The Miscellany News, Volume CXLVII, Issue 1 (Sept. 12, 2013)

Page 1

The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVII | Issue 1

September 12, 2013

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

US Post Office shuts Veteran freshmen acclimate to down campus branch civilian, academic life at Vassar Vassar mailroom forced to reassess methods, capabilities after budget constraints prompt government to close post offices across America Emily Hoffman guest reporter

eginning on Sept. 1, the Vassar Post Office in the College Center implemented some significant changes. The post office will no longer provide retail services for outbound personal mail, such as sales of postage stamps and package processing. While it will continue to accept outbound personal mail that already has the correct postage applied, any outbound personal mail that requires weighing or special services must now be sent from the Arlington branch post office which is located on Raymond Avenue or any other US post office. These changes began in April when the US Postal Service notified Vassar that they intended to terminate Vassar’s contract and remove the retail operations from Vassar’s campus in order to reduce expenses. Vassar began to subsidize the retail operations

courtesy of JohnAbbot

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on campus with general operating funds. However, after review by the senior officers and the Committee on Priorities and Planning, Vassar decided that it was necessary to terminate the service in order to cut costs, especially in light of Vassar’s continued effort to minimize expenses and allow for more efficient financial operations. These changes only affect the cash and credit walk-up sales at the retail window of the post office and will not have an effect on incoming mail or outbound department mail. FedEx shipping will still be provided through the Purchasing department and the on-campus FedEx drop box will remain in service. Additionally, USPS has changed their schedule for picking up mail and will now be collecting Vassar’s mail around noon each day instead of 4:30 See POST OFFICE on page 4

The 11 Posse scholars pose with President of the College Catharine Hill, former Dean of Freshman Ben Lotto and representatives from the Posse Foundation. This year’s scholars have served in the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps. Eloy Bleifuss-Prados

AssistANt feAtures editor

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he Vassar Posse Program that launched this fall was the first of its kind in the nation. Vassar, partnering with the Posse Foundation, Inc, has recruited and given full four-year scholarships to a group of 11 post-9/11 veterans. The first Posse veterans group have now almost completed their first full week of classes at Vassar.

For the 11 Posse scholars, their class responsibilities and goals are the same as any other “traditional” freshman. These men and women have faculty pre-major advisers, as well as student fellows; many are even experiencing life in collegiate dorms. Their arrival signals changes for the lives of the Posse scholars, the character of the student population, and—even beyond Vassar—the ed-

ucational opportunities available to combat veterans. In an online USA Today column that came out last month, Posse Scholar David Carrell explained how he became part of Vassar’s Class of 2017. Carrell became medically retired after serving in the Army for four deployments in Iraq across nine years. At that point in his life he felt like he had two choices. See POSSE on page 6

Warari Orientation Starr Lecture brings Pulitzer explores winning author to campus takes on field hockey identity W Jack Owen Arts editor

Palak Patel

desigN editor

M

Inside this issue

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FEATURES

Demystifying senior living: surviving as a new chef

Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Egan, who has written other novels and short fiction including The Keep and Emerald City, won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Goon Squad as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction. Egan will present the William Starr Lecture, which traditionally is given by the common reading’s author, on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Villard Room. See EGAN on page 15

courtesy of Pieter M van Hattem/Vistalux

any upperclassmen think back to their first week at Vassar with trepidation and excitement. Almost every student on this campus has experienced the awkwardness that is Freshman Orientation. But this year, those in charge of orientation decided to incoroporate new events and activities and revamp some of the others to better familiarize the freshmen with Vassar and tohelp them to understand how their individual identities fit into the larger idenity of the campus. For example, last year, Vassar’s Class of 2016 was welcomed with the event “I Am Vassar” which was meant to help the freshmen feel more comfortable with their 600-plus fellow classmates. This year, student fellows and their fellow groups were asked to participate in an “Identity Wheel” exercise before attending “I Am Vassar” in order to first introduce the freshman to the idea of an individual’s complex identity . “I feel that the changes made pull the purpose of orientation into the right direction,” stated Vice President for Student Life Genesis Hernandez ’15. “While it was of course wonderful that so much time is spent on educating incoming students on safe drinking and consent, there was/is a necessity to discuss how to navigate difference on campus and understanding the myriad of identities See ORIENTATION on page 8

hat do a Vassar freshman and a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist have in common? One might laugh at that comparison, but according to Dean of Freshmen and Associate Professor of English Susan Zlotnick, though the divide is wide, in essence the two are not all that different. “Yes, there’s a big gap between being in a freshman writing sem-

inar and being a Pulitzer prize winning novelist, but writing is writing and they have to start imagining themselves as writers,” Zlotnick said. “Therefore, they can be in dialogue with this Pulitzer prize winning novelist, because she may be particularly successful, but they’re all writers and that’s how we want them to begin to see themselves.” This summer, the common reading for the class of 2017 was A

Members of the Class of 2017 were asked to read A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, pictured above. The Pulitzer Prize winning author will present the William Starr Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 5:30 pm.

14 ARTS

Breaking down director Blomkamp’s sci-fi bust

20 SPORTS

Chris Brown sports editor

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ith a fresh new bunch of athletes entering the Vassar sphere, one squad in particular has encountered a drastic change in their team dynamic. The Women’s Field Hockey team’s coaching staff just underwent a complete overhaul. Longtime head coach Cara Dunn decided to leave Vassar for another job at Wheaton College, and new Head Coach Michael Warari stepped into her position this previous summer to bring a new mentality to the team. Breaking from tradition, Warari was brought on by the school in the summer to rejuvenate the program, providing the school with an energetic tactician on the sidelines. He previously served as an assistant coach at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA for one year, where he assisted with recruiting and scouting for the team. He also specialized in the instruction of goalkeepers, a skill that the Brewers lacked in the previous year. Prior to Dickinson, Warari was an assistant at Division III powerhouse Messiah College in Grantham, PA from 20082011, and it was there that he learned the ins and outs of winning at the collegiate level. Vassar climbed to the top of Warari’s list as soon as the interview process went underway. “Wanting to be a head See WARARI on page 19

Wiechert’s hat trick kicks off new soccer season


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