Misc.02.22.24

The Miscellany News

February

Students present research on Howard Thurman’s legacy

Emma Brown Guest Reporter

Four students presented their research on the legacy of Rev. Howard Thurman at Vassar College on Feb. 15, the first event of the Vassar Inclusive History Initiative. The presentation honored his contributions to the campus through his speeches made during the mid-20th century and also touched on the life of his daughter, Olive Thurman, who was one of the first Black students to attend the college.

The Vassar students conducted their research on Thurman during the Fall 2023 intensive, AFRS-282: “Thurman, Blackness, and Vassar.” The course was taught by Religion professor and Director of Engaged Pluralism Jonathon Kahn.

“I’ve always been fascinated with Howard Thurman,” said Kahn. “As the Director of Engaged Pluralism, I like to teach an intensive that is really trying to very directly get at questions about what belonging looks like at the College.”

Thurman, a prolific Black preacher whose teaching would later inspire Martin Luther King Jr., first spoke at Vassar’s chapel in 1928, seven years before the college was officially integrated. Over the following few decades, Thurman continued to visit Poughkeepsie to deliver speeches and create an exchange program for students between Howard University and Vassar.

Skating returns

Caris Lee assistant sports editor

Vassar cannot offer varsity programs for all sports—some must inevitably be omitted due to the small size of the school and limited facilities. Because Vassar does not have an ice rink and does not offer any varsity sports on ice, a noticeable group of athletes are left out of collegiate leagues. Hockey players and figure skaters, for example, arrive at Vassar having to leave their skates at home. This semester, however, Iced Brew—the ice skating club— has officially reopened after being on hiatus last year.

Iced Brew has been a long-standing club at Vassar, dating back to 2010 when Hannah Erdheim ’10 originally founded the club as a synchronized skating team. Erdheim, a skater herself for nine years, desired to attend Vassar despite its lack of a skate team, and in fact came to Vassar with the intent to start a skate team. She wrote on Vassar’s recollection website in the section “Memories”: “I was drawn to Vassar for its academics and atypical student body over my desire to skate. Therefore, I decided to try and have the best of both worlds and start a team at Vassar.” The club was so small at first that they did not have enough members to compete, as synchronized skating

See Skating on page 14

Croix Horsley ’26, a religion major, focused his research on how Thurman’s speeches operated as a form of activism. Depicting his work in a video reflection, Horsley argued that Thurman’s religious teachings should be viewed as a catalyst for changes surrounding racially discriminatory admissions policies at Vassar.

“Thurman’s very presence at the College and his influential strength to a morality served as a distinct mode of activism,” said Horsley in his documentary. “His approach suggests a belief in a transformational path of personal connection, dialogue and moral reflection. Thurman’s choice to engage with Vassar, a predominantly white institution, was in itself a statement. By being present and sharing his perspectives, he set in to challenge the status quo and contributed to a broader conversation about racial inclusion and understanding.”

Using The Miscellany News’ articles archive, Horsley uncovered some of the topics that Thurman covered in his speeches to the student body: the potential for social withdrawal as a result of education, introspection and singular purpose.

Like Horsley, Maya Winter ’26, a Russian studies major, utilized newspaper archives to dive deeper into the connection between Thurman and Vassar. Centering her research around articles published about Vassar by the Black press in the 1920s through the 1960s, Winter investigated the College’s

past policies surrounding admission of students of color. Winter’s research culminated in the creation of a website which features all of the articles that she analyzed for her project.

“As a white student taking this class, I really didn’t want to speak over Black voices,” said Winter. “So I really wanted to focus on uncovering Black voices and their perspectives on Vassar, and that’s what led me to create a database that featured those voices.”

Framing Thurman’s teachings within the context of his own experience, religion

major Jarod Hudson ’26 considered how the experience of low income students at Vassar can relate to Thurman’s discussion of the terms of survival in his book “Jesus and the Disinherited.” By considering how the racial violence depicted in Thurman’s work relates to the many forms of violence associated with poverty and addiction, Hudson explained to the audience that he found a way to relate to Thurman’s teachings.

“Under what terms is survival at Vassar possible for low income students?” asked

See Thurman on page 3

Loeb hosts evening of fractal festivities

capturing my attention.

On Thursday, Feb. 15, I braved my way through a snow flurry and arrived at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center for a night of fractal-related activities. Over piercing winds, I heard a group of students in front of me discussing the topic with critical attention, setting high stakes for the event’s public reception. A solid showing of attendants grabbed refreshments and filed into the building. The room buzzed with excitement for the commencement of the event. Programming combined a lecture from Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Natalie Priebe Frank and the exhibition of student artwork and crafts inviting our participation, resulting in an informative yet engaging evening.

A fractal is a mathematical concept referring to geometric shapes which contain self-similar structures at increasingly smaller scales, forming the same patterns across these degrees of size. Although I was familiar with this basic notion from various conversations—such as ones with my parents—I could never claim to truly understand the concept from a theoretical standpoint. In comparison to my past knowledge, this event provided the most illustrative and succinct explanation of fractals that I have yet to encounter, easily

After the audience had gathered in the gallery, Frank was introduced by mathematics and art history double major Mia-Dora Stein ’24. Stein was a student in Frank’s “Fabricating Fractals,” a course that explored topics akin to this lecture. Frank began the talk by highlighting the generative and self-similar qualities of fractals, an artistic beauty discoverable and magnified by mathematics. In addition to her work as a professor, Frank also makes artwork that reflects these interdisciplinary pursuits. The first fractal displayed in the slideshow was the Mandelbrot set, a famous example showcasing the form of its “bulb” at increasingly smaller scales. As with any fractal, the “whole” picture resembles any of its subsequent “copies”: the smaller, self-similar parts that compose a fractal when zoomed in on. This close interrogation of shape, structure and form at miniscule levels was made increasingly possible by technological advances in the 1970s and ’80s. Frank then highlighted the occurrence of natural fractals using the example of ferns and snowflakes. These images evoked other well-known analyses of nature through mathematics, such as the appearance of Fibonacci sequences in biological contexts.

Throughout the lecture, Frank’s lightly humorous tone helped illuminate our unconscious cultural knowledge of frac-

tals and their varied appropriations. In one instance, she compared their features to dorm room posters. For myself, background familiarity of fractals came in the form of a NOVA documentary and Tool’s album covers, although the latter may not fit stricter definitions of the term. The focus then shifted from the applications of fractals in visual arts to their mathematical properties. Frank discussed the Koch curve, a shape which is progressively built by shrinking the original line into four identical pieces and then arranging them into a pattern. By continually repeating this action, a recognizable fractal is formed; Frank eloquently broke the process down by using a succession of images visually representing this accumulation. She also noted the role of iterated function systems in mathematically constructing fractals.

Afterwards, Frank moved into a discussion of self-similar tilings, an approach to tiling utilized by notable artists like M.C. Escher. Rather than the method of observing fractals from an increasingly diminutive viewpoint, self-similar tilings move from small to large in their construction. They are framed, self-contained pieces of artwork. Motifs from two main tiling shapes or patterns can be superimposed upon one another, creating a unique result that is distinct from either of its constitu-

See Loeb on page 5

Image courtesy of Flickr.

Allen Hale Arts Editor

Maryam Bacchus

Charlotte Robertson

Sufana Noorwez

Sashinka Poor

Sandro Lorenzo Will Sorge

Monika Sweeney

Clara Alger

Makenna Monaghan

Allison Lowe

Allen Hale

Jesse Koblin

Emma Lawrence

Carina Cole

Luke Jenkins

Lev Winickoff

Jyotsna Naidu

Nicholas Tillinghast

Oliver Stewart

Nick Villamil Caris Lee

Igor Martiniouk

Molly Delahunty

Amelia Gracie

Julia Weinberg

Willa Jewitt

Anabel Lee

Ailynn O’Neill

Karen Mogami

Sadie Keesbury

Olivia Kahn Richard Lu

Catherine Borthwick

Fallon Dern

Kai Chang

Michael Yang

Britt Andrade

Cassandra Brook

Soren Fischer

Henry France

Yaksha Gummadapu

Anna Kozloski

Gwen Ma

Josie Wenner

Andrew Chu

Ian Watanabe

Kathryn Carvel

Darja Coutts

Grace Finke

Claire Miller

Emma Sandrew

Emma San Filippo

Edward Welch Morgan

February

22,

Vassar Inclusive History Initiative honors Thurman

Hudson in his presentation. “The answer is kind of simple: love, forgiveness, unity. In a piece from [Thurman’s] ‘Meditations of the Heart’ collection, he writes, ‘To be in unity with the spirit is to be in unity with one’s fellows.’ We achieve closeness to God by being in communion with other human beings, different as they may be from ourselves, including the very rich people who I once thought to be so opposite of me.”

Inspired by the lessons in Howard’s works, Hudson suggested that in order to create institutional change that supports low income students, anger must be shifted away from students and to those who perpetuate Vassar’s status as an “elite space.”

Rather than focusing on Thurman’s work, Katie Varon ’24, who is majoring in political science with a correlate sequence in religion, studied Thurman’s daughter Olive’s experience at Vassar. Varon found that Olive, a member of Vassar’s Class of 1948, was an influential part of the student body, joining many organizations during her time on campus, including the Vassar College Intercultural Alliance, the Student Liberal Association and The Miscellany News

“Olive was an active member in the life of Vassar College, forcing her classmates and professors to see her as the smart, talented Black leader she was,” said Varon in her presentation. “There’s a whole other conversation we could have about the way Black people are expected to patiently educate white people all while being exceptional themselves, just to get a shred of decency in return. And I think that’s a legitimate conversation to have.”

The research presentations were followed by a panel discussion that gave audience members—including Olive Thurman’s son, Anton Wong—the opportunity to ask the students questions. Students were asked about their research process, what skills they learned and broader questions about the legacy of Vassar’s past racist and discriminatory practices.

“It’s important to promote this history because even though it’s not the most glamorous side of Vassar, it’s important for us to recognize our history and how we got to the point we are today,” said Winter.

The event concluded with remarks from Eric Wilson, a member of the Vassar Class of 1976 and the Co-chair of the African American Alumnae of Vassar College, who congratulated the four students on their research.

“I was so excited to come up here for this panel discussion, and I haven’t been the least bit disappointed,” said Wilson. “You guys are the Vassar students that I went to school with 50 years ago. I’m very proud of each of you.”

Image courtesy of The Library of Congress.

Maryam Bacchus/The Miscellany News.

‘Dear Sister’ author Michelle Horton speaks to community

Maryam Bacchus, Charlotte Robertson Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor

[CW: This article mentions murder, imprisonment, domestic violence and sexual assault.]

On Feb. 15, Vassar College hosted a talk with “Dear Sister: A memoir of secrets, survivals, and unbreakable bonds” author Michelle Horton and activist and social worker Elizabeth Clifton. The memoir recounts how Nicole “Nikki” Addimando, Horton’s sister, shot and killed her physically abusive domestic partner and father of her two children in an act of self-defense. The book further details the many efforts to secure Addimando’s release from prison, largely through the establishment of The Nicole Addimando Community Defense Committee. The Vassar event was organized by Women, Feminist, and Queer Studies (WFQS) and sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office, and co-sponsored by the Political Science Department, the English Department, the Women’s Center, the SAVP Office, the EOAA/Title IX Office, Counseling Service, H.O.M.E. and the VSA.

The talk lasted a little under two hours. Attendance included individuals from the greater Poughkeepsie community in addition to Vassar members.

Prior to her conviction, Addimando was employed at Vassar’s Wimpfheimer Nursery School. The director at the time, Julie Reiss ’82, became Addimando’s on-campus confidante after noticing signs of potential physical abuse. At Wimpfheimer, Addimando taught the children of Vassar faculty, staff and administrators, many of whom also supported her during this time. This included Wimpfheimer parent and Director of Psychological Services Wendy Freedman, who joined Horton and Clifton to create The Nicole Addimando Community Defense Committee in the wake of Ad-

dimando’s trial.

Students have also been involved in fighting for Addimondo’s release for the past seven years. “I remember when we were holding a protest outside of the courthouse and a bus arrived filled with Vassar students,” Freedman wrote in an email correspondence. “Being on this advocacy journey together has led to a deep sisterhood of trust and friendship.”

Horton’s publisher reached out to College faculty in order to bring the talk to campus. In a written correspondence with The Miscellany News, Director of WFQS and Adjunct Professor of Multidisciplinary Studies Paulina Bren stated, “Once I’d read it, I felt it was a story that needed to be told— all the more so because of the many Vassar faculty and staff that were instrumental in organizing for Nikki’s release. And because Elizabeth Clifton was so central to it all, I felt it would be even more interesting if I had her and Michelle together on stage in conversation.”

The two women discussed six points: the ways in which people close to survivors may deny the possibility of abuse, due to survivors hiding evidence and how abusers may act in public; how difficult and dangerous it can be for survivors to leave an abusive relationship; how the criminal justice system is ill-equipped in handling trauma and domestic violence, leading to criminalization of survivors who protect themselves; the long term advocacy work of many organizations to reduce sentences by judges; the fact that anyone can make a difference; and the fact that there are thousands of stories like Addimando’s, where survivors are imprisoned away from their families, with women of color disproportionately impacted.

“Michelle and Elizabeth’s comfort and ease in talking together at the book talk was a reflection of their trust in one another,” Freedman wrote. “Prior to the event, they discussed the main topics they wanted to cover to use as an outline, but the conversation itself was authentic and improvised.”

Emma Raff ’26 said that she had initially expected Horton to be interviewed by either a student or faculty member, and mentioned she appreciated the “conversational” format instead. “It flowed a lot nicer,” she explained during a phone call. Raff first heard about Addimando’s case while taking Bren’s “WFQS-130: Introduction to Women’s Studies” course, in which she was encouraged to sign petitions advocating for Addimando.

Collective support for Addimando’s release finally came to fruition this past January, largely due to the Domestic Violence Survivors Act, a New York state law that was passed in 2019, which allows sentences to be reassessed in light of evidence of domestic violence. Addimando was originally sentenced to 19 years to life in prison, which the appellate court shortened to seven-and-a-half-years under the new legislation.

Judge Edward McLoughlin, who gave Addimando’s life sentence and ruled that Addimando had “reluctantly consented” to her abuse, is up for reelection next year.

At the talk, Horton and Clifton detailed the many ways in which their efforts in support of Addimando were derailed by the justice system, such as when a judge ordered the public defender they had chosen off the case due to alleged conflict of interest. As recounted by Raff, this happened after the public defender had spent months educating herself on PTSD and domestic violence. “Many lawyers aren’t trained on trauma and mental health issues,” she said.

The case was further complicated after the justice system moved the trial to Putnam County court without clear reason.

“[Horton and Clifton] really led the charge on freeing Nikki with no knowledge of the legal system beforehand. They had to teach themselves everything, which I really admired,” Raff said.

After the two women spoke, there was an extensive Q&A session. Most of the questions came from faculty or other adults in attendance. Audience members

were interested in Addimondo’s well-being since her release, particularly in regards to her reunion with her children. There were also several questions about Horton’s relationship with Addimando’s children’s grandparents on their father’s side.

Bren wrote about how much “Dear Sister” highlights the prevalence of patriarchy both in the criminal justice system and society at large. “Exactly as Michelle said at the end in answer to an audience question, the horrific abuse that Nikki experienced both at home and then within the judicial and prison systems are all aspects of a cultural and internalized patriarchy.”

She continued, “Some women—as anyone who has taken Vassar’s always popular ‘WFQS130 Introduction to Women’s Studies’ knows—are beneficiaries of that system and unwilling to push against it. Michelle and Elizabeth encountered both help from male allies as well as pushback and silence from women who did not want to see or believe.” As an example, Horton described how her and Addimando’s mother downplayed the abuse that Addimando was experiencing.

Bren encourages everyone to read “Dear Sister” and listen to the audiobook. “Not only does Michelle read it herself, but she inserted prisoner recordings with Nikki and other such sounds and voices that create a wonderful book-podcast feel,” she wrote.

Raff said, “The thing that stood out the most to me is how Michelle had no idea what Nikki was going through, which is very very common and very very frightening.” She added: “I hope that the book makes people more aware.”

Bren ended her correspondence with a reminder that support resources are available at the College for abuse survivors.

“On a totally different note: if any Vassar student or staff needs support, the SAVP [Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention] has a trained advocate on call 24/7. Just dial x7333 and ask to speak to an advocate.”

Additional reporting by Will Sorge.

Image courtesy of Wendy Freedman.

Loeb hosts evening of fractal festivities

Continued from Loeb on page 1

tive parts. Frank included pictures of tiling she had created by hand for family members, constructed with an intricate method that vaguely resembles the mathematical precision of fractals. These two forms are ultimately different yet related, linked by the shared notion of self-similarity. The tiling specifically reminded me of ornate gardens or mazes; throughout the talk, I drew other similar associations between mathematics and artistic creation.

These two forms are ultimately different yet related, linked by the shared notion of selfsimilarity. The tiling specifically reminded me of ornate gardens or mazes; throughout the talk, I drew other similar associations between mathematics and artistic creation.

After questions from the audience were addressed, members of the crowd made their way out of the galleries to participate in various tiling and fractal-inspired activities. These included origami, button-mak-

ing, interactive “sliders” that superimposed tilings upon one another and stamping with colored paints. Students assisted in facilitating participation, guiding others through each of the crafts. At the stamping station, I used two self-similar tiling templates with heart shapes to create a superimposed picture with pink and blue colors.

Farther down the hallway, fractal-related art made by Frank and her students was on display. Student-artist David Shively-Ertas ’24 explained the precision involved in this craft, noting that the work I was discussing with a friend had been 3D printed six times in total. Ertas’ piece resembled a modernist castle with four “towers” positioned in the corners of the square. A work by Sam Lytel ’24 reminded me of jutting cliffs and rock formations, harkening back to earlier connections made between fractals and natural geometry. On the other hand, Frank’s “Spiral Circuit” is a mobile—think baby cribs—based on self-similar tiling techniques; this particular spatial arrangement helped me rethink the possibilities of tiling beyond their use in flooring or wall designs.

All of the featured works were distinct regarding the vision they applied self-similarity to, resulting in a plethora of original designs. Each portion of the night played a role in expanding my appreciation for fractals and the mathematics of artwork, a holistic approach to arts-event planning that functioned smoothly. Having reconsidered the interplay of art and mathematics in one’s everyday life, I left the Loeb with my stamped piece and returned to my dorm.

Reimagining ‘One Day’ for a modern audience

Madeleine Nicks Guest Columnist

Nothing makes me feel more attached to a story than a sad ending. As a lover of romantic comedies, I have always appreciated when my expectations are subverted, and the couple that I had been rooting for befalls an unexpected and possibly tragic twist in their story’s conclusion. Few movies execute this as well as “One Day,” originally a novel that has been adapted into a movie and is now a limited series on Netflix. If you cannot tell by my first few sentences, I am issuing a massive spoiler warning for the rest of my review.

The 2011 film version of “One Day,” starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as Emma and Dexter respectively, rests firmly in a category of my comfort movies and TV shows, accompanied by “Normal People,” “Fleabag,” “Blue Valentine” and “Atonement.” If these also hold a special place in your heart, then I urge you to grab some tissues and leftover Valentine’s Day chocolates and settle in for a good cry.

The film and limited series both follow Emma and Dexter from their meeting at university until their eventual marriage and Emma’s shocking and untimely death (massive spoiler, I warned you!). The passage of time is marked by one day over the course of 20 years. The 2011 version is tonally somber and feels strangely similar aesthetically to the “Twilight” series, with cool blue tones defining the color scale. You feel from the first few shots that something is going to go amiss in the span of the story. Yet, after Dexter undergoes the loss of his mother, is cheated on and divorced by his wife and loses his career, it feels as if his three beats of torment have been completed, and the reward for coming out the other end a better

person is Emma. There is a beautiful subtlety to the rhythm of the film, ensuring that even with the time period jumps from the mid-’80s to the early 2000s, the costumes do not distract from the advancement of the plot and the complexity of the central relationship. It is clear that Hathaway and Sturgess have a natural, flowing chemistry that allows the audience to become immersed in how they evolve with each other throughout the years and stay connected. Even though

I have watched the film numerous times, I still find that the pacing is quick and entertaining, never halting the story for too long in one place at any time. I come back again and again because the characters are easy to watch in the sense that they feel familiar and friendly the minute they appear on the screen. Their conversations are natural and authentic, and the forgiveness and love they hold for each other are refreshing and melancholy all at once.

I was surprised to see that Netflix was making a new version of this story, as the film still feels relatively recent, and well done at that. But I warmed to the idea after the casting of Leo Woodall, who starred on the last season of “White Lotus,” and actress Ambika Mod. Woodall brings a new genuine, friendly feeling to Dexter that Sturgess’ version lacked. Mod is a refreshingly diverse casting choice for this role, being of South Asian descent, and the series does an excellent job of creating space for her heritage to shape her character while also treating those elements as facts of life.

The only glaring error I found upon reflecting on the 14-part series is that it leaned far too heavily into making the sets, costumes, hair and overall aesthetics fit into the stereotypes of the different years, which made the overall mood of the series too gimmicky and less authentic. Other than that, I

thought that the casting and writing of Ian, played by Jonny Weldon, was close to unwatchable. While Ian is a difficult character to digest in any portrayal, Weldon’s choices and his enlarged role in the series were such a dramatic departure from the beautifully crafted relationship between Mod and Woodall that it felt completely extraneous. In the film, however, Ian is more awkward than he is aggravating and has a wonderful hand in healing some of the loose threads of Dexter’s grief. Whereas in the series, the entire cast reunites in an effort to comfort Dexter, and Ian comes across as an unwanted and bitter presence.

To feel the length of the relationship and the twisting road it took them to arrive at a happy place made the loss of Emma much more devastating. More than that, it made watching Dexter pick up the pieces of his life more visceral and heartbreaking.

In terms of what the series did well, and even better than the film version, the list is endless. I say this, though, from a lower bar than I would hold other projects to. At its core, the series is a Netflix original. While the story is beautiful, I do not expect the same quality and artistry that I do from other platforms. Making space for the series

to touch you while tolerating some cheesiness is essential to this watching experience. With that being established, I was pleasantly surprised that I found myself enjoying the space for exploration that this format gave to the story. The beginning of Emma and Dexter’s relationship was afforded much more time to develop, and I found myself enjoying the smaller moments and details that the movie did not allow time for. To feel the length of the relationship and the twisting road it took them to arrive at a happy place made the loss of Emma much more devastating. More than that, it made watching Dexter pick up the pieces of his life more visceral and heartbreaking.

The longer format of this series allowed for the story to be even more expansive and richly complex. While Dexter is more classically the one making the errors and struggling to correct his path in life, the series also shows different sides of Emma, which makes their union more harmonious and equal. Both Mod and Woodall were able to go farther and deeper than Hathaway and Sturgess, which allows the audience to feel more connected and invested in not just their relationship, but also who they are as individuals.

While the film will always hold a special place in my heart, this new series has broken down my hesitance around remakes. Delivering this story in a new way to a new generation of viewers was worthwhile and did not feel repetitive, but instead, felt like its own body of work and opened up the chance to showcase two fresh and vulnerable takes on this touching story. Even more, the series made its message incredibly clear: time is precious and fleeting, so know that change can come from you and not just happen to you. And if you love someone, take action.

Image courtesy of Mia-Dora Stein ’24.

Discovering divine flora in ‘Arcane Botanicals’ thesis lecture

Sufana Noorwez Senior Editor

Ido not often find myself in the Van Ingen Art Library, but I made my way to its top floor on the evening of Feb. 15 in search of plants. There, Natalia Fay ’24, an art history major and my dear friend, was holding an opening reception for an exhibition based on her senior thesis. Entitled “Arcane Botanicals: Natural Imagery in Dioscorides’ ‘De Materia Medica,’” the thesis is an exploration of the representation of plants in a sixth century manuscript of the book written by Pedanius Dioscorides in the first century. The atmosphere was convivial, with students and professors milling about, munching on a provided assortment of crackers, cheeses and fruit. In the center of the room was a large glass case, artfully arranged with displays of the texts in question. I am relatively unfamiliar with the world of art history; I am a biochemistry major and, while I enjoy plants, I have a very limited vocabulary with which to make sense of the world of dusty tomes, ancient manuscripts and artistic renditions. I was there primarily to learn and to immerse myself in the academic world of one of my friends. I have, of course, known

for many years now that Fay is an art history major, but I am always curious to know more about what particularly within a field interests someone. For her, it seems to be botanical symbolism as a method of making sense of both the natural and the divine.

I made my way around all four sides of the glass case, ducking through animated, chatty professors, peering at the facsimiles and the neatly printed labels describing the images. I spent a few minutes with each plant, intrigued by the form and details of the drawings. Many of them were colored in dark greens and browns, with intricate depictions of plant structures such as the veins and roots. One in particular caught my eye: a depiction of a mandrake plant taking on a humanoid figure. There were scribbles in different languages all over the page. According to the label, informal Greek is what made up the main text of the page, but it was supplemented in spots with what seemed to be notes in Arabic. Other pages, including one depicting a warrior and a physician, were written entirely in Arabic. With my admittedly extremely limited skill for reading the language, I squinted at the lines of text, hoping to glean something, to little avail.

According to Fay’s talk, the different lan-

guages scribbled throughout the facsimiles are a sign of the varied ownership of the manuscript throughout the centuries. The manuscript was first commissioned in Constantinople for a member of the Byzantine royal family in the sixth century. After the city was conquered by Ottoman Turks during one of the Crusades, the manuscript changed hands and then was used by Ottoman doctors as a medicinal manuscript. The presence of the mandrake, however, also points to the influence of folklore upon the text; mandrakes are present throughout myths of many cultures, and it is said that hearing the cry of a mandrake would be fatal. Like many people, my mind went exactly to the one scene in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” where the students are learning how to repot mandrakes and Neville Longbottom faints.

The image of the mandrake from the translation Fay is focusing on, also known as the Vienna Dioscorides, was compared to those from another translation of “De Materia Medica,” also known as the Leiden Dioscorides. In the Leiden Dioscorides, there are two different drawings of the mandrake, which are gendered and distinctly less humanoid than the one in the Vienna Dioscorides. Seeing these two ver-

sions of the text next to each other made me, a layperson, appreciate the diversity that can exist even between different translations of the same text.

What caught my attention most in the whole display was a gigantic aloe plant, meant to serve as a comparison to another folio from the text. Fay noted, “By having the plant in the display I was hoping to elicit some sort of discussion between the naturalism of the plant and the varying depictions with which it was displayed.” I learned later that the aloe was loaned from the Olmsted Biology Greenhouse, which made my scientist heart sing.

As the evening came to a close and people made their way out of the art library, I found myself with a new appreciation for the study of art, as well as my friend’s passion within her.

For her, it seems to be botanical symbolism as a method of making sense of both the natural and the divine.

Ye’s ‘Vultures 1’ feasts on the carrion of a better past

In a move that stunned the music world, the public and fans most of all, Ye—formerly Kanye West—has released a new album. More specifically, the first part of his Vultures trilogy with R&B-influenced rapper Ty Dolla $ign, dubbed “Vultures 1,” was released early in the morning on Saturday, Feb. 10. In a way that both pleases and disappoints, the album’s release is far more surprising than the music within. Despite Ye’s controversial public reception and the complete failure of his last attempted release, “Donda 2,” back in 2022, “Vultures 1” is fairly ordinary compared to past projects. It is for the fans, but will not convince new fans or change the rap landscape.

To begin with, it has to be briefly mentioned that this album is coming out of Ye’s most controversial career point since the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) incident back in 2009. Antisemitic comments and a press tour with online far-right influencers had made Ye not just a pariah in popular culture but a villain in the eyes of the public beyond just his egotism. As a Jewish fan of music who has listened to all of Ye’s discography, this does not really change the music much. Other than a few small winks and nods to this, the album is devoid of any prominent political positions or hateful rhetoric.

This might be because Ye has finally found some stability again, which is reflected in the music itself. This is the best rapping by Ye since his and Kid Cudi’s 2019 album “Kids See Ghosts” by far. The raspy voice that plagued so many of 2021’s “Donda” tracks is gone. Instead, this style is more reminiscent of his better verses on 2016’s “The Life of Pablo” or, at its very best, his verses on 2010’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” His ability to flow without constant repetition and to really sync with the beat is back.

Speaking of beats, they are good—mixing together solid synths and drums throughout, though stand-out moments are not too numerous. The track “Paperwork” samples the Brazilian funk song “Montagem Faz Ma-

cete 3,” creating a level of intensity that fits the song. “Burn” has a lush, calming beat centered around soft drums that evokes both R&B and older Ye tracks from something like his older albums such as “Late Registration.” The most extreme production definitely goes to the two tracks featuring a recently revived Playboi Carti in the songs “Fuk Sumn” and especially “Carnival.” The production by experimental rapper and almost-Vassar College-performer JPEGMAFIA is most apparent in the strange pitched up vocals of “Fuk Sumn” along with the oppressive 808 drums. “Carnival” is a loud, aggressive track that stands out the most when it comes to production, building on what it means to be a loud, raging hip-hip song by mixing together the pounding bass and drums with intense backing vocals courtesy of Italian football club Inter Milan Ultras. Travis Scott’s “F!EN” from his 2023 album “Utopia” and now “Carnival” reaffirm that the rage-trap style popularized by Playboi Carti is here to stay and evolving.

Rage is one of just a few emotions that Ye really digs into for this album. The visceral anger of his past albums like “Yeezus” or devastating sadness found on “808s and Heartbreak” are nowhere to be found on “Vultures 1.” Especially coming off of the emotional gut-punches of Ye’s last major album, “Donda,” this is a serious downgrade. From the beginning of his career, Ye has always been able to elevate his songs by speaking his mind, be it through funny quips or serious reflections on life that go beyond the vague mentions other artists would just allude to. “Vultures 1” does a lot more alluding than evoking anything serious from the listener.

In a crime that is sure to please fans of Ye’s music but will pain fans of Ye as a musician, the album lacks the depth that previously came with Ye’s character, as seen on past tracks like “Saint Pablo.” This album is far more of a product, a traditionally modern trap album with a solid foundation more than anything else. The piano on “Runaway” is beloved not just because it sounds great, but also because it reflects the themes of Ye as a complex musical narrator and sets the mood for the track. On “Vultures 1,” the

loud 808s of “Carnival” or the smooth background vocals of “Good (Don’t Die)” please the ear but seem more like templates rather than parts of a wider, emotional soundscape. If there is one star on this album who takes advantage of this moment in his career and his ability to sound good on songs lacking these deeper emotions, it is Ty Dolla $ign. It is not crazy to say that this album is truly shared between the two artists, and considering his career itself is built more off of features and a smooth style of rap with R&B elements, it is a breakout moment for Ty. His ability to dominate the song with autotune and backing vocals is apparent on the title track “Vultures” and especially on the outro of “Talking,” where he just takes over the song following a cute verse by North West, of all people. His hooks on “Burn” and the dance floor-ready “Paid” are catchy and show off Ty’s ability to bring slower and more melodic elements to the tracks.

Though it does not compare to “The Life of Pablo” or “Donda,” Ye is once again able to get great performances out of features. Travis Scott’s entrance on “Fuk Sumn” is gritty and distorted, making it feel like a real moment on the track. Freddie Gibbs brings his classic “coke-rap” style to “Back to Me,” meshing well with Ty Dolla $ign’s melodic hook. Quavo gives a surprisingly great performance on the aggressive “Paperwork,” while Playboi Carti’s two features show off his new, deeper voice near the end of the album.

It remains to be seen if Ye can actually recover from his recent controversy. Unlike after the VMAs incident, when Ye reinvented himself and was able to be an icon of irreverence and resilience in some regard, including resolving his beef with Taylor Swift around 2015, it is harder to imagine a fully re-platformed Ye after his recent run of becoming a far-right pariah and peddler of antisemitic conspiracy theories. A drunk Ye recovering from the loss of his mother amongst other tragedies making a stupid decision at an award show is not too hard to sympathize with after apologies and rebranding. A manic Ye driven crazy by his

divorce with Kim Kardashian eloping with far-right pundits Nick Fuentes and Alex Jones and making few attempts at apology other than a vague Instagram post wherein he apologized with an AI-generated Hebrew message is much harder to sympathize with. “Vultures 1” is many things, but it is not an apology nor a recontextualization of Ye following this recent mania, and this only exacerbates the lack of emotional depth in the lyrics throughout. I would not go as far as to say, like online-famous music reviewer Anthony Fantano, that Ye’s music is forever tainted and this album is unreviewable. Instead, if we are taking Ye honestly as an artist who has frequently tangled his public image with his art, then this album fails to adequately make good art out of hateful acts. The album simply existing and being released is the only resilient thing about it, and there is no “Runaway” or “Power” on the track list to really push it beyond that. The closest we get is the closer “King,” in which Ye bluntly says he is still the “king” despite his recent controversies and issues, which, more than anything else, makes it clear Ye as both an artist and person has learned nothing. This is anything but a satisfying conclusion.

Despite some criticisms, it should be noted that “Vultures 1” is still a great trap album. It just suffers when it comes to it being an alright Ye project. Unlike the experimentation of “The Life of Pablo,” “Yeezus” or “Kids See Ghosts,” the more abstract concepts are left in the background as Ye croons over his ego and success. The real star is once again Ty Dolla $ign, bringing a nice, softer side to the tracks. If you want to hear Ye rapping like it is 2019 again with some nice production, a couple of incredibly catchy hooks and a few moments of rage and bliss, this album is sure to please. It is a great time even if it does not reach any of the peaks found within older Ye. But if you wanted Ye to return from his controversial hiatus with an emotional, fresh hip-hop masterpiece like his famous “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” in 2010 following the VMAs incident, then you will just have to accept that miracles like that do not just fall out of the sky.

Benjamin Kaplan Guest Columnist

FEATURES

The Barefoot Fireflies fosters community, sparks excitement

Many students’ first exposure to The Barefoot Fireflies comes from unsuspectingly interrupting one of the twice-weekly “Jam Times,” held either in a quad dorm Multi-Purpose Room or in front of Rockefeller Hall. These meetings are open to everyone and are a chance for members of the organization to come together, practice and learn new skills and/or moves. Weekly on Wednesday and Friday, the group can be seen throwing props in the air and even spinning fire. Their four yearly shows have become massively popular events on campus, with huge crowds coming together to celebrate their unique art. The org’s most recent indoor show, “THE BAREFOOT FIREFLIES EXPERIENCE THE UNRELENTING PASSAGE OF TIME,” featured 14 total acts, 10 props and 44 total performers, including seven

completely new performers. Each act is choreographed by members of the org and encompasses a variety of skill levels and props. Students and professors lined up in the College Center to get their tickets and waited in the lobby of the Susan Stein Shiva Theater, hoping for a chance to see the show.

The “Jam Times” have extended to community gatherings where friends come to hang out and even do schoolwork together. Upon first introduction, org members are immediately willing to teach newcomers new skills. When I learned a new skill, no matter how rudimentary, people smiled and congratulated me. This positive energy translated into the show, with performers peeking out from backstage to watch and cheer each other on. During the show, the crowd yelled and clapped for every act, getting excited for both every attempted skill and every successful one.

The Fireflies is an org with a long history

here at Vassar, first founded in 1996. Since then, the org has expanded and changed, but the original spirit of creating a place for students to come together and practice circus arts has remained the same. The indoor and outdoor fire shows are an essential performance for everyone to check out at least once during their time at Vassar. Besides the fact that the circus arts are objectively cool, attending a Barefoot Fireflies show is an opportunity for students to support one another in their artistic endeavors. The Fireflies is not an org to be intimidated by; It is the perfect activity for anyone, even if just for one out of the three hours of a twice-weekly “Jam Time.”

The show opened and closed with large group performances, where members demonstrated their various talents and skills. The finale, based on “Time Warp” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” was electrifying for the performers and audience; on both nights, when the show

ended, the performers received an enthusiastic standing ovation. Immediately following the bows and clapping, audience members rushed down to give their friends hugs and tell them how amazing they were. Performers’ friends and families traveled far distances for one night or two to see the performances. In between various acts, there were small skits, including an introduction to a plant named Ralph and a performer shaving their head each night. The performance was well worth the fight for tickets, and if you were unable to see this recent indoor performance, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Spring Fire Show. The Fall Fire Show fell during Families Weekend and had a massive crowd of students and families excited to see the wonderful art of fire spinning. The Barefoot Fireflies are a unique Vassar org that I recommend everyone check out, so if you have not had a chance to so far, go check out a show.

Images courtesy of Hannah Ford ’26.

FEATURES

Ukrainian voices: Students reflect on war in Ukraine

Valerie Malykhina, Karolina Naidon Guest Columnists

[Disclaimer: Certain grammatical and stylistic choices in this article have been adapted in accordance with Ukraine’s National Commission for State Language Standards ruling on capitalization of the names related to the Russian Federation as an act of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression.]

Valerie: When I was 10 and lived in Donetsk, Ukraine, I knew about war from my babunia’s (great-grandmother’s) stories of her World War II childhood. I knew that war was frightening and dehumanizing. I knew that it fractured families, forced communities to hide and left deep scars. Yet, war was distant. I only came in contact with it when my babunia recalled the gigantic locomotive that took her away from her home and the potato scraps she had to eat, as food was scarce.

Shortly after my 11th birthday in 2014, strangers in uniforms flooded the streets of my city. When quiet nights in the steppe were disturbed by the roaring of russian Grad rocket launchers and the walls of our apartment shook from explosions, war was still distant. As if the violence that was occuring could not be called a war unless there was a formal announcement stated by invaders that they, driven by some made-up higher mission, decided to invade. But since the invaders came unannounced, we did not get to claim the label, only endure the violence.

In July 2014, my family packed one suitcase and left Donetsk. In the fall, I started school in Mariupol. On my first day, I met a girl who has since become my closest friend. Together, we prepared for math competitions and, when classes were interrupted by russian artillery attacks, we sat together on the floor of our school’s corridor, hands over our ears, chins tucked into our knees.

I was in Poughkeepsie when, eight years after russia invaded Ukraine and occupied my home, the so-called “Special Military Operation” was announced. In Feb. 2022, Putin told the world that it was the people of Donbas who asked him for salvation, though all these years it was his army that occupied our towns, destroyed our homes and terrorized us with artillery attacks. Hearing the speech, I felt nothing but disgust for the ruthless lies

he used to justify his violent fantasies. Taken aback by this statement, the world was talking about the probability of russia invading Ukraine and the likelihood of a war. But one cannot measure the probability of something that happened years ago. Eight years after its beginning, the war in Ukraine was granted its rightful label.

The next day, I received a text from my mother, who now resides in Kyiv. “Valerie, keep calm,” she said with no context. No context was necessary. A text from my friend in Mariupol followed: “Mom woke us up and made everyone pack.” Russian violence was roaming through Ukraine with new force, leaving no safe place on the map. I sat down on the floor of my dorm’s hallway and wrapped my arms around my knees. At that moment on Feb. 24, 2022, war felt intimately familiar. I could feel it in my body even though I was thousands of miles away from it.

A few days later, my friend in Mariupol stopped returning my texts and calls. In the spring of 2022, russia was bombing Mariupol around the clock, targeting infrastructure and residential neighborhoods. The residents of Mariupol were starved to death, buried under the rubble of their own homes and shot by russians as they tried to escape the city. The survivors describe that the destroyed buildings were moaning and crying for help for days. Some residents walked dozens of miles to escape russian occupation. On the day russia dropped an aerial-bomb on the Mariupol theater, killing over 600 civilians sheltering at the building, my friend texted me for the first time in weeks. Her family had managed to escape the besieged city. A Vassar alumna from Bulgaria kindly invited them to stay at her house.

When “20 Days In Mariupol” came out, I avoided watching the movie because I feared seeing what russia did to the city that was once my refuge. When, driven by the same fear, I watched the movie, I recognized my friend’s apartment building and our school in many of the shots. Until very recently, we did not discuss what had happened to her in Mariupol. The first thing my friend shared with me was the food they ate in those weeks: two meals a day for seven adults consisted of a single pot of soup made from bare chicken bones, a cup of rice, half an onion and a potato. She also recalls their escape. Her parents heard from someone that a group of residents were planning to drive out of the city. They knew that, previously, russians killed those

who attempted to do it. Still, they took their chance, as staying in Mariupol meant surrendering to the invaders. On the road, they encountered destroyed civilian cars; their phones and bags were searched at the russian checkpoints. But they kept driving to freedom.

Karolina:

When I was still a teenager in middle school in 2014, Ukraine’s sovereignty was challenged by the russian occupation of Crimea and the Donbas region, the latter of which was located near my home city Dnipro. At that time, the city in general remained unharmed and welcomed refugees from areas affected by the occupation. Growing up in a relatively peaceful environment, no one in Dnipro could believe in the possibility of further russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. Whenever my international friends would question the position of Dnipro city in the case of further russian attack, my answer was always the same: Dnipro will always be a part of Ukraine. Little did I know that soon, the peace would end, and my home city would again be on the frontline, protecting Ukrainian freedom.

On Feb. 24, 2022, my day started not from the usual phone alarm at 7 a.m. but from the sound of missile strikes in my home city at 5 a.m. At first, it felt surreal. I could not believe that this city with its beautiful fountains and gorgeous parks, filled with the cheerful laughter of children, would become full of fear and the sirens of ambulances that came from the frontline regions with seriously injured Ukrainian citizens and servicemen. After the first missile strikes, the local government introduced a curfew. The once-lively city of Dnipro, with a population of around one million, would be dreadfully silent and empty. For a couple of days, in such silence, the citizens would continuously hear the news about russian advances on Ukraine’s Southern territories.

At that time, when everyone was starting to do something to bring their homeland one step closer to victory, I volunteered as a translator for various governmental organizations to raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine. Because of attacks on the residential areas in Kyiv, I was afraid to fall asleep at night. With the emotional transition from fear to determination, I continuously translated news day and night. The fear would not leave Dnipro city. Seeing how russian service-

men erased Ukrainian cities from the surface of the Earth, the city continued to welcome more refugees from Eastern Ukraine.

When I was planning to evacuate from Ukraine to pursue my studies at Vassar, the evacuation trains stopped leaving Dnipro city because of russian missile strikes on the train stations full of internally displaced people. Because of the attacks, only a few days later, the stations started to post the train schedule, but only at night. Once, when my family saw the train scheduled to head to Poland, my mother and disabled grandmother made a very difficult decision. They decided to let me evacuate Dnipro on my own and remain in the city near the front line. Early in the morning, my mother helped me quickly pack one small bag of luggage with the most necessary things and bid me farewell at the train station.

When I boarded the train, I happened to stay in a place full of refugees from occupied regions, most of whom had lost their homes and loved ones because of russian attacks. While we were going to Chelm, one of the Polish cities located close to Western Ukraine, we needed to go through the Kyiv region at the end of our first day of evacuation. As the region was partially occupied by russian forces, the train workers were trying their best to leave the region unharmed. The train came late to the Ukrainian-Polish border, where we mostly stayed inside for nine hours, due to safety concerns. Then finally, after two days of evacuation, we managed to come to Chelm.

I lived for a month in Poland, continuously changing locations from one city to another. Afterwards, I went to the Netherlands and became the Programme Officer at United Way the Netherlands, responsible for a Ukrainian women refugees’ project focused on adaptation to the Dutch environment and finding a home away from home. In the meantime, with the complete retreat of the russian army from the Kyiv region, the world saw the true nature of “russian peace” in cities such as Bucha and Irpin. While I continued translating the news about russian atrocities in the region for the governmental agencies, I could see what a high price Ukrainians were (and still are) paying for defending their right to independence. But, despite all the atrocities that russia has caused on Ukrainian land, every Ukrainian citizen believes in victory and that everything will be Ukraine (all will be well).

Image courtesy of Valerie Malykhina ’25.

Image courtesy of Karolina Naidon ’26.

Breaking News

From the desk of Nicholas Tillinghast

Punxsatawney Phil predicts the rest of the semester will be super duper easy.

Library opens 24-hour section for three more hours a day

Benjamin Savel Fully Booked

With students feeling the crunch of tests, quizzes, papers and projects during the heat of midterms, the library has announced that it will open the 24hour section for three more hours per day to accommodate students who need more time to study. The change comes as an immense relief for students who could use a few more minutes to finish their big projects and claim they can do it without regard for sleep, social interaction or the laws of physics.

Students have expressed excitement at the new available hours. In a series of interviews with The Miscellany News, several informed the newspaper of their intended usage for the new section. “I’ll use it to procrastinate for three more hours before I freak out that I didn’t study enough for my test,” Thyme M. Anagement ’25 stated.

Frequent users of the 24-hour section are well aware of the talking ID card reader that shouts at any Vassar student who walks through its doors. During the library’s extended hours, the ID card reader will shout even louder to make sure it simultaneously disturbs everyone in the library and wakes up at least 25 people in the surrounding buildings. Asked why they decided to pioneer the shouting ID card reader in the library, an official stated that this was one of the best buildings available to test it out. “What, it’s not like it’s a library or anything,” Parah Dahaxi Kahl, Senior Plan-

ning Manager for Library Chaos, stated.

The 24-hour section, now more popular than ever, has an entrance that looks like a pool deck lounge, a full-on make-yourown cappuccino vending machine and an adjacent one containing M&Ms, soda, chips and candy bars, which prompted library staff to assure The Miscellany News

that it is not a seaside resort. Library officials also have stated that these vending machines are the pinnacle of their commitment to discourage snacking in the library.

Other students, however, plan to use the new hours for more academic purposes.

“I’ll use it to do more research on my term paper, because we all know that the best re -

search comes after you’ve stayed up for 27 hours straight and your eyes are struggling to stay open,” another student named Yahawn Ing ‘25 proudly asserted.

Asked why the library chose 27 hours, a library staff member stated, “We did our best. There are only so many hours in a day.”

Image courtesy of Benjamin Savel ’26.

Anna Kozloski/The Miscellany News.

Vassar to implement microtransaction economy

Oliver Stewart Protractor Technician

In her Sunday email this week, President of the College Elizabeth Bradley announced that due to the universal popularity of the paid washing machine and printing programs, the College would be implementing a wider microtransaction economy based on the VCash system.

“For too long, students have used VCash only for the laundry machines and getting stuff from the vending machines while inebriated,” Bradley said. “Our new microtransaction initiative will expand the utility of VCash and monetize previously complimentary items and services, improving efficiency and profitability at all levels.”

The changes are slated to take place across numerous aspects of life at Vassar, from dorms to dining and beyond. For one, showers will now require activation with VCash payment at a rate of $0.60 for every 15 minutes of hot water.

Although this announcement was generally met with dismay, not all students

believe it to be a bad thing.

“I haven’t showered since 2019, so I don’t really care either way,” one first-year student said. “I guess it’s a bummer for people who are really into bathing, but they’re suckers anyway. It’s all a scam perpetuated by Big Shower Gel, so ultimately, this will just help expose the truths that the bathtime industry doesn’t want you to know.”

The dining hall will also face sweeping changes as part of the microtransaction program. Meals from Home, Oasis, Kosher

“For too long, students have used VCash only for the laundry machines and getting stuff from the vending machines while inebriated.”

and The Global Kitchen will continue to be included with a regular meal swipe, but all items from the self-serve stations—Root,

Brick Oven, Coffee & Sweets, The Grill, Stocks, Pressed and whatever the salad bar is called—will be individually priced starting next week. A leaked list obtained by The Miscellany News contained the full list of prices, a short selection of which have been included below.

$0.03 per fry

$0.02 per salad leaf

$0.52 per burger patty

$0.10 per ketchup squirt

$0.00 per hard boiled egg

$0.07 for each canteloupe cube

$0.11 per ounce of ice cream

$0.005 per oyster cracker

$0.04 per degree of pizza

$0.50 for each cookie, and

$0.04 for each included chocolate chip

The charges will be levied on a station-by-station basis, so students will pay as they go through the Gordon Commons. In addition, students who wish to dine in a booth will incur a new “booth fee” of $1.30.

As part of the changes, the Gordon Com-

mons’ slogan has been changed from “dinein, all-you-can-eat” to “dine-in, all-youcan-afford.”

Checking out items from the library will now come with a price of $0.22 per book. This change is expected to be far less profitable for the College, however, as data shows that a total of just six physical items have been taken out of the library so far in 2024.

Students who wish to dine in a booth will incur a new “booth fee” of $1.30.

Bradley believes that these changes will usher in a new era of engagement and profit for the College and assist in furthering its goals in other areas.

“Above all else, we want our students to continue being Fearlessly Consequential,” she said.

“For the low price of just $7.04, that is.”

Phony Phil Bluffs: The Wind Huffs

Cassandra Brook Bill Murray Wannabe

Some of you may know Punxsutawney Phil, the tiny cute groundhog that predicts the coming of spring. He often shows up with a posse of middle-aged men in Abraham Lincoln-esque hats who read from long medieval scrolls. His whole act is just adorable. It’s certainly the first thing I’d show aliens when they visit Earth. Except, now I don’t think I should. Because in the past week, in my mind, Punxsutawney Phil has gone from fantastic Phil to phony Phil. Just like ShamWow and Trump trading cards, Punxsutawney Phil is actually a scam. As Clark Griswold from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” very obviously said about Phil, he’s “a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, lowlife, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, d***less, hopeless, heartless, fat-assed, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey s***.” Because this week, after Phil predicted early spring, it snowed twice. Not just once, twice. And I’m not feeling the Winter Wonderland vibe. I’m feeling hypothermic. I’m feeling angry, but I’m not feeling my hands or feet. And I’m feeling betrayed by Phil. Because he promised spring. Pinky-promised spring—though I don’t think he has fingers. And then he broke his solemn vow. Until death do us part, it was supposed to be spring, and the only thing springing is the sound of my pipes cranking out heat. I’m convinced my pipes are possessed by a small dog who is digging so extensively in his backyard that he reached the center of the earth because it literally is endless clawing noises. This cacophony is all Phil’s fault.

I should have known, Phil is from Pennsylvania. A state with only two things: crazy people and Pennsyltucky. Either you live in the absolute middle of nowhere or you’re likely to be found flipping over a car after winning the Super Bowl. The only

good thing to come out of Pennsylvania is Gritty, a hockey mascot with character and comically large eyes that make me afraid to sleep at night. But what was I supposed to do? Put my trust in Milltown Mel, the groundhog from New Jersey? Seriously, Jersey? Come on, Mel probably works for the Mafia and thinks bagels in New Jersey are better than bagels in New York. They’re called New York bagels for a reason. I just

know Milltown Mel is embezzling money from the Groundhog Association so he can schmooze all day on the Jersey Shore with Snooki. Her hair’s so high, she’s probably hiding something, like an extra bottle of spray tan or the fact that she hates New Jersey (like all people should).

Speaking of hiding things, that’s actually something Phil’s an expert at. Because he hid the fact that he’s a lying cheat for years.

He hid the fact that inside that fuzzy little head of his is actually a brain full of not water, but malice. I hope Phil has an unenjoyable long winter. I hope all of his little groundhog treats are dry and his hatted servants start a revolt against their cult leader. I’m going to have to drive to Pennsylvania to give Phil a very stern talking to. And, no, I won’t be petting his fuzzy head because when the truth isn’t met, you won’t get pet.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Guest performers deserve respect

WhenIndigo de Souza posted on her Instagram story after opening at Vassar for ViCE’s spring concert in 2022, she wrote, “Most of the students talked over us and that made me feel really sad and small.” After Nick Hakim’s concert last Thursday night, it is clear that de Souza is not alone in her sentiments.

As Hakim crooned softly over soulful synthesizers, the thrum of student voices droned on. This was not the sound of people singing along, nor enthusiastic utterances of encouragement. Instead, it was students simply chatting over the music as if they were not standing in The Mug for the purpose of experiencing a live musical performance. At one point during the concert, Hakim stopped playing, offering to end the show if people were uninterested in hearing his music.

Having multiple artists complain about

our student body as an audience is not a coincidence; it is evidence that we display little respect for artists performing on campus.

Playing a gig at a college already presents inherent challenges to artists due to the nature of the crowd—attendees are often less avid fans than those at most concerts, or have never heard of the artist at all. While attending a concert is undoubtedly a social event, the music ought to remain the central component. When full-volume conversations are continued over the music, it not only makes it difficult to appreciate the sonic experience for those who know the music, but also prevents new listeners from absorbing the music in its entirety.

For many, concerts at Vassar offer an introduction to new music. While it might be harder to show reverence and excitement for an artist one has never heard of, it is reasonable to expect people to attend concerts for the purpose of enjoying the music; it is hard to appreciate the music when conversations

New consumer tech

Nicholas Tillinghast Humor Editor

“This is really cool and also super terrifying in an existential sort of way,” has become a pretty typical response to new consumer technology in the past few years. While not a particularly fresh response to new technology, historically speaking, I think the recent frequency of this reaction is notable. The two biggest triggers of this sort of response are the fields of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR).

Generative AI, while producing many impressive and often humorous results in its text-, image-, audio-, and video-generating capabilities, has also made deceiving and nefarious behavior easier and more convincing than it has ever been. Conversations about the probability that AI will kill all of us, known as P(doom) are fairly common among employees in the AI industry, with many predicting at least double digit odds, per The New York Times.

VR technology, while fascinating in its abilities to replicate reality, still produces a largely isolating experience inherent when one straps a computer to one’s face. One of the most recent VR headsets available to consumers in the industry, the Apple Vision Pro headset, is exemplary of this problem. While the Vision Pro is impressive in its ability to mix reality and virtual space, it poorly integrates its social features, clunkily displaying the wearer’s eyes on the device’s outward-facing display and rendering FaceTime avatars that do not look quite right. These changes are not adequate to mitigate the inherently isolating experience of using VR, and yet Apple charges way more for their headsets. Selling headsets at a fraction of the price, Meta has put large investments into creating the Metaverse on its headsets, a virtual social space with still largely sterile and uninspired environments. While VR is not looking as dystopian as AI at the moment, what VR lacks in dystopia, it makes up for in its inadequate social features.

If the two biggest areas in technology right now are either disappointing or scary, what do we have to be excited about or unafraid of at this time? Well, this past week I discovered a relatively new and somewhat obscure piece of technology that actually wowed me: photogrammetry. Photogrammetry, for the purposes of this article, will be defined as the use of photos to create renderings of 3D objects with respect to shape and scale. This

from the audience are louder than the music from the stage itself.

As a small institution, it is also likely that the concerts are the artists’ introductions to Vassar. When the audience talks over a performer’s art, it sends a clear message of disinterest. For a campus with such a large performing arts demographic, it is puzzling that we seem unable to extend basic performance etiquette to outside artists who have been invited to play here. Vassar getting blacklisted by artists who come to play on campus does not bode well for the future of live music at Vassar.

We must show respect and appreciation for artists by giving them our attention while they are performing. It is not easy to play for a group of people who are less likely to have heard the artist’s music than an average show. If we want to continue having musical talent come to perform at Vassar, it is imperative that we show respect when they are here.

can still be harmless fun

is through a process that I am going to call “scanning,” where a camera is moved around a subject to capture it from many angles. After scanning, the program renders a 3D object. While this is not necessarily cutting-edge technology, the fact that it has become accessible on smartphones is a fairly new and exciting phenomenon.

My first experiment with photogrammetry was scanning my room. The result, while blocky, was a detailed rendering of my room that I could navigate through from every angle. It made me think about the preservative potential of photogrammetry and all the spaces that I have temporarily moved through, like previous dorm rooms, that I can no longer access. I have often tried to document such spaces through photos with underwhelming results. My blocky, poorly rendered depiction of my room is still much more illuminating and immersive than any room photography I have taken.

While the most common usage for photogrammetry is rendering rooms, buildings and objects, it can also scan people, which was an unexpected joy. Scanning my friends became a brief hobby of sorts. “Hey, can I scan you?” has been a fairly common question I have asked my friends with much intrigue in response. They would sit or stand still as I awkwardly traced a phone around their body for a few minutes. The renderings produce both awe-inspiring and horrific results. In this context, photogrammetry produces bad taxidermy. The errors of photogrammetry are hilariously glaring. While some renderings I have of people are quite rich and truthful, many have distorted and weirdly angular sections. All of these 3D renderings can then be viewed in real environments too, creating wild images and videos where people confront their photogrammetry friends or their photogrammetry selves.

This has really been one of the most fun weeks I have had with recent technology. It is perhaps no coincidence that the app is owned by Niantic Labs, creators of Pokémon Go, a Google April Fools joke-turned-legit product that was an incredibly satisfying use of GPS and AR technology to recreate Pokemon-catching. This is a bold claim, but I legitimately think that is the last time that millions of people collectively had fun engaging with new technology without feeling a lot of existential dread about it. I could imagine photogrammetry making some sort of cultural impact sometime soon, maybe in a gaming context.

Like any piece of technology, though, photogrammetry is not without its problems. One issue worth considering is consent. While successfully scanning someone without their consent is difficult because it requires stillness, scanning their belongings and their spaces is not. This problem is brought to its outer edges in Nathan Fielder’s 2022 documentary series “The Rehearsal,” where Fielder deceives one of his subjects into allowing his crew to scan and map out their apartment layout using photogrammetry. Fielder then meticulously recreates the apartment on a soundstage so he can practice a future conversation with the subject in their home, with an actor standing in for the subject in rehearsals. Though recreating someone’s apartment is seriously invasive behavior, the process is so outlandishly laborious that it is really at the fringes of what most people are capable of doing. While AI makes unethical behavior easier, photogrammetry in its present form really does not.

I will admit part of the aim of this piece is to encourage people to try a relatively new and accessible piece of software without feeling like it will one day wreck the earth. Photogrammetry is what I think people want out of new consumer tech: It is mind-blowing, unintentionally funny, at times frightening, but rarely terrifying.

on the street

Word What’s your favorite snow activity?

“I like building snow forts with structure. I typically go for igloo shapes.”

— Claire Mackenzie ’24

“Building a snowman. It’s a lot of effort to go sledding, but God, nothing beats the thrill of sledding.”

— Olivia Salva ’25

“Sledding—It’s fun. You don’t know if you’re gonna crash, that adrenaline.”

— Wyatt Keleshian ‘26

“Shoveling snow because I work in the snow, and playing in it anywhere.”

Teresa Marshall, Gordon Commons Staff

“Staying in by a fire. ”

Ethan Benadon ’26

Lev Winickoff, Opinions Editor Jyotsna Naidu, Assistant Opinions Editor

Stop cracking your knuckles in class

Kathryn Carvel Copy Staffer

Justthe other day, I was sitting in class in Sanders Classroom at around 4 p.m and I was a little antsy to get out of class and roam the campus freely. Suddenly, the student next to me started cracking their knuckles obsessively. Let me tell you, there is nothing that sends a shiver down my spine more than when someone cracks their knuckles. It makes me want to plug my ears, scream and jump around to release the negative energy that courses through my body whenever I hear a knuckle crack. It makes me want to run far, far away.

Usually whenever I hear someone crack their knuckles, I can get through it because they do it twice and then call it a day. This student, I kid you not, cracked their knuckles for at least a full minute. They cracked each finger at least three times and then cracked their entire fist. I mean, come on! Give it a crack or two and then cut it out.

Literally no one wants to listen to you do that. I know some people find it satisfying to crack their knuckles, but I have yet to meet someone who likes listening to it. I mean, personally, I think if you do, that is a little weird. So, after a minute in hell, I was starting to plan my exit strategy. Should I make a swift exit to the bathroom, or just roam around the halls for a minute?

I mean, I was actually starting to go a little crazy. Finally, the obsessive knuckle cracking ended and I let out a sigh of relief.

I started thinking about it more: That student completely distracted me for at least a minute of class. The professor could have relayed critical information while I was too busy freaking out about the crazy knuckle cracker next to me and worrying if my physical cringing was too obvious. This might seem like a me problem. It is not. It is a you problem and you knuckle crackers need to fix it.

This is not the first time I have had to face the downfalls of knuckle cracking.

One of my best friends from middle and high school was, you guessed it, an obsessive knuckle cracker. It was her guilty habit. However, we were extremely close and spent a lot of time, specifically in the car, together, so whenever she would start cracking I would subtly reach over and lay my hand on top of hers. It was our secret gesture because she knew I hated when she would crack her knuckles. I told her she could do it any other time of the day, just not when she was with me. Sometimes, she needed a little reminder, but then she would stop. It would have been super weird if I reached over and laid my hand on top of this student’s hand next to me. Like, I do not think I could tell you their name even if I tried. That is how not close we are.

Anyways, cracking knuckles is possibly not super great for you? I know that there are a lot of rumors floating around that cracking your knuckles can lead to arthritis and no one really knows if it is true or not. According to Harvard Health,

“Cracking your knuckles may aggravate the people around you, but it probably won’t raise your risk for arthritis.” The phrase “it probably won’t” does not sound very reassuring to me. Also, it later says, “Chronic knuckle-cracking may lead to reduced grip strength.” So, for all you journalers who want to be able to write down your thoughts for extended periods of time, or people who still write on paper to take notes in class: Stop cracking your knuckles. Even if it is not going to give you arthritis, it also does not necessarily have benefits for your body and it may affect how you hold a pencil.

Even though the obsessive knuckle cracker from class (who I am sure is a lovely person—I do not mean to villainize this anonymous person in any way) may never read this rant of mine, I encourage you, the reader, to consider how your knuckle cracking may be affecting your peers around you, so that you can be the most considerate and supportive classmate and human possible.

GPA is making students risk averse

Britt Andrade Columnist

It is Senior Spring for a quarter of the Vassar community. We are dealing with senior theses, final classes and the impending terror of what comes next. For many, that means graduate school applications, letters of recommendation or taking the GRE, LSAT or MCAT. It also means stressing about our GPAs. I am one of those seniors. I am in the middle of law school applications, waiting to hear back from schools that will tell me if my time at Vassar has made me competitive enough as a candidate. I have already received two rejections. And while I have also been accepted into one university, those rejections hurt. They hurt on a deep level. And I have found myself worried. Worried that I took the wrong classes, that I took too many risks as a student because my GPA is not a 4.0. It is a good GPA—I am not on a “Ds get degrees” path by any means— but my GPA is average for law school applications. It would be slightly below average for medical school applications. Should I have prioritized using my Non-Recorded Option (NROs) in my second year of lan-

guage classes so it did not impact my GPA? Should I not have taken that geography class that challenged me as a writer and made me a better student? I do not think so. An NRO would have given me a safety net to not try as hard, to not put in the highest level of effort and learning. I took those classes to be better, to be challenged as a student now so that when I am challenged later, I will know how to handle it.

According to Academia Insider, most graduate programs consider applicants with a minimum of a 3.0 GPA. However, for most doctoral and prestigious master’s programs, average GPAs jump to 3.5 or even 3.7 and higher for certain programs. A student’s GPA affects scholarships, honors and program enrollment. Because the GPA is such an important factor in a student’s academic journey, students may feel compelled to take easier courses to protect themselves and their GPAs. It also makes me curious about how our professors are handling the overwhelming pressure from students as they scrape for a higher grade than they might have earned. The average GPA is increasing across multiple majors and at every level of education. According

to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, high school students’ GPAs in English have increased from the average 3.17 to 3.39, from 3.02 to 3.32 in math, from 3.28 to 3.46 in social studies and from 3.12 to 3.36 in science. In 2022, more than 89 percent of high school students received an A or a B in their core classes. Students are also taking harder classes but learning less as the average score for AP courses are consistently dropping, meaning that grades should not be increasing. Worse AP courses have begun teaching, not to increase knowledge of the material but are teaching to the test, creating students who are getting the grades but not as much of the content. Similar levels of grade inflation are happening at colleges and universities. According to Gradeinflation.com in 1973, the average GPA was 2.9. GPAs began to rise again in the 1980s. By 2013 the average was 3.15, with private schools seeing larger jumps than public schools.

Grades are important. They measure our progress and our understanding of material. But if everyone is getting As and Bs in the American system of academia, how do you stand out? You have to build over-in-

flated resumes of activities and extracurriculars, forcing you to sacrifice your studies and continue the cycle of grade inflation. Grades should not stop us from learning. Right now they are. Grades have inflated with our fears of failure. They have stopped the joy of learning in its tracks. We should not be so focused on a letter in the alphabet that we miss the process of education, the development of critical thinking, and growing knowledge. Our grades should be more focused on how we improve, on how we grow as learners and people. Perfection is not reality so why must it exist in my GPA? Graduate schools should loosen up, look at the whole student. Interview students during the application process; ask us about what we learned, how we learned, what classes we took and if they challenged us. Which of us worked as students, which of us studied abroad. What opportunities are we missing because we cannot take the risk of it ruining our chances at what dream school we have our eye on? If the only factors that matter are GPAs and test scores, you are already failing your students before they even arrive. Let us be challenged and take the fear out of academic success.

Iced Brew revives skating scene

Continued from Skating on page 1

requires at least eight participants. With no coach and completely student-run, Erdheim’s ambition for the club to compete against other colleges seemed far-off. Yet, Erdheim was determined to see this club through. In the following years, as the club became more popular, they were able to obtain coach Deirdre Bonanno and grow the team from six to 24 members, according to the 2011 Miscellany News article “Club offers Vassar skaters new opportunities on rink.”

Though the synchronized skate team desired to compete collegiately, it still left room for inexperienced skaters to join. The team divided itself into three groups: competitors, who were guaranteed to skate in competitions, alternates, who were expected to know all of the positions in the case they had to sub in at a competition, and trainers, who were there to learn and practice without the pressure or expectation of competing. The team practiced once a week at the McCann Ice Arena, formerly known as the MidHudson Civic Center, and held off-ice skating at the Athletic Fitness Center (AFC) on campus. Their season ran from September to February with two competitions: the Terry Connors Synchronized Skating Open in December and

the Eastern Sectional Championships at the conclusion of the season. In 2011, Iced Brew placed ninth in the Eastern Sectionals at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid against colleges that have more established skating programs such as Boston College, Hamilton College and University of Delaware. Nevertheless, Iced Brew accomplished what did not seem possible at the time: To form a synchronized skating team from the ground up and offer skating for both those who wanted to continue their athletic career along with those who just wanted to learn.

Erdheim reflected on the same website, “It’s been a challenging, yet incredibly rewarding three years. I may have had to build everything up from scratch, including many of the members who had never skated before, but I’ve loved every minute of it. To me, being the founder and president of Iced Brew is the greatest accomplishment of my college career.”

Today, Iced Brew honors its past by providing free and accessible skating for the student body. The impact of COVID-19 left the club with some contractual issues with the rink because of their change in ownership, thus the club had a difficult time hosting skates last year. However, the new executive board this semester was able to

find a solution: Instead of renting out the entire rink as the club did previously, they would provide transportation and cover admission, a pair of rental skates and a concession item for Vassar students during public skate times. President of Iced Brew Sophia Maron Schaeffer ’26 commented: “The main goal of the org is to provide free and accessible ice skating for all students. We want students to be able to skate for fun with their friends in a comfortable environment without the stress of finding transportation or spending money.”

The club attracts several students, especially former hockey players and figure skaters. Iced Brew, for them, is a way to continue their sport, even if it is in a leisurely, less competitive fashion. Treasurer of Iced Brew Becca Weinstein ’25 expressed why she joined the club as an executive member: “I’ve always been a recreational hockey athlete. I’d like more than anything to play hockey again, but the circumstances that I’m in—at a school that doesn’t have a rink or a team—it’s the best of the situation. I love hockey, but the part I love the most is skating, and so Iced Brew gives me a chance to keep skating and get better.” Indeed, several of the executive board members were former skaters themselves in some capacity. Maron Schaeffer has been

figure skating since she was four years old, and Vice President Katrina Wu ’26 began figure skating at the age of 17, though she skates two to three times a week at McCann Ice Arena on her own. The leaders of the club all share a passion for their respective skating sports. They hope to make skating available for the student body so everyone can have the opportunity to see just how much fun skating is. Wu stated, “There’s this misconception that skating is just for kids and you have to start young to be good at it. But that’s not true, skating is for everyone and it’s never too late to start.”

The club’s next skate is Saturday, Feb. 24 from 2 to 4 p.m. at McCann Ice Arena. With their increasing popularity this semester, there are limited spots available on the vans. However, even if you do not sign up for the vans, Iced Brew emphasized that anyone who shows up to the rink will have their admission fee, skate rentals and concession item covered. Though its foundations lie as a synchronized skating team, Iced Brew is a club for students of any experience who simply want to skate. In fact, a large majority of those who come have never skated before. The best way to learn or improve your skating skills is to practice, and there is no better way to do so than with your friends—and for free.

Images courtesy of Iced Brew.

Brewers Ballin’: Magaña breaks school 800-meter record

Our goal is to feature Vassar athletes who starred for their team the week previous to publishing. If you would like to nominate an athlete, please email nvillamil@vassar.edu.

Brewers Ballin’

Name: Jose Magaña

Year: Junior

Team: Track and Field

Stats: Broke indoor school record in 800 meters race with time of 1:57.08 and ran career best 4:19.46 mile.

Statement: “I didn’t know what to expect coming into the race but I knew if I tried my best I’d be okay. It turned out for the best: breaking 4:20 in the mile, a dream of mine since sophomore year of high school, and getting the 800 indoor school record. I could not have done it without my teammates who have trained with me everyday and my coaches who have guided us as a team with a desire to win. I’ve learned a lot from this race and will continue to strive to get faster along with my strong-willed teammates.”

Box Score: Women’s basketball clinches top seed in conference

Image courtesy of Jose Magaña ’25.

Spot the Difference

“Summerland”

By Brody Weiss

Below are two images: They are similar, but not exactly the same. There are 22 differences between them. Examine carefully, and circle every difference on both images. See if you can find them all. And have fun!

Answers

“Literary Lovers”

By Sufana Noorwez and Peter Nydam

“Valentines Day Diss Track”

By Julia Weinberg