Misc.2.13.25

The Miscellany News

Interviewing VMatch's creator

Erin Thatcher Guest Columnist

As winter break drew to a close, I was sitting with a group of sophomores in Baccio’s and raising hell after the stressful, productive couple of days that were Sophomore Career Connections. Amidst the chaos, I heard a gasp from the seat next to me. My friend’s attention was suddenly fixed on her phone screen. When I asked what she was looking at, she told me she had received her VMatch.

The anonymous creator explained the form in an email correspondence. “VMatch is a personalized matchmaking project based on a detailed Google Form survey. It’s designed to pair respondents with others who may be compatible with them, whether for a romantic relationship or simply to connect with someone new.” The inspiration came from a Fizz post complaining about how this kind of arrangement existed at other schools but not Vassar. The form consisted of questions about basic demographics, such as class year and gender, personal beliefs, whether or not “I love you” is a promise and political beliefs, such as whether or not abortion should be legal. There were

MODfest presents ‘Metropolis

Allen Hale, Emma Adams Editor-in-Chief, Arts Editor

On

Saturday, Feb. 8, “Metropolis Reimagined” was staged as part of MODfest 2025. Held in Skinner Hall of Music, the event involved two performers—Po-Wei Ger on piano and Drake Andersen on modular synth—playing alongside a screening of the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis.” An ample number of students, faculty and community members attended, buzzing with intrigue before the show commenced.

As discussed by Assistant Professor of Film Fabio Andrade’s introductory lecture, “Metropolis” has a winding adaptational history. The 153-minute-long original was cut in length for an American release. Giorgio Moroder, the “Father of Disco,” composed a rock-based soundtrack for his 1984 edit, featuring timely appearances by Freddy Mercury and Jon Anderson; other notable changes included his transformation of intertitles into subtitles.

Set in 2026, “Metropolis” examines a strict divide between rich industrialists and the working-class poor, which splits the titular city into a rigid hierarchy. Freder, son of leader Joh Fredersen, grows interested in a woman named Maria, who briefly visits the wealthy’s “Pleasure Garden.” In pursuit of her, Freder journeys into the city’s underworld, where exhausted workers toil in

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Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866

Rebecca Makkai arrives as Writer-in-Residence

Rebecca Makkai is a liar. At least, she used to be—“I had my whole class convinced when I was five that there was a school ghost. And I started a newsletter about the ghost, and I would plant evidence of the ghost everywhere,” she said in an interview with The Miscellany News. “Other people started seeing the ghost, which I was very proud of.”

There was nothing sinister or manipulative behind her lying, Makkai clarified; she just liked to entertain. She has since built a career out of it. Along with a slew of short stories, four of which have been anthologized in “The Best American Short Stories,” Makkai has penned four novels. Her best-known work, “The Great Believers,” about the AIDS epidemic in Chicago, was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize and received the ALA Carnegie Medal and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Makkai has a clear, hydrated-sounding voice. She cuffs her pants. She is Vassar’s 2025 Writer-in-Residence.

Makkai arrived on campus last week, and on Feb. 3, delivered a reading in Rockefeller Hall 300 to a crowd of students, professors

See Makkai page 3

Vassar responds toTrump

Donald Trump’s return to the White House last month has already been marked by a number of contentious executive orders. Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has signed 55 executive orders into law as of Feb. 11, covering issues ranging from freezing federal grants and spending to increasing mass deportations nationwide. Many of these policies have direct ramifications for students and higher education institutions alike, yet the full impact of the President’s slew of executive orders remains to be seen. On Jan. 30, Dean of the College Carlos Alamo sent an email to the Vassar student body in response to the new administration’s laws. Alamo discussed the effects of a temporary federal freeze on grants as well as Trump’s executive orders overhauling the immigration system. The White House memo freezing federal grants raised alarm for many—specifically for students receiving federal financial aid.

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on page 3

Brendan Kennedy provides an account of this Grammys’ resonance among a variety of music fans.

How might astronomy and musical performance be linked? Read Ariel Schwartzman Miles’ piece to learn more!

Are you on Fizz 24/7? Ian Watanabe’s article on the app has some insights that may intrigue you. 5 ARTS

Tori Kim/The Miscellany News.

Charlotte Robertson Contributing Editor

Charlotte Robertson/The Miscellany News.

Sarah McNeil News Editor

Trump

Tori Kim/The Miscellany News.

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Tess Novack February 13,

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.

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.

Writer-in-Residence discusses fiction, timelessness

and Poughkeepsie community members alike. She first recited her piece “A Story for Your Daughters, a Story for Your Sons,” wanting to open with a “complete work” before jumping into a sample of her 2023 novel, “I Have Some Questions for You.” The chalkboard behind her was covered with differential calculus.

Besides certain ubiquitously funny snippets, reactions to Makkai’s work were highly individualized, with audience members humming, nodding and frowning at different moments. Teasing out emotions is somewhat of a trademark for Makkai—she often chooses to tackle sensitive, timely themes in her writing. “I Have Some Questions for You,” for example, explores true crime podcasting, boarding school and sexual harassment in the form of a mystery-thriller. But perhaps the most moving element of the book is the way Makkai uses technology to ground her readers in the contemporary; the first chapter begins with a social media comments section.

“[Undergraduates] are all setting their stories in the ’80s and ’90s so that they can avoid cell phones,” Makkai told The Miscellany News. “I think people, for some reason, are taught this idea that you shouldn’t anchor [your work] to a specific moment in time. But nothing’s timeless, right?”

Inquiries about research methods and sources of inspiration dominated the Q&A session that followed Makkai’s reading. Removing and repositioning her glasses several times, she joked that her final draft is always the opposite of her intended draft: “If I try to write anything light and funny, it goes really, really dark. And if I try to write something really dark, I can’t help myself and I insert humor into it.” “The Great Believers” originally started out as a juicy romance set in the Parisian art world during the 1910s. “It’s always been very helpful to me to let things shift around as I change, as the world changes and as the story changes,” Makkai said.

However, the extent to which real life influences Makkai’s writing extends only so

far. She insists her characters are all entirely fictional. “I did base a dog on a real dog once, because I didn’t really need the dog to think,” she said, adding that this particularly horrible poodle was stolen from the mom of her high school boyfriend. “But taking someone I know as a character has serious limitations. I’ve never been tempted to.”

Seated in the library of the Alumnae House, where everything—the couch, the rug, the curtains, the chairs—is covered in some kind of swirly pattern, Makkai was at once relaxed and focused. Her left hand, adorned with a sparkly watch and a scrunchie, remained grounded in her lap, while she gestured gracefully with her right. Flipping through an oversized book of Miscellany News archives, she reflected on her days as a humor columnist for her college paper. It was good editing practice, she said, for she always had to trim down part of the column for layout purposes. “Things are funnier when they’re more concise, anyway.”

Besides writing, Makkai has worked as a Montessori teacher for elementary schoolers, a job she described, in one word, as “joyful.” Though she knows some writers who hate it, teaching was more than a way for Makkai to make a living. It is something she shares with her husband, who coincidentally works at the boarding school Makkai attended as a teenager and where the two now live with their kids. It is something she shares with her parents, who were both linguistics professors, bouncing back and forth from Chicago to its suburbs to Hong Kong. Learning, Makkai declared, is essential. Currently, she is studying Hungarian, with the hope to someday read her grandmother’s untranslated novels. “I would feel very sad if I wasn’t actively learning new things as an adult,” she explained.

In that spirit of learning, select students will have the opportunity to learn from Makkai as she spends the next couple of weeks on campus, visiting creative writing classes to both engage with and advise students.

Trump Administration policies disrupt higher education

Continued from Trump on page 1

In his email, Alamo explained that on Jan. 27 the College received notice that all federal grants would be paused for a month. Alamo wrote, “Understandably, this caused immediate distress among many of our students who rely on federal funds to pay for tuition at Vassar. However, later, we learned that this freeze will not affect the distribution of Pell Grants or direct loans.”

A hold on federal student aid would have made it difficult for the College to access federal funds such as Federal Work-Study, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), as well as other federally direct loans. In a written correspondence with The Miscellany News, Alamo confirmed financial aid-related concerns were no longer a concern for this semester.

The federal funding freeze was rescinded by the White House less than two days after it was released. The freeze was met with immediate judicial resistance including a lawsuit from 22 states and the District of Columbia in addition to a separate lawsuit brought by several nonprofit groups.

Alamo’s email also addressed the numerous changes to immigration policy the Trump administration has brought. Since his inauguration, President Trump has signed 10 executive orders focusing on immigration—a core tenet of Trump’s election campaign, in which he pledged to conduct mass deportations and to increase military presence at the United States-Mexico border. According to NBC News, the Trump Administration is planning to conduct raids in three U.S. cities per week.

The College has created a policy to be used in the event Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) subpoenas or requests documentation from Vassar for any Vassar community member. Alamo shared, “The College has developed a Response to Supbeona and Warrants that directs any officials claiming to represent ICE (or anyone attempting to serve a warrant or subpoena on campus) to the College’s General Counsel, Shay Humphrey.”

The outlined policy affirms the College’s commitment to protecting its students and employees: “Vassar will not take affirmative steps to assist in the enforcement of federal immigration laws subject to the policies set forth below.” The document

outlines Vassar’s upholding of New York’s Human Rights Law, which disallows the discrimination on the basis of immigration status. The policy additionally states, “Vassar further acknowledges that NYS Executive Order 170 provides that no NYS law enforcement officers shall inquire about an individual’s immigration status unless investigating such individual’s illegal activity and such inquiry is relevant to the illegal activity.”

Members of the Vassar Student Association (VSA) are working with campus offices, including the Office of International Services and First Generation Low Income Program (FLI), to ensure any student who may be affected by these policies has access to immigration policy information. The Chair of the Residential Affairs Committee Nico Reyes Cardozo ’27 commented, “We believe those offices have a more educated and accurate plan of action than what the VSA can provide. We think that the best way we can support these students is to work with those offices instead of trying to make recommendations ourselves.”

Trump’s immigration policy has specifically threatened students who have participated in pro-Palestine protests. In a White House Fact Sheet, Trump was quoted, “To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

A member of Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine (VSJP) stated: “The conversation within SJP about how to best protect international and undocumented students is ongoing and did not begin with the Trump administration. International and undocumented student activists have been targeted indiscriminately by democratic and Republican presidential administrations, and threats of deportation have been a common tactic of repression for pro-Palestine organizers.”

Alamo said in a written correspondence with The Miscellany News, “My understanding is that the order actually targets students who were arrested for protest activities by law enforcement and who are international students. The College does not have students who fit that criteria. Even

so, the College does not anticipate providing information to ICE about any of our students unless required by a court-ordered subpoena.”

The member of VSJP added, “We believe Vassar has a responsibility to protect students and our freedom of speech and expression. Vassar has already taken part

in the targeting of international and low income students who organize on campus for many issues. While students face dangerous uncertainty at the hands of the College and the presidential administration, we are actively finding community and legal resources to aid students targeted by this repression.”

Tori Kim/The Miscellany News.

Continued from Makkai on page 1

Past, present and future collide in ‘Metropolis Reimagined’

abject conditions. Enlightened by this experience and disgusted with his father’s dismissiveness, the ensuing film follows Freder’s participation in the worker’s rebellion. Visually, “Metropolis” ambitiously combines the Weimar-era aesthetic inclinations of silent film, Art Deco architecture, now-retro futurism, Biblical symbolism, “Frankenstein” type horror and dystopian imagery, culminating in intricate set designs and grandiose staging which contrast with the choice of scoring for two instruments.

“Metropolis Reimagined,” the newest reinterpretation of the original score, is the brainchild of ICEBERG New Music, a collective of 10 composers based in New York City—Drake Andersen, Víctor Báez, Stephanie Ann Boyd, Alex Burtzos, Yu-Chun Chien, Derek Cooper, Jack Frerer, Max Grafe, Harry Stafylakis and Samantha Wolf. The group’s strength lies in each member’s thoroughly unique sound. They hail from across the world and boast an incredibly diverse profile of musical backgrounds and creative philosophies. In an interview with The Miscellany News, ICEBERG composer Stephanie Ann Boyd spoke to the significance of this musical mélange. “I call us sort of like the Spice Girls,” said Boyd. “[Everyone] has vastly different musical styles in their writing. It’s a very well-rounded feast of music.”

In composing “Metropolis Reimagined,” the collective divided the film into 10-minute segments, each member working individually on their respective section. While this

method could presumably produce a disjointed, clunky sound, the live effect is quite the opposite. Each composer’s individual piece blends seamlessly into the others, an eerie atmosphere conjured by dual acoustic and electronic instrumentation. Yet, subtle tonal shifts can be distinguished as each composer introduces distinctive acoustic elements throughout. Boyd attributes this cohesive effect to Andersen’s underlying electronic sound: “He is able to seamlessly add this layer over top that really just blends everything together.” As Ger’s notes punctuate, Andersen’s synth buzzes and echoes with static, cavernous electricity.

The collective was tasked with navigating the choppy, mechanical movements of a lower frame rate, characteristic to the handcranked cameras utilized in the silent era. With much of “Metropolis” adhering to a hurried, energetic pace, the music needed to move swiftly along with the plot. “The timing is important,” said Boyd. “There’s a little bit less individual tempo freedom. Figuring out how deeply specific to go was the first part of the process.” Thus, the collective toed a tenuous line in creating their piece. Each artist had to generate sound that worked in tandem with the characters’ swift movements and abrupt mood shifts within the film without creating a rhythm too complex for Ger to follow on piano.

After Andrade’s talk concluded, Ger and Andersen entered, occupying the far left and right of the stage respectively. The center was left open for the film’s projection, with the

Hall’s pipe organ looming ominously in the background. Andersen was lightly illuminated by the red glow of his electronic setup; Ger’s face was visible from white light shone on his score.

Throughout the film, the two worked in tandem to play nearly continuously. Although the piano often took melodic lead, Andersen’s contributions underscored these moments through subtle ambiance and mechanical noises, mirroring on-screen action. The soundtrack moved through a seamless cycle of stylistic flourishes, whether it being dissonant flutters, plodding terseness or celebratory pomp. The musicians’ intense composure enabled a symbiotic relationship with the screening; when mesmerized by the projection, their presence blended into this visual display.

[SPOILERS

AHEAD]

During “Metropolis,” Maria’s preaching promises workers’ the appearance of the mediator, a Messianic figure who will bridge the gap between stratified classes: “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart,” referring to rich planners and poor laborers respectively. At the film’s closure, Freder unsurprisingly falls into the redemptive role; love is triumphant, enabling the foretold salvation. Afterwards, the performer’s physical presence increasingly re-entered the perceptive gaze, aware of the active craft which made this event’s experience possible. Although the future of economic produc-

tion depicted in “Metropolis” is often archaically imagined, the film’s central tensions appear unresolved nearly a century after its original inception. “‘Metropolis’ is like this underlying part of the zeitgeist of our culture,” said Boyd, describing the impetus behind the project. Rather than merely re-doing what has been previously attempted, “Metropolis Reimagined” instead operates under new, inherited assumptions reflecting its era of creation, fashioned by the heads and hands Maria describes. In a written correspondence with The Miscellany News, Andrade described its conduciveness to reinterpretation. “The film’s constantly shifting status seems to be the most consistent aspect of its existence, and it is also proof of the film’s timelessness,” he stated, noting the often paradoxical criticism and praise from viewers’ interpretations throughout history. From its dominating cityscapes to the stark dichotomy between power and oppression, “Metropolis” provides a foundation upon which contemporary artists like the ICEBERG New Music collective can continue to build.

Yet, this utopian resolution offered by Lang stands in contrast to a more cynical, perhaps realistic, contemporary perspective. “The possibility that love is not enough,” a fear uttered by Major Briggs in “Twin Peaks,” remains prescient for oneself after the film’s tidy, empathy-driven closure. The heart is able to mediate in “Metropolis”; today, the ambiguous prospect of this reconciliation is no less pressing, if not increasingly tenuous.

‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ is nasty but necessary

Finke Assistant Copy Editor

What happens when an influencer gets caught in a lie?

Usually, not much. It happens all the time: Someone gains a following, says or does something wildly offensive or inappropriate, gets “canceled” for a bit, then continues making content. But for Belle Gibson, a career-ending confession destroyed the empire she had built and called the industry of alternative medicine into question.

In the early 2010s, Australian influencer Belle Gibson became one of the most prominent names in the wellness industry. The story of how she cured her terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet captivated audiences around Australia, and she quickly saw wild success in her mobile app and cookbook, both of which were titled “The Whole Pantry.” Gibson was a young mother with a dream, and her journey tugged at her followers’ heartstrings.

However, journalists and fans started to speculate on Gibson’s diagnoses due to her impeccable health and alleged charity fraud, and Gibson confirmed in a 2015 interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly that she never had brain cancer. She had scammed millions of people and shattered the hope that she had instilled in her followers. Netflix’s new miniseries “Apple Cider Vinegar,” created by Samantha Strauss, follows a fictionalized version of Gibson as she builds both her platform and her web of lies. “Apple Cider Vinegar” is deeply disturbing yet painfully relevant as the topics of social media and healthcare continue to be the subjects of a long-winded political debate.

“This is a true story based on a lie.” This line is spoken at the beginning of every episode, explaining that while certain aspects of the story have been dramatized or fictionalized, the lasting effects of Gibson’s deception

still remain in the media. In addition, it was clarified that Gibson was not compensated for this story. In an interview with Vulture, Strauss stated, “I really hope this isn’t a glorification of Belle’s behavior.” Strauss made it clear that this miniseries was intended to be a lesson on how the media can warp reality.

The show begins in 2016, when Belle [Disclaimer: “Belle” is used to refer to the character, while “Gibson” is used to refer to the person who the character is based on], played by American actress Kaitlyn Dever, describes her predicament to a crisis management team. Allegations that she was faking her cancer have started to spread across the internet, and she is taking desperate measures to repair her career. “Apple Cider Vinegar” has a nonlinear storyline, focusing both on Belle’s health journey as well as her frantic effort to fix her media presence. The show also focuses on fictional cancer patients Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey), a fellow influencer who became both inspiration and

“This is a true story based on a lie.” This line is spoken at the beginning of every episode, explaining that while certain aspects of the story have been dramatized or fictionalized, the lasting effects of Gibson’s deception still remain in the media.

online competition for Belle—loosely based on Jessica Ainscough—and Lucy Guthrie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), a loyal follower of Belle’s.

We are introduced to Belle as a young, lonely mother, disappointed in her lack of fulfilling personal relationships. She begins posting online about having terminal brain cancer, slowly gaining the sympathy and trust of her peers. Blinded by likes and follows, Belle continues to grow her platform, making up more and more medical conditions to exploit the emotions of a wider audience.

While “Apple Cider Vinegar” is centered around Belle, it also tells the story of two fictional women based on people in Gibson’s life. Milla was diagnosed with multiple sarcomas and was recommended to have her arm amputated. She decided, however, to turn to alternative medicine, using a treatment plan filled with organic juices and coffee enemas to try to naturally cure her cancer. On the other hand, Lucy had been receiving conventional treatments for her breast cancer for years, and was growing increasingly weary. Belle’s platform became a source of inspiration and hope, as she was desperate to try something new. Milla and Lucy’s stories both served as points of conflict for Belle and as cautionary tales about the danger of alternative medicine. Strauss makes a point to highlight the cognitive dissonance present in Belle, Milla and Lucy’s lives through the show’s cinematography and soundtrack. One recurring visual theme is the use of complementary colors blue and orange: Blue is used to represent the overly sterile medical industry, while orange represents natural healing and growth. These two colors appear consistently, coding the characters’ opinions and attitudes. In addition, “Apple Cider Vinegar” pairs relatively peaceful shots with an overstimulating soundtrack, reflecting the same

sense of cognitive dissonance onto the viewer.

“Apple Cider Vinegar” also balances discomfort with relatability. Although Belle is written to be an entirely unsympathetic anti-hero, there are many scenes that remind us that there is a story behind everything. The humanization of Belle, as well

“Apple Cider Vinegar” is a hard-hitting reminder of the responsibilities which influencers hold in a world where critical thinking and media literacy can become obscure.

as the poignant moments in Milla and Lucy’s stories, demonstrate the impact which Belle and her platform have not only on the health of her followers, but also on her own psyche.

At its core, “Apple Cider Vinegar” is a commentary on the dangers of digital media. This is not by any means a new story, as docu-dramas and biopics have been conveying this message since “The Social Network” (2010). With the constantly rising level of misinformation about modern medicine circulating in the political sphere and a death of trust in expertise among the public, “Apple Cider Vinegar” is a hard-hitting reminder of the responsibilities which influencers hold in a world where critical thinking and media literacy can become obscure. This impactful miniseries about an overwhelmingly charismatic conwoman is an immortalized warning that not everything on social media is a reflection of the truth.

Grace

‘The Brutalist’ is a modern triumph

Benjamin Kaplan Assistant Arts Editor

[CW: This article makes mention of sexual assault.]

Very few films can evoke what just a few minutes of Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” brings to the table. It is, without exaggeration, the perfect outcome of the last few years in cinema in many different regards, especially surrounding themes of human struggle against social forces. It is a behemoth of a film, integrating uncomfortable yet captivating themes such as trauma, artistic merit and the fate of Jewish people after the Holocaust. It is both epic and subtle, shot with an eye for the classics while incorporating new wave cinematography. It is a messy yet methodically built film and one that I am sure is going to survive the test of time.

“The Brutalist” follows László Tóth, an emotionally and artistically complicated architect and Holocaust survivor who comes to America following the end of World War II. Adrien Brody’s performance as Tóth is so enthralling and well-done that you truly believe the character must have been a real person even though the film is purely fictional. Brody brings a level of intense physicality to this performance that is unparalleled in its depth;

Adrien Brody is László Tóth. A vast majority of the film’s gargantuan three-and-a-half hour runtime is Tóth’s journey in America. It begins with him separated from his wife and living with distant relatives in Philadelphia and ends with his entanglement with the eccentric industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren and Buren’s two children.

The Van Burens are reminiscent of the Buchanans from “The Great Gatsby” with their posh attitudes and dedication to the WASPy upper class society they inhabit. Harrison Van Buren, played by Guy Pearce, is an exuberant and obsessive divorced patriarch who rules over a giant suburban estate with his two children Harry and Martin, played by Joe Alwyn and Stacy Martin respectively. Alwyn and Pearce’s performances are next-level. In particular, Alwyn’s almost cartoonishly posh and straightforward way of speaking comes off as cute early in the film before turning menacing by the end. The other allstar performance in the film comes from Felicity Jones as Tóth’s intense and scarred wife Erzésbet. All together, the cast of the film is small yet precise and effective in both their casting but also the writing that wraps them together like strings in a tight knot. There is no character introduced that is overly complicating for the plot. Even those that permeate throughout in small ways or even just briefly appear, such as Isaach de Bankole as

Tóth’s friend Gordon, never feel wasteful or excessive.

It is not enough for “The Brutalist” to have such an incredible cast; the film also excels at nearly everything else. The score is sweeping, with a perfect combination of classical instrumentation and harsh industrial motifs, reaching its apex of immersion during the film’s intermission halfway through. The use of Vista Vision, a variant of the 35mm film format dating back to the 1950s, for the film’s aesthetic is breathtaking. The effect is strange and captivating; the sharper shadows and colors creates a unique visual, such as the scenes where László wanders quarries in an Italian village. Even the most minor scenes are elevated by the popping colors Vista Vision brings, and the use of an intense yet stable camerawork for scenes such as Tóth’s first sight of the Statue of Liberty at the beginning of the film works perfectly with this formatting choice. This all combines for a viewing experience that envelops, excites and disturbs the audience. The moments where all of these elements—from character to score to cinematography—blend together seamlessly in a truly captivating plot that feels like watching a meticulously drawn painting come to life.

The theme of trauma is, surprisingly, often left behind in stories involving the Holocaust and its survivors. “The Brutalist” kicks

down the door and says it should not be like this. Trauma is the guiding force of Tóth’s journey within America, coming face to face with uncertainties, betrayal, insecurities, literal and metaphorical raping by the American upper class and ultimately how to move forward in a world where he saw his people massacred in front of his very eyes. If you are Jewish, or even just invested in the idea of community after tragedy, this film is a must see. It will surely go down as a grisly but earnest take on what tragedy does to people, and will stand proudly next to pieces of work, such as the graphic novel “Maus,” in rebuking a fairy-tale happy ending to the Jewish community following the survival of the Shoah.

“The Brutalist” is not being shown in many theaters but the experience is truly worth it, intermission and long runtime included. It does something that is so simple yet truly complex, having shocking and uncomfortable scenes whilst still being earnest and emotional on a truly human level. After years of more and more films—especially from A24—pushing the human experience to new limits and areas of inspection, “The Brutalist” instead asks deeper questions while still including jokes, joy and true bittersweetness. It is a marvel of a film, deeply layered and important to the past as well as the present. I implore you, watch “The Brutalist.”

The Grammys were actually good this year?

Kennedy Guest Columnist

The 67th annual Grammy Awards, which took place on Sunday, Jan. 2, were equal parts unexpected and exciting. This year’s ceremony featured impressive performances and shocking awards, marked by memorable moments such as pop superstar Taylor Swift “throwing it down” with a wine bottle in hand. There is a lot to unpack within this year’s awards, and I am going to break down all the key moments to keep you informed of the results and the unserious internet points the ceremony produced.

Starting well before the start of the show, the red carpet brought about lots of drama when Kanye West showed up with his wife, Bianca Censori, who was almost completely nude, wearing a see-through dress designed by West himself. After this ridiculous and degrading stunt, the couple got into their car and left, as they technically were not invited, sparking yet another West internet rant. In an attempt to recreate West and Ty Dolla $ign’s collaborative “Vultures 1” album cover, the outfit was an utter failure and only brought more strength to his rapid decline in popularity.

First-time attendees Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Doechii stole the show with their creative and innovative performances. Carpenter offered an equally comical and impressive medley of her hit singles, “Espresso,” “Please Please Please” and “Taste,” adding a distinct jazz flair to the songs. Following her performance, she won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album, a long-awaited dream for Carpenter. Chappell Roan gave an explosive performance of “Pink Pony Club,” featuring a giant on-stage pony and dancers covered in clown makeup. It is no shock that she took home the award for Best New Artist after her accelerated rise to fame this year— including garnering the biggest crowd in Lollapalooza history. During her speech, Roan took the opportunity to call out big labels, urging them to provide better care for small artists. Doechii’s performance was by far the

best of the night, featuring a euphoric set of “DENIAL IS A RIVER” and “CATFISH.” This performance marks Doechii as a potential new rap superpower, solidified by her win for Best Rap Album—the third woman ever to secure the award after Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. This year’s ceremony was particularly huge for new artists in the industry, offering immense hope for future nominees. Awards this season displayed more variety than usual, showcasing diverse themes of music and artists from different backgrounds.

Beyoncé finally achieved her long-awaited Album of the Year win with “Cowboy Carter.” Though she holds the record for most wins in Grammy history, Beyoncé has never secured this pivotal award despite being previously nominated four times. Earlier in the evening, she took home the award for Best Country Album, a shock which she commented on during her speech: “I was really not expecting this.” Her triumphs have sparked immense discourse online, where many viewers feel she did not deserve the awards. I believe, however, that her wins were well-merited, both for the excellent, genre-bending album that “Cowboy Carter” is and to celebrate her long-standing career as a whole. The album’s win holds significance as well, as it weaves in the singer’s personal career development with the history of Black country music, especially growing up as a Black girl in Texas.

Kendrick Lamar smashed several categories with his infamous Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.” Lamar, who took home both Song and Record of the Year, comedically screamed “MUSTARD!” into the mic upon accepting his awards. Lamar winning both awards was shocking, especially due to the tough competition within the category, which featured Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé. On top of that, Lady Gaga randomly debuted her new single, “Abracadabra,” through a credit card advertisement during the Grammys. The song is an ode to “Old Gaga,” returning to her roots of strong vocals, enunciation and intense production. Her Grammys attendance was not amiss, as she and Bruno Mars took home Best Pop Duo Performance

for “Die With a Smile.” Other highlights included Benson Boone doing flips off a piano amidst a voice crack and an earnest tribute to Quincy Jones performed by Cynthia Erivo and many other great performers. Surprisingly, both Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift did not win any awards for their respective albums. At the show, Eilish gave a mellow performance of “Birds of a Feather” and Swift nonchalantly stepped on stage to present Beyoncé with Best Country Album. Perhaps their runs as Grammy sweethearts have ended, but I am positive we will witness more award-winning albums and songs from them in the future. Both Swift and Eilish have been unstoppable forces in the industry, slamming charts and streaming records, and their popularity will continue to result in awards.

Charli xcx won three awards in smaller categories—her first Grammy wins ever—for her extremely influential album, “BRAT.” After ruling “Brat Summer,” Charli’s reign contin-

ued during her performance, which featured internet celebrity models Alex Consani and Gabriette carrying the essence of brat with an on-stage rave showcasing flying underwear (which was later donated to a women’s shelter). Charli’s influence on the sound and style of popular music is revolutionary, and these wins were destined since her start as an artist. Altogether, this year’s awards were exceedingly busy, and somehow sitting through the four hour show was bearable for once. Optimism for the future certainly shined through, and I am excited to see where the music scene goes from here. The popular sound is definitely shifting, and perhaps the awards will start to celebrate niche artists more frequently. The winners this year were justified and celebrated, but it is easy for some to be disappointed when each category was heavily packed with talent. Whether you are a long-time critic or a loyal fan, this year’s Grammys proved, at least for once, that music’s biggest night can still surprise us.

Brendan

Berk Meral/The Miscellany News.

VMatch captures student attention: An interview

Continued from VMatch on page 1

also questions about extracurricular involvement, hobbies and future aspirations.

“The goal was to facilitate meaningful connections by considering key factors,” the creator said. With this goal in mind, they constructed the form over the course of a few hours and sent it out to the student body in the fall. “For VMatch to work well, I thought it needed a substantial amount of responses,” they rationalized. “I was aiming for at least 150.” They were very pleased when their goal was exceeded—there were 220 responses in total.

The creator strategically timed these processes so that the matchmaking would take place over winter break. Through the months of December and early January, they spent 60 hours pairing the responders. Working alone, the author said it was a grueling, complicated process. The participants were separated into categories by class year, gender identity and preferred gender of their matches. Then, starting with the candidates with the most specific preferences for identity and basic preferences (i.e., seniors who only wanted to be matched with seniors), the matchmaker paired the responders off using a list of 12-15 fundamental questions out of the 45 that remained. These questions consisted of things such as drug habits, basic personal principles and the remaining questions were used to double-check or narrow down further matches.

In reviewing the data, the author of VMatch saw some interesting patterns. Some were characteristic of Vassar—for example,

the fact that the ratio of responders was 60 percent female and 40 percent male was almost too perfect considering that these statistics roughly reflect our college’s actual gender demographics—and, as expected at a liberal arts institution, next to nobody agreed that abortion should be illegal. The creator was slightly surprised that a significant majority agreed with the statements that authority figures are “not usually” or “never right,” having predicted that the distribution would fall around “sometimes.” There were a surprising number of people who chose country music as their favorite genre.

The process ultimately resulted in 91 pairings. “Of the original 220 people, minus those who later asked to be removed, only 20 people weren’t matched; many of those people were abroad for the semester, which was hard to work with.” Once this was completed, Vassar students then began receiving their matches upon return from winter break.

As my friends impatiently awaited their matches, I got to thinking about the appeal of VMatch in the context of our generation’s dating culture. There has been a lot of conversation about the widespread use of apps like Tinder and Hinge. Some users end up feeling as though their self-esteem has been dented. Some feel the opposite, becoming addicted to validation through matches and likes. Some treat these apps like mini-games, while others are frustrated with how few people want what they want, such as a long-term relationship. While I do not dispute that good things have come from their use, they lack sincerity

in comparison to talking with someone face to face; the creator of VMatch would seem to agree, stating that “life would be more fun” if people approached each other and were more open about their feelings.

With these thoughts in mind, VMatch allowed some common obstacles to be overcome. The matches were made without placing stress on appearances. Those who filled out the form were alleviated from the anxieties of breaking out of familiar circles in a small college campus setting, comforted by the knowledge that their pairing was similarly looking for a new connection and there was sure to be plentiful common ground. Even outside of romantic relationships, it was an opportunity for people at Vassar to branch out socially and

find others with similar interests– and all of it was facilitated by a fellow student. It is no wonder that students have voiced their desire for a second round. Though they have not heard any success stories yet, the creator of VMatch wrote, “I would be more likely to run VMatch again if I heard that people were talking to their matches.” The matchmaker stated that they really enjoyed the process and would love to try another round—not soon, but likely sometime in the future. “I spent a lot of time on this and I really enjoyed it, but I also really hope that the people I matched take advantage of the fact that a potential friend or partner was sent into their inbox and talk to them,” the creator wrote. “Don’t let my work go to waste!”

Repertory Dance Theater presents MODfest performance

In celebration of MODfest 2025, the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater (VRDT) presented a series of pieces—a mixture of improvised movement and choreography done by staff, students and guest performer Parul Shah of the Parul Shah Dance Company—at the Frances Daly Fergusson Dance Theater on Feb. 7 to reflect this year’s theme, “Discovering Uncertainty.” Together, the performance celebrated degrees of spontaneity within movement, subverting traditional techniques and ideological styles to create a new take on classical and contemporary dance. The auditorium was filled with students, friends and family as well as President Bradley and her husband, all venturing out on an icy evening to witness VRDT’s contribution to the MODfest agenda.

After a short introduction from VRDT Director John Meehan, the show opened with a piece created by Faculty Choreographer Lisa Harvie entitled, “Trip the Light.” The composition…on a mock New York City subway car complete with an MTA voiceover and the sound of screeching tracks. The piece followed the story of one dancer, Dana Tagliaferro ’25, as they entered and experienced the dazzling and sometimes dark world of show business, incorporating music from Broadway shows like “Chicago,” “A Chorus Line,” “Pippin” and “Hamilton”— earning small giggles from the audience as they recognized the familiar tunes. At one point, the stage lights flipped to shine on the audience as if to play with the location of the performers and onlookers, exemplifying the subversion of “artistic values” and “narrative structure and perspective in fiction” highlighted by this year’s Modfest theme, as described on the event’s website. I especially enjoyed the flashy costumes,

scarf and hat props, and how the choreography for each of the songs took inspiration from the original shows without being exactly similar—staying true to a coherent story for the lead dancer.

The next piece, “Mali MuSik,” was choreographed by Resident Choreographer Steve Rooks to songs “Dolla, Sit Down for This” and “Heart’s Song” by Mali Music and included solos from Jacob Geiger ’25 and Olivia Sparks ’26. Sparks’ spotlighted solo was especially impressive, and a fun demonstration of the power of lighting in the evening’s performances. To follow, VRDT Assistant Director Leslie Sach’s piece “Weight of Influence” played with a contrast of shadows, including dark costumes (by faculty member Carolyn Pallister-Kullic) and the songs “Memory Loop #2: Stray/Drift” by KINBRAE and “Reshimo: Banim Banot ii” by Ran Bagno to provide a ticking backdrop for a walking “wall” of dancers that break in and out of line, as if spontaneously.

“March March,” choreographed by Lisa Harvie in collaboration with the VRDT dancers, was mentioned in Director Meehan’s introduction as a prime example of MODfest theme incorporation. The piece combined moments of structured dance as well as improvisation to allow the dancers to play and create while accompanied by an original, jazz-inspired score composed and performed live by percussionist Angel Lau. Dancers tagged each other in and out and “played” a short game reminiscent of duck, duck, goose, carefully weaving in improvisation to create seamless transitions. To match the pace of Lau’s playing, they adopted sharper movements as the accompanying sounds became more rapid.

Next, visiting performer and Kathak dancer Parul Shah performed “all that lies,” a piece that, according to Shah’s program description, “Is a call to reclaim identities that the Western gaze has historically de -

fined and controlled. Shedding light on the little-known story of the first Indian dancers to perform in America as part of a comedic opera called ‘Zanina,’ this work examines how colonialism and Orientalist tropes sit deep within the perception of Indian classical dance in America.”

Aligning with the subversive nature of “Discovering Uncertainty,” the piece incorporated a voice-over by Shah which described the story of the Indian dancers that performed in late 19th century New York City but were sent away because they did not meet audience “expectations.” Her movements were also accompanied by the song “Raga Bhairavi: Shweta Jhaveri” and live cellist Jake Charkey, an acclaimed musician in the Hindustani and Western classical styles. Shah’s spoken and physical performance illustrated a lack of accurate representation of Indian classical and contemporary dance among Western audiences, both historically and in the modern day within her own experiences learning and performing. Despite being personally unfamiliar with the technical aspects of schools of dance, the spoken and musical accompaniment helped to emphasize Shah’s message, and her story as resounding as the rhythmic steps that were a large component of her performance. Invited as a part of the Global Dance Workshops Fund, Shah will return later in the semester to teach Indian dance to the students of VRDT.

To follow, the pieces “Destiny Risen,” choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie, and “Periapsis,” choreographed by VRDT student Cecilia Kittross ’26, rounded out the show before a triumphant finale. Grand Moultrie’s piece played with a quick pace and extended leaps, as well as colorful, flowing costumes, while Kittross’s piece experimented with repetition and more avant-garde style using the songs “Ascension” by Berlioz and “街のどこかで(Some -

where in the City)” by Toe— which were some of my favorites of the night.

The Finale was an exciting, playful piece set to Lady Gaga’s “Applause,” choreographed and performed by the VRDT Company. The audience clapped along as the company danced in front of backgrounds and wore costumes that were color-coordinated by class year. As the curtain closed and the dancers were slowly blocked from view, there was one final celebratory improv session to close out the evening— yet another reminder of the “creative uncertainty” centering MODfest as well as a fun expression of the dancers and how much they evidently enjoyed performing in and creating such a wide variety of pieces. The final number allowed the audience to express their appreciation for the night of performances, too.

Sydney Jones Columnist

Image courtesy of Lucy Strandquist ’28.

Image courtesy of Zoe LaCheen-Fine ’27.

Black sheep: Autopsy of the ‘Awkward Black Kid’

Butter, dry mix, a cup of milk, two white eggs. It is 2019, and the crispy sizzle of freshly fried pancakes crawls through the small kitchen. A ceramic fruit bowl and sticky bottle of pancake syrup are passed around for us to finish off our breakfast plates. As I take the syrup handle in my hand, I make eye contact with a familiar face: Aunt Jemima, a jovial Black woman with garishly red lips framing her too-wide smile. Based on 19th-century minstrel depictions and stereotypes surrounding Black women, Aunt Jemima’s iconic image graced syrup bottles across America from 1888 to 2021, when PepsiCo, the owner of Aunt Jemima, pulled the brand off shelves and replaced the caricature with a newer, more politically correct name and image. PepsiCo made the polarizing decision to take Aunt Jemima off the bottle after receiving negative backlash for reinforcing harmful stereotypes about African-American culture, namely, the trope of “The Domestic.”

Beyond the soft plastic contours of a syrup bottle, this distillation of the Black experience into easy-to-digest categories exists in many facets, from product branding to massively influential pop culture characters and personalities. Many of the portrayals of Black people we see in the media fall into one of a few reductive tropes, listed by ThoughCo as “the Magical Negro,” “the Black best friend,” “the thug,” “the angry Black woman” and—of course—“the domestic.” Other archetypal misrepresentations, such as “the Jezebel,” a hypersexual caricature of Black femininity, have also remained prevalent in the media and cultural zeitgeist. These depictions are often flat and repetitive, based on ill-assumed cultural biases and retold again and again in TV shows, movies, books, music videos and red-carpet interviews. Through these tropes, millions of impressionable Black kids are spoon-fed prescriptive guidelines on how they should live their lives.

“The Green Mile” and Morgan Freeman’s character in “The Dark Knight Rises” tell kids they only exist as benevolent guides to better the lives of their white friends. Through their roles in pop culture juggernauts “Clueless” and “Sex and the City,” Stacey Dash and Jennifer Hudson are positioned as disposable, fun-loving sidekicks for the white protagonists to carry around as an accessory. Young Black men are taught to be cool and suave like Michael B. Jordan or Denzel Washington. Black women entering the workplace are disproportionately misjudged as being too loud, angry or abra-

sive, resulting in statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor which reports that “although Black women make up nearly 7 percent of the workforce, they are severely underrepresented in leadership positions, especially among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies” due, in part, to this stigma. And older Black women, such as Aunt Jemima or Scarlett O’Hara’s mammy in “Gone with the Wind,” are boxed into strictly maternal and altruistic roles as born experts in the domestic arts. Who, then, did I and millions of other Black kids look up to when we did not fit into the narrow confines of five-letter words and syrup bottle caps?

Enter: The “Awkward Black Kid” trope. In February of 2011, African-American comedy actor and writer Issa Rae wrote and starred in a YouTube web series titled “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl,” pioneering a fresh take on Black womanhood that stood in stark opposition to the Jezebel, mammy and Black best friend tropes preceding it. According to Down Magazine, The Awkward Black Girl is “painfully introverted, beautifully quirky, and uncoordinated,” at times grappling with her Black identity and at others reveling in it. Rae’s bold new take on Blackness resonated deeply in audiences who were unaccustomed to seeing themselves represented on screen as anything other than the life of the party, the promiscuous woman or the dope-slinging thug. In 2019, these misadventures were adapted into the Emmy award-winning comedy series “Insecure,” further spreading the gospel that Black characters can transcend the myopic boundaries imposed on them by white society.

Alongside Rae, Donald Glover—a self-proclaimed Black nerd—has similarly pushed boundaries through his geeky jock character in “Community” and his “emo-suburbia rap alter-ego” Childish Gambino. Through proudly aligning himself with alternative aesthetics and interests, Glover blazed a trail for “Awkward Black Boy,” who is neither suave nor gangsta. He likes reading more than basketball and he gets nervous when speaking in public. Glover gave birth to a new genre of Black leading men that has since inspired more and more Black kids with unconventional hobbies and likes to come out of their shells.

Within recent years, we have seen a rise in these “awkward Black kids” in the media and public eye, correlating with the interest in representing a wider swath of Black identities and lived experiences. The character Jamal from the hit Netflix series “On My Block” is a prime example. Smart, socially awkward and uncoordinated, Jamal stands in opposition to our archetypal notions of

Black masculinity. In the music sector, rapper Tyler Okonma, known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is a frequent champion for weird Black kids to express themselves despite societal expectations, stating in a song: “Tell these black kids they could be who they are / Dye your hair blue, shit, I’ll do it too.” As a queer, ADHD and alternative artist making music in a genre dominated by machismo, stereotypically masculine men who often conform to the “thug” ideal, Okonma clearly transcends any old paradigms and instead chooses to be himself in all his multifaceted glory.

In 2024, Florida-born rapper Doechii took up the mantle created by “Insecure” and turned her awkwardness into a weapon. “In addition to her unique style, she is functioning in a genre [rap] that is predicated on male braggadocio,” states Associate Professor of English Tyrone Simpson, who teaches a class dissecting the idea of Black awkwardness. “What is striking about [her music] is that braggadocio is present, but culminates in a kind of confessional demonstration of vulnerability and disorder and being out of control. And, for me, that falls in line with the way I’m thinking about a certain kind of awkwardness or a kind of NEW BLACK where the boldness in the braggadocio is tempered by vulnerability—an aggressive vulnerability.” Doechii’s approach to the quirky or awkward Black girl hinges on her ability to master competence and insecurity at the same time; she is aware of her unconventionality and uses it to challenge

her listeners, often growling in the mic, balancing a wide and varied vocabulary with the crude language associated with rap, and unabashedly showing off her queer identity. Through featuring Issa Rae, the originator of Awkward Black Girl, in one of her songs, Doechii links herself to the persona’s past while pushing it into the future. Doechii is sexual, but never a Jezebel—she defines herself outside norms while athletically bounding down stages in Thom Browne suits and tighty-whities. In her newest album “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” she is still insecure and unsure about her place in the world, but she is on her way to figuring it out and is never afraid to boast about her talent and beauty. Doechii is weird—she said it herself: “I have to be a weird rockstar so that you can feel more comfortable to be a weird rockstar too.”

Far from Aunt Jemima’s sickly sweet smile and racist representation of the insular slots Black Americans have been groomed to fill, Doechii dismantles stereotypes and places her face in their stead. After recently winning her first Grammy for Best Rap Album, Doechii continued this sentiment in a thank you speech urging Black girls everywhere to believe that anything is possible. “Don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you, to tell you that you can’t be here, that you’re too dark, or that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic, or you’re too loud. You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are, and I am a testimony right now.”

Eduardo Culmer Columnist

Natalie Sang/The Miscellany News.

Tori Kim/The Miscellany News.

Exploring astronomy through music and art

The universe was a soup of hot, rapid particles after the big bang. When it cooled enough for electrons to bind with atomic nuclei, the universe first saw light. This is known as cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation—which happens to resemble the networks of neurons in our brain. I learned this at the Loeb Museum during a MODfest event called “Notes on the Universe,” blending a lecture by Assistant Professor of Astronomy Ed Buie with a performance by Adjunct Artist in Music Iva Casián-Lakoš.

I confess I do not know much about astronomy. But I was enlightened by Buie as he enraptured the audience by outlining cosmic expansion in only 20 minutes. He explained how the universe was once the size of an atom, dense and energetic, and how, as it expanded, time and space formed. To my Earth-centric, organismal-centered biology brain, this story sounded like poetry. I learned that all matter inside of us came from inside a star, maybe even from the first generation of stars. Our sun coalesced and planets formed. In deep sea vents on Earth arose the first unicellular living things. And through DNA errors the diversity of life emerged. I furiously took notes on the event pamphlet. My brain was synapsing, its own cosmic web clamoring. The audience, packed into the gallery room which had run out of chairs ten minutes before the talk, was shaking their heads synchronously, out of rapture or disbelief.

Then it was Iva Casián-Lakoš’s turn, a talented experimental cellist and singer—who fortunately happens to be my cello professor. She first played ad astra, composed for her by Joan La Barbara, an American composer known for her explorations of non-conventional vocal techniques. Scratching and wailing resonated in the gallery space, humming and grunting filling the spaces in between. The cello wept in harmonic tones and dissonant intervals while Casián-Lakoš flung her arms up and down at seemingly light-like speeds. In the crunchy static of playing close to the frog of the bow, a mess of metaphorical particles emerged.

There is no sheet music for this piece. In fact, the score is a drawing by La Barbara. There is a cluster of movement in the left bottom of the page, a series of random scratches, connected to a streak stretching from one corner to the other of messy parallel lines. On reflection, I realize that it looks like a comet. During ad astra, I beheld the first moments of the universe, the dense core, the big bang, the formation of galaxies. A textbook cannot fully capture the essence of astronomy. The music crystallized concepts that I had never quite grasped before. Matter and music merged. Casián-Lakoš later informed me that she was attempting to depict the haze of particles by making movements and sounds as random as possible. It was all improvised, supported by the shell of the score.

Improvisation, in fact, is a musical interpretation of indeterminacy. This ties into the 2025 MODfest theme of “discovering uncertainty,” exploring the legacy of scientific and artistic developments from the 20th century. The realm of music, especially improvisation, has a fascinating relationship with science—especially through quantum mechanics, the behavior of atoms and smaller particles. Much simplified, quantum improvisation is the idea that there are infinite possibilities of an improvised melody at a given moment. Quantum mechanics has had several theories of the nature of such particles. Richard Feynman, a polymathic physicist and musician, introduced the idea of the path integral as an alternative formulation of

quantum mechanics, contrasting the Schrodinger equation which postulates the idea of a wave-like nature of electrons encircling a nucleus. The path integral considers all possible histories and trajectories of particles, traversing every journey through spacetime they might embark on. Likewise, music is made of waves and particle-like properties. Musical improvisation has a range of feasible pathways. Both quantum physics and improvisation are complimentary.

Classical violinist and writer Natalie Hodge uses personal anecdotes with neuroscience and quantum physics research to anchor the study of improvisation in her book “Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time.” She writes that improvisation can create a mode of consciousness that plays with the second law of thermodynamics, creating a whispered dialogue between the mind’s narrative and the body. This conversation is unconscious, a spontaneous response still anchored in a contextually relevant way that requires attention and observation. In an interview with mycologist Merlin Sheldrake, evolutionary toxinologist Jim Jackson mused that creativity and improvisation could be the underlying processes in the unfolding of the universe. Jackson studies how biochemical molecules “improvise” with novel interactions, leading to new functions and evolutionary pathways. Cosmogenesis, the creation of the universe, could be a spontaneously extemporized process.

In her own performance of ad astra, Casián-Lakoš appears to follow threads inspired by the drawn score, using notes and silence to weave a story of the Big Bang and universal expansion. Improvisation is doing. It is what exists before destiny. The score commands the body.

Casián-Lakoš continued by playing “Low Tide,” a piece she composed herself in 2020. In this work she sang plaintively, her voice like a thread of hot glass pulled taut, at times wavering as the cello oscillated with deep thrums. The sprawls of color on the walls of the Loeb only served to complement the noises. Casián-Lakoš followed with “Solace for the Fifth Sun,” a piece honoring her Mexican heritage. It sings of the Aztec creation story, which believed in the rebirth of the world several times, each cycle being called a sun and born again through the sacrifice of the gods. Aztec mythology comes alive in our auditory reality through the sung Nahuatl words and the reverberating tension from hammer-ons and slaps, each resonating off of the cello’s body. As Casián-Lakoš played through the cycles of creation, death and rebirth—worlds where giants were eaten by jaguars or humans turned into monkeys—I wondered about the fifth world. Aztec mythology believes the Earth will not be recreated if the fifth world dies. This last world, the one we currently reside in, is precious and prescient. Cosmology is at the core of all mythological systems, explaining the origin and evolution of the universe. It is inherently connected to music, both in ancient times and today. Pythagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher best known for the Pythagorean theorem, is also credited with the discovery of the overtone series, the frequencies that make up musical notes. He linked this discovery to the cosmos, believing that there was music found in the positioning of the visible planets. Centuries later, Galileo Galilei continued these conjectures, saying that “Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe.” Mathematics is inseparable from astronomy. And we know that the universe does make noise. We just lack detection as the frequencies are outside of our auditory range. The earth hums deep within its core. Lighting

causes electrons to oscillate and creates whistling noises. It is thought that all astronomical events, like starquakes, pulsations and comets can produce pitches, overtones and harmonics, able to be converted into sounds through electromagnetic waves recorded by antennas. Metaphysically, scientifically and philosophically, there is much we do not know about how the universe sounds. When a comet goes by, what music does it make? When black holes die, what groans do they utter? And what of the songs of colliding neutron stars?

For her next piece, “Thymos,” Casián-Lakoš lowers one of her strings down to an F, deviating from the standard arrangement where strings are turned in the interval of a fifth. This tuning continues in “Two Hours in Zadar,” composed by the saxophonist and producer David Cromwell. This work was inspired by the sea organ on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, where the frequency and strengths of waves trigger the pitches of each hollowed-out hole in the steps of the promenade. Casián-Lakoš and Crowell took samples of the sea organ and layered it alongside chant-like structures of singing and cello, transporting the audience into a stormy, underwater world.

The role of the ocean in understanding the intangible universe that formed us is also emphasized in the prose-poem “Untitled Ode to the Wonder of Life” by Feynman. He writes, “Deep in the sea, all molecules repeat the patterns of one another till complex new ones are formed. They make others like themselves... and a new dance starts.” This poem was ultimately performed by Yo-Yo Ma in a musical interpretation.

This pattern, where simplicity gives rise to complexity and new forms, resonates within the broader context of science and art. It mirrors themes I encountered while reading Maria Popova’s “Figuring,” a book that weaves together the lives of several artists and scientists, notably women. The book felt like a written echo of this performance, a harmony of lyrical art amongst speculative yet concrete science. In particular, the page-long first sentence of “Figuring” is an apt encapsulation of the MODfest theme. It synthesizes the forces of life, the awe of science and the intensity of history.

I, again, know little about astronomy. Yet, I was inspired to unearth its evolution as a discipline while reading “Figuring.” Maria Popova writes especially extensively about Maria Mitchell. She was a trailblazing scientist of the 19th century: the first professional woman astronomer in America, the first woman accepted into the Academy of Arts and Sciences and a tireless educator—at Vassar College, no less—who paved the way for women in science.

Mitchell was devoted to teaching astronomy at Vassar, sleeping in the same observatory where she taught her students. Her contribution to the legacy of women in science continues today. Her faith in the intellectual importance of women, the acknowledgment of obstacles that face them in education and her unconventional teaching that avoided rote memorization and prompted a generation of Vassar graduates to become mathematicians and astronomers. Mitchell praised early astronomers like Galileo in her journal entries, admiring their bravery to speculate in the face of the unknown and the infinite regions of truth.

Likewise, Maria Mithcell believed transcendence and awe were central topics in astronomy. She appreciated beauty, poetry, art and literature as mental discipline and spiritual hygiene. Mitchell wrote “Who judges a work of art and sees only with his own eyes? Who listens to a lecture and hears only

with his own ears?” We need imagination in science. The study of the physical and natural world is not solely mathematics or logic but also composed of beauty and poetry, like the call of a cello as it explores the big bang. Through crosstalk between fields, discoveries conglomerate, new questions take shape and uncertainty is explored. My history class on medieval science is teaching me that the studies of astronomy, music and mathematics were once all linked. For instance, philosophers in Armenia, influenced by ancients like Pythagoras, developed the concept of “music of the spheres.” Celestial bodies were thought to emit harmonious musical tones, realizing a cosmic order understood by mathematical calculations, similar to intervals in a musical scale. Even the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), first awarded in the 12th century, is a vestige of this medieval approach to science. Today, non-philosophers are awarded this degree in numerous disciplines.

This MODfest event materialized the theme of uncertainty through astronomical lecture and improvisational music. It explored the complexities, varieties and contradictions of the human search for truth, meaning and transcendence in an incomprehensible universe. The audience and I were awe-struck by atomic mutuality, by the comprehension that the largest stars live the shortest lives and by the growling and hammering of the cello. For a moment, the beginning of the universe and its end was before me. For a moment, a long one, I understood the interstellar world, the first flutters of electrons, the pulsing of the deep sea vents as they churned and created first life, every love letter written in the wake of disaster and every bark burl on the trunk of my favorite Quercus alba tree, the carbon that is in me and Maria Mitchell and the first generation of stars, awash in the light that is our neural networks that is art and science, wedded. “Give me your stars to hold,” wrote Dorothy Freeman to her lover Rachel Carson, the pioneering environmentalist of the 1960s. I am proud to be a student forging a career in biology and creative writing in the interdisciplinary curriculum at Vassar. I am especially proud to be a witness to this historic MODfest event. Afterward, as the audience filtered out slowly, most people waiting to congratulate Professor Buie and Casián-Lakoš, my brain was roiling with questions. How might the dichotomy between the creativity of the arts and the rigidity of the scientific method be resolved? How may we communicate and interact with phenomena, using them as windows of experience into human existence and as moments of creativity and imagination? How might higher education in astronomy cultivate this mindset? Through the teaching of astronomical history, or the incorporation of poetry, of music? And, most importantly, why have I not yet taken an astronomy course?

Ariel Schwartzman Miles Guest Columnist

Image courtesy of Iva Casián-Lakoš.

BREAKING NEWS

From the desk of Emma daRosa, Assistant Humor Editor

City of Poughkeepsie burnt down after angry Jets fans realize that their team wasn’t in the Super Bowl

Letter to the editor: This goose is honking mad

A. Goose Perfectly Healthy

Hey guys, goose here. You probably know me from my honking, my work at the front of our iconic “V” formation or my, ahem, decoration of Sunset Lake and the surrounding area. That’s fine! I wish people recognized my other hobbies more often (I snowboard and paint miniatures), but I am proud of all the previous things I mentioned.

What I’m not so proud of is this new association with “bird flu.” Okay, sure, it killed my buddy Carl. But if I’m being totally honest, he was a wuss. Even worm flu probably would have taken him down. I just can’t believe that after everything birds have achieved in the last 150 million years— evolving from dinosaurs, flying around, carrying messages for you, getting into plane engines, hitting windows, painting miniatures, occasionally losing the ability to fly (penguins: our weakest link) and so much more—you’re letting this “bird flu” define our relationship.

Also, I find the names “bird flu” and “avian flu” totally unfair. Sure, it started with us, but you know what’s far more common? Regular old influenza, which you know simply as the “flu.” How come I never hear anyone call it “human flu?” I suppose you high and mighty humans are

above blame. The only humans who can really understand what the birds are going through are Spaniards. They know what it’s like to be unfairly blamed for a flu. Estamos con vosotros, nuestros hermanos ibéricos. The other thing that really grinds my gears is all this talk about “avoiding contact with birds.” Whatever, I guess. It’s your business. But it seems to me that statements like “stay away from all birds” assume that birds want anything to do with you in the first place, which is totally arrogant. We actually have a lot going on. I went to five separate bird parties this weekend, none of which you were invited to, just so you know. One more thing: How come I only hear humans talk about bird problems when it affects them? Now that you’re worried about getting sick and having to pay $12 for eggs, it’s all “bird flu, bird flu, bird flu.” But when we’re dealing with something that doesn’t harm humans, I don’t hear a peep. Did you know that arthritis affects millions of birds, especially sparrows and blue jays? Or that alcoholism is a serious problem among corvids? I bet you didn’t, you self-centered monster. Because everything just has to be about you.

You people disgust me. Don’t even get me started on what it means when humans say they “goosed” somebody. If I had fingers, you know what I would do? Flip you the bird.

Nicholas Tillinghast/The Miscellany News.

We’re all going to live happily ever after, and I feel fine

Evan Seker Never Seen A Cheetah

Are you going to the Rapture at 7th Street, 18942? I am. I’m bringing my friends too. Every day, for the past year, I’ve felt myself changing gradually, growing deeper as a being and becoming my best self. But at the same time, I’ve felt a growing despair leech into the world. For all this time, I was so confused. Why were we doing all of this to ourselves? Why so much war? What was the point of it all? But I think I get it now. All of that conflict was just an introduction, a necessary happening, like the waves reaching back into the sea right before a tsunami. I don’t know exactly what is going to happen, but I have a good feeling that everything is going to be great. Gather your friends! It’s going to be wonderful.

Sometimes, I think about how it is like in another country. How it was before we were here—which is, in a way, elsewhere on this planet. How it’ll be afterward… I used to be so scared, you know? But I’m not anymore. I think whatever happens, we’re all going to be together in the end, right? No one knows where it stops, nobody knows where it’s going. There’s something nice about that, so gentle… soft and sweet. A calm flow of water into the ravine below. Maybe that’s where we would have gone, anyways. Maybe it’s where, after everything we’ve done, we deserve to go. Maybe this is just our guilt coming back to haunt us. Or, it’s our love for ourselves, coming to rescue us from having to deal with the consequences of our own cruel actions.

I think we’re all going to be okay. Whatever comes, it’s going to be beautiful. I think I’ll miss everything I’ve ever known, though. All the times I had lunch with my friends, all the times I called my family late at night. Heck, even the times I fought with my friends. All of that had a purpose,

I think… yes, I know that purpose pales in comparison to this. But I’m going to miss it—well, I will for a bit. I don’t know how anyone would miss it afterward.

I’m going to miss my family—well, my family as a discrete unit. I’m not sure if souls exist! I’m sure they do. Otherwise, none of this would be possible, right? I’m going to miss sunsets. I’m going to miss sunrises, rainbows and animals. I never even got to see a cheetah! When I was a kid, I always wanted to see one in person. I’m happy I got to see manatees.

I never met anyone I could really love, in a romantic sense. I never got to date anyone. It’s funny, because I used to be very religious, you know… until my church from home kicked me out. I’m going to meet God… well, we all are, but I still can’t help but feel unfulfilled. Am I just feeling that if I’m not ahead of everyone, I’m behind them? What a strange philosophy. I think I’m happy to leave it behind.

I’m grateful for the color purple, the many colors of the rainbow, mathematics and music—I can’t imagine what life as an 18-year-old would have been like if I couldn’t sing. I suppose I still have doubts… this is probably the last news piece I’m ever going to write while I’m still on this planet, while any of us are. I can’t believe that I was born in this time period, out of all of them. Maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe this is a good thing. Better a quake than a slow death from the thermostat shooting up, eh? If I die, well, not if, when I die, I’m going to be happy for what I have. I’m so happy now, I’m so grateful for all of it. All the sickness, the pain, the sorrow, all my conditions… and all my friends, my family, every single good thing that ever happened to me. The beneficial and the dubious, the arcane and the natural, the feeling of reading books under the covers of my bed, of watching movies with my sister in the living room, I… I’m glad I got the chance to experi-

ence any of that at all. How strange that I lived to this age when so many I grew up with didn’t. I wonder if they’d be happy to know that the people who out-lived them wouldn’t do it for very long.

Goodbye, Earth! Goodbye, waterfalls! Goodbye, animals! Goodbye, sunsets! Goodbye, seas! We failed so many of you. I hope you can find some solace in us leaving, and our passage away our final gift. Good night, and farewell to all of you. We are all going to live happily ever after, yes? But there are no true stories like that, however much we might wish there were. Perhaps it’s best that we all get to live to a decent age and die on the very same day.

Necessary media disclaimer:

If you feel disturbed by this article, I invite you to check out the following pieces of media:

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

• “Childhood’s End”

• “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” by Neutral Milk Hotel

“Ride the Cyclone” (yes, that play)

The Talos Principle (specifically the speech of Alexandra Drennan and some of the info docs)

“Our Town” (the play)

Andreth and Finrod’s dialogue (from the Athrabeth Finrod Ah Andreth)

• The scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (the book) where Frodo goes to the West

The scene in “Return of the King” (also the book) where Sam looks up at the sky in Mordor.

Outer Wilds

Any museum, aquarium, or canyon, mountain, or historical ruin near you (that last one might be hard to get clearance for, though)

Kendrick Lamar DESTROYS in Super Bowl halftime show

Nicholas Tillinghast

Kendrick Lamar is one of the greatest rappers on this side of the solar system, and he proved it this week in his illustrious, legendary, dare I say awesome, Super Bowl Halftime show.

Lamar opened the show on an admittedly somber note, standing on the top of a Buick GNX. “I want to congratulate my good friend and a very talented actor, Tom Hiddleston, on turning 44 today. I just wish he were alive to see it.” Lamar then bowed his head and the crowd quieted as they stood together in a moment of remembrance of another human being. In the midst of this moment of silence, Lamar attempted to clear his throat nine times without much luck.

After that touching introduction, Kendrick sang his intense track, “DNA,” and suddenly, the whole city of New Orleans was bouncing! But, after the verse, it appeared Kendrick needed a moment to think and an opportunity to clear his throat once again. “Guys, I don’t remember the words. Stop the music. Stop the music.” In a second moment of sudden silence, Kendrick took a second to think about it and then continued rapping to the beat, but I’m not quite sure that he figured it out, because he started back up with the lyric, “DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid.” Those lyrics may not be on the album, but let’s be real: This is the level of split-second lyricism that

makes Kendrick one of the GOATs. DNA and deoxyribonucleic acid? Who but Kendrick can make those connections in the moment?

Lamar followed “DNA” with a rousing performance of “HUMBLE.” New Orleans could not be more hyped. And then Kendrick took it up ANOTHER LEVEL, yelling, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Benny Goodman Band!” The Benny Goodman Band rose up on a platform and was suddenly elevated 50 feet in the air and played the track, “Sing, Sing, Sing,” whilst Lamar sat on the field and looked at his phone. This was peak Kendrick Lamar: elevating lesser artists in big spots. This wasn’t even the first time that the two artists had collaborated: On Lamar’s latest album “GNX,” the Benny Goodman Band appeared on the track, “Jiving on Peach Street,” but that track sadly did not make the Super Bowl cut. Lamar has so many good, dare I say awesome, songs that some were bound to get cut.

Kendrick put his phone away, jumped back into the set and played the song everyone was waiting for: His anthem, “Not Like Us,” is well-loved for its biting lyrics and message of West Coast exceptionalism. Kendrick rapped it perfectly. At the end of his explosive first verse, he yelled into his mic, “Yeah, I’m talking about YOU, DRAKE MAYE.” This is why people love Kendrick Lamar—calling out Drake Maye, the 22-year-old middling NFL quarterback of the New England Patriots in such an elaborate fashion (waiting months to clarify which Drake the song was about

and then only doing so at the biggest sporting event of the calendar year). We all knew the song was most likely about Drake Maye, but for Kendrick to SAY it? That’s what makes him the best artist on this side of the solar system.

Kendrick finished the night with his new hit, “TV Off.” While rapping it, he proceeded to physically turn off a lineup of 43 TVs (rapping AND controlling TVs AT THE SAME TIME?), all of which were playing the morning’s episode of “The Price is Right.” Perhaps they had timed it wrong, but by the time the song was over, which was the last song of the

set, he had only made it to TV 15, struggling to find the power button back on the side of the screen, which meant 20 28-inch TVs were still playing “The Price is Right,” but the messaging was clear: Americans love paying attention when the price is RIGHT, but never when the price is WRONG. Maybe he didn’t turn all of the TVs off, but let’s be real: Drake Maye probably wouldn’t even have gotten through five TVs before calling it quits.

UPDATE: The Misc is proud to report that Tom Hiddleston has recovered from having died. Could it be the divine power of Kendrick at work?????

Nicholas Tillinghast/The Miscellany News.

Nicholas Tillinghast/The Miscellany News.

HOROSCOPES

Emma daRosa Bat Control Specialist

ARIES March 21 | April 19

It’s time to give up the act. Every weekend you go to The Crafted Kup pretending you’re gonna get all kinds of work done and you never do. An hour of opening up readings and saying that you’re “brainstorming” for your next paper does not count as getting work done.

TAURUS April 20 | May 20

I sense some hesitation regarding upcoming efforts in your life. I know this is a time of serious tumult for you. Don’t worry buddy, everyone is gonna love your new ascot. Just wear it with pride, it’s what Fred from “Scooby-Doo” would want.

GEMINI May 21 | June 20

Just delete Hinge already. You never follow through on messaging anyone, let alone asking them on a date. Just pine after a class crush and avoid talking to them at all costs like the rest of us.

CANCER June 21 | July 22

This week, someone is going to write a rather pointed Misc article about how much people just like you specifically annoy them. If I were you, I’d peruse these pages a little more carefully to try to figure out who hates you!

LEO July 23 | Aug. 22

You might find yourself noticing yonic symbols and images everywhere you go this week. Just embrace it my friend, not all of us find ourselves so lucky. Maybe next week you can write us a listicle of the best yonic symbols on campus so we all may share in the knowledge.

Aug. 23 | Sept. 22

You’re just being real boring this semester. It’s time to step outside of that cute little shell and get freaky. Start small—maybe add some strawberry jam to the next turkey sandwich you make. That would go really well (it’s delicious).

LIBRA Sept. 23 | Oct. 22

SCORPIO Oct. 23 | Nov. 21

Everyone has been too scared to tell you, but your fanfiction is starting to become worrisome. It’s just…just a lot of Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter/Reader. Maybe just try a new pairing for a change? At least stop talking about it at every. Single. Meal. Perhaps you could discuss bowling?

The next time you’re presented with an opportunity to eat soup, TAKE IT. What did soup ever do to you? Soup deserves more out of your relationship. Just start slurping. Wait for it to cool down first, though. Then start slurping.

SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22 | Dec. 21

I can never spell this one, and neither can you. In fact, you can barely spell anything! This week you should buckle down and log some serious hours on “ABCmouse.com.” Everyone knows that rodents are the best teachers—just look at the guy from Ratatouille!

CAPRICORN Dec. 22 | Jan. 19

The stars are saying that you’ve got a hot date this week! You really wanna impress this person; luckily, I’ve got the perfect advice. It’s simple, really, just take them to the chapel bells and do a SUPER realistic impression of Quasimodo. You should start practicing now.

AQUARIUS Jan. 20 | Feb. 18

Aquarius. I really don’t fuck with you guys because you should so clearly be water signs, but you’re not??? Alas, I’m contractually obliged to give you advice. Just try not to be so fucking annoying this week. That’s the best I’ve got.

PISCES Feb. 19 | March 20

You’ll have a bat in your room this week, so here’s the trap that’s most likely to work: Build a cute bat-sized house. Then, hire a bat realtor to show the first bat around. Once the first bat is in escrow, hire a bat house inspector. While all three bats are distracted during the final inspection, throw the house into the woods. Problem solved!

VIRGO

Public health must be prioritized

Maryam Bacchus Senior Editor

Do you remember the first time you were taught about germs? For me, it was sometime during elementary school. I grew up attending public school and was no stranger to the inevitable slew of respiratory illnesses prominent during the winter. Though I practiced general preventative measures like hand-washing, sanitizing and not touching my face, I always seemed to get sick at least once during the season. It was not until the COVID-19 pandemic began midway through my junior year of high school that I began to understand contagion and identify resources to stay informed about public health. Through the dissemination of mis- and disinformation via social networks like Instagram and X, I formed healthy fact-checking habits by going to the cited sources or calling upon the wisdom of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and reputable news outlets. Because of this, I was able to make informed decisions that supported the health of myself and those around me.

The pandemic was a crucial lesson in public health—if ignored, infectious diseases have the potential to take the lives of millions. But, if taken seriously, we can protect ourselves and each other. Government response during national health crises is also vital to protecting the population, and in

order to be effective, the general population must also remain informed of recommended precautions as well as the current status of the spread.

Over one million lives have been lost in the U.S. since the pandemic began. Yet, despite the hard lessons learned from the threat to public health, the new administration in the U.S. has ordered a major freeze on public health communications at a federal level. The Associated Press (AP) reported that the communication freeze was to last through the end of January at a minimum. Effects remain to this day, with the website for the CDC displaying a message that reads “CDC’s website is being modified to comply with President Trump’s Executive Orders.” Further, an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO) was issued on Jan. 20. Ironically, the justification given for this brash move is the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other global health crises.

The communication freeze comes at a time when cases of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, have been on the rise in the United States since the 2020s and have spiked in several states as of late. Largely confined to bird populations, the disease first came into the national spotlight in 2022, when an outbreak in wild birds was reported. In March 2024, an outbreak in poultry spread to goat kids on the same

farm, and reports of dairy cow infection emerged in Kansas and Texas. Subsequently, in April 2024, a person in the U.S. tested positive for the virus after being exposed to sick cattle, marking the first known cow-tohuman transmission. From April through July 2024, three additional ill individuals were identified after exposure to sick dairy cows. Since the outbreak began, 67 total human cases have been reported in the U.S. On Jan. 6, 2025, the first human death associated with bird flu in the U.S. was reported in Louisiana.

Two previous articles from The Miscellany News, written in 2022 and 2023, respectively, warned of the gravity of bird flu and its potential havoc on humans. Recently, experts have also cautioned that although recent mutations in the virus are posing a more significant threat to public health than before, staving off a pandemic is still possible. At present, no human-to-human transmission has been identified, so avoiding sick or dead animals is the best avenue to remaining safe.

Most recently, a case of bird flu was found in a bird from Vassar’s campus, as per a Public Health Notice issued on Jan. 31 via email by Director of Environmental Health & Safety Michael Lonon. He reported that officials would be testing other birds, and the results would be relayed in about a month. The email concluded with advice for actions the community should take if they encoun-

ter a sick animal.

Vassar’s students are fortunate to live on a campus where the community is familiar with preventative measures and information about public health is accessible. Beyond email notifications from the administration, faculty and staff are also incredibly responsive to student questions and anxieties about pressing national events, like the rise of avian influenza. It is vital to the health of our campus that we leverage these resources to educate ourselves and take precautions when necessary.

In the current trying times where national policy changes by the day and infectious illnesses run rampant, it is important to acknowledge that solutions exist, but we must act on them. With the sweeping changes at a federal level, attempting to stay informed can feel hopeless. But resources for the greater public do exist. Local news outlets and credible online forums are great ways to remain in touch with what is going on around you. Practicing good hygiene, including routine hand washing and monitoring any illness symptoms is also important for protecting yourself. Further, if you are sick, get tested and stay home until you are feeling better. If you are still contagious, wear a mask to protect those around you. Specific to bird flu, avoid contact with sick or deceased animals and monitor any flulike symptoms. Together, we can make our communities safer for everyone.

Fizz was never meant to be taken seriously

Ihave noticed a common complaint among students, administrators and everyone else: College students are unwilling to debate and disagree with each other. Whether it is about politics, campus issues or anything else significant, confrontation is generally avoided. If nobody debates anything, it gives the impression that students of the college agree on everything, which prompts commentators to start calling colleges “echo chambers.” But this label can oversimplify things. Even Vassar, a smaller school, contains a lot of different backgrounds and beliefs. So the diversity of thought is already there, it is just not on full display because of social pressures.

Enter Fizz, an anonymous chat platform that localizes itself to school communities. Vassar students have used it for a little over a year now to complain about fire alarms, drop the initials of their campus crushes and say what they want without anyone knowing their identity. When I first downloaded it my freshman year, I wondered if the anonymous aspect would reveal how students truly thought of the world and one another. It has been a year now. Has Fizz freed up the discourse? Does the app reflect the unfiltered beliefs of the student body? It does not.

When you make a Fizz post, it can be upvoted or downvoted. The more upvotes a post gets, the more likely it is to be put on the “Fizzin’” section, where it will attract greater attention and more upvotes. This system has secured an early meme about Gordon Commons tables as the top Fizz post of all-time. It is the first image that new users see, and it can effectively farm upvotes from everyone. A user who makes a popular post will get complimented, both by the people who comment and the app itself. For example, if a post reaches 150 upvotes, you get a notification that says “Your mom must be so proud!” Upvotes themselves also get translated into “Karma” for the

user. Users with high Karma can be visible on a scoreboard. Fizz accomplishments are seen as real accomplishments. I have friends who show off their posts and appear genuinely proud of all the upvotes they have gotten.

The posts that generally get likes are: Jokes about campus, complaints about campus and relatable personal drama. These posts are seemingly written to be agreeable and short because they generate upvotes. This is not to say that all Fizz content falls into this filter. I have seen people debate issues in the comments section of posts, but judging by the lack of upvotes on them, it is clear that not everyone is actually reading all these things. The Fizz algorithm popularizes that which is short, simple and palatable to social norms. Anything else falls by the wayside.

“Rage bait” is a common occurrence. Rage bait is when someone posts with the goal of inciting outrage. Since regular Fizz users know what is popular, they also know what is unpopular. Topics include stolen jokes, support for Donald Trump, admissions of cheating, disrespectful dating behavior, etc.

Any post with negative votes and five or more comments is usually accused of being rage bait. It is always hard to tell what is intentionally posted to make people mad, and what may be a genuinely-held unpopular opinion since the poster does not usually elaborate. Both the presence and perception of rage bait, however, have eroded the spirit of good-faith disagreement.

People do not always stick to inconsequential topics of debate. On the day when an unknown student graffitied pro-Palestinian messaging onto major buildings last semester, Fizz users were unable to ignore the topic. But the majority of the posts were noise complaints, grumbling and brief backlash to said grumbling. Discussions about the wider issue of violence in the Middle East were often ignored or buried under a sea of surface-level posts. The graffiti was soon washed off, and conversations did not continue. All in all, there were more posts about a polycule

(a friend group connected through relationships) engaging in public displays of affection at Gordon Commons than the graffiti.

I am not accusing Vassar students of thinking that polycules are more important than politics, but it is clear that if students truly want to discuss controversial topics, they do so in spaces other than Fizz. The potential for a broad audience is outweighed by the large amount of easy competition. It’s obvious that nobody’s going to change their minds based on short-form Fizz posts that are easy to scroll past. There’s no trust that people will engage with posts in good faith. Those who advocate

for broader political causes do so by organizing events, talking to classmates, and speaking on platforms that give them more of a space. Fizz is not one of those platforms. Fizz does not create strong discourse. If a user cannot gain popularity, their posts are buried. If someone posts something disagreeable, it is assumed to be rage bait and ignored. Anyone who wants more substantial debate has given up looking for it on Fizz. The app has the remarkable ability to self-censor anything that does not fit its brand of meme-ified gossip. At the end of the day, Fizz rewards upvotes, not substance.

Ian Watanabe Columnist

Image courtesy of Tait Tavolacci ’28.

NBA trade deadline captivates league

Armaan Desai Guest Columnist

The 2024-25 NBA season is almost at the halfway point, and wow—this has been possibly the wildest trade deadline ever. For those who are unfamiliar, the NBA has a trade deadline of Feb. 6, 2025 at 3:00 p.m. EST. NBA executives are allowed to make deals and trades of any kind or magnitude up until this deadline, where the rosters will then be locked for the rest of the season. I will be grading each NBA team’s trades.

Lakers trade Anthony Davis for Luka Dončić in three-team deal

Starting off with possibly the most surprising trade in NBA history:

Los Angeles Lakers receive: A G Luka Dončić (Mavericks), F Maxi Kleber (Mavericks), F Markieff Morris (Mavericks)

Dallas Mavericks receive: D-

F Anthony Davis (Lakers), G Max Christie (Lakers), 2029 first round pick (Lakers)

Utah Jazz receive: A+

G Jalen Hood-Schifino (Lakers), 2025 second round pick (via L.A. Clippers), 2025 second round pick (Mavericks)

The Los Angeles Lakers acquired arguably the best scorer in the NBA in 25-yearold Luka Dončić, and they barely had to give up any draft compensation. The loss of all defensive center Anthony Davis will definitely hurt, but adding Dončić makes the Lakers’ future extremely bright. He is coming off a season where he led his team to the NBA finals averaging 33.9 points per game, 9.2 rebounds per game, and 9.8 assists per game, and was third in MVP voting.

I believe the Mavericks made a huge mistake in giving up Dončić so easily. You do not just trade away the centerpiece of your franchise due to supposed injury and con-

ditioning concerns. Adding Davis definitely keeps the Mavericks as finals contenders, but with him being 31 years old and other Mavericks star Kyrie Irving being 32 years old, the Mavericks window is closing fast.

Kings trade De’Aaron Fox to Spurs, land Zach Lavine in another wild three-team deal

San Antonio Spurs receive: A

G De’Aaron Fox (Kings), G Jordan McLaughlin (Kings)

Sacramento Kings receive: AG Zach Lavine (Bulls), G Sidy Cissoko, 2025 first round pick (via Hornets), 2027 first round pick (via SA Spurs), 2031 first round pick (via Timberwolves), 2025 second round pick (via Bulls), 2028 second round pick (via Nuggets), 2028 second round pick (own)

Chicago Bulls receive: BF Zach Collins (Spurs), G Tre Jones (Spurs), G Kevin Huerter (Kings), 2025 first round pick (own)

The San Antonio Spurs landed All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox to pair with generational superstar Victor Wembanyama. I think this is gonna be an amazing fit, as Fox is not only a great scorer but also a great playmaker. The Spurs had to give up a LOT of picks, but they were able to keep all their young players.

The Chicago Bulls fell into the Dallas Mavericks trap, trading their best player for a total of one draft pick, which was originally their own in the first place. The Bulls should be focusing on rebuilding, and while trading Zach Lavine was a good decision, they could have pursued a greater return.

The Sacramento Kings should be an example of how to compensate for trading your best player (Mavericks and Bulls, take notes). They received six total draft picks, as well as two time all star Zach Lavine.

Even though the Kings lost their best player in Fox, they are set up well for the future.

Pelicans trade Brandon Ingram to Raptors

Toronto Raptors receive: C F Brandon Ingram

New Orleans Pelicans receive: B+ F Bruce Brown, F Kelly Olynyk, 2025 first round pick, 2025 second round pick

The Toronto Raptors are currently 16-35 and 13th in the Eastern Conference. Brandon Ingram could definitely boost the Raptors, but I do not think it will be enough to bring them to the playoffs. The Raptors should have accepted this season as a loss and looked to rebuild in this year’s draft. Instead, they traded away both of their selections from this year’s draft for a borderline All-Star.

The New Orleans Pelicans are currently 12-39 and last in the Western Conference, so giving up Brandon Ingram makes a lot of sense to help the Pelicans gain draft capital to prepare for next season. The Pelicans have accepted that they will not be making the playoffs this season, and they still have a lot of issues in their team core regarding former first overall pick Zion Williamson. Getting rid of Brandon Ingram is actually a pretty good move for them.

Heat trade Jimmy Butler to Warriors in four-team blockbuster

Golden State Warriors receive: B

F Jimmy Butler (Miami Heat)

Miami Heat receive: A-

F PJ Tucker , F Andrew Wiggins (Warriors), F Kyle Anderson (Warriors), Protected first round pick (Warriors)

Detroit Pistons receive: C

G Lindy Waters III (Warriors), G Josh Richardson (Heat)

Utah Jazz receive: B+

G Dennis Schroeder (Warriors)

The Golden State Warriors need to do

everything in their power to maximize the last few years of Steph Curry’s Hall of Fame career. I believe that acquiring Jimmy Butler is a risky move with a very high upside. Jimmy Butler is 35 years old, and this season has been nothing but drama and suspensions for Butler as his relationship with the Miami Heat crumbled. However, over the past few seasons we have seen how Butler can flip a switch come postseason, and enter his “Playoff Jimmy” archetype. He has led the eighth seed Heat to the NBA Finals twice, so a combo of Curry and Butler could be very dangerous come playoff time.

Winners and Losers of the NBA trade deadline:

Winner: Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers had one of the best trade deadlines in NBA history. They are firmly set to win now, but are also set up nicely for the future. The new dynamic duo of Lebron James and Dončić will be one of the best in the NBA, and the Lakers should be serious finals contenders for the next many years.

Loser: Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks are still finals contenders, so people may be mad that I am listing them as a loser. But the Mavericks might have made one of the biggest mistakes in NBA history. They traded their 25-year-old franchise centerpiece coming off of a career season where he led them to the NBA finals, and was top three in MVP voting. You just do not do that. The Mavericks General Manager allegedly did not tell Luka that he was going to be traded until it was already done, and because of the trade, Luka is now ineligible for the five-year $345 million supermax. I still think that the Mavericks will be very good with their new duo of Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, but if I were them I would be scared for the first Mavs-Lakers game, because Luka Dončić should want revenge.

Pitchers and catchers report: MLB ’25, here we go

Henry France, Casey McMenamin Sports Editor, Assistant Sports Editor

The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX 40-22 just nights ago, and it has not taken long to turn to the next thing: MLB opening day is just 45 days away, on Mar. 27, but really baseball is much closer than that with pitchers and catchers already reporting to camp. The MLB season is the longest of all professional sports leagues with 162 total games, not including the preseason or playoffs. Between last season’s opening day, Mar. 28, 2024, and last season’s final game when the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in game five of the world series to capture L.A.’s eighth world series title, 216 days passed. That alone is plenty, but does not even capture the weeks of Spring Training that precede opening day. On Feb. 9, 2025 the Chicago Cubs and reigning champion L.A. Dodgers had pitchers and catchers reporting to training camp. On Feb. 20, the two squads will face off in the Cactus League’s first Spring Training game of the year. During the MLB Spring Training period— the weeks between Feb. 9-13 and Mar. 27— the league is divided into two leagues. And, no, not the typical National League and American League. Half of the league ramps up to opening day on Mar. 27 in Arizona—“The Cactus League”—while the other half of the league gets going in Florida—“The Grapefruit League.” The Cubs’ and Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers arrived at training camp on Feb. 9 and

Feb. 11 respectively, which is a few days before the rest of the league will see their pitchers and catchers; most other teams’ catchers and pitchers report to camp on Feb. 12-13. Furthermore, the Cubs’ and Dodgers’ full team workouts also begin a few days early on Feb. 14 and 19, respectively, while the rest of the league’s full teams report to camp on Feb. 16-18. The Cubs and Dodgers are days ahead of the 28 other MLB teams because they will be beginning their season before the rest of the league. On Mar. 18-19 they will play in the MLB Tokyo Series to kickoff the 2025 regular season about a week before the official MLB opening day on Mar. 27.

With all teams returning to camp on Feb. 16-18 and Spring Training games beginning on Mar. 13, it is safe to say that baseball is back. After an active MLB offseason that saw record-breaking deals and extravagant trades, it is time to see how the moves will play out on the diamond. The biggest markets in the league were some of the most active over the past months, but one story stands out above the rest: the New York Mets’ signing of then-Yankees outfielder Juan Soto. After an electrifying season the New York Mets and their high-spending owner Steve Cohen had a decision to make: How much would they be willing to shell out to land Juan Soto? The answer was a precedent-shattering $765 million/15 year contract that shipped the 26-yearold star across the city to Queens. After re-signing star first baseman Pete Alonso and returning breakout infielder Mark Vientos,

the Mets will be a must-see team this year. After winning the world series, the L.A. Dodgers further bolstered their already daunting roster. The Dodgers inked revered Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki, emerging as the early favorites for the 2025 World Series.

Casey’s Corner

Although there is debate on where the name “The Windy City” originated from, there is no denying the impact of the winds at Wrigley Field. The wind is essentially an omnipotent 10th man at The Friendly Confines, tipping the scales at any given moment. When thinking of the significance of wind at Wrigley, many Cubs fans will recall Patrick Wisdom’s infamous fly-out this past June against the St. Louis Cardinals. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cubs trailed 1-0, but had a runner on first base. Wisdom then barreled a pitch that left his bat at 111 miles per hour headed straight for Waveland Avenue, but instead landed in Brendan Donovan’s glove on the left field warning track. Cubs fans may also remember Cody Bellinger’s game-ending fly-out against the Reds last May. With two down and a runner on in the bottom of the ninth, with the Cubs down 5-4, Cody Bellinger stepped up and demolished an Alexis Díaz pitch at 107 miles per hour for a home run. Sike! Bellinger forgot to take the Lake Michigan winds into account. Bellinger smacked the baseball directly into a 17 mph headwind. The ball floated down into the right fielder’s glove, and the L flag

was promptly raised above the scoreboard in center field.

Thanks to the use of proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) and Weather Applied Metrics technology, MLB has gained the ability

After an active MLB offseason that saw record-breaking deals and extravagant trades, it is time to see how the moves will play out on the diamond.

to measure gusts “in-game, in-park, not just pregame from a nearby station, as had long been the standard.” Wisdom’s would-be homerun, was shortened by a staggering 62 feet, while Bellinger’s lost 40 feet of air because of the Wrigleyville winds. The Cubs ended up losing both of these games but who knows what may have happened if the winds died down for a split second on the north side of Chicago. In the 2023-2024 season, MLB found that more than 40 percent of largely wind-impacted baseballs—those pushed by 25 feet or more— happened at Wrigley Field. The wind affects more baseballs at Wrigley Field than anywhere else in the majors, and it is not particularly close.

Saquon Barkley and why sports GMs are everything

Nicholas Tillinghast Humor Editor

There is a scene in the 2024 HBO documentary series, “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” that has rattled in my head during the entire NFL season. Last offseason, Giants General Manager Joe Schoen concluded that the team did not have enough money to re-sign pending free agent running back Saquon Barkley, and in a pivotal scene of the documentary in the third episode, John Mara, president and CEO of the New York Giants sheepishly admits to Schoen that “I’ll have a tough time sleeping if Saquon goes.” This depressing line exemplifies the at-times funeral-like sobriety of many scenes in this iteration of “Hard Knocks.”

In reflecting on the months that have followed, you can only imagine how gutted Mara must feel after Barkley rushed for 2,000 yards in the regular season with the Philadelphia Eagles, won Offensive Player of the Year and helped his team make and win a Super Bowl. John Mara is awkwardly present in many of the series’s scenes, often silent; while the General Manager’s team handles the actual decision-making, John Mara anxiously hangs around like a specter—a metonymic image of the entire doomed fanbase, a passenger on a sinking ship.

HBO tries to make the otherwise weighty show topic seem whimsical: They put in these neat poke infographics in episode three, soundtracked by Beyonce’s “Texas Hold’em,” that make the free agency and drafting seem like this really suave, fun process. In another episode of the series, the Giant’s scouting team visits the combine; they appear hopeful. Still, the documentary ultimately captures what was a frustrating offseason for the Giants, in a way that has

reverberated throughout the season.

I was looking to cover this documentary series even before the broader season implications: HBO’s sudden shift to offseason NFL considerations, rather than the typical in-season/training camp shenanigans, was surprising—general manager activities are arguably the least compelling and least flashy component of professional sports. But if you have stuck with a football team for a few consecutive years, you probably care (at least a little bit) how your team does drafting, trading and player development—these things are what account for the entirety of a team’s on-field production and simultaneously none of it.

At its core, the NFL offseason is neat because of its gamified contract negotiation: Every team has the same amount of money to manage for player contracts each year because of the league’s hard salary cap. Every team is playing under the same set of rules.

If you made a similar offseason documentary for the New York Yankees, it would be like viewing the NFL’s offseason free agency period through a warped lens, as each MLB team spends radically different amounts based on the team’s revenue and the approach of owners (basically what the 2011 narrative film “Moneyball” is about). Salary spending in the MLB is not a game like it is in the NFL, it is a pure expression of team philosophy, one that typically benefits big cities like New York that are willing to spend large sums of money.

It is no coincidence that both the New York Mets and the New York Yankees are perennial playoff contenders and regularly acquire star players, most notably the Mets and Yankees had a massive free agent exchange of Juan Soto just this past offseason. Big-spending teams in MLB are penalized by having to pay a luxury tax for salary-spending over a

certain amount. As you may imagine, these teams can pay some extra money because they generate a lot of money, and generate even more money when the team plays well.

You are probably wondering, “Damn, doesn’t that mean big city teams are much better teams because they have an inherent advantage in obtaining good players?” In some ways, yes: The Dodgers have finished first in their division 11 of the last 12 seasons, but also the MLB has not had a repeat champion in the entire 21st century while the other three major leagues (NFL, NHL, NBA) have. However, based on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ aggressive spending tactics this past offseason, the MLB seems more particularly likely to have one this coming season. For the NFL, the fact that smaller revenue teams spend the same amount as high revenue is important. NFL Teams might win in consecutive years, partly to do with rules that encourage teams to keep their best players, e.g., franchise tagging, but a dynastic team is just as likely to be New York as Jacksonville, all General Managers (GMs) being equal. In real life, GMs are not equal, though, and both New York teams seemingly have bad ones. New York Football (Giants and Jets) were 8-26 this year. Some of that is luck, a lot of it is the result of GM decision-making.

In the case of the Giants, letting Saquon Barkley hit free agency was a result of signing quarterback Daniel Jones, who, in the most charitable terms, is an average quarterback. By midseason this year, the Giants released him, per Jones’s request. If the Giants had moved on from Jones a season prior, Barkley could have stayed.

There was certainly some bad luck involved for the Giants: The fact that Saquon Barkley was picked up by their competent division rival, the Eagles was quite possibly

the worst result for the Giants. This means having to face Barkley, at minimum, twice a season, three if they are lucky and make the playoffs. If traded to the AFC, the Giants would likely not have to face Barkley for two or three years. This basically guarantees that Barkley’s trade is not forgotten by the Giants and that the Giant’s inferior record from the season prior is because of him.

If there is any silver lining for the Giants it is that they were not that much worse than the season prior. They lost three more games this year, but neither season had them anywhere close to making the playoffs. Bad teams inherently handle offseasons like the Giants did. To further the poker metaphors that “Hard Knocks” engages with, it is like the Giants have seven-two offsuit for every hand. You cannot win many hands with that, so you fold. Sometimes you give away your best player if your team is not playing well. And it is not always suddenly easier to get better when you do: Free agent players do not typically leap to play for teams that suck. This season, it was the Giants, next season, it is going to be the Cleveland Browns (what is potentially worse in the Browns case is that star player, Myles Garrett actually requested a trade). As much as the NFL commissioner might hate to see it, bad teams often get much worse before they get better. It is funny to me that the “Hard Knocks” chose a hapless team like the Giants to follow that offseason. They likely knew, after contract negotiations had already failed pre-filming, that Barkley was going to leave the Giants. That would be my one desire for the “Hard Knocks: Offseason” series going forward. Sure, we got to see the Giants crumble, but next season, maybe we could see what offseason success looks like. The offseason can suck but it can also win Super Bowls.

Football and politics: Two sides of the same coin

Ben Vinson Columnist

Hope. Resistance is built on hope. That is the key to toppling an oppressive regime, and great strides were taken on Sunday. The Kansas City Chiefs have stood atop the National Football League for two years, and nobody has been powerful enough to put up a real fight. Whether it was from quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ magic plays or flagrant favoritism from League higher-ups and referees, they have quashed all opposition, and earlier this year, things appeared to be no different. Despite lackluster play from Mahomes for much of the season, several injuries to key players and controversy throughout all facets of the team, the Chiefs finished the season with the best record in the league at 15-2. Kicker Harrison Butker got in trouble for preaching to college students that many womens’ lives do not really start until they are in the home, punter Matt Araiza had allegations and legal troubles that were dropped shortly before joining the team and wide receiver Rashee Rice got arrested for driving 119 mph and fleeing from a car crash he caused that put several in the hospital—but none of it seemed to matter. The Chiefs just kept rolling. They won ugly, not scoring over thirty points throughout the entire regular season, but it did not matter. A win is a win. In a year where much of the country feels like little has gone right, the prospect of another Chiefs Super Bowl win was a tough pill to swallow. For many, including myself, these frustrations mentally fused

with one another. The Chiefs’ near decade of dominance mirrored that of a political movement, and with that being reinforced by comments made by some of their players, the connection was only natural. For these politicized fans, and even those who just hated to see the same team win every year, the Philadelphia Eagles came to be a symbol of something worth believing in. They became the resistance—supported by not just every fan of every other NFL team, but over half of America—believing that things could get better. And they did. As the game kicked off and millions of families watched with gritted teeth, things looked pretty normal for the Chiefs. They traded punts with the Eagles early and ended the first quarter with a seven point deficit, which was pretty standard for them. Their opponents opened scoring in eight of their 17 games this season, so they were far from panicking. Despite intercepting Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts to open the second quarter, the Chiefs still could not get things going. Something was off. Mahomes was not in his usual playoff form. His passing accuracy looked shakier than ever before, and when he was able to get it in the vicinity of his receivers, there was no guarantee that they would come down with it, even if they were wide open. This was about as poorly as they could have expected things to start, but they could not be counted out. If there was any team that could come back from this hardship, it was the Kansas City Chiefs.

After giving up a field goal to go down 100, the Chiefs looked to turn things around,

but the Eagles defense had other plans. Adding onto Mahomes’ early inaccuracy, Philadelphia’s pass rush was relentless, punishing him anytime he took even half of a second too long to throw the ball. Kansas City took a pair of sacks on first and second down on their fourth drive and Mahomes had to make a big play to keep the drive alive: He did exactly that, just for the wrong team. He was not being hit as he threw and even had time to plant his feet after rolling out to the right side of the field, but he just threw a terrible pass—right to Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean, who ran the interception back for a touchdown. Disaster. The Chiefs were in dark waters, and after throwing another interception that gave the Eagles a quick two-play score, they entered halftime down 24-0. This may seem insurmountable, but as all football fans (especially those from Atlanta) and political people know, comebacks can happen, and it is unwise to write someone off before the horn is blown.

The politics of the game were apparent to many before kickoff, but if anyone did not figure it out beforehand, Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam cleared the air. President Trump was in attendance, and despite not publicly supporting either team, his criticism of the Eagles after they refused to celebrate their 2018 win in the White House combined with prediction of a Chiefs win certainly put him on one side. Lamar took a jab at the President, rapping, “The revolution is about to be televised, you picked the right time but the wrong guy,” and it turned

heads. Political dissent was woven into the very fabric of this game, and with over 113 million watching, nobody could turn a blind eye.

The Eagles opened the second half with a pair of defensive stops and field goal, and the moment the 46 yard pass from Hurts landed in wide receiver Devonta Smith’s hands to make the game 34-0, the game was over. Five scores was too many to overcome, and the Eagles coasted to an easy victory. The Chiefs managed to make it look somewhat good at the end, scoring twice to make the score 40-22, but they embarrassingly only managed to do so once backup quarterback Kenny Pickett and the second teamers entered the game. Donald Trump left late in the third quarter.

Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts and his teammates choked the life out of Kansas City, but more importantly, they showed the nation that titans can fall. Tyranny does not have to win. The American people had hope that the Eagles were capable of doing what nobody else could, and it paid off. This resistance won, so what is stopping you from spreading this same hope elsewhere? Things may continue to get worse, but the only way to incite change is to believe, not just that things can get better, but also in yourself that you can help out. Patrick Mahomes is bound to make some bad throws, so, just like the Eagles, you need to be ready to capitalize on them. Sometimes football can be more than just a game. America witnessed a manifestation of hope for the first time in a while—a political breath of fresh air—so let’s build on it.

Brewers Ballin’: Dennis and Nyhan earn first place finishes

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

Brewers Ballin’

Names: Jahmilia Dennis ’26 and Adelaide Nyhan ’27

Team: Women’s Track and Field

Stats: Jahmilia Dennis and Adelaide Nyhan both tapped gold-medal finishes at Utica University’s Blue and Orange Invite. Dennis dominated the triple jump, posting a leap of 11.51 meters. Dennis earned liberty league performer of the week on Feb. 10. On the track, the Brewers swept the top three spots in the women’s 800 meter, but Nyhan came out on top with a personal best and AARTFC qualifying time of 2:20.82.

Statements:

Dennis: “What I’ve learned in track is that my biggest competitor is myself, regardless of if I did well the last meet I’m always striving to be better the next: run faster, hurdle quicker, jump farther; I want to be the best athlete that I can be.”

Nyhan: “The team is having a strong start to the indoor season using our momentum coming off of a super successful cross country season. Our mid distance group had a powerful presence this weekend sweeping the race in our first 800 of the season and then coming back to win the distance medley relay. We are all looking forward to getting faster and performing well at our league championship.”

Recently in Vassar Brewers sports

Men’s Volleyball builds on undefeated record

After a big weekend, the men’s volleyball team advanced to 10-0. First-year Zheng and senior Akoto both earned UVC honors last week.

Men’s Squash posts historic victory at Liberty League Championships

The squad went 2-1 at the Championship, earning victories over Bard and Hobart. The 5-4 win over Hobart is the first since 2006.

Women’s Basketball earn gritty OT win

The women’s basketball team is 4-0 in games decided in overtime after a 66-63 victory over Union. The squad is 12-2 in Liberty League play.

Images courtesy of .Jahmilia Dennis ’26 and Adelaide Nyhan ’27.

The Miscellany Crossword “We’ve Got Chemistry”

By Sadie Keesbury

ACROSS

1. Freshwater fish

5. What to catch a cub in

13. Accessory for a stylish flightless bird

15. Ethanol, Isopropyl, Methanol, etc.

16. Off the cuff

17. Hydrogen, helium, lithium, etc.

18. Instruction for monogram without the center letter (abr.)

19. Sick

21. Beaver built water holder

22. _____ Al-Fitr

23. AI chat_____

24. Arrow feature

27. What Valentine’s day celebrates

28. Apple computer

31. Boric, acetic, citric, etc.

34. Walk back and forth

35. Pop star Grande, for short

36. Two ash holders

37. Where in the body you might feel 27A

39. Pub drinks

40. _____ Miserable

41. Floater?

42. Documents to get before studying abroad

43. First road, perhaps?

45. Swindle

47. Rubber shoe

48. What to cook an egg in

49. Valentine’s Day color

52. Atom or molecule with a net electrical charge

54. Singer DiFranco

55. Drake record label

56. One to spend Valentine’s day with, hopefully

61. UK standardized test

63. What your male child might be, if given a loose leash

64. Opposite of youngest, as a sibling

65. Good looking

66. Dino- suffix

DOWN

1. Cherub who brings 27A

2. Shortened, as an entry in a crossword puzzle

3. Caffeine free tea

4. Scientist with a dog and a bell

Answers to last week’s crossword:

“OSCARBATE”

By FelizMancinoMundy-

5. One to spend Valentines Day with, hopefully

6. Letter after kay

7. Did perfectly, as an exam

8. Valentines dinner theme

9. The mafia, slangily

10. Weasley of Harry Potter

11. Different, as a social media account

12. Addendum to the addendum (of a letter)

13. German article

14. 3001 in Roman numerals

20. 5G _____

25. What Santa brings bad children

26. Country with a North and South

27. Mormon church, abr.

28. Sea in spain

29. A play may have several of this

30. Valentine’s day activity (or candy)

31. Gathering space in Ely Hall

32. Growing, as in a musical score

33. Orchestra member, for short

34. Synonym for tap

37. Field tiller

38. Consume

39. What to do with a bow and arrow, before shooting

41. Turns into

42. Chocolate’s opposite, for some reason

44. Bubbled, as water in a pot

45. Relaxation station

46. Row boats

49. Thing sent to mars

50. Word with Hallow’s and Christmas

51. Idiot

53. With some numbers, sodium sulfate

56. Bleeding in the space between the brain and the tissue covering the brain (abr.)

57. Son _____ gun

58. One ash holder

59. Male cat

60. Suffix used to indicate the presence of a carbon-carbon double bond in organic compounds

62. Abr. after the dot in a Vassar email