The Miscellany News
Volume CXLIX | Issue 7
November 3, 2016
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Community promotes stronger firearm laws Laurel Hennen Vigil Guest Reporter
B
Exhibit fuses art, activism Courtesy of Vassar Communications
raving near-freezing temperatures, hundreds of people gathered at the foot of the Walkway Over the Hudson Saturday morning, Oct. 29, preparing to march across the bridge in a demonstration calling for gun sense laws. It was the fourth annual Walk for Gun Sense, an event prompted by the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012. The Walk is organized by members of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Stop The Violence, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and the Million Mom March. These groups all advocate for “gun sense” legislation—they use the phrase to avoid the negative connotation many have with “gun control.” Their preferred policies include safe storage (locking up guns when they are not in use), universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole (many sellers at gun shows do not require background checks) and prohibiting those on the No Fly List from purchasing firearms. One of the event’s organizers, Dutchess County Coordinator for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and Professor of Film at Vassar Sarah Kozloff, stated, “We’re hoping to embolden our legislators to take on the gun violence issue. They think if they talk about guns at all they’ll be voted out of office, and we want to show them how strong and
deep support is for smart gun laws.” Regional Organizing Manager for the Brady Campaign Kim Russell added, “We know that background checks work. Since they started in 1994, we’ve stopped 2.4 million gun sales.” At the Walk, dozens of eager marchers arrived well before the 10 a.m. start time, bundled up against the chill and holding colorful signs with gun sense advocacy group logos, as well as homemade placards proclaiming “Smart Gun Laws Protect Our Kids,” “No Fly, No Buy” and other such slogans. Most attendees were parents in their 40s and 50s with young kids—and even a few dogs—in tow. Most asserted they came to the event out of concern for their children’s safety in a country where it is easy to access high-caliber weapons. Many marchers cited Sandy Hook as the event that galvanized them into action, though some noted that they have been involved gun legislation advocacy much longer, having participated in the Million Mom March in Washington D.C. in 2000. Hudson Valley Coordinator for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence Alex Dubroff said, “[Before Sandy Hook] I didn’t know anything about the gun violence problem in our country. To learn that there are 90 people every day who are killed with guns was eye-opening for me, and I just knew I had to do something.” On the other hand, Russell’s motivaSee MARCH on page 3
Professor Marshall Pregnall works with eager Biology students to discover methods of protecting Blanding’s turtle eggs from predators, as pictured above.
Pregnall remembered by students, colleagues Zander Bashaw Senior Editor
O
n Oct. 22 2016, Vassar College lost a beloved educator, scientist and community member when Professor of Biology Alexander Marshall Pregnall passed away. Pregnall was unexpectedly struck by cancer early in September, but lived his entire life to the fullest, and was peacefully with his family when he died. There will be a memorial celebration of Pregnall’s
life on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Vassar Chapel, and a reception will follow in the Alumnae/i house. Pregnall had worked for Vassar’s Biology Department since 1986, serving as Department Chair during his time and also teaching within the environmental sciences. He taught a wide array of subjects during his academic career, from courses like Plant See PROFESSOR on page 5
Fashion show weaves VC swimming makes past style with present splash at season opener Kirk Patrick Testa Columnist
L
ast Thursday, Oct. 27, I had the pleasure of attending Contrast’s Annual Fashion Show. For those unfamiliar with Contrast, know that it is Vassar’s style and fashion magazine. The theme of this year’s show was the year 1969. This was a watershed year for Vassar’s histo-
ry as it was the year that the College became co-educational. Additionally, 1969 was the time in which many revolutionary events occurred, such as the moon landing, the rise of Black feminism, Woodstock, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed Peace Hair Peace Protest. In short, 1969 was a year of events that See CONTRAST on page 14
Inside this issue
5
Dining workers struggle to bring FEATURES home the bacon
15 ARTS
Olivia O’Loughlin Sports Editor
T
he men and women’s swimming and diving teams dove into their regular season in meets against Bard College on Wednesday, Oct. 26. Both teams emerged victorious as the men’s team captured the win with a score of 130-85, while the women’s side dominated the Raptors 137-67. Vassar has started its past three seasons with meets against Bard College and has claimed all six wins. This year, a number of swimmers and divers had impressive finishes and contributed to Vassar’s ultimate domination. While the upperclassmen supplemented their previous success in the pool, the freshmen came out with a splash to also achieve great results. On the men’s side, junior Jonah Strand grabbed the Brewers’ first win as he finished the 100 breast stroke with a time of 59.72. Soon after, senior captain Anthony Walker finished the 100 butterfly in 53.19 seconds to earn a first place finish of his own. In this victory, Walker impressively defeated Bard’s powerhouse Dio Tzortzis, who has claimed a myriad of wins for the Raptors. “I am really focusing on the 100 and 200 butterfly this year, as I have in previous years. Probably my main goal this season is simply to beat my
Director puts gang culture in sharp focus
best times in both of those events,” Walker noted. “I also love being a part of relays, and I think we have a chance of breaking some relay records, especially the 800 freestyle relay record this year.” Fellow seniors Patrick Lai and Chris Cerutti also swam well at the Brewer’s season opener. Lai swam a strong 1:05.50 for the 100 breast stroke as Cerutti handily clenched the win in the 100 backstroke with a time of 58.71. Cerutti was the only swimmer to finish the race in less than one minute. Behind Cerutti, junior Luke Morrison claimed second place with 1:01.76, followed by junior Kyle Gray with 1:06.28 for third place. With a time of 51.51, sophomore Lukas Harries earned first place in the 100 free as sophomore Ian LaBash trailed him by 1.2 seconds to earn third place. As they suited up for the very first time, the freshmen also posted strong standings against Bard. Freshman Jordan Kalina won two events of the day as he finished the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.46 and swam the 500 free in a fast 5:11.23. Soon after, fellow classmate Yoav Yaron finished the 500 free in 6:34.67 minutes to claim the fourth spot. To round up the freshman class success, Harrison Taylor finished in See SWIMMING on page 19
19
Emily Sayer
Features Editor
N
amed for Norman Rockwell’s depictions of FDR’s Four Freedoms, the first artist-run super PAC, For Freedoms, challenges classic conceptualizations of democracy with visual activist campaigns representing a broader range of American narratives. The super PAC aims to involve its audiences in politics using art exhibitions and spectacle to help them reimagine their role in supporting various domestic and international agendas. Capitalizing on the buzz generated by this election season, For Freedoms encourages viewers to consider the intersectionality of race, gender, socioeconomic disparity, citizen/migrant status and other aspects of identity politics in public discourse. UnFramed is a student organization founded by Matthew McCardwell ’17 on the ideals of inclusive political dialogue and art as a tool of activism. The org is horizontally structured, unfettered by hierarchical managerial pressures. Like For Freedoms, unFramed agitates around liberal social causes and policies. McCardwell explained his rationale for bringing For Freedoms to the Vassar Collaboratory, saying, “This summer my friend Samantha Kohl [and I] were both working at different art nonprofits that focus on community and public art and we saw this exhibition at the Jack Shainman gallery by the first ever art super PAC called For Freedoms and we fell in love with it. We got in touch with the founders and asked if we could start a dialogue about how that would look at Vassar and we got in touch with the two primary founders. One [of the founders] is Eric Gottesman, who’s an artist who’s currently teaching at Hampshire college in Amherst, MA and he was like, what if you guys See EXHIBIT on page 6
Emily Sayer/The Miscellany News
Courtesy of Vassar Contrast
In Contrast’s annual fashion show, student models walked the runway, displaying couture inspired by the revolutionary spirit of the year 1969.
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
The For Freedoms installation on display at Vassar provides students with the opportunity to analyze social and political discourse as it effects groups both on and off campus.
New coach scores points SPORTS with squash team