The Miscellany News
Volume CXLVIII | Issue 4
October 2, 2014
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Election to fill sudden BurgerFi location a major appeal vacancy in Exec. Board T Julia Cunningham Reporter
Palak Patel
Senior Editor
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he burgerfication of the nation® has found its way to Poughkeepsie. BurgerFi, the newest way for the Vassar student body to get off campus, has officially opened its doors to the public. The burger is a quintessential American creation, but of late, it has begun to be viewed as rather un-
carbon footprint in the local community, especially with Vassar College we thought that would resonate,” said De Lise. According to BurgerFi’s website, everything from their food to their building to their furniture is environmentally aware. “BurgerFi store is built according to environmentally sustainable best practices,” their See BURGERS on page 7 Emily Lavieri-Scull/The Miscellany News
t the Vassar Student Association (VSA) meeting on Sept. 28, Vice President for Activities Reuben Moncada ’15 announced his resignation, which will take effect as soon as his position is filled by a special election, to conclude on October 8. At the meeting, Moncada announced, “I’ve been debating this over the past week or so and I think it’s what’s best for me right now. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it has to be done. I’ll still come to council meetings until a new Activities person is trained. For those of you who
are staying, this is a rewarding experience.” In recent years, the VSA has seen a large turnover rate for Executive Board positions, including having to refill the VP for Student Life last fall. Upon hearing of his decision to resign earlier the same day, the Board of Elections and Appointments (BOEA) met and discussed the merits of filling the position using a special election or appointment. BOEA chair Casey Hancock ’15, who recently stepped down from his position, will remain in his post with the BOEA until the end of the special election process. He See VSA on page 3
healthy. BurgerFi is an ecologically friendly twist on the American burger joint. According to Derrick De Lise, BurgerFi prides themselves on keeping their practices environmentally conscious. De Lise, the general manager at BurgerFi, said he is proud of the new eatery’s lack of low environmental impact. “We take great pains to reduce our
More reported crime at VC than peer colleges Bethan Johnson
Contributing Editor
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ccording to the Jeanne Clery Campus Security Act Report released on Sept. 24, Vassar experienced a substantial reduction in almost all areas of criminal activity since 2012, with the notable exception of sexual offenses. The statistics, while not entirely reflective of crime on campus due to underreporting, were collected and released to the public by federal mandate. The data released to the student body, tracking both federal offenses
and college disciplinary committee’s adjudications, also shows that in recent years, Vassar has experienced generally more criminal activity than its peer institutions such as Marist College and the Seven Sisters colleges. Associate Director of Security Kim Squillace believes that the perceived elevation of Vassar’s crime statistics may be reflective of the administrative policies that encourage victims of crime to come forward and report the crime. These annual reports are compiled See CRIME on page 4
Sporting an environmentally conscious selection of food and drinks, the BurgerFi chain of restaurants recently opened a new location in the former Juliet. The chain has locations up and down the east coast, with plans to expand nationally.
Zine creates new outlet for comedy Golf’s increased roster aims for consistency A Jake Solomon Reporter
Amreen Bhasin Reporter
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Alec Ferretti/The Miscellany News
lthough it may sometimes seem that established groups dominate Vassar’s art scene, students are always coming up with new ways to innovate and create new artistic spaces. This fall, at Vassar there will be an entirely new outlet for comedy on campus: a printed comedy magazine. Rather than limiting themselves to the confines of performance comedy, Zack Wilks ’16 and Tatiana Esposito von Mueffling ’16 have created The Dialogue, a zine which will feature comedic stories, drawings and other creations by college-aged students from Vassar and even other universities. Currently, performance groups seem to dominate the Vassar comedy scene. The Dialogue’s content, however, will change that. Esposito von Mueffling said, “[The zine will consist of] comics, doodles, satire, visual puns, one-liners. And we’re not looking for one voice of humor; any kind of humor at all. We think that the performance-based groups tend to be more specific. Improv and sketch are like that, so we want to broaden the range of humor available [at Vassar].” The title of the zine is meant to be a play on Vassar’s serious nature regarding discussions, but isn’t intended to be a jab at the college’s administration or student body, explained See ZINE on page 16
After seeing other forms of published art around campus, Esposito von Mueffling and Wilks were inspired to bring more attention to printed comedy.
Inside this issue
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Teaching seminar examines art of FEATURES writing
15 ARTS
Initiative seeks to fuse creative arts, sciences
he Vassar College women’s golf team has started off their fall season with a larger roster and great success. This year’s team boasts an expanded roster, with seven different players to choose from on a weekly basis. This is an upswing from last year’s roster of only five. The team also welcomes back Andy Jennings as head coach. Jennings, one of the most prolific men’s soccer coaches in Division III after winning his 200th game earlier this season, has also helped create a winning program for women’s golf. Under his leadership, the team was ranked as high as 16th in the country. This year’s team also has some depth and talent. The team is composed of one freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior. Juniors Aimee Dubois and Angela Mentel serve as captains, and senior Caitlin Bell is returning from a year away at Dartmouth. From the start, the Brewers have had the mindset of taking each tournament as one event at a time, according to Mentel. “At the beginning of the season, our team set out to improve tournament to tournament and day by day,” Mentel wrote in an emailed statement. “So far, we have achieved this goal. We’ve improved
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tournament to tournament and tied with Mount Holyoke for fourth place at our tournament this past weekend. I am so incredibly proud of this team and cannot wait to see what our last two tournaments [of the fall] hold for us.” Sophomore standout Diana Howland echoed Mentel’s sentiments of the importance of daily improvement, “The team has played really well overall so far,” Howland wrote in an emailed statement. “All of our practices have been a lot more focused this year and I really think we’re all improving each and every day, as our results have been showing.” She was impressed with the team’s performance so far but cited consistency as a continual goal. “The team has performed incredibly well but I think one thing we need to work on is our consistency.” The team began its 2014-2015 season with a ninth place overall finish at the New York University Invitational. The Brewers started off their second day in seventh place, but dropped twelve strokes off its Saturday score and were passed by St. Lawrence University and SUNY Cortland. Dubois was the leading scorer for the Brewers as she placed 15th overall. She finished with a seven-over-79, which was her best See GOLF on page 19
Alum coach pushes cross-country runners SPORTS to improve