Misc 10 22 15 1

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

W

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

O

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

10

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

I

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.”

20

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

The Miscellany News

Page 2

October 22, 2015

Umlauf’s Vietnamese trek is just starting Rainah Umlauf

I

Palak Patel

Senior Editor Noble Ingram

JYA Blogger

News Rhys Johnson Features Julia Cunningham Opinions Emily Sayer Humor & Satire Zander Bashaw Sports Zach Rippe Photography Sam Pianello Design Sarah Dolan Online Elizabeth Dean Copy Anika Lanser

courtesy of Rainah Umlauf

can picture you reading this back at home, wrapped up in a sweater or scarf, sipping on a cup of hot apple cider, as red and yellow leaves slowly waft down outside the window.

Ah, fall in New England!

It’s still hot and humid back here in Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, and I am even sunburned from our weekend trip to Mũi Né. But all is well, and the time is flying by. After our trip in the beginning of October to the University for Rural Development in the Mekong Delta, we traveled north to the central highlands. Đà Lạt is beautiful; it is surrounded by hills and lakes; the air is cool and clean. The small city is known for its agriculture; we visited coffee and flower plantations, spent an afternoon at a cricket farm (crickets are an expensive delicacy), and studied at the only organic farm in Vietnam.

After the week, we returned to our homestays. The 19 of us are spread out all over the city, each living with a Vietnamese family, one of whose members speaks at least basic English. There is nothing like having a homestay experience to incentivize language learning. Of course, the tonal language makes for some amusing misunderstandings; I just recently found out that I have been calling my homestay sister “cake” (bán) rather than “friend” (bạn). Similarly, my homestay mother was slightly taken aback when I tried to say ‘you’re welcome’ (không có gì) but instead told her that I didn’t have lice (không có chí).

A homestay routine is slowly developing.

At ten minutes to seven, my host mother comes in to wake me up, always 5 minutes before my alarm. The bottom bunk where my homestay sister sleeps is empty; she is in her senior year of high school and her school starts around 5:30am. I get ready quickly before heading downstairs for breakfast. On a good day, I can expect a warm French bread sandwich with tuna and boiled tomatoes.

On a bad day, there is a large plate of instant noodles (Ramen) and powdered orange juice (Tang). Every day, I have cà phê sữa đá, iced coffee made with sweetened condensed milk.

By 7:30, I am getting onto my host father’s motorbike, which is still an amazingly novel way to get to school. Luckily, he is an excellent driver; I spend the ride watching the

Editor-in-Chief

Women workers tend vegetables in Vietnam’s only organic farm. Da Lat, Vietnam

busy breakfast carts and enjoying the breeze.

With my helmet low and my doctor’s mask up, it is a rare moment of anonymity; I am just one more passenger in the city’s chaos.

Classes are sometimes spectacular, sometimes terrible, and with a different professor almost every day I can never tell which one to expect. We have one class before lunch, at which time the whole city shuts down.

During our break, we wind back into the alleys behind the school, where families sell bowls of soup from huge pots in the middle of the road, people eat huddled under umbrellas sitting in tiny plastic chairs, and little carts carry impossible loads of goods, from shoes to locks to fruit. A favorite lunch dish is Bún

Cá, a large bowl of noodles, fish and broth, or bánh xèo, a fried pancake filled with veggies. On the street, both go for around 20,000 VND, less than $1USD. Sometimes, if we are feeling particularly high spirited, we stop for a fried banana or an avocado smoothie; if you chose the fried banana, it is recommended to have plenty of chili salt alongside of it to keep your yin-yang balance stable. If you choose the avocado smoothie, catch him before he adds extra sugar but acquiesce to the sweetened condensed milk.

To read more about Rainah’s travels, visit farandaway.miscellanynews.org!

Interested in working on the Misc?

Come to paper critique this Sunday at 9 p.m. in the Rose Parlor!

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Crossword Editors Alycia Beattie York Chen Collin KnoppSchwyn Assistant Arts Connor McIlwain Yifan Wang Assistant Social Media Hannah Nice Reporters Amreen Bhasin Eilis Donohue Ashley Hoyle Sieu Nguyen Matt Stein Winnie Yeates Columnists Penina Remler Sarah Sandler Josh Sherman Design Samana Shrestha Copy Laura Wigginton Noah Purdy Claire Baker Jackson Ingram Tayla Phelps Steven Park Rebecca Weir Sophie Slater Sophie Deixel Juliet Weis Jessica Roden

CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only accept corrections for any misquotes, misrepresentations or factual errors for an article within the semester it is printed.

October 22, 2015

NEWS

Page 3

Vassar Brothers Hospital to undergo major expansion Rhys Johnson News Editor

O

courtesy of The Poughkeepsie Journal

n Thursday, Oct. 8, the New York State Department of Health approved the proposed certificate of need for plans for a massive expansion project of the Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie.

Vassar Brothers, the Mid-Hudson Valley area’s principal medical facility, is run by Poughkeepsie-based hospital healthcare network Health Quest, which announced the project earlier this May in the midst of concurrent plans for the $88 million consolidation of two hospitals in nearby Kingston, run by fellow medical group Health Alliance of the Hudson Valley.

Looking to expand its own flagship medical center’s size and patientcare capabilities, Health Quest plans to construct an entirely new, state-of-the-art building that will connect to Vassar Brothers’ existing facilities, some of which have been in use since the hospital’s opening in 1887.

Standing seven stories high and covering over 696,000 square feet, the new inpatient pavilion, designed specifically for staff efficiency purposes by architecture and planning firm RTKL Associates Inc., will be constructed in the distinctive style of the adjacent Hudson River. It will house over 250 private patient rooms, each doubling the amount of provided space per patient than Vassar Brothers’ current semiprivate rooms (Hudson Valley News Network, “Vassar Brothers New Patient Pavilion Moves Forward,” 10.15.15).

Equipped with 30 critical-care units and an emergency department and trauma center with 66 treatment rooms, the new building is hoped to be the latest in New York State’s developing list of innovative medical care facilities while also emphasizing the importance of sustainability in its expectations to receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project will also include new operating rooms, a cafeteria and verandah area, a conference center and ample space for vis-

New York State recently approved the Vassar Brothers Medical Center’s plans to construct a massive, $466 million building equipped with state-of-the-art technology and new patient spaces. iting families and friends (Daily Freeman, Expansion of Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie gets green light from NY health department,” 10.15.15).

“Vassar Brothers Medical Center will transform patient care and the patient and family experience in the Hudson Valley with this project,” Vassar Brothers President Robert Friedberg remarked at the time of the announcement. “Making that transformation requires state-of-the art facilities to provide patients with the privacy and healing environment they deserve” (Daily Freeman, “Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie plans 700K-square-foot, $466 million expansion,” 05.21.15).

Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Health Quest Gregory Rakow echoed Friedberg’s satisfaction with the upcoming construction.

The new pavilion will serve all of us fortunate enough to call the Hudson Valley our home,” Rakow wrote in a press release. “It will become a landmark and asset for the community, a site known for excellent patient care, cutting-edge services and a home for our top-level medical staff” (Daily Freeman, 05.21.15).

The project plans, which were approved at a meeting of the Public Health and Planning Council of the New York State Department of Health in New York City on Thursday, are expected to cost over $466 million, making this the largest construction project in the history of the City of Poughkeepsie. Funding is expected to be received primarily from Vassar Brothers funds and hospital revenue bonds, though the Foundation for Vassar Brothers Medical Center will conduct an additional fundraising campaign as well.

In addition to providing top-quality healthcare services to the surrounding community, the massive undertaking will also help support the local economy, which many have found severely lacking in recent years. At the peak of the project’s building, planners expect to be able to hire between 300 and 400 local construction workers.

As Poughkeepsie Mayor John Tkazyik put it, “[This] will serve as a catalyst for economic development and provide a stabilizing environment for businesses and homeowners in Poughkeepsie. It will play a major role in community revitalization and allow residents access to high-quality health care they deserve right here in our community” (Daily Freeman, 05.21.15).

Completion of the building, however, is not in the near future. With the design plans now approved by New York State, groundbreaking for the project is set for July 2016, with loose aspirations for the building to open in January 2019.

Being that the new facilities will not be available until even current freshmen are only months away from graduating, how exactly Vassar Brothers and Vassar College’s relationship will be affected by these resources remains to be seen. Although students often utilize the nearby hospital in cases of exigent medical situations or off campus emergencies, it is unclear how, or if, the project will affect students differently from members of the surrounding community.

Director of Health Services Irena Balawajder maintained that, in spite of that lack of clarity, students’ wellbeing is at the heart of the College’s health services staff, and that the prospect of being able to offer new, innovative care in necessary circumstances is exciting to her and members of her department. She wrote in an emailed statement, “A new state of the art medical facility can only have a positive impact on the future health care of our students and the Vassar community and we look forward to seeing this project develop.”

Community reflects on victims of Umpqua shooting Jeremy Middleman Guest Reporter

O

there’s no use in patrolling for an active shooter when you’re just going to get shot. I understand that some students feel uncomfortable with having armed security, but that being said, no one has a problem with the president having armed security nor banks nor public buildings.”

Rather than pursuing the issue from a federal perspective, Spencer argued that it falls on colleges and universities to protect themselves. “Our security guards have to be armed in some way like the University of California schools and most public schools in the country where there is actually a campus police force.”

While gun control remains a controversial issue, the need for increased mental health support and awareness is agreed upon on both sides. Both O’Malley and Virtue expressed their appreciation for the recent upgrades to the counseling services in Metcalf House, and advocated for greater mental health awareness and care from the College

and from the country at large.

Director of Counseling Services Wendy Freedman offered her sympathy for community members distressed by the shooting. “It is understandable that the members of our community would feel impacted by the many stresses in their lives and in the world, and we strongly encourage everyone to engage in good self care practices and to reach out for support.”

Freedman suggested ways that Vassar students can help to reinforce the health and safety of students. She remarked, “The Vassar community excels at looking out for one another and we encourage members to continue referring students to campus resources and to alert the Student Support Network if you are concerned about a student’s well being. Faculty, staff and administrators can contact the Employee Assistance Program for access to free short-term counseling as well as referrals for other work or life needs.”

courtesy of morganmorgan via Flickr

n Oct. 7, students and staff gathered in silence on the Chapel lawn, honoring the victims of the Umpqua shooting. The vigil, sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, offered the community the opportunity to mourn the deaths of the nine people fatally shot and for those injured, and to stand in solidarity as a community to pay their respects.

Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Sam Speers, an organizer of the event, contributed his thoughts as to why he felt the vigil was necessary for unnerved community members. “A vigil, in the root sense of the word, is a time for paying attention,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “We pay attention to the dignity and fullness of human life, to the wonder that for all of our wonderful differences, we are one people on one small planet.

Standing together in silence is one small way of remembering these things.”

For some students, the shooting had a particularly heavy impact. Emmett O’Malley ’19 explained that, for him, the shooting was not simply a far off tragedy. “I’m from Corvallis, Oregon,” he remarked. “Umpqua is 70 miles away. Both my parents work at Oregon State University, and so to me this is pretty scary.”

Students received news of the shooting in different ways. Leader of event planning and activities for the Vassar Christian Fellowship Siennah Yang ’18 suggested that, although many of the victims were shot as a result of their being Christian, these discriminatory shootings only strengthened her commitment to her church and her religious convictions. “[Response to the shooting] integrated me into my community a lot more both on campus and off campus. Going to church connects me to a lot of community members and to initiatives in the community such as local projects.”

Yang remarked that the vigil and other affirming responses to the shooting allowed her and many Christians on campus a place to talk about issues that they face on the basis of their identity. “Part of being a Christian is knowing what’s happening around you. We pray a lot and debrief about these issues a lot. Through prayer

it is something that we address...Whether you are religious or not, attending the vigil is just a part of being part of the movement and being aware of what’s going around you. It’s important for anyone to be a part of that. It’s pertinent to our lives.”

Spencer Virtue ’16 posited that the vigil gave him the chance to unite with other Christians in solidarity against religious discrimination and violence. “For all those who would never stand for this and who have a moral compass, let’s come together and have solidarity in our own way,” he said. “Let’s have our own community to stand up against this in the same way that folks in the classroom stood together.” Virtue proposed that by attending the vigil, he felt more capable of overcoming the unease that news of the tragedy had on him. “[We move forward] not by letting the enemy fragment us, not by letting the enemy intimidate us, but by letting us come together and deal with these emotional things as a community.

That’s how people learn.”

While students and faculty alike are affected in distinct and various ways, there exists disagreement in taking institutional measures to prevent future shootings. In response to the question of what is responsible for mass shootings, O’Malley said it was due to the mass availability of guns— particularly more technologically advanced ones—and the lack of stringent gun laws.

“I think it’s cultural,” O’Malley elaborated. He suggested, like many others, that current gun laws in America are anachronistic, stemming from Revolutionary Era social and political issues and surviving due to special interest groups. “We’ve had this massive evolution of gun technology and no progress on our gun laws. It’s obscene. It’s pathetic. It’s a national embarrassment. Having a handgun is important because there are a lot of guns out there, and it’s a good tool for self-defense. Hunting rifles are also okay. Outside of those two, ban them all.”

While O’Malley considers current gun laws to be part of the problem regarding gun violence in American schools, Virtue remarked that he considers them to be the greatest form of protection, and part of the solution. “We have security guards with no knives, no pepper spray, no batons, so

In honor of the victims of the Umpqua shooting, the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life organized a candlelight vigil, which offered comfort and solidarity to those affected by news of the tragedy.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

NEWS

Page 4

Outside the Bubble Texas Defunds Planned Parenthood On Oct. 19, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott announced that Texas Medicaid will no longer fund Planned Parenthood in their state. This announcement comes amid a heated debate about Planned Parenthood and controversial videos published earlier this year. The videos, released by an anti-abortion group, claim to depict representatives selling fetal tissue from abortions for profit. Planned Parenthood maintains that these videos are deceptively edited, and that they donate fetal tissue for medical research and is reimbursed for the cost of transporting tissue samples, which is legal.

Regardless, conservatives in Congress have begun campaigning for defunding of Planned Parenthood, although federal funding is not used for abortions and the group has announced that they will no longer accept reimbursement for fetal tissue donation (AlJazeera America, “Planned Parenthood changes fetal-tissue reimbursement policy,” 10.13.15).

Abbott contends that this defunding measure will protect the health and safety of Texas women, and that the reproductive health services that make up most of Planned Parenthood’s services, especially for underprivileged women, will be sufficiently provided by Medicaid-supported clinics in Texas.

However, critics contend that Planned Parenthood women’s health services not only exclude abortion but also provide essential services for general health.

Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said, “It is completely outrageous that Texas officials are using thoroughly discredited, fraudulent videos to cut women off from preventive health care.

We will fight back against this outrageous, malicious, political attack in Texas with everything we’ve got, and we will protect women’s access to the health care they need and deserve.” (CNN, “Texas cuts Planned Parenthood funding from Medicaid,” 10.19.15) Meanwhile, Congressional conservatives continue to advocate for defunding of Planned Parenthood over what they see as unethical practices around fetal tissue and liberals emphasize the role of Planned Parenthood in providing other medical services to citizens in need. Although a vote in August in the Senate rejected such a defunding bill, conservatives have warned that more legislation may yet come to the floor (United States Senate, “U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 114th Congress - 1st Session”) — Elizabeth Dean, Online Editor Democratic Hopefuls Square Off at Debate On Oct. 20, CNN hosted the first Democratic debate was held on Oct. 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night’s debaters included former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Governor of Rhode Island Lincoln Chafee.

Throughout the debate, the presidential hopefuls addresses questions from moderator Anderson Cooper on key party issues such as gun control, national race tensions and income equality. Although most agreed that, with the exception of unlikely contenders Webb and Chafee, Sanders, O’Malley and Clinton all fared well, and there was no clear winner. Clinton’s supporters applauded her reaffirmed commitment to liberal principles in spite of growing popular perception. “I’m a progressive,” she remarked. “But I’m a progressive who likes to get things done” (CNN, “Democratic debate winners and losers,” 10.14.15).

“I recall very well being on a debate stage, I think, about 25 times with then Senator Obama, debating this very issue,” Clinton later reminded viewers. “After the election, he asked me to become secretary of state. He valued my judgment, and I spent a lot of time with him in the Situation Room, going over some very difficult issues” (CNN).

Internet users, however, declared Sanders, her primary opponent, the clear victor both in policy ideas and in manner, citing his frustration with the controversy surrounding Clinton’s email server. “Enough of the emails,” he exclaimed. “Let’s talk about the real issues facing America” (Huffington Post, “Bernie Sanders: Americans Are Sick Of Hearing About Hillary Clinton’s ‘Damn Emails’,” 10.13.15). AlterNet’s Adam Johnson reported that Sanders trounced the Democratic frontrunner in every major online poll by an almost 20-point margin (AlterNet, “Bernie Won All the Focus Groups & Online Polls, So Why Is the Media Saying Hillary Won the Debate?” 10.14.15).

In spite of disagreement surrounding who won the debate, most agree that it will not decide the nominee, but remain interested in how the candidates will respond to the issues as the election nears.

— Patrick Tanella, Guest Reporter

October 22, 2015

Aramark introduces vegan dining initiative Shelia Hu

Guest Reporter

T

o many students, the quality of dining on campus has seen a downward trend this year, particularly regarding healthy and sustainable eating. With the recent announcement of Aramark’s latest national initiative, however, the chance to change their reputation on campus may be coming.

According to Aramark Executive Chef and Director of Culinary Development Scott Zahren, the issues of wellness and sustainability have been increasingly prevalent issues in the minds of students. Zahren explained, “Based on information gathered from Aramark’s proprietary customer feedback platform and dining surveys, the number of students interested in vegan options has continued to steadily increase over the past several years” (Latest Vegan News, “Aramark Offers New Vegan Options to Over 500 College Campuses,” 08.31.15). In light of such feedback, the Philadelphia-based food supplier has responded by testing out new dining options in many of the 500 college campuses it currently serves.

College diets commonly consist of fast low-protein meals. With this initiative, Aramark is attempting to help students transition to healthier diets by offering more hearty, nutritious vegan meals that are better for students as well as for the environment. Some of the new menu options served on various campuses Aramark supplies now include tofu-potato hash, vegan home-style pancakes, butternut and black bean chili, spiced vegan quinoa and vegan peanut butter cookies (Latest Vegan News). According to Zahren, by adding more protein-rich vegan meal options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, many students may be less inclined to go for the dairy or meat products throughout the day.

Vegan diets have, however, already become increasingly popular in recent years, especially among college students. Though not originally viewed as a legitimate lifestyle choice, vegan diets now boast a substantial amount of support not only from the health-conscious, but from the environmentally-conscious as well. Many agree now that the choice to go vegan is the choice to do one’s part in promoting animal rights and sustainable consumption. Co-President of Vassar Animal Rights Coalition (VARC) Brooke Thomas ’17 explained the environmental impact of the meat industry. She said, “Animal agriculture is

responsible for 51% of greenhouse gas emissions while all transportation is only responsible for about 13%. 55% of the water used in the United States is for animal agriculture.”

Thomas went on to cite Kip Andersen’s 2014 documentary “Cowspiracy,” which exposes the alarming extent to which the livestock industry affects the environment. “Although there are many different statistics about this online, Cowspiracy says that it takes 660 gallons of water to produce one hamburger. Livestock covers 45% of the Earth’s total land surface. The concept is quite simple: animals require far greater land, water, and food requirements than plants do and for all of the animals that are raised, many pounds of plant materials are required to feed those animals. Stopping the mass production of animals to be eaten and exploited would require less land and water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and produce less waste.”

In spite of its rewards, however, one of the biggest issues some face when considering a vegan diet is affordability. While it does provide a more sustainable solution, finding protein replacements and alternative dairy products can be quite pricey. Vice President of Slow Food Sarah King ’16 commented on the cost-effectiveness of vegan diets. She said, “Vegan diets are not very easy to sustain as getting enough protein without meat or dairy is more expensive and sometimes not sustainable locally. There are very little government subsidies to help alternative protein diets. Vegetables and fruit are reasonable but nuts and high protein soy based products can be over-priced and not sustainable.”

Thomas explained, “The cost of being vegan depends greatly on where you live and what kind of food you plan to eat and it certainly is not currently accessible to everyone. There are ways to eat vegan that are inexpensive...Eating inexpensive vegan food has been, in my experience, a matter of replacing the cheap processed non-vegan foods I was used to with a lot of vegetables and grains and not with the expensive processed vegan foods I am tempted to buy for convenience.” As Thomas asserted, many Vassar students do not have the time or resources to sustain a vegan diet outside Dining Service’s current options, so an expansion of those choices would be supportive of students with such dietary restrictions.

A common concern with providing more vegan options as opposed to traditional, meat-based

meals is the perception that it would be unmanageably pricey. Senior Director of Campus Dining Maureen King explained, however, that there isn’t anything specific keeping Vassar from expanding on its existing vegan options, and echoed popular support for locally sourced food.

King said, “We have partnered with the Poughkeepsie Farm Project as well as 10-12 other local farms located in the Hudson Valley. According to the College’s AASHE report we purchase 24% local and sustainable.”

Other than potentially increasing that percentage, Thomas commented on what else Vassar Dining Services could do in light of their supplier’s movement toward wellness and sustainability. She suggested, “Vassar Dining Services could reduce the amount of animal products they serve in order to make it a more sustainable system. They could leave the cheese off of dishes that don’t need it. They could make vegan pizzas everyday, not just on request. They could replace some of their desserts with equally delicious vegan desserts. They could even stop serving meat on Meatless Mondays (as many other college cafeterias do). I also think it is important to use local and organic vegetables.”

While the options for vegans on campus remain limited and it can often be hard to shop for local food on a tight budget, Vassar Greens member and DivestVC Co-Coordinator Elise Ferguson ’17 maintained that there are still steps to take that can slowly lead to a more sustainable diet. “One way to reduce cost is to order things in bulk or in food cooperatives,” she wrote in an emailed statement. “I live in Ferry Haus and we order vegan food in bulk, which results in our food supply being relatively inexpensive. Some other things that students can do to maintain a sustainable diet are eating locally, eating organically, and reducing food waste as much as possible (and composting whatever is left). Measures could also be taken to discourage students from taking more food than they need/want and producing large amounts of food waste.”

Although is it still unknown whether Aramark will be bringing its new vegan items to Vassar, King reassured students that it is a possibility.

“We are always looking for different and new vegan options,” she stated. In the meantime, an increased awareness of student dining habits and their environmental impacts will remain at the heart of Vassar’s efforts towards food sustainability.

Community discusses ways to help refugees REFUGEE continued from page 1

this, and why has this been labeled a European issue?”

Not all of the refugees are from Syria, however, and the crisis is by no means isolated to Europe.

Nikolova pointed out, “Europe certainly is not the biggest burden-sharer of this crisis. In fact, the biggest burden-sharers of the crisis are Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq, which is a country also currently experiencing high levels of violence and its own refugee flow outwards.”

Höhn later remarked in an emailed statement, “I was also shocked that the White House made the statement that the refugees were a European problem to solve, and that the US initially was not going to take in any. Even now, the US has only agreed to take very few refugees, they raised the quota worldwide by 20,000. That is totally inadequate given the numbers of people displaced by war or other violence.”

The panelists did not merely report the facts, however. Some brought personal experiences to the discussion to illustrate what is being done in the world. Harriford described her recent stay in Lesbos, where she helped refugees arriving on the shore, setting up welcome areas to supply them with necessities, cheer them up and encourage them. She admitted, “In the first couple days, I decided I was just going to go home and pretend that this wasn’t happening, because it seemed that there was nothing to be done.”

However, she changed her mind. “And of course, because they were like [Vassar students] to me, and because everybody’s a person, and because they had gotten out of the water with nothing but their bare life, it became important to do something, to have to be in the present moment with them,” Harriford revealed.

Harriford and the rest of the panel strongly urged students to go out to do their part them-

selves, and have their own experiences assisting the cause. Rashid echoed the call to action, “Please, don’t sit back, and don’t pull back, and think that the world can fix itself...I want you to really have the energy to think of very creative ways, very imaginative ways of living in a world where we don’t have more people treated like this.”

One of the main concerns among students in the audience, however, was about what could be done on campus so far from the focal areas of the crisis. In response, Höhn stressed the importance of continuing events and discussion like this in the future. She reminded students, “You have incredibly smart professors here at Vassar. They teach empire, they teach migration, they teach war, they teach conflict. Go to them, talk to them, organize student-organized panels with them. It’s really, really important that these initiatives also come from our students.”

Taking her own advice, Höhn, in cooperation with Cushing House President Anish Kanoria ’18, organized the first of a series of small group discussions to garner support for institutional action in support of refugees. Students from Cushing House, Noyes House and the Terrace Apartments were invited to attend and participate in the first.

Kanoria’s plan is to host a panel for every two dorms on campus in the hopes of producing a community-led effort that will allow students, staff and administration to work towards a common purpose, something he believes is unprecedented in higher educational institutions.

In a meeting of the VSA Council on Oct. 18, the College’s possible response to the refugee crisis was a topic of great concern. Kanoria stressed to his fellow representatives the importance of the issue, and the VSA’s potential to help out. “It’s the biggest crisis since World War II in terms of the movement of people, and it’s the biggest crisis of

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

our generation,” he asserted.

Many expressed their desire to provide assistance to refugees, as Vassar had done in previous times of crisis, and several offered their ideas.

There was discussion of using the annual student gift as a means of donation to refugees. Others spoke about alternative spring breaks for Vassar students to go to host countries to assist in refugee camps.

Not everyone, however, shared the VSA Council’s idealism on the issue. Vassar Christian Fellowship member Gloria Park ’18 remarked that many such solutions are not realistic enough to properly address the issue. She commented, “The measures [Höhn] suggested in connecting Vassar students to the refugees, particularly youth, by either teaching them English online or spending time with them in-person as part of the JYA program, I found somewhat impractical.”

Abby Johnson ’17, who was present at the VSA meeting, also stated, “Going forward in this, it would be great to think about what is the thing that these people actually need the most, because I don’t know if 10 Vassar students going to an NGO over spring break is going to be the best response. We’re prepared to do something, [whatever] would be most helpful, as opposed to the thing that would make us feel the best about ourselves.”

In spite of disagreements as to how Vassar should approach the issue, the consensus both at the panel and in the meeting was that in order to make a helpful difference, volunteers must remain active and steadfast in their efforts. As Höhn put it, “We can’t solve this crisis on our own, and we cannot save everybody, but we can help some people…We have tremendous resources in our country, and at our institution, as well as a lot of creative and innovative people to make a huge difference in the lives of many others.”

October 22, 2015

OPINIONS

Page 5

The Miscellany News Staff Editorial

College should further develop support for refugees

W

e are currently experiencing the largest refugee crisis of our generation. There are more refugees in the world today seeking asylum abroad than in any time in recent history. The United Nations is calling this the worst refugee crisis since World War II, marking an historical moment in itself. Millions of refugees are fleeing from Syria, which is now in its fifth year of civil war.

Across the world, countries are discussing how to handle this growing surge of refugees, and many nations, including the United States, are planning to accept thousands of refugees in the next year.

Though the direct results of this crisis are not always immediately apparent for students walking among the autumn foliage on campus, communities in the United States and abroad are gearing up to accommodate hundreds of thousands of migrants.

Although the College has yet to take concrete action, the response on this side of Raymond Avenue has not been completely silent.

Earlier this month, the faculty-sponsored group, Vassar College: Solidarity for Refugees organized its first panel discussion.

Ever since, this organization has been active in its response to the refugee crisis in the hopes of pushing the College to provide some concrete support to those who currently need it the most. We at The Miscellany News want to commend this group for what it has accomplished so far and what it seeks to accomplish in the future.

We also wish to commend the Vassar College Christian Fellowship’s efforts to collect clothing for refugees. This organization’s commitment to offer aid is commendable and demonstrates how orgs that are not explicitly dedicated to crisis re-

sponse can still supply support.

As members of the faculty mentioned in an editorial published in the Oct. 1 issue of The Miscellany News, this is not the first international crisis to produce a sudden diaspora of millions of refugees. Forced migrants have traversed across borders and international boundaries countless times throughout history.

Significantly, Vassar has established a precedent for responding to these situations in support of those in need as an institution. According to The Miscellany News archives, Vassar students and faculty have, in the past, become involved in refugee aid movements. In the years leading up to World War II and the Holocaust, the College raised money to help establish scholarships for students and teachers fleeing Europe.

It is important that we as a community become more actively involved in the efforts to help refugees, especially in light of the fact that Vassar prides itself on being a socially conscious and progressive institution. We cannot allow ourselves to make such claims without continuing on to back it up with action.

Fortunately, students, faculty and administrators have already made clear their passion and drive for helping to alleviate this crisis and are currently mobilizing to bring more awareness to students on campus in the hopes of bringing about a more concrete answer for support. Significantly, these community groups are taking a critical approach to their work, trying to include voices from all corners of Vassar’s campus.

At a VSA Council meeting on Sunday, Cushing House President Anish Kanoria ’18 brought the efforts of VC Solidarity to

the floor, urging his fellow representatives to use their influence as an institutional body to work toward making a difference.

Kanoria spoke of the plans the organization has to act and spurred Council to brainstorm different ways that students can get involved in the effort.

At the meeting, response ideas included provisions of travel money to send study trips to sites of mass migration or refugee camps and funds to send students to work at NGOs acting in support of refugees seeking asylum in the United States or elsewhere.

We at The Miscellany News think these are intriguing suggestions because of the hands-on experiences that would further students’ learning and understanding of the situation while also serving to help refugees in a more immediate, practical way.

However, we do also recognize that some approaches to providing aid, while beneficial to many students, can sometimes prove to be ineffective for the individuals they seek to serve.

The key moment came when one member of Council posed the question, “What do these people need the most?” We at The Miscellany News support critical thought about how we can make a meaningful difference to those seeking asylum in our country. It may no longer be most useful to offer scholarship money to migrants if other services are more beneficial, and a concerted effort should be made on the part of the College and the community at large to research what our most effective course of action could be.

The possible danger in the initiatives that are currently being considered is a kind of absent voluntourism that doesn’t actually address the realistic needs of refugees. The

goal is to support real exchange and understanding while providing critical aid, not to offer a chance for a quick resume-boost.

Although it would be a valuable experience for students to work with refugees, that should not be the primary goal of any response on Vassar’s part. We want to ensure that any action on the part of the College community offers the potential for meaningful change, and focuses specifically on the needs of the population that we are serving.

It is also important in this discussion to think critically about how issues of international significance are discussed on Vassar’s campus.

We at The Miscellany News are excited by the critical discussions taking place that are being fueled by the panels and small group meetings that VC Solidarity has organized. We are encouraged by the pervasive desire to act as a community in support of those we must help. We recognize that it is easy for students on campus to become trapped in the “Vassar bubble” and lose sight of what is happening elsewhere, and we greatly appreciate the discourse among students, faculty, and administrators about how most effectively to respond to this crisis.

We hope that these discussions, events, and efforts to aid refugees continue and ultimately result in real plans for the College to play an active role in the refugee crisis.

This is Vassar’s chance to be on the right side of history, and if future students are to look to us for precedent, we must make sure that what we do counts.

—The staff editorial represents at least 2/3 opinions of the editorial board of The Miscellany News.

College maintenance staff deserves respect, gratitude Steven Park

Guest Columnist

I

t’s undeniable that we as college students are very busy people. Before I arrived at Vassar, I was under the assumption that I would have hours of free time every day to do whatever I want.

After all, college students don’t have to wake up at 6 a.m. in the morning to catch the school bus or endure eight straight hours of school every day. Four credits per semester?

That’s shouldn’t take up even half a school day, right?

Unfortunately, that’s not the case at all.

Every student has to face their own flood of assignments, readings, projects and essays that have to be completed as well as the various meaningful extracurricular activities that require hours of investment. Some may even need to make time for a part-time job in order to pay for tuition.

Combined with the inescapable threat of college debt looming over everyone’s shoulder, it is no one’s surprise that everyone here wants to get as much as they can from this million-dollar investment.

However, as important as it is to focus on making our time here worthwhile, we should not overlook the people working behind the scenes to make our experience at school as pleasant as possible: the custodial staff at Vassar.

College is usually seen as the first big step towards autonomy. “Your parents won’t be there to clean up after you,” adults say to anxious, prospective college freshmen. It’s a common saying used as either a snide remark or a warning to further hone in on the fact that we are responsible for ourselves now. After all, college is less like a first taste of independence and more of a deep plunge.

But this statement isn’t completely true since there actually is someone cleaning after you.

The job of the custodial staff at Vassar is truly a magic act; they have to make every indoor and outdoor mess caused by about 2,500 college students disappear overnight.

They do this every single night.

To some, it may not seem like a big deal since, at first glance, there doesn’t seem to be anything in need of cleaning in the first place. It’s not like the janitors have to move mountains of trash off campus. But that just shows how incredibly amazing they are at their job. Believe me, people leave behind trash everywhere. If you observe closely, you may see wrappers, beer bottles and other refuse all over campus, especially out in the Quad. In addition, it’s almost a guarantee that the communal bathrooms and kitchens will always be in a gross state of disarray. But before people notice, the custodial and maintenance staff cleans everything up, making it seem as if the mess was never there.

“...as important as it is to focus on making our time here worthwhile, we should not overlook the people working behind the scenes...”

The custodial staff is responsible for a wide range of grounds and residential maintenance work.

According to Vassar’s website, “... [the college] will also maintain a small team that will work 3 week days and 2 weekend days to maintain high use buildings that are open seven days a week.

“These include athletic and dining facilities, libraries, residence halls, the College Center, the Students’ Building, the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film and Skinner Hall.”

And this lack of awareness of the various duties that janitors perform on a daily basis seems to be the main issue here.

The members of the custodial staff do such a good job that it’s not at first evident that there is even a problem regarding trash

and cleanliness.

The campus and the dorms are always clean and tidy and they seem to stay that way every day. It creates an illusion of perpetual cleanliness, where everything always returns to the status quo.

With that relieving thought, it doesn’t really register in our minds that someone has to pick up every piece of trash we leave behind or clean up every mess we walk away from.

Well, some may ask what’s wrong with that; after all, isn’t it the job of janitors and custodians to keep the institution clean?

While it is true that the custodial staff is hired to clean the college every day, it isn’t an excuse to be thoughtless. Being a custodian is a pretty thankless job and they already have enough to do without us making more work for them.

We should always strive to make their jobs easier since it’s the least they deserve for making this place habitable. Ideally, the relationship between the student body and the custodial stuff should be one of mutual respect where the two can communicate and work together. In exchange for keeping our living spaces clean, we should always convey our gratitude and do whatever we can to lessen the load.

When students do recognize the efforts of the custodial staff, the impact on the campus dynamic is significant.

Janitor Venus Valera said, “‘Sometimes the students give you a Christmas card of a little present or a little mug. Last year, they gave us all Starbucks gift cards.’”

According to an interview printed in The Miscellany News, “Students often come up to Valera and Jimenez and say thank you.

“Jimenez said, ‘In the fifteen years I’ve worked here, I’ve never had a problem with a student. When the students see you do your job, they respond to you very well. When I was working in Main, the guys were very nice and helped sometimes,” (“Janitors give voice to otherwise silent roles on campus,” The Miscellany News, 05.6.15).

That way, we can depend on them whenev-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

er a problem regarding sanitation or maintenance arises and the custodial staff would be more than willing to help. It is much better for the custodial staff to know that we care than for them than to feel bitter and spiteful of our blatant obliviousness of their efforts.

In addition, one problem is that the custodians are almost invisible to us. We rarely see them in our busy day and thanks to the perpetual state of cleanliness of our school, we almost never think about them and their contributions to Vassar.

Obviously, it’s definitely not a bad thing that they’re doing their jobs so well, but we should never forget how important they are to our school and to always appreciate their work.

“...the relationship between the student body and the custodial stuff should be one of mutual respect...”

While they might appear to just be janitors hired to clean the school, several of them are actually students at Vassar just like us.

They too are making the most of their time here by attending classes and receiving an education. Whether you know it or not, these custodians are part of the Vassar community like the students and the faculty.

We should strive to celebrate them and make them aware that we appreciate their efforts.

They do a lot for us and they deserve to be acknowledged.

So, the next time you walk by a janitor in your dorm, make sure to smile and thank them for what they are doing. Even just a simple “thank you” will let them know that they are not invisible.

—Steven Park ’19 is a student at Vassar ­ College.

OPINIONS

Page 6

October 22, 2015

War on Drugs has produced steep unforseen casualties Nick Barone

Guest Columnist

I

n a national televised address in 1986, then-President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, addressed the nation on their vigorous campaign on drug abuse.

Throughout the ill-fated diatribe, Reagan derided illicit drug use and trafficking, declaring “Drugs are menacing our society. They’re threatening our values and undercutting our institutions. They’re killing our children.”

He boasted about the apparent effectiveness of this “War on Drugs” (first started by Richard Nixon in the late 60s), which he claimed lowered levels of drug use across age groups and increased seizures of contraband and incarceration of drug offenders.It was an easily digestible political platform. It was even easier to demonize an entire collective as “enemies” of an abstract war with vague end-goals and throw them in prison for lifelong durations.

In the immediate short term, Reagan’s assertions were true. Incarceration rates skyrocketed. Regular drug use in the military was cut by 67 percent. The rate of teenagers using recreational marijuana decreased from 1 in 14 to 1 in 20. To Reagan, this indicated a degree of success against these “enemies.” However, the mission was not over.

As Reagan so eloquently described, “Our job is never easy because drug criminals are ingenious. “They work everyday to plot a new and better way to steal our children’s lives... For every door that we close, they open a new door to death. They prosper on our unwillingness to act.”

He adds, “And drug abuse is not a so-called victimless crime. Everyone’s safety is at stake when drugs and excessive alcohol are used by people on the highways or by those transporting our citizens or operating industrial equipment. Drug abuse costs you and your fellow Americans at least $60 billion a year,” (“Speech to the Nation on the Campaign Against Drug

Abuse,” Miller Center, 09.14.1986).

The American public reacted enthusiastically, implementing programs such as D.A.R.E. in schools, teaching their kids to “just say no,” and categorically attaching high levels of stigma to the mere mention of drugs. Rational discourse regarding drug addiction and its potential implications for marginalized groups was silenced in favor of fear-mongering. The uprooted lives, struggles and humanity of these “ingenious” drug criminals were not taken into consideration. They were just low-life drug dealers and junkies, after all.

Flash forward to 2015. $51 billion is spent every year fighting the War on Drugs, first escalated to its far-reaching federal heights underneath small-government hero Ronald Reagan.

Although drug rates are roughly similar across racial lines, Latino/Latina Americans and African-Americans constitute approximately 57 percent of those incarcerated for drug offenses. Over 200,000 have lost federal financial aid as a result of drug convictions.

While these figures may be daunting, the sharpest pang of irritation and despair comes with the fact that yearly drug overdoses are roughly similar to the numbers reported during the initial escalation of the War on Drugs in the

“It was even easier to demonize an entire collective as “enemies” of an abstract war with vague end-goals.” early 1980s (upwards of 40,000 a year).

Conclusively, spending trillions of dollars of taxpayer money over the past three decades has led to thousands upon thousands of drug users ending up incarcerated (which disproportion-

ately impacts minority groups), lessened educational access for at-risk students and, perhaps worst of all, has barely impacted the rate of death among drug abusers (Drug Policy Alliance).

The most pertinent and pressing of the longterm effects of the War on Drugs results from the heightened level of incarceration of drug users, who often are sentenced to durations of prison time that are comparable to armed robbers and perpetrators of violent assault. For example, trafficking 200 or more grams (or seven ounces) of cocaine would result in a 12 year sentence.

No other crime at the federal level require a 12 year sentence. Crimes that entail a 10-year prison sentence include rape with use of a firearm, assault with a firearm with intent to rob or murder a person above the age of 60 and a second offense for human trafficking for sexual servitude (Families Against Mandatory Minimums).

In many states, prison time results in a loss of voting rights, loss of educational access as a result of ineligibility for federal aid, and a permanent social stigma attached to ex-convicts who must navigate themselves through a society that has thoroughly dehumanized drug users.

For offenders who do manage to survive their time in prison, it can be incredibly difficult to find long-lasting or well-paying employment as a result of stigma.

This effectively creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of poverty and imprisonment for individuals who may have made a mistake that did not warrant draconian prison sentences.

In 2012, over half of all convicted federal drug offenders have little or no criminal record (Families Against Mandatory Minimums). The War on Drugs values deterrence, punishment and separation rather than empathy, respect and rehabilitation.

Obama’s recent commutations of people serving time in federal prison and visit to El

Sander’s campaign lacks Democratic party diversity Pieter Block

Guest Columnist

D

on’t get me wrong, Bernie Sanders adds a special kind of spice to the 2016 presidential election. If nothing else he proves that personal background is no impediment to gaining a cult-like following. The words “cult-like” are not an exaggeration.

But if one were to take a closer look at his campaign, beyond the impressive scope of donors, beyond the articulate, to say nothing of impassioned and unwavering rhetoric, some severe structural issues become increasingly apparent.

One needs to look no further than pictures of Sander’s most recent rally in Springfield.

Depicted in the headlining picture taken by WNPR, Sander’s key constituency becomes clear. In fact, a similar picture could easily have been taken at any one of the last events held by Republicans.

The tragedy of Sanders happens to be the same problem many pundits declare exists for the Republican Party demographics. In the WNPR picture, one cannot help but notice the sea of white, male faces. This is a problem, more so for a Democrat, and especially for one who is trying to win a primary contest.

It is well known that President Obama came out of nowhere to win the 2008 nomination over Hillary Clinton by winning over African-American and Hispanic voters in more conservative states. It is, at least now, unclear as to how exactly Bernie Sanders can replicate this success while relying on perhaps the weakest link in the Democratic Party’s chain: white men.

This group of voters has, more than any other, simply deserted the party en masse. In 2012, for example, Obama won a mere 39 percent of the white vote, but even this number is inflated because of the gender gap. The Democratic Party is also far more conservative than many in its base would like to admit. A massive Pew Research Poll taken in 2014 that interviewed some 10,000 respondents broke people down in what could be called political typologies. The

base of the Democratic Party, also called “Solid Liberals” in the poll, consist of only about 15 percent of the general public.

Many, especially here at Vassar College, might assume the Democratic Party to be entirely secular. This is inaccurate. Many might also assume that the vast majority of the Democratic Party supports more progressive social and economic policies. This is also inaccurate. For example, while Solid Liberals believe wholeheartedly (80 percent) that racial discrimination is the main reason many black people cannot get ahead, the opposite view was held by the Faith and Family Left (31 percent), and Next Gen. Left (19 percent). A staggering 91 percent of the Faith and Family Left believe that a belief in God is necessary for one to be considered moral, contrasting strongly with the hyper secular Next Gen. Left (seven percent) and Solid Liberals (11 percent).

Now this does not mean that Bernie Sanders, with the right messaging and balancing of issues, cannot win the nomination. However, as his recent debate performance suggested, a suggestion that was compounded by legitimate polling (not online polls) done afterwards, Bernie can appeal to Solid Liberals and that is about it. He shows little interest in expanding his coalition, while at the same time affirming sentiments that are anathema to certain minority groups (anti-gun control and xenophobic proclivities among them).

Sure, one could argue that he might win the Iowa caucuses or the New Hampshire primary.

But this is to be expected in these almost allwhite states. What happens when Bernie gets to South Carolina, Nevada or Texas, where African-Americans (particularly women), and Hispanic-Americans dominate the process? The clock is ticking on the Bern machine, and his supporters might have to come to terms with the reality that they are the minority not just in the country, but within their own party.

—Pieter Block ’18 is a student at Vassar College.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Reno Correctional were steps in the right direction in terms of changing the tone on the drug conversation (despite Obama’s relative softness on radically altering the drug policies of his predecessors during the first chunk of his presidency). Obama even referenced his own experiences with drugs, noting “When they describe their youth, these are young people who made mistakes that aren’t that different from the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you

“This effectively creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of poverty and imprisonment.” guys made,” (“Obama visits prison in call for justice reform,” The New York Post, 07.16.2015).

Despite this instance of progress, many political figures continue to adhere to the doctrine of deterrence. During the second Republican political debate, Jeb Bush affirmed his commitment to deterring drug criminals and maintaining strict drug laws as a means of fighting drug use.

This is problematic in a nation whose policies of stringent punishment for drug-related offenses have devastated communities and systematically imprisoned thousands unfairly. The War on Drugs has failed. The intense criminalization of drug use and the astronomical spendings of our government has backfired against the nation’s most vulnerable individuals. Momentous changes must be made to the current drug enforcement bureaucracy and legal codes if the destructive and corrosive effects are to ever be reversed.

—Nick Barone ’19 is a student at Vassar College.

ADVERTISEMENT

October 22, 2015

OPINIONS

Avoiding offense prevents honest exchange Jesse Horowitz Guest Columnist

G

rowing up in Westchester, I always believed that ‘political correctness’ was an invention of bitter conservatives fed up with being called racist for brazenly spouting derogatory slurs. Certain public officials, especially Republican Presidential candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump, give the public good reason to believe that the so-called “pc police” exist only in the imagination of the fringe right.

When studying their statements, it becomes clear that they’re only speaking out against political correctness as a way to deflect attention

“... it has become a tool for the reinforcement of the privileged position... that permeates our campus.” away from their obvious biases.

But now take into account the recent outcry against Meryl Streep. In a promotion of her new film “Suffragette,” the famed actress wore a shirt which read “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave.”

This line was taken directly out of a speech

by British women’s suffrage activist Emmeline Pankhurst, whom Streep will be portraying.

At the time, women were little more than slaves; they were expected to be obedient to their husbands who ruled over them as if they were property. They were denied even the most basic political rights and were confined to the home to care for children. However, hordes of shocked fans who couldn’t be bothered to research the historical context of the statement cried “racism”. This is because it’s a lot easier to be outraged than to be intelligent.

But political correctness has become espe-

cially prominent at institutions such as Vassar, where it is utilized as a tool for the reinforcement of the privileged position of progressivism that permeates our campus.

We are no longer seeking to encourage tolerance, but rather to force our choice of language onto everyone else. Note that by “choice of language,” I do not mean to imply that we ought to give more leeway in regards to the use of racial or ethnic slurs, but rather that we need to stop being so oversensitive in regards to everything that anyone can possibly find offensive.

Take this real joke that I had considered adding to my a standup routine that I have been developing, “Donald Trump is so in love with himself that he turned narcissism into a sexual orientation.”

There were concerns raised that the joke could be offensive to the LGBTQ+ community.

But it’s not a homophobic joke. It’s not hurtful or insulting. It’s not promoting violence or intolerance. But because it so much as includes the words “sexual orientation,” there exists a possibility that it may cause offense. That possibility of a person being offended becomes so problematic that it is unlikely to ever be used during a comedy event.

The issue is that offending one’s viewpoint on campus is the absolute worst thing you can do to a person. I ask the students to recall that a few years ago the administration forced the Vassar Conservative Libertarian Union to take down its “Wall of Truth” in defending Israel for being ‘offensive,’ and yet just last year they failed to expel a student that they knew committed sexual assault.

While I’m not suggesting that there is any correlation between these facts (clearly one could not have possibly caused the other), it is not a stretch to suggest that this reflects the administration’s priorities.

Let me also remind the student body that while the “Wall of Truth” was taken down, that same year an “Apartheid Wall” which was put up by anti-Israel activists was not taken down.

While the wall did provoke a statement from the campus administration condemning anti-semitism on campus, it is clear that we care more about when offensive context comes from the right than we do when it comes from the left.

The time has come for the student body to demand that Vassar be a space where everyone can feel comfortable voicing their beliefs. This means that we need to stop being so oversensitive.

This means we need to stop looking to be offended. This means we need to realize that being offended isn’t that big a deal. This means that we have to apply the same standards to both liberals and conservatives. This mean that we have to start choosing our battles wisely.

This does not mean that we should be allowed to say whatever comes to mind without fear of social repercussions. I merely ask students to chose their battles. There’s a big difference between Meryl Streep comparing the state of women in 19th century England with slavery and Ben Carson’s insinuation that we shouldn’t have a Muslim president. People are offended

“The time has come... to demand that Vassar be a space where everyone can feel comfortable voicing their beliefs.”

Emma Jones

“T

he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians.”

Broadcaster, father and former minister Pat Robertson perfectly sums up the delusions that facilitate the need for women’s studies. In a world where women are stripped of the right to make decisions regarding their own bodies, nevermind decisions in politics, the economy or the workplace, a field of study entirely dedicated to reclaiming the definition of womanhood and allowing marginalized voices to be heard is crucial. Women’s studies gained popularity in the United States in the mid-seventies, often considered the “academic arm” of the feminist movement. The department experienced global expansion during the remainder of the 20th century.

Over the past decade, many colleges and universities have begun to reconsider the assignment of the title “women’s studies” to the field originally created in response to academia’s disregard for women’s histories, experiences and perspectives. As society’s awareness of the nuances of gender and sexual identities increases, it brings into question the accuracy of the label.

The evolution of the name reflects the field’s increasingly common ground with other areas of study, especially gender and sexuality studies. Women’s studies is an inherently interdisciplinary field and always has been, and yet its strong focus on women as a distinct category had not been publicly disputed until recently.

The reconsideration of the department’s traditional name reflects a growing public acceptance of non-binary differences within our society and humanity as a whole.

No matter how well-intentioned, however, the melding of women’s studies with gender and sexuality studies deemphasizes the importance of all three areas of academics. Their differences are as undeniable as their numer-

ous points of intersection. To combine all of them into one department ensures that fewer resources are available to each section.

Some schools have made the argument that adding “gender” to the name “women’s studies,” or even replacing the word “women” altogether, opens the field to men. Taking the focus away from women in order to allow men to maintain their masculinity while studying nonmale experiences, however, is about as necessary and productive as the unfortunate new “meninism” movement. Education has always been more readily available to males than to female or gender queer individuals, and it is an insult to all that women’s studies scholars have achieved to undermine the needs of women in order to accommodate the comfort of men.

Women’s, gender and sexuality studies are each their own domain of intellectual challenge; they inform one another and allow for growth and development within each department, and they can certainly benefit from the sharing of resources and knowledge.

But women are not yet in a place where they can be incorporated with equal representation into other areas of academia. The need for a department dedicated to conversations centered around people who identify as female still exists.Gender and sexuality are, of course, an integral part of women’s studies. However, so are race, class, ability and numerous other facets of identity that could not possibly all be included in the department name. The explicit inclusion of gender and sexuality minimizes the importance of other equally important aspects of women’s studies.

Almost all academic disciplines, especially within humanities, intersect with gender and sexuality studies; history, art and psychology cannot be properly examined without taking into account gender and sexuality. They should undoubtedly be incorporated into each department’s curriculum whether or not they are part of the name.

Erasing women as a group from the department name prolongs a long tradition of the elimination of women from history and culture. Women, historically, tend to be left be-

Word on the street What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done while sleeping?

“I woke up with whipped cream and face paint on my face and a marker in my hand.”

—Emma Glickman ’18

“My roommate said I cursed at him a few days ago.”

— Zack Brashear ’18

by the former because they’re ignorant; people are offended by the latter because they’re not.

Progressivism has become a privileged position at Vassar, and political correctness has become a tool by which the privilege is enforced.

Now the time has come for us to check our privilege.

—Jesse Horowitz ’19 is a student at Vassar College.

“Women’s Studies” needs critical analysis Guest Columnist

Page 7

hind, and therefore it is imperative that they retain a strong presence in the department.

The name “women’s studies” by itself, however, is problematic. It suggests that there is something that unites all women, and limits the reach of feminist discourse. This title ignores the system of oppressions that sexism is a part of, isolating–and therefore weakening–the issue.

It is important to retain the phrase “women’s studies,” regardless of any additional words: the apostrophe is an incredibly significant part of the name, in that it stands for women’s reclamation of their own lost history. It denotes the right of women to their own outlooks, histories and narratives, uniting an oppressed group that society typically attempts to divide and weaken.

By titling the department “women’s and feminist studies,” colleges and universities would encompass both the importance of the experiences of the group of people typically classified as women, and the wide reach of the area of study.

The inclusion of “feminism” in the name implies an intersectional approach to the study of oppressions, acknowledging the interaction of sexism with other oppressions. “Feminist studies” inherently retains the focus on women, but allows for a broader spectrum of perspectives and histories.

It is critical, of course, to study gender and sexuality. The full extent of their complexity cannot be sufficiently explored when they are simply combined with other departments. The creation of a separate department, or departments, for gender and sexuality studies would benefit every field, allowing for a greater extent of interdepartmental study.

Perhaps, instead of decreasing the focus on those who identify as female in order to make room for other areas of study, academic institutions should strive to incorporate a wider range of perspectives and narratives into every department.

—Emma Jones ’19 is a student at Vassar College.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“I punched myself in the eye so hard I got a black eye.”

— Nora Igesund ’18

“I once realized I had been sleeping with my eyes open.”

—Ryan Eykholt ’17

“I’m a big sleep sobber.”

—Caitlan Moore ’16

“I don’t know, I was asleep.” ­­— Jake Henin ’17

Zander Bashaw Humor & Satire Editor Sam Pianello, Photo Editor

OPINIONS

Page 8

October 22, 2015

Online regulation keeps too many secrets from public Joshua Sherman Columnist

T

hrough the summer and into the fall, you’ve probably heard a few murmurs about something called the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). As the name implies, it’s a trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Japan, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, Malaysia and the United States.

There’s certainly a lot being said positively and negatively about the agreement. The White House has launched an entire website dedicated to convince you of how good it is, and there’s a lot being said by organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) about how bad it is, with numerous press releases in the last couple years about how the agreement will hurt our “Internet Freedoms.”

Here’s the thing. I’d love to tell you whether I like or dislike the TPP as a whole, and whether the trade benefits it offers are better or worse than its complications.

The only problem is that it’s not yet a public document. Take a minute and ponder the following: The United States Office of the Trade Representative has an entire website (www. ustr.gov/tpp) dedicated to telling us why the TPP is good for us, but it also cannot (or will not) share all the details of this potentially super-important trade agreement.

Sure, there’s a lot of fancy pictures and interesting graphics all about the numerous, hip things the TPP will do, from supporting small businesses to cutting taxes on U.S. made goods, but it has that eery feeling of being extremely polished while remaining extremely vague.

When you visit the website, you can peruse the thousands of tax benefits the TPP has, but

Answers to last week’s puzzle Meta Answer: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt In the Hole P

E N

T

U

R

D U

L

L

A

H

N

A

U

T

K O S

H

E

R M

I

K

E

S

A

N

E S

T

S

E W E E M S

H

I

V

A

T

E

N A

N N

A M C C

A

R P

K

N

E

E

L

F

I

F

L

E

T

C

E O

H A

C

A

M O O N G U

N

N

N

S

A

I

C

T

O D D

K O O K T

O R

N

A G O

E R

N O N O

I

X

B

U M

T

R

U

I

S M

A

P

N

E

A

Y

S L

B

S

N

D A

L

L

S P

Y

N

A

H

S

I

S

B O N

Q U

I

T

K

E

Y

K

U

R

N S

E

T

R

E

E

V

I

T

A

A

L

G A

S O D

S

D

I

T

S

Y

A

© 2015

L

E

ternational set of laws and policies.

In our modern era, I will concede there are very important intellectual property concerns that arise from global business practices.

For any firm operating in regions such as China and elsewhere, it isn’t uncommon for overseas facilities to steal technologies and code in order to reproduce the good at a lower cost and free of any patents or other intellectual properties.

But the TPP won’t solve this. China, the greatest infringer, isn’t even a member. If we want to tackle this seriously, we ought to start there, and forget this entire trade agreement.

The future of the TPP is not set in stone.

Like any legislation, the final version will need to be released that will ultimately be voted on by the House and Senate, and then signed by the president.

At the rate this legislation has been moving, it might be an entirely new person in the Oval Office to decide whether we should go in on this trade deal. Anything’s possible: In Canada, the newly-elected Liberal Party’s Prime Minister David Trudeau is already beginning to show waning support for the TPP, which predecessor Stephen Harper was a strong advocate for.

Still, for a document five years in the making, it seems concerning enough that it remains secret, contains very impactful changes to intellectual properties, and frankly smells rotten.

I have grave concerns if this trade agreement continues to be taken seriously without greater transparency and greater changes to its intellectual property provisions.

—Joshua Sherman ’16 is an English major.

by Collin Knopp−-Schwyn and York Chen

ACROSS 1 Miami Heat’s No. 1 Chris 5 Type of icon in URL bar 8 Sniffer, or sniffler 12 Out, like perms or rage comics 15 Regret 16 One fortnight, thirty one years, etc.

17 Regret, to a belle (2 words) 18 Chicken’s precursor and successor 19 “Turn Down for What” genre 20 Vassar moneymaker?

21 Like Hulk vis-a-vis brick walls 23 Country known for its Java 25 Peninsula known for its java 28 Came first 29 Wildebeests 32 See 8-Down 35 2,000 or 2,240 pounds 37 0 39 “We sold 30 crosswords to the Misc for $10 ___ (we wish)” 40 How a rambler might be in regards to the point 42 Napoleon Dynamite’s non-Pedro friend 43 Wrath 45 Lightning bug

A

ed down for copyright violations.

You’ve all probably seen that email from D.B. Brown about downloading infringing files. Believe me, the RIAA and MPAA are continuing to push support for trade agreements like the TPP in order to prosecute violators, and frankly no individual downloading a copy of “Mad Max: Fury Road” should be threatened with imprisonment.

The TPP’s focus on Rights Management also scares me. Rights Management, similarly to copyright infringement, primarily has to do with hacking and reverse engineering, where completed technologies are taken apart in order to better understand and modify their functionality.

This is a huge category of activities. Sure, it includes hackers who sell bootlegged copies of Windows and Adobe Photoshop, but it also includes people who modify games and free improvements for decades-old video games that developers abandon.

Depending on the severity of the legislation, it can even include educational institutions researching the effects of software and its usage in test environments.

It can include the computer software inside cars and other equipment­­­—the sort of software that companies like Volkswagen use to trick the EPA on emissions standards, among other heinous activities. It’d prevent security professionals from assessing the safety of software and other technologies we use on a daily basis under the threat of imprisonment.

I may be exaggerating a bit in the scale that the TPP will be ultimately implemented in the United States, but I’m frankly not a fan of any efforts to further complicate hacking and other white-hat activities under such a broad in-

The Miscellany Crossword

“A True Canadian Ranger”

S

only the OTP can decide what to share with us as American citizens. The entire remainder of the document is however still secretive, despite nearly five years to negotiations over this document’s provisions between the various member states.

In fact, the most damning thing about this entire TPP process is that major elements of the legislation have been leaked—by WikiLeaks, no less—and the government continues to play dumb to the truth within the legislation and how it will specifically impact aspects of the United States economy.

You can read about the benefits of the trade agreement on the OTP website regarding it, but I’m sure you’ll understand how they might be less likely to share the risks and complications such trade laws will have on our American economy and legal system.

That all being noted, you can probably see why organizations like the EFF are so vehemently opposed to the TPP. This opposition originates primarily over the lack of transparency, questioning the advocacy of a document we hardly know anything about.

The EFF’s own criticism also emerges over a major factor of the TPP’s legislation, relating to digital rights management and intellectual properties.

To me, the EFF’s concerns are also my own.

Based on what I’ve learned from the leaked portions of the TPP, the biggest fear I have about the trade agreement is its aggressive proposed punishments for copyright and intellectual property violations.

For starters, these violations, under the TPP, would likely enforce harsher criminal penalties, forcing jail time on an international scale, rather than the often-civil punishments hand-

46 “Right on!”

48 Like Max (because he lived in a world of assless chaps?)

50 Dark breads 51 Word?

55 School of psychology centering on the whole, rather than the parts 57 May, to Spider-Man 59 “do you do [64-across]??”

60 ___ chi (martial art) 61 Mix around, as sugar in tea (2 words) 64 Butt stuff 65 It’s possessive without its apostrophe and is a contraction with it 66 Kinsey 0 67 Doge, for one 68 Both teams’ foe in volleyball 69 Snow man DOWN 1 Pal 2 It’s the loneliest number 3 Someone who undermines a union, maybe 4 Certain doctor with a sing-along blog 5 Cali city where Sam Peckinpah and Kevin Federline were born 6 Add to, perhaps breast-wise 7 “What happens in ___ ...”

8 With 32-Across, dreamy actor that 45-Across, 4-Down, 41-Down, and 47Down have in common 9 Shrek, for one 10 Singe 11 Mind-bridge 13 Harbinger of doom, say 14 A lot of these clues, especially the southwest corner 22 ASL translator 24 Have 25 “It’ll pass, it’s just ___” (2 words) 26 What fruit does in its spare time

27 Get-out-of-jail free story, hopefully 30 Bring together 31 Furtively sneak away 33 Like your ex’s heart?

34 “Love, Reign ___ Me” (Pete Townshend, 1973) 36 Okonkwo for whom things fall apart 38 Nazi Robert and murderous Australian politician Thomas 41 Calmness 44 Be like Mike, for example 45 They make sure your meat measures

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

up 47 Rookie rook move 49 Rembrandt or Kanye 52 Charmeuse 53 Ranger winger Rick 54 Just all sorts of adorable 55 BRCA1, CCR5 or p53 56 One reason to study 58 Oak 59 Singer Smith on Disclosure’s “Latch” 62 2007 “Quake III Arena” mod 63 Polynesian taro dish

October 22, 2015

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 9

Breaking News From the desk of Zander Bashaw, Humor & Satire Editor Researchers conclude Popeye’s new Louisiana purchase meal not nearly as good a deal as its namesake was Babysitter studies existential crises within Frog and Toad Zander Bashaw Call Me Toad

O

ver October break, I went back to my summer job. This statement is proof of how words can be misleading. What I really did was babysit again for the family that employs me during the summers. Getting back to it has made me realize that I will never have a job as good as babysitting. As a babysitter, I get paid tax-free to do the things I normally do, just with a small companion. If I could go on this family’s trampoline alone without it being weird, I probably would. If I had the money I would eat at our towns greasy pizza parlor and ride my bike to the playground after, I would do it every single day for the rest of my life.

The point is, I don’t have to alter my own life to get paid, which is a miracle.

One thing that I wouldn’t do without a lofty hourly rate, however, is read the Frog and Toad books by Arnold Lobel. Since I spent roughly a quarter of my childhood demanding that my parents and strangers call me Toad, I’m a little burnt out. However, revisiting Frog and Toad over this break has made me think about how older people are foolish to overlook western literature’s most influential amphibians.

For those of you that haven’t read these children’s stories out loud recently, here is the basic gist of Frog and Toad’s relationship. Frog is older and more mature than Toad, but still puts up with all of Toad’s shit. In one of the stories, Toad goes to the store to buy himself and Frog some ice cream. For the moment, let’s just put aside questions you may be having about where Toads can buy chocolate ice cream, and just focus on the story. Anyways, Toad idiotically lets the ice-cream melt all over him, to the point where he resembles a giant brown creature with horns (the cones). Toad falls into the pond where Frog is waiting, and then he and Frog go and buy more ice cream, that’s it, end of story.

Apart from Toad’s Kafkaesque transformation, this story serves to explain the relationship frog and Toad have. Frog is as smooth and even tempered as his skin. Nothing exciting ever happens to him, he just sort of reacts to Toad’s qualms and blunders. He is sort of a strange combination of older brother and teacher for Toad, and his one good quality is his storytelling. He’s always fucking telling Toad a

story. As for Toad, he is a misguided soul. This is evidenced by him reading stories to his seeds to make them sprout, assuming that his friend is dead when frog is late to a Christmas party, and obsessively waiting for the mail, when it is unclear whether small animals like him even have a postal service.

Since I revisited the Frog and Toad books, I have been struck by how bizarre the stories are, including their details, their endings and the difficult existential quandaries that definitely flew over my head when I read the books. For example in one story, Frog and Toad simultaneously sneak to the other’s respective yards to rake the other’s leaves. When they have finished the work and are heading back to their own houses, a gust of wind blows the piles of leaves they have made all over the yards. The story ends with both of them going to bed feeling happy, and preparing to start on their own leaves the next day.

Rereading this story was actually super upsetting. It seems to point out the futility of human labor, and that we are blissfully ignorant of our own global and cosmic insignificance.

Lobel uses two lovable amphibians to make a deep point about how nobody can really change anything.

Now that I am looking back on something so instrumental to my childhood, I’m realizing there were so many hidden messages that come to me like my epiphany that the Bar/Bat Mitzvah cover song “Right Round” by Flo Rida was blatantly about oral sex, except this is a little more profound, and relevant to my own life.In the Frog and Toad story “The List” Toad loses a list of his activities and finds himself unable to function. This story sounds surprisingly familiar; when my phone was broken last year, I felt as stranded, and acted as ridiculous as Toad in this story. Luckily, for me and Toad, the only witnesses to our madness were Frog and T-Moblie employees, respectively My foray into the adult side of Frog and Toad has made me feel simultaneously paranoid and excited about other surprises I might find in beloved childhood literature. Maybe next I’ll discover that Sam I am was a Marxist. I’m also curious about when the kids I babysit will find the heart-stopping existentialism lurking in a story with a title as innocuous as Frog and Toad.

Millenial voters’ political knowledge based on gifs Lily Horner

Girls” that was definitely not from the Democratic debate and a gif of Batman that I really wanted to believe was relevant, but apart from Bernie also having a weird voice, there were no connections.

This article actually had quotes from the debate, which was better. But instead of envisioning Anderson Cooper talking about marijuana, all I could see was Blair Waldorf’s smug face, because of the gif they used! Come on nylon. com you should know that Blair does not toke!

She much prefers martinis or some other adult beverage.

Also, I know that Britney Spears did not vote for Glass-Steagall, but her gif has me thinking otherwise… Was Britney ever in the Senate?

Probably, she had a pretty bad downward spiral, and the Senate is just another step down that path.

The biggest disappointment of my research excursion was an article by slate.com. The title was very promising, almost too promising, one might say: “The Democratic Debate Was Kind of Fun. Also, Aliens?” ALIENS? I should have known. In all the other articles I read, there was no mention of aliens, let alone gifs of aliens. Let me tell you, slate.com was pulling my leg, and I should have known. How could I be so naive?

Aliens only exist in the X-files, Lily, ya dingus.

After reading the entire article (which was about 4 paragraphs long), I realized not only was the part about aliens not even related to the Democratic debates, but there were not even gifs of evidence for aliens. I specifically searched for articles with gifs, I even said please. How hard is that to understand, Google? I’m taking my business elsewhere. Probably Yahoo or Bing!

To top off all these articles, I decided to watch some of the debate. For some reason, though, when I tried watching the clips from the debate I kept getting the Saturday Night Live sketch with Larry David and Alec Baldwin and some less-famous people pretending to be more-famous people. My preliminary conclusion from that video was that Bernie Sanders is a funny old man and Hillary Clinton has bug eyes. Also Alec Baldwin isn’t as handsome as he used to be. This concludes my highly educated and highly impartial analysis of the Democratic debates. I’m just glad I didn’t have to write anything about Donald Trump, if we’re being honest here.

Google Scholar

T

oday it is my task to discuss the Democratic Debate, according to Zander. Now, please take my word as law here, since I am an impartial third party. So impartial, in fact, that I did not even watch the debate. I read a lot of articles about it, though, and what is more impartial than for profit articles written on the internet.

First I googled “impartial articles on the democratic debate, please” and got some boring articles about who “won” and who “lost”. I needed to go further to get to articles I KNEW were impartial. How can you tell if an article is an imposter or not, you ask? There is only one requirement: the article must have gifs. So I refined my search to “articles on the democratic debate that are impartial and also have gifs, please.” Up popped some very impartial-looking articles from eonline.com (the highly regarded news site from the critically acclaimed E! channel) and nylon.com (love their fashion advice).

I checked out eonline.com first because it was the first result, and everyone knows that first is the liverwurst, which is the best type of sausage.

I found some very humorous gifs that I’m probably pretty sure were completely accurate to the highly publicized event. There was a portion of the debate where Bernie Sanders conducted part of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, I’m assuming for the talent portion of the night.

Bernie and Hillary are best friends now, I saw them shaking hands in one gif. And THE Sheryl Crow sang the national anthem! Wow! Ok but this doesn’t really address what the candidates actually talked about… Hmm… maybe eonline. com didn’t watch the debate either, who knows.

I can’t really blame them, there wasn’t really enough drama to keep them interested, which means it was probably a good idea that I didn’t watch it, either. Tell me beforehand that Lincoln Chafee pulls out Jim Webb’s hair during the debate and I’ll be a dedicated viewer.

The nylon.com article was probably my favorite, very impartially calling the debate “not at all crazypants”. Coming from a college sophomore who sometimes writes for her school paper, I could tell this article had a lot of potential already with its use of “crazypants.” Upon further inspection, however, these gifs were NOT from the debate. There was a gif from “Mean

Ask Banner: October edition, the Misc’s “weekly” “advice” column

by Banner’s successor, the idea swiper Dear Misc Banner, I’m having a really hard time thinking of what to be for Halloween. Do you have any suggestions that don’t involve cat ears?

Sincerely, Halloweenie Dear Candy Corny, The main thing about Halloween is don’t be yourself. College is a great time to act like you’re into slow food and Retreat veggie burgers, and then just dive back into In-N-Out animal fries during breaks. Be sure not to let your guard slip and be a costume that is revealing of any inner turmoil. Trying to explain that you are dressed up the inevitable heat death of the universe when everyone has had 13 Natty Lites is just not worth it. If you’re the kind of kid that likes to go with the flow of things, be drunk and stressed out. I hear that’s the most common costume for the special day.

Dear Yung Banner I really miss late night at the retreat. Sometimes I sit alone in my room and google frozen chicken nuggets drenched in buffalo sauce.

What even is buffalo sauce?

Love, Lonely Nilda Forsaken baked cookie/student, Don’t stress yourself over the details of buffalo sauce. To the best of my understanding, it is carefully preserved bison-based product turned spicy and orange by hundreds of years of preservation in rusty barrels. As far as missing late night, just know that there are options for overpriced junk food. True, the vending machines make it harder to ignore the startling amount of money you spend on white cheddar Cheese-Its, but your only other option is to lead rowdy and hungry deece bros into a full scale revolt. For now, just complain.

Dear Misc, I’m in a long distance relationship, and it’s working out really well. Is there something wrong with me? Should I go to Baldwin?

Regards, Well adjusted Happy and Healthy, First things first, definitely do not go to Baldwin. They don’t have the capabilities to treat a case as uncommon as yours. I’m sure you feel like you are missing out on passive agressive phone conversations and read-butnot-responded-to texts. Something that you could do to pass the time before your own relationship starts to crumble is to become a self-licensed relationship coach. People would really appreciate if you knocked on their doors and sat down with them to help fix their long-distance relationships. You could even skype their partner for a 1-on-1 follow up!

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Dearest Ask Banner, I’ve developed an addiction at college. and I feel like all the D.A.R.E. education I received was useless. Anyways, how do I rid myself of a crippling dependence on coffee?

Help me, Matthew’s Bane Dear Overcaffeinated Joe, If you have reached the point where you can tolerate even Deece or Retreat coffee to feed your addiction, you should enroll in one of the campus’ sponsored addiction programs.

Though initially founded to help people quit smoking, the organization has transitioned to caffeine related addictions upon the realization that smoke free is going about as well as Lincoln Chafee’s campaign fund. This program weans you off coffee with intravenous injections of Cafe Kilimanjaro, that are gradually reduced over time.

Page 10

TRAVEL

October 22, 2015

Cape Cod, M.A. H

courtesy of Kayla Gonzalez

aving hardly ever ventured outside of Los Angeles, Calif., I had no idea what the East Coast had to offer me. This October break I was fortunate enough to experience a true New England fall as my two friends Robin Corleto ’19 and James Boyd ’19 and I drove down to Cape Cod, Mass., and took in what was a whole new world to me.

As soon as we crossed the bridge onto the island, pardon my usage, I knew I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. This place was definitely full of many “firsts” for us West Coasters. First time at the Atlantic Ocean, first time seeing the leaves change color, first time playing corn hole and even a first time going to Dunkin’ Donuts.

The highlight of the trip for us was visiting Provincetown, a small gay community on the tip of Cape Cod full of shops promoting gender equality and selling shirts celebrating same-sex marriage.

Interestingly, Provincetown is also the first spot the pilgrims landed on Nov. 9, 1620. This is commemorated with the Provincetown Monument, which stands 252 feet high and provides a breathtaking view of the beach town. Just standing at the bottom and staring up at all the looping stairs and ramps made us dizzy, but we were able to make it to the very top and take in the view. We then walked up Commercial Street, which was full of all kinds of pride.

As first-generation Americans, being in a town that embodies the beginnings of this country greatly impacted Robin’s and my views of what it means to be “American.” Robin gave some insight into this, “In L.A., I feel like there’s not a lot of patriotic sentiment compared to here on the East Coast. I definitely felt like I was surrounded by a different type of American people.” He concluded by saying, “We’re all here living the American dream, but being here made me realize the different types of American dreams there are, whether it’s fighting for gender equality or fighting for your children to get a good education.” We never thought our October Break travels would bring us this kind of realization.

We concluded our break with a road trip back to campus, driving through the college towns of New Haven and Providence. We reveled in all of the different sights, bridges, trees and geotags. Exploring this side of the country was something Corleto and I both needed in order to call this place home, and we both returned to Vassar feeling more like we belonged.

—Kayla Gonzalez ’19

courtesy of Kayla Gonzalez

courtesy of Kayla Gonzalez

Mexico I courtesy of Yifan Wang

’ve already been to Mexico, but when a friend asked if I wanted to go again, I said yes without hesitation. Having spent a week in three of the country’s cities last year, I already knew how much I loved the country’s many sights and sounds. Recalling my previous trip, I could still remember Mexico City’s tight urban planning that reminded me of China and the vibrant, colorful houses that shimmered in the southern town of Oaxaca. The visit last week was like jumping back into my memories, while also exploring places I didn’t have a chance to see before.

Mexico City was an obvious first stop. I was excited to finally go to the Island of Dolls down in the southern suburbs of the city, between the canals of Xochimico. After nearly two hours in a trajinera, we arrived at the island. Thousands of dolls, or parts of dolls hung up in the trees, roofs and power lines.

Under the midday sun, the whole space somehow appeared mellow and peaceful. On one side of the island, there’s a tiny cabin with hardly enough space for a wooden bed. A large stone bowl was put near the doorway, with some red chili in it. It was probably where the island’s caretaker lives. I wondered how and why he went there. After 3 days in the nation’s capital, we headed for a small village named Urique. The town was at the bottom of Mexico’s northern Copper Canyon and we could reach it only after three and half long hours in a little van. There was one street and probably no more than thirty houses in the village. Save for a machine-gun-toting man and the passage in my travel guidebook that mentions the village’s involvement in the marijuana business, it was a very likable place.

The next morning we hiked up to a nearby village on top of the mountains. There was a primary school and we bonded with the kids by sharing the cookies and candies we brought. The highlight of the day for me was our journey back downhill. We were too tired to walk back so instead we opted to catch a ride with some locals in the back of their truck. Speeding over bumpy stone roads, we quickly discovered that the ride was not going to be the relaxing trip we had expected. Even so, it was one hell of an experience.

For the final two days, we took Mexico’s Last Train Ride, literally the last railway operating in Mexico for a larger city. There were open areas between cars and I stood there in the fresh air for pretty much the entire six hours. As we made our way out of the vegetation-covered canyons, large, open grasslands appeared, with small, white houses dotting the yellowish green. Thinking back to this time, I still remember talking with someone for half an hour without understanding his language at all—he spoke Spanish and I spoke English.

Chihuahua was our last stop in Mexico, and after further exploration, we turned around and sped off to catch our flight back to the US. —Yifan Wang ’17

courtesy of Yifan Wang

courtesy of Yifan Wang

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

October 22, 2015

TRAVEL

Page 11

Adirondacks, N.Y. A

courtesy of Mary Ann Cunningham

lthough the Adirondacks are only a few hours away, most of us at Vassar rarely take time to explore the region, which is often called the “great conservation experiment,” or “America’s first wilderness.” During October Break, the Conservation of Natural Resources class (GEOG/ESCI 260) spent a week learning about the region and carrying out field studies to understand impacts of settlement on environmental conditions.

Legally, the Adirondacks are distinct to the U.S., and probably the world. The 6 million acre area (three times the size of Yellowstone) is a N.Y. State Park, but only half of it is owned by the state. State lands are protected as “forever wild” in the New York state constitution, and a constitutional amendment is needed to modify or exchange any state lands. This is probably the strongest legal protection of any land in the US. This protection was put in place because of the ravages of private logging, mining, and railroad interests in the 19th century, which had cleared and burned about half the park’s area, mostly in a few decades following the Civil War. Today, private lands in the Park include about 100,000 permanent residents and more than twice that many seasonal residents, scores of villages and hamlets, a few industrial enterprises. The big question posed by the Adirondacks is how does wilderness coexist with human settlement? If coexistence can work here, then can it work elsewhere?

The class spent most of the week at the Adirondack Ecological Center (AEC), a research field station in Newcomb, N.Y., just south of the High Peaks. We climbed a small mountain and got a view of the park from a fire tower, and we worked on tree and understory plant identification. We visited the “Great Camp” Sagamore, one of many rustic mansions built for robber barons in the region. We took a core from a small bog, by pushing a coring tool 7 meters down into the peat to reach the 7,000-year-old, undecayed leaves and plant matter at the bottom of what was an ancient post-glacial pond. We also visited an atmospheric observatory on the top of Whiteface Mountain, one of the most important U.S. monitoring sites for acid deposition, and for climate-changing gases and particulates. We took a tour of forest stands managed for 80-year rotations, and we compared 60-year-old logged forests to old growth forests, to learn what “old growth” means. (A main difference turned out to be in the structural diversity of the old forests— which provides habitat to a huge variety of fungi, understory plants, birds, and small mammals.)

The main focus of the trip was independent student projects. Students developed questions and found field methods to examine effects of logging on biodiversity and on soils, effects of trails (as an aspect of ecotourism) on biodiversity, effects of roads and settlement on road salt in streams, effects of farming on streams and on soils, and effects of climate conditions on carbon storage in trees.

What did we find? Projects are still in progress, but preliminary data show that roads introduce a lot of salt to remote streams, but small settlements may not. Trails seem to significantly alter understory biodiversity, but most effects seem pretty local to paths in this boreal environment. Logging has a longterm effect on biodiversity, especially because old and decaying trees contribute distinctive habitat, and because soils are disturbed by forest clearing. Trees store more carbon in warm conditions—but it’s unlikely they can take up enough carbon to counteract carbon accumulation in the atmosphere.

Farming appears to modify soils and streams, but the impacts of the small-scale of farming in this cold environment appear modest.

Overall, we had the chance to learn a lot about conservation and resources in this regional case study, and we got to learn a lot from each other about field methods and data, which are how we know what we think we know about environmental change. And we got to see some great fall colors, and we had a lot of fun, too.

—Professor Mary Ann Cunningham

courtesy of Mary Ann Cunningham

courtesy of Mary Ann Cunningham courtesy of Mary Ann Cunningham

courtesy of Mary Ann Cunningham

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

FEATURES

Page 12

October 22, 2015

Cymbal app connects artists with college radio station Sarah Sandler Columnist

T

content.

Kaplan explained, “College radio has historically been a home for original music curation, and the greatest advocate for alternative, outsider and emerging music. One thing I have to decide in trying to make Cymbal the web’s best community for discovering music is who should be that community’s most important voices.”

Out of all the college radio stations in the country, Kaplan chose Vassar as one of the lucky few to be an early part of the app, partly because his sister is an alumni who graduated in 2007. “She’s four years older than me, so I was visiting her as an awestruck, admiring high schooler, thinking all of her friends were the smartest, coolest people I could imagine,” Kaplan remembered.

Vassar is one of the charter college ra-

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

he students behind WVKR, Vassar’s independent radio station, already put in the work to provide alternative and independent shows. They were recently contacted by the creators of the new Cymbal app to help provide the support and structure to bring WVKR out of the radio station.

Cymbal recently reached out to WVKR, and they are now in the process of helping WVKR increase their listenership. Head of Growth for Cymbal Charlie Kaplan, described the app, explaining it is a new iPhone app for music discovery. “It’s commonly compared to Instagram, but rather than posting photos or videos, you post songs from Spotify or Soundcloud,” he said. “Users follow friends, artists, and everyone in between, and their feed becomes a fully playable, constantly updated playlist, curated by the people who matter to you.”

This year’s General Manager of WVKR, Kathryn Marshall ’16, had previously heard of Cymbal before WVKR started working with them. “I vaguely knew of Cymbal before they reached out. A label I was interning for last summer was working with the app on a feature, and they actually ended up being one of the originally featured labels on Cymbal,” Marshall said.

Collaborating with Cymbal means that WVKR will become a much more familiar name among those outside of Vassar and immediate Poughkeepsie communities. Marshall continued, “Beyond increasing our listenership, Cymbal provides a new way for us to gain traction with labels, artists and other stations.

The feature lets Cymbal users find and follow us easily, and we hope that this will increase our online visibility.”

She went on to say, “This year at WVKR, the executive staff is really working on our relationship with a new generation of listeners, in addition to maintaining our strong support from the community.”

As Kaplan explained, Cymbal serves as both

a place to listen to music, and also as a form of social media. He said, “The big difference between a song on Cymbal, and a song you hear anywhere else, is that it actually matters to someone who matters to you. It’s not about an algorithm that collects data about your preferences and then tries to give you things you’ll like. It’s also not a constant feed of every song your friends are listening to. It’s just the song that matters to them most, right now.”

Music streaming services like Spotify, Soundcloud or Pandora are already commonly used, but Cymbal functions differently. “Cymbal’s mission is to be the single place everyone can come, regardless of the kind of music they love, or how they like to stream, and share together,” Kaplan said. To help achieve that goal, Cymbal has enlisted college radio stations, including WVKR, to create even more unique

WVKR is stepping out of the studio and onto the internet. The introduction of the iPhone app Cymbal is slated to help expand WVKR’s listenership and give them more online music connections.

dio stations featured on Cymbal, along with WOBC (Oberlin), WRMC (Middlebury), WPRB (Princeton) and a few more. “There’s this sense of community between the featured college stations, we follow each other and get a glimpse of what’s being played at stations across the country,” Marshall said. She went on, “There are other types of featured accounts as well: artists, labels. A couple days ago, a band I really like, Small Black, started following us.

Building connections between artists and labels is crucial to the way college stations work and Cymbal provides a new platform for the community to grow.”

WVKR plans to work with Cymbal in other ways than just connecting with artists online.

Marshall said, “By improving our digital presence, we aim to provide listeners with a variety of ways to listen and engage with the station.

For example, we use the app to post music that is played on air, as well as new music being sent to the station.”

She went on, “Brendan and James, the music directors, are using the app to highlight new music sent by independent labels across the globe. Luke, the promotions director, is aiming to post songs reflective of our diverse program schedule.”

WVKR plays music all day long, so students should tune in whenever they get a chance to take advantage. “College radio stations serve as a refuge for independent music and talk.

With the increase in commercial stations nationwide, alternative programming is being silenced,” Marshall said. “Dedicating a feature to college radio stations is an incredible way to support independent programming. While the digital age has presented new opportunities to be heard in places beyond our broadcasting range, reaching an audience can still be difficult,” she added.

Marshall concluded, “Apps like Cymbal are working to expand independent radio listenership by letting stations post meaningful, important music otherwise not heard on mainstream radio.”

Origins of Gutenberg Bible give way to modern literatures BIBLE continued from page 1

way.

Christie explained that her grandfather was a strong influence when it came time to writing the book. She said, “I had gotten an MFA in fiction in the late 1990s, and starting looking into the history of the Gutenberg Bible when I moved to Germany in 2003. My grandfather was a letterpress printer and type-founder and I’ve been printing myself since I was sixteen. But the real preparation was reading, reading, reading, in German and French and English, about the medieval period in that particular city of Mainz, Germany, where printing was invented.

I spent a few weeks there soaking up the atmosphere, and then I started writing.”

The Gutenberg Bible happens to be the first widely published book, revolutionizing Western civilization. It was printed in Germany in the mid-15th Century by Johannes Gutenberg,

before its wide-spread distribution throughout Europe.

Before Gutenberg popularized the printing press, books were written by hand. This process could take a tremendous amount of time.

Gutenberg’s mass printing allowed for knowledge to spread throughout Europe at a greater pace, radically altering the publishing world and civilization as a whole.

Before she arrived at Vassar, Christie would print books with her grandfather’s printer and eventually her own. During her time at Vassar, Christie was a philosophy major, played soccer and wrote for the Vassar Chronicle. Originally from California, after moving into Main Building, Christie was amazed at the types of people she was able to interact with on a daily basis.

“Vassar was a transformational experience for me,” She said. “The small and vibrant seminars and general atmosphere of intellectual serious-

courtesy of Alix Christie

Alum Alix Christie ’80 has studied printing and the Gutenberg Bible for years. She has recently taken that knowledge to write a historical fiction novel detailing the creation of the Gutenberg Bible.

ness was amazing.”

After graduating, Christie pursued a Masters degree in Journalism at University of California, Berkeley. Simultaneously, she became an apprentice of printing for Yolla Bolly Press. She later also got a Master of Fine Arts degree from Saint Mary’s College of California.

In the past, Christie worked as a foreign correspondent for several newspapers. She now writes short stories, several of which have been featured in magazines. “Gutenberg’s Apprentice” is Christie’s debut novel.

Several years ago, Christie, who lives in London, was just beginning to write the novel when she came into contact with the Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections, Ron Patkus, when he was in London for Vassar’s sesquicentennial.

Recounting how they met, Patkus said, “By chance we sat next to each other at a table, and she then told me about the novel she was writing, the novel which has become ‘Gutenberg’s Apprentice.’ Of course the topic interested me because of my work with early printed books, and we began to share information.” He went on, “What fascinated me most about her work was the fact that she was approaching her topic using the art of fiction.”

Christie’s return to Vassar was the result of a chance meeting with English Professor Bob DeMaria while he was in London. “Last year, as director of the Media Studies London Abroad program, I taught a course called ‘Print Culture of London from Caxton to Pearson.’ One of the many places my students and I visited was the St. Bride Printing Foundation in the city of London, right across the street from the place where Wynken de Word set up his printing shop at the turn of the end of the 15th century,” DeMaria said.

He went on, “They had a great program of teaching the art of printing. We all got a chance to try out one of the nineteenth-century cast iron presses!”

The group ended up with more information than just about the printing press. “Our guides really knew their stuff, so when they recom-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

mended a recent speaker at the Foundation I took notice. That speaker, of course, was Christie,” DeMaria said. He got in touch with her soon after that. After “Gutenberg’s Apprentice” was published, Christie contacted DeMaria about giving a lecture to coincide with the novel’s paperback release, which would bring her back to the United States.

Despite the fiction genre of the novel, DeMaria said that he still greatly respected Christie’s work. He explained he was not an expert on Gutenberg. “My field is 18th century British literature. I am a scholar and I’m often suspicious of novelists because they naturally feel they can embellish history, whereas I want to hold them to the facts. In this case, however, we have a novelist who really knows the facts, and they come through along with the richer and more detailed narrative that makes up the fiction. That’s an unusual combination.”

Currently, Christie is researching to prepare for her next historical novel set in 19th century Montana. She also recently finished a novella called “Motherland” about a female guard in the Nazi concentration camps. In addition to writing, Christie frequently reviews books and art exhibits for The Economist.

“Gutenbuberg’s Apprentice” is more than a mere historical account. As described on the back cover of the book, “Peter and the men he admires must work together to prevail against overwhelming obstacles—a battle that will change history... and irrevocably transform them.”

Christie responded to what lasting influence she hoped her lecture would have, saying, “I would hope that the lecture will inspire people to reflect on how massively the last media revolution changed the world five hundred years ago and therefore think more deeply about how our own technological revolution is rewiring our world today. Tools like these change how we communicate and live and even think, and it’s absolutely vital to make the right choices about how we use them. Every new technology brings fear and excitement and a lot of ambivalence, and that’s where we are today.”

October 22, 2015

FEATURES

Page 13

Change Corps a post-grad option for campaign organizers Kaitlynn Vo

Guest Reporter

Y

courtesy of Change Corps

asmeen Silva ’15 hit the ground running after she graduated last year. This Thursday, she was already back on campus as a recruiter for a new organization called Change Corps, a year-long training program. The employer info session, hosted through the CDO, was held in the Jade Parlor for students who wanted to pursue a career in organizing.

Silva started the session by explaining what Change Corps is. “Change Corps is a paid, oneyear, full-immersion training program in grassroots organizing. Organizers are given comprehensive training in grassroots organizing tactics and strategy after which they have the responsibility of running campaigns for some of the nation’s leading progressive social change organizations,” She explained.

She went on, “Past and present partners of Change corps include Everytown for Gun Safety, MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, the Toxics Action Center and the National Education Association.”

Change Corps is a way to experience working with and training under many influential and experienced people. Among others are names such as Bill McKibben of 350.org, Justin Ruben of MoveOn.org, Van Jones, of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and host of CNN’s Crossfire, and Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood. Change Corps provides the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of organizing and campaigning after which individuals get assignments. Planning and running campaigns, talking at conferences and establishing powerful coalitions are all part of the job at Change Corps.

Change Corps’ goal for the future is to provide field support for today’s urgent and important campaigns and train organizers who will hopefully become leaders and activists in the future and take social initiative.

Last year, their campaign partners included MoveOn, Democracy for America and Everytown for Gun Safety. The organizers turned out voters to the polls last fall to lift up Senate candi-

dates who supported women’s health, advocated for background checks and safer gun laws that will save lives. This year, they are adding more campaigns—working with the National Education Association, Toxics Action Center and more.

Organizers end up gaining real hands-on experience and making a genuine difference in the issues they are passionate about.

Yasmeen went on to explain why she, personally, wanted to join Change Corps and what she’s been doing with the organization. “I had done a bunch of organizing here at Vassar and I knew that organizing was something I wanted to do for the long haul, but I never thought I could make a career out of it until I had paid my dues either working on the ground as a volunteer or working unpaid internships.”

Associate Director for Employer Relations, Susan Smith confirmed Change Corps’ presence at Vassar. As she said, “In February, 2014, David Rossini ‘03, President of Change Corps, hosted an information session on the Vassar campus. Several students interviewed shortly after that session, and Caroline Stanton ‘14, was hired for the following year. Caroline returned to campus last fall and hosted an information session, and we look forward to Yasmeen Silva’s visit on Thursday, October 22. A triple play of Vassar alumnae/i.”

Silva’s path to this point did not originally lead to grassroots organizing. “To be honest, I really want to ultimately work in the Domestic Violence movement, but I was under-qualified (as a new graduate) for almost all of the paying jobs within that movement,” She said. “I accepted the job with Change Corps so that I could acquire the skills that are sought after within the movement, without compromising my financial future.”

Silva’s role as a Field Organizer gives her the type of experience that she believes will be beneficial for not just her future, but the futures of the many lives that she is impacting. “I am a Field Organizer with Change Corps. Right now, I am working on a campaign for one of our partners, the National Education Association (NEA). Despite being the largest labor union in the country, the NEA is still a victim of expanding right to

The organization Change Corps offers recent graduates experience in working for grassroots campaigning. One alum, Yasmeen Silva ‘15 returned last Thursday to discuss her time with the group. work laws (this is especially evident in Michigan, where I am organizing), and general union-busting and anti-union rhetoric.”

She continued, “In addition, I am aiding the NEA with a campaign they launched last year called ‘Degrees Not Debt.’ Right now we are focused on ensuring that the Higher Education Act is re-authorized with expanded Pell Grant provisions, as well as pushing something called the Student Aid Bill of Rights, which would help protect students who take out loans to pay for school. The ultimate goal is to both pass those pieces of legislation as well as get more students engaged with organizing through Degrees Not Debt.”

A valuable lesson Yasmeen has learnt from Change Corps is her organizational skills and how to truly make a difference. “I have learnt different forms of organizing, and how to organize

in different settings. Essentially, as their slogan would say ‘how to get change unstuck’.” She said.

The information session was for all Vassar students who are interested in this kind of field or career and wanted to learn more about it. Along with the experience, Change Corps provides the additional comfort of monetary support.

“Change Corps provides a real/clear pathway for students who want to be professional activists and provides training and experience,” Silva said.

“Most importantly it and pays them.”

Many people, like Silva herself, don’t realize that they can make a career of grassroots organization. Silve went on, “Not everyone has the option of working on campaigns they care deeply about without making an income until they build enough skills and networks to do the work full time. Change corps allows people to hit the ground running with stable footing in that sense.”

Upcoming conference to focus on critical animal studies VARC continued from page 1

courtesy of Brooke Thomas

was hard, especially freshman year when social life seemed like the most important thing ever, to feel like people thought we were extreme or unreasonable.” She added, “Tabling at Meatless Monday was just so disheartening.”

Thomas went on, “Some of these people have been vegetarians whose goals are to improve the welfare of animals and some have been nonveg folk that tend to agree that animals should be treated better but either have not chosen to change their diet or they eat mostly local, ‘humanely slaughtered’ meat.”

To widen awareness around campus about what VARC stands for, VARC is hosting a conference later in the year. Thomas elaborated, “For the fall semester we have participated in planning the 3rd annual Students for Critical Animal Studies Conference. This will be held at Vassar on November 20th and 21st. We are also planning something in regard to Vassar’s deer cull.”

The conference is a student-run offshoot of the Institute of Critical Animal Studies. “All presenters at this conference will be current students,” explained Thomas. “Presentations will be about anything animal related that students are doing work on.”

The event description reads, “SCAS finally will only accept papers that promote radical critical intersectional presentations that foster total liberation from an academic-activist perspective. We encourage marginalized voices and perspectives. We accept only presentations from students.”

VARC hopes to use this event to draw more people to their organization. They want to show how VARC is for all types of people, vegetarians, vegans and animal rights activists alike.

Campus Dining Liaison and Feed-In Coordinator Kacy King ’16 said that she joined VARC because of her own background as a vegan. “I joined VARC because I’ve been vegan since high school, and anti-speciesism activism has always been important to me,” She said. “I wanted to join a group both for the community aspect and so I could learn and grow as an activist,” She

VARC members travel to a conference last year. This year VARC is hosting the third annual Students for Critical Animal Studies conference at Vassar in the hopes of spreading awareness. added.

Christian Vivar ’17 had a very different approach to joining VARC. But after joining as a sophomore, he was hooked. “I joined as a sophomore and was intrigued by topics I had never thought about before (such as speciesism), so I attended VARC meetings regularly thereafter,” Vivar said.

He added, “VARC is my first experience with an animal rights organization. This is partly due to the fact that I didn’t become interested in animal rights in a serious way until late in my freshman year, but also because I had little exposure to animal rights growing up (aside from the occasional news story, social media, posters, etc.).”

For Thomas, VARC’s distinct approach to animal rights was what drew her to the group. “I joined VARC because the forms of activism that I observed the members performing appealed to me. In many animal rights circles issues of race,

class and gender are not talked about,” She said.

Thomas added, “VARC members, however, were openly talking about how things like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) campaigns were sexist and how food access could affect someone’s ability to go vegan.”

VARC actively ensures that, as an organization, they are not blindly following the guidelines set by other animal rights movements.

Thomas explained, “Since I have been here, VARC has consistently been critical of the Animal Rights movement and has tried to understand liberation as something that must be collective for both non-humans and humans.”

As part of their efforts, King and Thomas help plan plenty of food-related events. “VARC does a lot of cool stuff like volunteering for animal sanctuaries, hosting speakers on campus, giving away free vegan baked goods during midterms/ finals (part of my position as a feed-in coordi-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

nator), and also some more low key events like potlucks,” King said.

Thomas went on to explain that their planning is not limited to fall semester. “For the spring we plan to have a tasting of some sort (in previous years we have hosted tastings for vegan cheese and vegan bacon). We also have potential plans for events surrounding vivisection and intersectional activism,” She said.

VARC has had a presence at Vassar for 40 or 50 years. “I do not know exactly when VARC started or what their mission statement was but we are working on developing an institutional history by reaching out to VARC alums,” Thomas explained. “I would estimate that it started in the 70s or 80s as a general animal rights club with the goal being to help bring awareness of animal cruelty to Vassar students,” She added.

According to their org description, VARC is available as a way for students on campus to combat species-based violence, and encourage people to reflect upon the societal objectification of non-human animals. “These forms of objectification include but are not limited to the use of in entertainment and in clothing, experimentation on, and physical consumption of non-human individuals,” the description says.

For members of VARC, being a part of the org certainly leaves a lasting impact.

Vivar said that he could definitely see his passion for animal rights spreading beyond Vassar.

“I would certainly like to continue taking part in the animal rights movement after Vassar, though I probably wouldn’t make a career out of it,” He said. He added, “I am passionate about animal rights though, so I’m sure I’ll find some way to continue and hopefully make an impact.”

She concluded, “I would also like to say that as an org that works somewhat within a movement that is steeped in racism, sexism and classism, we are open to constructive criticism.

While I do think the way we approach things is pretty different than mainstream Animal Rights we surely aren’t perfect and it is important for Vassar’s activist community to be able to call each other in and educate each other on how to be better.”

ARTS

Page 14

October 22 2015

Bol brings together lab, classroom with ancient recipes Connor McIlwain assistant arts editor

A

courtesy of abielskas via Flickr

s the Bridge Building nears completion, the discussion of the role of hard sciences in a liberal arts curriculum has reemerged. The turnout for Professor Marjolijn Bol’s Monday lecture would suggest a great deal of overlap between these two seemingly diametric fields. Although Bol’s work involves a great deal of science, she points out that she is not a scientist. .

“I’m of course not a scientist but an art historian,” she explained. “The approach that I have to the topic is one of history. I am particularly interested in studying the various ways in which the history of making is related to the history of knowing: that is, what you can learn from studying the history of materials and techniques.”

Her Monday lecture, titled From Colored Crystals to Glowing Glazes: Oil Paint and the History of Gemstone Imitation, explored the use of glaze to mimic gemstones. Early painters applied glaze to their paintings to give two-dimensional jewels the shimmer and luster of the real thing. By recreating ancient recipes, Bol has been able to make stones that closely resemble gems like the emerald.

These recipes and their final results give us a glimpse into a new historical narrative. Bol explained, “This history of making art objects has had a formative role within art history; we have learned from all of these experiments for making certain artifacts how the world worked. It’s not a question of the difference between art and science, but rather a way of studying the history of material exploration and experimentation.”

On Monday, Bol walked the audience through her process of creating a kind of tinted window from a piece of parchment. The process was used long ago when glass windows were too expensive for most families. These parchment windows kept houses insulated from harsh winds and temperatures. By recreating this recipe, Bol both created an historical artifact and gained insight into what might have been an overlooked aspect of pre-modern life.

Professor Marjolijn Bol working with Flora Crichton-Stuart ‘17, Ry Farley ‘17, Ian Quinn ‘17 and Associate Professor and Chair of Chemistry Zachary Dunhauser, blending science with art history.

Bol’s visit to Vassar was sponsored by the Art and Chemistry Departments and made possible by the Carolyn Grant Endowment. Assistant Professor of Art History Yvonne Elet, applied for the grant, which funds experiential learning, to bring Bol to campus. “Prof. Bol and I met last fall when I was on leave and we were both Fellows at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, working on projects about the meanings of materials in the history of art and science,” she explained.

Elet continued, “When I heard that she had been invited to Columbia University this fall to participate in the Making and Knowing Project, in Columbia’s Center for Science and Society, I jumped on the opportunity to invite her to Vassar to lead some labs for art history students.”

Elet then reached out to two professors she

knew would be interested in this interdisciplinary work. “I got in touch with colleagues in the chemistry department—Professors Tanski, Donhauser, and Keimowitz—who were enthusiastic about a course intersection with the Integrated Chem Lab,” she explained.

Bol’s work brings a technical, scientific approach to the study of art—blending the two disciplines. We usually talk about the well-roundedness of students when we refer to this blend.

But it also yields important, unique results in both fields. Elet explained, “This synergy of art and science also reflects patterns of shared knowledge between the disciplines; especially in early modern Europe, artist’s materials and techniques occupied not only the artists themselves, but also chemists, natural philosophers, physicians, apothecaries, and mathematicians.

And their shared knowledge was crucial to the development of art, science and technology–a field of very active research now.”

Seren Chen ’17, a student in Elet’s class, The Rise of the Artist, from Giotto to Leonardo da Vinci, attended Monday’s lecture and one of Tuesday’s workshops. “Overall, it was very interesting,” she said. “Art in the lab is cool in general but seeing work from two disciplines just come together…and then doing it [yourself] the next day in a lab is really great.”

Chen recreated an artisanal recipe from a fourth century CE manuscript to imitate emeralds. The process benefited both art and chemistry students. According to Elet, “For the chemistry students, this is an unusual opportunity to consider the early history of their own discipline, and to apply their lab skills to historical research. For art history students, it is a rare chance to engage physically in the practices of early modern artists.”

Although Bol’s work may seem very specific, she says it is actually more broadly focused.

“Usually my research is quite wide-ranging. n trying to understand a particular aspect of the history of art, I often find myself going far into material culture or the history of science. For example, sometimes I try to understand certain optical phenomena and the history of how these were understood through materials, both from the artisanal perspective as well as in texts on optical theory.”

She continued, “This type of research can get quite technical. I always try to come up with concrete examples to try to make it visible, perhaps a little bit similar to the way you would use a model of something abstract in science to help visualize your research.” This hands-on work is what has attracted students to Bol’s lecture and workshops; it is a large part of the appeal in the multi-disciplinary work Vassar has in its near future. And judging by Monday’s turnout, which consisted of art students, chemistry students and many community members, that appeal is large.

Artoberfest to spotlight local marginalized musicians Matt Stein Reporter

A

late 19th and early 20th centuries, cyanotype photographs produce a blue-toned effect, which is in fact where the term blueprint originally came from. The interactive workshop will take place before band performances.

Moreover, PHOCUS will showcase student artwork, projecting visual art on the stage, the sides of the audience, and even on Rocky Hall with the help of the Film Department. Artwork from the Poughkeepsie community, from galleries and venues such as Mill Street Loft and the Poughkeepsie Arts Council, will also be exhibited.

WVKR has also worked with Davison House to help with Artoberfest, airing PSAs all week to promote the event in the community. Promotions Director for WVKR, Luke Dowker ’17, explained.

“Our role as a community station made us a natural choice for collaboration. Overall, I think we’re excited because we see this as a first step in getting WVKR’s name back on the student body’s

cultural map.”

Cooperation took place among House Teams as well. Josselyn House Team will also be contributing its part to the event. Josselyn House President, Cecilia Hoang ’18, said, “We feel fortunate to promote and be involved with events [that] uphold queer and feminist voices and values, all while bringing our community together around radical multi-media art forms. Davison House Team is doing something totally novel in facilitating the convergence of art, Vassar, and its surrounding community in this way.”

With the festival around the corner, Davison House Team is very much looking forward to Artoberfest, with off-campus bands of diverse styles and large screen projections. “Davison is very excited for Artoberfest and we’re hoping that this one-of-a-kind event can really provide an exciting and meaningful entertainment option for everyone,” concluded Lindley.

courtesy of PWR BTTM via Facebook

s college students living on a pretty small campus, we are constantly within a bubble.

Most of us stay on campus and rarely leave. But this fall, art might strengthen the bonds between Vassar and the broader community it sits in.

On Oct. 23, from 5 to 10 p.m. Artoberfest will take over the Library Lawn. Artoberfest, Davison House Team’s Fall Event, will offer both art and music for all to enjoy. In case of rainy weather, the event will be in the Villard Room.

Davison President, Nathaniel Lindley ’18, is the main coordinator of the event. He emphasized the help and collaboration from the whole Davison House Team and the artists they invited. “I’m the main coordinator of the event, but all of house team has been putting in tons of effort. We’re also working closely with Drew Needleman who is the head of Fat Pug Records,” wrote Lindley.

One objective of Artoberfest is to offer the campus an engaging entertainment option. To achieve this, the organizers are experimenting with different technologies. Lindley explained, “our main goal for Artoberfest is to provide an exciting and immersive art experience for everyone. The plan is to project local artists’ work onto big screens and onto Rocky while the bands are performing.

We’re also exploring the possibility of showing some of the bands’ music videos while they play.”

In addition to offering an interesting experience for its audience, Artoberfest also sought to connect the campus with its surrounding communities. According to Lindley, they reflected this goal in their selection of performers at the event.

“We really wanted to go with local bands to fit with the event theme of connecting Vassar and the surrounding Poughkeepsie and Hudson Valley area communities,” he commented.

In order to get in touch with local musicians and artists beyond Vassar, Lindley asked for help from members of Fat Pug Records (FPR), a Vassar student band that cooperates with off-campus musicians. “With this goal in mind, we reached out to Drew Needleman at Fat Pug Records, who was able to book the type of show that we were looking for. Fat Pug does a lot of work with musicians from underprivileged groups, so all of our

bands are either queer or incorporate strong feminist messages into their work,” Lindley noted.

Coordinating with different parties on and off campus, FPR was able to book the following lineup. PWR BTTM, pioneers of the ‘genre-queer,’ will be headlining the festival. In the vein of glam rock, their style has a 90s garage punk sound.

With their music, the duo of Hopkins and Bruce give indie music a queer voice that they felt was lacking. Having released their debut in September, PWR BTTM has received very positive reviews so far, from publications including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and NPR. Another performing group, Vagabon is an all-female emo and lo-fi rock group that produces the style of music with a hard and distorted sound to them. They aim to promote a feminist perspective in a musical genre largely dominated by male white performers. Respectively based in Brooklyn and New York City.

Bruise is a female fronted lo-fi garage band while Youth Posse is a five-piece psychedelic rock band.

Youth Posse will go on at 6pm, Bruise at 7pm, Vagabon at 8pm, and PWR BTTM will finish the night starting at 9pm.

For Head of Fat Pug Records Drew Needleman ’18, it was an enjoyable to help with Artoberfest.

Needleman said, “FPR is proud to assist Davison House in booking their upcoming event. Given how both the local and national music scene is dominated by straight white men, FPR works to help underrepresented groups, females, people of color, and those who identify as queer or genderqueer have the opportunity to perform, record and get the recognition that they deserve. We’re proud to announce our lineup.”

Artoberfest also attempted to strengthen the bond between Vassar and local community through promotional strategies. Lindley explained, “Artoberfest is open to guests from off-campus, and we’re making a big push to advertise it to the greater Poughkeepsie and Hudson Valley area. We want to try and bridge the gap between Vassar and the surrounding community and feel that an event like this is a great place to start.”

Besides musical performances, Vassar’s photography club, PHOCUS, will also lead a cyanotype workshop in the first hour. Popular in the

PWR BTTM is one of several groups set to perform Friday at Artoberfest. The fest is being advertised heavily in the local community in an effort to bring Vassar and Hudson Valley residents together.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

October 22, 2015

ARTS

Page 15

Sextet premiers eclectic set on Music Department stage Patrick Tanella Guest reporter

T

Katie de Heras/The Miscellany News

he Vassar Music Department’s fall concert series will continue this Saturday, October 24th, with its Jazz Event. A medley of faculty members will be performing, including Peter Tomlinson, piano, Mike DeMicco, guitar, Jim Osborn, trumpet and flugelhorn, Ed Xiques, saxophones, Lou Pappas, bass and from outside of the college, Tom Melito on drums as a special guest artist. Melito teaches jazz percussion at Central Connecticut University.

The group will be playing original compositions from Peter Tomlinson, Mike DeMicco and Ed Xiques, and the arrangement is produced by Lou Pappas. This is the first time that the jazz sextet will be performing all together, as they have only performed individually or in smaller groups for the annual Music Department Welcome Concert and Commencement Concert.

For Osborn, “this is a rare opportunity for all of us to rehearse and perform together as we are all collaborating on songs and arrangements.

We are excited to be playing for our wonderful students and their friends and for our friends and families from the local community!” The event provides an opportunity for these talented musicians to come together and perform as a collective entity for the Vassar community.

The collaboration was assembled by Jim Osborn and Peter Tomlinson and, while the members perform regularly in the tri-state area, this is the first time they will be performing as a jazz sextet at Vassar. Osborn has been teaching at Vassar since he started teaching trumpet in 1982, and he started the Vassar Jazz Ensemble in 1983. He now directs the Vassar College and Community Wind Ensemble and four jazz combinations in addition to teaching trumpet and Jazz Ensemble. The members find the addition of Tom Melito as indispensable. According to Central

Connecticut University, Melito has been on the New York City Jazz scene for many years and has performed in several prominent events, including the JVC, Montreal and Berne Jazz Festivals. His drumming has been heard behind such varied artists as John Pizzarelli, Frank Wess, Harry Allen, “Sweets” Edison, Lew Soloff and Bill Watrous and his various television appearances include the CBS Early Show, Entertainment Tonight and CNN World Beat.

He has also been active in the jazz educational community and has created many different CDs for “Windplayer” Magazine. The concert also hopes to highlight the work of Peter Tomlinson, who will be performing multiple original compositions. In 2010, Tomlinson started the Poughkeepsie Day School, where he teaches students in grades K-12 piano. He has studied with Barry Harris, Armen Donelian and Warren Bernhardt, and has recorded albums with Grammy Award winner Jay Ungar. The Music Department describes Tomlinson as “a highly sought after leader for small jazz combos as well as a sideman and accompanist to jazz vocalists.” Ed Xiques, an accomplished saxophonist, has worked with various artists, including Aerosmith, The Jackson Five, Tony Bennett, Liza Minnelli and Frank Sinatra. He has also performed for the Hudson Valley Philharmonic and New York Pops, giving him an accomplished and diverse resume.

The concert will be showcasing jazz through original compositions as well as some classic jazz standards. Lou Pappas, who will be playing double bass, describes the event as “a wonderful concert, not only for jazz lovers, but anyone who appreciates good music played by great musicians!” Pappas will also present a song, “Blues for Jim San,” by bassist Don Thompson, which is one of his favorite tunes. Prior to Vassar, Pappas had been a bassist for the United States Military Academy Band, and the Music

Jazz piano artist Peter Tomlinson will be one of six performers to play in the Music Deparment’s Fall Jazz Event. The performers are excited to showcase their mix of styles and talents on stage.

Department states that “he has performed at jazz festivals across the United States. Mike DeMicco, an accomplished guitarist, has received many accolades and praise from key outlets in the jazz community. The Jazz Times describes DeMicco as “the perfect blend of soul, polish, and technique.” His classical jazz is heavily beneficial to the jazz sextet, and his extensive experience in various jazz festivals and ensembles makes him perfect for this concert.

In regards to the event, Ed Xiques believes that “it is important to experience all kinds of music live. Recordings are important but beats the experience of live music.”The con-

cert features a cross-style of jazz, from be-bop to Broadway, Latin, Swing, Ballads, and many other styles. Even if you have never listened to jazz before or attended a concert at Vassar, why not start now and come to this fantastic event that the faculty has worked very hard on? The music program hopes to highlight this unique event, as it is distinct from previous jazz events at Vassar. Osborn encourages “everyone to come out for an fun evening of straight ahead jazz and swinging arrangements presented by your very own faculty members! Come see if we practice what we preach!” The concert will start at 8 p.m., and, as always, it is open and free to the public.

Devised play hopes to embody issues of race, gender Sabrina Oh guest reporter

L

Howard wrote, “The process began over the summer, when I just did a lot of reading and compiling text that had a lot of promise. When we got back to campus, Josh and I divided up the rehearsal weeks by themes: Elements, Divinity, and Rebirth... We wrote the pieces in the vein of whatever that week’s theme was, and our movement worked under the same influence. It really guided the product. Crunch time came during the third week, when we were asked to present a skeleton of the piece. To our surprise we already had forty minutes of the piece. Of course, even into tech, the piece is growing and shifting. That’s what’s so exciting about the fact that it’s our living baby.”

Tempro echoed Howard’s excitement about the process. “We got to learn each other’s creative style, and by the end of the first two weeks we had pieces on the ground already. We ‘finished’ up on those themes, spent the next week really putting together what we’d written, and went into tech...We’re still finding new angles and ideas, and we’re really happy with what we’ve created,” he said.

The dynamics of the piece itself are just as riv-

courtesy of Vassar College Drama Department

acuna is defined as a blank space or a missing part. At once, the locution brings to mind a sense of ambiguity and negligence; the result is passivity.

However, Asia Howard ’16 and Joshua Tempro ’16 daringly defy the status quo. They react to the “missing parts” and aestheticize the “blank space” into a powerful interface of social consciousness and artistry.

This week, Howard and Tempro will present their senior project Lacunae at the Powerhouse Theater. The event’s description reads, “Lacunae, or Blindspots, is a movement-based devised piece that seeks to assert and celebrate the presence, power and beauty of those often caught in society’s blind spots–queer, gender non-conforming and femme Black people. Lacunae seeks to explore the surveillance of these bodies as well as the invisibility coupled with it. For those who have been unseen and unheard.”

Lacunae blurs the line between not only performers and audience members but also performance and reality. The architecture of the performance will play an intrinsic role in blurring these lines. Howard wrote, “It will be performed in the round, because we were very interested in how cultural perceptions of Black femininity, much like the effect of the gaze within the panopticon design, has the power to incite self-monitoring.

We also wanted to put those often in the position of surveillance at the center–the seat of power.”

Lacunae peels away the curtain to see, hear and understand those unseen, unheard and underestimated in the femme Black community. By virtue of this empowering nature, the project requires and consolidates the symbiosis between performer and viewer. Howard wrote, “I would like audience members to walk away realizing that what we present to them is at best the tip of the iceberg, and that they have been seen. For one hour of their lives they were held accountable for their complicity in the culture of invisibility surrounding Black women, and hopefully when they leave the theatre doors and go back into a world where they can be comfortably anonymous, they choose not to. I hope that they make of themselves instruments to speak to these women’s existence and to help the best they can to prevent more from disappearing.”

The impressive scale of Lacunae is attributed to these two senior thesis members. Outnumbered by the number of responsibilities, Howard wrote, “[I]t was necessary to wear a few hats…I generated most of the staging for the material that [Tempro and I] wrote as an ensemble—which I am also a part of. I’m performing in the piece and designed the set.”

Tempro also weighed in on his role, saying “[Howard] and I acted as co-facilitators of a devised ensemble piece, so everyone had a lot of creative input. I primarily worked as stage manager, and general ‘person in the room with a lot of opinions’.”

Professor of Drama Shona Tucker played a constructive role in guiding the two seniors to gain structure and momentum. Tucker wrote, “My role as adviser started over the summer as the nudge. I began by getting [Howard] and [Tempro] to think along both practical and abstract lines in parallel.” Tucker also gave them practical deadlines for specific tasks so that the process is more manageable.

The process of the project is just as manifold.

Lacunae, a senior project, uses movement and interaction with the audience to explore themes of race and gender. The piece aims to increase visibility and awareness of complicity in oppression.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

eting as the inspiration behind Lacunae. Howard wrote, “I was inspired to do this project while studying abroad in Italy. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, I was often made very aware of my presence as a Black woman in the fact that I was often sexualized and exoticized. I’ve experienced it a great deal in my travels, but what gets me through it was often the thought that I was just passing through–a foreigner there to experience what she could while she could. It was hard to do when at home the Michael Brown Case was coming to yet another disappointing end, and knowing that when I left Europe I would go home to essentially be a foreigner in my own country.”

Lacunae surely extends beyond the parameters of a mere project or performance. It is a manifestation of personal resonance, culture and identity.

Howard wrote, “The project is important to me because Black women have been the backbones and the stepping stones for so many liberation movements that served just about everyone else, and it’s time that they’re recognized for it.”

Tempro agreed, saying, “I think it’s so important that the art of Black people, particularly Black women, is seen and heard. The ensemble is putting their lives on the stage, and it deserves to be paid attention to.”

Lacunae’s participants can barely contain their reverence for the input of work as well as their excitement for the output of work. Tucker wrote, “I find the movement of black bodies in tandem to convey message uber exciting. I find that the students have created this vibrant, smart and challenging work (both for themselves and their audience) hopeful and celebratory. I find their courage commendable and say go further. I am happy the Drama Department has been able to support our African American Seniors on this culminating work.”

In all, Lacunae seeks to observe the nature of social blindspots and let them be known to not only audience members but conscious members of society. Tucker wrote, “I would like audiences to be more than moved. I would like them to want to pay more attention to their interactions with fellow inhabitants of this planet. I think Lacunae is the Shonda Rhimes-like vehicle of Vassar College. It’s smart; it’s got texts interwoven that are stealthy and unsettling. The piece is saying Black female lives matter. We love us. Open yourselves to respect us and love us too.”

ARTS

Page 16

October 22, 2015

New lessons Chinese film achieves festival successes in Arden revamp Yibo Yu

Guest Columnist

The Assassin Hou Hsiao-hsien Well Go USA

Daniel Rosen

Guest Columnist

Spring Awakening Michael Arden Deaf West

R

easonable criticism arose when Deaf West announced that they would be taking their production of “Spring Awakening” to Broadway, slated for a mere six years after the original production. Critics and New York audiences alike grumbled that little was to be improved upon from the universally acclaimed original; however, no such grumbling was heard from the audience as the show opened this past Sunday–the first Deaf West Broadway production in 12 years.

The need for this new interpretation was unshakably evident.

Detailing the tragedy caused by a lack of communication through generations, the show captures the life of German teenagers at the end of the 19th century, as originally conceived in the Frank Wedekind’s play of the same title; as they are denied sex education and, to a greater extent, respect, the characters stumble into devastating situations involving more than one, not entirely unpredictable, death. Under Michael Arden’s refreshing direction, the characters now face these challenges with any disabilities their actors may have: if the actor is bound to a wheelchair, as in the case of Ali Stroker; if the actor is deaf, as is most of the cast; so will be their character.

The show began and ended in silence for the audience; in the world, no character even uttered a word. The roles were double cast for a signing and singing voice, and any line sung or read was a convenience for an able-bodied audience. First and foremost, the entire piece was made by and for the deaf, with the entire cast signing, and the occasional lines appearing on the set, although those were just as often for the able-bodied audience as they were for the deaf.

These decisions redefined the original text, in scenes as simple as a hearing teacher asking a struggling deaf student “Do you even know what you’re saying?” and in lyrics that naturally include the vernacular of the hearing, such as “Have you heard the word of your body.” The divide between a both literally and figuratively nonspeaking older generation and an expressively gesticulating youth only grew in scenes that transpired in silence, interspersed by the occasional, unintelligible shout, as each party wrestled with their communicative limitations.

Also, with the double cast came inspired moments of metaphor, in which passing a guitar or a mic from a singing to a signing actor came to represent moments of surrender, of a voice lost; oppression was expressed with a more formal ASL (American Sign Language), while joy was supported with the ASL equivalent of slang, aligning with the dissonance created from 1800s characters that sing rock songs, their forward ideologies too anachronistic to survive.

Written with a purposefully vague ending, this production now forces upon its audience more questions about the nature of theatre than the original did with respect to sex education.

Upon leaving one can’t help but notice an entire cast of able-bodied people in every other production, whether on Broadway or in community theatre. Arden notes in the program that “[Deaf] children were told if they failed at speech, they failed at life.” Why then should signed productions be a niche experience confined to one theatre company? Not only is this production accessible to deaf audiences and actors, the entire show is audio-described for the blind. There is no excuse for future productions not to do the same.

While this show has a limited run ending in January, one can’t miss this hopefully game-changing production; there’s no need to break the bank as tickets are only $35 for those who win the day-of lottery. Beyond that, we’ll all have to hope it won’t be another 12 years until a Deaf West production comes to Broadway.

I

remember when the Chinese film “Black Coal, Thin Ice” (2014) won the Golden Berlin Bear, mainland Chinese critics gave it universal acclaim. In the eyes of the Chinese mass audience, however, it was labeled as a yishu pian, a slightly pejorative term close to the meaning “art film,” characterized by slow editing, terse dialogues, restrained acting, ambiguous story and unexciting long shots. Basically, a yishu pian, as an average Chinese audience sees it, is not “Avengers” or “Furious 7”. Still dominated by Hollywood pop films, mainland China’s film scene is still hostile to “art films,” unless, of course, that film won an important award, granting the film marketability.

Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Wuxia entry “The Assassin” (2015), which won a Best Director at Cannes, is a yishu pian with marketability. The film is among the current New York Film Festival selection, and has released in theaters in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to critical acclaim. Hou’s signature slow-panning camera, long shot and authentic mise-en-scene accompanied the protagonist Nie Yinniang–played by Shu Qi– throughout her journey during the late Tang dynasty, circa 750 AD. Albeit a master of ruthless killing, Nie Yinniang voluntarily gave up on an assassination of a corrupt official, because, as she explained to her master Jia Xin, she couldn’t bear killing a father before his innocent child. Claiming to cleanse Nie Yinniang’s unprofessional compassion, Jia Xin sent her to assassinate her cousin and first love Tian Ji’an (played by Chang Chen), who was now the governor of her hometown Weibo. Her arrival, however,

instigated a complicated plot of conspiracy among the big families in town, unfolding in the historical background of an evolving relationship between the military stronghold Weibo and the weakening Imperial Court of Tang dynasty. Nie Yinniang’s mission, at least in her own mind, was never so simple as killing her cousin. She would have to decide among family, love and her master’s teachings as she progresses through the perilous terrain of her hometown.

If anything stands out in the film, it is the incredibly slow pace. The slowness could be a gesture to authenticity, since the pre-modern Chinese life could hardly compare with the fast, discontinuous, compartmentalized postmodern life. To be alive in our time involves a constant seeking of sensorial stimulation, including browsing Facebook, listening to music while exercising, absorbing endless information and the cinema itself. Aided by special effects, quick editing and the constantly moving camera, the dominant cinema of our time appeals to our senses by assaulting them with sex, gore, split-second action and melodrama.

Hou’s “Assassin” offers an alternative. Nie Yinniang kills with elegant violence but without gore. Tian Ji’an’s subdued monologue expresses things deplete of melodrama. Sexual display in the film is minimal, if not nonexistent.

By resisting the dominant cinema, Hou assaults the very idea of assaulting the sensorial.

His portrayal of the late Tang lifestyle is one that deliberately disappoints those who expect an action-driven, melodramatic Wuxia entry, and one that provides puzzles and thinking rather than distraction and entertainment.

And, consequently, “Assassin” becomes the black sheep in the Wuxia cannon. Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000) combines exotically beautiful cinematography and quick, clever, and sometimes incredibly gravity-defying sword fight. Zhang Yimou’s Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) continues to mythicize a kind of in-

dependent martial-art warrior who flies on rooftops and usually combats in pristine and gorgeous landscapes. Wong Kai-war also made his mark with his Grandmaster (2013), which ventures further to turn the martial artist Ip Man into a superhuman “Neo” fighting hundreds of black suit “Agent Smith” in a bleak, heavily rainy night. Assassin does none of that. Hou deemphasizes fight scenes, which sometimes could only be seen from a distant shot. Make no mistake, Nie Yinniang does fly on rooftops and kills with elegance, but these features were not the eyeball-attractions like they were in previous renowned Wuxia films.

As if Nie Yinniang themselves, these fight scenes come out of nowhere and, after the job is swiftly done, disappear. They do not linger, nor do they elaborate. The camera’s focus, or rather Hou’s vision, is on something more complicated, something Ang Lee and Zhang did not explore, for good reasons.

And one of them is the need to westernize. In an average Chinese audience’s mind, “Crouching Tiger” and “House of Flying Daggers” are not yishu pian. In another word, they are closer to “Avengers” and “Furious 7” than “Assassin”. They might be quintessentially Chinese, but they are no less a spectacle, a Chinese version of the Cinema of Attractions.

Assassin loves richness of history and embraces familial ties so complicated that many Chinese audiences couldn’t decipher. It loves succinct fight scenes. It loves making the audience go through tediously long shot to see the minute changes of countenance that informs so much psychology beyond words. It loves placing symbolism that requires proficient understanding of pre-modern Chinese traditions.

Above all, it loves resisting the dominant cinema and resisting the westernization of the Chinese cinema. Much like Nie Yinniang, Hou is a cinematic lone wolf. He sees, like Nie Yinniang sees, what is really happening behind the cinematic back doors and decides, like Nie Yinniang decides, to be true to his origin, rather than the “master’s teachings.”

Drake, Future evenly-matched on collab Shahid Naeem

Guest Columnist

What a Time to be Alive Drake and Future Metro Boomin

A

s soon as the tracklist for Drake and Future’s rumored collaborative mixtape “What A Time To Be Alive” leaked on Twitter, the internet hype machine began firing on all cylinders.When Drake uploaded the cover art to Instagram, he catapulted “What A Time To Be Alive” from the shadow realm of hip hop fantasy into the bright spotlights of today’s social media. The 11-track mixtape premiered on and was released exclusively through Apple Music, which is clearly reaping the rewards of inking Drake to a $19 million dollar deal this summer.

After it surfaced that the project was recorded at Future’s Atlanta studio in just six days, some wondered how successful it would be—that is, until every single track on the release charted within a week.

The majority of the mixtape’s production is handled by longtime Future collaborator Metro Boomin, whose instrumentals reflect the hazy Atlanta trap sound that Future has succeeded in bringing to mainstream hip hop. On the opener “Digital Dash,” an ode to dope, cash and all things material, Future laments, “When I was sleepin’ on the floor you shoulda seen how they treat me/I pour the Actavis and pop pills so I can fight the demons.” Although Drake touches on a lot thematically (he’s busy renewing his commitment to not committing to women), Future is at the top of his game lyrically, and vocalizes some wryly amusing imagery on the hook, “I send that dope to your momma tho/Out in the streets like thermometers/You rats will never be honorable.”

The crown jewel of the project is “Diamonds Dancing,” a sparkling Metro Boomin production featuring Drake and Future uniting to deliver an incredibly catchy hook (you guessed it: “di-

amond, diamond, diamond, diamonds on me dancing,”) and splitting back up for hard-hitting verses. Metro Boomin again delivers a classic bass-driven window-rattler in “Scholarships,” which sees both rappers take a more confessional tone as they reprehend the intoxicating properties of material wealth and fame. Drake broods over his need for appreciation (“I need acknowledgment, If I got it then tell me I got it”), and a distressed Future reflects, “I wake up, and pray every morning/These demons, they callin’ my soul/I’m ballin’ out of control.”

The project’s ninth track, “Jumpman,” is undoubtedly a product of the Jordan/Drake business connect, and serves as the latest in a line of Jordan shoutouts to grace mainstream hip hop, a far more effective form of advertisement for the Jordan Brand than any billboard or TV spot.

That being said, “Jumpman” is the wet dream of every Drake and Future fan: both rappers grandstanding to the max, swaggering over loud 808s, glittering hi-hats, and gleefully repetitive rhyme schemes. “30 for 30 Freestyle” is perhaps the most out of place track on this tape, a solo effort that sees Drake return to a more emotional, from-the-heart delivery about his personal life over relaxed production from Noah “40” Shebib, who sets the mood with lingering piano notes and muted vocal samples.

Although “What A Time To Be Alive” affirms Drake’s nature as an incredibly versatile rapper, there’s no denying that the project plays more like a Future mixtape. With the sole exception of “30 for 30 Freestyle” near the end of the project, every track could fit seamlessly on Future’s latest album “Dirty Sprite 2”. The mainstream exposure garnered from Future’s breakout this year was the boost he needed to entice Drake into a collaboration, and he showed no signs of letting up at any point on this mixtape. That being said, it’s difficult to say if Drake was truly out-muscled on this project. At this point, one has to wonder if Drake might just be the most unassailable artist in the music industry. Objectively, Future brought far more to the table for this project with regard to emotion, sound and lyrical content. Despite this, “What A Time To

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Be Alive” will be catalogued as the latest Drake release, with Future as his sidekick. As both an artist and a brand, Drake is so invulnerable that he can choose to collaborate with a much smaller artist, vacate the project’s driver’s seat and still somehow come out on top.

Every possible critique of Drake has been thwarted by his unstoppable commercial and sonic appeal. Despite his shameless appropriation of other artists’ styles and sounds, ghostwriting allegations, and soft exterior, Drake has risen to the top of not only the hip hop industry but music as a whole. Perhaps the most astounding aspect of Drake’s massive success is how it has been accomplished without any real message. This is no accident, however. Drake has shown a keen ear and willingness to co-opt any sound poised to break into the mainstream—see ILoveMakonnen’s smash hit “Tuesday,” electronic music producer Maya Jane Coles’s original “Truffle Butter,” and most recently Virginia rapper DRAM’s “Cha Cha,” which was recast as the summer anthem “Hotline Bling”. “After What A Time To Be Alive”, we can add Future’s intoxicating trap sound to that list, easily accessorized via the mobilization of social media spheres through relatable, Instagram-ready lyrics just begging for memeification.

For Drake, secure atop hip hop’s throne, “What A Time To Be Alive” is a brief but refreshing interlude following “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late”, re-establishing his dominance while he puts the finishing touches his next studio album, “Views From The Six. For Future”, it’s just the latest in an onslaught of stellar releases that have launched him to the forefront of hip hop’s biggest players.

Between these two hip hop heavyweights, there’s just too much star power for this mixtape not to shine. “What A Time To Be Alive” is not a cohesive album, and will never hold up to the criticisms of those who view it as such. “What A Time To Be Alive” is a rare fellowship of king and bandit, a joint venture between Drake’s empire and Future’s rogue state, unlikely partners in an irresistible collaboration.

What A Time To Be Alive.

ARTS

October 22, 2015

Page 17

Library space connects art to literature Excuse me, ULYSSES continued from page 1

process, these thread drawings are picked up directly from the molten glass and embedded right into the hot glass. They’re not painted; they’re not drawn on. They’re actually fused together right into its surface...The technique allows one to translate drawings directly onto sculpture in the process of making hot glass. It’s very immediate. It’s also very fragile.”

The nature of this creative process requires collaboration among various parties. This cooperation can be difficult. But Chihuly and Leslie made it work. Leslie recounted, “I’m a painter and he’s a sculpture working in 3D. He has always admired my watercolor paintings. When we collaborated, there have never been any difficulties. He let me do what I want and I let him do the same. It is a very rewarding process, and working with glass is very fun and exciting.”

Last summer in 2014, the works was first displayed at Dublin Castle, in Dublin, Ireland.

Working to connect with Irish galleries and an Irish national herself, Stokes talked about the cylinders’ world premiere. “It was during Blooms-

day, which is a big festival for James Joyce...It was a huge deal and it was important for the artist the work would be premiered in Ireland because obviously the inspiration being Joyce and to get some kind of approval from the Irish people,” she recounted.

Returning to the U.S., the exhibition found its connection with Vassar through Chihuly’s wife, Leslie Jackson Chihuly, an alum from Class of ‘83.

With a layout plan from the Chihuly Studio, Associate Director of the Palmer Gallery, Monica Church, and Curator and Assistant Director for Strategic Planning at the Loeb Art Center, Mary-Kay Lombino worked with Stokes to set up the art pieces. “During the installation we worked from a layout plan for each room and each object within each room...Because a plan is good in theory, once the objects were placed in on the pedestals, we were able to make decisions about if a pedestal needed to be moved a few feet one way or another to create the best flow for viewers of the exhibition,” she explained.

Stokes added that while they sought to provide an organic viewing experience for the au-

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

The Ulysses Cylinders, created by Dale Chihuly and Seaver Leslie with Flora C. Mace and Joey Kirkpatrick seek to portray the Irish novel by James Joyce. The exhibition will be on view till Nov. 22.

Campus Canvas

dience, there was also a chronological order to the arrangement of the works so that visitors can have a guideline to hold onto.

As the exhibition has been set up for a few weeks, it has already caught the eyes of many Vassar students. Raquel Jackson-Stone ’16 commented, “I thought they are really interesting.

Some cylinders try to tell a story, while some others seem random. I have seen Chihuly’s works in other places, and they are completely different from these. Chihuly often does big blown glass sculptures, and I’ve seen one exhibition in a greenhouse in Ohio. This collection is much smaller in size, which perhaps views each piece as a part of a bigger whole.”

Also trained in glass arts, Stokes spoke highly of this body of glass works. “I love the simplicity of the work, even though it’s not really simple. It has apparent simplicity because it’s a very simple slender shape. Like a blank canvas, it anchors everything together but it doesn’t take away...

She continued, “I also love the fact that the artists are ambitious and audacious to come and take on a classic masterpiece of that level and try to interpret it into a completely different medium. It’s a risk. It’s making yourself pretty vulnerable...And artists need to do that.”

Library is an unconventional setting for artworks, but it suits this body of works quite well.

Stokes explained, “Something that’s kind of unique about Chihuly is how he often replaces his work in context that are not always museum-like. He’s famous for not just his museum work but his gallery work...So by placing this specific body of work, which is inspired by a novel but is also a piece of sculpture of art, he hopes to broaden the audience to people who might not even know about him in this context.

But also, the work itself creates essentially a visual portal to the book that for some people who would be intimidated by it to have access to it. It is very democratic...I think that’s part of it – to demystify part of the complex novel and make it more accessible to people and to a different audience. It’s kind of provocative in a way.”

As Church concluded, “It works incredibly well with the library’s clear leaded windows that stream in natural light. The sculptures are being seen in a spectacular space, surrounded by books, and students doing research, what could be a better fit?”

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

What color tastes the best?

“Oh, def red.” ­­— Juliet Weis ’18

“Blue. It’s my favorite color.”

— Seth Prisament ’18

“Red because I like red candy.”

— Craig Pellegrino ’18

submit to misc@vassar.edu

“Purple. Grapes are purple.”

— Mat Thomas ’18

“Red because it’s the color of apples, the ubiquitous fruit in our society.”

— Cooper Ross ’19

“Yellow tastes the worst. Because pee.”

—Maddy Meigs ’18

I made these series of self-portraits in the drawing class I took last year. The instructor asked us to draw 30 pieces of our faces and each with different media and approaches. So I played around with charcoal, crayon, graphite and such. To interest things more, I also adopted various perspectives and wore different clothes and accessories for different pieces. This work is the one I did with my glasses on. After finishing it and comparing it with other works, I was surprised and fascinated to find out how much a simple pair of glasses can affect the human face and our facial expressions.

-Fiona Ding ‘17

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Zander Bashaw, Humor & Satire Editor Charles Lyons, Guest Reporter

SPORTS

Page 18

October 22, 2015

Young rowers making strides, strokes after fall opener Ashley Hoyle Reporter

N

ot only are they up before the sun, but while you are still rolling around in your warm bed, the Vassar rowing squad is working hard lifting weights, doing cardio and entering the cold water of the Hudson River. After a canceled meet the week prior, the fall rowing season began on Oct. 10 when the Brewers traveled to Derby, Conn. for the Head of the Housatonic Regatta. Held on the Housatonic River, the meet began Head Coach Shawn Turner’s career at Vassar. Turner is coming off a four year stint at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. where he was the assistant men’s and women’s rowing coach as well as a voter on the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division III Poll. “I came from Hamilton last year which is 3rd in NCAAs, so I know the standard we have to get to, which is just taking them there one step at a time,” said Turner.

Junior captain Andrew Wang spoke to the renewed energy Turner has brought to Vassar rowing, “Our regatta at West Point, initially scheduled for Oct. 3, was canceled due to Hurricane Joaquin, causing our team to miss a prime racing opportunity before Housatonic.

Our team has also lost nearly a week of water practice due to the volatile conditions of the Hudson River. Through it all, our team has flourished under the new leadership of Coach Turner and returning Assistant Coach Kate Brownson. Our practices are more efficient and designed to isolate technique work on the water. Vassar Rowing has emerged from October break a more cohesive and competitive team, pumped for our last regatta of the fall season on Halloween.”

Junior Lucas Kautz described his experience at the event, “This was my first year racing at the Head of the Housatonic and my first year racing in the both the men’s varsity 4+ and men’s varsity 8+. Overall, this was one of the

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

Men’s rowing junior captain Andrew Wang joins his fellow rowers for some work out on the Hudson River. The addition of a new head coach looks to help this young team prepare for future success.

stronger races in the men’s 8+ I have been involved in.”

This year is one of the more challenging years for the varsity team as this was the first varsity race for seven of the eight rowers in the varsity men’s 8+, including one of their novice rowers, freshman Alex Goff. Kautz continued, “Our coxswain, Janet Ortiz, did exceptionally well with both technical calls and steering through the lengthy 2.7 mile course. Coxswains are one of the most important members of the team through these longer head races as their ability to provide constant encouragement and precision steering can make or break a race for individual boats. The men’s varsity 4+ showed amazing energy having raced only a few hours prior with the men’s varsity 8+. Due to the strong efforts in the 4+, we beat University of Connecticut’s A boat and trailed RPI by only 17 seconds.”

Wang described the team’s competition opener, “[The Head of the Housatonic] is a head race: boats are called to a staggered start and compete for time. It is also a wet launch regatta meaning there are no docks, requiring rowers to walk into shallow water and climb in their boats.” The course is 4.4km (2.7 miles) and is one of the longer races the team will face this year.

Turner is excited to build on the team’s premiere performance, commenting: “For us it was the first race we went to, my first race since I’ve been here actually. Race wise, we didn’t do as particularly well as we would have liked, but we weren’t bad. We finished near the back in everything. But I think what we did do is we figured out how to race. We’re still kind of learning that stretch of things after last year.”

The Brewers’ next opportunity to build on their initial performance will be at the Head of Fish. Wang elaborated on the event, “[The race] is a regatta held on the last weekend of October each year on Fish Creek in Saratoga County, New York State. (Winners are aptly awarded lacquered fish heads.) It takes place this year on Halloween. We expect to be competing with many of the same crews at Housatonic.”

Senior captain Elena Riecke explained the team’s plan to prepare for the Head of Fish,

“We’ve been on a six day a week practice schedule since classes started this semester, plus extra on land practices on the ergs. This year has been about getting in a lot of meters during practice and re-working technique so that all of the people in the boat are on the same page. The technique part is seriously no small feat, because some of us on the team are on our third head coach at Vassar—so as you can tell there’s definitely some variation going on there. The varsity team was also getting in two practices a day during October break.”

Inexperience has been a huge issue for Vassar rowing in the past, Turner explained, “At New York State Championships Vassar placed last in four out of five events. And third to last I think in the other. So they had a rough year, they didn’t get out on the water that much...

They only got three weeks of practice time on the water before the races started, so I think that was the defining factor for their team.”

With all the hard work the team has been putting in, Turner and the team expect to see great improvement this season. Riecke gushed, “Rowing has been a part of my Vassar experience since my freshman orientation, and I really can’t imagine life without it. It’s a group of incredibly passionate and hardworking people, most of whom have stuck around when they walked into college not even knowing that the seat in a boat moves (it does). We give up a lot to be on the team—a lot of it is normal athlete sacrifice, like staying in the night before a competition, but we also sacrifice things like going to UpC or Jazz Night because we’re usually up at 4:45 in the morning... Practices run for two hours six mornings a week. On the water we work on technique, drills and power pieces for sometimes over 12,000 meters per practice.”

Turner echoed her sentiments, saying “My favorite part of the year, and this is almost always the case, is the kids... It takes a special group to want to wake up as early as we do— we finish by the time most people start their days. We’re finishing our erg workout when everybody else is starting their day with Cam. We start at 5:30 on some of those days. It’s been great, just watching them get faster.”

Women’s lax, rugby teams build bond with local children CHARITY continued from page 1

mer coach, was set up with the Northwestern University Women’s Lacrosse team. That year, the young Murphy helped inspire her team to finish with a perfect season and win their first NCAA national championship in 64 years. The next year, Jaclyn asked her father to help other children with cancer to ‘get a team.’ Today, Jaclyn is a senior at Marist.

Finerghty explained the Foundation’s goal and how her team became involved. “We wanted to get involved in something lasting and meaningful [so] we signed up [with Friends of Jaclyn] and were put on a waitlist for almost two years before we received our pairing with Grace. The intent [of Friends of Jaclyn] is for the team to surround the[ir] child with love and support. At this point the organization has connected over 600 children with college and high school teams from many sports. [They are] now reaching out to connect children with other diseases, not just cancer, to athletic teams, music groups and other organizations.”

Senior standout Isabelle Goldstein explained why she finds the Foundation’s mission so important. “It’s a simple idea really. Teams spread the love, so why not share it with those who need it the most? It’s about positivity. Our team is a support system, and we offer a resource that otherwise would go untapped.”

Goldstein also finds that the Foundation’s mission aligns with her team’s philosophy. “Our team motto is ‘always take care of your girls.’

Above all else, we seek to generate positivity.

We look outside of ourselves [and] our own interest and think about the people around us.

That includes Grace, who is such an important member of our team.”

Finerghty also emphasized the impact her team’s relationship with Leva has had beyond their four years here. “Grace has actually been around the program longer than any of our current players, so she is a nice connection to our alumni as well. Some of them continue to stay

in touch with her, sending her postcards from their travels around the world and sending messages. Grace came to our alumni game this fall and reconnected with some of those graduates that she hasn’t seen in a couple of years.”

This year, Vassar Athletics has two more teams partnered with Friends of Jaclyn thanks to Senior men’s rugby player, John Winton.

This year both the men and women’s teams have ‘adopted’ a child. Winton’s father went to high school with the Murphy family and Winton himself worked for a member of the Murphy family. While he doesn’t know Jaclyn or her father, the founder, he has a strong connection to the organization.

Winton explained his connection to the foundation through both the Murphy family and the foundation’s overall mission. “[I] was always aware of the charity through the involvement of the rest of the Murphy family as well as segments of the charity on HBO...my life has been greatly impacted by cancer [and] I thought that the things that [Friends of Jaclyn] was doing for the quality of life of these children with different illnesses was really important and was excited at the opportunity to help in some small way…what’s most valuable for me is that [they focus] purely on quality of life for these kids and their families. The time spent with the team allows these families to get away from the bad hand of cards that they’ve been dealt, if only for a few hours at a time.

Childhood illnesses can be incredibly hard to cope with, and [they] makes sure that families have a support system to lean on during some truly hard times.”

Speaking of hard times, Finerghty explained how far Grace has come since she’s had the chance to get to know the Leva family. “We were lucky enough to be paired with Grace when she was six years old. She wasn’t healthy enough for us to actually meet her face to face at that point, as she was still recovering from surgery, radiation and chemo, but we did get

to have an ‘adoption’ ceremony the following spring after she turned seven. She was pretty much wheelchair or stroller-bound at that point, but that was the start of our relationship with her. We have continued to have her along as part of our team ever since. She turns 12 this December and she is doing very well as she is attending regular school, working with Physical and Occupational therapists, and recently she began dance lessons!”

Goldstein too has seen Grace improve so much throughout her time at Vassar. “By the time I came to the team we, as a lacrosse team, had already been paired with Grace for a few years…It’s been amazing to get to see our girl, Grace, grow up and come out of her shell over the years…She’s grown so much since I was a freshman. Three years ago, we didn’t get to see her as much, because she wasn’t as healthy.

Even after cancer left her system, she continued to have surgery after surgery and it really affected her development. Now, she is six years cancer free. She talks with us more than ever!”

According to Finerghty too, Leva’s strength has had a profound impact on her and her program beyond how they perform on the field and has helped break the Vassar bubble in a way.

“Off the top of my head I can think of at least three surgeries that Grace has undergone in the past year and a half to repair damage caused by the brain tumor that she once had. Seeing her tough it out through those procedures and the healing process without ever complaining, is certainly a life lesson for all of us. She also sparks a sense of responsibility in all of us, because like it or not, cancer is a part of our world. She has compelled many of us to help raise awareness of pediatric brain tumors (and other diseases), to raise funds, and even for some of our players and alumni to pursue pediatrics or oncology in their medical studies.”

For Winton and the rugby teams, they’ve spent a lot of time getting to know their adoptees and their families and the experience has

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

been incredibly positive. “We’ve been paired with the Panama family of Hopewell Junction, about 15 minutes away from Vassar. Camille, the youngest, has Down syndrome, and Steven, who is 21, [has] autism. They’ve both struggled making friends and finding a group to belong to in school, so their parents signed the kids up in hopes of being able to find a group of people with which they could feel comfortable… the experience has put a lot of things into perspective for the team. We’re all incredibly lucky to be healthy and playing rugby at Vassar. It’s important for us to see that not everyone has that privilege, and that the least we can do is try and help a family that has so much to go through.”

Though he has been profoundly affected for the better by his team’s involvement, Winton seemed to be most excited by how the teams been able to support the Panamas. “I think what’s most important is that the team or organization feels a strong bond within itself, so that they are able to extend that bond to their adoptees. Athletics and sports teams certainly encourage that, but it’s not exclusive to athletics. The rugby team specifically was uniquely suited to match with Camille and Steven because of our co-ed program with both teams operating very closely with one another. Having the men’s and women’s team work so closely together allowed Vassar Rugby as a whole to adopt both Camille and Steven, something that I think is valuable for their family.”

Goldstein too both has appreciated the effects Grace has had on her as well as the team’s been able to have on the Levas. “It gives us a good perspective on how lucky we are to be able to be at Vassar and play the sport we love.

We share a lot of love as a team, and it’s great to see the positive impact we can make by just sharing that positivity with our friend, Grace.”

Finerghty added, “She reminds us to appreciate our good health and to enjoy and to make the most of every moment… she helps inspire the team …She is our special little Brewer!”

October 22, 2015

SPORTS

Page 19

Developing bonds, one short Odom situation more than fantasy week at a time sensational media fodder Zander Bashaw Humor Editor

F

antasy football may, at this point still seem to be for small circles of avid football fans.

It might seem that extensive knowledge and time put into the noble sport is the only way to get success. If only the latter were true, then I wouldn’t have to bear the fact that I am currently losing to my stepmom who to this date has done approximately 15.4 seconds of football research, and had the ESPN database draft her team. Though I am certainly bitter about this current situation, I am comparatively more excited that the enthusiasm and accessibility to fantasy football is spreading.

The internet and modern technology has certainly helped it get off the ground. Powerful databases and well designed smartphone apps give everyone access to in game scoring and videos and articles from fantasy analysts (yeah that’s a real job). These fantasy analysts make predictions about what players they think are going to be good fantasy, but because the NFL is so crazy and hard to predict, it’s really up to each league owner. Knowledge helps in theory, but in practice luck has a huge role. So, if fantasy football doesn’t have a lot of skill, and generates people with job titles like “Fantasy Sports Analyst” how can it be so fun? The answer lies with the people involved.

In 2013, I started a fantasy football league with seven friends from my club soccer team and two little siblings (who also happen to be on the same club soccer team). Though our team isn’t together anymore, and the members are all off at different colleges across the country, the league is going strong. For three Augusts in a row, the members have met up to draft our teams, eat pizza and catch up. Like our soccer team and our own lives, our fantasy league is pretty ridiculous. For example, one member didn’t check his team for nine straight weeks, but then went on to win the championship–a true fantasy zombie. Another classic is our league’s obsession with Patriots running

back LeGarrette Blount, who stayed true to his name and served a suspension for Marijuana use and possession. I think our group chat could win a Guinness world record for most football combined with weed puns.

Regardless of whether or not you think the team name “Big Hit on Blount” is funny, it cannot be denied that fantasy football has brought me and my friends closer. The cohesion could be attributed to every members strong desire to defeat their friends, but there is something else that makes our league special. One week in the first season, I decided to write a league power rankings, with comical opinions on each fantasy team’s strength. It became such a fun way to interact during the season, that there has been some form of these rankings for every week since. Our structured trash talk has enabled us to stay engaged with the league even from so many miles away.

This year, I continued to spread the fantasy gospel and convinced my family members of varying degrees of reluctance to join me in the creation of the East West Bashaw Bowl, where our Bay Area based kin and Southeastern Pennsylvania goons could square off for familial bragging rights. We have collectively shelved all of our filial piety and are out to prove who has the optimal fantasy football genes, and talking to each other more than usual in the process.

Fantasy football has the power to be transformative, and I’m not just talking about the internet famous “Tattoo leagues”, where the loser gets a permanent tattoo of the winner’s choice. I’m also not simply referring to the fact that I will never be able to watch an NFL game in my life without thinking of fantasy points. What I mean to say is that something that is only based on reality has bolstered my interpersonal relationships and provided me with lots of fun and distraction on those Sunday afternoons in the library. The previously mentioned power rankings are actually what inspired me to start writing for this very paper.

Zach Rippe

Sports Editor

F

or those unaware of the situation, on Oct. 13, former NBA player Lamar Odom was discovered unconscious at the Love Ranch, a brothel located in Crystal, Nevada. Reports from the nearby Sunrise Hospital claimed that “virtually every drug imaginable” was found in Odom’s system and that he appeared to have suffered an “ischemic stroke”. Odom married Khloe Kardashian in 2009 and has made several appearances on the E! network reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and even got his own spin off entitled “Khloe & Lamar”.

Naturally E! news and TMZ picked up on the event, turning this unfortunate incident into a spectacle. In their eyes, this was the perfect story: troubled ex-NBA player turned reality star who is estranged from his celebrity wife goes to what might be America’s most famous brothel as it has been featured on HBO show and proceeds to pass out and go on life support due to “every drug imaginable” being in his system. Of course E Online’s headline on Oct. 15 read “EXCLUSIVE: Lamar Odom squeezes Kim Kardashian’s hand.”

Unfortunately, initial TV news coverage (at least where I’m from) was sensationalist and negative. This was a “celebrity disaster!” Buzz words like drugs, prostitutes and Kardashian were uttered time and time again. Some did cite his accomplishments on the basketball court; Lamar was a two time NBA champion with the Lakers, a Sixth Man of the year winner and a member of the NBA All-Rookie First Team. It seemed as if there were no depth to Lamar’s character, his moral fiber as a person.

There was tremendous potential in the media for his life to be glossed over and boiled down to what happened on Oct. 13. Luckily these sensationalist accounts did not make up the entirety of the story.

Immediately, support poured out from across the NBA. Everyone from superstars to coaches to the most obscure players, past and present,

ADVERTISEMENT

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

teammates and strangers, hoped, wished and prayed for Lamar’s best. According to a blog from MySanAntonio.com’s Jeff McDonald, Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich, one of the best NBA coaches of all time and one of the most respected men in the league, stated, “I don’t concentrate on what kind of player he is.

I feel all the other things, because I know him as a person. Warm-hearted. Good-humored.

Wonderful guy to be around. Who cares about how he played? It’s about who you are and he was a good person.” This sentiment poured out from around the league and throughout the entirety of the digital world as well. Fans, nonfans, entire online communities even all have been wishing Odom their best.

What the sensationalizing media failed to present was this sentiment along with Odom’s past. Lamar grew up in South Jamaica, Queens.

An article from last Thursday’s Sports Illustrated provided more thoughtful, compassionate insight into Odom and the situation at hand. His father was a heroin addict and his mother, who died of colon cancer when he was twelve, told him at her deathbed, “Be nice to everybody.” His grandmother, who raised him from that point on, died in 2003 and three years later to the day, his 6-month-old son died of SIDS. TMZ, E! News and other local outlets painted a shallow portrait and an inaccurate caricature of who Lamar Odom was. But it isn’t about exploiting and milking the tragedy for all it’s worth either. Sure there are articles revealing details about the night, who was there, who saved him, what exactly happened to his body from a medical perspective. But none of these things really matter. Luckily through the tremendous warmth spread throughout the sports world and other media outlets, Lamar’s character was revealed and the focus became not how many drugs he was on, why he was at a brothel, the other mistakes he has made in the past or the fact that the Kardashians were involved.

Instead, it became a celebration of who Lamar Odom is and a hope for his recovery.

SPORTS

Page 20

October 22, 2015

New coach, new season, new reason to keep on swimming Winnie Yeates Reporter

L

ooking to make a splash with the help of their newly hired dive coach, the Vassar men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are more than ready for their upcoming season, which officially began this Wednesday, Oct. 21 against Bard College. Head Coach Lisl Prater-Lee has been impressed thus far with the team’s work ethic; “We are just finishing up our fourth week of team training capped off by double swim practices during fall break. Prior to our first practice on Monday, Sept. 21, the team did well getting themselves in the pool and weight room. That, coupled with what they did over the summer, has positioned us well for great fall training.”

Junior Kayla Schwab also spoke strongly of

the dedication of her team, “I feel that this year, we have really stepped up the level of intensity with which we are approaching our training. Like past years, we have seven mandatory practices per week as well as two mandatory lift sessions, but we have really increased the amount of yardage we’re doing at each practice, as well as the number of challenge sets each week. I think we’ve done a really great job of raising our standards this season and holding each other accountable.”

Both teams know that winning competitions and training hard are not the only things that create a strong, cohesive team. Creating a positive team dynamic is something particularly valued by athletes. For many, their sports teams becomes their family and their home away from home. However, this close-knit environ-

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

Junior Julia Wieczorek swims intensely towards the finish. The swim and dive teams look to build on last season’s success and momentum this season. The hiring of a dive coach helps those prospects.

ment only comes with significant hard work and sacrifice. The swim teams have certainly been putting in the effort both in and out of the water, as their teams specifically seem to foster a very warm, nurturing team atmosphere.

With eight freshman on the women’s side and five new freshmen on the men’s team, making everyone feel welcome and like an equally important teammate can be challenging. Junior Julia Wieczorek discussed getting to know the new freshmen, “I’m always excited to meet new team members (basically new family members), and this year we’ve had so many newcomers. I can’t wait to do team bonding and to get to know further this big and wonderful group of people. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together. To me, swimming isn’t just an individual sport, it’s a team sport.”

Even before the official start of their competitive seasons, the teams have already done several bonding activities together such as a team hike, a swim-a-thon fundraiser and their alumnae/i meet. Schwab spoke of their recent alumnae/i meet, “It’s always a great reminder every year of the great bonds you make with your teammates that will last well beyond graduation. I have so many memories with my teammates, and I honestly just can’t wait to see what this year brings.”

The team’s fun, yet determined demeanor is very helpful when it comes to helping the freshmen assimilate into the collegiate atmosphere. Newly hired Diving Coach Jack Ferriter explained, “The team is full of vim and vigor.

They readily accept challenges that I toss out and more often than not exceed my expectations. My first year divers definitely had a bit of an eye opening when they discovered what it meant to be on a collegiate team, but fortunately the upperclassmen have been incredibly helpful in terms of lending out advice and being able to commiserate with what the new guys are going through. From what I can gather, everyone is getting along beautifully and as a coach that makes me incredibly happy.” On the

more competitive side of things, junior captain Julia Cunningham (full disclosure Julia Cunningham is the Features Editor for the Miscellany News) spoke about the team’s talent, “This is the fastest roster we’ve had yet. Not only will our incoming freshmen bring a lot of new talent, but our returning swimmers are already putting up times at practice that are faster than they swam midway thru the season last year.

Over October break we’ve already been swimming as many yards as we were swimming on training trip last year. We are looking forward to surprising other teams with some fast swimming!”

With such strong team foundations, the teams are ready for competition. Schwab spoke about the unique efforts made to carry over the momentum from last season, “We had a great finish to our season last year, and I think in order to keep the momentum going, we worked very hard over the summer not only to stay in communication with each other, but also to really put consistent training in both in and out of the pool. We actually had a little inter-squad competition throughout the summer, where we broke into four small teams to see who could train for the greatest number of hours. I think this made us very prepared for the season.”

Senior captain Anna Kuo furthered, “We don’t need to so much ‘improve,’ but rather just keep the momentum moving forward, keep everyone pumped and ready to race.” Perhaps Coach Ferriter explained it best, “Some of our squad goals are dope group photos, dropping the hottest mixtape of 2016 and of course putting the team on our back. In all seriousness however, I believe our group goals is to become a strong presence in the Liberty League and to constantly better ourselves on and off the board.

I have been coaching since 2011, and I would say my favorite part about coaching is watching students come up with a goal and then accomplishing said goal. I also really enjoy embarrassing my divers, can you say high waisted gym shorts?”

Fall for all: Brewers drop like leaves over October break Shira Idris

Guest Reporter Women’s Cross Country

Women’s VCXC traveled to Bryn Mawr College, Pa. for the annual Seven Sister’s tournament, where the Brewers competed against Wellesley, Mt. Holyoke, St. Catherine, Simmons and Smith. The Brewers finished third out of seven, although they were expecting to finish first or second. This was the first time since 2009 they have not finished in the top two.

Wellesley Blue dominated the race, with five of their runners finishing in the top six. Vassar just lost the runner-up spot to Mt. Holyoke 79-81, despite the Brewers having a lower total time than them. Vassar’s top runner of the meet was freshman Christiana Prater-Lee, who finished 12th with a time of 23:42.4, followed by Jemma Howlett and Ava Farell, who finished 14th and 16th with times of 23.45.4 and 23:48.2 respectively. The women have this weekend off to prepare for the Liberty League Championships that will take place on Oct. 31.

Men’s Cross Country

Men’s Soccer

The men took a four and a half hour drive to Geneva, New York to face Hobart College this past Friday. The Statesmen outshot the Brewers 12-2 in the first half and controlled the momentum. Freshman Derrick Acheampong’s

Women’s Soccer

On Friday, Oct. 16, women’s soccer battled against number six William Smith. Vassar was outshot 27-4 and ultimately fell to the Herons 3-0 after two quick first half goals and an insurance score in the second period. The next day, the women played RIT in another home game, ultimately losing 2-1 at overtime, although the Brewers outshot them 18-8. The Brewers trailed 1-0 for most of the game, due to an early ninth minute goal from RIT. But the Brewers managed a goal in the 71st minute from freshman forward, Rebecca Andrews, who launched a deep shot into the top left corner. This loss brings their record to 7-5-2 overall and 1-2-2 in the Liberty League. This weekend, the women have another home game against RPI.

The women traveled to Rochester, NY to face the University of Rochester on Monday, Oct. 12, ultimately falling in a tough 1-0 contest.

The Brewers then experienced a tough conference loss in an away game against Skidmore College this past weekend, losing 10-2. Vassar’s freshman goalie, Paige Amico, made four in-net saves for the Brewers, but Skidmore, ranked 10th in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll, outshot Vassar 21-4. Senior Lauren Wiebe made both of Vassar’s goals, making her just one goal behind Ebony Boulware for second place on the all-time goals list.

The women will travel to Union College for another league game this Friday. Their record is now 9-4 overall and 2-2 league.

Womens Golf

The women’s golf team traveled to Wellesley College this weekend to conclude their fall season at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational,

where they finished seventh as a team. Their total team score at the opening round on Saturday was 351. Similarly, the Brewers scored 350 on Sunday, cementing their seventh place position. Sophomore Kristin Diep had a career-high weekend, with back-to-back rounds of 81, leading her to tie for 13th overall with a 162. The Brewers’ season will start back up again in April 2016.

Women’s Volleyball

The Brewers fell to conference opponents Union College and RIT this weekend, eliminating them from postseason Liberty League Tournament. Vassar lost to Union 3-0 in close matches with scores of 26-24, 25-22 and 25-23, and also lost to RIT 3-0 with scores of 25-23, 2520 and 25-19. The women’s league record, now 5-7, was not enough to win them a spot in the upcoming tournament.

Women’s Rugby

The lady ruggers had a bye from their TriState Rugby Conference this weekend, and so they played against the New York Women’s Developmental XV, and in a close game, the Brewers lost 22-24. The New York Women’s Rugby team featured older and experienced players, many ex-college players. During the first half, the Brewers had some unlucky turnovers, as well as were slow to mobilize in offense. The score at halftime was 0-24, but the Brewers dominated the second half, conceding no tries and scoring four. Despite being a non-conference friendly, this marked their first lost of the season. Their record now stands at 5-1-0.

Women’s Field Hockey

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

The men had a strong weekend, finishing 10th out of 30 in the competitive Connecticut College Invitational in New London, Conn. The Brewers had a top five average of 26:37 and had a total team score of 235 points. Sophomore Michael Scarlett, finishing 13th overall, not only led the Vassar pack but also had a personal best time of 25:43.2 in his first race under 26. Within the Brewers, he was followed by freshman Luke Arsenault, who finished 36th overall with a personal best of 26:19.6, and by sophomore Jack Yakorsky, also posting a personal best of 26:26.5. All the runners stepped up in what proved to be a pivotal turning point for the squad. The men also have this weekend off to prepare for the Liberty League Championships.

18th minute goal proved to seal the victory for Hobart, despite several scoring opportunities from Vassar late in the second half. The next day, the men traveled to Rochester to play Rochester Institute of Technology, again losing 1-0. Senior goalie Sebastien Lasseur had a game-high of six saves. Yet, RIT scored in a penalty kick awarded in the 30th minute. The Brewers finished with 11 shots, RIT with 14.

The Brewers’ overall record is now 6-5-2 and Liberty League record 2-3-0. This weekend, the men are traveling to Troy to play RPI.

Senior Nick Hess looks pensively down the field as he prepares to pass the ball. The men’s soccer team has suffered a string of three tough 1-0 losses over the past week and looks to get back on track.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE