The Miscellany News
miscellanynews.org
November 9, 2023
Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866 Volume 160 | Issue 9
VSafe provides free health care products for students Allison Lowe Copy Staffer
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he Old Bookstore in Main Building has a new addition to health care products available to students. Located in the back of the room there is now VSafe: a vending machine stocked with reproductive health and general wellness supplies. Students can tap their student IDs to access up to three items
from the vending machine every 24 hours. These items range from fentanyl test strips to Plan B. While Vassar drew inspiration from examples of vending machines with sexual and menstrual health products at other schools, such as Bard College, the most exciting innovation of VSafe is the accessibility of Plan B. Vice President of Vassar Voices for Planned Parenthood (VVPP), Giovanni
Sarah McNeil/The Miscellany News.
Verdi ’25, stated, “We provide Plan B [at no cost] in there, which has never been done at a college before. We’re lucky enough that we got grants and supplies of Plan B [from the Health Services Office], so they were able to stock that in our vending machine.” The idea for VSafe first began in Spring 2022 when then-President of VVPP Hannah Oppenheim ’23 was participating in calls with other Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter leaders. VVPP serves as part of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action movement, which has over 350 campus groups across the country. The group seeks to increase awareness of reproductive health and rights and advocate for reproductive justice. VVPP achieves these goals on Vassar’s campus through education and the provision of access to reproductive and gender affirming care. While communicating with other campus leaders, Oppenheim learned how campus chapters implemented affordable vending machines stocked with essential reproductive and sexual health supplies. Oppenheim reached out to the director of Health Promotion and Education (HPE), Andrea Pesavento, in order to discuss bringing a similar vending machine to Vassar. “It [was] important to me because I advocate for expanded health options for students on campus, and I know a lot of people want accessible Plan B in particular,
which was what I was really excited about,” said Oppenheim. In joining forces with HPE, the concept for VSafe expanded beyond sexual health like condoms, moving to include items such as medicine and face masks. Oppenheim explained, “We wanted to give students more options so that when they are sick or in need of sexual wellness options, they don’t have to either buy [supplies] themselves or make an appointment with Baldwin, which comes with its own challenges with anonymity and resources.” Pesavento similarly affirmed the significance of VSafe, saying, “The vision of VSafe is to promote harm reduction techniques and provide QR codes for additional education for students to make informed decisions about their health. Through the information provided, students can then self-schedule appointments with the Health Service for questions or assistance.” She stated that it has taken about two years to get this initiative fully up and running: a feat that required HPE to collaborate with multiple partners on campus such as Health Service, Campus Activities, CIS, Facilities, Purchasing and the Vassar Student Association (VSA). HPE also worked alongside the executive boards of student organizations such VVPP, CHOICE, Project Period and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). This collaboration offers an inspiring perspective on the potential that See VSAFE on page 3
Cross country wins league Vets Voices: Invisible service Nick Villamil Sports Editor
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ince joining the Liberty League in 1999, the Vassar women’s cross country team had made 23 appearances in the conference championship tournament with its best finish, a runners-up showing, coming in 2011. After placing four athletes in the top 10 of the 2023 Championships on Oct. 28, the team found itself on the brink of changing that. With no other program having more than two athletes place in the top 10, the Brewers were in the lead. In this six-kilometer race, the team championship would go to whichever team had the lowest score, determined by the sum of each team’s five best finishers. If Vassar could have one more athlete finish among the top racers of the 100-person event, the championship would be theirs. As Anna Kaigle ’25, Amaavi Miriyagalla ’24, Acadia Helfand ’27 and Noni Pattington ’25 worked their way into the top fourth of the race, it became clear that the team was going to make history. Officially, Kaigle’s 19th place finish was the fifth score that clinched the program’s first conference championship. This finish, combined with first-year Haley Schoenegge’s third place finish, and first-years Norah Reade, Cayley Swaim and Anika Mueller-Hickler’s consecutive finishes in eighth, ninth and 10th
place, respectively, earned Vassar an eventbest 49 points. In a team competition that can often seem individual, Vassar’s well-rounded roster and the rapport they have with each other was essential. “I’ve never been on a team with this much camaraderie, and it is making the biggest difference in our, and my, success,” Schoenegge, the standout first-year who had the team’s best finish, told The Miscellany News. “We know that it’s not just us when we’re on the line or out on the course—it’s all of our teammates, and all of the people who have been members of the program throughout the years.” St. Lawrence University finished second with 55 points and boasted the individual race winner, but did not exhibit the same depth of talent that the Brewers did. In fact, Vassar could have used any of its sixth, seventh or eighth place finishes instead of Kaigle’s fifth place finish and still have finished with fewer points than St. Lawrence. Additionally, all 14 Vassar athletes finished in the top 55. “Winning Liberty Leagues was an incredible reflection of the hard work that every single person has been putting into our training and our team culture in and out of practice,” Pattington told The Miscellany News. The victory marked a major milestone in what had already been a successful season See CROSS COUNTRY on page 14
Britt Andrade Columnist
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ell your husband, thank you for his service.” I have heard this countless times, sometimes when I was still wearing my uniform. I guess his service was more important than mine. “Ma’am, you can’t park there. It’s a veteran parking spot. Not a spouse parking spot.” I was seven months pregnant and had parked in a Veterans Only parking spot at the hardware store. The woman who stopped me to tell me I could not park there followed me into the store until I flashed my veteran ID card at her. She never apologized, just huffed and walked away. “Do you know your sponsor Social Security Number (SSN) for your appointment?” “Yes, my SSN is…” “No, ma’am, I don’t need your SSN. I need your sponsor’s.” “I am the sponsor.” “No, I need…” This conversation continued for several minutes before they understood that I was indeed my own sponsor. I am part of a dual military couple. My husband and I met in the military. When we got married, we had to schedule an appointment for my last name change, and because it was my name changing, I scheduled the appointment. We were both in uniform, but it was still assumed that I was a dependent and the appointment was under his SSN. Now
married, I no longer had the autonomy to represent myself. I actually stopped wearing my wedding ring to appointments to avoid the repetitive song and dance surrounding my identification. It became both funnier and more frustrating when my husband got out of the military first, and he became the dependent. He came home complaining constantly about employees struggling to find him in the system because they were not looking for him up as a spouse but still as a service member. His service was constantly validated at the expense of my own. Since getting out of the military, the experience has continued. Transitioning back to the civilian world was a nightmare. Women veterans are part of a unique subset of the veteran community: a subset that involves constantly defending your service while being invalidated or ignored by both civilians and your fellow veterans—a community of invisible service. No one told me how hard it would be to leave the military and join two communities that did not see me. Even now I often feel like I have to justify my service to my peers, that if I do not tell people that I am a veteran then people will never consider other women and their service. I consider how my family will remember my service and how to pass on my family history of military service without being eclipsed by it. See INVISIBLE on page 9
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THE MISCELLANY NEWS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR SENIOR EDITOR NEWS EDITORS
Jacques Abou-Rizk William Sorge Monika Sweeney Sashinka Poor Sarah McNeil Jyotsna Naidu Emma Adams ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Allen Hale ARTS EDITORS Jesse Koblin Kai Speirs FEATURES EDITOR Carina Cole ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITORS Luke Jenkins Sufana Noorwez OPINIONS EDITOR Nicholas Tillinghast HUMOR EDITOR Nick Villamil SPORTS EDITOR Tracy Cen SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Olivia Kahn ASST. SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS Richard Lu Igor Martiniouk PHOTO EDITOR Nandini Likki DESIGN EDITOR Molly Delahunty ASSISTANT DESIGN EDITOR Caris Lee COPY EDITORS Julia Weinberg Anabel Lee ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR Sandro Lorenzo GRAPHICS EDITORS Karen Mogami Tori Kim ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR Catherine Borthwick LIVE EVENTS CHAIR Kai Chang WEBMASTERS Michael Yang Britt Andrade REPORTERS, COLUMNISTS Cassandra Brook Henry France Yaksha Gummadapu Anna Kozloski Emma Lawrence Gwen Ma Benjamin Savel Oliver Stewart Josie Wenner Andrew Chu CARTOONISTS Ian Watanabe Kathryn Carvel COPY STAFF Grace Finke Willa Jewitt Allison Lowe Claire Miller Ailynn O’Neill Emma Sandrew Emma San Filippo Edward Welch Morgan Sadie Keesbury CROSSWORD EDITOR
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.
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The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. Staff editorials are the only articles that reflect the opinion of a two-thirds majority of the Editorial Board.
November 9, 2023
NEWS
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VSA offers free on-campus vending machine for Plan B Continued from VSAFE on page 1 lies in student and administrative cooperation, with Pesavento explaining, “When students and administrators are united by a shared vision that is based on mutual respect, understanding and trust, ideas can become a reality.” Last year, VVPP and HPE began discussing implementing VSafe with administrators. Oppenheim stated, “It was a lot of logistics-based meetings—where was the vending machine coming from, how were we going to get the products, what sort of products were going to be implemented?” The team also worked with members of Baldwin’s Health Services, such as the Health Specialist/Certified Medical Assistant Jennifer Lynn Ortiz and Director of Student Health Services Margot Schinella. “It took a while, but we got it done,” Oppen-
heim said. VVPP worked alongside other groups, such as the former student organization CHOICE and the VSA, to lease out a vending machine. Over the summer of 2023, they filled VSafe with products and set it up in the Old Bookstore. Current VVPP President Maggie Rudbach ’24 explained the importance of what VSafe represents on campus, saying, “It takes down the barriers that there are to supplies… Plan B usually costs $50, and I think that’s a price that most students can’t afford. And it definitely separates class, so it disproportionately affects a certain demographic of the student body.” Additionally, VSafe helps to educate students on their health options by providing adequate paperwork and information for resources such as Plan B. Through this,
students can determine which steps are the most beneficial to themselves and their health. “Whereas normally someone in Baldwin would help you determine that, we provide the anonymity but still have the opportunity to know if it’s safe or right for you,” Verdi stated. “This is helping you to have multiple points of access or support, so you can get it through the HPE office’s resources but also, if you want to be more independent about it, you can go down there and stock up on what you need.” So far, VSafe has seen a noteworthy amount of use. In addition to his role as Vice President, Verdi also works with VSA Services, which restocks the vending machine at multiple points during the week. He explained that Plan B has been the most accessed resource so far, with it being restocked multiple times a week.
Students have been excited and surprised by the prospect of typically inaccessible products being available at their fingertips. “I remember at an event we had some students find out that there’s free Plan B. And they were like, ‘This is crazy,’” Rudbach said. “Because it does seem a little crazy. Plan B is so expensive and the fact that it’s provided for free three times a day is such a cool opportunity.” As the VSafe initiative continues, students and administrators working on the vending machine plan to keep tabs on which items are being accessed frequently. The roster of provided items will continue to update as needed, with less used items being phased out and highly requested ones being put in. The College’s goal is to eventually install more vending machines in other locations around campus.
Vassar hosts tours for Poughkeepsie ninth graders Clara Alger Guest Reporter
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n Oct. 27, Engaged Pluralism hosted Poughkeepsie High School’s (PHS) ninth grade class field trip to Vassar. The event included campus tours and activities aimed to expose students to paths of higher education. The second day of tours, originally scheduled for Nov. 3, was postponed to Nov. 17. Lewis explains that the idea for the field trip began in an intensive he took with Professor of Political Science Katherine Hite in Spring 2023 titled, “Walking Poughkeepsie: Uncovering Poughkeepsie’s Symbolic Landscape and Imagining Otherwise.” The intensive was funded by the Office of Community Engaged Learning (OCEL)’s Community-Engaged Intensives in the Humanities (CEIH) grant and included both Vassar and PHS students. Lewis said, “These were the start of a series of conversations we had with PHS’s principal, Dean of Students and college counselors about how we could support them in thinking about college, starting with ninth graders.” The student organizers on the committee are Simon Lewis ’25, Sophie Mode ’25 and Shyasia Arnold ’26. Mode described the purpose of the committee, saying, “Our goal is to work on projects and engage in
What is the new VCycle Program? Are you wondering what the new bikes around campus are and how to use them? These bikes are brought to you by the Vassar Student Association (VSA) as part of the free VCycle bike share program. VCycle bikes can be unlocked using the app “On Bike Share,” which can be downloaded in the app store. Once prompted to “Join System,” search Vassar and the
conversations that address the complexities and needs surrounding the relationship between Vassar and the surrounding area.” In Fall of 2022, Lewis partnered with Engaged Pluralism’s committee Bridging Campus and Local Communities, which includes students, faculty and administrators, to plan the event. Director of the Vassar Education Collaboration John Bradley, who also serves on the committee, explained that in their meetings, the PHS school principal and guidance counselor expressed interest in giving ninth graders the experience of coming to a college campus. Mode emphasized that their planning for the event was done in response to requests from PHS, saying, “Oftentimes colleges decide what the communities around them need without consulting the people who actually live there and ignoring the community knowledge, and this is not a practice that we were going to continue.” Bradley and Lewis note that they’ve heard many PHS students give up on the idea of college because they think they cannot afford it. In addition to helping students visualize what higher education is like, Lewis said of their goals, “It’s important for folks to know about options in higher education that can be affordable for people of all income levels.”
Together, Lewis, Mode and Arnold trained 40 Vassar student volunteers to lead tours and created a booklet on pathways to higher education in conjunction with PHS. Organizers explained that the tours were not traditional Vassar campus tours, but rather a way to connect and build relationships. Mode said, “We wanted the tour to give a taste of college life and the options students have, not convince students that Vassar is the best option for them.” Lewis added, “It was a chance to connect, answer questions, flip through the booklets, and tell stories about ourselves and friends at other schools having different experiences.” Student organizers also noted that the initiative was a way to strengthen relationships to PHS. Mode commented, “Ongoing collaboration with our neighbors is essential, particularly understanding Vassar not as an outside force that is coming in, but as a part of the Poughkeepsie community.” Lewis emphasized, “We have a responsibility to support our neighbors, especially given the insane amount of resources we have here at Vassar.” Bradley noted that by hosting the event, “We wanted to highlight to the students and to the community that we’re an open campus.” Lewis noted, “Just because we are officially an open campus does not mean
that the campus feels open or welcoming to everyone.” The day went smoothly, with Lewis saying, “[The students] enjoyed the tours and day more than I expected, and many had questions.” Bradley said his favorite part of the day was watching all the conversation and relationship-building that took place during lunch in the dining hall. Mode added, “We had so much fun just spending time together, and I feel that we all learned a lot from each other in the experience.”
VSA should appear. Enter your Vassar email for a confirmation link. Once your registration is approved, you can see a map with all available VCycle locations. VCycle bikes can be unlocked from one station and returned to any other station in the system. There are 26 bike racks across nine locations (College Center, AFC/TAs, Central Receiving/SoCos, Kenyon, New England, Preserve, Rocky, Deece and THs). VCycle bikes will only be available for use from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. If the bike is not returned by the end of the day or is damaged, your Vassar account will be charged. The VSA hopes this free, convenient, environmentally friendly transportation option will help you get through your daily routine! If you have any questions, please reach out to our student Director of Services, Max Bergam, at vsaservices@vassar.edu.
Vassar Google Calendar privacy issues to be resolved
check the box for making your availability public. If you have any questions, contact servicedesk@vassar. edu.
In other news, a number of constituents have expressed concern that it is possible for anyone to see when other people are busy at certain times through the Vassar Google Calendar. The VSA and CIS are aware of this issue and working to fix it. In a recent VSA Senate meeting, a constituent informed the session that CIS plans to automatically disable the ability to view others’ availability during the upcoming Spring Semester to protect student privacy. If you want to disable it immediately, go to your calendar settings, open Google Calendar on a computer (not mobile app or mobile web), find the “My calendars” section and hover your cursor over the three dots next to the calendar you wish to edit to see “Settings and sharing.” Under “Access permissions for events,” you can un-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Image courtesy of Simon Lewis ’25.
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ARTS
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Ukrainian
documentary
Catherine Borthwick Live Events Chair
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n Nov. 1, members of the Vassar community gathered in the Rosenwald Theater to watch a screening of “20 Days in Mariupol,” a documentary directed by Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Mstyslav Chernov. At the beginning of the evening, Igor Martiniouk ’24 [Disclaimer: Martiniouk is Photo Editor for The Miscellany News], who is well-known within the Vassar community for his activism regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stood at the front of the theater to introduce the film. After a brief introduction, Martiniouk closed by reflexively saying, “Enjoy the film,” but then abruptly stopped. “Just watch, I guess,” he corrected himself, slowly. An hour and a half later, everyone in the audience would understand his hesitation. “20 Days in Mariupol” documents the Russian invasion of Ukraine during the first weeks of the war. The film opens with a shot that the journalists took from the seventh floor of a building, hiding behind curtains from Russian snipers and tanks. As we take in the smoking ruins of the city of Mariupol, a Russian tank starts to slowly pan its gun towards the journalists. They race to the back of the building, but there is nowhere to hide from the Russians. Throughout the film, everyone in Mariupol is under constant threat, even if they are in hiding; a later scene shows civilians
taping the glass in a gym (which served as a shelter) in case they were shelled, so that the glass fragments would not fly at them. A prevailing point of focus of “20 Days in Mariupol” is the documentation of civilian casualties resulting from the Russian offensive. This footage was intentionally difficult to watch. For a portion of the 20 days, the journalists spent time in two different hospitals, where an unending stream of civilians were rushed in with various injuries caused by shrapnel. For instance, a 16-yearold boy named Illya was playing soccer when Russian shrapnel blew both of his legs off. He died soon after in the hospital from his injuries. Watching Illya’s father cry over the body of his son was excruciating. Babies, too, were gravely injured—one harrowing scene showed doctors performing CPR on Kyrill, only eighteen months old. We could see the tears streaming down their faces as the baby succumbed to his injuries. I spoke with Martiniouk after the film to make better sense of this footage. Martiniouk referred to a video of a pregnant woman who was killed with her baby when the Russians bombed a maternity ward. I remember this image being circulated at the beginning of the war in 2022—it won World Press Photo of the Year in 2023. “How did the Russians respond to this attack?” Martiniouk said. “They claimed that the pregnant mothers were paid actors, and that they hit a military base.” Anytime one
stuns
November 9, 2023
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thought things could not possibly get worse in the film, a new horror would be shown to the viewer. After the bombing of the maternity ward, they cut to a clip of a Russian representative at the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya, telling reporters that the footage was fake. It was infuriating, to say the least. The film also carried a distinct sense of resilience on the part of the Ukrainians, from the doctors to the soldiers to the civilians huddled in cold basements lit only by nearly-dead phone flashlights. “You see doctors continuing to help patients as Russians close in and wreak havoc,” Martiniouk says. “There are many instances where they cannot save the lives of civilians, and that is not an easy thing to psychologically deal with. They continue to treat injured civilians with a low supply of things like analgesics and antibiotics.” I am reminded of a scene in which a man is walking down the street with his life’s belongings hauled in a wheelbarrow. His home has just been shelled. The journalists inquire about how long he has been walking, and he responds that he has been slowly progressing through the city for four hours. He has nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, but he just keeps walking. At the close of our conversation, I asked Martiniouk what his message was to the Vassar community, especially those who were not present for this heartbreaking film. “We should not brush the war in Ukraine aside,” he said somberly. “Ukrai-
audience
nians want peace more than anyone else involved in this war, but we need a lasting peace. So we need to win. Liberate occupied territory and Ukrainians held in captivity. Defeat the Russians and hold them accountable for their crimes.” The film does not show a defeat of the Russians, but rather the beginning of a harrowing conflict that has destroyed the lives of countless Ukrainians over the last year and a half. But what it does with quiet fervor is hold Russia accountable. There was not a dry eye in the theater when we quietly exited into the peaceful night, where Poughkeepsie felt like the safest place in the world in contrast to the ruins of Mariupol, the sounds of shelling still ringing in our ears.
There was not a dry eye in the theater when we quietly exited into the peaceful night, where Poughkeepsie felt like the safest place in the world in contrast to the ruins of Mariupol, the sounds of shelling still ringing in our ears.
Image courtesy of Erica Stein. MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
November 9, 2023
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New indie-pop band discovers the elusive secret to life Darja Coutts
Guest Columnist
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his past June, the eccentrically dressed band FIZZ released their debut single “High In Brighton,” promising thrilling harmonies, addictive drums, charming clarinet solos and sweet escapism just in time for the summer. In a departure from their respective individual styles, musicians Dorothy Clark (dodie), Orla Gartland, Greta Isaac and Martin Luke Brown combined to create the funky new group. With the release of their debut album “The Secret To Life” on Oct. 27, I can promise that this is not your regular indie-pop band. The album begins with a minute-long spoken introduction titled “A New Phase Awaits You :-)”, calling out the listener for looking exhausted. It laughably urges the listener to “open your mind” (“and your wallet”) as the loud, high-energy title track hits you in the face, telling you to “embrace the secret to life.” The song is confident and boastful before “High In Brighton” reminds us that life is boring without an escape from the dullness of reality. This sweetly and smoothly transitions into “Strawberry Jam,” a quieter track about not wanting to be lonely, enjoying life’s simplicities and embracing one’s inner boringness. All the while, the quartet’s voices weave together perfectly with their unique instrumentation, from organs to a variety of woodwinds and percussion instruments. From here, the album pivots and allows the individual artists to display their voices. “Close One” and “I Just Died,” led by Gartland
and dodie respectively, are odes to romance. Riddled with tension, Gartland muses about dodged bullets and lovers reuniting at different points in their lives. Released as a single in July, “Close One” was a fantastic track to vibe to on those cool summer evenings. “I Just Died” is based on a past experience of dodie’s in which she excitedly bought a plane ticket to see her partner, and he told her not to come. Although it is a completely mortifying story, you cannot help but sing along and jam to the addicting beat (and dodie’s epic clarinet solo).
Although they are all traditionally solo artists, they work effortlessly together, producing a wholly unique take on indie-pop. On a completely different note, FIZZ continues with two songs fronted by Brown: “Rocket League” and “Hell Of A Ride.” Both songs showcase opposing sides of Brown’s stunning voice—“Rocket League” is a short, silly, yet relatable track with a peppy piano about happily playing the titular video game with friends, bringing the audience back into the album’s commentary on the everyday. On the other hand, “Hell Of A Ride” is a guttural, bass-heavy song about life passing you by and wondering what could have been, representing a total tonal shift from
the start of the album. Towards the end of the piece, Gartland’s voice shines through, pointing out the joy friends offer in an otherwise lonely and seemingly meaningless existence. The soft end of “Hell Of A Ride” is the perfect kick-off for the next three songs. Scream along with Isaac in “As Good As It Gets,” a piece that begins hushed and later explodes with thunderous drums and electric guitars as Isaac shouts about the things women put up with, including sexualization, objectification and misogyny. Meanwhile, in the following acoustic guitar track titled “You, Me, Lonely,” dodie tugs on your heart strings with heartbreaking lyrics (as she has always done) about a relationship you know is about to end. Similarly, “Lights Out” is a chilling tune with minimal instrumentation, filled to the brim with spine-tingling vocalizations and signature FIZZ harmonies as Isaac and Brown croon about those gut-wrenching moments late at night while trying to sleep, thinking about someone you love. And just when you have had your heart broken by FIZZ, they sew it back together again in “The Grand Finale.” Fittingly, the song goes all over the radar in typical FIZZ fashion. Gartland opens with “A door opens, another closes/ The curtain falls, the credits roll/ We’re taking down the decorations/ But I don’t really wanna go,” calling the audience to come in and enjoy the party. From there, dodie introduces the beat of the song as she adds dreamy images of the future. After this, Isaac and Brown alike join in and take the finale in a plethora of fun musical directions. The album concludes with Brown admitting
“I’m really gonna fuckin’ miss you” before the group comes together one last time for a powerful, unforgettable end.
Similarly, “Lights Out” is a chilling tune with minimal instrumentation, filled to the brim with spine-tingling vocalizations and signature FIZZ harmonies as Isaac and Brown croon about those gutwrenching moments late at night while trying to sleep, thinking about someone you love. “The Secret To Life” is a journey, and it is incredibly evident that the four members had a blast creating it. Although they are all traditionally solo artists, they work effortlessly together, producing a wholly unique take on indie-pop. As a first-year still struggling with my recent coming into adulthood, this album comforts me in a fun way while discussing the nuances of existence. Go ahead and give it a listen—I can guarantee that you, too, will discover “The Secret To Life” FIZZ raves so much about.
Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ is never going out of style Tallulah Rector Guest Columnist
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aylor Swift’s album “1989” was always about time. The purpose of the album was to transition Swift from country-star to pop-star with inspiration from the music of her birth year. Sonically, the gated reverb and synth-pop beats of “1989” brought the listener into the ’80s. Thematically, the album spoke of relationships remembered and times which had come and gone. At its release, “1989” became the soundtrack to 2014; it is now arguably the most influential pop album of the 2010s. Pop music has changed since its original release, so for its re-release, critics questioned how “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” would be received. But Swifties knew better. When Taylor Swift decided to re-record her albums in 2021 to reclaim her music from Scooter Braun, her fans quickly backed her. While some view the re-recordings as quick cash grabs for Swift, they could be better interpreted as artistic reclamations—Swift is choosing to take a stand and set a precedent for artists everywhere, demonstrating that they deserve the rights to their own work. Swift proved the dedication of her fans and the strength of her artistry this summer with The Eras Tour, so the success of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” should be no surprise. Additionally, its re-recording gives reason to definitively announce the album as timeless. In 2014, The New York Times famously reviewed “1989” saying, “But by making pop with almost no contemporary references, Ms. Swift is aiming somewhere even higher, a mode of timelessness that few true pop stars—aside from, say, Adele, who has a vocal gift that demands such an approach—even bother aspiring to.” Today,
in 2023, the album’s tracks are just as relevant. Though Swift herself has evolved through different types of pop and even dipped her toes into folk, the pop magic that is “1989” holds true almost a decade later. Though, it cannot be said this album is identical to its original. There are clear production differences between “1989” and “1989 (Taylor’s Version).” Max Martin, a producer of the original album, did not assist in the making of the re-record. “Taylor’s Version” was almost exclusively produced by Jack Antonoff, a longtime producer for Swift and other artists such as Lorde and Lana Del Rey. Antonoff’s impact on the re-recording is immediately noticeable. The vault tracks (songs that were written during the writing period of the album but did not make it on the record until now) have the almost sickeningly sweet melodies of Antonoff and the marching band qualities of his band Bleachers. The choir-like chanting of the title in “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” is characteristic of Antonoff’s playful music, and this obvious influence pulls the listener out of the space of the original album and into the era of “Midnights,” Swift’s most recent album. The aforementioned “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” is very reminiscent of “Question” off of “Midnights,” and “Is It Over Now (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” bears resemblance to “Glitch,” also off of “Midnights.” In terms of lyrics, the vault tracks match the tune of the rest of the original album. There are clear references to Swift’s relationship with Harry Styles, such as the “Is It Over Now (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” lyrics “When you lost control/ Red blood, white snow/ Blue dress on a boat/ Your new girl is my clone.” The themes
of the vault tracks are consistent with the coming-of-age narrative that “1989” spins, exuding the bubbly feelings of being a young girl figuring out her way in the big city. This is a timeless story that the album is the perfect soundtrack to, which adds to its classic quality. While the concepts behind the tracks have remained relevant, the lyrics of “Slut!” do seem more aligned with 2014 Taylor Swift, who was more afraid to speak out as a feminist than she is today. The message of “Slut!” leans towards excusing slut-shaming rather than reprimanding it. In the voice memos Swift released explaining the meanings behind some of the vault tracks, she explains that she chose to include “Blank Space” on the album in place of “Slut!” because it was only necessary to have one song that tackled the misogynistic name-calling she suffered from the media. And Swift definitely does know best, because “Blank Space” turned into one of her greatest all-time hits, something that the more mellow, familiar “Slut!” would not have been able to do. “Blank Space” also does a superior job of sarcastically responding to her “crazy ex-girlfriend” allegations. In terms of the original tracks, the re-recordings are nothing special in comparison. Most of the songs bear clear differences to their originals that may not be apparent to a casual listener but are very obvious to the millions of Swifties hanging on to every note. “Style (Taylor’s Version)” and “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)” sound particularly dissimilar, bringing up the possibility that Swift’s most pop-sounding tracks may be more difficult to replicate than her country tracks were. There are moments where Swift’s more mature vocals really shine, such as the bridge in “Out of the Woods (Taylor’s Version)” and
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
the harmonies in “Blank Space (Taylor’s Version).” While music, culture and Taylor Swift have all evolved through the years of 1989, 2014 and 2023, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” reminds us that the storytelling and sound of “1989” could never go out of style, defining pop music forever.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
FEATURES
Page 6
November 9, 2023
Sad music makes for happy girls: Why sad music is cathartic Yaksha Gummadapu Reporter
O
n Sept. 29, 2023, my friends and I embarked on an adventure to Washington, D.C. for the “All Things Go” music festival. Normally, I would not call a mere six-hour drive an adventure, but the pouring rain, car engine issues, creepy Uber drivers, delayed trains, and a small detour to Yonkers convinced me otherwise––not to mention our highly questionable plan of driving back through the night after the festival to make it to our Monday classes. But we did it. All to listen to sad music live. To the credit of the “All Things Go” team, they did have a wide array of indie artists, many of whom would not fall into the category of artists I cry to. But the people I made the journey for are undoubtedly the background score to my long contemplative walks: Lizzy McAlpine, Suki Waterhouse, Maggie Rogers, Ethel Cain, boygenius and, of course, the Sunday headliner, Lana Del Rey. It was life-changing in the best possible way. My roommate frequently tells me that the sad music I listen to often keeps me sad about certain events for longer than I would be if I just listened to upbeat songs instead. She even sent me her “hot girl shiiiiiit” playlist
‘Priscilla’
gives
Carina Cole
Assistant Features Editor
[TW/CW: This article makes mention of domestic abuse, drug use.] espite being an expert on portraying isolation within the female experience, Sofia Coppola was faced with a challenge when conceiving her latest film “Priscilla.” The movie, based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir “Elvis and Me,” depicts the less glamorous, more sobering aspects of the marriage between Elvis and Priscilla Presley—much to the dismay of many die-hard Elvis fans. Coppola’s movie is the antithesis of Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic and flamboyant 2022 film “Elvis,” a portrayal of the relationship between the larger-than-life superstar (played by Austin Butler) and his abusive manager, known as The Colonel (Tom Hanks). “Priscilla,” starring Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, redirects attention from “The King” himself to his wife: a girl whisked away at age 14 into the complex world of stardom and celebrity. Although the film begins with a dreamlike, classically Coppola sequence of Priscilla delicately applying dense false eyelashes and winged eyeliner, “Priscilla” feels—in contrast to much of Coppola’s past work— concretely grounded in reality. Rather than portraying the languid, fictional story of the Lisbon sisters in “The Virgin Suicides,” or the infamous, distant tale of a young queen in “Marie Antoinette,” “Priscilla” gives an authoritative voice to tangible, yet previously unexplored, rock royalty. The film shines a spotlight on a story now taking its first breaths—a story that begged to be told. “Priscilla” begins with a young Priscilla Beaulieu living with her family in Germany, where her father, a U.S. Air Force officer, was stationed. A fellow service member asks Priscilla if she would like to accompany him and his wife to a party to meet Elvis, who is distraught after the death of his beloved mother and homesick for another world. When Priscilla informs Elvis that she is a freshman in high school, he responds with a low whistle, mumbling, “You’re just a
D
to listen to, promising me that it would help me get over things faster than Faye Webster does. And she may have a point. But as I looked around the crowd at the Merriweather Post Pavilion on Sunday night when boygenius took the stage, I saw through my own watery eyes something in the tears streaming down other people’s faces; I am not the only one. I listen to sad music because it is a reminder that there are people who experience the same feelings I do. Beyond sharing the same experience as me, these artists are bold enough to write and produce songs about them. They turned these emotional experiences into art, which serve as a reminder of how negative emotions can be accepted, felt, and then turned into something beautiful. Experiencing sad feelings is normal, universal and potentially beautiful. Millions of people go through their day hurting from something. So many other people are getting over an ex, experiencing loss of a loved one, or feeling academically stress, to name a few. Not everyone is having a good day all the time, and we do not need to force ourselves to try. Sad music is cathartic. It is not about dwelling and sulking, although those things may play a role. It is about feeling your way through sadness. Sad music provides lyrics and notes that can help you contextualize
a
voice
baby.” What follows is a young girl’s wildest fantasy: The camera follows Priscilla as she waltzes down the hallway of her school in an otherworldly state or daydreams in bed, awaiting their next date. Their interactions are brief, and their conversations appear to contain little substance. But, Coppola masterfully and carefully constructs the beginning of one of America’s most beloved, yet notorious, romantic couples. The short, simple dialogue that lingers between the lovers, coupled with Spaeny’s intentionally reserved, nervous portrayal of a teenage girl, emphasizes the 10-year age gap between the two stars. The emphasis on Priscilla’s youth prompts inevitable gasps from the audience when Priscilla gains her parents’ permission to move to Graceland, Presley’s Memphis, Tennessee mansion. Set to a classic modern-mixed-with-period-accurate Coppola soundtrack, montages of Priscilla and Elvis embarking on typical dates—including roller skating and driving
and comprehend something that might otherwise be hard to put into words. A song or two into my “CryingIsStillFeeling” playlist, and I am comforted enough to make my bed or make plans to have dinner with my friends. I am able to find hope in art that is emblematic of turmoil and pain because it is proof that there is a way to tell the story in hindsight. In sad music, there is an after-the-fact. Not everything is the end of the world. It is just a bad day that makes a few
Sad music provides lyrics and notes that can help you contextualize and comprehend something that might otherwise be hard to put into words. Noah Kahan songs relatable. When I told one of my friends the lineup for “All Things Go” the day before the festival, he asked me hesitantly, “Dude, are you okay?” I assured him, “No. And that might be amplified by this weekend. But it will be worth it!” Five minutes into the festival, I realized I was wrong. It felt great to stand
to
an
among so many people who clearly rely on sad music the way I do. Standing in the crowd gave me the resounding proof that we are not overdramatic or alone in our emotional responses to life. My throat and feet hurt from screaming and dancing to songs that are usually whispered over slow beats, because hearing them live was a completely different experience. It was joyous to see myself in so many different people. I identified with a community of strangers only by knowing that they relate to the same art as I do. Which was, like I said, worth it. There is undoubtedly a place for Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa and Dayglow in my heart, but it is Mac Miller, Lorde and SZA who I turn to when I feel alone and overwhelmed. It is second-best only to calling my mom and having her reassure me that all my decisions and choices are beyond reproach. So to the people who walk around campus with sad music blasting in their headphones, if you are anything like me, you are just trying to work through the baggage that is weighing you down. It does not make you a “buzzkill.” It helps you become the best version of yourself. In a weird way, it makes me happy. And after that transformative early fall weekend, I feel like I did enough field research to affirm this is true for many people. Sad music makes for happy girls.
unsung
they were candy, confines her to his bedroom for days at a time, throws chairs in her direction and turns pillow fights into weaponized symbols of masculinity. Each pill popped and each piece of furniture thrown is like a splash of ice-cold water to the audience’s face: As soon as viewers get caught up in snippets of matrimonial bliss, the abuse Coppola illustrates serves as a reminder of how imperfect and tarnished the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis actually was. Coppola strikes a balance between the love story Americans have been spoon-fed for generations and the much darker truth. The movie examines the subtleties and intricacies of a woman who was—on many occasions—treated as something less than human: an image to be constructed rather than a person to be understood, a living doll rather than a partner. Even though the movie is riddled with cinematic montages—often with little di-
heroine
alogue—of extravagant pool parties, gambling adventures and the occasional psychedelic high, “Priscilla” speaks volumes to the difficult experience of being married to an icon loved by so many. Despite the tabloids, frequently reporting Elvis’ infidelity with various movie stars, Priscilla faces each moment of her tumultuous marriage with courage until the end. She takes the role she was cast into when she married Elvis with purpose and immense bravery. Coppola makes it clear that Priscilla not only knew and accepted what it meant to stay in her marriage, but she also knew when it was right to leave that marriage. Although the audience may feel uncertain about their perception of this infamous marriage at the film’s close—with Priscilla stoically driving away with Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” echoing in the background— viewers can feel certain that, ultimately, Priscilla was the heroine of her own story.
Rather than portraying the languid, fictional story of the Lisbon sisters in “The Virgin Suicides,” or the infamous, distant tale of a young queen in “Marie Antoinette,” “Priscilla” gives an authoritative voice to tangible, yet previously unexplored, rock royalty. bumper cars—evoke a giddy sense of young love. But, for every moment of youthful exuberance, Coppola pierces the veil of picture-perfect romance with malicious toxicity. Elvis feeds Priscilla amphetamines as if
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
November 9, 2023
VETERANS’ VOICES
Page 7
A Thank You from Vassar Veterans Association A
s outgoing president and vice president, we have seen the growth of the Vassar Veterans Association (VVA) and the increasing visibility of veterans and military-affiliated students over the last three years. We are happy to be leaving behind a legacy and are excited to pass the reins off to a new generation of student veterans who want to make a difference. The VVA would like to thank The Miscellany News for continuing to collaborate with military-affiliated and student veterans to ensure their voices are heard. This is our fifth year of spotlighting the voices of our community, and this has allowed us to engage with our peers on a more personal level. We would like to honor those veterans and faculty members who have helped elevated our voices and included us in campus discussions. Colleen Mallet, our fearless leader and Director of Vassar’s Veterans Initiative, has been instrumental in the success of every veteran student that has arrived on campus over the last decade. She has supported us unconditionally, and we would like to use this space to honor her dedication and hard work. To Professors Del Razo, Magnes and Minter, we want to say thank you for being a sounding board while contributing your time and wisdom to helping our student veterans succeed at Vassar. While we would love to individually thank every person and department that has supported our community, there is simply not enough space in The Misc., let alone this article, to do so. Thank you to those people and programs for supporting us and validating our contributions to Vassar culture. Finally, we would like to use this space to recognize the veteran service of our peers on the faculty, in the campus staff and hidden across our campus in various positions. Happy Veterans Day—thank you for all you have done and continue to do. - Britt Andrade and Asia Baker
From iron fist to combat boots to college notes: Navigating life’s battlegrounds Andrew Casperson
M
y childhood memories bring to mind dark episodes overshadowed by my father’s stern dominion. His rigid rule subdued our spirit, but within this oppressive environment, I discovered an unyielding resolve to rise above. Each ordeal ignited my determination and resilience, morphing me from a suppressed child into a beacon of transformation and hope.
In the midst of my turmoil, I found hope…education. I embarked on a mission to understand the mind and aimed to transform my wounds into tools for healing others. For many, childhood is a sanctuary of play and innocence, but mine was a saga of premature responsibilities. My father often remarked, “Men don’t cry, men work.” Consequently, during numerous summers, I worked harder than most of the adults in my town. I saved as much money as I could in order to afford the simple luxury of new school clothes, aim-
ing to blend in with my more fortunate peers. A pivotal choice led me to the U.S. Marine Corps. Growing up, my father’s strict ways felt suffocating, often pushing me into roles I was not prepared for. Yet, while his rules confined me, an event in middle school shifted my world. Watching the terrifying aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, on our classroom television, a fire ignited within me. My childhood struggles and that heart-wrenching day merged into a singular passion. I had to join the U.S. Marine Corps. It was more than just a rebellion against my father’s constraints. It was my way of standing up for freedom and making a difference. Surprisingly, the military’s strict regimen felt like a continuation of my challenging upbringing. The Marines introduced real battles, intensifying the trauma my young mind had previously known. However, amid the trials, I found camaraderie and purpose within the infantry community. But each combat experience layered my psyche with scars, changing the essence of who I was. With time, my military resilience came at the expense of my humanity. Empathy and vulnerability became casualties, replaced by a hardened exterior, fit for war but ill-suited for deep human connection. Upon being medically discharged, I faced a disconcerting freedom. The struc-
ture that had grounded me was gone, leaving a void. I grappled with a civilian world that felt unfamiliar and overwhelming. Stripped of my former identity, I was confronted with vulnerabilities that my military training had not equipped me to handle. A profound darkness threatened to consume me. Seeking solace, I turned to alcohol, hoping to silence the haunting whispers urging an escape from my pain. A chilling vision of my own demise became a wake-up call, a stark realization
I am all in; learning, healing and sharing my story. Your support means everything to me. Just know I am doing well, pushing forward and excited for all that is ahead. that change was imperative. In the midst of my turmoil, I found hope…education. I embarked on a mission to understand the mind and aimed to transform my wounds into tools for healing others. Now at Vassar College, I bring a rich tapestry of experiences to my studies. My scars, both emotional and physical, lend a unique perspective to my academ-
ic pursuits, driving my dedication to help others overcome adversity. Life, with its highs and lows, has taught me the transformative power of our narratives. My journey, from an oppressive childhood to the cacophony of combat, has left its mark but has not confined me. It is in adversity that our innermost strength is revealed. My challenging journey has led me to the world of academia and a renewed sense of purpose. To anyone reading this, always know: While our past influences us, it is our choices that set our course. Every scar we carry speaks of our strength, shows how far we have come and can inspire those around us. Today I am in a much better place and things feel brighter. It is pretty awesome to be surrounded by my peers and to feel the buzz of campus life. Sure, I have had some rough patches before, and they have shaped how I see things, but they do not hold me down. Those tough times continue to fuel my drive. I have turned those memories into motivations, aiming to be better and help others along the way. When I talk about my past, know it is NOT from a place of being stuck, but from growth and looking forward to all the great things still to come. This journey… I am all in; learning, healing and sharing my story. Your support means everything to me. Just know I am doing well, pushing forward and excited for all that is ahead.
Collages of service I
did a lot of things in the military, or a lot of things that happened in the military ran through me. My time in service feels like a collage of disjointed coming-of-age memories. Call it a late Bildungsroman. I was still a teen, left on my 19th birthday, wearing the same clothes as everybody else, hair slicked tight into a bun or shaven. “Are you Amish?” a friend asked me, just by looking at my eyes and how I talked. “Yes,” I answered half joking. I grew up out of the public school system, belonging to a Jewish-Christian family that preferred a different telling of history. “This formation better wrap up soon. I've got butter to churn back at the dorms.” The uniform and common values hammered into our heads did not dilute the friendships I made. Rather, their essence felt compelling, their stories about home or where they came from. Collage 1 | Basic Training: Another trainee and I were doing our night shift
of EC duty, like a night guard. The two hours were long, so we whispered about home and the food we liked. “You ever had Empanadas?” she asked. “We’re more of a Matzo Ball soup and Apple Pie kind of family,” I answered. Our mouths salivated thinking about home-cooked meals. “My mom makes the best Empanadas.” Later in El Paso, her mom was shot at the mall, a hate crime victim. Collage 2 | Technical Training: We learn to do our assigned jobs on the West Coast, at an army post guarded by a concrete eagle at the entrance. We joked about the legend that the eagle guarding the gate entrance would fly off if someone graduated training and left as a virgin. It would stretch its stone wings and disappear across the Pacific. It has yet to disappear, so the legend could still be true. I had a lot of firsts, the first time saying “FUCK YOU!” First fuck. Not bad for an ex-pretend Amish Airman.
First time filing by the hundreds into a funeral for a young military student whose name I don’t remember. His poster-sized photo of his Basic Training Graduation photo propped next to his casket in the center of a room. The chaplain read his life to the room “He studied Russian. He was kind, sensitive … he loved snowboarding…” From the outside, we whispered he was struggling in class, punishment in the form of paperwork for bad grades got to him, and the social pressure of failing was too much. Over the weekend he took a trip to San Francisco, got a hotel…The reading ended. Silence was a filler between the service and the moving on. Rafters over our heads creaked loudly in the silence. Then a wail swelled through the space. My throat clenched, all of ours must have. Our military blues, blouse tightened tensed like the ribbons pierced through our skin. The mother was slowly led out of the room, pressing
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
into the crook of someone’s arm. Sobs choked the room and remained for a moment after she left, in the rafters, the corners. Collage 3 | Vassar College: Time goes fast. Leaving the military after serving six years meant entering a new way of life. Waking up at 10:30 because the class doesn’t start until 12:00. Pursuing opportunity according to the relaxed rhythm of 75-minute classes, walking by Y2K-reminiscent fashion (loving the baggy pants by the way), bright posters stuck on 19th-century buildings. As at home as I have begun to feel, I am constantly reminded that time goes fast. What we do becomes condensed into collages of images and memories. We are the breath passing in and out of Main and the Library two years inhale, two years exhale. And then that’s it. Like the military, time is what I can make of it. We’ll see what happens.
VETERANS’ VOICES
Page 8
November 9, 2023
Journeying to Vassar College M
y journey at Vassar College has been a profound transformation, one of which I am profoundly grateful for. As a first-generation college student and American, the very thought of attending an institution like Vassar College was once unimaginable. What is even more remarkable is the authentic interest my fellow students have shown in my experiences as a veteran. Before I arrived at Vassar, I grappled with preconceived notions about fitting in and the potential labels associated with being a service member. Having spent six years in the military, I was eager to explore a world unfamiliar to my family and to become the first member to attend and complete college. Vassar College has provided the nurtur-
ing environment and support I needed to embark on a fresh start and define myself on my own terms. In this community, I have discovered the encouragement to be the person I am today, free from the con-
I grappled with preconceived notions about fitting in and the potential labels associated with being a service member. straints of a past identity that no longer defines me. It is essential to dispel the misconception that all veterans align
themselves with the same principles and political ideologies. This could not be farther from the truth. In my experience, I have served alongside individuals pursuing opportunities and seeking an escape from challenging circumstances to secure an education through the G.I. Bill. It is crucial to understand that we do not all share the same principles, and we are capable of evolving. I joined the military right out of high school, a decision made out of a need for stability and to lessen the financial burden on my family for college. It was a choice made as a young adult, and while I am proud of that experience, not all veterans hold the same perspectives, and that is perfectly okay. The impact of Vassar College on my life
is immeasurable, and I will forever cherish this institution and the remarkable individuals I have had the privilege of meeting along the way. The opportunities it has provided and the personal growth it has nurtured within me are treasures I will carry throughout my life.
Gender bias in military healthcare Audrey Perrone
A
s a six-year Navy Veteran, I rarely speak in depth about my service because I have mixed feelings about my time in the Navy. On one hand, I traveled the world from Greece to the Middle East and made the most profound friendships. While I enjoyed these wonderful experiences, I also navigated toxic culture and inequality.
“As a woman, I already feel like I have to work twice as hard...” Service members often do not talk publicly about their negative service experiences. So, when approached for this article, I wanted to highlight something important and personal: women’s healthcare disparities in the military, only made possible with the support and willingness of over 15 women in uniform to share their stories. The interviewees served in different branches and included enlisted and officer ranks. The status of those interviewed comprises currently serving, separated and retired, and their length of service ranges from four years to over 20 years. The health of female service members is deeply affected by the military’s institu-
tional culture embedded in hierarchical masculinity. Although gender is socially constructed, this construct impacts the safety and equality within institutional structures. Most interviewees delayed medical treatment due to apprehension of negative consequences, stigma about missing work and a hectic work schedule. A common sentiment was that their chain of command judged them for taking time off for illness, child care and pregnancy. As quoted, “When I was pregnant, I got so much shit for missing work and going to appointments. As a woman, I already feel like I have to work twice as hard and never leave work.” Gender bias also impacts the health of service members. According to Duke Health, there is proof that men and women with the same symptoms will receive different care from healthcare providers. A study conducted by the International Journal for Equity in Health maintains that health disparities in clinical settings result in later diagnoses in women. A study by Samulowitz et al. concludes that gender bias occurs in pain management. Healthcare providers are more likely to disbelieve women presenting with chronic pain. Moreover, women’s symptoms are attributed to psychological conditions and sensitivity. Consequently, gender bias creates gaps in medical research and lowers the quality of patient care. Those interviewed
overwhelmingly were in agreement that they felt unheard when expressing concerns over their health at military health clinics. Many responded that healthcare professionals did not take their symptoms seriously. In some cases, they experienced misdiagnosis and delayed clinical and surgical care. In one case, a female service member had surgery simultaneously as a male in their chain of command; their command physician exempted the male service member from body measurements in the annual Physical Health Assessment but did not do the same for them. Alarmingly, some interviewees felt too afraid to seek treatment at medical for assault. How can we move beyond a system where service members’ health is impacted by hierarchical masculinity in the military and gender bias in medicine? Studies say that institutional change must address gender bias and hostility. Furthermore, those in the military power structures must properly punish assault and create an environment where survivors feel safe to come forward. Next, healthcare providers in military clinics must be conscious of how gender bias may impact the care they provide patients and dedicated to making changes. I believe these structures and institutions can do better for all service members and that sexual orientation, gender identity or sex should not determine one’s access to equitable medical treatment.
It is crucial to understand that we do not all share the same principles, and we are capable of evolving.
A Haiku Brian Lepak
Dollar signs salute, Bank account gets the recruit, Crazy came for free.
Vassar Vet. presents: A poem by D. V
assar is a school, unlike any other. I love it almost as much as last year, When I stopped talking to my mother. Its ups and downs are here and there, And while grades keep me in check. Sometimes I really don’t care, I step back and take a sec.
From the papers and teachers, To the fake self-reliance. To the Rugby team meetings, They said something about compliance. I thank the world every day, That philosophy is my major. If it wasn’t for the lack of tests, My life might’ve been in danger.
My mental health is depleting, As is my concept of time. So much so that this was going to be a paper, Laziness made it a rhyme. Despite the constant reading, That my teachers assure is required. My interest in 60 percent of them, Has most assuredly expired. This may seem like a slander, But I promise you it’s fine. I was in the Army for eight years, I’m so fucking happy my life is mine. Vassar gave me the chance, To choose what I want to be. While the Army gave me the choice, Do I clean up shit or do I clean up pee. I have a future now,
It’s hard to digest. The fact that I see a life 10 years from now, Is what I hold close to my chest. With the help of the students, And the faculty too. I went from being an animal my whole life, To being part of the zoo. My age sets me apart, 27 is pretty old. I honestly thought I wouldn’t make friends, But year one had me sold. I’ve had fun all across the campus, Parties and games. Not once did I get called out, They treated me the same.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
They come for the jokes, They come for the guidance. They come for the advice, They come for the violence. From all around the world, This melting pot has shown. This is becoming less of a school, And honestly? More of a home. Stay lit Vassar, And express your interests. I don’t actually care about them, But at least they exist. Keep your spark alive, And be SORT OF like me. Be who you are regardless of where, And Hey, I’m D.
November 9, 2023
VETERANS’ VOICES
Page 9
Military experience 2023: Thinking without an answer Adam Vazquez
I
am a senior here at Vassar now. When the spring semester of 2024 ends, four years of hard work will accumulate into a degree given by an institution that many label as elite. This past summer I was asked a question by a Vassar alum that I still think about. This alum graduated in the 1970s, and after jokes about how she went to school centuries ago, conversations about what Vassar is like today and the knowledge she has gained from running her own business, she stumped me with a question. “How has Vassar taught you to think differently than the military has?” she asked. I thought for a second and rattled off a half-baked answer that I cannot even remember but I know was not good. Later that night, I wrestled with this question and turned in frustration as
I still could not come up with an answer. I thought to myself, “How is it different?” “Is it different?” “What have I even learned from each of these experiences?” We all do a lot of thinking but how you are taught to think is something that, well, you do not think about a lot. In the Army I ran the miles, cleaned my weapon and followed the orders of the commanding officer. Here at Vassar, I study for the test, read the given assignments and write down notes as I listen to my professor. In both experiences, I have run into great leaders and great thinkers. The common attribute across the board is that great thinkers were proactive, came up with a plan and took action. But perhaps more importantly is that these great thinkers were able to adjust when their plans did not go accordingly, and trust me, they never do. This writing is meant to be about my
military experience. But instead of tales about escapades, deployments to the Middle East, or opinions on current conflicts and the U.S. war machine that loses hundred-million-dollar jets—I wanted to write about this question that made me rethink my entire experience. The military is not this “by-the-books, robotic thinking” that many people might see it as; you are actually encouraged to be quite creative (depending on where you are and who your command is). However, if you become stumped in the military, there is usually some standard operating procedure or grumpy, younger-than-they-look E-7 who is there to give you an answer. If I get stumped here at Vassar, yes there are plenty of faculty and textbooks I can turn to, but the questions are not as easily answered. Climate crisis, social issues, political chaos and global shifts are way
too intricate to have a “standard operating procedure.” And now, as I write my thesis to capstone my Environmental Studies major at Vassar College, I try to keep this question in mind, “How do I think?” College and the military have their similarities and differences, but something I think the military taught me and that Vassar reinforces is that the world is ever-changing. Nothing ever goes to plan, and no one can predict exactly what is going to happen. Sometimes it is not about coming up with the best solution or getting the best grade on a test but instead adjusting to what happens to you. Trying to apply this to a world that is becoming ever more connected and yet seemingly increasingly polarized is a whole different task. To this day I still do not have a good answer to the question, but remembering to think about it might be more important than answering it.
Invisible service Continued from INVISIBLE on page 1 According to the 2019 Gender and Veterans Demographics provided by the Department of Labor, two million women living in the United States are veterans. We make up 10 percent of the military population and 1.5 percent of the total United States population. The median age of women veterans is 51, 14 years younger than the median age of our male counterparts. By 2043, women are projected to make up
16.3 percent of all living veterans. Women have served in every war as everything from nurses, typists, codebreakers and pilots to most recently as official members of combat arms positions across the branches in 2016. If we have done so much for our communities and contributed consistently across military history, why is our service so invisible? In part I blame the media. Veterans in the media fit a certain stereotype: white, southern or inner city, straight,
religious for some reason and very male. Women are relegated to the roles of wives and girlfriends or anomalies that will not last long in this masculine landscape. Similarly, issues of patriarchy and revisionist history obscure female contribution here in the same way that they do in every other aspect of society. I could probably write for days about how women in the military are often representative of larger societal experiences and hardships, but I will not throw
my soapbox of ideology at you all today. Instead, this year for Veterans Day I would like to challenge who you visualize as a veteran. Imagine yourself, from a different lifetime, imagine your friends, your mom or aunt or grandmother. Consider the act of invisible service and whose stories are missing from your understanding of the veteran community. You would be surprised where you might find us.
Ever-changing I
n a world of transient lives, she stood apart, A military brat with an unwavering heart. While duty stations shifted, she remained in place, A steadfast smile on her brave little face. The barracks and bases, her childhood’s domain, While others moved on, she refused to complain. In the sea of change, she found her own shore, An anchor of strength in a life she adored.
With the years, she grew strong, resilience her creed, Through all the uncertainties, she learned to lead. Then came the time she had her own call to obey, To wear the uniform in the military’s array. But life’s journey’s not bound to one track alone, So, she decided to make the campus her home. Off to college, she ventured, her dreams in her hand,
In the hallowed halls of learning, where her future would expand. With books and lectures, her mind took flight, In the world of academia, she found her own light. Though different from barracks and mili tary drills, She welcomed the challenge with unwaver ing will. The military brat turned scholar, a transi tion so grand, From duty stations to classrooms, she took
a firm stand. She’d found her own path in each step of the way, A life that was changing yet steadfast, come what may. Through the years, she’d learned the art to adapt, From her roots in the military to her college class act. Her story is one of resilience and grace, A military brat, a soldier, a student in life’s boundless space.
Vets Voices If you want to pay for College or just need money, join the Army. If you want to party and travel the world, join the Navy. If you want to kill, join the Marine Corps. If you want a career and corporate comforts, join the Air Force. If you want to be posh and still party, join the Coast Guard. If you want to keep secrets, join the Space Force. If you want to do it all over again, join the Guard or Reserves. If you want to spy on your adversaries, join the CIA. If you want to spy on your friends, join the NSA. If you want to burn money, tell the truth. If you want to live forever, you have to tell the truth. If you want to love your Country, you have to put your skin in the game. Advice given to me by Chicagoland area Veterans upon my decision to enlist. I have updated it from its original form as the Space Force did not exist, and revelations from Snowden and Wikileaks provided further color for this satirical piece. Satire is a literary genre or form that uses humor, irony, exaggeration, ridicule or sarcasm to expose, criticize or mock people, politics or society in general. The purpose of satire is usually to expose and criticize prevailing immorality or foolishness, ideally leading to improvement or reform. It often utilizes wit and sharp humor to convey its message and make a statement about the subject matter’s absurdity or vice. -Seth Earl Jenkins, SSgt USAF 2012-2019
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
HUMOR
Page 10
November 9, 2023
Breaking News From the desk of Nicholas Tillinghast, Humor Editor
Vassar grounds renames Sunset Lake to Lake after realizing it’s daytime. Vassar
introduces
Benjamin Savel Remember Me?
Author’s Note: Almost all modern electronic devices support a replacement for 2FA called a Passkey, where you can log in using your fingerprint or face. The author hopes Vassar soon switches to Passkeys to replace the convoluted process of a Duo Mobile login.
T
he Duo Mobile app has now become obsolete at Vassar after last week’s announcement of Dodecahedro Mobile, a new 12-factor authentication app. Beginning next Wednesday, all Vassar students will be required to update their software to accommodate the new change. Ruben E. Goldberg, the designer of the app, explained to us how the app solves all of Vassar’s electronic security problems. “You used to just click one button on your phone to verify you were logging in”, Goldberg explained. However, with Duo Mobile, the computer can’t tell if you are the person pushing the button. “For all we know,” Goldberg commented, “a malicious hacker could be trying to access your syllabus on Moodle.” To address the issue, Dodecahedro’s 12step process simplifies matters greatly. First, you click a button on your phone verifying that you are the person logging in. Then, you click a button on your computer to verify that you are clicking the button on your phone. This process repeats 10 more times until you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on
your computer verifying that you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on your computer verifying that you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on your computer verifying that you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on your computer verifying that you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on your computer verify-
12-factor
authentication
ing that you are clicking a button on your phone verifying that you are clicking a button on your computer. “I bet you didn’t even read that whole sentence, so how could a hacker possibly read your confidential data?,” Goldberg smugly explained. Dodecahedro also includes cutting-edge machine learning algorithms and AI. We don’t know how or why, it just does. With this new technological advancement, the
“Remember Me” button will now last up to 10 minutes before you have to log in again, double the time Vassar students are accustomed to. Goldberg explained to us that the 12-step process takes about an hour at most, so it shouldn’t be that much of a hassle for Vassar students. “You don’t mind waiting for an entire class period before you can check your email, right?” “Right?”
Benjamin Savel/The Miscellany News.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
HUMOR
November 9, 2023
The
lid Josie Wenner Mug Life
A
spectre haunting Vassar—the spectre of deceit. Every Vassar student has recently been given a shiny new travel mug. They seem like a perfectly innocent gift of goodwill. But do the shiny exteriors of the mugs hide a dark secret within? We at The Misc have done some investigative journalism, and we’ve discovered some shocking truths. The $80,000 you paid in tuition, room and board and fees did not go to tuition, room and board and fees. No, your money has fueled something far less valuable. The truth, the horrible, sinister, can-hardly-believe-it truth is that you are now the proud owner of a travel mug worth more than four times its weight in gold. That’s right: The allegedly free travel cup was actually $80,000. The truth hurts. This revelation might feel like it’s come out of nowhere. You may be feeling shocked, saddened, ashamed to know that you’ve spent so, so much mon-
Forget
about
Emma DaRosa
The Next Pete Buttigieg
L
ast week in a bold move that has the entire nation abuzz with bewilderment and bemusement, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) launched its newest initiative aimed at improving students’ quality of life. A fix for broken fire alarm systems? Retreat open on the weekends? No, it’s a secret and better third thing. BAMBI BUS. That’s right folks, gone are the days that the local deer population will be thinned by local hunters. You can all put down your picket signs. This age-old tradition has been traded in for a far more humane and downright whimsical alternative: deer-powered transportation. No more must you trek from Blodgett to the Bridge, or make ill-fated and exhausting journeys to Central Receiving, only to remember for the 40th time that they close at 4 p.m. The newly launched BAMBI BUS initiative is all the rage with Vassar students, aiming to transform your daily commute into a magical woodland adventure. The driving force behind this initiative? Offering students a unique and exciting way to traverse campus, all while lending a helping hoof to the local deer population. “The deer are always prancing around campus. We like them a lot, it would be a shame to see them go, so we figured why not introduce them to participation in the
Time
off!
God-Adjacent
esterday night, I time traveled. You may be asking, “How is that possible? How did you bend the confines of time to your will? Are you a pathological liar? Are you mentally sane?” I will admit, I am not God, and I promise I’m not having a psychotic break. But I did time travel, and so did you. Because yesterday was the delightful annual fall back. Last night, I didn’t even know the clocks were changing. It was approximately 1:45 a.m., and I decided to go for a classic latenight shower. When I returned from my
Vassar’s
ey on a little metal cup that leaks. But you are not alone. Every Vassar student fell for this trap. We’ve all been lured in and hoodwinked, betrayed by those who we kind of trusted. But this isn’t over. No, we’ve merely scratched the surface of the Vassar Travel Mug Conspiracy (VTMC). A naive, innocent student may assume that these Midas-like mugs were a recent idea, cooked up by the Vassar Student Association and Campus Dining as “a solution to the compostable cups previously provided at Gordon Commons.” But Vassar has been dropping hints of this bait-and-switch for decades, maybe even…centuries. What letter does Vassar’s oldest dorm start with? M (as in mugs). When you unscramble the letters of Matthew Vassar, you get “the rat was VAMS” (VAMS of course standing for Vassar And Mugs Store). Vassar was founded in 1861. 1 + 8 - 6 + 1 = 4. What has 4 letters? Mugs. And the most damning piece of evidence of all: the name of Vassar’s on-campus coffee shop location? The Mug. Does VC even stand for Vassar
VCycle,
(like
enjoyable shower (the shower drains finally got cleared out and my feet are no longer petri dishes), I was perplexed by the time: 1 a.m. I could have sworn it was already 1:45 a.m. when I left. And then I realized: the clocks went back an hour. Oh, to get an extra hour of respite from the constant toil of being a college student! I was joyous—floating on air! Fall back is the greatest day of the year. It’s like when teachers give you an extra day on an assignment—it comes when you least expect it and most need it. Now, I was able to get eight luxurious hours of sleep with typical dreams like creating a spider-rat hybrid baby and driving around on mattresses. And yet, despite my jubila-
Travelmugspiracy
College? Or was it traVel Cups all along? Upon closer inspection of the little piece of paper that came inside the mug, it appears that it was made by a company called Gordon Sinclair. Often, last names come before first names in formal settings (such as business and manufacturing), and commas can be omitted in the printing process, so maybe “Gordon Sinclair” is really “Gordon, Sinclair,” or “Sinclair Gordon.” But is this Sinclair Gordon a relative of Commons Gordon? In other words, Gordon, Commons? Or Gordon Commons/All Campus Dining Center/the Deece? The seeds of truth have always been there, and now it’s time to till the fields. Questions may be swirling through your head right now. How? Who? Can I trade my mug in for $80,000 or just store credit at Gordon Sinclair? But one voice must be shouting louder than the rest. One question, circling through your mind: Why? Why would Vassar do this? What do they have to gain? You’ve heard of Big Pharma. Big Technol-
ride
economy?” said Bambi Whitetail, a senior Environmental Studies major, and the namesake and brains behind the BAMBI BUS initiative. Whitetail continued, “It’s a win-win situation. We make it to class on time and in style, and deer get to show off their horsepower and prove that their lives have value in a capitalist world. The deer do get paid the standard $14.60 an hour, just like any other work study job.” To make this transportation transition as smooth as possible, the deer have all been named and equipped with identifiable accessories and chips that students can scan with their VCards to rent the deer for 30 minutes at a time. If the student remains on the deer’s back for over 30 minutes, a sound plays that the deer have been trained to recognize as their cue to buck the nasty thief right off and then also spit on them and steal their backpack. Students can go to the newly developed BAMBI BUS tab of the Vassar mobile app to browse the deer catalog. They can decide out of a whole slew of deer if they’d prefer to ride the noble Sir Galahad, the speedy Flash the Fawn or the affectionately named Pathetic Prancer, the slowest, but perhaps most beloved, BAMBI BUS participant. This choice has become the subject of heated debate, with some students forming fanclubs and receiving thousands upon thousands of fizzups defending their favorite antlered amblers. The Vassar campus has also experienced
traveling
Cassandra Brook
Y
is
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deer
around
an unprecedented uptick in deer-inspired fashion. Students have been spotted sporting faux deer fur attire everywhere you look! Antler headbands and fake tails are all the rage. “I just couldn’t resist accessorizing to match my ride’s magnificent coat,” admitted sophomore Bryson Stagwood as he showed off his antler earrings and fawn printed scarf. However, BAMBI BUS has of course presented its own fair share of challenges. While riding a deer looks like a piece of cake in fairytales, in reality, navigating the timid nature of the animal takes a certain something. “It’s like mastering a sort of dance,” said junior Deerek Deerhart. “You have to be in tune with the deer, sway to their rhythm, and hope they don’t stop to sample the nearest bush and make you later than you would’ve been anyway.” Inevitably, animal rights activists and concerned parents have raised some eyebrows, but the VSA has assured the public that every animal involved in BAMBI BUS is a card-carrying union member, and if they have any concerns they can bring them up with union rep Rudolph Bucksworth, the most famous deer of them all. The deer get all their required breaks as mandated by New York State law, and after a full year of work they’ll all qualify for dental benefits too. BAMBI BUS has entirely redefined the experience of traversing campus, offering students a deeper connection with the na-
an
campus
ture around them in between classes while making an unforgettable statement about loving every creature, large or small. Why would we ever thin this population when we can all frolic in harmony? This fearlessly consequential move on the part of the VSA can only leave students wondering what will come next. Squirrel-directed recycling programs? Replacing PB with that kangaroo from the petting zoo they bring around sometimes? Only time will tell, and you can count on me to report it first. Until then, get out there and get riding.
Nicholas Tillinghast/The Miscellany News.
hour
tion, I can’t help wishing daylight savings didn’t exist. I know I was just saying how much I love daylight savings, but I love it for one day before I despise it for the rest of the year. Now, the sun taunts me, setting promptly at 4:30 p.m. when I still have work to do. The sun manipulates my suprachiasmatic nucleus, forcing melatonin to release far too early in my day, reducing my levels of productivity. How am I expected to work when it is pitch black at 5 p.m.? I don’t want to submit to a caffeine addiction just to make it through the day—that’s for when I’m a real adult. And there’s no way I’m shifting my entire schedule to wake up at the crack of dawn to
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
ogy. Big Brother. But another titan of industry lurks just beyond the horizon, taunting us with its portability, its convenience. That’s right: Big Mug is watching you. After some long, hard digging, we’ve discovered that Big Mug bought out Vassar years ago. This is the first year they’ve been able to amass enough “tuition” money to fund their worldwide enterprise enough to give us a piece of the pie. By providing everyone with a “free” travel cup, Big Mug hopes that we’ll do their marketing for them, thus saving them millions. However, they’re out to trick the masses. While our mugs are tens of thousands of dollars and show it, the mugs they peddle out to the rest of America will be cheap knockoffs. And when they’re sitting pretty with their dirty mug money, ordinary people will suffer from insufficient insulation and leaking lids. Wake up, Vassar. Don’t let Big Mug hoodwink you into playing their games. Be aware, be alert and know where your money is really going.
back)
do my homework. Only the Vassar version of roosters—the trash trucks—should be up at that hour. And worst of all is the unstoppable yawning. I have to play it off like I’m a jolly old man creating a jingle for a crew of exhausted friends. But really, I’m just infected with terminal yawning disease, and somehow, I am contagious to myself. I just want to go to sleep. It’s also laborious to reset my clocks twice a year. I didn’t sign up to be Father Time’s employee, but here I am, hitting my clock’s buttons with endless high-pitched beeping. I am grateful for my extra hour of sleep, but maybe daylight savings needs to end. Hopefully, before I have to spring forward.
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HUMOR Anna Kozloski OBSERVATION #8
It gets cold.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
November 9, 2023
November 9, 2023
OPINIONS
Page 13
All opinions and Letters are submitted to The Miscellany News. The Editorial Board does not take responsibility for the views expressed in opinions articles.
Gun control opponents must stop blaming mental health Soren Fischer Guest Columnist
T
here has been a consistent trend in the United States: following mass shootings, opinions vary from promoting gun control and a federal assault weapons ban to entirely disputing the need for gun control, citing mental health struggles as a principal reason for the massacre. Following the atrocity in Maine, gun control advocates have focused on guns while gun rights advocates have focused on mental illness. The greatly avoidable tragedy in Lewiston, Maine reminds us, once again, of our unique problem: conflating mental health with gun control. The perpetrator, using a weapon that was designed to kill enemies on a battlefield, slaughtered 18 people and injured 13 others. According to News Center Maine, documentation was obtained by law enforcement in the weeks and months prior to the deadliest mass shooting in Maine’s history. Family members and the Army Reserve expressed concern of his worsening mental health and access to firearms. It is wrong to blame the attack on the shooter’s mental illness, and scapegoating
mental health in connection to mass shootings is incredibly ineffective. Promoting this connection between mental illness and violence dangerously stigmatizes mental health care, further creates victimization and labels those who are suffering from mental illness as a threat to the community. Though public perception may assume mental health and mass shootings are connected, the risk of violence in association with serious mental illness alone is only four percent, per the National Library of Medicine. The White House released a statement from President Joe Biden, urging cooperation from Republicans in Congress to “work with us to pass a bill banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to enact universal background checks, to require safe storage of guns, and end immunity from liability for gun manufacturers.” This stance is widely accepted by gun control advocates. The House of Representatives, with their recently appointed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), an ultraconservative figure of the religious right, will ignore these calls. This is nothing new, as Republican lawmakers
have long maintained their position on gun rights: despite the majority of registered American voters supporting a ban on assault weapons, as polled by Morning Consult, 42 percent of GOP lawmakers are opposed to the policy. In his first interview since becoming Speaker, Johnson sat down with Sean Hannity of Fox News and said that, “The end of the day, it’s—the problem is the human heart. It’s not guns, it’s not the weapons. At the end of the day, we have to protect the right of the citizens to protect themselves and that’s the Second Amendment, and that’s why our party stands so strongly for that.” One of the key groups advocating the position of opposition to gun control are Christian nationalists—those who believe that the United States should be a Christian theocracy. Since Johnson was elected Speaker of the House, his Christian nationalism has been widely documented, as explained by TIME. With the exception of general political orientation, Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor of opposition to gun control, according to a study from Socius by sociologists Andrew L. Whitehead, Landon
Schnabel and Samuel L. Perry. “For many Americans, the gun control debate is not merely about a secular public safety issue but is instead deeply entwined with what are perceived as the God-given rights of the American public and a purported breakdown of the moral fabric of American society.” According to TIME, “Among whites who said America should be a Christian nation, more than 4 in 10 named the right to keep and bear arms as the most important right. Not freedom of speech. Not even freedom of religion. Gun rights.” The possession of firearms is often seen as a means for white conservatives to safeguard their perceived freedoms by maintaining order. By using righteous violence—their violence—Christian nationalists can seek to exert influence over power dynamics, putting it at odds with democratic principles. The United States is not the only place where mental health struggles exist, but we are the only place that regularly experiences mass shootings given our easy access to guns. With 120 guns for every 100 people, according to a 2017 report from Small Arms Survey, this is truly an American problem.
Students represent the heart of campus learning Jacques Abou-Rizk Editor-in-Chief
A
t a College with a rich history of student activism, community engagement and opportunities for growth, we often take advantage of our communities. From the Vassar Student Association (VSA) to the numerous publications on campus like Contrast, Grey Matters and The Miscellany News, students lead this campus into the future and into pedagogy unknown as part of our deep involvement in the liberal arts. Founded in 1861 as one of the Seven Sisters and a pioneer for women’s education, Vassar College holds the unique attribute of being coeducational, becoming so in 1969. As such, our history of serving as a historically women’s college still rings true and vital to our campus life. Whether deconstructing the binaries that life throws at us or combating hate on campus and around the globe, students lead the very life that we enjoy here with pride. Ultimately, it is these student-led organizations and individuals that are the heart of our campus. When I first approached the college admissions process, I knew I wanted a tightknit community of engaging and academi-
cally rigorous classes. I knew that I wanted to be surrounded by students who share strong passions in their work. It is exactly what I found here at Vassar, but not for the reasons one might think. I owe a lot of thanks to the professors, administrators and other faculty that have guided students in a bountiful of different manners. But I can honestly say that after three years of attending this College, I learned the most from other students—outside of class. That is the difficult thing about classes: No matter how they are structured, there is a structure, and that prevents true critical dialogue from occurring in classrooms. If I have learned anything at this school, it is that structure and tradition that limit a diverse student body, where perspectives, beliefs and academia vary more than one can imagine. Take a partner project, for example. My ANTH-223: “Primates” class, one that does not apply to my major but rather a “wildcard” course, as Vassar proclaims, actually taught me about research and project-based learning better than my traditional International Studies classes. My partner and I met in the Collaboration Studio of the Thomp-
son Library, a typical study spot for any work of this type. Immediately, we were lost—we had no idea how to even begin assessing the tasks at hand. But my partner’s major was in STEM—she was a computer science major. Our talents complemented each other nicely. She focused on how to fact check our work, and I dealt with the delegation of the workload—a talent that I learned at The Miscellany with a valuable staff of remarkable and heterogeneous individuals with different academic and personal backgrounds. Although it may seem minute, our collaboration in that partner work illustrated the impact of student-to-student learning. These experiences are not new. I have been having them for years here at Vassar. Last year in my HIST-225: “Renaissance Italy” course, we had an interesting group project. A group of five of us would have to prepare a 12-minute skit portraying some essence of the Italian Renaissance’s social or political life. I was dumbfounded. I had little knowledge or interest in Italy and the Renaissance, and neither group projects nor skits piqued my interest at the time. We faced numerous problems—from scheduling group meetings, to deciding on a topic, to staying focused long enough to record our
skit. But nonetheless, we persevered. Our group presented our work and we received a good grade. Do I think the content of our skit would wow Italian Renaissance scholars? Absolutely not. But I like to think my good grade was not reflective of the outcome, but rather the work process. We managed to work through our dilemmas. We managed to engage in critical dialogue about ideals of Renaissance society at the time. We engaged in real world activity: You are always going to work with diverse, sometimes opposing perspectives, and you will just have to make it work. It might not be the best final project, but the skills you learn along the way are invaluable. Most importantly, we managed to break the status quo of learning, with the help of our professor, outside of the classroom and within a group of intelligent and driven students. All this to say, when asked on your college admissions tours what is attracting you to one school over the other, I ask that you hesitate at the simple blanket of “rigorous academia.” Instead, as I have found so helpful here at Vassar, find a college where students are as interested in making a difference and changing how we learn and understand the world as you are.
Sufana Noorwez/The Miscellany News. MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Page 14
SPORTS
November 9, 2023
XC wins Liberty League VHP organizes Reforestation 5k Continued from CROSS COUNTRY on page 1 for the team, with team victories at the Ron Stonitsch and Fred Pavlich Invitationals already on their resume. Of course, when a team establishes itself as of championship caliber early in the season, postseason performances become all the more important. In the Liberty League Championship, the Brewers performed well when it mattered most—a tremendously rewarding experience for any athlete training with championship aspirations, or even expectations. The team has also enjoyed extensive individual success. Schoenegge was named to the All-Liberty League First Team; Reade, Swaim and Mueller-Hicker were named to
A week after winning their first conference championship, the team displayed more of its talent by winning the ECAC Championship at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome. the second team; and Kaigle, Miriyagalla and Helfand were named honorable mentions. A week after winning their first conference championship, the team displayed more of its talent by winning the ECAC Championship at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome. In this event, the athletes that will not be competing in the NCAA Championships were given the opportunity to compete in a championship event.
Caris Lee
Next weekend, the team will focus on the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship in Massachusetts. Nora Goldberg-Courtney ’26 led the Brewers with a fourth overall finish, with Lily Shimpach ’26 and Clara Wiesler ’24 joining them in the top 10 with seventh and eighth place finishes, respectively. Jordan Norman ’24 and Addie Nyhan ’27’s consecutive finishes in 10th and 11th place were the final two scores counted in Vassar’s winning total of 40 points. The team was closely contested by the University of Hartford, second place finishers with 44 points, but displayed dominance against the next two best finishing teams, Pratt Institute, who scored 86 points, and St. Joseph’s University-Long Island, who finished with 140 points. Next weekend, the team will focus on the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship in Massachusetts, an event the team finished sixth in last season. Regardless of how the team performs then, the Brewers still appear poised to be one of 32 teams that will be selected for the NCAA National Championships, which will be held on Nov. 18 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Currently, Vassar is ranked 19th in the country and third in the mideast region. A strong performance at the Mideast Championships could earn them an automatic bid. If not, they will hope to receive one of the 22 at-large bids available. If selected, it would be the team’s first appearance in the national tournament since 2019.
Copy Editor
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s we see our campus leaves change color and fall arrives, it is easy to forget how fortunate we are for this nature that envelops, rejuvenates and sustains us. In Haiti, the situation is severely different. Since 1990, Haiti has seen over a 17 percent decrease in the country’s total forest cover, according to the Human Development Report in 2019. According to Global Forest Watch, the percentage of forest area in Haiti is 3.5 percent. The main cause of this deforestation is the locals cutting down trees to use as charcoal for heating and cooking their food. Further, as poverty drives rural families to harvest this charcoal to make a short-term profit, the deforestation crisis is exacerbated. Vassar Haiti Project (VHP) aims to plant 2,500 trees in Haiti—not just for the environmental benefits, but also for the families and community in Haiti—through their Reforestation 5K Run with RunVassar. The Reforestation Initiative is overseen by VHP Co-President Jessica Porras ’24 and Vice President of the Environment Committee Rebecca Weinstein ’25. The Initiative raises funds to buy trees and pay the salaries of laborers and agricultural professionals to plant them. Haitian families can sign up for the tree-growing program where trees are planted and grown on their land for them to benefit from its fruit, either for their own sustenance or to sell. Another aspect of the Initiative is education—a Haitian agronomist teaches the community and local schools how to plant the trees and the benefits of reforestation. In this way, VHP promotes a community-based reforestation model. As Porras added, “We are just trying to bring a little bit of hope to the community after so much struggle.”
To raise the funds to support the Reforestation Initiative, VHP will be collaborating with RunVassar, a running club on campus. RunVassar provides opportunities for runners of all levels to participate in group runs multiple times a week. RunVassar and VHP will put on a 5K on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 11 a.m. around Vassar campus, with a $10 entrance fee. All proceeds will go directly to Haiti. To sign up, VHP is tabling in the College Center. President of RunVassar Pooja Huded ’25 commented in written correspondence, “When VHP approached us about helping them plan the Reforestation Run, we were really excited. In the past, we have put on other events to raise money for meaningful causes, like our 5k to fund abortions last year, so we were excited about doing something similar to raise money to plant food-bearing trees in Haiti. VHP is doing super important work, and it is an honor to be able to help with that—plus, it is always nice to get people outside and involved in running/walking together.” The Reforestation Run hopes to bring the Vassar community together while raising awareness for Haiti and its call for reforestation. Funds raised by the 5K will be used to plant trees as soon as next year. As Weinstein remarked, “We wanted to do something that would involve the community and make them feel like they are a part of it. We are trying to expand VHP so it is more well known around campus.” A pop-up art sale, reminiscent of the Families Weekend Art Sale in September, will also be available at the 5K to support VHP’s Art Initiative. So, whether you are a seasoned runner, power-walker or leisurely stroller, the Reforestation Run is a way to contribute to a cause easily overlooked on our campus arboretum but nevertheless important in the effort towards a more sustainable future.
Image courtesy of Rebecca Weinstein ’25.
Image courtesy of Rebecca Weinstein ’25. MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
GAMES The Miscellany Games
November 9, 2023
Category Match By William Flachmeyer
CATEGORY MATCH INSTRUCTIONS In the word bank below, there are 16 words that belong to four categories. Each word belongs to only one category. You don’t know which words belong together, nor do you know what the categories are! Try to find similarities between them and place them into four categories below. Answers (which words belong together, as well as the categories they belong to) will be revealed in next week’s issue. Have fun! Example category: 1: Toyota Car Models: COROLLA PRIUS TACOMA HIGHLANDER
WORD BANK PITCHFORK CANDLESTICK MICROSCOPE EYE WHEELBARROW WIKIPEDIA ROPE FEMINISM SICKLE GOOGLE PLOW WRENCH AMAZON KNIFE YOUTUBE AXE
WORD BANK MATERIAL EDU NET PISSED BIO GONE ORG IT TURNT CALC WASTED SHOT GOV NEW COM LIT
Answers to last week’s puzzle: By Sadie Keesbury “Happy Fall!”
Vassar Categories 1 Answer Key: Reckless ____: LOVE, ABANDON, ENDANGERMENT, DRIVING Words beginning with Q: QUIP, QUACK, QUIT, QUARTER Coins: PENNY, DIME, DOLLAR, NICKEL Portions: EIGHTH, WHOLE, THIRD, HALF
Vassar Categories 2 Answer Key: Things you find at a circus: CLOWN, ACROBAT, TRAPEZE, TIGHTROPE Emojis: COWBOY, HEART, LAUGHING, EGGPLANT Types of knots: BARREL, SQUARE, BOWLINE, OVERHAND Fruits: ORANGE, TOMATO, APPLE, LEMON
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
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GAMES
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November 9, 2023
The Miscellany Crossword “What’s My Name?” By Felix Mundy-Mancino
ACROSS 1. Friend (fr.) 4. Statement made after doing a favor, “you _____” 9. Measurements of electrical resistance 13. 9-digit statement to the I.R.S. 14. I read (fr.) 15. Vibrant ocean ecosystem 16. Speedy 17. Organic chemistry substituent group 18. Post-war art movement 19. Gentileschi of the Baroque movement 21. Answer to the titular question 22. Olympic skier Phil or Steve 23. Irish folk singer 25. Inscribed pillar 26. Prepares a foe for feathering 27. Heathrow abbr. 30. _____ Croft: Tomb Raider 32. Possible boxing outcome 33. Verdi opera set in Egypt 34. High school math offering, colloquially 37. Status of the International Space Station
39. The femur is the largest one of these in humans 40. Con counterpart 42. New Haven educational institution 43. Slang for female sibling 44. Shakespearean “you” 45. Japanese beer brand 48. Mountain in California 50. A person related on the maternal side 51. Piquant 54. Best features 56. Register audibly 57. First Hawaiian president 58. Without flaws 59. _____ mater 60. Common casino activity 61. Member of an evil race in Middle Earth 62. What an IOU indicates 63. What one might do with a broom 64. Intelligence group for the United States
DOWN 1. Mount in Türkiye famous as the resting place of Noah’s Ark 2. Peak that blew its top in 1980? 3. Weave 4. Valley in Southern California 5. Celtic language of Great Britain 6. Smith or Gould 7. Japanese animator behind Studio Ghibli 8. Many language learners in the United States 9. State one’s desires, such as at a restaurant 10. Fulfill a Hippocratic promise 11. Prefix with -terranean or -care 12. City in eastern Tunisia 16. Nuclear gps.? 20. Comedienne and partner of Stiller 21. North African city and birthplace of eponymous hat 24. Focus of an Alanis Morrissette song 27. What Simon Bolivar and Bernardo O’Higgins were to many South Americans
28. Human geography statistic (acronym) 29. Often unwanted species of rodent 31. Patriarchal archetype based on canine pseudoscience 33. _____ Amble, Vassar orientation week tradition 34. Airer of Sesame Street and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood 35. King (fr.) 36. Medieval projectile weapon 38. Made of a certain kind of wood 41. Scene not used in the final cut, perhaps 44. Shakespearean “your” 46. Greek city of learning in New York? 47. Home, to many birds 48. Saber-toothed squirrel in the Ice Age series 49. Napoleon led one (fr.) 51. Commonplace river fish 52. Brazilian soccer legend 53. Poetic foot 55. Wild West Wyatt 57. Additive baseball statistic
More Miscellany Games Inside!
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE