiculous.” Chambers described his experiences with Health Services as fine.
Many students have come down with the “Vassar plague.” Baldwin officials say it is just a common cold, and that the amount of sick students this year is not anomalously high.
College contradicts, invests in fossil fuels, green energy she categorizes as an institutionalized hypocrisy. She underscored, “It amazes me that while Vassar claims to be an institution of higher learning and exceptional academics (which includes the permission to teach courses on the climate crisis and why it exists), it still has not gotten fully on board to be as sustainable as possible.” SEED member Joseph Wiswell reiterated this sentiment, saying, “What excites me about investing in green energy is that it shows there’s demand for that energy, both in market terms, making it slightly cheaper, but also in political terms.” Wiswell continued, “Vassar’s neighbors and government might take note, and that’s more important than most people realize.” This is not the first time investments surrounding Vassar’s endowment have been a flashpoint for controversy. Starting in 2013, there was a five-year campaign to divest Vassar’s endowment from fossil fuels, which culminated in the Board’s Trustee Investor Responsibility Committee (TIRC) voting unanimously against divesting (Vassar Alumnae/i, “Op-ed: Lessons Learned from Vassar’s Divestment Decision,” 03.06.18). As a form of explanation, the Board released a statement on Nov. 1, 2017, writing, “The idea of using Vassar’s endowment as an instrument to express social views is of great concern to both TIRC and the Board of Trustees. The board believes that the endowment of the college exists solely to support the mission of the college and that it is the fiduciary duty of the board, derived from our founding documents, governance, and the state law, to preserve the endowment solely for achieving the best risk-adjusted return.” Although the Board unanimously voted
to continue their involvement with fossil fuels, very few endowment funds are still invested in them, according to Danhert. “We currently have minimal exposure to fossil fuels,” Danhert explained. “We do not invest heavily in fossil fuels; in fact, at present we have no direct equity investments in Carbon 200 companies. This is a result of investment decisions made by our managers.” However, for many students, this is not quite enough. Wiswell added: “The real problem is that Vassar thinks it’s okay to make as much money as it possibly can, regardless of where that money comes from. On the one hand, I’m empathetic. Vassar needs to continue to make money if it is to survive
as an institution. However, I also recognize that the drive to profit no matter the cost is a totally deranged thing and is destroying the world.” While environmental activists on campus all agree that investing in renewable energy and formally divesting from fossil fuels is necessary, Vassar requires far more interventions to reduce its contribution to the threatening forces of climate change. Brown explained that this responsibility falls not only on the institution, but also on all individuals: “While it’s necessary to make these wide-scale changes in energy use, it is still vital that all people move toward more sustainable living. We need not just institutional change but personal behavioral change to fight the climate crisis.”
Courtesy of VC Divest via Facebook
ENERGY continued from page 1 section of the Climate Action Plan states the following: “Given that the College’s endowment is one of the key players in ensuring the college’s prosperity through 2050 and beyond, there should be some consideration to the role that these investments play in supporting the kind of society we wish to live and work in.” This mission statement suggests a need for endowment investments that work with green companies. Vassar has an endowment that nears $1.05 billion, which Vice President for Finance and Administration Steve Danhert explained provides the necessary financial support for the academic goals of the institution. However, Vassar currently does not have any significant investments in renewable energy. “We do not have a formal allocation to renewable energy, although some of our investment managers have, from time to time, included allocations to renewable energy in the investment portfolios they develop for our account,” Danhert explained. Co-President of Vassar Greens Lucy Brown ’22 explained via email correspondence that investing regularly in renewable energy would ensure that Vassar takes an important public stance on climate change. Further, fossil fuel availability is declining while prices are rising. “Vassar NEEDS to invest in renewable energy. Fossil fuels are 1) running out, 2) getting more expensive, 3) habitats and ecosystems are being destroyed for its extraction, and 4) most importantly: they CAUSE global warming. This is no longer scientifically disputed.” Brown pointed out that the College’s current lack of investment reflects what
Students have called for Vassar to divest from fossil fuels. Currently, Vassar invests in fossil fuels (minimally) and has no formal allocation for investing in green energy.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
NEWS
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October 10, 2019
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Sara Lawler In Our Headlines... The Ukraine Scandal continues to unfold following Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. Shortly after Pelosi’s announcement, the White House released a rough transcript of Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump asks Zelensky to investigate 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden. At the time of this request, Trump was withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine. In an attempt to convince the American public that there was nothing unlawful regarding his communications with the Ukrainian President, President Trump publicly called on China to assist with investigations against Biden and his son Hunter on Thursday, Oct. 3rd. In the most recent development, Trump stated that though the House of Representatives has the votes to impeach him, he would “win” a trial in the Senate, which currently has 53 Republican senators to 47 Democratic senators. The possibility of impeachment poses important questions to the leaders of the Republican Party, as Trump claims that the Republican Party is unified in their support of him. However, senator and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-UT) spoke up against Trump in a tweet: “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and the Ukraine to investi-
gate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling” (The Washington Post, “Trump Says the Democratic led House has the votes to impeach him” 10.04.19). On Friday, Oct. 4, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could significantly alter access to abortion throughout the United States. Hope Medical Group for Women sued the state of Louisiana in an attempt to block a state law that limits access to abortion doctors. The law requires that any doctor who performs abortions to have “admitting privileges,” the right to admit someone to a given hospital, at a hospital or clinic within 30 miles of the abortion clinic. Admitting privileges are difficult to obtain and this requirement would reduce the number of doctors willing and able to perform abortions. The law was originally passed in 2014, but a series of court decisions prevented it from ever going into effect. This is the first time the Supreme Court will hear an abortion case since Trump appointed Brett Kavanaugh to take Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat in wake of his retirement. Kennedy sided with the Court’s four more liberal judges in 2016 in a decision that defended abortion rights. However, with Kennedy’s replacement, the Court has shifted further to the right while maintaining the 5-4 conservative advantage. A decision is due from the Court by June 2020, at the conclusion of the nine-month session that began Monday, Oct. 7 (Reuters, “U.S Supreme Court takes major case that could curb abortion access.” 10.04.19). On Friday, Oct. 4, Microsoft released a report outlining the Iranian government’s support of hacking attempts that would identify the email accounts of government officials and journalists as well as other email accounts related to a 2020 presidential campaign. However, Microsoft declined to reveal with which campaign the hackers were trying to interfere. Microsoft did reveal
that there were 271 hacking attempts, four of which were successful. Owen Falkowitz, the CEO of Area 1, a Silicon Valley security company that helps maintain the security of presidential and senate campaigns, said that his company is experiencing attacks on both ends of the political spectrum. These new hacking attempts make it clear that foreign influence on American elections was not left in 2016, and may have major impacts on the upcoming 2020 race (The New York Times, “Iranian Hackers Targeted Presidential Campaign, Microsoft says,” 10.04.19). Around the World… The protests over the Extradition Bill that have dominated Hong Kong came to a violent climax on Oct. 2, when an officer responded to attacks from an 18-year-old student at Tsuen Wan Public Ho Chuen Yiu Memorial College by shooting at him. The incident occurred on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, during which President Xi JinPing held the largest military parade in the country’s history. Hong Kong protests initially erupted four months ago over the bill, which would allow fugitives from Hong Kong to be transported to mainland China, Taiwan or Macau for trial. Opponents of the bill in Hong Kong fear that extradition will be used as a political tool, allowing Hong Kong residents to face unfair trial in mainland China. The bill was proposed in February, leading to unabating protests beginning in June without a loss in momentum. On Oct. 2, the violence of these protests reached new heights, with the police force elevating violence rather than de-escalating tensions. Throughout the day, 66 people were injured and 180 were arrested while those on mainland China simultaneously celebrated 70 years of Communist China. The violence received limited news coverage in mainland China (South China Morning Post, “Protestor shot by police, trail of destruction across Hong Kong, while Bei-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
jing celebrates National Day.” 10.02.2019). Three years ago, Britain voted to leave the European Union in a shocking referendum. However, just this past Thursday, Oct. 3, the EU rejected a leave proposal from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stating that it had no chance of winning support from the 27 countries that need to sign off on the deal. Britain currently hopes to leave the EU by Oct. 31. Johnson claims that the country will leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal, while Parliament has passed a law stating that the PM must request an extension for the leave date if no deal is achieved by mid-October. Some speculate that Johnson wishes to leave the EU without a deal, though he denies this and states that he is working towards finalizing a deal by Oct. 17 or 18. In order to reach this goal, negotiations with other nations in the union will need to begin immediately. As of now, there are no public plans to move towards negotiations. (The Washington Post, “E.U. Rejects Boris Johnson’s Brexit Proposal, raising prospect of chaotic break within weeks.” 10.03.2019). The White House’s recent announcement of withdrawals from northeastern Syria drew international condemnations– particularly in regard to the fate of Kurdish troops that aided American forces in Syria. To Turkey, Kurds represent terrorists allied with seperatists in Turkey. After weeks of discussions aimed at improving U.S.-Turkish relations, Trump rebuked Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s threats to mobilize an operation in northern Syria. Trump doubled down on his withdrawal efforts, to which Turkish officials responded with announcements that the operation was complete. Kurdish forces responded to both sides with threats to abandon prisons holding former ISIL fighters (The Washington Post, “Furor over pulling troops from northeast Syria began with troubling Trump phone call and White House statement,” 10.08.19).
October 10, 2019
NEWS
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Young mayoral candidate returns to his local roots MAYOR continued
from page 1 own family members. “I had no plan to do this,” Ward admitted about his decision on running to represent Poughkeepsie’s 32,000-plus residents. “It was one of those, oh shit, I think I’m about to throw absolutely everything I was going to do out the window on the slim and radical chance that the City of Poughkeepsie will believe we can do better.”
“It was one of those, oh shit, I think I’m about to throw absolutely everything I was going to do out the window on the slim and radical chance that the City of Poughkeepsie will believe we can do better.” Ward’s political experience includes no publicly held offices, but he was quick to mention his record as the “highest efficiency analyst” in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence, as well as his work on Lemi Tilahun’s 2017 Democratic run for mayor of Cedar Rapids, IA. As the Democratic candidate in Poughkeepsie’s mayoral race, Ward is filing an opposition that would have otherwise been left vacant. Republican Mayor Robert G. Rolison is seeking re-election, having held the office since 2015 after
previously serving 13 years as Poughkeepsie’s representative in the Dutchess County Legislature. The 61-year-old Republican is relatively popular in an urban area home to four Democrats for every five residents. With the election roughly a month away, Ward is kicking his campaign into full gear. Yet, the strength of his appeal in the city is still unclear. So far, the young candidate has secured endorsements from the Working Families Party and the Justice Democrats, both progressive political entities that have also endorsed the four Congresswoman dubbed “the Squad”: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ayanna Presley (D-MA). Ward’s campaign is primarily backed by Run For Something, a 501(c)(4) organization with the aim of finding millennial candidates to run for otherwise uncontested seats. Despite his proposals’ alignment with progressive positions, Ward was hesitant to pin himself on the rapidly changing political spectrum. “I would say, we are the largest generation of young people in the history of the world, and we are now aging into the point where we are beginning to represent ourselves and our views, in our own voice,” said Ward, who is choosing to focus on larger future visions for the city over specific political stances. “Our voice will not be the same as the generations before us, because the generations before us are not, and will not, face the challenges we do. And that’s what we’re beginning to see. And there’s tension, because there are different experiences.” Ward’s campaign is based on policies that,
according to him, offer a stark contrast not only to Rolison’s incumbent administration, but also to the city’s broader political history. Under his central slogan “Jobs not Jail,” Ward, who is Afro-Latinx, places racialized disparities that have long plagued people of color in Poughkeepsie (particularly Black residents) at the center of his campaign. The proposals penned in marker on his headquarter walls target Poughkeepsie’s declining job market, lax economic development and the low-performing education system. Yet, Ward first and foremost emphasizes the necessity of individual action to spark urban sustainability: “People need to understand what the stakes are,” he explained, “so that they can define for themselves what their life will be.”
“Our voice will not be the same as the generations before us, because the generations before us are not, and will not, face the challenges we do. And that’s what we’re beginning to see. And there’s tension, because there are different experiences.” Another central consideration in his plan
is the $600 million loss Poughkeepsie’s real estate market suffered following the 2008 crash, as well as the need to revitalize Poughkeepsie’s public schools, which are ranked third-to-last in New York State. Ward insists that Poughkeepsie is in desperate need of preservation that must stem first from a renewed investment in education. A signature campaign proposal focuses on a work-study program that would grant public school students a pathway to employment after graduation, in an attempt to reduce the school-to-prison pipeline. Other initiatives include the creation of a council that would address the revitalization of local businesses and promote the diversification of the police force. Although these proposals highlight issues that continuously impact Poughkeepsie, Ward offered only vague paths for their practical implementation. When pressed in person, he provided only one specific example of potential project funding. “New York State is responsible for up to 90 percent of the construction cost [for revitalizing schools],” which he later detailed to be between $3 and 7 million. After each long day of drawing up plans in his headquarters, Ward walks out of his office and toward the bustling sidewalks and brickstone buildings of Main Street. He turns left, and heads to his old new home in his native town, where his earliest supporters await him—his mother and elder siblings. This deliberate return to his roots embodies Ward’s main impetus for entering the mayoral race: a deep love for family and community. Come November’s election, Poughkeepsie will decide if the young man can give back to the city that made him.
Freshman VSA hopefuls debate pressing campus issues On Tuesday, Oct. 7, students gathered in Rocky 300 to watch the 13 first-year candidates for the Board of Elections and Appointments (BoEA) and VSA positions debate campus issues and their respective goals for their prospective positions. Moderated by the Misc’s News Editors, the debate centered around strenghts of the candidates and their ideas. Students brought up several proposals, such as ensuring that Vasasr remains need-blind and how to assist students who are both applying and adjusting to campus.
All photos courtesy of Sheldon Chou and Sulekh Fernando-Peiris
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
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ARTS
October 10, 2019
Tattoo spotlight: Students’ ink proves deeply personal, artful To our parents’ generation, tattoos are a defining characteristic of a low social standing. Yet this is changing rapidly, as the sentimentality behind most tattoos nowadays render them a form of art. I spoke to several Vassar students about their tattoos, and their reflections were sometimes sensitive, often personal and always distinct. Here are a few of their stories: All Photos by Delila Ames/ The Miscellany News My second tattoo I got was a hawk eye on My tattoo is inspired by Ötzi the Iceman. my right shoulder, and part of it has to do with Ötzi was a man Bronze Age who was frozen in a glacier and mummified. It was theorized the fact that my dad has really bad vision; he’s the tattoos might have marked the locations legally blind. So I actually have three hawks for acupuncture treatments, or maybe the below the main hawk eye, flying in the mountattoos were the treatments. He had 61 tattains, and the clouds and those are representoos on his body over his lower back and tative of my dad, my uncle and my grandfajoints. They were all in the lines like I have ther—the three males on my dad’s side of the on my body, in lines and little x’s. family. Hawks are kind of my spirit animal. I I got seven of those to represent seven peoalways had a personal connection with that. ple in my family because they help me heal, That’s my favorite tattoo I have. and three lines to represent three people I’ve All my tattoos are family-involved. My dad lost in my life to remind me why I’m here. doesn’t really have tattoos, so I decided on a So each line he put was to alleviate pain, and symbol for him, and now he feels obliged to each line on me means each member of my get one. He hates tattoos. It’s a Spartan mefamily alleviates pain. dallion on my back, and he’s gonna go get It’s funny because my parents hate tattoos, one. and I got them for my family. A little ironic, They all have meaning; I don’t get them I know. But when I called my mom and told out of nowhere. Mine have all been planned her about it, she paused. I was expecting a for over a year at least before I get them. My lecture, but she just paused and then she said, parents even help me out: One of mine ended “I don’t know how you could take something up costing more than I expected so I took a I hate so much and turn it into something I loan out from them, and so they’re supportlove. — Reis Kissel ’22 ive in that way too. — Alec Yeany ’21 It’s a Spartan head with an olive branch. I drew it. I got it because my dad and I started doing Spartan Races when I was about 14 and that’s how we became close, like he’s my best friend. My ride or die. They’re obstacle course races, anywhere from three to 15 miles through mountain terrains and ski slopes. There’s mud, fire, barbed wire, a ton of obstacles. I added in the olive branch because the Spartan head is aggressive and intense, while the olive branch is a symbol of peace and balances me out. It’s a reminder to be composed, because I can be aggressive and punchy and get what I want. It’s specifically shown when I’m exercising and wearing a racerback tank top. It pushes me to work harder because if I’m not pushing it 100 percent athletically, I’m, like, dishonoring the tattoo. Give it all you have. — Sabrina Stacks ’20
The one in the middle of my back is my last name in Chinese, Chang, and me and all of my cousins got it together. The two words on my shoulders are “Familia siempre” because I’m half Chinese and half Mexican, and my mom was kind of jealous that I didn’t have anything that represented my Mexican side. We were supposed to get matching tattoos of those two words on our shoulders, and then she chickened out after I got mine, and so I have them now and she doesn’t. I didn’t tell my parents about the first one; I thought they would be mad. Then I showed them like three months later and they said, “Oh we knew you got one, we saw your debit card transaction.” When we were younger, my mom said tattoos were horrible, but now that I have them, she’s changed her mind because they have sentimental value. — Clare Basler-Chang ’22 The reason is a bit of a bummer. My rib cage was an area that I would self-harm when I was younger. While there weren’t a lot of visible scars in the area, I would look in the mirror and see this really terrible sign. I wanted to put something pretty there so that when I look at it, I’ll always see something beautiful. I don’t want to forget that it did happen, but I also don’t want a sad reminder. I picked a chrysanthemum specifically because there’s this book called “Chrysanthemum” that I really liked when I was a kid. It was about this little mouse who hated her name and was bullied at school, and then her teacher had a daughter and named her Chrysanthemum. And my name isn’t like super unique, but my mom would read it to me and say “Your name is unique.” — Miriam Cubstead ’22
I danced for 14 years of my life. I was a big ballet girl, and my favorite role was Rose in the Nutcracker, so that’s why it’s a rose. So that role kinda changed my life. I loved to dance, but then I gained some weight from birth control and I came here thinking that I’d be able to get into a company. But, I had gained weight so I didn’t get into a company, and dance broke my heart. I’ve had a rocky past with dance, and it’s kind of made me hate my body. Then last year I got this, and the petals are falling off because I felt like my love of dance was fading—but it’s representative of a stage in my life where I wanted it on me forever so I could always remember it. — Adriana DeLuca ’22
My neighborhood I’m from is called Diamond Heights, so I figured I could do some sort of tribute to where I’m from. I actually drew it, and the artists resized it to make sure the lines wouldn’t bleed. My parents would definitely be a little grossed out when I talked to them about tattoos before I ever got one, asking, like, why would you ever do that to your body? I didn’t tell them initially—I told them probably a month after for both of them, and at first they were shocked, but then they didn’t really care. — Nathan Logan ’22
It’s two circles overlapping, like a Venn diagram. The middle part, the union, is shaded in. It’s two matching pieces; my mother got the same piece, but has the outside shaded in. It fits together, one full piece. She’s on the outside, protecting me, and I’m in the middle. My mom completes me and I complete her. — Eamon Geraghty ’22
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
October 10, 2019
ARTS
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‘Joker’ imbues superhero genre with realism, complexity Massimo Tarridas Guest Columnist
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odd Phillips’ “Joker” is the first effort in the new DC Universe worth seeing in theaters. It’s an arthouse-styled production that not only transcends the label of “superhero movie,” but also poses questions about how we define that genre. After all, “Joker” shares few elements with the conventional superhero movie—a main character with extraordinary powers or skills, a virtuous moral code, a supervillain, a mission—yet it is a better film for having ignored those tropes. The film’s first striking defiance of the superhero genre is its cinematography, which looks more like a movie distributed by A24 than anything from the Marvel or DC universe, especially when considering Marvel’s usually grey and flat color-grading process. The camera also moves more intimately, giving us many soft-focused details of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) applying his clown makeup…bathing his aging mother…and talking to himself, alone in his apartment. The whole movie is shot like a drama because it is a drama, following in the footsteps of other character studies like Martin Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver” (1976) and “The King of Comedy” (1983), and alluding to narrative motifs within both those films. Similar to the conception of Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver,” the new DC film directly exposes Fleck’s worldview and the series of cruel events that lead him to justify the crimes he commits. At the same time, Fleck’s dreams of becoming a comedian/ talk show host mimic Robert De Niro’s
role in “The King of Comedy,” as De Niro plays a man with exactly those delusions. Phillips has creatively fused elements of these two storylines into the plot structure of “Joker.” Yet, “Joker” manages to portray an even more sympathetic view toward its protagonist than these films. This is partly due to Joaquin Phoenix’s acting, which contains a physical theatricality that the other films don’t (with all due respect to De Niro). In his pained laughter and manic dancing, Phoenix demands a level of empathy for Fleck’s situation that I didn’t feel he had even earned—but through the power of his performance, he took that empathy from me anyway. The actors in other DC and Marvel movies are good, no doubt, but Phoenix is a higher class of actor—or, at the very least, a much more intense one. The unconventional casting choice recalls the public’s widespread shock at the 2008 announcement that Heath Ledger would act as the Joker. Phoenix has certainly crafted a performance that could, in time, be considered equal to (and possibly better than) Ledger’s now-iconic portrayal. Should they even be compared? “The Dark Knight” is clearly a superhero movie, albeit one grounded in realism and a truecrime feel. If not for the Joker’s comic book character origins, this new version could just be considered an indie movie focused on critiquing society’s treatment of those with mental illnesses. That’s part of what makes “Joker” so exciting: Even if it isn’t the most profound or comprehensive reflection on certain marginalized populations, it is still a promise that superhero
Courtesy of knowyourmeme
Director Todd Philips’ “Joker,” which features Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character, reimagines the conventional superhero movie in both aesthetic, narrative and plot. movies can return and surpass the levels of psychological complexity and narrative depth that we haven’t seen since the Dark Knight trilogy. Furthermore, it assures the audience that these kinds of timeless stories and myths can be retold with the sensibilities and aesthetics found in less mainstream styles of filmmaking. It occurs to me that this movie has been plagued with too many comparisons, too much controversy, from the very day it was announced: Todd Phillips as director, Phoenix as Joker, pearl-clutching media coverage, worries about the public sympathizing with a homicidal man. This very
article is part of that unhealthy whirlpool. If we were to strip all that away, we are left with simply a very good movie about a man with mental illnesses. He’s been beaten, tortured, gaslit, played with, let down, deceived and abused—if, at the end, he happens to take that pent-up anger out on someone who pushed him a little too far, who is truly to blame? The answer is purposefully ambiguous. “Joker” is at once a criticism of the man himself and the society that molded him, because it would be the ultimate dishonesty to say that the responsibility lies entirely on one side or the other.
Bishop lecturer Mark Doty contemplates cosmic, atomic Taylor Stewart
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Assistant Arts Editor
emphasis, giving the impression that he was composing on the spot. I cursed the theatrical and fake calm I’ve come to expect from spoken word—because this was far better. Matching his enthusiasm, the audience giggled and gaped at his readings. I felt a certain satisfaction seeing listeners’ responses before my eyes, hearing their sighs, nods and approving breaths as Doty delivered each line. The poet, a mix between Mister Rogers and mad scientist, not only presented his poetry, but also reflected on his writing process. Before reading his ode to the aforementioned toy mouse, he lamented the decline of American vernacular: “Television and mass media have homogenized the American voice so much, there’s no regional specificity.” During the subsequent Q&A session, Doty discussed process. In keeping with their excitement, the crowd was filled with writers. One listener asked about his creative tempo: “Is [writing your poems] more like vomit or gestation?” He responded that it varies. There are times of allegiance to his process, when he undergoes “writing fetishes,” depending on the potency of the impulse. He has a prose book about Walt Whitman coming out in April; once he fully understood his subject matter, he said, it was like tuning into a voice, and he could hear a tone for that voice, and once he got there he could write. “If you write only one way,” he quipped, “you might end up writing the same thing.” Alumnus Raphael Kosek ’75 asked Doty about prose poems, a modern literary “trend.” He told her that it is nice to relieve the pressure of a poetic line through this medium. She said after the lecture, “If there is a line [between prose and po-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Courtesy of Tiffany Trumble
ark Doty’s manner is almost as lively as his poetry. As he recites, he performs a series of poses: clutching the podium with both hands, balling his fists, crossing his legs, pointing his index finger, driving his shoe-toe into the floor. He reads us just a few pieces, but these selections stretch from atoms to the cosmos. Such are Doty’s poses, and his poems— expanding and contracting and expanding again. He is a turbulent performer and poet, but it is evident that the poet’s universe is gleaming and beautiful, and that he casts each word with relish. On Thursday, Oct. 3, Doty presented the 2019 Elizabeth Bishop Lecture at Vassar. Doty visits as a Distinguished Professor and Writer-in-Residence at Rutgers University, Newark. He has received the 2008 National Book Award, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Guggenheim Fellowship. Professor of English Paul Kane introduced Mr. Doty by introducing the lecture’s namesake poet. When Kane was a student, Elizabeth Bishop visited his poetry writing seminar and delivered a series of riddle poems about birds. Being “ornithologically challenged,” the class couldn’t solve any of them. “But, it’s a bluejay,” chided Kane, imitating Bishop. “My dears, it’s a thrush.” If Mark Doty had been there, he said, he would have saved the day because he is “alive to all forms of life around him.” During the lecture, Doty offered a variety of verse and a prose poem, and much context—which was helpful, considering the microcosmic, hyper-focused parts of his work. “A Display of Mackerel,” for example, forms a long, skinny column on paper but reads out loud like a cloud,
more vaporous and vast. As with most of his poems, it started small. Doty was in a Stop and Shop in Orleans, Massachusetts, leaning over the display of market fish, contemplating mackerel. On the drive home he wrote this ode of sorts on a grocery bag. He described their gleaming like abalone (“Iridescent, watery/prismatics: think abalone,/the wildly rainbowed/mirror of a soapbubble sphere,/think sun on gasoline.”), then considers their sameness and selflessness. Every mackerel, Doty blurted, expresses the same iridescence such that they are purposeful and happy. By being yourself, you are “doomed to be lost.” Which would you prefer? In this way, grocery store musings became a commentary on the costs of individualism. Doty is good at taking a microscopic moment or image and giving it philosophical significance and surprising scale. Other subjects of his work included a pet store in Salt Lake City called Pets R Us, where the poet observed a “billion incipient citizens of a goldfish Beijing,” and a terrier called Little George who ruled Doty’s Chelsea apartment despite being no bigger than a toaster. Doty told us that he used to explore New York City in the full, as an “apotheosis of human,” before he started writing about the particulars of Chelsea. Take the poem “Magic Mouse,” about a street vendor’s toy. Despite the humdrum subject matter, he reflects that both the seller and the mechanical toy demonstrate an amazing persistence and resistance. His work is so verbally rich; I imagined the writing process to be painstaking and sporadic, even aggressive. He buzzed with energy as he recited, bent over the microphone and driving his hand in the air for
On Oct. 3, acclaimed poet Mark Doty delivered the 2019 Elizabeth Bishop Lecture. Doty, a Distinguished Professor at Rutgers University, Newark, read aloud a variety of verse and prose poems. etry], it’s probably blurred, but poetry is ultimately about the truth of a moment or consciousness.” Along these lines, Mark Doty mused about grocery stores, did some philosophical inquiry and prompted much discussion about contemporary poetry. He pays attention to the microscopic, mackerel and toy mice, but also contemplates the cosmic. With his upcoming memoir, he further explores consciousness, big and small, through prose. “What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life,” comes out in April 2020.
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October 10, 2019
Student group Unframes bureaucratic Vassar art culture Meghan Hayfield Guest Reporter
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s its name suggests, student-led art club Unframed refuses to be contained. With its all-encompassing tagline “where art meets activism,” it’s hard to pin the group down to a specific identity, as its purpose is constantly evolving. This year. as Unframed sinks into its new studio and gathering area in the basement of Blodgett, its missions are gaining ground. Unframed is just one of many student-led art spaces on campus; others include the Ceramics Club’s studio in the basement of Noyes and the Bike Shop. The members of Un-
framed, whose three-room studio is located in the basement of Blodgett, fought a “long battle” for their own space, according to Unframed President Rachel Sipress ’21. The path to building and equipping art studios is laden with bureaucracy, they said, but these efforts are changing art culture on campus. Unframed’s studio is marked by a paintsplotched door next to the Student Musician’s Studio. Members painted the space in bold turquoise, blue and green. Paintings are propped against the walls, or pop out of tiny alcoves in doors and corners. A bookshelf teems with books that past students have left to the club, or ones Sipress randomly se-
Courtesy of Meghan Hayfield
Unframed is a student-led art space that focuses on the intersection of art and activism. Its members seek to make Vassar’s art scene more accessible and community-oriented.
lected. Everything here is student-selected, contributing to a homegrown and eclectic atmosphere. This is fitting, as much of Unframed’s desire to form a physical studio stemmed from the lack of non-academic art spaces on campus. “The average Vassar student somehow likes the arts, but most of them won’t get involved in studio art. I think it creates a bit of a weird art hoe culture where art at Vassar becomes inaccessible and put into this box, which I’m not a huge fan of,” Sipress said. Yet despite its love for visual culture, Unframed is not just about artmaking, but also establishing a community. Unframed member Elizabeth Ralston ’21 said, “Something that’s really cool about Vassar is that there’s so much community space. I think the idea of Unframed is [to] create that community space with a focused intent.” This community emphasis is evident in the studio. The first two rooms serve as greeting areas, adorned with a couch and reading nook; Sipress expressed hopes of adding a tea kettle and fridge. Pipes along the ceiling and a mirrored window allude to the space’s past involvement in psychological experiments—there’s a definite creative energy looming. Yet Unframed seeks to expand its impact far beyond the walls of its cozy studio. Projects that fuse art and activism are gaining momentum at Vassar and across the globe through youth-led movements such as March for Our Lives and, most recently, the Global Climate Strike; therefore, the club will hold an art show later this semester that showcases artist responses to the climate disaster. Yet Unframed also supports the concept of
art for art’s sake. Ralston said, “I’ve heard art described as a revolutionary act. Of course you can create revolutionary art, but I don’t think that’s necessary for art to say something … I think it’s important to have spaces that are not only activist spaces, [but] spaces that can be a refuge. I think that art is refuge.” Another key aspect of Unframed is its emphasis on art accessibility. Sipress pointed out that materials can be a “barrier to entry.” Ralston echoed this sentiment, stating, “Even taking art classes here is expensive and can be a prohibitive cost. I think everyone on campus should have access to art supplies and a place to do art.” Unframed seeks to mitigate this problem; its studios are equipped with materials for painting and drawing, as well as other art forms. The organization is also hoping to obtain a projector to showcase student film projects, and Sipress said they aspire to host a writer’s workshop this year. Evidently, their goals extend beyond the mere canvas. Yet, navigating bureaucracy stands in the way of any organization on campus. Sipress said managing these tangential elements can be difficult. While the studio is not yet finished, they said, “At a certain point you have to be like, okay, here it is.” To their point, the organization held their first open house on Sunday, Oct. 6. Constructed from blurred lines, Unframed is an organization up for interpretation, but tethered to the increasingly important relationship between art and activism. The group is part of a wave of student-led movements to activate art spaces and accessibility around campus, a trend that is already making its mark on Vassar’s culture.
Sleater-Kinney remains music’s vital feminist voice Abby Tarwater Arts Editor
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of the apocalyptic, surreal nature of living through the Trump era. Take the song “Broken” for example; Tucker sings, “She, she, she stood up for us/When she testified/Me, me too/My body cried out when she spoke those lines.” It’s a clear reference to the testimony of Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh. While not all of the record’s lyrics are as explicitly defiant, Sleater-Kinney’s anxious musings about aging, desire, technology and loneliness are far-from-subtle criticisms of our terrifying cultural moment. After all, the personal is always political. On “The Center Won’t Hold,” Sleater-Kinney at once tackle ageism, sexism and the impending end of the world. Such bold aspirations require a bold record, and the result is
understandably weird, unsettling and messy. Yet while Sleater-Kinney are pioneering sonic encapsulations of the tumultuous moment in which we live, music critics seem reluctant to embrace an imperfect result—especially from an aging, all-female band. But of course, defiance and controversy are nothing new for Sleater-Kinney. They wrote groundbreaking critiques of the War on Terror on “One Beat,” and continued their history of rebellion yet again on “The Center Won’t Hold.” As long as Sleater-Kinney’s space in our culture is unfilled—there are no other provocative, all-female bands of their talent and status—they’re bound to continue their decades-long tradition of being the feminist, articulate and incendiary voice that is sorely needed.
Courtesy of Courtney Bennett via Flickr
o you feast on nostalgia?” asks Sleater-Kinney vocalist Corin Tucker on “RUINS,” perhaps the most experimental track on the legendary feminist punk group’s ninth LP, “The Center Won’t Hold.” The track is emblematic of all the reasons longtime SK fans are weary to embrace the band’s new sound: Producer and indie icon Annie Clark a.k.a St. Vincent’s art rock influence is palpable, from its eerie electronic aura and apocalyptic lyrics to Tucker’s macabre screeches. Also notably absent are Tucker and guitarist Carrie Brownstein’s signature back-and-forth vocals, urgently battling each other against drummer Janet Weiss’ unbridled ferocity. The lyric indicates that perhaps Sleater-Kinney anticipated the mixed reception that “The Center Won’t Hold” has received from fans and critics alike since its Aug. 16 release. The album was, in a way, doomed from the start—Weiss announced her departure from the band just weeks before the record’s release, citing Sleater-Kinney’s “new direction” as her impetus. Many have blamed Clark for Weiss’ decision, labeling her as the Yoko Ono of Sleater-Kinney—a ridiculous and sexist statement, especially considering the group’s progressive fanbase. But although Brownstein stated on Instagram that Weiss “raved about this album to [the band] and Annie,” it’s nearly impossible to listen to “The Center Won’t Hold” and not try to put the pieces together. It’s not difficult to find justifications for Weiss’ exit in “The Center Won’t Hold.” It is noticeably less drum-heavy than any other record in their discography, and does have some tracks that don’t quite work: “RUINS” and “Bad Dance,” most notably. But consid-
ering it’s their first attempt at an entirely new aesthetic—one that was inspired by Rihanna’s “Stay”—it’s to be expected that the record would be a bit uneven. Whether Weiss really left due to dissatisfaction in the record or for personal reasons is impossible to know. But I’m disappointed that fans are labeling her departure as the end of Sleater-Kinney altogether; after all, the band’s first two albums—1995’s “Sleater-Kinney” and 1996’s incredible “Call the Doctor”—succeeded without her. I think that many are reluctant to accept that Brownstein and Tucker, who are now 43 and 46 years old, respectively, can continue to redefine Sleater-Kinney decades after its formation. Sleater-Kinney are self-aware of the public’s reluctance to let a band of women in their 40s and 50s evolve as musicians. On “LOVE,” Brownstein laments, “Tired of bein’ told that this should be the end...There’s nothing more frightening and more obscene/Than a wellworn body demanding to be seen.” Fans likely keep suspecting that each Sleater-Kinney album is the last due to the rarity of women their age in rock music. They are virtually peerless; no all-female rock band of their influence and longevity exists. But it’s quite obvious that Brownstein and Tucker are not past their prime as musicians, which makes fans’ disbelief in their ability to innovate and continue sans Weiss frustrating. Some also point to the record’s title as an indication that “The Center Won’t Hold” is their last album—i.e. Weiss is the center of the group, and the band won’t stay together without her. Certain song titles, such as “Broken” and “Can I Go On,” also hint at this. Yet this interpretation ignores how fundamentally political the record is. These songs are not myopic, self-indulgent reflections by the band about themselves, but rather snapshots
Punk rock band Sleater-Kinney released their ninth studio album, “The Center Won’t Hold,” on Aug. 16. The record discusses aging during the surreal, apocalyptic Trump era.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
October 10, 2019
Campus Canvas
ARTS A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists
Page 9 submit to misc@vassar.edu
Luis Osvaldo Arguello Class of 2022 “I like faces.” Check out more of Luis’ art on Instagram @seeluisrun
Excuse me, What are you excited to do over October break?
“I want to go apple picking.” — Anna Roberts ’20
“I want to go see my sister at her family weekend at her school.” — Itamar Ben-Parath ’21
“I’m excited to make soup and bake bread.” — Tamar Wolfson ’23
“I’m excited to get ahead on homework.” — Adina Ornstein-Luks ’22
“I’m excited to sleep and drink lots of water.” — Tilek Kaipov ’23
“I’m excited to not do any work.” — Carly D’antonio ’23
Izzy Braham, Contributing Editor Sherry Liao, Photography
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
FEATURES
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October 10, 2019
Tacit modeling, poor role-playing hurt teacher training Duncan Aronson Features Editor
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Duncan Aronson / Miscellany News
lassroom simulations are conventional tools for teaching and practicing pedagogy. I am only a year and change into my education courses and fellowships, but I have already experienced my fair share of simulations. Such instances may look odd at first glance. “Teachers,” usually experienced educators or student-teachers practicing, prepare the lesson’s content and materials. “Students,” sometimes played by adults, but often a bunch of undergraduate student-teachers, participate in the activities. They tape together raw spaghetti structures, fold and cut tetrahedron kites, and, if the lead teacher is inexperienced, test behavior management skills by creating pure pandemonium. Isn’t it ironic that acting like kids is a crucial practice for growing teachers? You wonder why an experienced educator would bother performing the facilitator role if the student-teachers are the ones who need that experience. The answer is modeling—a core tenet of education. You want students to project when they read in front of the class? Show them how it’s done. You want a school culture of people who throw away trash even if it’s not theirs? Time to get your hands dirty. You want a younger teacher to have a concrete understanding of how to check students’ understanding? Demonstrate to the observing teacher with real students. In mock lessons, student-teachers pick up other nuggets of knowledge along the way. Besides learning how to teach, mock lessons provide inspiration for what to teach; my fellow teachers-in-training and I often incorporated elements of a lead teacher’s lessons into our own. They remind young adults what it is like to be children half their age—what it means to be curious and invested in something as simple as a water bottle rocket, no more than a hunk of plastic and cardboard, with little lightning bolts and “Dakunda’s Thunda”
crudely drawn with Sharpie. Yet modeling alone does not guarantee effective learning. For example, a teacher may choose to be gentle with authority. They pull the attention of distracted students by talking slowly and with frequent pauses. But without explicit dialogue, the intentionality behind their craft can be lost, especially on students busy enjoying elementary school. They may give the general instruction to observe closely or imagine how a modeled lesson would be implemented, but rarely do they draw attention to their thought processes in deciding how to implement the lesson, or how not to implement the lesson. Unlike a real classroom or stage performance, however, the teacher can manipulate a simulation as if they were holding a TV remote. The simulation can be paused at a critical moment, or rewound after the fact for retrospection. The lead teacher can explicitly draw attention to a certain theory or practice they have modeled or will model. Aspiring teachers, self-aware throughout the simulation and observant of the lead teacher’s modeling, can break character to clarify and discuss what the lead teacher has done. The idea that modeling requires supplementary communication is not novel; some of modeling’s proponents support modeling in tandem with direct articulation and supervised reflection. Most educators likely share this understanding. Assuming that teachers are aware of modeling’s limitations, why don’t they use their remotes to be more transparent in their instruction? I believe there are two main reasons for this. First, progressive pedagogy views teachers as partners with students in the co-construction of knowledge. Progressive teachers loathe offering their own knowledge, preferring open-ended structures for students to learn and interpret for themselves. By this logic, a student is free to interpret the teacher’s choices and their impact, which the lead teacher may not be
Students construct water bottle rockets, attaching cardboard fins and paper parachutes. Simulations of engaging projects and lessons embody the ideas of progressive pedagogy; the teacher models the execution of a lesson for students to scrutinize for themselves. aware of or agree with. Second, and perhaps more important, both students and teachers instinctively embody the roles they feel most comfortable in. This phenomenon doesn’t appear to be a product of conscious judgement like progressive pedagogy, but rather of automatic force of habit. Everyone is at home behind our fourth walls. The chairs are soft and well-worn, and the fireplace and steaming beverages are cozily warm. In the simulations, college students forget that they are merely pretending to think like young(er) students, when they should really be transitioning to thinking like a teacher. Teachers, on the other hand, forget that they are merely pretending to teach students when they are really teaching future teachers. In effect, students and teachers create a real classroom rather than
a simulated one. To navigate the practice lesson environment and occupy the student headspace, while simultaneously analyzing from an aspiring pedagogue’s perch, is no easy task. This thespian’s sense of role-playing would be an additional required tool in an educator’s already overcrowded toolbox, let alone an educator-of-educators’ toolbox. A teacher is a child’s cheerleader, a lesson’s production manager, a well-read scholar who can answer unexpected queries and an improviser who can read and react to unexpected situations—just to name a few of a teacher’s many jobs. The bottom line is that teaching is complex. But that only makes teacher training more vital. The way I see it, breaking the mold of teacher preparation needs to start with breaking character.
Productivity methods reveal relations to time, personality PRODUCTIVITY continued from page 1 reached this conclusion through a discussion on our planning practices. As I revealed to her my dissatisfaction with my own incohesive planning system, Sam,
folding open her bullet journal containing pages of not overly-elaborate, yet systematically-arranged, boxed layouts representing each week, noted the discrepancy people often have between what we want our
Courtesy of Am Chunnananda
A stack of planning paraphernalia reflects the effort and thought that some planners put into choosing their time management methodologies. A cute rendition of the iconic WWII-era “We can do it!” poster decorates the front cover of the topmost bullet journal.
productivity to be or look like versus what it actually comes to be. It’s easy for us to envy how other people plan, especially when planning is at the nexus of so many different aspects of our lives: It is where our academics and extracurricular commitments bump heads; where we channel our inner artistry (or perhaps lack thereof); where we create weekly intentions or monthly goals (as Sam does) or divulge our shallowest and deepest thoughts all in the same place (as I do on my pages). But we shouldn’t forget that planning is also deeply idiosyncratic. Sam, like me, loves looking at the way other people plan. She noted, “It’s so cool to see how other people choose to interpret [bullet journaling or other planning methods]—some people make it more about self-improvement, which totally reflects their personality. Some people don’t like bullet journaling altogether, and prefer just writing stuff on their hand, and that works too.” Perhaps we can also take note of how planning, rather than being a restrictive force or source of stress, is also incredibly productive for discovering better ways to care for ourselves. When our discussion transitioned into the topic of time budgeting, Sam noted how her bullet journal, and, more generally, planning, has been helpful in ensuring she gets eight hours of sleep—
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
something she deems incredibly important. “I also make sure I have time to do what I like, such as taking walks,” Sam added. “[These practices are] also an important part of productivity, because you can get burnt out,” she pointed out. “It’s hard because I know people get so passionate about what they do on campus,” she recognized; there’s too often to much we all want to fit into one day. But striking a balance between work and relaxation, and being realistic about your limits, takes time. As my conversation with Sam came to a close, I was reminded of a powerful moment in the mindfulness workshop in Metcalf. The therapist leading the workshop, guiding a mindful drinking exercise with a warm cup of green tea, reminded me and other participants to recognize that we can choose to practice mindfulness and be present with “something as simple as a warm cup of tea.” Embracing simplicity over our complex time management and planning systems may feel invalidating. But I instead choose to lean into Sam’s reminder: “We’re always thinking about ‘what I’m gonna do tomorrow,’ and ‘living in the now’ never ends up happening. To bring it back to bullet journaling, when you have a schedule, it brings you back to the now: I know what I’m going to worry about tomorrow, but today I’m just going to worry about today.”
October 10, 2019
FEATURES
Page 11
Prayerful practice redefines internal, external relationships Lindsay Craig
Guest Columnist
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hen I ask people what prayer is and how people pray, I get a range of responses: “Prayer is something I do sometimes at church (if I go).” “My grandma prays (and so do monks).” “Prayer is only for Christians and Muslims.” For many of my friends, prayer is context-specific and profession-particular. It is something you do in certain places and only niche identities participate. I wonder if this is why so few young adults take part: Praying feels exclusive, inaccessible and boring. Rarely are we taught how to pray, and when we decide to try, prayers tend to emerge exclusively during desperate times. We pray for a loved one to be cancer-free, for a low GPA to miraculously rebound, for employment. Sometimes we shove atheist convictions aside to pray to an elusive god when disaster strikes. We might pray during a house fire, by the roadside after a car accident or teary-eyed at the bedside of a dying loved one. LSAT test-takers pray before their exams, as athletes also do before a big game. Even Richard Dawkins—adamant atheist and hater of all things religious—admitted in an interview that he isn’t sure how he’d respond during a life-threatening disaster. He hinted at the possibility of him screaming “Oh God!” before dying. Prayer is a sort of human reflex—a shot in the dark to check if something’s out there—and maybe even the Richard Dawkins isn’t immune. In the last few years, I’ve discovered that prayer can be more than an occasional cry during a crisis; it can be a constant, dynamic conversation with a living God. Some of my most meaningful moments in college have been in prayer circles. I can testify
to prayer’s power not only in my life, but my friends’ lives. Vassar—of all places— is where I first started really praying. I stopped using it as a crutch during a crisis, and started integrating it into my life as a daily dialogue. In my first year at Vassar, Gloria Park ’18, a junior at the time, led a Saturday morning prayer group through this deep, restorative, vulnerable form of prayer for the first time. I wasn’t sure why I decided to go, but I found myself coming back. At first, nothing really happened. We said some words about our recent histories—annoying assignments, sick stomachs, fights with friends—and offered our words up. We prayed for students and faculty at Vassar. We circled up to pray for systemic change and for each other. Over time, though, something felt different in me. I felt lighter, more supported—embraced even. I was a participant in this communal, visceral cry for spiritual intervention on campus and in my own life. Those prayers eventually changed how I navigated college. I became more sensitive to injustice, joy and anxiety—and more willing to respond to them. I started to genuinely believe in something I could hardly define: not an art form, but a process so very human that it began to feel like breathing. Deep and necessary and reflexive. After a few months, prayer became a fierce and transformational force in my life. When I finally decided to fully embrace it, it enabled me to look up and out of myself, and toward something else. Toward someone else. When I pray, I’m not only asking for a change in my own life. I’m advocating for renewal in the lives of others. I pray for Paterson, New Jersey, a city near my house, where high unemployment rates reflect a history of racial injustice and economic depression. I lift my hands for lone-
liness on college campuses where students eat ramen alone in their rooms while craving community instead. I pray for deeper compassion about issues I’m removed from—struggles I can’t grasp from my place of white, collegiate privilege. Praying reorders my priorities and changes what I want. Maybe I’m important, but not more than anyone else. Maybe my issues aren’t the only ones worth caring about, and my desires are too self-interested. I now pray continually during the day. Through prayer, I’ve learned to process my thoughts and experiences. Prayer gives direction to my reflections and puts my ruminations to rest. I don’t have to obsess about the professor who interrupted me five times during office hours; I can acknowledge his rudeness and let it go. I don’t have to passively react to my cousin’s recent brain cancer diagnosis; I can advocate for her in the spiritual realm. Something shifted in me that year when I pressed into my prayer life. I no longer approach prayer as another thing to do. Instead, I showed up in joyful expectation and honest reflection. While in the past I scoffed at the idea of confession, it is now a daily part of my life. I look into the mirror and say I am enough, but that I am also lost and painfully broken, and my actions and judgements hurt people. I’m an imperfect daughter, runner, sister, friend, student, 21-year-old and all the other roles I play, but I am also a vehicle for empathy, reason and joy. I’m whole, but not wholly unbroken. I pray and (try to) love people from this multifaceted self. I’m gaining these insights as I lead a prayer group on campus. To structure our times, we use the acronym my junior prayer friend introduced called ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanks and Supplication). Together we celebrate a parent’s promotion, lament how we hurt loved ones and offer
up thanks and praise. We also pray for healing and help in the day-to-day: broken friendships, loneliness, mounting work. We celebrate bright spots—that incredible late night conversation, a recovering injury, a repaired relationship. Our prayers encompass the whole gamut of life moments, both remarkable and ordinary. There’s an art to praying, but the beauty of the art is its realness. Prayer ranges from, “How should I spend the next two hours?” to belly cries of “There’s too much injustice in this city, change it!” Prayer isn’t all about fixing disasters in our lives. It’s bigger than that. It’s also about adoring something beyond ourselves. My most meaningful prayers have always started with praise and adoration— they start from a place of plenty, not deficit. We pray because life is a gift, and we’re the blessed recipients. Shame is not invited into our circles. Last year, I came into my crying friend’s room and plopped down next to her on the floor. I offered to pray for her for the first time in her life. She was not in crisis, her day was just crappy—an accumulation of low-grade anxiety, hormones and B minuses. I didn’t have solutions, but I brought my questions upward—my usual procedure. Together we sat there humbled and connected. After praying we hugged and laughed and felt lighter. Something shifted in her countenance—a hopefulness in her eyes, a rigorousness in her words, and a sense of wonder and surprise that prayer— that outdated, irrelevant and colorless thing—might have transformed her day. Sitting there on a Thursday night was such an illustration of what prayer could be—just two friends side-by-side sharing everyday experiences and praying about them. All it took was showing up in total humanity on a dusty dorm floor, eyes closed and hands lifted.
Data dive: Practicality drives student vehicle choices Noah Siderhurst Guest Columnist
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Cars on Campus
of Noah Siderhurst CourtesyCourtesy of Noah Siderhurst
ur world is built around transportation. Even though Vassar is officially an arboretum, the school is not an exception to this paradigm. A person’s car, like a bedroom or a computer desktop, can say a lot about a person. What do Vassarians’ cars say about them? I collected and analyzed a survey of cars for their makes and home states in the South Lot. While this doesn’t capture all Vassar cars, one interesting finding was that compared to nationwide averages, Vassar has a very high population of Subarus, and brands like Jeep, BMW and Mercedes are rarer. Subarus have been popular with certain demographics of people since the ’90s. Subaru made all-wheel drive standard across its fleet of vehicles, which enticed five categories of buyers: educators, health-care professionals, IT professionals, outdoorsy types and, believe it or not, lesbians (The Atlantic, “How Subarus Came to Be Seen as Cars for Lesbians,” 06.22.2016). In fact, Subarus are four times more likely to be owned by a lesbian woman than than the average consumer (Priceonomics, “How an Ad Campaign Made Lesbians Fall in Love with Subaru,” 05.23.2016). The high proportion of Subarus at Vassar, then, would seem to support such a trend: It is not a surprising idea that we would have more educators, outdoorsy types and lesbians relative to national averages. What about the other most common brands, like Toyota and Honda? To get a
more fleshed-out narrative explaining why we opt for these brands, I interviewed a car owner of each brand. “I decided to bring [my Toyota Prius] to This data was collected for cars in the South Lot and averaged over several days. Alcampus this year to be a motivator for ex- though this doesn’t account for all student cars on campus, it gives a picture of the types periencing the area,” Merrick Rubinstein ’22 of cars students drive and from where they drive. said. “It’s nice to have the option once you have the time and the ideas to actually follow through with it.” Ethan Nurick ’23, the owner of a 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid, has had similar experiences. “You make a lot of friends because a lot of people want to use your car,” Nurick commented. Car ownership on campus isn’t a walk (or drive) in the park, however. Owning a car entails keeping the gas tank full, changing the oil and making sure it’s parked correctly. There’s also the trip from home to Vassar. The data indicate that Vassar cars are from the Northeastern states, but some hail from farther regions, like California and even Washington. New York State cars only accounted for about a third of the car population. The popularity of makes like Honda, Toyota and Subaru, known for their everyday appeal, isn’t unique to Vassar. Country-wide, affordable brands like Honda, Toyota and Ford see the most sales, according to data from Statista. More than demographic-specific car selection, cars that are convenient and low-maintenance might be the bottom-line criteria for how we choose our cars. Or, as Rubinstein puts it, “The bigger the car or the fancier the car, it’s much more of a hassle.”
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
FEATURES
Page 12
Quite Frankly Frankie Knuckles
Senior Editor Quality Advice-Giver
Hey Frankie, I’m kinky, and my boyfriend is...enthusiastic. He’s willing and excited to try new things, but he’s just not good at dirty talk. How can I encourage what he’s doing, but push him toward what I really want? Sincerely, Dirty Slut Dear Dirty,
Q
uite frankly, mediating between varying sexual preferences can pose obstacles for any relationship. As with any other relationship obstacle, the key here is effective communication. And don’t worry, you can have these conversations in a sexy way. Trying to get your boyfriend to be kinkier by the force of sheer will can only take you so far. You have to speak to him directly about your desires, and not rely on his ability to pick up your cues mid-coitus (when, let’s be real, his powers of deduction won’t be at their peak). Particularly because you want him to work on his dirty talk, you can’t rely on your nonverbal cues and suggestive behavior. Such cues can work for physical acts—you can set a pair of handcuffs on the bedside table, for instance—but not so well for verbal kinkiness.
Speak with your boyfriend about the best way to experiment with the kind of dirty talk that you’d like. To begin, try modeling it in the form of a question. For instance, if you want him to call you his dirty slut, try asking: “Am I your dirty slut?” This is effective because “Yes” is less potentially uncomfortable than “You’re my dirty slut.” Over time, he’ll realize that you like this terminology. Stress to him that, like anything else, dirty talk is an acquired skill. It’s okay for some of his phrases to land awkwardly; this is all in the service of sexual pedagogy. Of course, verbal cues are no substitute for a conversation about your kinks. Just like any good vanilla relationship, kinky relationships rely on both parties vocalizing their desires and agreeing on how to proceed. Formalizing these rules could easily seem like you’re making the activity less fun, but you can frame the conversation as an interactive one. For instance, you can have him try out different phrases to see what he’s comfy with and what turns you on. In any sexual interaction, established expectations are incredibly important, no matter where your acts fall on the spectrum between vanilla sex and prolonged BDSM scenes. The best way to make sure that both you and your boyfriend are comfortable with every aspect of your sex life is to speak candidly about it. Best wishes, Frankie P.S. You shouldn’t feel afraid to voice what you want to your boyfriend! He wants you to feel good—if he doesn’t, you have more problems than vanilla sex.
“Dog Sledding Is Cool” ACROSS
l. dog sledding competition 5. repeat three times to say nonsense 9. a pet owner does this for their pet at mealtime 14. base unit of Chinese currency 15. first word of vsco athletic brand 16. second word of vsco athletic brand 17. to foresee or envision 19. the Greek muse of love poetry 20. elevated performing platforms 21. to get everything you can out of something 23. a needle pulling thread 24. to dispense justice 26. adjective relating to physical school of Hinduism 28. dog sledding breed 32. astronomical formations: Crab, Horsehead, Dumbbell, Orion, etc 35. loose female overgarment worn in parts of the Muslim world 36. to lean over in wilted posture 38. places where grain is stored 39. archetype of a weird, bookish student 41. how to say goodbye to you and you and you 43. digital audio workstation, abbr
Answer to last week’s puzzle
October 10, 2019
Word
on the street
If you could be famous, what would you want to be famous for?
“I would want to be a famous violinist.” — Molly Mccarthy ’21
“For singing.” — Laury Senecal ’23
“Dj-ing!” — Sophia Kapur ’22
“Being there for people and listening.” — Ha Bui ’22
“The first Asian president.” — Hanam Kim ’23 “For having a lot of dogs.” — Ellie Janitz ’21 Izzy Braham, Contributing Editor Sherry Liao, Photography
The Miscellany Crossword by Frank
44. valued object deposited as a guarantee of good faith 46. spiral-horned African antelope 48. a drink with jam and bread 49. Earhart and Bedelia 51. outermost layer of cells of an embryo 53. to copy one’s actions 55. largest of the four main populations in Burundi and Rwanda 56. there is much and about nothing around it 58. to work or turn up the soil of a field 60. in truth, certainly {archaic} 64. chicken noodle, potato, minestrone 66. it brings all the boys to the yard 68. the first paragraph of an essay 69. theme of last week’s puzzle 70. to aid and ____ 71. pale complexion borne out of fear or illness 72. stared at with interest 73. command of musher to dogs
same place” 28. Japanese graphic novel 29. opposite of the middle (ship/aircraft) 30. a big size 31. male version of Emily 33. between low and lowest 34. a state of northeast India known for black tea 37. fruit from Call Me By Your Name 40. store for meats and sandwiches 42. when the shirt hem is out, it is this 45. Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa 47. plural of 12 down
DOWN
1. type of grain, plural 2. not an uncle 3. Spanish champagne 4. something mysterious and unsolvable 5. a hollow sphere of cells 6. to carry or drag something heavy 7. on the side of the ship that is sheltered from wind 8. another kind of dog sledding breed 9. what a fledgling does 10. ‘ever’ but in Shakespearean 11. to steal or deprive of masculinity 12. to obsessively and lovingly wait on someone 13. weather for dog sledding 18. not all is what it 22. an extremely long period of time 25. short musical composition for one instrument 27. abbr. for Latin word meaning “in the
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
50. to trouble or afflict 52. city in Northeast England with cathedral and castle 54. French for ‘count’ 56. largest continent 57. puts on 59. body descriptor meaning lean and tough 61. variant of taboo 62. present tense of 21 across 63. Meyers, Rogen, MacFarlane 65. -game, -scription, -ternatural 67. sheltered side of something
October 10, 2019
OPINIONS
Page 13
So many art spaces, but it’s all just self-aggrandizement Abram Gregory Columnist
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rt critics can either take the individuated shapes of social media users, or of multi-personal entities within larger publications. There are bona fide publications for art at Vassar (for example, Vassar Contrast for fashion, the Student Review for the written word). That being said, general publications have the capacity to cover a myriad of topics, but may nonetheless choose to dedicate extraneous space to art. In the case of such a publication, this tendency reveals how editors view themselves as facilitators of what they consider to be worthwhile art. The volume of content in proportion to other non-arts sections can show the preference of the publications for art over other topics. In some cases, the highfalutin projects covered demonstrate bourgeois artistic sensibilities. Art and discussion thereof does not need to argue for the sake of its own existence or discussion in publications. However, in locales such as the Vassar Bubble and its cousins at other institutions, the way publications engage with art mainly reflects the few people who have fancied themselves curators of what is worthy of being shared. When a publication reviews, highlights and enthuses over irrelevant art, we show that we have irrelevant tastes. Although the purpose of art may not necessarily be to appeal to the masses, art is often a creature of its time. This is exemplified in the current focus on public art, such as The Miscellany News’ coverage of local artist TC Ik decorating Poughkeepsie with murals for the populace to enjoy (The Miscellany News, “Deece chef enlivens Poughkeepsie with vibrant murals,” 10.03.2019). Moreover, in the case of Vassar, publications like The Miscellany News are able to reward
the artistic endeavors of our own on-campus artists, too, as exemplified by a profile of Lofi extraordinaire Marc Indigo, or by various Campus Canvasses, “A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists” (The Miscellany News, “Marc Indigo delivers mellow grooves and Lo-fi moods,” 09.26.2019). However, well-meaning criticism of art actually relevant to the community which is viewing a publication is often opposed by masturbatory instances of critics writing for themselves, to themselves, on niche topics meaningless to their audience. These often include coverage of myopic music genres and, frankly, artists nobody has heard of or haven’t listened to for quite some time. Then there’s the phenomenon of cultural and socioeconomic appropriation of music and art by privileged groups. This is exemplified by the coverage of rap and other music genres. Each genre underwent a process in which artists from privileged backgrounds forced themselves in, and were then monetarily supported by consumers from the same group willing to finance the appropriation. In the process, they thereby stripped the genre of its experiential uniqueness. It’s colonialism, but with tunes. Steven Underwood Jr., a writer for prominent Black media outlet Cassius, explains that “The era of Blues, Jazz, Swing and even Country music weren’t only times of glamour forming the necessary framework to an identity erased from 400+ years of marginalization and explanation, but a cautionary tale of what Whiteness will do to you if you’ve the blessing of being young, talented and Black … African-American culture exists in an ethnic void that is fundamentally defined by a history of lacking” (Cassius Life, “The Long History of Creative Theft In Black Music and
Arts,” 06.09.18). In various Korners of student publications, we risk becoming Buzzfeed rip-offs, obsessing over inane things like ranking every Kanye West album, as The Marist Circle did recently (The Marist Circle, “Every Kanye West Album: Ranked,” 09.23.2019, The Marist Circle). It’s not about whether minority art is covered—it’s about how and by whom the coverage is done. This issue is reified in white artists producing art in historically Black genres; think Macklemore and hip hop, for example. A genre which began as uniquely Black was changed by artists who invited themselves into it. In some cases, this has worked as an artistic endeavor. In every case, it’s been in act of white invasion on a nonwhite space. However, the onus is also on the privileged art reviewer who covers works of art that are particular to minority identity groups, thereby assuming the role of the patronizing curator who deems which may be granted citizenship within the white pantheon of bourgeois art sensibility. This is shown by efforts spearheaded by white students to bring Black artists to campuses, as well as repeated patronizing installations of series covering minority artists in student publications, complete with cute alliterative titles justifying the appropriation. To better inform and ground my own musings on the state of art coverage by student publications, I examined the Harvard Crimson, as well as our neighbor publication, the Marist Circle. The Harvard Crimson’s Arts online section is, at the time of writing, headlined by a cute graphic labeled with the words “All You Need is Love,” with an additional click explaining it to be a collection of “Essays on Love and Art.” Following this hefty assortment of veritable pieces is the subcategory “Expressions of the Cli-
mate Emergency,” represented by the article “Music of the Movement,” by Ilana A. Cohen. The article delves into activism and the music that green movements deploy in order “to transcend a single protest; [song] contextualizes us as part of a movement” (The Harvard Crimson, “Music of the Movement,” 10.01.19). Calculated philosophical reflection on music in activism contrasts our own Climate Strike organizers hastily using songs also sung in the Civil Rights Movement as a futile means of mobilization and self-aggrandizement. Furthermore, collections of entries like Crimson writer Yash Kumbhat’s “Portrait of a Time” invites readers into a writer’s lived experience without obnoxiously relaying the writer’s own personal canon of artistic greatness. Just as we should observe the physical spaces on college campuses reserved for visual art for the passerby, we should also empirically reflect on the amount of space on a page dedicated to art. Especially when there is a limited amount of physical space, I question why any publication would deprioritize current events or personal stories for something elitist that only reflects a tiny sliver of the interests of the broader community. Perhaps it is impossible to figure out what proportions of article allotment reflect the readership of a section, or how much reflects the self-absorbed whimsy of the authorship. It is likewise impossible to truly pick the brains of contributors and editors to see if the dedication to the craft of publication is caused by an incessant need to justify one’s own privilege, or whether it truly is their love of art. Perhaps in the world of student journalism, it is all but inevitable that the uneasy push-and-pull of ego-feeding and meaningful appreciation of art eternally continues.
America is ready for Elizabeth Warren, female president Sawyer Bush
Guest Columnist
E
lizabeth Warren, who was elected as the first female senator of Massachusetts in 2012, is the only top level Democratic candidate running for president who has steadily climbed her way up the ranks since announcing her candidacy in February of 2019 (FiveThirtyEight, “Latest Polls,” 10.07.2019). Warren is one of a handful of female candidates—all of whom are Democrats—running for the presidency. Once again, the idea of the first female president seems very feasible. As Warren’s numbers in the polls continue to rise, however, Democrats continue to ask themselves and each other if a female Democratic candidate really is the best option; is the country ready for its first female president? Can Warren stand up to the bullying of Donald Trump if she were pitted against him? To those who question Elizabeth Warren’s ability to stand up to Trump, I suggest you take a reflective look at her history in politics. At a very young age, Warren discovered what it was like to live in a family barely surviving economic turmoil. When she was 12, Warren’s father suffered a heart attack and was out of work, tossing the middle class family into near financial disaster, losing their car and nearly their home as well. In her lifetime since then, Warren went on to become a schoolteacher after attending a Texas commuter college that cost $50 a semester (The New York Times, “Elizabeth Warren is completely serious,” 06.17.2019). No, she did not attend a big-name university,
unlike most politicians of her caliber. And no, her life and career were not handed to her. Warren worked to gain a law degree while raising a young child and pregnant with another. She was a law professor for more than 30 years, teaching courses at Rutgers University, University of Houston, University of Texas-Austin, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania and ultimately Harvard University before being elected as a senator for Massachusetts (The Cut, “Elizabeth Warren is the most professorial candidate ever,” 08.06.2019). If the major worry of potential voters in regard to Warren as a candidate is that she would not be able to stand up to Trump in a debate, she has proved throughout her life that she is more than capable of overcoming the challenges presented in a stand off against Trump. She knows what it is like to come from a family living off a minimum wage job and to make a new life for herself. But even beyond that, if ever there was someone capable of proving a woman’s ability to fulfill the role of president, it is Elizabeth Warren. Warren has demonstrated that she plans to win not by sheer force of personality, but by exciting a grassroots movement with clear policy plans holding a clear vision for America. She is running as a candidate with the insider experience of a senator but with an anti-corruption and anti-corporate sentiment derived from her personal history that proves she is here to bring about real change. In 2011, while still a professor at Harvard Law, Warren created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in response to
the mortgage crisis and Great Recession of 2007 (PBS, “What is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, anyway?” 11.27.2017). She first proposed the agency in 2007 to protect consumers and better regulate mortgages, student loans and other financial products. Having grown up in a middle class family that struggled to survive, Warren sought to insulate similar consumers from the shocks of financial crisis. Even moving beyond her policies, Warren became an icon of the feminist movement due to her speech opposing the appointment of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. During her reading of a historical letter criticizing Sessions, Warren was silenced by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who invoked the rarely used Senate Rule 19, which bars the criticism of another senator. However, despite the motion to stop speaking, Warren did not back down. Instead, she responded, “I appeal the ruling of the chair and suggest the absence of a quorum.” This stand prompted the now famous expression by McConnell on the senator: “She was warned, she was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” If she was able to stand up to “Moscow Mitch,” she can no doubt stand up to the apricot authoritarian Donald Trump. During a debate over lunch, a friend of mine tried to argue that he could not see Elizabeth Warren winning because the country has become more sexist and more intolerant since Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in 2016. But that implies that one of the other candidates could feasibly win. Let’s take a look at the top three candidates as they cur-
rently stand. Generally polling in the lead, we have former Vice President Joe Biden, a man who has shown on multiple debate stages an inability to cope or stand up to fierce criticism or attacks from opponents, and a man whose female colleagues have repeatedly accused him of sexual harassment (New York, “Two More Women Allege Joe Biden Inappropriately Touched Them,” 04.02.2019). Generally polling third is Senator Bernie Sanders, who ran in the primaries for the 2016 presidential election but lost to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Despite his widespread yet waning support amongst young, liberal voters, Sanders is widely perceived to be extreme and too progressive. And polling between these two is Elizabeth Warren, who has eclipsed Sanders “as the progressive standard-bearer for the primary” (Politico, “Bernie Sanders Is in Trouble,” 09.30.19). In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump, but that should not cast doubt on Warren’s ability to become the first female president. Warren appeals to voters in spaces Clinton could not. She is able to garner excitement in progressive grassroots populations like Sanders, while also carrying a personal history that many struggling middle class voters can relate to. Because of her struggles, her achievements in the senate and her status as a feminist icon, Warren is the best candidate. If Democrats want to put up the strongest opponent against Donald Trump in 2020, they need to get over their hesitation to unite behind a female candidate. We failed last time, but America is ready now.
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
OPINIONS
Page 14
October 10, 2019
Campus Climate We wanted to know what Vassar Students knew about the Vassar Board of Trustees. To find out, we asked around!
“I don’t know anything about Vassar Trustees.” –Shai Wexler ’23
“I know that the board is building the Inn and Institute and demolishing Williams House, and making big decisions that the campus isn’t a part of.” –Cassie Jain ’20
“First time I’m hearing about them.” –Ella Nguyen ’23
“I know Lisa Kudrow is on the Board of Trustees, but she doesn’t go by Lisa Kudrow.” –Chloe Catoya ’20
“They are a group of people who come to campus a couple times a year and give their input to what the campus needs and where the campus should go.” –Samantha Steeves ’21
Reporting courtesy of Emma Koolpe ’21
When mass shootings are the new normal, guns must go Jessica Moss Senior Editor
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housands of feet hit cement as throngs of people tear through the street. From above, the rapidly moving bodies look like a swarm. A sharp bang and the mass heaves forward, relinquishing their belongings to the road and sprinting away. They are running for their lives. The sound that set off this flight turned out to be a motorcycle backfiring (CBS, “Motorcycle backfire stirs panic in NYC’s Times Square as crowd mistakes sound for gunshot,” 08.07.2019). Just days after devastating shootings at an El Paso Walmart and a Dayton bar, widespread panic befell Times Square, with surges of people mistaking the noise for a gunshot or a bombing. It’s been several months since then, and both the newscycle and our politicians have shifted their focus away from gun legislation toward impeachment, protests and the goddamn Joker. Several months ago, the NYC panic made headlines, despite it not being an instance of actual gun violence. Yet, just this past week, there were two separate shootings in Kansas City, Kansas. In one, four people died—all of the victims were Hispanic (CBS News, “Police release photos of suspects wanted in Kansas City bar shooting that killed 4 people,” 10.06.2019). In fact, since Dayton, 120 people have died in mass shootings (Mass Shooting Tracker, “U.S. Mass Shootings 2019”). My former high school is around a half hour drive from Sandy Hook Elementary School. I remember where I was when word of that shooting broke. I remember when administrators informed us over the PA system, our principal somber and grappling to find gentle phrasings. I remember early dismissals and a day off for two different threats. Neither were real, but the fear that they could have been still lingers. We took on even more drills and protocols, much in the way generations past took on nuclear fallout drills, hiding under desks and turning out lights. Except in this era, the violence doesn’t have a single origin, rooted in international political turmoil; this violence could come from anyone, at any time.
Many conservatives characterize taxes and unemployment rates as some of the issues that keep folks up at night; these are the so-called kitchen-table topics that should be at the top of everyone’s political agendas. “It’s the economy,” they say of American concerns. But it’s time to wake up. For my generation, gun violence and “progressive” issues like it are the types of “kitchen table” topics that keep us up at night. When I first moved into my dorm at Vassar, I remember laying wide awake with my new roommate. Making friends and finding my way around campus were far from my mind. Instead, I was formulating an action plan in the event that a shooter entered the building. Which of the three exits would I run to? I often contemplate whether it will be safe to go out to a movie, or my favorite restaurant—I mull over cost, timing and whether I’ll be shot to death with equal scrutiny. Millennials and Generation Z-ers have steeped in the milieu of potential instant death occurring on almost any given day for almost our entire lives. Like climate change or student debt, gun violence looms over us, an existential threat that tangibly touches us. It is as real to our lives as the economy, inseparable from our current realities and experiences. To many people touched by gun violence, advocating for regulations on arms sales, better background checks and bans on semi-automatic weapons are not merely viewed as political leanings, but as bare-minimum necessities. Claims that such legislation would make only a nominal dent in preventing mass violence make little difference to us when pushing for a national bare minimum—for something, anything, to change. To us, being told we shouldn’t push for such legislation because it doesn’t completely eradicate the possibility of future violence is like telling a starving man he shouldn’t bother eating a single grape since it won’t prevent him from impending death. But why not? To others, the right to own a weapon is an indelible feature of the U.S. Constitution, a fundamental way of American life. Such individuals may question why a mentally stable and law-abiding American should be forced to relinquish their right to a weapon.
To me, the answer seems obvious. Some rights are simply more important than others. If you’re someone who believes in the Second Amendment, you might also believe in the foundational principles of our federal model. You might be familiar with Thomas Hobbes, a political philosopher whose ideas heavily influenced Western political thought. To scantily borrow from his Leviathan I, Hobbes proposes a social contract theory, wherein everyone agrees to limit some of their rights in exchange for mutual self-preservation. For example, two people may agree that the right to own one’s own property is more valuable than the right to steal from each other. To maintain that more important right, they relinquish a subsidiary right. The same principle holds here. Let’s say you are given an ultimatum: Give up your house, or die. You would likely comply for the sake of your survival. You probably agree that a gun is a less valuable item than your home. But still, you might argue this mode of thinking is pointless, since these aren’t the conditions you face: Your chances of getting killed by gun violence are low, roughly a 1-in-315 lifetime chance, so you’re not anticipating that this legislation would impact your life directly (Business Insider, “The Odds that a Gun Will Kill the Average American May Surprise You,” 10.29.2018). But if rates of gun-related deaths continue at the current rate, 36,000 people will die in the next year (Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, “Gun Violence Statistics”). With that in mind, doesn’t it seem you would give up your home, or better yet, any item comparable to your gun, if faced with an ultimatum that 36,000 people will die if you do not? If you would be willing to give up a piece of your private property to ensure public safety, then it logically follows that you should be willing to relinquish your right to own a gun. In response, you might say your gun ownership isn’t merely a matter of personal property rights, but of your right to self defense. You simply would be incorrect making such a claim, however, unless you can be certain that the number of deaths private gun ownership has prevented outnumber those it caused. After
all, if widespread gun ownership makes you less safe, you can hardly consider it a promotion of self defense. I don’t need to tell you that study after study demonstrates that guns make us less safe (New York Times, “Congress Quashed Research Into Gun Violence. Since Then, 600,000 People Have Been Shot,” 03.12.2018). You might say that you aren’t the only one giving up your gun—after all, there’s 393,300,000 civilian-held firearms in the United States (Aaron Karp, “Estimating Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers,” 06.2018). To that, I say: How many lives is your gun ownership worth? What is the ratio of guns-to-lives that we look to confirm before we give up our Second Amendment “rights” on a mass scale? It seems obvious to me that these “inconsequential” changes brought by relinquishing gun ownership—the prevention of one suicide, say—are, in fact, far from inconsequential. Even if you believe that Americans have the right to own a gun, you must agree that man’s right to life—a fundamental human right, not merely a constitutional right—simply has more weight. Americans must relinquish the right of gun ownership for the social contract of mutual protection. I’m not saying that any proposed legislation will eradicate gun violence. I’m not even bothering to mention the details of any gun control legislation. What I propose is something radical: A healthy, stable, and law-abiding citizen’s right to own a weapon should not even be a concern in any conversation about reducing gun-inflicted death. So let’s wake up. Our rights to guns might not be harmful in theory, but their widespread availability has contributed to the collective anxiety that renders us paralyzed. Today in America, we are vulnerable as soon as we step outside of our homes and into the dangers of public space. For the safety of everyone living in this country, domestic terrorism cannot remain a partisan issue. It’s time to take on the NRA, white nationalism and domestic terrorism. It’s time to be able to rest easy again. A previous version of this article appeared on The Brewer’s Table. https://vclive.miscellanynews.org
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
October 10, 2019
OPINIONS
Page 15
Impeachment draws nigh, and it’s certainly time for it Jonas Trostle
Opinions Editor
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Courtesy of MSN UK
resident Trump’s record should be familiar to all of us, but a quick reminder of what the Special Counsel determined in its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is relevant before we get into the most recent controversy. Notably, the Special Counsel didn’t even attempt to decide whether the president was guilty of a crime because an Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo stated that a sitting president cannot be indicted. Robert Mueller III also didn’t press charges against Donald Trump Jr. because he couldn’t determine if Trump Jr. had the required corrupt intent or if the information gained was legally a “thing of value.” (Robert Mueller III, “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election,” 04.18.2019) As much as we all wish that was the end of it and we could get back to our regular lives, the president has decided that he needed a fresh, new election meddling controversy for the coming election cycle. Our cast for this new controversy is composed of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.S. Attorney General William ‘Bill’ Barr, Ukraine former Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, California Rep. Adam Schiff, an unnamed whistleblower whom I shall refer to as Mark, presidential candidate Joe Biden and Uncle Joe’s son Hunter Biden. The current impeachment inquiry was kicked off by, and centers around, an anonymous whistleblower complaint which alleges that President Trump misused the broad foreign policy powers of the presidency for personal gain by soliciting a foreign government to investigate a political rival. According to the whistleblower complaint, which is not a firsthand account but instead is extremely clear about where each statement came from and who said what, Trump spoke with Ukraine President Zelensky about starting or continuing an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden (“Whistleblower Complaint,” 08.12.19 ). Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, an energy company in Ukraine. He had no special qualifications or outstanding features—so I can safely opine that Burisma Holdings wanted to curry favor with the United States by giving a prestigious position to the son of the then Vice President. This is not illegal, and did not violate any particular conflict of interest or ethical statute that applies to the Vice President (KCRW, “LRC Presents: All the President’s Lawyers,” 09.25.2019). Joe Biden was part of an international group of politicians and officials in 2016 which pressured Ukraine to fire its Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin for his failure to prosecute cases of corruption and bribery. This international effort was successful, and Shokin was ousted from his position. Shokin has given varied accounts of whether Burisma Holdings and Hunter Biden were under investigation, with his most recent statement being that they were never under investigation at all (Bloomberg, “Ukraine Prosecutor Says No Evidence of Wrongdoing by Bidens,” 05.16.19 ). This firing and potential investigation are the main crux of Trump’s call with Zelensky. On that call, Trump went so far as to say, “Good, because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair…The other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and
President Donald Trump took to the south lawn of the White House to double down on calls for foreign intervention into the U.S. 2020 presidential election. a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great.” (White House, “Memorandum of telephone conversation,” 07.25.19 ) The main defenses being voiced by Republican Congress-critters, as far as I can tell, are that the whistleblower complaint is nothing but hearsay, which should not be the basis for an impeachment, and that the call requires a quid pro quo for it to be an impeachable offense. To the first point, let’s define hearsay. For our purposes, just assume that it’s a statement given while not under oath. There’s a myriad of exceptions and edge-cases, but as a general rule it’s not allowed to be used as evidence in a court. You’ve probably experienced plenty of hearsay in your life. Remember last week, when your friend George boldly claimed, “Billy says you look like a lemur”? Since you weren’t actually there when Billy pointed out that you resemble a phallic primate (I’m not saying you do, I’m just saying he wouldn’t have said it if you were there), you can’t confirm whether Billy said that you look like a lemur. Easy enough. You can see where hearsay enters into the conversation around the whistleblower complaint, as Mark even says, “I was not a direct witness to most of the events described.” But Republicans are incorrect in characterizing hearsay as a roadblock to impeachment. Evidence that isn’t admissible in court can still be used to obtain a search warrant, phone tap or other investigative measure. The idea that it would be impossible to use hearsay to start an impeachment inquiry, literally an investigative tool, is absolute bunk. The notion that Trump’s request can only be considered an impeachable offense if there was a quid pro quo is similarly erroneous. Quid pro quo translates to “this for that” and implies that there must be a reciprocated gesture on the part of the United States in exchange for Ukraine launching an investigation into the Biden family. For example if Ukraine investigates someone for us, we’ll give Ukraine rockets or money. This entire argument is stupid, given that we know already that reciprocity isn’t a requirement for election meddling. Literally just asking a foreign government to meddle in a U.S. election is a severe ethical violation—full stop. But, I will entertain the notion just to point out what a wrong-headed avenue of defense this is. Take the following exchange, which took
place in the recently released phone call: Zelensky: “[The Ukrainian Government is] ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps[.] [S]pecifically, we are almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.” Trump: “I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it.” (White House, “Memorandum of telephone conversation,” 07.25.19) What did this favor entail? Looking into a Democratic National Convention server that was hacked. What else? Well, as Trump put it “The other thing, there’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that...” Again, just to hammer this in, President Trump hinged the United States’ military support for Ukraine (selling it Javelin Missiles) on whether or not Ukraine investigated his political rival. The Republican phrase “There was no quid pro quo” is a bad defense, not just because it doesn’t matter, but because there actually was a quid pro quo.
[J]ust to hammer this in, President Trump hinged the United States’ military support for Ukraine (selling it Javelin Missiles) on whether or not Ukraine investigated his political rival. So obviously we’re already knee-deep in a shitshow, but I have barely mentioned Rudy Giuliani so far and…oh boy. Ever since the whistleblower report became public, Giuliani, when he hasn’t been speaking at events literally sponsored by the Kremlin, has been going on television giving incoherent, incriminating statements. When asked by CNN’s Chris Coumo whether he had asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, Giuliani said, “No.” Fewer than 30 seconds later, he responded to the same question with “Of course I did!” (Youtube, CNN, “Chris Cuomo clashes with Rudy Giuliani over Ukraine,” 09.20.2019) In an interview with the New York Times Giuliani one-upped himself, saying, “We’re not meddling in an election, we’re meddling in an investigation.” (The New York Times,
“Rudy Giuliani Plans Ukraine Trip to Push for Inquiries That Could Help Trump,” 05.09.2019) Again, I would like to point out that this is the president’s personal attorney going on record saying that they were meddling in an investigation, specifically an investigation involving the president’s political rival Joe Biden. Not to be outdone, Trump has been spending his free time trying to figure out a way to make a statement more reprehensible or ill-advised than his own lawyer’s. He struggled at first, merely implying that Mark’s source should be beheaded or otherwise killed (The Guardian, “Trump compares whistleblower’s source to a ‘spy’, audio reveals – as it happened,” 10.01.2019). He aimed higher and implied that Rep. Adam Schiff should be killed (Twitter, @[realDonaldTrump], 09.30.2019). He stepped it up even more, quoting a pastor who said that impeaching Trump would lead to a civil war (Twitter, @[realDonaldTrump], 09.29.2019). He doubled down on that particular rhetoric and concluded that these were not impeachment proceedings but rather a coup (Twitter, @[realDonaldTrump], 10.01.2019). Twitter was a good outlet for all of that, but for his magnum opus Trump migrated out of his cave and into the sun, to the White House lawn in front of God knows how many cameras to publicly ask China and Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden. That’s pretty damning evidence. For those keeping track at home, the potential crimes the president might have committed include attempting to defraud the U.S. government, witness tampering and various campaign finance violations. Chances of a conviction on any of these charges is extraordinarily low, because the Department of Justice won’t indict a sitting president and because the president has broad powers in foreign policy and it could be impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the president did any of the violations with the required corrupt intent. Politically, impeachment is the only correct move. Soliciting a foreign government to help you in an election is unethical. So is threatening to withhold aid unless you are given some sort of personal gain. Doing both at the same time is obviously forbidden. Threatening a witness, particularly a whistleblower, is obviously an abuse of power. Sending your personal attorney all over the globe to conduct backchannel diplomacy is probably inappropriate, at best. What’s the point of opening an impeachment inquiry though? It’s because Trump can’t shut up. He’s going to try to explain himself or attack those he views as his enemies. He’s already turned on Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Utah Senator Mitt Romney. The man feels hunted, and when this particular man feels hunted, he does stupid things. He feels abandoned; his lawyers have hired lawyers and even Tucker Carlson has spoken out against him (CNN, “Tucker Carlson says Trump’s Ukraine call was inappropriate: ‘There’s no way to spin this’,” 10.05.2019). Trump is a mad dog, and I’m guessing sooner rather than later he’s going to do something so stupid or malevolent that his approval rating hits a record low or 20 Republican senators take a stand and vote to remove him. Either way, I don’t see a way out of this for Trump that improves his position or increases his odds of being re-elected. He’s not a stable genius; he’s just an old man attacked on all sides and about to lose the only semblance of control he has left.
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
HUMOR & SATIRE
Page 16
October 10, 2019
Breaking News
From the desk of Francisco Andrade, Assistant Humor & Satire Editor
October Break approaches: First-years hurriedly struggle to develop personalities and friendships before it arrives
Vassar Bitch Chronicles Emily Lesorogol ’22
Students placed in Wellness immediately go sober Rohan Dutta
Not-so-well Student
Y
ou don’t drink often, but from time to time you like to get a little bit smashed. Maybe you’ve vaped before, or smoked some weed at a party. Or maybe you’re just the type who doesn’t quite remember what water tastes like anymore. Some people spend their lives away from anything that intoxicates them, but you, like many others at Vassar, instead opt to have a social life. So what do you do when you’re placed on a Wellness floor, where no drugs or alcohol are allowed? Wellness floors are parts of Vassar dorms that outlaw the activity elite liberal arts colleges are most known for (getting absolutely smashed). No using illegal substances, smoking or drinking is allowed in any part of a Wellness corridor. Occasionally, every few years, people who do not opt into Wellness are placed there
anyway due to a lack of space, but most years nearly everyone opts in. However, when fans of illegal substances aren’t placed in regular dorms where they’re banned anyway, they either conform quietly or continue brazenly. Sean Ober ’23 is a regular drinker who, not realizing what “Wellness” meant on the rooming form, now shares a double with a teetotaler. “It’s hell,” Ober told me. “I drink a fair bit on the weekends and such, but living in Wellness means I can’t keep anything at home, and it’s just annoying.” Despite his distaste for Wellness, though, he still follows the rules. “I don’t want to be expelled, you know? And I know that my roommate and everyone else on my floor care about it, so I don’t wanna piss them off.” Dylan Runk ’22, two rooms down from Ober, makes do with a similar predicament. Unlike Ober, Runk is completely aware of Wellness but was forced in due to the fact that all other rooms
are occupied by people not even old enough to drink legally anyway. Unsurprisingly, he isn’t a fan. Previously a serial smoker and card-carrying member of the Vape Nation, Runk has replaced his habit by collecting USBs. “It was a major bummer when I found out I was put here, dude,” he sighed as he paused to pop a gummy bear into his mouth. “But it’s good now, you know? I’m just, I’m chill about it, man. I’m chill. Life is chill.” Will Asted ’21, voluntarily opted into Wellness despite being voted “Life of the party” and “Most likely to be the after photo of an anti-smoking ad” in high school. “The way I see it, all it means is that I’m the only one throwing up in the bathroom. I mean, if they catch me, what are they gonna do? Expel me?” He took a puff of a cigarette, and grinned. “They don’t care enough to lose all that tuition.” Asted’s floormates are all well aware of his deviant habits,
but haven’t reported him to authorities. “If you open [Asted’s] door, the room puffs out smoke like it’s a train,” said Sam Nitch ’21, a floormate of Wesley’s and voluntary resident of Wellness. “Of course we know. We just let him be because he doesn’t bother us too much.” We tried to find a senior in Wellness, but none exist. Ober, Runk and Asted have all found themselves in Wellness despite inclinations towards the exact lifestyle Wellness does its best to shut out. In spite of this, they’re all doing well, and none have asked to be moved elsewhere. Asted remains in Wellness due to its cleanliness, and both Runk and Ober think the annoyance of having to keep drinks out isn’t worth moving. At the end of the day, the important thing is that leftover drinks means you’re doing it wrong, and so even the most ardent of bottle lovers can thrive in Wellness. If you want proof, ask a Wellness StuFel.
Momus, Goddess of Satire, counsels strung-out students By Ivanna Guerra (Speaker for the Goddess)
D
ear Momus, I have refused to do my laundry for weeks and now I am living in a pile of dirty clothes! Can you please help motivate me to clean up? Thanks, Stinky Senior Dear Stinky, I had thesame problem until I decided to embrace my natural scent. It’s not bad, and I have heard that although people say they cannot come near you, your pheromones actually attrac them. Let the haters hate! Eventually, you’ll run out of socks and there’s got to be an efficient way to get through the pile. Turn your room into a giant washing machine. Get a hose, soak your room and all your clothes in it, and
voila! Just add soap and you have washed your clothes in one load! Heck, you’ve cleaned your filthy floor, too! If you’re unwilling to deal with security, building and grounds and perhaps President Bradley, you can always try to make the process of doing your laundry more about self-care. Have you tried the KonMari method? It’s relaxing once you get over the stress of feeling like you own too much crap! Good luck, Momus Dear Mom, How do Vassar students go to the bathroom on campus? There are no private restrooms, and I am concerned for my health. Sincerely, Shy Bladder
Dear Shy, I don’t think I know of a person who likes to go to the bathroom with others around, but when nature calls, we have to do what we have to do. If you are too embarrassed to poop in front of others, I recommend having your personal kit to make things better for everyone around. First, bring a speaker into the bathroom with you, and blast heavy metal music so no one can hear you tinkle. If a speaker is not accessible, you can always sing as loud as you can. I highly recommend singing Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone.” One does not simply sing that song without screaming. Second, bring a candle into the bathroom. It can help you
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
relax, and people will never know you were there. 1) Going to the bathroom in another dorm to avoid being recognized. This only works if your bowels are shy in front of people you know. 2) Live in the bathroom so you can grow accustomed to the setting. 3) Make an announcement to everyone living on your floor that you need to go to the bathroom and hence, they can’t go in. By screaming “ocupado!” down the hallway, everyone will understand that you need to take care of business. 4) Just go. We are only human, and it’s not always pretty. Happy peeing, Mom
HUMOR & SATIRE
October 10, 2019
Page 17
‘Sharkboy and Lavagirl’: Best goddamn movie ever made Madison Caress
George Lopez in Disguise
Courtesy of Brooke Army Medical Center via Wikimedia Commons
e all remember being eight years old and begging our parents to let us stay up past 10 p.m. to finish watching “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D” (2005). Rewatching the film recently evoked such nostalgia of days past. The clock neared 9:47 p.m. and the characters had only just made it to Planet Drool,when I was transported back to the time I cried to my mom because she was being totally unfair by not letting me stay up past my bedtime. Well, joke’s on you, Mom, because I stayed up until almost 11 p.m. to finish this movie yesterday. Besides the nostalgia the movie provides, it also is a genuine work of art. Robert Rodriguez, the director of both “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” and every “Spy Kids” movie ever, crafts a beautiful cinematic jewel consisting of a hard-hitting narrative and colorful, yet tasteful, cinematography. No other director could capture a river
Pictured above is the greatest actor who has ever lived: George Lopez. You may know him from his iconic role as Queen Elizabeth.
Courtesy of Linuxerist via Wikimedia Commons
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made of milk and a motorcycle made of lava in the same film! Rodriguez also explores the depths of the human psyche, as he teaches his audience that if you dream hard enough, your dreams will become a reality. So, watch out Vassar, tomorrow I will be walking around with no pants on. And to whoever dreamt of “Fleabag” winning so many Emmys, thank you for your incredible service. Throughout the film, we are rooting for Sharkboy, Lavagirl and Max as they try to defeat Mr. Electric and Minus to save Planet Drool. As for the details of the plot—like how exactly everything happens and why it’s happening—it’s not quite clear. This is a choice that I’m sure is intentional, as children aren’t supposed to understand movies anyway. Only sophisticated and well-educated reviewers like myself are intelligent enough to understand the labyrinth that is “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” But really though, if someone knows what is happening when they go to Planet Drool and secure the ice crystal, could you let me know? For a movie presumably made for children, but still obviously watched by adults, it has fantastic character development. Throughout the film, Lavagirl tries to “find herself,” as she is used to being only a destructive force. At the end, however, Max explains that she is more than just destruction and pain; she is light. The character arc that Lavagirl endures is heartwarming and dare I say…iconic. I shed at least three tears when she emerged from the volcano after almost dying at the hands of Mr. Electric. Seeing her fiery pink hair is reminiscent of Max’s speech: “Fire doesn’t always cause pain; it is also a source of light.” The
The shark shown here is actually the exact image that director Robert Rodriguez saw in his mind’s eye when God (George Lopez) gave him the idea for this movie. film does an outstanding job of representing the four elements: fire, air, earth and shark. “Avatar: The Last Airbender” wishes it had the representation this movie has. The tremendous character development is only punctuated by the all-star cast consisting entirely of George Lopez. Really, contrary to popular belief, he actually plays every character. Lavagirl is just George in a pink wig and Sharkboy is just George with some pointy teeth and a fin (in fact, Taylor Lautner’s entire filmography is performed by George Lopez in an elaborate disguise). The protagonist, Max, is just George Lopez pretending to be a dorky fourth grader with a dream journal. Like, c’mon Max, you’re about nine years old now, so grow up and internalize your weirdest dreams like the rest of us. I’m not saying that little douche Linus had any right to steal Max’s dream journal at the beginning of the movie, I’m just saying it was quite funny when
HOROSCOPES
Max dropped the journal right into Linus’ hand because he had his nuts rang on a jungle gym. If you love high-action films that feature a stellar cast and fewer than seven plot holes, this is the movie for you! “Sharkboy and Lavagirl” has something for everyone! It has giant cookies, bubbles that sing a little tune, and for you particularly freaky people out there, a whole lot of George Lopez. This film is, unfortunately, not on Netflix or any other streaming platform really—unless you have a Starz subscription, which I know you don’t. Only nine people actually do, and one of them is my mom because she got the free trial to watch “Outlander” and forgot to cancel it. Despite that, I give this movie a solid 6.5 out of 7 plot holes. The only reason it doesn’t get a 7 is because there may not be enough George Lopez.
Francisco Andrade Stargazer
ARIES
March 21 | April 19
TAURUS
April 20 | May 20
GEMINI
May 21 | June 20
CANCER
June 21 | July 22
LEO
July 23 | August 22
VIRGO
August 23 | September 22
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. But you shouldn’t beat around the bush, cause the early bird catches the worm. Even though there’s two of them in there. My point is you’re going to be attacked by birds this week.
The little voice inside you is telling you to buy that shirt you saw at Target. This may seem like a sign. But in reality, it’s the Target micro speakers ensuring they get their sales. Super cute shirt though. Gemini, appreciate the little things in life. Like finding money in an old winter jacket, putting on a shirt fresh out of the dryer or even the legion of mice that have been slowly tracking your every move over this past month. Stop saying that random celebrities or cute animals are your “spirit animal.” Your spirit animal is a tone deaf salamander named Moe, and plus that whole concept is racist. Moe is pretty and sweet and does not appreciate your constant dismissal of his work. Leo, wearing mismatched socks is not the worst thing in the world. But I am a bit concerned about the fact that you decided to wear them on your hands and your shoes are missing. When a party is having a hard time getting out on the dance floor it is probably a good idea to play the “Cha Cha Slide.” Do I think this was the proper choice for your great-uncle’s wake? Not really, but at least everyone danced along.
LIBRA
September 23 | October 22
SCORPIO
October 23 | November 21
SAGITTARIUS
November 22 | December 21
Libra, call your grandma. She wants to hear all about you and how school has been. Granted, the call is always bad and she talks for too long. But it’s your grandma! The call will soon be over and you can put the Ouija board away and leave the cemetery. Do not go on any hot air balloon races this week. Sure, this is the week of the great Poughkeepsie Balloon Drift-a-thon, but I saw a guy in a purple suit twirling his mustache and stabbing a picture of your balloon. I don’t think that’s a good sign. Sagittarius, your future is shining bright! Your optometrist keeps telling you to wear your transition lenses to protect your eyes but you just don’t listen well. Now you won’t see well, either.
Do you ever feel like a cloud? Floating endlessly through a wide open sky? No worries; CAPRICORN we all do. And the cloud society is happy to December 22 | welcome you, bröther. Next Tuesday is when January 19 we do lightning drill, so bring your taser.
AQUARIUS
January 20 | February 18
PISCES
February 19 | March 20
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Aquarius, if you are having a passionate argument in class and someone has the audacity to tell you to calm down, here’s what you should do. Take a deep breath. Count to five. Open your third eye. Erase them from this reality. If you’re haunted by memories from your past, just drink some tea, put on some relaxing music and take a nap. No harm will come to you in your dreams...(Okay, I think they’re asleep. ATTACK. ATTACK NOW.)
SPORTS
Page 18
October 10, 2019
GM’s Hong Kong tweet reveals NBA’s true priorities Jaan Choudhri
Guest Columnist
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aybe better than any other professional league, the NBA has largely held itself accountable to becoming a vehicle for social justice in our vastly changing political climate. Players have spoken out about police brutality, owners have been fired for racist remarks and some international hoopers have even called out their oppressive native governments, like the Turkish-born Celtics center Enes Kanter. Yet recently, the NBA is catching some flack due to its questionable handling of a tweet that created a dispute with the Chinese government. The NBA has a reputation of being “the woke league,” as social justice has been a key talking point for players and coaches in the league, particularly for stars like LeBron James. Last week however, Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey sparked a fierce controversy with a comment on the political demonstrations occurring in Hong Kong. Morey’s tweet voiced his support for the people of Hong Kong, who are currently staging a political revolution in China. For those unaware, since June, the people of Hong Kong have fought to keep their political independence from China through activism and grassroots revolution, something that has been heavily pushed back against by the mainland Chinese government. Protestors have been met with violent opposition from Chinese police forces, who have brutally beaten protesters in the streets and arrested protesters (BBC News, “Hong Kong: Timeline of extradition protests,” 09.04.2019). Morey’s tweet (which was quickly deleted) read: “fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” (NBCNews, “Daryl Morey’s tweet on Hong Kong shows how China is calling the shots in the NBA,” 10.08.2019). Despite
the tweet’s quick removal, screenshots of it flooded the internet, becoming viral across China and in the United States. Chinese NBA fans quickly started to criticize Morey for his comments, resulting in a massive economic and social blow to Morey and the Houston Rockets. The Chinese Basketball Association, which is run by former Rocket Yao Ming, quickly condemned Morey’s statement, calling it “inappropriate,” and later cut all economic ties with the Houston Rockets (NBA, “Rockets working to mend ties with China after executive’s Hong Kong tweet,” 10.07.2019). This means no streaming of games, no reporting of scores and no sale of merchandise. Morey quickly walked his comment back, stating that he did not intend his tweet to “cause offense to any Rockets fans and friends…in China,” (Twitter, [@]dmorey, 10.06.2019). Even Rockets stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook issued apologies on behalf of the team. The most interesting development occurred after this, when the NBA sent out two separate media releases regarding Morey’s statement, one being an English transcript for American viewers, and another in Mandarin intended for the NBA’s Chinese audience. What’s interesting is the difference between the NBA’s tone in each statement. In the American version, the league’s commissioner Adam Silver stated it was “regrettable” that Morey’s statement offended Chinese fans, but that “the values of the league support individuals educating themselves and sharing their views on matters important to them.” However, the Chinese transcript contained a much more hostile tone, calling the tweet “inappropriate” and stating that the NBA is “extremely disappointed” with Morey’s statement (abcnews, “NBA’s reaction
to Morey tweet differs in English, Chinese,” 10.07.2019). The fallout would continue as the days progressed, with scheduled broadcasts of all NBA preseason games in China being canceled by the Chinese national state television network (Washington Post, “Chinese state TV cancels broadcasts of NBA preseason games and sponsors drop out in dispute over Hong Kong comments,” 10.08.2019). This marks a clear departure from the NBA’s ostensible social responsibility. The NBA has no problem having Martin Luther King Day games, or banning former Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist remarks, but now appears to have no issue bending their knee to a politically oppressive regime. Why is that? Simple. Money. Last season, the Houston Rockets were the second most popular team in China, trailing only the Golden State Warriors. An interesting detail to note is the NBA recently inked a five-year partnership worth $1.5 billion with Tencent (which also suspended all broadcasts of NBA events in response to Morey’s tweet), a Chinese media super mogul (CNBC, “Chinese state media and Tencent suspend broadcast of NBA preseason games in China,” 10.09.2019). The deal gave full streaming rights to Tencent, giving them complete control over NBA media in China. The NBA has been doing everything in their power to increase revenue, from allowing sponsorships on jerseys to an extensive effort to globalize the game, with teams playing throughout the season in London, Mumbai, China and South Africa. Does the NBA really want to lose its biggest foreign market over a single tweet? Harden and Westbrook have their own personal interests in mind as well. Harden has built a brand for himself as the MVP with the world’s best beard. And don’t forget that
Adidas deal he signed. Adidas’ largest source of revenue is the Asia-Pacific region, and I can only imagine how much the Chinese love his sneakers. Same thing with Westbrook, a Jordan Brand athlete. Does it really make sense for Westbrook to lose on tens of millions of dollars because of something going on across the world that has no effect on him? For both of these these two superstars, of course not. But as individuals sharing a national spotlight, players and coaches should set an example as drivers of free speech and social activism. The NBA is rapidly growing monetarily; there is no doubt about that. As it is one of my favorite sports, I’ve loved seeing basketball grow into a global sport in front of my eyes. But what I’d like to see out of the league is morality. Although it may not be directly explicit, the league has chosen to take an immoral stand, siding with a Chinese government that has not permitted Chinese citizens their ability to speak freely and constructively criticize the government without punishment. This is the same league that moved the 2017 All Star game from Charlotte to Las Vegas as a result of the state of North Carolina passing the H2B bill, which severely limited the rights of transgender people. This is the same league where teams wore “I can’t breathe” shirts following the death of Eric Garner. This is the same league that had players and coaches speak out against our president. How much of this past “activism” has been motivated by social concern, and how much of it was simply for monetary gain? It’s hard to tell. Ultimately, I can’t say I’m surprised by the league’s decision to value money over politics, but I hope this can be an eye-opener to the public that the NBA is socially conscious—but only as long as it doesn’t hurt their bottom line.
New CA law prompts long overdue look at NCAA rules Daniel Bonfiglio Guest Columnist
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SAT (PrepScholar, “Duke SAT Scores and GPA,” 2018). Their 2008 basketball team managed a measly average of 968 (Mercury News, “Stanford vs. Duke basketball: The difference in admissions standards,” 11.05.2008). Ideally student-athletes would be held to the same standard as the rest of the student body, but these players were not at Duke to be students. They were there to be professional athletes. Duke’s last championship brought in $31 million, and it could not hurt to give the players who earned it something in return. While the numbers regarding top-tier Division I schools are quite clear, the debate over paying athletes is not simple. Firstly,
quantifying how much a player is worth is very difficult. Obviously players in smaller, less-prestigious athletic programs would not earn the same money as their top-tier counterparts, but where should the line be drawn? I do not think anyone would argue that Vassar athletes should be paid (and I speak as one myself), but where does the line start? These questions and so many more need to be hashed out before college players can be properly rewarded for their efforts on the field. This controversial California law now forces NCAA officials to act, and it will only push the issue forward toward the compensation athletes deserve.
Courtesy kmhairston via flickr
ast week, the state of California passed a law allowing collegiate student-athletes to accept endorsements and work with agents, something they have never been allowed to do before. NCAA guidelines specifically stipulate that players are not allowed to be paid in exchange for using their name and image for advertising purposes or hire agents for the purpose of promoting their athletic careers (The New York Times, “Paying College Athletes: Answers to Key Questions on New Law,” 09.30.2019). Thus, this new California law directly conflicts with NCAA regulations, and has the potential to create serious problems if these contradictions are not swiftly resolved. The law is the first of what will likely be many attempts to compensate college athletes for the immense money they bring to their institutions, a payment that has long been overdue. With the current NCAA rules, college athletes do not receive any financial support other than scholarships. At first glance, this system makes sense. Were athletes to receive salaries, or some other form of incentives for attending certain schools, the schools more capable of giving these gifts would have a leg up in the recruiting process. This would result in consistently better teams for richer schools. Collegiate athletics is also just that: collegiate. The whole idea of college sports is to give amateur players the opportunity to continue playing and, in rarer circumstances, prove their skills to professional teams. To pay college players would be, by definition, to turn them into profes-
sional players, thus negating the purpose of college athletics. However, it cannot be ignored that players in top-tier Division I programs are personally responsible for bringing millions of dollars to their schools. And that’s not to mention the money earned through television rights and the advertising surrounding games. According to the University of Alabama, its football team grossed about $108 million in 2018, under head coach Nick Saban (who will make $8.7 million in 2019). This lofty salary is representative of the value Alabama puts on the continued success of its football program, and its importance to the earnings and image of the school. Therefore, a measly $30,000 scholarship to a player equally or more important than Saban to the success of that football program is markedly disproportionate, especially when many institutions have the liberty to drop players if they get hurt or do not perform up to expectations. Many college teams are already only one step removed from being professional. Other than baseball, where players play in the minor leagues before making their professional debuts and are not required to attend college, many football and basketball players go to school for the sole purpose of then going pro. The NBA mandates players spend at least one year in college, while the NFL raises the bar to three. The high number of players that only attend for those required years shows the multitude of pro-ready players wasting time playing in college. And of course, there’s the open athletic secret that some student-athletes are far from typical students at their universities. The average Duke student scores about a 1485 on their
Former Duke stars Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett were both selected in the top three picks of the NBA draft after only one season at Duke. Top players like these generate far more revenue for their schools than the value they receive in scholarships.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
October 10, 2019
SPORTS
Page 19
Team East triumphs over Team World, but everyone wins BASEBALL continued from page 1 something that hit a little closer to home: pediatric heart disease. “We had a few members of our team whose families were directly affected by pediatric heart disease…We also have a player’s parent who is a cardiac surgeon who’s done a lot with the organization in the past,” Righter explained. Dr. Sean Levchuck, father of senior outfielder Connor “Chuck” Levchuck, has been involved with Gift of Life International, a pediatric heart disease foundation, for many years, which provided a great opportunity for the team to use that connection to step in and raise awareness. The foundation, founded in 1975, helps children from underprivileged families all over the world receive proper medical treatment for heart conditions. They have treated over 35,000 children across 80 countries around the globe (Gift of Life, “Our 35,000 Child Muhammad,” 07.23.2019) (Gift of Life, “Countries where we heal little hearts,” 2019). Gift of Life develops sustainable pediatric cardiac programs that administer screenings and carry out surgical and training missions in order to give life-saving treatment to those that need it.
Through the connection with Dr. Levchuck, Righter and the Vassar Community Service Committee were able to coordinate the scrimmage event with Gift of Life, last Saturday, Oct. 5. The special day included mini-events to keep the crowd engaged, a concession table and merchandise, with all proceeds going to the foundation. Chuck stated: “[T]he team ended up raising over $1,000, not including online donations, for The Gift of Life, which is a huge success in and of itself. The most successful part of the day, though, was seeing so many individuals around campus come together to support such a great cause.” Righter added: “Our main goal was to raise awareness and a little bit of money for the cause … We also had hundreds of people follow along through our social media outlets.” Dr. Levchuck also donated a free surgery to Gift of Life to be performed in the near future. To top it all off, the team invited baseball superfan Jack Foley, a former patient of Dr. Levchuck, to throw out the first pitch of the game. Jack, an eight-year-old from the local area, is a baseball and hockey fanatic, and his mother posted a video of him practicing for his first pitch on her Twitter
account. The Vassar Devils also made an appearance, performing the National Anthem before the game and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch. Chuck indicated that the collaboration made the day even more memorable for the Vassar community, adding “Getting involved with another awesome group on campus we hope will help promote a mutually inclusive and supportive environment between athletic teams and other groups on campus.” Returning to the baseball side of things, the scrimmage was a nail-biter that came down to the bottom of the ninth. The squad was divided into two teams: Team East (players that originated from the U.S. East Coast) and Team World (everyone else). It was tied 0-0 going at the end when firstyear Christian Baaki hit a walk off single that allowed senior Rob Pinataro [full disclosure: Pinataro is Managing Editor of The Miscellany News] to score the winning run for Team East. The main focus of the event, helping Gift of Life and those affected by pediatric heart disease, was successful. Yet for the team, the success of the event meant more
than dollars and awareness—a chance to demonstrate their emerging culture. “Any time you get to play for something bigger than yourself I think it helps to bring the team closer together,” Righter explained. Righter also commended his athletes and the planning committee for their enthusiastic efforts to make the day a success for all those involved. Chuck added more on what the event meant to the team, saying: “I think the biggest thing outside of raising awareness for the issue was doing so in a way that brings pride to the Vassar Community. We’ve put a lot of focus in the last few years on getting involved with the community and spreading messages of positivity and appreciation.” It’s obvious from Chuck’s words the team is striving to embody their mission statement: Be a championship program built on a foundation of passion, tradition and trust that brings pride to the Vassar community. After having a successful day of competition, collaboration and cheer for all parties involved, you can say it truly was a beautiful day to play some ball. For more information about Gift of Life, please visit www.giftoflifeinternational.org
Last Saturday, the Vassar baseball team hosted a scrimmage for charity, with all proceeds going to Gift of Life International, an organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children with heart conditions. Some of those children, along with other local kids and community members, were present at the game. Many attendees purchased merchandise and concessions, with all profits benefiting Gift of Life. Also in attendance were the Vassar Devils, who sang before the game and during the seventh inning stretch. All photos courtesy of Matt Righter
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
SPORTS
Page 20
Why
we
[TW: This article discusses depression, substance abuse, forced enrollment in a psychiatric facility and self-harm.] ull disclosure: I began fencing after seeing it on iCarly. My dad was just excited that I was expressing any interest in a physical activity, so he eagerly took me to the basketball court at the YMCA in the rustic mill city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. There, I met the coaches who taught me the sport, and who have since largely assumed parental roles in my life. In a sport packed with ego-driven coaches all too willing to bleed upper-class parents of money to produce uber-competitive athletes belonging to a quasi-athletic class, these salt-of-the-earth people were down-to-earth locals. Although I haven’t trained at Blackstone Valley Fencing Academy since moving to New York, that parental relationship perseveres there and in Poughkeepsie. Now, I find it at the Phoenix Center, on Hooker Avenue, where I have an uncle, an older brother and a grandfather whom I would never have if it weren’t for fencing. While I spent my formative years grinding away on the fencing piste, my club a home away from home, my contemporaries were enrolled in lavish sleepaway camps, forming bonds with other children of the bourgeois from coast to coast. They flew to ritzy North American Cups to compete in youth tournaments as early as age 10. I didn’t. As I grew older, I began to embrace the socioeconomic divide between kids like me and kids like my rivals. Don’t get me wrong, my family was and is supportive of my athletics. However, in a stereotypically “rich kid sport” that can easily devolve into a spending
F
play
war of attrition between Wall Street execs on behalf of their children, to ascend to the higher rungs of American fencing is incredibly difficult without significant financial help. And this isn’t necessarily bad—once I started working in high school, there was something edifying about working for my own equipment, a cost-related worry my prep-school companions didn’t really need to concern themselves with. As I began to struggle with my mental health in high school, this sense of fulfillment from wrestling with obstacles didn’t go away; it only changed forms. Every year in the early spring, the New England Division of the United States Fencing Association holds a qualifying tournament for several events at the National Championships. Many a year I had competed there and failed to qualify, failed to fulfill my pipe dream of going somewhere even in one of the country’s most obscure sports. The week before qualifiers in 2016—a crucial year, might I add, as athletes in their junior year of high school fight tooth and nail for recruitment onto a collegiate roster—I was committed to an in-patient psychiatric ward. While my competitors were training for the big tourney, ready to seize onto any opportunity needed to gain a foothold in fencing and the connections that lay beyond it, I was restrained against my will, dangerously close to the gory end of a road wrought with alcohol and substance abuse, self-harm and suicidal ideation. I will never forget the words a social worker spoke to me before ordering that I be transferred to the shittiest, illest-equipped psych ward in Massachusetts,
October 10, 2019
Abram Gregory, Fencing which marked the beginning of the worst week of my life: “Kids like you don’t last long in the world.” In the ambulance ride to the psych ward, in my last moments before my cell phone was confiscated, I sent a text to my childhood coach, whose guidance kept me in the sport and has helped me be a better man. It was something to the effect of “In the hospital. Almost died. Will explain later. See you at tournament Saturday.” It was Tuesday, and I was convinced I’d make it to that tournament. I was going to prove that pessimist bastard in the hospital wrong. I spent several days stripped of privacy, liberty and connections to the outside world. I lost more than six pounds in four days because I was not fed enough. I was given double my usual dose of antidepressants, putting me in too much of a slumber to outwardly try to die, but leaving me trapped in a confused internal paranoid hysteria. My cuts and burns were not treated, and I was given a single set of disposable paper clothes to wear for the week. My only toiletry was hand sanitizer from a bathroom wall dispenser that I used to wash my hair, wash my skin, brush my teeth and treat my self-harm wounds. My roommate was an accused arsonist who was in the facility as part of a plea deal. Unbeknownst to me, while I was stuck in the psych ward, my parents were advocating for me, and I was discharged Friday afternoon. My parents and I drove home, and when I got there, I did what anyone who’d just spent a week in hell would do. I packed my fencing bag and went to practice, paper pants and all. This week was but another ob-
Men’s Rugby
Vassar College 53, SUNY New Paltz 17 October 5, 2019
stacle to be overcome. The next morning, my dad and I drove up the same road the ambulance had taken me, the same road we took home after my discharge. The venue awaited. To skip-along, cliché romanticization of a sporting event: Plainly, I put on the greatest athletic performance of my career. I went to the 2016 Nationals five months later, where I placed 13th out of 147 competitors in my event. When I was finished fencing, I embraced my dad in the greatest expression of love I have ever witnessed. I fenced that day on behalf of the kids who killed themselves, perhaps after hugging their parents one last time. Despite a years-long conflict with depression, two years later, I was able to join the varsity roster of the school I had dreamt of attending since watching a crew of Vassar fencers dominate a tournament when I was a younger boy. Most importantly, I’m almost four years clean. I have a tattoo of an epee that I had done the day I finished high school, complete with a flaming backdrop and the maxim I’ve adopted in the years since my brushes with death: “Carry the fire.” The tattoo covers my cuts, evidence of self-hatred paved over by the ink strokes of self-love and the fervor of permanence. My full-body fencing uniform covers these and burn scars never to be seen again, thankfully faded to oblivion. When I pick up an epee, it’s not the mere pageantry of some trust-fund kid fencers. Nor is it for sport, as it is for my opponents, whom I truly respect. When I compete, it’s not for me, and it’s not just for Vassar. I fence on behalf of all the kids who reached the end of the road, never to return.
Women’s Volleyball
Road Double Header October 5, 2019
The Brewers ran over New Paltz en route to their third straight victory to kick off the 2019 season. This convincng win was characterized by consitent play from the team in burgundy and gray, as Vassar shot out to an early lead and never looked back. On the day, Vassar scored nine tries, three times as many as the Hawks. This continued a trend for the team of impressive offensive outputs, as they previously put up 38 on Oneonta and 55 on Bard. Vassar should find tougher sledding against their next opponent, Hofstra University, who for their part beat New Paltz 70-0.
Women’s Tennis
Vassar suffered two tough losses last Saturday at Babson College, falling 3-0 to their hosts and 3-2 to the Coast Guard Academy in a very tight match. Against Coast Guard, Vassar fell short in the first set, losing by seven, before rallying and winning the next two sets straight. However, they were unable to close out the match over the next two sets, as the Bears edged the fourth set 28-26, before finishing the match off 15-10. The disappointing results at Babson brought the Brewers to 4-14 on the season, as they are currently on a five-loss streak. They will look to turn their fortunes around Friday at home, hosting Ithaca.
Men’s Soccer
Vassar College 9, Bard 0
Vassar 0, Skidmore 2
October 6, 2019
October 5, 2019
Vassar started their Liberty League season on a dominant note Sunday, sweeping Bard and only losing five games total across nine matches on the day. Only two of those game losses came in singles play, as Vassar’s lineup, anchored by junior Frances Cornwall, who was named Liberty League Singles Performer of the Week for her efforts, had no problems putting away Bard. The Vassar team, which has finished second in the Liberty League eight years in a row, will look to maintain their momentum throughout the season. While it will be tough to improve upon last year’s 7-1 record, the Brewers certainly got off on the right track on Sunday. Photos courtesy of Carlisle Stockton
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Vassar’s home defeat against Skidmore was their first loss of the Liberty League season, bringing them to 2-1 in the League and 5-5-1 overall. Despite the Brewers outshooting the Thoroughbreds seven to three in the first half, it was Skidmore who took an early lead, scoring in the 15th minute. The second half was even less sucessful for Vassar, as they found themselves outshot by Skidmore 8-3 even as they tried to mount a comeback. In the final minute of the match, Skidmore put the Brewers to bed as Stanley Langyintuo notched his second of the game and ninth of the season. Vassar’s next match is against Hobart this Saturday.