The Miscellany News
Volume CXLVIII | Issue 5
October 22, 2015
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Refugee crisis panel sparks campuswide conversation Eilis Donohue Reporter
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courtesy of Vassar College
hile concerned citizens across the world are working out ways to assist in aiding the current refugee crisis in Syria and the Middle East, students and faculty at universities are also forming their own institutional responses. Community members gathered on Thursday, Oct. 8 to discuss Vassar’s own obligation to act in a time of great need for many. The panel, entitled “Vassar College: Solidarity with Refugees,” featured Mariya Nikolova ’07, who participated via Skype from Geneva, where she serves as Editor of the International Review of the Red Cross. She was joined by Professor of History Ismail Rashid, Professor of Sociology Diane Harriford and Professor of History and International Studies Maria Höhn. Director of the Office of Religious
and Spiritual Life Samuel Speers, who moderated the event, introduced the panel by urging attendees to contemplate the severity of the issue and each individual’s ability to make a difference. He began, “[T]onight we will reflect on our own connectedness to this crisis and perhaps our complicity in it as well, as we consider together how we can respond compassionately and constructively as best we can.” Before the panel delved into Vassar’s connection to the crisis, Nikolova reminded the audience of the global nature of the crisis, citing places like Chechnya, Afghanistan and Rwanda as sites of major refugee crises in the past several decades. She noted, “Syria, by far within the four years of conflict [that] have taken place, outnumbers the amount of refugees in any of those previous crises. But of course, we ask ourselves, what is so significant about See REFUGEE on page 4
Chair of the History Department Maria Höhn, among others, has been working to promote student-led responses to the current refugee crisis. In part a result of her efforts, a panel discussion focussing on responses was held Thursday.
Christie ’80 delves into VARC balances public opinion history of printing “W Julia Cunningham Features Editor
Matthew Stein Reporter
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ur days are filled with books, whether we’re curled up with one before going to bed or groaning at the 300 pages of reading we’ve left to do in a single night. Sometimes, books can define a person. The Gutenberg Bible defines all books. Without the Gutenberg Bible none of this would be possible. How did this revolution of the written word come about? On Wednesday, Oct. 21,
Alix Christie ’80 gave a lecture on the making of the Gutenberg Bible in the Class of ‘51 Reading Room in the Library. Christie is the author of the recently published work, “Gutenberg’s Apprentice: A Novel,” which follows Johann Gutenberg’s actual apprentice, Peter Schoeffer, as he observes his master print and publish what became known as Gutenberg’s Bible, running into contention with the Catholic Church along the See BIBLE on page 12
hile VARC certainly agrees that animals should be treated better, we think that the goal should be to end exploitation not just make it more bearable. A cage is a cage no matter how big and there is no way to humanely kill someone who does not want to die,” said VARC co-president and events coordinator Brooke Thomas ‘17. Vassar Animal Rights Coalition (VARC) tends to make a strong impact on people. Thomas explained how she had never been a part of
an organization like VARC. “I was a vegetarian and I occasionally gave people leaflets or told them about documentaries,” She said. “VARC has provided me a more organized platform to do those same things.” VARC was founded with the hope to raise awareness of and combat the mistreatment of animals. While anyone, vegetarian or not is welcome to join the group, it is hard for members of VARC to find common ground with the rest of campus. “I have encountered many people at Vassar who disagree with what VARC is trying to do,” Thomas said. It is not
just enough for other students to pick and chose what they believe can be nested under the label “animal cruelty”. “Many people seem to agree that animals are treated poorly, especially in factory farmed situations, but they do not agree that all use of animal’s bodies or products is something that should stop,” Thomas explained. Olivia Price ’17, another member of VARC, said that it is hard to be a member of a group that is not taken seriously. “It definitely never felt good that it seemed the campus didn’t respect the group,” She said. “It See VARC on page 13
Brewers active in national charity Glass Ulysses Cylinders thread Irish narrative I Amreen Bhasin Reporter
f you’ve been following the Vassar College women’s lacrosse team over the last few years, you may have noticed one member of the Brewers’ team that’s just a little shorter and younger than the rest. Sometimes you might spy her in the middle of
the team’s pre-game huddle, standing with Head Coach Judy Finerghty and welcoming the opponent’s starters or even lining up and shaking hands with the rest of her team at the end of a game. The littlest Brewer, Miss Grace Leva, along with her parents, Fran and Frank, have been a crucial part of the women’s success
over the last 6 years. Grace’s friendship and ‘adoption’ into the team actually began nearby, in Hopewell Junction, just a hop, skip and a jump away from Vassar. At the age of nine, in 2004, Jaclyn Murphy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Jaclyn, through her forSee CHARITY on page 18
courtesy of Friends of Jaclyn via Facebook
The men and women’s rugby teams pose with the Panama family. Children Steven and Camille are paired with the men and women’s teams respectively as part of the Friends of Jaclyn charity that pairs children with college athletics teams.
Inside this issue
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Students experience culture shock over TRAVEL Oct. Break
15 ART
Senior project explores gender and identity in devised theater piece
Yifan Wang
Assistant Arts Editor
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n the dim-lit North and South Wings of the Library, a series of golden glass cylinders, as if illuminated from inside with brown and green smearing, silently draws attention. Sitting in transparent display cases on wooden pedestals, the glasswares have black glass thread drawings on the surface, weaving together a visual narrative of the Irish novel “Ulysses.” This is the United States premiere of Ulysses Cylinders, by Dale Chihuly and Seaver Leslie with Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick. This collaborative exhibition combines glass sculptures created by well-known artist Dale Chihuly, with pen and ink drawings by painter Seaver Leslie. Two other participating artists, Mace and Kirkpatrick created the glass threads based on Leslie’s drawings. The concept behind these cylinders started almost 40 years ago. The exhibition’s Project Director, Paula Stokes said, “Chihuly and Leslie did an earlier iteration of a body of work called the Irish Cylinders, where they translated ideas and concepts based on Irish culture and literature into pieces of art. This was in the 1970s at the Rhode Island School of Design.”
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She continued, “Almost 40 years after that original body of work, the two artists decided to come back together and actually specifically focused on the works of Joyce.” This idea to explore “Ulysses” in depth came to Leslie in London. “The works of James Joyce are very exciting in that they are both complex and very simple at the same time. I enjoy Joyce’s progress in creating characters and building a compelling storyline. His psychoanalytic undertone was also interesting to an artist like me.” So when Chihuly visited him, the two immediately discussed using the glass medium to translate Joyce into sculptures. Many stages of production are involved in making the cylinders, which utilized the “pick-up technique,” a special procedure invented by Chihuly himself. It took a group of 10 to manufacture each cylinder. Stokes elaborated on this technique. Paula Stokes “The objects themselves are blown glass and the drawings are translations of Leslie’s sketches in pen and paper, or pencil and paper. Flora and Joey translated those drawings into glass thread drawings, which are bent, shaped and formed into the illustration. During that glass-making See ULYSSES on page 17
Swimmers ready to dive into their SPORTS 2015-2016 season