The Miscellany News
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Volume CL | Issue 11
November 30, 2017
VC winter sports get a hot start
Lecturers talk union organizing
Kelly Pushie
Clark Xu
Courtesy of Idlewild Theatre Ensemble
GUEST REPORTER
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omen’s Basketball: The women’s basketball team have gone nearly perfect on the early part of their season, winning four out of their first five games so far this season. The women picked up their first win on the road against William Patterson University, 60-56. The Brewers then hosted the Vassar Tip-Off Tournament, where they faced up against Simmons College and Oneonta College, securing the win against Simmons and suffering a setback against Oneonta. The VC squad next squared up against Mount Saint Mary College at home and won 52-43. In their most current game, the team defeated New Paltz on the road this Tuesday. The Brewers will host Ithaca and William Smith this upcoming weekend for their first Liberty League conference matchups. Women’s Fencing: The women’s fencing team has gotten off to a solid start, picking up 8 wins against 5 losses in their first matchups of the season. The Brewers hosted the Vassar Invitational to kick off their season, where they beat Queens College, Wagner College, City College of New York University and Farleigh DickinSee WINTER SPORTS on page 18
On Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 2 at 5 and 8 p.m., the Idlewild Theatre Ensemble, Vassar’s all femme and nonbinary student theatre group, will be presenting its new show “Maiden Voyage” in the Kenyon Club Room.
Idlewild devises sea shanty show Matt Stein
ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR
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reating a work from a simple concept can seem like a miracle. One word or idea suddenly sparks a curiosity that grows into an hour-long production filled with a rich story, developed characters and full technical elements. All from one simple idea. Many productions at least try to use a source text to refer back to, but an original concept both presents a greater challenge and gives a more fulfilling journey. Idlewild Theatre Ensemble’s devised
Courtesy of Vassar College
Art history has long been a cornerstone of the Vassar curriculum, and the strides made by Professor Emerita Linda Nochlin ’51, who passed away last month, exemplify the boundary-pushing spirit of the department.
Patrick Tanella
O
nly a select few people are capable of changing the world through their writing. Former Mary Conover Mellon Professor of Art History Linda Nochlin ’51 was one of them, with her masterpiece 1971 essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” uplifting the art world, and feminist critique, forever. Nochlin passed away on Oct. 27 of this year, but her legacy lives on through her writing and the thousands of students and colleagues she profoundly impacted. Nochlin taught at Vassar from 1952 to 1980, but she frequently returned to receive a plethora of awards, remaining involved in the department and lecturing about her recent work to sev-
Inside this issue
4
NEWS
“Chronogram Conversation” explores local revitalization
eral generations of students. Professor and Chair of the Art Department Brian Lukacher remarked on this unique connection: “I believe that she viewed Vassar as having had a transformative influence on her, and she returned the favor by generously lending support and showing sustained interest in the welfare of the department.” A Vassar graduate, Nochlin quickly returned to the College after receiving her M.A. in English from Columbia University. She was inspired to pursue the study of art after hearing a public lecture on Chartres given by visiting lecturer Adolf Katzenellenbogen, which brought her to the field and back to Vassar as a professor of the subject. Vassar professors have always been See LINDA NOCHLIN on page 14
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production “Maiden Voyage” sets sail in the Kenyon Club Room on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec 2., at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Idlewild is a non-hierarchal student theatre group of femme and non-binary theatremakers. “Maiden Voyage” is a devised piece about a disaster at sea shown through the eyes of different characters in a nonlinear structure. The piece is based on an original concept revolving around the subject of sea shanties. Idlewild ensemble member Sarah Rubin ’20 has served as music direc-
tor and co-props designer and will be performing in the production. Rubin spoke about how the group generated the initial idea on which they based their process: “It started out as a vague concept. The six of us met twice at the beginning of the year to try to come up with something we wanted to do. We decided we were interested in sea shanties and we took it from there. We added more members and then started devising around that original concept. It stayed basically true to how we startSee IDLEWILD on page 14
Facebook page snaps secret life of bricks Laila Volpe
OUTGOING FEATURES EDITOR
V
assar has many mysteries: the elusive squirrel on campus without a tail, leading students to wonder at his origins; the mystical, luck-bearing womp womps; the haunted basements of the less reputable dorms; and the fascinating brickwork of the buildings on campus. The eccentric brickwork of the college is an often
overlooked aspect of the Vassar experience, however one student took it upon themselves to reveal the hidden wonder lurking right under our noses. If you had scarcely guessed at the existence of the Facebook page “Mysterious Brickwork at Vassar College,” then you are in for a treat. In the depths of one of Vassar’s many haunted basements, a brick enSee BRICKWORK on page 6
Courtesy of Mysterious Brickwork of Vassar College via Facebook
Shaping feminist art history at Vassar today OUTGOING ARTS EDITOR
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
“Mysterious Brickwork” posts photos of unique brick patterns around campus. Part one of two: The Old Laundry Building wall before its repairs.
CRISPR solutions are oversimplified OPINIONS resolutions
19 SPORTS
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
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ebates about proper working conditions and compensation have put pressure on relationships between workers, management and consumers not only at Vassar College, but also in other parts of the country where persistent inequality has frayed community bonds. On Nov. 20, Student/Labor Dialogue (SLD), in collaboration with several other student organizations and academic departments, invited representatives Amina Rahman and Michelle Ceballos from the Burgerville Workers Union (BVWU) to share their experience working in a fast-food chain based in Portland, OR and organizing in response to unaddressed grievances. Burgerville currently operates about forty restaurants in the northwest region of the United States and markets food that is locally sourced, free of antibiotics and environmentally friendly. It primarily caters to a middle-class and affluent population who would pay a premium cost for better quality food and service. Rahman and Ceballos considered the perspective that management holds toward Burgerville workers and described, “As for how workers fit in this branding, they want us to serve with love and call people who patronize the restaurants our guests, not customers, as if they were guests in our house.” Due to this positive image, Burgerville workers were surprised to discover that the restaurant management would perpetrate unfair labor practices and employ forceful methods to discourage workers wanting to unionize. Burgerville workers collectively decided to form BVWU in April 2016 as a way to address the lack of maternity leave, denial of employee health insurance coverage, low wages, unsafe working conditions and inconsistent hours. Rahman and Ceballos suggested that management inflicted many of these grievances in a subtle fashion. For example, the service contract provides employee health insurance coverage to any worker who clocked at least thirty hours a week, but management would schedule part-time workers close to the thirty-hour threshold and switch in another set of part-time workers in order to avoid providing for health insurance. Similarly, Rahman and Ceballos reported that management could assign working hours that varied significantly between the morning, evening and night shifts. They said, “People have a completely different schedule every week and only find out what their schedule is going to be like Thursday, Friday beforehand. It basically makes it impossible to plan your life.” The demands that BVWU presented to Burgerville closely mirrored those presented by SLD and dining service workers to Bon Appetit and the Vassar College administration last month. An SLD member who wished to remain anonymous elaborated, “We find that low wage workers will face similar forms of maltreatment across the See SLD on page 3
Entry to Hall of Fame complicated by doping scandal shame
The Miscellany News
Page 2
November 30, 2017
Editor-in-Chief
Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson
Senior Editor Noah Purdy
Contributing Editors Sarah Dolan Eilís Donohue Rhys Johnson
Talya Phelps/The Miscellany News
Abroad in Prague, Talya Phelps ’19 writes, “I’ve loved each of the seven new countries I’ve seen this semester in a different way ... Yet every time I return to Prague, the feeling of homecoming is more intense, the relief greater when I hop on the tram and the chatter enveloping me once again follows the familiar cadence of Czech.” To read more about Talya’s JYA experience and read about other students’ travels, visit farandaway.miscellanynews.org.
The Miscellany News 30
November
Thursday
Music on the Bridge 11:30 a.m. | Bridge Indoor Cafe | Music Dept.
Worker’s Appreciation Dinner 2:00 p.m. | AULA | VSA
Norman E. Hodges Lecture -- Nicole G. Van Cleve 5:00 p.m. | SC 212 | Africana Studies Program
MBSA Coffee House 5:00 p.m. | Villard Room | MBSA
Lecture: John Freeman 6:00 p.m. | TH 203 | English Dept.
Stain 6:30 p.m. | Shiva Theater | Unbound
Weekender_ 1
December
Friday
Basketball (W) vs. Ithaca College 4:00 p.m. | AFC | Athletics
Rohingya Relief Fundraising Dinner 5:00 p.m. | AULA | VMSU
Basketball (M) vs. Ithaca College 8:00 p.m. | AFC | Athletics
Vassar College Jazz Ensembles 8:00 p.m. | Skinner Recital Hall | Music Dept.
Crimes Of the Heart 8:00 p.m. | VCDF 106 | Drama Dept.
Love Heals 8:00 p.m. | TH 203 | CHOICE
7:00 p.m. | BH 73 | Economics Dept.
Stain
Vassar College Chamber Music Concert 8:00 p.m. | Skinner Recital Hall | Music Dept.
Crimes Of the Heart 8:00 p.m. | VCDF 106 | Drama Dept.
8:00 p.m. | Shiva Theater | Unbound
Indecent Exposure Stand-Up Show 9:00 p.m. | TH 102 | Indecent Exposure
December
Saturday
MLHxVC++ Local Hack Day 9:00 p.m. | NE 105 | VC++
Basketball (W) vs. William Smith College 12:00 p.m. | AFC | Athletics
Primary Care Progress Alumnae/i Panel
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December
Sunday
Tradition Collegiate Fencing Tournament 7:45 a.m. | Walker Field House Bays | Athletics
Lessons and Carols 7:00 p.m. | Chapel | Religious and Spiritual Life Office
1:00 p.m. | CC 223 | CDO
Paper Critique
Stain
9:00 p.m. | Rose Parlor | The Miscellany News
3:00 p.m. | Shiva Theater | Unbound
Assistant News Dylan Smith Clark Xu Assistant Features Imogen Wade Andrea Yang Assistant Arts Izzy Braham Matt Stein Assistant Online Kayla Holliday Jackson Ingram Abby Lass Assistant Design Rose Parker Assistant Copy Claire Baker Jessica Moss Assistant Social Media Hannah Nice Web Master & Technical Advisor George Witteman Reporters Talya Phelps Columnists Jimmy Christon Jesser Horowitz Steven Park Sylvan Perlmutter Blair Webber Design Maya Sterling Copy Isabel Bielat Natalie Bober James Bonanno Teddy Chmyz Jillian Frechette Abigail Knuckles Anna Wiley
Basketball (M) vs. Hobart College 4:00 p.m. | AFC | Athletics
Vassar College Orchestra 8:00 p.m. | Skinner Recital Hall | Music Dept.
Crimes Of the Heart 8:00 p.m. | VCDF 106 | Drama Dept.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
David Kennett - tax lecture
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News Laurel Hennen Vigil Features Laila Volpe Humor and Satire Leah Cates Yesenia Garcia Arts Sasha Gopalakrishnan Sports Mack Liederman Photography Sumiko Neary Design Yoav Yaron Copy Tanya Kotru Gode
Stain 8:00 p.m. | Shiva Theater | Unbound
Winter HEL Show 9:00 p.m. | TH 102 | Happily Ever Laughter
Improv Show 9:00 p.m. | RH 300 | Improv
Enjoy seasonal carols at the Chapel this Sunday at 7 p. m. with friends!
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
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. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
November 30, 2017
NEWS
Page 3
BVWU reps share workplace organizing experiences SLD continued from page 1
and improved the physical conditions of the kitchen in the Deece. However, management’s disrespectful treatment of workers along with chronic under-staffing still make Vassar an unsafe and difficult place to work.” SLD’s vision for working conditions at Vassar aims for an environment that safeguards the physical and psychological well-being of workers. To achieve this vision, SLD believes that the college administration needs to provide tangible improvements such as the installation of a separate break room in the dining hall and raise expectations for respect and dignity in interactions between workers and management. The presentation by Rahman and Ceballos on their past experiences in BVWU also spoke to the conscience of students who were not affiliated with SLD. Alex Wiltse ‘18, who attended the event, explained, “I worked a minimum-wage job at Panera for a year in high school, and [it] also trys to portray [itself] as a restaurant that really cares about its patrons, provides healthy food with no sneaky additives, supports local farms, tries to integrate itself into the local community, etc. Whether or not those things are true, I always felt that the managers really cared if I was happy, healthy and safe at work.” Thinking over the experiences presented by Rahman and Ceballos, Wiltse continued, “I was surprised to hear that Burgerville managers force sick employees to stay at work, or send people home early when the store is not busy. I know that most people working minimum wage jobs struggle to support themselves financially, but management practices like those can take a huge toll on a worker’s mental health.” For SLD, discussing the structure and experience of Burgerville workers offers insight into different approaches for fostering worker solidarity. An SLD member elaborated, “I think that the BVWU stands out because they focus not only on traditional labor issues, like wages, workplace safety, time off, but also on building a powerful community within the workplace that is able to support the workers. For example, BVWU organizes a hotline that any Burgerville worker can call and have someone walk them through issues they
Courtesy of Flickr
country and around the world. Both Burgerville workers and workers at Vassar are working in a workplace that consistently attempts to exploit them for labor without regard to both their dignity and contracts. Earlier this year Deece workers demanded respect and dignity for all workers, safe working conditions, organized and regular schedules and a fair and transparent hiring process.” The SLD member observed that food service workers at Burgerville and at Vassar College both presented analogous demands for better working conditions and work hours. BVWU received little response from management in the early negotiations and the situation soon deteriorated. Rahman and Ceballos remembered, “We waited six months to see if things would change, and that didn’t happen. Maybe Burgerville will listen to us, maybe we can appeal to their conscience. What happened was Burgerville hired a union-busting firm, a private security firm. They responded by firing a key organizer in the Vancouver, Washington camp; we’re met with silence and private security units.” Burgerville security forces clashed with Burgerville workers at union pickets outside restaurants and blocked other forms of union activity, such as worker delegations sent to present grievances to management. According to Rahman and Ceballos, the union organizer fired by Burgerville was accused of stealing from the company in an elaborate setup. Burgerville’s union-busting firm dispatched a private detective to the restaurant in Vancouver where the organizer worked as a supervisor. At the end of a lunch break, the detective pressured the organizer to begin working immediately and not pay for a bagel that the organizer had eaten. The organizer later contested his loss of job as an unfair labor practice but was not reinstated. At Vassar, the demands presented by SLD and dining service workers had a greater initial impact but many feel there is room for improvement. The SLD member explained, “The administration has been receptive to these demands insofar as they have implemented a consistent break schedule
On Nov. 20, Student/Labor Dialogue (SLD) hosted a lecture by representatives of the Burgerville Workers Union. SLD organized a rally to promote better working condidions at Vassar last month. face in the workplace. It’s this sort of powerful community building that will actually accomplish goals.” Rahman and Ceballos also mentioned that BVWU organized monthly childcare, discounted bus passes and a union benefits program through the efforts of workers rather than those of a paid union staffer from large and established unions such as the SEIU and the AFL-CIO. In addition to organized collaborative efforts, BVWU makes a significant impact on the daily lives of its workers by mediating with management over the course of routine operations. Citing a use of the union hotline to address worker grievances in real-time, Rahman and Ceballos stated, “Someone named Brandon got sick at work and vomited. One of the managers wouldn’t let him leave. He reached out to the co-workers and the union. Folks did a delegation in 30 minutes and he
was able to go home.” Another incident involved a Burgerville worker who reported a gas leak to the supervisor and was not granted permission to evacuate the building when the incident became a health hazard. The workers on shift used the union hotline to organize a delegation and secure permission to leave the premises until the gas leak could be evaluated and repaired. BVWU offers an important model for worker solidarity and possible ways to transform engagement at Vassar. Looking forward to possibilities for change, Wiltse considered his own privilege as a student and the potential for student engagement to help ensure that marginalized voices are heard. He concluded, “I think SLD is doing great work for labor activism on campus, and that the more students that actively support them, the more we can achieve.”
Campus Patrol revived under new administration Dylan Smith
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
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Sumiko Neary/The Miscellany News
he last few years have been a dynamic, if not turbulent, time for Vassar’s Campus Patrol. During the 2016-2017 academic year, Campus Patrol, which had been independent for most of its 47 years, was incorporated into the Office of Residential Life. In addition to administrative oversight, Residential Life imposed significant changes to Campus Patrol, which was then under the supervision of former Assistant Director of Residential Life Anders van Minter. In early Spring 2017, the Office of Residential Life announced the creation of a new position within house team: Community Fellows. Community Fellows would essentially adopt the role of Campus Patrol; they were to be present in Residential Houses and available to students in times of turmoil. However, it was clear that the transition from Campus Patrol to Community Fellows was more than just a name change. Not only was the Campus Patrol program being fully integrated into the House Team program, but the role of Patrollers on campus was to change significantly as well. Campus Patrol Supervisor Tom Racek ’18 penned a Miscellany News Opinion piece in February regarding the transition, entitled “An Obituary to Campus Patrol 1969-2017.” In his article, Racek highlighted the importance of Campus Patrol, identifying it as a necessary force for on-campus safety at Vassar. He mourned what he saw as the administration’s decision to effectively end the program. Subsequently, the Campus Patrollers’ radios were sold off, and their offices were evacuated. Indeed, it seemed like the end of Campus Patrol, and Patrol members were invited to attend Community Fellow training. However, when Patrollers returned in the fall, they found that the program was again under new administration. With van Minter and former Director of Residential Life Luis Inoa gone, Campus Patrol was now under the supervision of House Advisor and Assistant Director of Residential Life Christina Winnett. Winnett got involved with Campus Patrol in Spring 2016. “Luis Inoa and Anders van Minter
Frances Cornwall ’21 is a Campus Patroller. She and Campus Patrol Supervisor Tom Racek ’18 spoke to The Miscellany News about recent changes to the structure of Vassar’s Campus Patrol program. invited me to be part of the process of imagining how to integrate Patrol better within the department, houses and house teams,” Winnett explained. “I was and continue to be excited to explore the role of Patrol on campus and how to build up the program to be the best it can be for our communities.” According to Winnett, Residential Life and the Patrol Supervisors collectively decided to forestall some of the changes, keeping the name “Campus Patrol” and the operations of the program primarily intact. Racek noted that the Patrol radios were returned and that Patrol Supervisors were given a greater voice regarding the future of the program. Racek, who has been on Patrol since his first year at Vassar, is happy to see Patrol remain in operation on campus. Racek cares deeply about Campus Patrol and its role at Vassar. “We’re basically the middle-man between students and [the Office of Safety and] Security,” Racek said,
explaining that Campus Patrol often intervenes in situations when other students are afraid to. “We’re not here to get you in trouble,” he added. In delineating the purpose of Campus Patrol, Racek quoted the group’s unofficial motto: “Protecting people like you from people like us.” Winnett noted, however, that the structure of Campus Patrol offers significant administrative challenges. She explained that in the past, Patrol was often distanced from House Advisors and Security. “Up until the 2016-17 academic year, House Advisors had very little insight into what Patrollers were doing in their lobbies each weekend, and were not often made aware of any concerns that Patrol addressed during their shifts. This posed a problem for House Advisors, since we are responsible for the well-being of our communities and have a role in addressing both positive and negative behaviors that impact our house communities.” Patrol is in the early stages of shifting into what
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Winnett calls a “decentralized model.” This decentralized model will assign supervisors to individual houses, and integrate House Advisors into the chain of communication, so that everyone is on the same page regarding potential disturbances. “We have not yet reached the goal of a [fully] decentralized model, but we’re getting there,” she explained. “This [model], in theory, would connect House Advisors more directly to the work patrollers are doing, and help us understand what is going on in our houses and what patrollers are encountering on nights and weekends.” In addition to working more closely with House Advisors and House Teams, Campus Patrol is working with Campus Safety and Security to maximize their impact. Supervisors and Patrollers are receiving additional training from Security, as part of its Community Engagement Program. This collaborative program aims to forge strong connections between Campus Patrol, Safety and Security and the student body— ultimately ensuring that Patrollers and Security officers remain approachable for students in need of help. Patrol Supervisor Yvonne Yu ’18 reflected on the changes, “I think this is a good opportunity for us to restructure our program to continue our strong relationship with Security, but also to be more transparent to ResLife and the student communities we are serving.” Racek explained another aspect of Campus Patrol’s relationship with the community, saying, “We reach out to groups that are active at night and on the weekends, particularly people attending parties in the Terrace Apartments and Town Houses.” Campus Patrol actively works to build a rapport with these groups, so that they are more likely to reach out to Patrol and Security resources if needed. Racek is confident that Campus Patrol is an invaluable aspect of the security infrastructure at Vassar. He, of course, isn’t opposed to all change. “We’ve been around since 1969,” he reflected, “and we’ve basically worked out any kinks in the system. We’re very comfortable where we are, and the system works, but we’re willing to change with the world. We’re constantly looking to expand our base of knowledge and our training.”
NEWS
Page 4
November 30, 2017
Panelists discuss economic revitalization in Poughkeepsie Youngju Chang GUEST REPORTER
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Courtesy of Wikimedia Commmons
n Friday, Nov. 17, students, faculty and locals gathered at the Vassar Barn to attend an event entitled “Chronogram Conversations.” Hosted by the Environmental Cooperative, the event created a space for community members to discuss the topic “Rolling on the River: Poughkeepsie is a City on the Move.” The panelists and audience had an opportunity to share their ideas about current and possible economic development in Poughkeepsie. The event was held at 5 p.m. in the Environmental Cooperative Barn Multi-Purpose Room. The first hour was a social period during which people enjoyed food and beverages provided by BC Kitchen; Earth, Wind and Fuego; Hudson Valley Brewery and Angry Orchard Cider. Then, at 6 p.m., the host and panelists took their seats and the discussion began. Editorial Director of Chronogram Brian K. Mahoney first spoke as a host. He started by introducing Chronogram itself. Produced by Luminary Media, Chronogram is a monthly magazine covering various news in Hudson Valley area. According to Luminary Media, “Known for its iconic covers, thoughtful editorial vision, in-depth horoscopes, extensive Hudson Valley events calendar, and now for [its] own in-house event productions, Chronogram is the premier arts and culture magazine in our region” (Luminary Media, “Chronogram”). Mahoney then introduced the topic for discussion: economic development in Poughkeepsie. He pointed out that economic development is not just about economic growth. “It is also about the political and social well-being of community,” he said. “We are talking about building sustainable, just and prosperous communities.” He said the growth should be based on “equitable development” that focuses on supporting marginalized groups and investing in natural resources and green spaces. “The kind of development people are looking for is thoughtful, cohesive development that builds on a natural, historical makeup of the city that brings it forward to the 21st century.” After his brief speech about the topic, Mahoney passed a microphone to the panelists who are currently involved in economic development projects in Poughkeepsie. Each panelist had three to five minutes to talk about Poughkeepsie’s economic
improvement and how their organizations contribute to it. Former director of Nubian Directions II Marriott Johnson started first. Nubian Directions II is a non-profit organization that focuses on providing young school drop-outs an opportunity to learn vocational skills that help them to get jobs and alleviate severe poverty. For example, through the program, young people have participated in restoring public green spaces and abandoned houses. Johnson pointed out that the program not only allows youths to learn skills but also to understand the city better. “I was really looking at how to get our youths involved to be able to take pride back in their cities as well as giving the skillsets they need,” Johnson said. He emphasized, “We really need to start making the educational ties, the training ties and the business ties to make something happen.” The next speaker was Chair of Poughkeepsie Alliance Paul Calogerakis. He first introduced the goal of the Alliance, explaining, “Our mission essentially is to enhance the quality of life in the city of Poughkeepsie by providing a capacity to government.” According to Calogerakis, what the Alliance does first is find a problem that the city government cannot currently handle. Then, the Alliance reaches out to stakeholders who can provide financial resources or materials to solve the problem. After receiving a donation, the Alliance passes it to the city government and supports making change. Calogerakis spoke of several projects the Alliance has worked on in the past: improving a shabby playground, establishing the “Welcome to Poughkeepsie” sign on the entering road and constructing a parking garage near Main Street. Next up was a representative of Dutchess Outreach, Sarah Salem. She explained, “What [Dutchess Outreach does] for the community is to offer food access and emergency relief services. So we serve basic needs to community members who have no other places to go.” For example, Dutchess Outreach provides food through a hot meal program called The Lunch Box and supports medical care and house heating system in low-income communities. It has also formed a communal garden in the city that allows Poughkeepsie residents to farm their own food. Moreover, the organization has created a mobile farmers market
On Nov. 17, members of the Vassar community attended a “Chronogram Conversation” entitled “Rolling on the River: Poughkeepsie is a City on the Move,” on the city’s economic development. in order to help people who often cannot access to food because of lack of transportation. Salem concluded her speech by pointing out that Poughkeepsie has infinite potentials of enhancement. Executive director of Mill Street Loft and Spark Media Project Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt was the next speaker. These non-profit programs focus on teaching arts to youths in Poughkeepsie. According to Fenichel-Hewitt, the programs’ goal is to connect young people to local jobs and colleges through learning artistic skills. She also described various projects that Mill Street Loft and Spark Media have been doing: reaching out to colleges for scholarships, providing summer youth employments and after school programs and supporting youths on creating art in public spaces so that they can contribute to making Poughkeepsie more beautiful. Fenichel-Hewitt added, “The reason we do that is because these are low-income young people who often are helping support their families. So we don’t want to lose talented young people who have a real great potential at an amazing career because they have to work at McDon-
ald’s to support their families.” The final panelist was Senior Vice President of Scenic Hudson Steve Rosenburg. The major role of Scenic Hudson, Rosenburg explained, is increasing public participation in environmental decisions in Hudson Valley. For example, the organizations greatly contributed to saving Storm King Mountain from a construction of destructive factories by encouraging people’s rights to decide about their environment. Rosenburg also pointed out that it is essential to go beyond the past and current investments on the waterfront. He argued, rather than focusing on walkway paths or a park on the waterfront, the city government and other organizations should connect the downtown to the waterfront so that Poughkeepsie residents can easily access to the river. Echoing the sentiments of many of the other panelists, Rosenburg concluded, “We firmly believe that you cannot have healthy, equitable, sustainable economy unless you have healthy environment and quality of life of the people who live in the community.”
Wednesday Nov. 22, promised his supporters to protect the human rights of citizens and to ensure economic growth and more jobs. Opponents of the new president are additionally demanding the promise for reduction of corruption in the country (BBC, “Post Mugabe era begins,” 11.22.2017). The new president, who besides holding the position of Vice President has also held a position of minister multiple times, and is known for his long-standing loyalty to the party. According to the analysts there is a relatively big chance that he will rule in a similar fashion to Mugabe. Due to his cruelty, he is also known by the nickname Crocodile, but for now, he enjoys the support of the military, the ruling party and influential veterans of the war of independence of Zimbabwe.
(Stanford University: Mapping Militant Organizations, “The Islamic State,” 2002). Considered a radical and extremist movement, the Islamic State views Sufism as heretical. Sufism is best understood as a tradition within the Islamic faith rather than a sect of the faith itself. According to Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Sufism can be described as “an extracurricular way to seek more spirituality within Islam by focusing on the oneness of God and glorifying the prophet Mohammed.” These “extracurriculars” used to find more devotion to God often refer to gatherings outside of standard Islamic practices. These meetings may occur in mosques or houses and are headed by a chosen leader or teacher. One of the primary differences is the prominence placed upon the prophet Mohammed’s character (USA Today, “Deadly Egypt mosque attack: What is Sufism?”). While it is known that the attack was carried out by Islamic State-affiliated militants, there has yet to be a specific group claiming credit for it. According to surviving witnesses and officials, more than 24 militants appeared at the mosque and the attack began when a suicide bomber detonated explosives. Following the detonation, the rest of the masked militants spread out around the mosque and shot down worshippers fleeing the Friday sermon. Another survivor told a local Sinai news source that the gunmen wore military attire and carried black flags associated with militants affiliated with the Islamic State (The Washington Post, “Militants kill 235 at Sinai mosque in deadliest assault on civilians in Egypt,” 11.24.2017). The high death toll not only accounts for the local worshippers in the mosque, but also people who had been moved due to violence in the nearby Northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
News Briefs Zimbabwean president resigns Former Vice President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as the new president last Friday, Nov. 24, in the presence of the 60,000 supporters (The Telegraph, “Zimbabwe president-in-waiting Emmerson Mnangagwa returns from exile,” 11.22.2017). He will succeed Robert Mugabe, who has been on house arrest since Nov. 15, when the government was taken over by the Zimbabwean army. Mugabe has officially resigned from office last Tuesday, Nov. 21. The ruling party had already announced before that the 75-year-old Mnangagwa will take over the presidency for 90 days. The former Vice President has just recently returned to the country, having been forced to flee after being dismissed by Mugabe at the beginning of the month. Reportedly, President Mugabe wanted to vacate the position for his wife, Grace Mugabe, and appoint her to the position of Vice President (CNN, “Robert Mugabe fires Zimbabwe’s VP, paves way for wife to succeed him,” 11.07.2017). On Nov 15, the Zimbabwean army took control of Harare, the capital city. However, the army denies that it carried out a military coup. According to Reuters, soldiers and armored vehicles blocked access to major government offices, Parliament and court in the center of Harare. After the army seized the headquarters of the state television ZBC, a military spokesman, Major General Sibusiso Moyo assured in a speech that President Mugabe and his family are safe. He said that the target was not the President, but “criminals around Mugabe” causing social and economic suffering (The Guardian, “‘The situation has moved to another level’: Zimbabwe army statement in full,” 11.15.2017). On Sunday, Nov. 19, Mnangagwa was elected the head of the ruling party ZANU-PF, replacing 93-year-old Mugabe.
ZANU-PF demanded that President Mugabe stop clinging on to power. Mnangagwa announced on Tuesday, Nov. 21, that he told the president he has two options. The first is to participate in negotiations with the military for a peaceful solution to end the conflict. If, on the other hand, he insists on not cooperating and opposing the will of the people, he would be humiliated when the will of the people will prevail. Military veterans, who are highly influential in Zimbabwean society, have called for protest against the president (GardaWorld, “Zimbabwe: War veterans call for anti-Mugabe protests,” 11.21.2017). After 37 years in office, Mugabe resigned, effective immediately. He decided to resign while parliament was already discussing his removal. It was Zimbabwe’s ruling party ZANU-PF, which was still headed by Mugabe only three days before, who gave the initiative. Shortly thereafter Mugabe announced his withdrawal from the position, saying that it is “for the benefit of the people and for the peaceful transfer of power” (BBC, “Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa promises jobs in ‘new democracy,’” 11.22.2017). In the afternoon of the same day the head of the Parliament, Jacob Mudenda announced his resignation. Mugabe announced that his resignation was voluntary and was taken in order to facilitate the smooth transfer of power. With this announcement the parliament halted the start of the procedure to dismiss the president. Members of the Parliament welcomed this news enthusiastically. It has been revealed on Thursday, Nov. 23 in a press conference held by the ruling party ZANU-PF that Mugabe and his wife Grace will be able to stay in a country without being prosecuted. They also added that Mugabe is still the liberator of Zimbabwe and that they acknowledge his large contributions to the country. Mnangagwa, who returned from South Africa—where he had previously fled—on
—Marusa Rus, Guest Reporter Terror Attack in Egypt On Friday, Nov 24, a terrorist attack occurred at an Egyptian mosque located on the Sinai Peninsula. The deadly attack involved both a bomb and firearms and left at least 305 dead and over 100 wounded, making it Egypt’s deadliest civilian attack. The attack was shocking not only because of the scale of its fatality, but also due to the fact that most of the victims were Sufi Muslims. While religious terrorist attacks in Egypt have occurred at the site of churches, the targeting of a mosque was viewed as unusual (The New York Times, “Militants Kill 305 at Sufi Mosque in Egypt’s Deadliest Terrorist Attack,” 11.24.2017). The shock over the attack on a mosque, rather than another religious place of worship, arises from the fact that the militant group affiliated itself with the Islamic State. The Islamic State is an Islamic military movement that uses force to expand and establish a caliphate
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
—Pazit Schrecker, Guest Reporter
NEWS
November 30, 2017
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Updates from the VSA Senate 11.26.17 1. Forum with Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI) leaders
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— Goal of EPI: To change campus climate and inclusivity. — Core Team: Associate Professor of Anthropology Candice Lowe-Swift, EPI Coordinator Patrick Tonks and ALANA Center Director Wendy Maragh Taylor. — The grant, from the Mellon Foundation, is focused on marginalized groups on campus. — They are hoping to have larger participation from VSA going forward. — They came together with Dean of the Faculty Jon Chenette with ideas from identity orgs in the ALANA center and other students’ perspective. — Q: What has been done so far of significance? — A from Maragh Taylor: Two World Cafe discussions that were well attended, just getting the working groups formed this semester. A participatory action research class has been going well, and they will be doing a campus presentation in a few weeks. — A from Lowe-Swift: We want to do relationship building as well, to slow down from the “doing” thought process and bring people together and give them a new language. The climate assessment is also moving along, and a survey will be distributed to whole campus mid-February. — A from Tonks: There was a big reflective cube outside the College Center, an audio recording booth that pairs of people were invited into who didn’t know each other, to answer a question about their Vassar experience. — Q: My fear is that anything for diversity and inclusion gets pushed to EPI. Nothing gets done, and things take a long time. How are your guys balancing it?
Talya Phelps In this week’s headlines... Lawyers for President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn notified Trump’s legal team that they would no longer discuss special counsel Robert Mueller III’s investigation into links between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign. Since it is unethical for lawyers to work together when one client is under investigation and one is cooperating with prosecutors, this development could be a sign that Flynn is negotiating a deal with Mueller and his team. Among Flynn’s actions under scrutiny are attending a meeting with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Jared Kushner during the presidential transition, making false statements about discussions with Kislyak, failing to disclose payments from Russia-linked entities and possibly receiving secret payments of more than $500,000 from the Turkish government during the presidential campaign (The New York Times, “A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller,” 11.23.2017). Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared on Nov. 22 that Myanmar’s brutal treatment of its Rohingya minority, hundreds of thousands of whom have been forced to seek safety in Bangladesh, constitutes ethnic cleansing. This classification will allow the U.S. to pursue sanctions against Myanmar’s military leaders (The New York Times, “Myanmar’s Crackdown on Rohingya Is Ethnic Cleansing, Tillerson Says,” 11.22.2017). “He totally denies it,” Trump said on Nov. 21, in defense of Senate candidate Roy Moore (RAL), whose accusations of sexual misconduct with teenagers have put his campaign in danger and prompted condemnations from Republican establishment leaders, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speak-
— VP Cody Harmon ’19: I completely agree, everything becomes an EPI problem instead of it becoming a campus problem. What is the long term process of the EPI grant, what can new students expect, what can students leaving do on their way out? — A from Maragh Taylor: We all need to speak up about the fact that there is not one thing, person, office, who should be addressing issues of inclusion. We need to make numerous ways for people to thrive here. 2. Forum with Assistant Director of Campus Activities Will Rush
— Rush was at Senate to follow up with how students do activities and events certification on campus. — Chair of Orgs Pat DeYoung ’18: We’re working on revamping the SARC process for how orgs books spaces and funding, streamlining the whole process, helping to include event fees so orgs can budget better, which will allow orgs to keep better track of their finances. — Rush: We’re making the process efficient and student-friendly. The goal is to make it easy for students who don’t know about event fees. — Chair of Finance Robyn Lin ’18: This will ease the burden on Finance and SARC. Once orgs fill out the form they’ll have a very clear idea of how much funding to ask for, avoiding backend costs and deficits.
Consciousness Fund for the Mental Health Fair. — There will be posters up across from Express and in the Deece where people can write what they’d like people to know about mental health and mental illness. — Q: What is the process for getting access to the mental health fund Vassar has? — A: Email Director of Student Financial Services Jessica Bernier (jebernier[at]vassar. edu) and Director of Counseling Services Wendy Freedman (wefreedman[at]vassar.edu). The fund is restricted to those who are Pell Grant-eligible. — This fund is for the treatment of both mental health and physical health. Programming Committee
— They’re tabling in the College Center, for the Millenial Pink Masquerade. A ticket is $5 (VCash or cash), but if students can’t pay, they can email vsaprogramming[at]vassar.edu. — Students can buy alcohol from The Chance if they’re 21+ 5. Executive board updates Chair of Equity and Inclusion Tamar Ballard ’19
— QCVC app to the Social Conciousness Fund hasn’t been allocated yet, but they are funding it. Chair of Residential Life Takunda Maisva ’19
3. Committee Chair Updates
— The full launch of the Student Discourse Forum will be at the beginning of next semester.
— Director of Safety and Security Arlene Sabo wants to know if anyone on VSA wants to go through peacekeeping training to learn the protocol of safety and security. She’s planning training depending on when people can go, details will be sent out in a email.
Health and Wellness Committee
Chair of Organizations Pat DeYoung ’18
Planning Committee
— They received money from the Social
er Paul Ryan (R-WI) (The New York Times, “Trump Defends Roy Moore, Citing Candidate’s Denial of Sexual Misconduct,” 11.21.2017). Trump claimed in a tweet on Nov. 24 that he turned down Time Magazine’s offer to “probably” be named Person of the Year, prompting Time to clarify, “The President is incorrect about how we choose Person of the Year” (The New York Times, “Only ‘Probably’ Time’s Person of the Year? No Thanks, Trump Tweets,” 11.24.2017). Last week, the union Communications Workers of America sent a letter to eight top companies, including Verizon and AT&T, asking them to pledge a $4,000 annual wage increase for employees if the Republican tax plan goes through. GOP lawmakers have touted the plan as a boon to workers and families through increased competition created by slashing the corporate tax rate, but economists on the left maintain that the rich would reap most of the benefits (The New York Times, “Will a Corporate Tax Cut Lift Worker Pay? A Union Wants It in Writing,” 11.23.2017). In our backyard... Former Representative Maurice Hinchey (DNY) died on Nov. 22 at age 79 in his home in Saugerties. Hinchey represented Poughkeepsie as a member of the 22nd Congressional District for 20 years, as well as serving 17 years in the New York State Assembly. He was an environmental advocate who supported dredging the Hudson River to remove toxins, was instrumental in the creation of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, backed the Clean Air Act and developed the country’s first law to control acid rain. In addition, he served as chairman of the Environmental Conservation Committee in the state assembly and headed an investigation into Love Canal, a toxic waste site in western New York that sickened residents. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who served with Hinchey in the assembly of the 1970s, commented, “‘Mighty Mo’ as I used to call him was a man of great conviction, principle, great energy and great legislative ability” (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Maurice Hinchey, former U.S. congressman, recalled as environmental champion,” 11.22.2017). Poughkeepsie has joined 20 other communities as a member of the My Brother’s Keeper initiative, which was started by former President Barack Obama to lend educational support to boys and young men of color facing opportunity
— The sound system proposal will be in
gaps. Communities are invited to join the program by the state Board of Regents, and given funding for internships and mentoring programs by the state Education Department (Poughkeepsie Journal, “My Brother’s Keeper expands to East Ramapo, Poughkeepsie,” 11.22.2017). Chair-elect of the Poughkeepsie Common Council Ann Finney created controversy by sending a letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) declaring that the incoming council will restore Poughkeepsie’s bus service in the beginning of 2018. Currently, the city faces the possibility of a $1.9 million fine from the FTA if it fails to transfer its bus assets to Dutchess County by Dec. 3. “I am surprised and concerned,” said Mayor Rob Rolison of the Nov. 13 letter from Finney, who will become chair of the council in January. “...I’ve never seen a letter like that sent prior to someone taking office...I don’t necessarily think that is how the government is supposed to work” (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Council chair-elect’s letter to FTA claims council committed to restoring buses,” 11.20.2017). On Nov. 20, two former correction officers were convicted for the beating of an inmate in 2013 at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill. Kathy Scott and George Santiago Jr. brutalized inmate Kevin Moore in 2013, sending him to the hospital for two weeks. The two were also found guilty of conspiring to falsify state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision records regarding the incident. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon Kim stated, “This verdict should send a loud, clear message to the New York state prison system that the protections of the U.S. Constitution do not stop at the prison wall” (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Former Downstate correction officers convicted of inmate beating, cover up,” 11.21.2017). Spotlight on 2020 hopefuls... Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti The grandson of Mexican immigrants on one side and Russian Jewish immigrants on the other, Garcetti grew up in the San Fernando Valley and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Columbia University, during which time he studied at Oxford and the London School of Economics as a Rhodes scholar. Though his father, Gil, was Los Angeles county district attorney during the 1990s, Garcetti did not enter politics right after school;
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
soon, hopefully before the semester break, which will save money and be used by a lot of orgs. — The org audit is being presented at next week’s Senate with recommendations. Vice President Cody Harmon ’19
— VSA is working on bylaw changes. — A second When Is Good for changes for Senate meeting time and location for next semester will be out soon. Chair of Finance Robyn Lin ’18
— There’s a Google Doc in the VSA folder called Speaker Questionnaire, which the VSA is hoping to have completed by the spring semester. President Anish Kanoria ’18
— The EPI Steering Committee met. They are thinking about having a common space for students to gather. — Professional development at Vassar: How can this be institutionalized for lasting changes? — VSA interns and H2A are working to come up with a PDF of administration structure — Exec met with Dean of the College Chris Roellke to talk about admin feedback for the AEO. There will be a change by next semester, and President Bradley increased psychiatrist hours from one day to three days a week. — There will be a forum with Director of Health Services Irena Balawajder next week. — The VSA website is mostly up to date, and the layout will be changing soon. — Update on DACA letter: VSA is getting an official reply from President Bradley this week. —Sarah Jane Muder, General VSA Intern
instead, he taught for four years at the University of Southern California and at Occidental College. In 2001, Garcetti was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, where he went on to serve four terms as the council’s president. He was elected mayor in 2013, becoming the city’s first Jewish mayor and its youngest in more than a century at age 42. In this role, Garcetti’s accomplishments include increasing the minimum wage to $15, passing legislation that required reinforcement of buildings against earthquakes, convincing voters to approve taxes earmarked for funding transit construction and housing for the homeless and winning support for the restoration of the Los Angeles River. He was reelected in a landslide in March 2017, capturing more than 80 percent of the vote (Encyclopedia Britannica, “Eric Garcetti”). However, he has been criticized for being overly cautious in terms of putting out ambitious legislative proposals, especially in comparison to his predecessor Antonio Villaraigosa. Over the last few months, Garcetti has shown signs of considering a 2020 presidential bid; if elected, he would be the first sitting mayor to make the leap to the White House. He has recently traveled to Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Las Vegas and Indiana, where he announced the creation of a group of mayors, business and labor leaders to promote investments in infrastructure. “It’s audacious, but it’s not insane,” commented Mike Murphy, who was advisor to the presidential campaigns of Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Jeb Bush. “He’s good on his feet. Generational. He’s got a story: West Coast, the future.” Murphy raised concerns about Garcetti’s track record, however, saying, “He doesn’t have an ideological profile. He can’t brag about having done much of anything in Los Angeles.” In an interview with the New York Times, Garcetti affirmed his support for single-payer healthcare, which is sometimes viewed as a litmus test for possible Democratic candidates, but was hesitant on the issue of impeaching Trump. He pointed to the last two elections as examples of a changing political landscape, in which it would formerly have been unheard of to have a Black man or a reality TV star as president. “There’s definitely an impatient next generation ready to move,” he said (The New York Times, “From City Hall to the White House? Eric Garcetti May Try to Defy the Odds,” 11.20.2017).
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November 30, 2017
Student’s dream lays foundation for new age of brick fans thusiast is updating this architectural journal regularly for the campus’ delight. Does this brickwork connoisseur have a bright future designing New York skyscrapers in a not-toodistant future? There is a level of intrigue and mystique surrounding the anonymous curator of the “Mysterious Brickwork” page. The next student you see taking a picture of the campus may not be an amateur photographer after all, nor may they be a keen Snapchatter. You may be in fact glimpsing a master at work. Using our intel, the Misc managed to secure an interview with Vassar’s gatekeeper of strange and enchanting oddities. The Miscellany News: How did you get the idea for Mysterious Brickwork at Vassar College? Mysterious Brickwork (MB): I got the idea
The Misc: What’s your process for uploading pictures and making them into posts? MB: When I spot some brickwork that meets
my requirements, I photograph it and add it to the “brickwork” album in the photos on my phone. Sometimes I plan to photograph it and then come back and take photos later if I am feeling lazy when I spot it. Then each day I choose a photo or set of related photos to post. I never do the same building twice in a row, so sometimes if all the brickwork in my phone is from one building I have to go scout out some
new content for the day. Then I add a caption describing what makes the brickwork mysterious and positing some explanations. After posting, I delete the photo from my phone so I don’t use it again by accident. The Misc: Do you try to post at a certain rate, or does it depend more on if you run into some brickwork you want to post? MB: I post daily. Once I left the library be-
cause I had to get a photo for the day before it got too dark. It was pouring rain but I was not going to miss a day. However I do not post during breaks. The Misc: What do you want viewers of the page to get out of it? MB: Hopefully they start to think more about
the histories of the buildings we use every day, and how they have changed over time. One thing that really interests me is how renovations leave behind details about how the building used to look, while at the same time covering many of them up. And brickwork is just one aspect of that. Also I hope people think it’s funny.
The author accompanied the photo featured above with the following caption: “This brick on the quad side of Lathrop? Iconic ... Me trying to hold it together before break.” Courtesy of Mysterious Brickwork of Vassar College via Facebook
from seeing all the brickwork around campus that I found to be mysterious. There was so much that made sense, like general patching, but also so much that I couldn’t figure out, like the bricks above every window in Joss. So I made the page in the hopes that other people would have the answers, and in some cases they have! And in others, I have provided explanations like with my big post on the front of Main around Halloween. I just wanted to document all the architectural quirks we see and take for granted each day.
Courtesy of Mysterious Brickwork of Vassar Collegevia Facebook
BRICKWORK continued from page 1
The Misc: How would you describe your experience with the page so far and what have you gotten out of it? MB: I really like running the page and am
honestly surprised by how many people have liked it. One thing I am worried about is just the sheer volume of brickwork to document, and I am very fearful about accidentally posting the same piece of brickwork twice. The Misc: Which comments or messages to the page have been the most memorable? MB: I have been asked out on a date. That
same person then told me weeks later that they had listed me (the page) for senior scramble. Someone else once messaged me after my post about the front of Main and we had a huge conversation about the history of Main that went on for a couple of hours and the person sent me a bunch of archival photos I had not seen before.
The accompanying caption reads: “They have finally gotten around to patching the hole. This makes this the first post on this website to document a before and after of a brickwork repair.”
Vegan’s family sharpens carving knife (and their teeth) Imogen Wade
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR
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Courtesy of Creative Commons CC0
e all know a vegan. Especially on Vassar’s campus, they’re as common as getting a stomach ache from the Deece or staying up late in the library. However, if you venture with your politically correct laptop stickers and Depop jumper onto the edges of the Vassar campus and peer beyond the bubble, it’s a scary world out there for the lettuce inclined. In homes across America, friends and families are awaiting the return of their children for the Christmas holidays, preparing the turkey baste and goose fat, the buttered parsnips, the brandy sauce. It’s enough to make any vegan quake in their (non-leather) boots. Imagine yourself in this situation for one moment. You’ve survived Thanksgiving and I don’t know how you’ve done it. Did you get a prepackaged meal? Prepare your own beans on toast? Or did (God bless their souls) your family put down the meat cleaver and whip you up an authentically vegan Thanksgiving delight? Most of us are not so lucky and stock-pile kale crisps from Juice Press before venturing home. My mother DID offer to buy me a prepackaged meal this year and she promised she won’t roast the potatoes in animal fat, and I greeted this last vow in particular with a surge of gratitude. However, it was when she offered to make me a vegan alternative to the traditional Christmas dinner that I had to put my foot down. “It really wouldn’t be much trouble,” she lilted down the phone line in a saccharine voice. I could imagine her lying on her leather sofa in front of the leopard-print rug, stroking the fox fur around her neck as she ate a salami sandwich. The phone began to violently jolt in my hand as a vivid flashback assaulted me: the eggs in the “vegan” birthday cake she made for my 19th birthday. It was a complete accident, of course, but it put me on high alert. After the halloumi in my tofu dish, the beef in my soup and the honey in my granola (I let that one slide), my paranoia was getting out of control. With narrowed eyes and gritted teeth, I managed to muster a polite “No, thank you.” My brain, powered by nutritional yeast and
Vegetable side dishes are a key component of any Christmas dinner. Don’t be afraid to experiment with non-traditional festive vegetable choices: the key is in the preparation. peanut butter alone, began to furiously roar. This was my chance to show off what I could do with a BOSH recipe and a whisk! Of course, the intricacies of my new stance immediately began to present themselves. I said casually, with a nonchalant, devil-may-care attitude, “Don’t worry, I’ll make my own meal.” My heart froze in terror as a vision entered my head: I was hunched in a corner of the kitchen wearing an apron stained with gravy and tears, whilst my family munched away on turkey legs and told me what I was missing out on. “Are you sure?” she asked, sounding relieved. “Oh yes,” I replied, “I’m sure.” Dear reader, I wasn’t sure! I wasn’t sure at all! I made a trip to All Shook Up on Raymond Avenue to drown my sorrows in an açaí bowl with all the toppings, then it was down to business. A cursory skim-read of the Google search results for “vegan Christmas dinner” yielded nothing I hadn’t seen before. After the fifth
mention of “roasted portobello mushroom” and “whole roasted cauliflower,” I turned my eyes in the direction of Malibu and asked myself the immortal question: What Would Miley Do? I Googled. I Saw. I Sighed. No, dark corners of the Internet, Miley (vegan celeb for those not in the know) would not be eating a “twerky” this Christmas. I directed my search elsewhere and found several good recipes. The Minimalist Baker in her article “126 Vegan Christmas Recipes” really excels at sweets, including gingerbread men, cookies and other delicious assortments. There were even some savory dishes at which I thought I’d try my hand, including the “vegan fall pot pies” and “crispy garlic brussels sprouts with sriracha aioli” (don’t worry, I don’t know what that is either). I couldn’t spot any mince pies, but fret not, as BBC Good Food had got me covered in that department. The mince pies could also serve as a Christmas Eve treat.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
BOSH posted a great video to their Facebook page of a recipe for a full Christmas dinner with all the trappings, however I was seriously underwhelmed by their choice for the entrée (festive portobello mushroom wellington). What else would complement those scrumptious side dishes? All other search engines exhausted, I turned to YouTube. Recipes for a delicious “oil-free, gluten-free” Christmas immediately began to pop up. I even saw a recipe video for a raw vegan Christmas dinner, presented by an inexplicably cheerful chef. It would be the ultimate shame, snacking on a carrot stick tossed in garlic whilst my family munched on crispy sausage stuffing and creamy marzipan icing. I was starting to despair when I remember that nut roasts are hyped for a reason. A dish doesn’t become a staple of the festive vegan diet based on heresay alone. Jamie Oliver and Oh She Glows offer two great nut roast recipes, and of course no roast would be complete without gravy. I found an easy-to-follow vegan gravy recipe on Jamie Oliver’s YouTube channel presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall called “How To Make Vegan Gravy.” With Simon Amstell’s video footage of Oliver from his vegan mockumentary “Carnage” playing on a loop in my head, I nevertheless bookmarked the recipe and sat back in my chair. I recalled my earlier conversation with my mother. Her innocent offer to prepare me a dish had released my inner vegan monster, who would eat anything (absolutely anything) labeled, without a shadow of a doubt, as vegan. Shall I make a classic “vegan nut roast” or an “ultimate vegan lentil walnut loaf,” a twist on a classic favorite? My options are open. The world is my (vegan fish substitute) oyster. I can see it now: My roast on a silver platter in the middle of the table, drizzled in thick gravy, orbited by mashed-potato satellites. Then there are the maple-glazed balsamic parsnips, the brussel sprouts in a sticky glaze, the chestnut cranberry stuffing balls, the crispy thyme-roasted potatoes, the warm mince pies, the decorated gingerbread men...and not a lettuce leaf in sight!
November 30, 2017
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Org of the Week: Sori proudly promotes Korean culture Andrea Yang
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR
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Courtesy of Cindy Park
hose who attended Kaleidoscope this year won’t forget the refreshing Samulnori performance presented by Sori, the organization that represents and promotes Korean culture. Co-treasurer of Sori Brian Hong ’19 is one of the founding members of the org. He shared in an emailed statement, “We founded SORI as the Korean drumming group in 2013-2014. So Sun Park [’16] and I had been interested in Korean drumming (Samulnori) since high school.” The org’s founding members faced many difficulties in the early stages of Sori, including lack of funding for purchasing the necessary equipment. Park and Hong invested their own money to buy the first few instruments. Then during Hong’s two-year absence serving in the Korean military, Park invited drumming instructors to Vassar and received funding from the Korean Cultural Center New York. “Recruiting people was the hardest part,” Hong remarked, “We started with three members, which definitely wasn’t enough to perform. For music orgs, performance is the best way to promote the organization and recruit new people. So we started with asking our close friends to join and [practice] pieces that I learned back in high school.” Sori has since developed into a group of 10 performers. During a typical rehearsal session, members of Sori practice Korean drumming pieces. Hong is in charge of teaching Samulnori. Under Hong’s devoted tutelage, the group learns and puts together a series of songs. In addition to the regular training, the organization shares other aspects of Korean culture, language, music and traditions with the wider student body. Hong elaborated, “At our weekly [General Board (GB)] meetings, we attempt to show various aspects of Korean culture. We show pop-
The core 10 Sori members performing during the Kaleidoscope talent show event. They are all wearing traditional Korean outfits and sharing their passion for Korean culture. ular Korean TV shows, bring Korean snacks and food, or prepare student-led presentations on different aspects of Korean culture. We host annual K-Fest (Korean Festival) and K-Pop Mug Night.” Secretary of Sori Adele Birkenes ’20 added, “We all work together to plan GB meetings, and typically one or two [Executive Board] members with expertise on the aspect of Korean culture that we’re focusing on will lead the activities at each meeting.” Sori welcomes all students’ participation and is by no means exclusive to those identifying as Korean. Hong acknowledged, “Actually, I am the only one, as the only Korean in the group, who ha[s] had previous experience in Samulno-
ri. However, everyone in the group is very enthusiastic. They are always ready to learn new pieces and are not afraid to challenge themselves to difficult variations. Most importantly, we are always having fun.” Johnson Lin ’21 joined Sori at the start of the school year. He loves the laid-back vibe of the org and enjoys spending time with the other members. He finds that Sori speaks to his Asian identity, saying, “The demographic at Vassar is extremely different from my hometown which is very diverse and has more people of color than white people. As a result, I find myself identifying more and more as Asian which pushes me to be more involved with the Asian parts of the Vassar community which includes
Sori.” Birkenes has been involved with Sori since the fall of her first year at Vassar. She recounted, “The afternoons when we came together to drum were among the first times that Vassar began to feel like my new home. This was because the other club members were so welcoming and genuinely kind.” She continued, explaining the mechanism behind the traditional Korean instruments, “As I attended more practices and started performing with the group, I got excited about Samulnori, or traditional Korean percussion— this semester, I transitioned from playing the puk, a type of drum, to the the gwenggwari, a small cymbal. This instrument requires having a much more extensive understanding of the rhythms of each song, as well as paying close attention to matching the beat of the lead gwenggwari player. It’s a lot of work but very rewarding.” Graham Ebbecke ’20 expressed that learning the drums is a much more complicated process than it looks, as it requires the group’s coordination and thorough practice. He noted, “I focused on learning the puk, which serves as the loud bass drum in the group. It uses both dynamics and rhythm to accompany the other drums. We also had to memorize a chant in Korean, which was a difficult but fun part of the drumming routine.” The org continues to flourish and showcase their hard work. As Birkenes shared in an email, “My favorite memory with Sori is of our performance at the Korean Festival this past spring. We had dedicated so much time to [put] together a dynamic, engaging set, and I’ll never forget the energy that was present in our group as we played.” The welcoming and dynamic atmosphere they foster will be sure to attract a new generation of Sori members, especially after their recent success at the Kaleidoscope talent show.
Which winter fashion statement represents the real you? It’s been a long, tiring semester of cultivating your personal brand, and with winter break approaching, it’s natural to feel an identity crisis coming on. Whether this past semester was your first at Vassar or you’re a seasoned Mid-Hudson tastemaker, returning home for the holidays is always a bit of a culture shock. Staying on campus for break carries its own perils: With so few classmates around to impress and no professors prowling about, making judgments on the professionality of your attire, what’s the best way to nurture a look that reflects your true self? If you, too, are struggling to choose the winter break fashion statement that’s right for you, give this quiz a spin.
What’s your biggest pet peeve about living with roommates or housemates? A. They’re just not adventurous enough. When I signed the housing contract with these people, I thought it was a tacit agreement to spend all our spring breaks together in Cabo, but they really have not been pulling their weight with trip planning. B. They’re never on board with my incessant desire to throw theme parties, and they don’t appreciate it when I gift-wrap their doors for the holiday season or when I jump out from behind the couch wearing a horse mask on Halloween. C. They’re always distracting me when I’m busy trying to update my resume. Oh well, I hardly see them anyway because my research position keeps me in the lab whenever I’m not at one of my seven internships. D. Those looks of judgment they always give me when they see that I skipped class again to sleep in, or that I’m ordering Domino’s for the fourth time in a week. Listen, you do you and I’ll do me. Mostly As: Your look is “January Jetsetter”! You’re the envy of all your friends because you’re constantly flying off to exotic destinations, and your Instagram is consistently on point as a result. You’re barely ever on campus for weekends, and you haven’t actually seen the inside of your childhood home for more than five minutes since you graduated high school. This winter break, your look will be based on the weather in whichever destination you’re headed to next, whether that means a skimpy swimsuit for your week in Santorini or a giant furry coat for your snowshoeing excursion in the Alps. Key pieces for achieving this look include a passport in an embossed Italian leather holder, a neck pillow and eye mask, supplies of six different currencies and compression socks to keep air travel–induced swollen ankles at bay.
What’s one of your pet peeves about Vassar?
How much money are you willing to spend this winter break?
Finally, which five words describe your ideal winter break?
A. The location. I’m still regretting not going to college in Miami or Los Angeles—or even better, somewhere abroad. These gray skies are getting me down almost as much as the high crime rate. B. Ugh, everyone’s so gloomy all the time. I get that we’re busy, but students here need to remember to celebrate more. C. Not enough professional development. Sure, the alumnae/i network is amazing, but the school is too small for recruiters to be showing up for on-campus interviews. I have to trek all the way to the city if I want to snag choice gigs, or get my schmooze on at the Vassar Club of New York. D. The homework. I came to college to have fun, not to work my ass off.
A. Break is the time to splurge! This is what I’ve been saving up for all semester. I’ll try to keep it under $10,000. B. The holiday season is not the time to worry about money, only to spread good tidings! That said, I’m budgeting for at least a gallon of mulled wine, a Yule log, and gifts for my entire extended family. C. Spend money? Absolutely not! I’m keeping my budget strictly in the black this break; the only cash coming out of my account is my automatic deposit into my IRA. D. I don’t plan on spending anything but my parents’ money. I expect them to wait on me hand and foot anyway. After all, it’s not every day that they get to have me around!
A. Paris, London, Barcelona, Rome, Berlin B. Fa-la-la-la-la, la la la la C. Raking in ca$h and endorsements D. Staying in bed all day
Mostly Bs: Your look is “Manic Elf ”! Dude, we get it, you love Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or New Year’s, or Krampusnacht, or Festivus, or Decemberween, or maybe all of them. You spend all of September planning your Halloween costume, all of November waiting to eat Thanksgiving food, and basically the entire year waiting with bated breath for the winter break holidays. Key pieces for achieving this look include jewelry that looks like little ornaments, an armful of gifts, a sprinkling of tinsel in your hair, glitter sticking to your clothes and a perpetual ugly Christmas sweater.
Mostly Cs: Your look is “Winternship”! You would not dare to waste your winter break recharging or rejuvenating; it’s straight back to work for you. Your friends may be laughing now, but they’ll be crying with jealousy when your tenacity leads to you getting your hands on the perfect summer job by the time you return to campus. Key pieces for achieving this look include six weeks’ worth of smart professional attire, a thermos of coffee, a loaded MetroCard (or CharlieCard or SmarTrip pass, depending where you’re headed) and that delicious sense of superiority that can only come with spending your vacation in the workplace.
Created by Talya Phelps
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Mostly Ds: Your look is “Chillin’ Like a Villain”! Every time you’re home on break, you have to prepare yourself for the inevitable remarks by your parents: “You’re being a slob,” “Maybe this is why you have a 1.0 GPA,” and even “Please throw out these pizza boxes, the smell is starting to attract rodents.” Unfortunately, they just don’t understand your perspective. Winter break is a time for relaxation, not productivity. Besides, in your mind, catching up on all the Netflix you missed during the semester IS productivity. Key pieces for achieving this look include unwashed hair, fuzzy socks, giant headphones, and crumb-adorned sweatshirt. “Chillin’” is closely related to the popular “Wisdom Tooth Extraction Victim,” with the latter look being characterized by puffy cheeks, ice pack eternally strapped to the jaw and an unmistakable demeanor of Vicodin-induced loopiness.
FEATURES
Page 8
November 30, 2017
Fan favorite trivia quiz: only hope before new movie
Star Wars Quiz! Featuring only Canon facts Organized by Peter G. Markotsis
Sequel Triology:
Original Triology:
1) Maz Kanata’s Castle is located on which planet?
Prequel Triology: 1) The creature that attacked Padme in the Genosian Arena is a...
1) The singer at Jabba’s Palace is... a) Max Reebo b) Bib Fortuna c) Sy Snootles d) Onoconda Farr
a) Toydaria b) Takodana c) Taris d) Tarful
2) Rey’s lightsaber originally belonged to which character?
a) Reek b) Acklay c) Gundark d) Nexu
2) The Stormtrooper who’s armor Han Solo stole on the Death Star was designated...
2) The name of the Pod Race won by Anakin is...
3) The Ewoks live on...
3) The official title of the faction opposing the Republic during the Clone War is...
a) The Boonta Classic b) The Boonta Eve Classic c) The Boonta Race d) The Boonta Eve Race
a) TK-241 b) TK-421 c) TK-124 d) TK-412
a) Luke Skywalker b) Ben Kenobi c) Luke Starkiller d) Anakin Skywalker
3) The First Order is primarily located…
a) Endor b) The Planet Endor c) The Forest Moon of Endor d) The Forest Planet of Endor
a) in the Unknown Regions b) on Jakku c) on Starkiller Base d) in the Outer Rim
a) The Confederacy of Independent Systems b) The Separatists c) The Droid Army d) The Trade Federation
4) Princess Leia is the Princess of…
4) Kylo Ren is…
4) The final duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan takes place on which planet?
a) Naboo b) Dantooine c) Mintooine d) Alderaan
a) A Sith b) Leader of the Knights of Ren c) a Jedi d) a Gray Jedi
a) Sullust b) Malacore c) Mustafar d) Morriban
5) Which Rebel pilot had been friends with Luke on Tatooine?
5) Kylo Ren’s lightsaber needs exhaust vents because…
5) The flagship of General Grievous in the beginning of Episode 3 is called...
a) Biggs Darklighter b) Wedge Antilles c) Hobbie d) Raymus Antilles
a) it was designed to be extremely powerful b) it’s power source is unstable c) it uses a powerful kyber crystal d) it uses a cracked kyber crystal
a) The Invisible Hand b) The Crushing Hand c) The Invincible Hand d) The Malevolence
ANSWERS: Sequel - B D A B D; Original - C D C B A; Prequel - D B A C A
The Miscellany Crossword
“A Whole New World”
by Benjamin Costa
ACROSS
43. Reject socially
30. Painting, sculpture, or music
39. ‘Over’ contraction
50. Viking culture
1. Fred Astaire and Marlon Brando’s hometown
44. Coffin stand
33. Website address (abbr.)
42. Military honorific
51. Holding a weapon
6. Through the tesseract
45. In a weary way
34. Abuses or bullies
43. More seedy or disreputable
53. Alike
11. Amazed exclamation
48. Lowest hand in poker
35. Sixth month of the Hebrew
46. A tavern or hostel
54. Shrine or temple
14. 3D coordinate line
50. Through the wardrobe
calendar
47. Venice’s central district
55. Language of Ireland or Scotland
15. Tap with the toe
52. Hill-building insect
36. Greek prophetess
48. Exclusion principle discoverer
56. Information
16. Objective response rate (abbr.)
53. Previously mentioned
38. Definite article
49. Rage or fury
63. Billboard or video short
17. Vivacious and confident
57. Expression of disgust
18. Famous Venus sculpture’s home
58. What goes around comes around
19. Maiden name prefix
59. Defunct Italian currency
20. Problem solved by coffee
62. Taxidermist and meme
24. Failed Challenger parts
64. This American Life host
25. Work surface
65. Requirements
26. A discordant instrument
66. Mountain spirit
31. Rhythmic writer
DOWN
32. Volcanic steam vents
1. Through the tornado
37. Between Mar. and May
2. Charts or plots
38. Sightseer
3. Spinning figure skating jump
40. Boxer Muhammad
4. Subcontract or rent
41. What she sells by the seashore
5. Behind a boat
Answers to last week’s puzzle O U C H
S T U P
A G U E
E U R E K A
I
I
D
D U N N E R N E O N A T E E W W U L
C
K O A L A C
I
C L E S
T H E
I
C T
T A D S
P O E
B O O
T R
I
26
6
7
8
9
10
11
15
16
18
19
21
12
13
35
36
A L E D
T R E S S
K E E N E R
22
24
27
25
28
29
31
32
37
38
33
30
34
39
40
6. Unaware or uncaring 41
7. Regretting
42
43
8. Runs a car in neutral 44
9. People’s self-importance
45
46
47
10. Subtraction word 48
11. Down the rabbithole
49
50
51
12. Chocolate sandwich cookies 13. Crashed car
T
B E E F T E A I
I
E D
A M P L E S T B A S S
P
A U S T E R E
S L Y
S T A G
R E
M A N
T H E A T E R G O E R I
5
20
23
O N
4
17
29. Indian bison
52
53
54
55
57
58
59
60
61
62
64
65
66
56
21. Apple, pecan, or pumpkin pastry 23. Chrysalises or cocoons 25. Dynamic pair 27. Denial
E N E
T W E L V E M O N T H
28. Across the Bridge
S
T
G O O S E S
Y E A R
29. Fuel
S E A
O W N E R S
O O P S
I
3
14
60. Flower garland
Bashful, Grumpy, ___
I
2
41. What she sells by the 61. A small picture in a large one seashore
22. Happy, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy,
O N
1
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
63
November 30, 2017
OPINIONS
Page 9
The Miscellany news Staff Editorial
Amidst finals stress, health must be priority for students I
t’s that dreadful time of year again. Finals loom large, even as all of our minds shut off, aching for respite. Thanksgiving break was only a preview of the blissful weeks of rest and recuperation that lie ahead of us, if only we make it through this last stretch. As students, we are familiar with the ways in which physical and mental health tend to take a backseat during the academic year, but especially at the end of the semester. The pressures of Vassar’s culture can spur unhealthy behaviors, from sacrificing sleep to ignoring mental health to overextending oneself by cramming an overabundance of extracurricular activities into one’s schedule while taking five credits. Students regularly compare how many hours of sleep they got the previous night, joking about being jealous of anyone who managed to hit eight hours. It’s not infrequent for students to have conversations about being wholly overwhelmed because they have to, say, write three papers and complete 150 pages of reading while directing a play and rehearsing for an upcoming a cappella show. Listening to other people’s impressive lists of activities and agendas has a rippling effect, as students internalize the mentality that no matter what they do, they’re not doing enough. Although it is important to strive to be one’s best self, the expectations that students tend to impose on themselves as a result of the pervasive culture of overachieving can create a community of worn-down workaholics who are heavily fatigued, don’t take care of their health and are never completely satisfied with themselves. This pattern of behavior is common amongst college students across the United States. According to the 2015 National College Health Assessment, 30 percent of students reported that stress had negatively affected their academic performance within the past year, and over 85 percent had felt overwhelmed by everything they had to do at some point within the past
year (USA Today College, “Stress in College: Experts Provide Tips to Cope,” 10.29.2015). Given the normalization of stress as a part of the college experience, it’s important to recognize that, while a full college schedule can be very rewarding, it can also have negative impacts on physical, emotional and mental health. While many on-campus organizations host programming to help counter students’ stress, the support needed to address and cope with stress cannot come solely from students themselves; institutions ought to offer resources as well. Vassar has taken some valuable measures to disrupt this culture of overachievement, such as House Team Study Breaks or bringing dogs or donkeys on campus for students to cuddle with. Vassar also offers fitness classes that are free for students, ranging from yoga to judo. These classes are a welcome reminder of the importance of physical well-being to mental health. The tradition of primal scream, moreover, is a simple but effective way to release stress. Once a semester the night before finals week commences, students gather on the Residential Quad and, at the stroke of midnight, scream as loudly as they can for as long as they want. While students living on the Quad who do not partake may find this distracting, some students find that it allows them to release their pent-up aggression and focus better on studying afterwards. Another resource available to students who are struggling with their mental health is Metcalf, the on-campus counseling service. Other non-institutional groups make efforts to support students’ mental health, including the organizations The Listening Center (TLC) and CARES. Additionally, the first-ever Mental Health Fair, sponsored by the VSA Committee on Health and Wellness, will take place in various dorms on Dec. 7. At the Fair, students will be able to participate in de-stressing activities and learn more about healthy behaviors.
Besides these intermittent events, there are stress-relieving elements built into the Vassar curriculum. Many students find that having two breaks in the fall semester is beneficial because it gives them a chance to step back from their hectic schedules. Many other higher education institutions only have Thanksgiving break, and as a result, students are not given any time off until very late in the semester. However, it’s important to acknowledge that October Break, while providing an important interim for recuperation, also means that Vassar holds classes for just over the minimum required number of days. As a result, for the days when we are in session, work is cramped as compared to many other colleges and contributes to a culture of extremes—of either having too much to do or nothing to do. This sense of being hurried towards the finish line lasts through to the end of the semester. After laboring through the haranguing stretch of exams and papers, students are expected to leave as soon as their responsibilities end. For students who have their an exam on the last day of finals week and are expected to be out of their dorms by the next morning at 9 a.m., having less than 24 hours to say goodbye to friends they won’t see for several weeks or months, while they are also trying to pack, can be an upsetting note on which to end the semester. Vassar puts a great deal of effort into organizing orientations that aid a smooth transition for students into college, and it could be helpful during such a stressful time for students to have a few moments to relax and transition out of the semester in a happy and healthy mood as well. That said, we as individuals need to remind ourselves that our physical and mental health is important, and we must set time aside to take care of it. Taking a few minutes to meditate or go to the gym, or even taking a shower or a nap, can be helpful to some in relieving stress, improve mood and enhance the ability to fo-
cus. Some students are tempted to skip meals in order to study, which can end up backfiring if they don’t have enough energy. While eating and studying simultaneously is often a good solution to this problem, it is important to sometimes set the books aside and share a meal with friends. Instead of these healthy behaviors, some students turn to alcohol to cope. While partaking is fine, many students binge or overdrink, whether intentionally or not, and feel the deleterious effects of alcohol on mood and sleep. Sleep influences stress and health more than almost anything. Lack of sleep is correlated with increased depression and decreased academic performance, as it inhibits learning and memory. On average, most college students get between six and 6.9 hours of sleep per night, far under the healthy minimum of eight hours for young adults (University Health Center University of Georgia, “Sleep Rocks! ...Get More of it!” 2017). In light of the pressure of Vassar’s culture, it is worth placing more emphasis on healthy behaviors, like getting enough sleep and finding time to do the things you enjoy such as exercising, socializing or eating a favorite snack. While there are many methods that can decrease stress levels or improve health, what works for one busy student may not work for another. As the semester winds down—or screeches to a halt, rather—it would be worthwhile to spend some time figuring out what helps you make it through. A college education should be challenging and rigorous, but it also needs to be an enjoyable and sustainable way of living. So take a walk, gaze at the stars, call an old friend...whatever it takes to not lose yourself in the pressure cooker that is the Vassar student experience. —The Staff Editorial expresses the opinion of at least 2/3 of The Miscellany News Editorial Board.
Gene editing wrongfully hailed as biological panacea Steven Park COLUMNIST
S
ome have called it a magic wand. Others have referred to it as the beginning of a new scientific revolution. Regardless of how you may see it, it’s a subject matter that shouldn’t be discussed by only scientists. CRISPR-Cas9 is the latest state-of-the-art gene editing tool that has taken over the scientific community in recent years (Vox, “A Simple Guide to CRISPR, One of the Biggest Science Stories of the Decade,” 10.25.2017). While the concept of modifying DNA is certainly not a new invention, CRISPR’s main strength lies its transformation of the complicated process of gene editing into something quick, efficient, precise and ridiculously cheap. In other words, it has the potential to cut out undesirable segments of DNA, eradicate hereditary diseases and even guide humanity to a future where people can shape their body into whatever they want. It’s what discouraged many people from thinking that something like designer babies is “unlikely” (Harvard Gazette, “Designer Genetics Not in Near Future,” 12.02.2004), but rather as something “inevitable” (MIT Technology News, “Engineering the Perfect Baby,” 03.05.2015). One area of CRISPR research that has gained a lot of attention recently is the development of gene drive technology, which may give humans the power to modify or even exterminate entire species in the wild. According to evolutionary biologist and gene drive pioneer Kevin Esvelt, the purpose of a gene drive is to use CRISPR to override the traditional rules of Mendelian inheritance and introduce a genetic change in organisms that will be passed down to nearly all of its descendants (The New Yorker, “Rewriting the Code of Life,” 01.02.2017). In a typical situation, a parent organism can only pass down its genome to half of its offspring as per the rules of inheritance discovered by Gregor Mendel, the father of modern genetics. As a result, even if scientists were able to genetically modify organisms in the past, they would still encounter immense difficulty in forcing specific
genetic changes across an entire population. With gene drive, however, that 50-50 chance of inheritance can skyrocket to as high as 99 percent (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “Gene Drives: The Good, the Bad, and the Hype,” 10.14.2016). This, of course, has groundbreaking implications. “The ability to edit populations of sexual species would offer substantial benefits to humanity and the environment. For example, RNA-guided gene drives could potentially prevent the spread of disease, support agriculture by reversing pesticide and herbicide resistance in insects and weeds, and control damaging invasive species… [G]ene drives will be capable of influencing entire ecosystems for good or for ill,” stated Esvelt when he first introduced the possibility of using CRISPR to develop gene drives (eLife, “Emerging Technology: Concerning RNA-guided Gene Drives for the Alteration of Wild Populations,” 07.17.2014). We possess the technology to change the world’s ecosystems, but does that mean we should use it? Many people certainly seem to think so, and the proposed benefits seem irrefutable. For instance, one innovative project currently underway is the use of gene drives to eliminate malaria from mosquitoes. Scientists are working on genetically modifying the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, a species known for spreading the malaria parasite, so that the female mosquitoes become sterile (NPR, “To Fight Malaria, Scientists Try Genetic Engineering to Wipe Out Mosquitoes,” 12.14.2016). That way, once these modified mosquitoes are released into the wild, they can breed with other members of their species and effectively die off. Other scientists are looking towards using gene drive to wipe out invasive species and save endangered native animals. Esvelt himself has become heavily involved in gene drive technology (The New Yorker). His current project aims to reduce the rate of Lyme disease on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts by genetically modifying the island’s white-footed mice to become immune to the disease. Then, ticks will be unable to transfer the bacteria that cause the disease, and the entire transmission cy-
cle will collapse. However, as promising as all this may sound, it’s doubtful that gene drives will provide a lasting, viable solution. In fact, it’s possible that this technology allows scientists to deal with these serious issues in the wrong way. We may have become too infatuated with how sleek and shiny CRISPR appears to consider better, less risky solutions. For one thing, ecosystems aren’t so simple that we can just inject new variants of a species into the wild and expect everything to go exactly as we planned. There are too many nebulous factors involved for scientists to be able to correctly predict the outcome of every ecological experiment. One of the test subjects may escape into a different environment or a completely unrelated species may become caught in the crossfire. Most of the time, as Esvelt notes, the gene drive may have little to no effect on the ecosystem at all. Ultimately, it’s arrogant to treat the ecosystem like a math problem with a simple, clean answer. Even Esvelt seems aware of these limitations, stating, “Let me be the first to say that we do not understand how ecosystems work. They are fantastically complex” (YouTube, “Kevin Esvelt: Open until Dangerous: Gene Drive and the Case for Reforming Research to Reduce,” 06.17.2017). As if affirming this admittance of ignorance, nature itself seems to have knocked gene drive down several pegs. According to a recent report by population geneticist Philipp Messer, the genetically modified mosquitoes that the team designed to pass down an infertility mutation to all their offspring started developing a resistance to the gene drive (Nature, “Gene Drives Thwarted by Emergence of Resistant Organisms,” 01.31.2017). In other words, gene drives may not be the permanent solution that many people claimed it to be. “In the long run, even with a gene drive, evolution wins in the end,” Esvelt commented in response to the news (The Atlantic, “When Evolution Fights Back Against Genetic Engineering,” 09.12.2016). But that’s not even the worst part. Upon creating a detailed mathematical model that describes what happens when genetically modified or-
ganisms are released, Esvelt discovered that the chances of altered genes spreading to unintended parts of the ecosystem were much higher than he originally predicted (The New York Times, “‘Gene Drives’ are Too Risky for Field Trials, Scientists Say,” 11.16.2017). “I [feel] like I’ve blown it ... [Championing this idea was] an embarrassing mistake,” Esvelt admitted. To be honest, the entire idea of gene drives seemed faulty to begin with, mainly because the desired population modifications were not introduced naturally. Instead of working hand-inhand with evolution, gene drives attempt to solve ecological problems by simply creating more unsustainable arms races akin to the one we have between antibiotics and bacterial diseases. For instance, even if gene drives eradicated a species of mosquitoes that spread malaria, it wouldn’t be long before a different species of mosquitoes eventually emerged that can spread the bacteria to human hosts. Instead of making sudden, irreversible changes to the ecosystem, a much more reasonable solution is the one offered by evolutionary biologist Dr. Sharon Moalem in his book “The Survival of the Sickest.” In it, Dr. Moalem describes how the best way to combat diseases like malaria is to change the conditions of the environment so that the nature of the disease evolves in a way that works in our favor. For example, consider how the widespread use of mosquito nets would not only stop mosquitoes from infecting humans but essentially invalidate mosquitoes in general as vectors for the disease. As a result, evolution may provide an alternative way for malaria to spread, perhaps one that wouldn’t cause the parasite to completely incapacitate the body and instead only slightly weaken it so that the disease can spread similarly to the common cold. Rather than risk a high-stakes gamble on gene-editing technology, it may be wiser in the long run to contemplate less invasive methods to solve our ecological problems. Humans don’t have a great track record to begin with, after all.
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
OPINIONS
Page 10
November 30, 2017
Alum critiques Bradley’s Jacobson response Paul S. Mansour ’87
D
ear President Bradley,
On Oct. 25, you sent out a message to the Vassar community “to help prepare” the students, faculty and administration “for tomorrow.” While you oddly included two additional and unrelated events in your message, the sole reason for “preparing” was the lecture to be given the following day by William Jacobson, professor of law at Cornell University. It was only for this event that you were “made aware of the very real and legitimate pain that students are feeling.” A student group named “Healing to Action” (H2A), clearly the group that instigated your message, planned and held “a community gathering in the Library” to “be a place of healing and peace.” In addition, your office “worked closely with the Wendy Freedman and Counseling Services at Vassar to be sure adequate emotional support staff are present all evening.” What was the cause of all this childish caterwauling? A lecture. A lecture by a law professor. A lecture by a law professor from Cornell. A lecture by a law professor from Cornell on free speech. A lecture by a mainstream, right-ofcenter law professor, falsely accused by H2A of affiliation with white supremacists and neo-Nazis. You knew all this, and yet you still stoked the fires of “real and legitimate pain” when there was absolutely nothing real or legitimate about it. There are two problems with your message in addition to the obviously false accusations against Professor Jacobson on which it was based. The first is your acceptance, endorsement, and encouragement of the infantilization of the Vassar student body. For $68,110 per year, students deserve better than to be treated as preschoolers. In the end, this produces nothing but resentful, angry, and closeminded gradu-
ates, ashamed of their own inability to engage in cogent argument and discussion, and unable to cope with the real world. It is a terrible disservice to the lives of these young people. The second problem is your embracement of H2A, who you profusely thanked for their “excellent and compassionate work” and for working “tirelessly and creatively to develop safety teams and plans.” What exactly is H2A, and what are its princples? We need look no further than the group’s own words, written in The Miscellany News on Nov. 1: “We also recognize that although we connected the event’s legitimization of hate speech to the expected presence of white supremacists and neo-Nazis on our campus, we should have more clearly explained the links between free speech and white supremacy. Demands for the protection of free speech under the First Amendment are based on the assertion that all voices are given equal weight in society and they all need protection from censorship. This is objectively false in our white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist society. These demands fail to acknowledge systems of oppression that give power to privileged people (those who are white, cisgender, heterosexual, wealthy and/or able-bodied) at the expense of the ‘others’ of society. The Constitution was created to justify genocide of indigenous peoples and institutionalize chattel slavery. It is inherently racist, and is currently used to justify modern day acts of racism. Hate speech is a violent tool used by oppressors to preserve white supremacy, the patriarchy, etc., and any rhetoric that serves to protect it is inherently linked to this violence. We wish to alter the framing of this issue altogether. The issue at hand is not about one’s individual, legal right to free speech, but is instead about the collective well-being of all members of our society. Healing to Action is premised on the idea that what affects one individual affects us all. Speech, whether it is legal or not, can be and is violent. We have a collective responsibility to
stand up for those in our communities who are harmed or disenfranchised by speech, whether it is technically legally permissible or not.” Every single sentence in this statement is utterly reprehensible. Compare and contrast the position of H2A with the position of Mr. Jacobson. Professor Jacobson is no provocateur. Not a single utterance in his lecture was outside mainstream legal or constitutional thought. I challenge you to find a single word in his lecture that you even disagree with, let alone ones that could inflict “real and legitimate pain.” You sent out the message, loud and clear, that while Mr. Jacobson and his ideas are, at best, to be grudgingly tolerated, H2A and its ideas are to be encouraged, supported, and thanked. This is shameful coming from any faculty member, and egregious coming from the president of the College. Now more than ever, the students of Vassar need to hear the ideas expressed by Professor Jacobson. It should have been you who personally invited Professor Jacobson to speak. You should have personally endorsed his message, and you should have personally asked the Vassar community to attend. To the eternal shame of Vassar, it appears that not a single member of the Vassar faculty or administration publicly supported Professor Jacobson or his free speech message. It also appears that many, like you, actively supported H2A. In their silence and actions, the faculty and administration at Vassar have clearly learned a lesson from Nicholas and Erika Christakis at Yale University. This couple dared to speak truth to power, and it cost them their careers. You owe Professor Jacobson a public apology, and you owe the Vassar community a statement thoroughly repudiating H2A and its ideas.
Bradley replies to alum’s letter Elizabeth H. Bradley
PRESIDENT OF VASSAR COLLEGE
D
ear Mr. Mansour,
I have read your open letter. Your version of the facts differs markedly from mine. Learning is messy. In the final analysis, I think there are two important points to make: Firstly, I worked with others to ensured that the lecture went on as planned. It was well-attended and included thoughtful, challenging, and respectful exchanges. Secondly, I support the students’ right to publish their views in our student newspaper. Both of these points reflect a core value: Vassar is committed to upholding free speech on campus.
Sincerely, Elizabeth H. Bradley
Sincerely, Paul S. Mansour ’87
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The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
November 30, 2017
OPINIONS
Liltz’s death does not mitigate her crime Jesser Horowitz COLUMNIST
[Content warning: This column discusses violence and suicide.]
O
n Nov. 25, Bonnie Liltz, a convicted murderer who in 2015 killed her 28-year-old autistic daughter, was found dead in her apartment. The police suspect it was a suicide. She was due to report to prison on Monday. It is believed that she decided to take her own life knowing that, if she did not, she would most certainly die in prison. Earlier this month, I wrote a column for The Miscellany News saying some not-so-kind words about Ms. Liltz. Although I at no point urged Bonnie Liltz to commit suicide or even referred to her by name, I referred to her crime, and similar crimes as “unjustifiable.” I ridiculed her claim that she was motivated by love or mercy. My column, obviously, in no way contributed to Bonnie Liltz killing herself on Saturday. I highly doubt that she read it and, even if by some small miracle she had, I would be shocked if it in had affected her in that way. If she didn’t already feel guilty about murdering her own daughter in cold blood, I doubt an op-ed in a college newspaper would change anything. But I’m sure there are those who now, looking back, feel some sense of remorse. After all, Bonnie Liltz was a person who had feelings. She had wants and goals and did what she thought was right. Some will undoubtedly give in to temptation and feel the slightest amount of pity, even remorse, following her tragic demise. I am not one of those people. I feel the same way about Bonnie Liltz today that I felt when I first published that column. I despise her. I harbor not one shred of pity for her. It is a mark of shame upon this society that we mourn more for a murderer than we do for her victim. Where were the tears when Courtney Liltz died? Where were the tears when Alex Spourdalakis died? Where were the tears when London McCabe died? Where were the tears when George Hodgins died? Where were the
tears when Tracy Latimer died? Why do we as a society only mourn for the perpetrators? Liltz’s prison sentence and subsequent death were the outcome of her decision to murder her daughter. Liltz could have completely avoided this outcome had she made the decision not to commit murder. Now, to clarify, I am not endorsing suicide. I would much rather Bonnie Liltz have served her debt to society in prison, learned that her actions were wrong and spent the remainder of her life atoning for what she did by warning others not to do the same. That would have been a much more preferable conclusion to this story. Even better would have been if Bonnie Liltz had been a half-decent person and decided not to murder her daughter. Or, maybe she could have been a genuinely good person and loved her daughter without even once considering the possibility of killing her. But, considering how events transpired, I’d rather live in a world without Bonnie Liltz than in one with her. One fewer voice on the television ranting about how understandable it is to murder disabled people is fine by me. However, my purpose here is not to pettily kick a murderer while her body is still warm. Instead, I would like to urge my readers not to give into remorse and understand why my arguments are still valid. Courtney Liltz’s murderer, as I will henceforth be referring to her, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her lawyers argued that she acted not out of malice, but out of concern regarding what would happen to her daughter after her own death. Certainly, I would also be very concerned about this if I was in her shoes. Dying is scary, especially when you have a daughter who needs a high level of care. To be fair, she had reason to be worried. According to her attorneys, her daughter had previously been put in a nursing home for about a week. While there, she was allegedly abused. Anyone who had spent time in an institution such as this or spent a good deal of time studying them could testify that they are not an enviable way of life. Most people don’t like the idea of
spending the rest of their life in such a place. But that was not a decision for Courtney Liltz’s murderer to make. The same way that I don’t have the right to murder you because I think it’s preferable to the life you’re living, so too did Courtney’s mother not have the right to murder her daughter based on her own idea of what was best for her. Bonnie’s actions were not, therefore, an act of love, but an act of possession. In her eyes, her daughter was her possession, so she had the right to do what she wanted to her, including kill her. This is a wildly dangerous way of thinking about others. Just like that, a living, breathing person is reduced to little more than a ragdoll. You may play with her as you please and then throw her out when you get bored. She doesn’t have a consciousness or feelings or a life outside of you. Except Courtney Liltz possessed all of those things. She was a person who had a consciousness and feelings, and some semblance of a life outside of her mother. That her mother did not perceive these as being true does not make them false. It’s unfortunate that Bonnie Liltz developed cancer. It’s unfortunate that she was going to die. It’s tragic that her death could have resulted in her daughter being institutionalized. But none of that justifies what she did. Murder is murder is murder is murder. She still killed her daughter and was able to get away with only four years in prison. Good people have been given much more significant penalties for much less significant crimes. That Bonnie Liltz couldn’t handle the four years in prison she was sentenced to after receiving a generous plea deal is hardly pitiable. That she likely would have died in prison isn’t even worth my sympathy. At least she was able to live past her 20s, unlike Courtney. The ultimate irony is that Bonnie Liltz was allowed to make a decision as to when she wanted to die. She made a conscious decision to die. Courtney didn’t get that choice.
Global community must learn from ICTY Sylvan Perlmutter COLUMNIST
O
n Nov. 22, Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general who orchestrated the massacre of Bosniaks at Srebrenica and the Siege of Sarajevo in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, was sentenced to life in prison by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was found guilty on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Like many mass murderers who present themselves as untouchable, he faced justice like a coward. Mladic began shouting curses at the judges as the verdict was read and actually had to be escorted from the courtroom. This dramatic moment brought the last major case of the ICTY to a close after more than two decades of trials of participants in the Yugoslav Wars. Although the ICTY, based in The Hague, is set to close in the near future, the two other international courts housed in The Hague—the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC)—will continue to function well into the future. Just as we can see in the ongoing tragedies in Syria and Myanmar, the cruel shadows of extermination and genocide continue to loom over the face of the earth. It is imperative for the continued success and improvement of international justice efforts that we learn from the successes and failures of the ICTY. The ICTY demonstrated that the personalization of trials for crimes against humanity can often produce mixed results. It is far easier to try an individual for genocide than it is to do so for a whole nation. Heinous individuals like Mladic, Karadzic and Miloševic have faced justice, indeed, but the Serbian government as a whole aided and abetted the ethnic Serbian troops of the breakaway Republica Srpska, which committed the Srebrenica Massacre and assaulted non-Serbian neighborhoods of Sarajevo. This government and its army, therefore, should be held accountable. But how can this be practically accomplished?
No penalty could ever truly compensate for a genocide, and it is hard to imagine where one would even start such an endeavor. It would be a powerful gesture for Serbia to pay restitution to the survivors of the Srebrenica Massacre, though, just as the German government did to many survivors of the Holocaust. It would also partially alleviate the financial tribulations of a people who continue to struggle with the economic dislocation resulting from the collapse of communism and the carnage of war, as they have for decades now. Srebrenica survivors intend to sue the Serbian government, but “a guilty verdict would not be likely from the point of view of international law,” according to legal experts in the region (BalkanInsight, “Srebrenica Survivors ‘Unlikely to Win’ Case Against Serbs,” 11.23.17). International law needs to accept a wider definition of state culpability in human rights violations.
“It is far easier to try an individual for genocide than it is to do so for a whole nation.” The ICTY perpetuated an unfortunate dynamic in international justice when it allowed the crimes of the winning side, Croatia and its Bosnian Croat clients, to be treated far more leniently than had been those of the losing side, Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs. Although a number of Croats did face trial and were convicted of crimes, some prominent Croat generals who orchestrated the ethnic cleansing of Serbian areas were, in fact, acquitted of crimes. In one particularly shameful case, that of Rahim Ademi, a Croatian Army general was transferred from the ICTY to the Croatian judiciary. Ademi was then acquitted of all charges by the judicial system of a country in which he is considered a hero to this day. By compromising its impartiality the ICTY
tainted its reputation as a trustworthy arbiter of justice, not only debasing itself in the eyes of the Serbian people, who largely believe that the ICTY seeks to undermine them and their country, but also giving Croatia something to point to when falsely denying its own crimes. The overwhelming tendency for international courts to focus on weak and defeated states— for it is in such cases that they can generally expect to have the greatest chance of success—has given corrupt and autocratic regimes an excuse to withdraw from the jurisdictions of international courts. For example, all 39 of the people who have ever been indicted by the ICC have been African. This was leveraged by South African President Jacob Zuma to propose that the entire African Union stage a mass withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the ICC. Thankfully, this initiative failed, but if it had succeeded it would have constitued a massive blow to the power and efficacy of international justice. International courts need to grow teeth and face off with the victorious and the powerful if they want to maintain a continued cooperation with the Global South. This is not to say that the genuine achievements of courts like the ICTY should be dismissed. The fact that many Croats involved in the horrors of the Yugoslav Wars avoided punishment does not mean that the justice meted out to Serbs responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity should not be seen as a victory for those—primarily the Bosniaks—who suffered at their hands. The Nuremberg Trials were not invalid because only Nazis were tried. The ICTY will undoubtedly leave behind a legacy marred by certain errors and contradictions, but it will still be an overwhelmingly positive legacy. The architects of the first major act of genocide in Europe since the Holocaust were ignominiously dragged before court. The international community must keep the laudable achievements of the ICTY in mind as it seeks to reform the areas in which the tribunal functioned less effectively, and it must use this momentum.
Page 11
Word on the street What is the worst present you have ever received? “My grandma got me an empty white box from Ikea. I was seven” — Larissa Archondo ’20
“Nobody gives me anything” — James “Cornbread” Youn ’20
“My little brother; After he was born I asked my parents if we could send him back” — Merrick Rubinstein ’21
“My sister got me a sweater but in her size for her to wear” — Nadia Tate ’20
“I got socks” — Theo Kilbridge ’20
“My life” — Anya ScottWallace ’20
Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Sumiko Neary, Photography
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
HUMOR & SATIRE
Page 12
November 30, 2017
Breaking News From the desk of Leah Cates and Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Editors Heroic tailless squirrel that resides near Noyes Circle unanimously voted Time magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’ Untalented cretin shares Student finishes first year career recs for fellow fools of college but no one cares Talya Phelps
HOPELESSLY UNEMPLOYABLE
H
ere’s a little secret: I have no marketable skills. Sure, I may cover it up by listing lots of assets on my LinkedIn profile and making sure they’re endorsed by highly skilled professionals (read: my mom), but in truth, I am as useless as a newborn babe. With senior year looming, the pressure is on to find meaningful jobs and internships, but my utter ineptitude poses a challenge; even as I write this article, I am avoiding learning to use Final Cut Pro, the software mandated by my study abroad film program. For some reason, I volunteered to edit my group’s short film despite the fact that I’ve only used iMovie. I often wish I could find jobs tailored to my limited set of niche abilities. Here’s what some of them might look like. 1. Sleep research subject
I know most college students can relate to having a horrendous sleep schedule, but how many of you have thought to monetize it? My sleep habits have given me endless grief, from the years I endured my dad emailing me articles about the importance of getting enough rest to the fact that I accidentally overslept and shamefully missed waking up my fellowees last Founder’s Day. I’m certain there’s a scientist out there who would be interested in studying my circadian rhythm, which at this point is likely so far gone that it’s unrecognizable as belonging to a human rather than to, say, a raccoon or a vampire bat. Maybe if they ran enough tests, they could even figure out where all my energy has gone. In high school, I routinely pulled all-nighters and then stayed up all of the next day without so much as a sip of coffee. Compare that to the incident last semester in which I chugged a latte at midnight and then immediately fell asleep. On the subject of caffeine, there’s potential for further research into my hypothesis that upwards of 90 percent of my personality exists solely because of coffee. 2. Recorder player for hire
It’s typical that I managed to pick up the least marketable instrument in the world, with the possible exceptions of theorbo, triangle and zeusaphone. I do love playing recorder both at home and
in Camerata, and I’ll defend it to my dying breath, but sometimes I feel a bit ridiculous jamming out on an instrument that’s typically relegated to thirdgrade classrooms. One year, I even went to recorder camp, where I met a certified Recorder Asshole (he would gesture his recorder at me rudely when I failed to come in properly during ensemble rehearsals) and a girl who had her recorder specially altered because she’s missing a finger. Sadly, recorder is not the instrument people want to accompany them as they walk down the aisle, and orchestras only want flute, so the monetary return on investment for my years of recorder lessons has been pitiful. Someday, I hope to live in a world where recorder tunes from the Baroque period are the hot club jam, but until then, I’m stuck with my undesirable instrument. 3. Personal shopper/stylist
I hate spending money, but I’m an expert at helping others spend it. When I visited a friend in Stockholm over break, I forced him to go to H&M and spend almost two hours trying on everything in the store, eventually causing him to enter existential crisis mode when he couldn’t decide between maroon skinny jeans and a floral mesh shirt. This semester, I also helped dye a friend’s hair purple and then flat ironed it. Add that to my experience creating runway makeup looks for the tween girls I babysit, and I’m basically a beauty guru. 4. Unlicensed medical advisor
As a hypochondriac, I’m the perfect candidate for this job. Currently, I’m suffering from upwards of four self-diagnosed illnesses, including Lyme disease (one of my knees is sore), botulism (the can of beans I ate last night made a weird noise when I opened it), salmonella (I’m not so sure I thawed my chicken long enough before cooking) and chronic fatigue syndrome (I took a three-hour nap yesterday). If I, a relatively healthy person who has only been on antibiotics once, have this many ailments, I can’t even guess what brain-sucking amoebas or flesh-eating bacteria might be lurking in the bodies of my friends with weaker immune systems. WebMD might be cheaper, but I’m more effective—that is, until I inevitably succumb to my double food poisoning.
Blair Webber
NOW ACCEPTING CONGRATULATORY GIFTS
L
ast November, I left school for what seemed like forever. I was done, over it, exhausted and burnt out—all only two weeks from the end of my first semester. A year later, after an intense vision quest in the deserts of Arizona and some less intense soul-searching as a part-time associate in a local chocolate store, I am finally finishing my first whole year of college. And no one’s bothered to say so much as “congratulations.” It’s not that hard—I must be the only technically incoming first-year who is now, in number of credits, a sophomore, so it can’t be that hard for all the people I’ve regaled with tales of my semester off and the transfer process to just, maybe, text me “good job!,” “nice work!” or even “I’m so proud of everything you’ve struggled to accomplish!” College is hard for everyone, and it’s even harder when you realize that you need to make a change. Our culture makes college seem like a magical time, but in reality, it’s actually really difficult. It takes a lot of guts to realize when it isn’t working out and to do something about it. I’m not picky, I just would like to be acknowledged. You know what, no. I don’t need to be recognized. I’m no hero. I’m just an ordinary Citizen of the World, doing my best like everybody else. I’m not special. All I did was drop out of college, then get accepted to a school that is a better personal fit for me, in the meantime experiencing all sorts of emotional learning and personal growth. I’m a friggin’ adult now, and it wasn’t easy getting here, so I don’t need any form of recognition for just living my life. People don’t get awards for that. That’s just what we’re supposed to do. A card would be nice though. Nothing fancy, just, like, Hallmark, or a homemade pop-up card that someone spent hours on because they’re so grateful for how my life story has inspired them to change their own life. Maybe not in
such drastic ways as dropping out of college, but definitely in smaller, collectively meaningful ones. I’d take dinner, even, or a gift card to Nordstrom, or tickets and backstage passes to a Chance the Rapper concert—any reasonably sized token of acknowledgement and celebration. It’s a big deal to finish anything in college, much less a whole year. It’s okay, I guess. I don’t need any acknowledgement from my peers. When I get home, they’ll probably throw a parade or something. You see, there actually are not that many people from Nashville who go to college. Except for all the students at Vanderbilt, UTK, UTC, Tennessee Tech, Vol State, Rice, UT Memphis, Austin Peay University, Belmont, Lipscomb, Trevecca, plus anyone who goes to school out of state. So not very many at all. I’d say I’m definitely special. Small gestures mean a lot to the people around you; if you ever get the chance, appreciate the crap out of the accomplishments of your friends and loved ones. I am strong and can handle this kind of neglect, but other people aren’t so resilient. Their sense of self is really, really impacted by recognition. They’re fragile. As sad as that is, it offers an opportunity for self-reflection. We can look at ourselves and say, “You know what? It truly wouldn’t be all that much skin off my nose to pay for Blair to go on an all-inclusive Swiss ski adventure for all of winter break. He deserves it. He’s a sophomore now.” If anyone reading this would like to offer me an apology, if not dinner and a show with the reanimated corpse of Hollywood legend Gene Wilder, you can find me in the Cushing MPR. I forgot to wish my mom a happy birthday, and I’m trying to quickly learn how to do origami with discarded candy wrappers I found in my room, so I’ll be in there for a while this whole week. If I can’t figure it out, I’m just going to tell her the post office lost it or something. It’s the thought that counts. Anyway, come shower me with praise when you get the chance.
Student’s back succumbs to immense weight of knowledge Ivanna Guerra, Campus Chiropractor
D
o you remember your first day of school, when your mom bought you a rolling, pink backpack with the Powerpuff Girls in the front that lit up with every step you took? What? You didn’t have that backpack? Well, I did, and I hated it. Everyone else in my kindergarten class had a normal backpack and didn’t have to drag it around on wheels. My rolling backpack felt like an extra limb just waiting to be cut off by heavy doors. I felt like a dinosaur that had no idea that it had a large tail and would accidentally trip all of its dinosaur friends. (I mean, I assume this is how dinosaurs with large tails felt. I wouldn’t know. I didn’t have many friends.) Because it required that I drag it around with one hand, unlike the normal, hands-free model, I would forget my backpack everywhere! My teachers would get angry that I would nonchalantly walk out of class without my glowing backpack. My mom, who put in effort to find that backpack, would also get angry that I would forget it everywhere. She thought that I didn’t like it. Why she thought so is beyond me. Truth is, she was worried about my back
and did not want me lugging around 20 pounds of books. Thus, the rolling backpack ensured that I dragged the weight of my books instead of carrying them. It’s all in the physics, or so I’m told. Nevermind what my mother thought. I was adamant about fitting in with my friends, and I was tired of being yelled at for being forgetful. So, I changed my backpack as soon as I could for the generic model. I’ve been using this type of backpack ever since. However, I quickly found out that my mother was right, and it turns out that knowledge carries weight. By the time I got to middle school, I discovered that two-strapped backpacks quickly succumb to the weight of books. Every year, without fail, I find myself operating on a ripped backpack. The straps always tear off, and the bottom of the backpack thins to create a massive hole. My Monster backpack is even more embarrassing than my Powerpuff backpack. To be honest, the fact that I have to mend the backpack is the least of my problems. My back constantly aches from the weight. I’m not an expert, but I’m sure the backpack hindered my growth. I bet that if someone took
a picture of me throughout the years, I would look much like the reverse of “The Descent of Man” drawing—you know, the one that visually depicts Darwin’s theory of evolution, except mine would be titled “The Descent of Ivanna.” It’s been tough throughout the years with a heavy backpack. In middle school, running to class in under five minutes was very difficult. My best friend, who carried as many books as I did, even developed a new way of running that required minimum backpack movement. It is much like high-knees while you try keep your back as straight as possible. Sure, you look ridiculous running with this method, but your backpack doesn’t weigh you down as you rush to class. (If you have my same problem, just try running like this.) Plus, the two-strapped backpack didn’t even solve the dinosaur tail problem. I still bump into things by accident! My poor friends have been victims of huge bruises caused by my backpack. I’m telling you, these things are evil and have a mind of their own. Like parasitic trolls, they can cause serious destruction. That is why some museums don’t let you bring huge backpacks inside. Just ask
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
the one tourist who decided to carry snacks to avoid paying for the expensive museum food and had to pay for an expensive “modern art piece.” As you probably already know, these parasites can also be pretty useful. They carry all of your stuff through airports, trains, cars, spaceships, etc, all while ensuring that you can still use your hands for other activities. Yet they are not like Mary Poppins’ bag, and thus have a limit on how much you can put into them, which is my problem. I always try to stuff my backpack until the zipper is on the verge of bursting open! Hence, my backpack is even heavier. I’ve grown up since I rejected my first backpack that my mother had looked so hard to find for me in kindergarten. I now appreciate the value of knowledge on wheels. When I was carrying about 20 books for my research paper back to my dorm, I was reminiscing about my Powerpuff Girls backpack with the wheels. As I grunted while lifting the strap of my backpack onto my shoulder, I saw myself lighting up the cement paths of the Vassar Quad, smiling and enjoying the clicking of the wheels as they hit the cement cracks.
HUMOR & SATIRE
November 30, 2017
Page 13
Comcast searching for liars to attack net neutrality Steven Park
DEFENDER OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB
W
Courtesy of Flickr
hen it comes to the personal rights and freedom of individuals, no one has your back quite like your friendly neighborhood multi-billionaire telecommunications conglomerate Comcast. Having won the title of “The Worst Company in America” in 2014, this humble and modest $80.4 billion broadcasting and cable TV company always works hard to provide high-quality services at reasonably low prices. And the numbers don’t lie: in a 2016 survey of 10,000 customers, Comcast scored an amazing 37 percent in customer satisfaction, right behind AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and essentially all the other TV service providers featured in the survey. But don’t let its amazing reputation fool you— at its very heart, Comcast prides itself on being a simple family business guided by simple family values like humility, patriotism and extreme nepotism only seen in tyrannical despots. However, even a beacon of integrity like Comcast can face a little trouble here and there sometimes. For instance, ever since the FCC chairman and Verizon’s loyal lapdog Ajit Pai announced his plans to dismantle the government regulations surrounding net neutrality, Comcast has experienced a bit of a hiring shortage, specifically in its PR division. “It’s a bit of a mystery to us, actually,” stated David L. Cohen, Comcast’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer. “All we want are employees who are willing to say that Comcast will not block, throttle or discriminate against lawful content even when net neutrality is gone. It shouldn’t be that hard to do, right? But for some reason, all our applicants have declined our offer, saying that they’d rather not ‘sell their soul,’ whatever that means.” Indeed, it is a mystery that perplexes even the top executives of the company. After all, what
could America’s largest home Internet service provider possibly gain from getting rid of rules that prohibit them from raising prices or slowing down online content that it doesn’t like? That’d be like saying Russia had something to gain from electing Donald Trump as president. Now that’s just silly. Needless to say, the lack of applicants who are willing to spit in the face of the American public has caused quite a dilemma for our favorite megacorporation. In the past, Comcast’s PR division was able to rely on Dan Herscovici, the company’s ace Twitter diplomat and self-proclaimed “intrapreneur,” to divert people’s anger toward something else. “Dan has been our MVP for a long time. Whenever we write a Twitter post about how Comcast supports net neutrality, we’re always bombarded with accusations about how we’re a bunch of liars, accompanied by data tables, records of the company’s past actions and other factually sound evidence that paints us in a really bad light. Admittedly, it’s a little aggravating to see just how self-aware and well researched some people turn out to be. Luckily, Dan’s strategy is to copy and paste the same response over and over again in the comments until people become too tired to argue any further, and it always works!” ex-
claimed Comcast’s Chief Communications Officer D’Arcy Rudnay. Herscovici, humble as ever, brushed aside the compliment with refreshing modesty. He stated, “It’s not that big of a deal. All I do is write ‘We support net neutrality. Title II is not net neutrality. Read more about our long-standing commitment to net neutrality on our website. Have a nice day!’ as my go-to response. My personal philosophy is that you have to overcome your enemies with kindness and compassion instead of brute force or logic. Here at Comcast, we care about our customers’ well-being, as long as they don’t pose a financial threat to us.” However, due to the FCC director’s recent announcement and the wave of backlash that immediately followed, even Dan couldn’t keep up the Orwellian doublespeak by himself. Which is why Comcast is so shocked that no one wants to work for such a great company. It truly defies all logic, sort of like the company’s own mental gymnastics. “It’s sad to say that our hiring process hasn’t been going very smoothly lately. Just the other day, one applicant splashed holy water in our faces in an attempt to drive out Satan. As you can see, we’re in a bit of a crisis at the moment,” confessed Cohen anxiously.
At the moment, Comcast’s PR division managed to temporarily hold back the pitchforks and torches by posting daily about how much they value America’s veterans, hoping that hiding behind actual American patriots would not only make them look more patriotic by association but also buy them some more time. But it seems Comcast has to truly think outside the box to survive this sticky situation. As a result, the top executives decided that they would have to broaden the applicant pool drastically. “Given our current situation, we would like to personally reach out to an often overlooked minority group: pathological liars and felons. To all those who look up to people like Bernie Madoff and Martin Shkreli, Comcast needs respectable and morally bankrupt individuals like you. We need true Americans who can lie their way to success and feel no guilt about it whatsoever. If you are devoid of all human decency and are willing to sell out this great nation for personal profit, then we can assure that you’ll feel right at home in our company,” proclaimed Rudnay. Truly, this is an inspiring moment to behold. But even if you have a soul, there is still a way for you to do the right thing and join its noble cause. As Comcast CEO David Watson insisted with an innocent smile, “We need everyday Americans to stand up and fight against net neutrality and all the people who want to protect your freedom. Let them know that Internet access should not be a basic human right and that the Internet is perfectly safe in the hands of big corporations like us. And whatever you do, please don’t call your senator or representative in Congress. They’re very busy people, and it’s rude to inconvenience them. In fact, don’t do anything and just let us handle everything. Just keep believing that nothing you do will change anything and before you know it, you’ll be completely under our loving, 100 percent customer satisfaction care in no time.”
HOROSCOPES Theresa Law and Natasha Sanchez AMATEUR ASTROLOGISTS
ARIES
March 21 | April 19
TAURUS
April 20 | May 20
GEMINI
May 21 | June 20
CANCER
June 21 | July 22
LEO
July 23 | August 22
VIRGO
August 23 | September 22
With all your Ariesian energy, you should start training for a marathon. Use any and all free time to runrunrunrunrun. If anyone’s like “Hey, don’t you have finals?” or “Hello, student. Why haven’t you sent me your final paper? -Professor,” just tell them you’re training for a marathon and they’ll feel so inferior they’ll stop asking.
LIBRA
Honestly, don’t bother with normal classwork right now. You have more important things to focus on, like your thesis or grad school applications. Or if you’re an underclassperson, I guess… um… What do underclasspeople do with their time? My whole world is grad schools right now. You probably have a Moodle post to do. Work on that.
SCORPIO
All of the food that the new Deece leaves out in bowls on the counters is perfect for one purpose: stocking up for a cooking show. Use finals week to put together and film a cooking show at the Deece using only Deece ingredients. The I-do-all-my-bestfinals-work-at-the-Deece people will appreciate the entertainment.
SAGITTARIUS
Instead of writing final papers, write postcards to those you love. Postcards are a lost art. At the end of the day, what’s more important: writing that 12page paper or knowing how to express your feelings to a loved one who’s far away on only six inches of writing space with a beautiful image on the front?
September 23 | October 22
October 23 | November 21
November 22 | December 21
CAPRICORN
December 22 | January 19
With Spud Cannon playing their last show, Vassar needs a new campus party band. Who better to take the spotlight than an attention-loving Leo? But lean toward an Irish folksy vibe. Spend finals week studying the legacy of Vassar band Tullamore Don’t and their iconic cover of “Country Roads.”
AQUARIUS
Write your next research paper as if you were writing a TED Talk. Make it good enough that it will actually get a TED Talk. Perform your TED Talk, then drop out of school. That’s all anyone cares about now anyway. Résumé? Send them a link to your TED Talk. Boom. Employed. Doesn’t matter what it’s about.
PISCES
January 20 | February 18
February 19 | March 20
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Do you know what would be a valuable use of your time right now? Rewatching the entirety of “Pretty Little Liars.” Remind yourself why you stopped watching years ago. So much effort is visible in each episode, and still no progress is ever made. What a wonderful metaphor. Read the books too.
Instead of focusing on finals, work on perfecting a new and extensive skin care routine. Sell your books for face masks and serums. Don’t let your education distract you from what really matters: external beauty. What’s the point of good grades without skin? Nothing is worth having no skin. Instead of studying, channel all of your brain power into bringing back Vine. I’m doing my part by mentioning this every week. Finals is about priorities and realizing what truly needs our attention in these increasingly disheartening times. Do it for the kids. Do it for the Vine.
Finals period is a great time to start a small business. Go find yourself some startup funding and a humble, suburban garage as a first office and take the first step down the path of your American dream. And then tell us what the real world is like.
Lately, you’ve been awfully bored. You’ve got tons of free time and are just looking for ways to keep yourself busy. Here’s a task: Fill all of the printers with printer paper and keep them stocked like it’s your job. Because whoever’s job it actually is, they’re not doing it.
Put down your books and start a YouTube channel. Your indecisive mind will love this because there are so many content options: beauty, gaming, late night television, etc. If it takes off, you won’t need to worry about school anyway because you can drop out and support yourself. Which isn’t a given anyway.
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ARTS
November 30, 2017
Theatre ensemble creates original play in ‘Maiden Voyage’ IDLEWILD continued from page 1
a source text; in most ways, we stayed pretty true to the text and did a lot of writing separately and then putting it together afterward. So we had a longer rehearsal process because we didn’t have to literally make up characters or a plot. I think it has been a challenge for us to come up with a plot from absolutely nothing and especially with a whole bunch of people. But over the time we’ve been working on it, I think our ideas have coagulated, if you will.” While members do hold design roles for each individual production, the ensemble’s non-hierarchal structure allows each member to tackle a new role and explore various jobs in a collaborative environment, an opportunity not as readily available in a less collective environment. Martin reflected on how her design opportunities have both influenced her as a theatremaker and allowed her to expand into other areas of theatre: “Because I stage-managed for Idlewild, then I went and stage-managed for other things. I have never in my life wanted to write plays or felt like that was something I could ever do, but I think that both this year and last year, I’ve found that when you really have to, it brings things out in you.” For their devised production, Idlewild will be using the Kenyon Club Room, which is not often used as a theatrical space. The group has a history of using alternative spaces for their productions, staging The Five Lesbian Brothers’ play “The Secretaries” in the woods near the Wimpfheimer Nursery in Spring 2017 and María Irene Fornés’ play “Fefu and Her Friends” in several parlors on the second floor of Main in Spring 2016. Martin spoke about how working in a non-conventional performing space influenced the show’s blocking and design: “I personally haven’t worked in a non-traditional space inside before. The room has a very particular quality to it, with the way the roof is and the windows. I think that’s definitely informed a lot of our ideas for the show, like blocking and to an extent knowing that was the space. We’ve been excited to use the
Courtesy of Alice Marbach
ed with sea shanties.” This semester’s ensemble includes both new members to Idlewild and new members to the devising process. However, unlike previous Idlewild devised pieces in the recent past, this production did not have a source text, making this a fresh experience for all involved. In Fall 2016, Idlewild devised a piece called “Fall of Boy,” which was based on John Knowles novel “A Separate Peace.” However, because of the original concept, members have had to take on a more experimental and improvisational process this time around. Idlewild ensemble member Lindsay Matheos ’19 will be stage managing the show as well as singing. Discussing the way that this devised format affected the initial process, Matheos said: “We did a lot of dramaturgical research into women on boats, since the show takes place vaguely in the 1700s or early 1800s. So we explored what role women had in nautical culture in those times. We found a lot of cool narratives from female lighthouse keepers, which is really fascinating. We don’t have any source texts. The closest we have are a couple of sea shanties we’re performing that are already written, but the rest was us saying, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be cool if this happened or what about this?’ But it’s not based off of anything.” Without an initial script or full musical score, the rehearsal process has been different from the traditional theatre process. Instead of analyzing a script’s text or blocking with a structure in mind, the ensemble brought in their own sources and created their script through trial and error, experimenting until satisfied. Idlewild ensemble member Mars Martin ’20 has co-designed the props as well as worked on movement and facilitating the devising process. Despite working previously on Idlewild’s “Fall of Boy,” Martin has been in the same boat as other Idlewild ensemble members in approaching “Maiden Voyage” with a novel perspective: “I worked on the devised show last fall, but we had
Idlewild’s production “Maiden Voyage” is based on an original concept that tells the story of a disaster at sea told from various perspectives in a non-linear narrative. space since we decided we were going to.” This semester, Idlewild admitted several new members, including Julianna DeAngelis ’20, Alice Marbach ’21 and Lucy Purnine ’21. After holding auditions in September, the ensemble also welcomed Cat Sillars ’21, Halle Smith ’20 and Zoe Wennerholm ’19. In addition to Martin, Matheos and Rubin, Chloe Catoya ’20, Sarah Rivers ’20 and Rachel Wallace ’20 are returning Idlewild members. Ensemble member Rebecca Whittaker ’18 is currently abroad for the semester. Tickets for “Maiden Voyage” can be found at the Information Desk in the College Center. The
show runs for under 75 minutes. Additionally, audience members will be sitting on the floor with limited seating. Because of the collaborative element of the devised process, Idlewild members have been able to incorporate their voices throughout the experience. Explaining how this shared creation has attached more value to their work, Matheos said, “Especially through the writing process, I feel everyone has at least one of their ideas in the show, which I think is not uncommon for devised theatre. Still, it feels like the show belongs to everyone, which I think is really fun.”
Honoring professor and innovator Linda Nochlin ’51 LINDA NOCHLIN continued from page 1
Courtesy of Vassar College
given flexibility in their teaching, and with the arrival of third-wave feminism in the ’70s and extensive reading on the subject, Nochlin decided to teach a senior seminar on “The Image of Women in the 19th and 20th Centuries.” It centered on both women as the object of art and women as artists. In a transcript of a 2011 conversation between Professor of Art Molly Nesbit and Nochlin, Nochlin explains this change in the curriculum: “I saw that women could be brilliant thinkers and hard working thinkers and devoted serious thinkers. And I liked that. I mean I felt at ease, and comfortable” (Vassar 150, “A transcript of a recorded conversation between Linda Nochlin and Molly Nesbit in New York City,” 2011). While a simple switch in the course curriculum may seem insignificant in modern times, this was, as Professor Nesbit noted, a great feat: “She brought feminist art history to Vassar. [Nochlin was] teaching us to excavate and learn the history of individual women artists ... [Students were] learning the grassroots of art history.” Vassar is an institution that encourages critical thinking and originality, with Nochlin, as Nesbit asserted, “Happy to be leading the charge.” During her tenure at Vassar, Nochlin published the essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?,” which examines the systemic and societal forces that have inhibited the proliferation of women artists throughout history. As Professor of Art on the Sarah Gibson Blanding Chair Susan D. Kuretsky explained in an introduction for Nochlin’s 2004 lecture at Vassar “Why Contemporary Art is Great: two women, one man,” “[Her seminal essay] is written with no anger, no ax-grinding—only the most precise logic, the most faultless historical research and the most elegantly dispassionate prose. Once read, it sets up shop permanently in one’s consciousness and, it’s fair to say, the world has never been the same since it appeared in 1972.” The question of why there was no female equivalent to the likes of Rembrandt, Cézanne or Picasso had never been asked before by the art historians. The art world has continuously been dominated by a male-centered voice, with no op-
Linda Nochlin is one of the most important feminist scholars in the field of art history. She got her start at Vassar, where she uprooted the art world with her seminal 1971 essay. portunities for women to achieve institutional and social success. Her discussion of this inequity was monumental, uprooting the ingrained confines of art history at Vassar and the art world as an entity. Nochlin’s essay features in the curriculum of the introductory Art 106, and one can feel the urgency of Nochlin’s call to action falling off of the page. It speaks to the reader through a dynamic prose that defies set conventions. Additionally, the work was particularly special to the campus community because it was written during her time at Vassar. Professor Lukacher explained this significance: “Professor Nochlin had a singular role in defining the feminist intervention into the practice of art history that resonated throughout the academic world, the museum and gallery system and the development of contemporary art.” Lukacher continued, “She was never doctrinaire in her forms of advocacy and was continu-
ously questioning the assimilation of radical and progressive ideas into a mainstream complacency. This searching aspect of her writing and her character has informed the collective teaching and shared insights of our department and its own ongoing re-evaluation of how art history shapes and frames multiple visions of culture and society.” This exploration was further developed in an exhibition Nochlin curated at the Brooklyn Museum in 1975. Entitled “Women Artists: 1550-1950,” it provided a voice to female artists who were able to transcend the roles forced upon them. Through Nochlin’s scholarship and engagement in boundary-pushing reinterpretations of the art history, those who had defied their restrictive conditions, and the canons of art history, were given much-deserved recognition. Nochlin, as Nesbit reflected, “Brought life to darkness...inducing a campaign to ask questions about representation and expand the ways in which sexuality
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
is treated and discussed in works of art.” Nochlin was not just a feminist scholar. Rather, she utilized all of her intellectual curiosity in the study of various realms of art history, and in particular realism and the work of French painter Gustave Courbet. In addition to her Art 105 lectures and senior seminars, she taught the equivalents of today’s Art 262 and 263. While a professor at Vassar, she lectured on Northern Baroque and 19th- and 20th-century works. Her collection of prose has received numerous accolades, and, as Professor Kuretsky noted, “She leaves us with an enormous legacy in her writings. You hear her... feel that she’s there.” Her work and nature has inspired many individuals to pursue art history, including some of the professors teaching at Vassar today. As Professor Kuretsky remarked, “My first encounter with Linda was in this very room—me an undergraduate in the audience, she on stage giving Art 105 lectures that were of such power and brilliance that people used to sneak back in to hear her even after they had already taken the course. Linda has a way of reconstituting works of art in words with an arresting beauty and precision that is probably only possible for someone who writes poetry (she does this too) and who was also trained in literature and philosophy.” Kuretsky continued, “When we later became colleagues in this department, her eloquence seemed even more dazzling...only now she had decided to give her Art 105 lectures without notes—the trapeze artist disdaining the net. Needless to say she was as spellbinding as ever.” In the closing of her pioneering 1971 essay, Nochlin closes with an element of sagacity: “Using as a vantage point their situation as underdogs in the realm of grandeur, and outsiders in that of ideology, women can reveal institutional and intellectual weaknesses in general, and, at the same time that they destroy false consciousness, take part in the creation of institutions in which clear thought—and true greatness—are challenges open to anyone, man or woman, courageous enough to take the necessary risk, the leap into the unknown” (Art News, “From 1971: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?,” 2015). And the rest is, well, history.
November 30, 2017
ARTS
Page 15
Devised piece experimentally explores love and despair Sasha Gopalakrishnan ARTS EDITOR
[Content warning: This article discusses abusive relationships, sexual assault and suicide.]
“I
Courtesy of Lily Wang via Facebook
t’s the story of five women who have survived an apocalyptic disaster, and the ways in which they process the suffering and loss they have endured as they hang on to life and sanity by a thread. The play answers the question: ‘What do you hold onto when you have lost everything?’” This is how co-director Eleanor Magnuson ’20 explained Unbound’s latest devised piece, “Stain”. Heavily inspired by Sarah Kane’s one-act play “Crave,” “Stain” amplifies the broken voices of its characters as they explore trauma, yearning and pain. Taking place in the Susan Shiva Stein Theater on Dec. 1 and 2, this highly collaborative piece borrows fragments from Kane’s original script, combining them with the cast’s own personal writings, along with numerous other texts, including those by T.S. Eliot, Sylvia Plath and William Faulkner. Unbound’s final piece is thus an amalgamation of eclectic creative talent, one that resembles “Crave” in its poetic and structural nature but diverges in themes explored. “Stain” takes the liberty of placing the emotionally and psychologically disintegrating characters in a post-apocalyptic landscape.”They try to hold on to something when all that can be taken is torn away from them,” underscores co-director Lily Wang ’18. “It’s a disturbingly beautiful text,” illuminated Magnuson, as she highlighted the poetic ambiguity of “Crave.” Extremely lyrical by nature, this piece of writing boldly experiments with the relationship between form and content. It deals heavily with triggering topics such as abusive relationships, sexual assault and violence, drug abuse, mental illness and suicide and is a turbulent exploration of love and despair. In a review, The Guardian applauded Kane’s penultimate play’s departure from the theatrical norm: “Its structure is deliberately broken, as if such a fragmented approach is the only possible response to a ruined world and the damaged humans who inhabit it” (The Guard-
Heavily drawing inspiration from Sarah Kane’s “Crave,” “Stain” is a pastiche by Unbound that explores love, loss and suffering within the context of a post-apocalyptic landscape. ian, “Crave review,” 03.15.2015). The playwright, Sarah Kane, committed suicide on the opening night of her final play, and was known for producing exceptionally disturbing theatrical pieces. In the past, the British dramatist had shocked audiences with unsettling images of eyes being gouged, breasts being cut off and stage directions instructing rats to carry off severed limbs. Actor Abigail Lass ’21 [Full Disclosure: Lass is Assistant Online Editor of The Miscellany News] elaborated on her character via email, as well as her personal journey during the process of enacting her role: “Given the abstract nature of the piece, we’ve all really had to build our characters out of scraps of information, which has been incredibly complex and rewarding. Something that’s been very intriguing for me about this process is exploring why people engage in self-destructive
tendencies, like staying in an abusive relationship. I think we often place a lot of judgement on people in those situations and oversimplify the issue, so it’s been important for me to understand the mechanisms of being in a situation like that and how it impacts the way one views the rest of the world.” Lass further expanded, “This production has forced me to embrace discomfort, both physically and emotionally. I’m interested in seeing how the audience responds to certain movement pieces, dialogue, and interactions. This is an incredibly intense piece of theater, and people should come prepared to be made uncomfortable.” The show focuses on a multitude of different dramatic aspects, blending artistic talent from all spheres of theatrical spectrum. Incorporating the ideas and aptitudes of student musicians and choreographers, alongside visual artists and actors,
the production emphasizes music and movement elements as much as it concentrates on raw plotlines, poetic dialogue and complex character developments. “Stain” uses a six-person pit playing original compositions written for this particular show, and for certain sections of the text, the cast utilizes pure choreography as their primary form of communicating to the audience. Wang elucidated how divisions between character-based aspects, aesthetic and ambient elements and musical components melded together much of the time: “Because the text was written in free-form, a lot of rehearsals have involved looping sections of the text as they improvise and devise from it, often alongside our musicians. Our music director Michael Pennington ’20, our pit members and our choreographer Oriana Catton ’18, are instrumental to this process because the poetry of the text carries through in music and dance.” Magnuson expounded on their creative process: “Lily and I really wanted our actors to make their own choices and find their own motivations. In my opinion, this creates much more honest, nuanced performances. We allowed the performers to take risks and make bold choices without consequence.” The team, in their trademark ensemble style, would later discuss choices that the cast made during creative exercises and sometimes incorporate those ideas into their final product. Magnuson emotionally recounted the significance of this piece to the entire cast: “I was inspired by the ways in which the actors were ready to engage with the text in a deeply personal way. Some of the monologues and anecdotes in the play were written by the actors themselves, which adds a level of honesty and vulnerability that makes the story even more beautiful and moving.” Unbound’s dedication to creating a visceral portrayal of the issues is deeply poignant, especially in the face of such triggering topics. As Magnuson relayed, “‘Stain’ is a deeply personal piece of theatre, for me and everyone else involved. I couldn’t be prouder of the team, and I can’t wait to see how audiences interact with the art that we created together.”
‘Transparent’ highlights LGBTQ and Jewish voices Izzy Braham
ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR Transparent
Jill Soloway Amazon Studios
[Content warning: This column discusses sexual abuse.]
O
assistant and one of his co-stars, both of which are transgender women themselves. Obviously, I was horrified, outraged and felt betrayed. At this point in this awful tide of sexual assault springing from Hollywood, I’m sadly not surprised anymore when I hear an allegation. However, I was utterly shocked when I heard that Jeffrey Tambor—out of all men—was and is a perpetrator of this horrific culture. How could someone who could portray a woman with such sensitivity and grace also be a victimizer of women? So now what? I had to temporarily stop watching the show. I know that in many cases an actor’s character isn’t the actor themselves, but I couldn’t see Maura Pfefferman the same anymore, knowing that the person playing her didn’t champion the basic things she stood for. I did end up watching the
rest of the show, but felt conflicted about my love for it. Eventually, I realized that a piece of pop culture such as a television show—that has so many people contributing to it and that doesn’t embody a representation of the actors themselves—can still be held in high regard despite the problems of the artists. On a separate note, however, there is absolutely no excuse for Tambor’s actions and my admiration for him has been destroyed. Despite this, the show itself really is wonderfully written and composed. Moreover, it does give a voice to marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community and the Jewish community. I would definitely give it a try—it has important things to say! However, be warned that like all Hollywood creations, the people who have helped in its creation may be problematic.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commonas
n Sept. 22, Amazon released season four of “Transparent,” the award-winning drama centering on the beloved and complex Pferfferman family. Intense, profound and heartwarming, season four did not fall short of expectations. In fact, this season—filmed in beautiful and contentious Israel where the Pfeffermans take a family trip— was truly the pinnacle of the show’s greatness. For those of you unfamiliar with “Transparent,” the show revolves around the complicated lives of the five members of the Pferfferman family—composed of parents Maura and Shelly and full-grown children Sarah, Josh and Ali. The series intimately explores the lives of each family member, delving into his or her familial relationships, romantic relationships, gender identities, sexualities and spiritualities. It could be thought of as a more complex and dramatic Modern Family that also shines a light on the LGBTQ and Jewish communities. One of the central themes of the show is gender. Seasons one through three of the show dealt heavily with Maura Pferfferman’s transition to womanhood, depicting her struggles in coming to terms with her gender late in life and the effects it has on her relationships. While the show definitely focuses a lot on Maura as she is the “trans-parent” of “Transparent,” it explores the other family members just as well. Throughout the series, each family member deals with his or her own inner turmoil. The show interweaves pivotal and often heartbreaking flashbacks of each character’s past with their current states. There is Sarah, the oldest sister who is going through a rough patch in her marriage and finds herself turning to sex as a source of fulfillment. There is Josh, the middle child, who is haunted by
the problematic relationship he had with his older babysitter when he was a teenager. Ali, the most interesting character in my opinion, deals with trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life intellectually as well as her newfound attraction to women. Finally, there is Shelly, the neurotic mother, who we see is constantly being mistreated by the other family members and struggling to keep the family all together. Obviously, there is a lot going on with each character, which makes for very interesting dynamics between each person. Season four captured tense moments as crises and interpersonal tensions reach a boiling point. Halfway through the season, the family takes a trip to Israel during which each member has time to ponder his or her situation in life. We see Maura and Ali cultivating a special bond as Ali has more realizations about her gender and sexuality, Josh and Shelly struggling to get along as they both come to terms with their own anxieties about past abusive relationships and Sarah and her husband exploring a polyamorous relationship. While relationships ebb and flow, there is a special emphasis on religion in this season as the family is enveloped in the culture of Israel. What I really liked about this season is that it had a lot of delicate but powerful moments. One particularly memorable scene was when Ali goes to the Western Wall, where Jewish men and women perform their prayers separately and are divided by a fence. Ali notices that the men’s side seems happier and more celebratory while the side she is on is a lot more contemplative and downtrodden. Ali then has a sudden yearning to experience the other side so she puts on a yarmulke and wistfully walks over. The scene depicts Ali caught in a pivotal moment where she questions her connection to her gender all the while feeling very spiritually awakened: an interesting and personal interplay. With these intense moments, entangled relationships and complex inner-turmoils, I was easily hooked on the show once again. But alas, in the middle of episode five—just when I thought the show couldn’t get better—I was apprised of a real-life plot twist that threw my relationship with the show for a loop. Jeffrey Tambor, who plays the transgender star of the show, Maura Pfefferman, was accused of sexual harassment by his former
Amazon’s original series “Transparent,” created by Jill Soloway (above), delves into the complex lives of five family members as they explore their relationships, identities, sexualities and spiritualities.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
ARTS
Page 16
November 30, 2017
MØ expands distinctive sound in ‘When I Was Young’ Olivia Feltus
GUEST COLUMNUST
When I Was Young
MØ Sony Music
M
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Ø first came into my life in late 2014 as a result for the Google search “music like Lorde.” The magic of Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” had not yet worn off, and I was grasping for more of the music as clean and ethereal yet grounded in my tastes. Nearly every song on that album had drawn me in with its somber melodies and dark harmonies. As a result, I was yearning for more original works so that I didn’t wear out the sound by listening to the same songs over and over. Through these searches I found multitudes of artists that were great in their own right but didn’t have the spark that I was looking for—until I found the song “XXX 88,” a collaboration between MØ and Diplo. “XXX 88” is a song that aspires to be a summer anthem, originally released on MØ’s 2013 “Bikini Daze EP” along with three other songs, each bearing distinct characteristics all reminiscent of the sound of MØ. “XXX 88” and “Dark Night” offer crisp vocals that seem to embed themselves into whichever situation you, as the listener, are experiencing. “Freedom #1” and “Never Wanna Know” have the same effect, yet with a different atmospheric quality. After listening to “Bikini Daze” for a few days, which became a life soundtrack of sorts, I completely abandoned my Lorde for a new adventure: “No Mythologies to Follow.” MØ’s masterpiece, the LP “No Mythologies to Follow,” followed the release of “Bikini Daze” in 2014. Featuring the aforementioned “Never Wanna Know,” the album reaches into the deepest depths of the heart and pulls out feelings, from loneliness to disdain to nostalgia for something you never knew you could be nostalgic for. With upbeat songs like “Glass” and “Don’t Wanna Dance,” the listener becomes immersed in the soul of the artist and ex-
“When I Was Young” utilizes distinct sounds, ranging from dance pop to slow and emotional. This album marks a turn in the star’s career, as she steers in a new and exciting stylistic direction. periences the effect of the lyricism and full extent of vocals in action. “Waste of Time,” with its guitar and vocals seamlessly working together, provides a vignette of a person in angst. Most songs have a supplementary stripped-down version available (not all on the LP) that can be taken in many different directions—some with harmonies not featured in the original tracks and some that turn heavier songs, such as “Fire Rides,” into relaxing melodies. Soon, MØ became so rooted in my heart that the day I saw the entrancing montage of “New Year’s Eve” my eyes were glued to my screen in tears. MØ’s diverse styles throughout the years range from songs on her earliest EPs such as “YA” and “The Night Wears My Eye” to her punk band “MOR” and her collaboration with the “trip hop” band “We All Came to Kill.” Few of these were formally released beyond Soundcloud, MySpace or a
link on a Facebook page, but in each and every one of them, no matter how masked by style, you can hear a distinctive MØ sound. MØ’s newest release, the surprise EP “When I Was Young,” serves up a different take on the rising star’s career. In her typical fashion, each song offers a distinct sound, ranging from dance pop to slow and emotional. Two tracks in particular, “Roots” and “Run Away,” stand out. “Run Away” has a hopeful sound and emotional conclusion, while “Roots” delivers a somber interpersonal question of a struggling adult. It sounds as if it would fit in directly with “No Mythologies to Follow,” which greatly juxtaposes with the other content of the EP. The other tracks, such as “Linking with You,” which is my least favorite song on the EP, feature her dance pop style that is a relatively new development, seemingly influenced by her
many 2015 and beyond collaborations. Personally, I prefer the music she has released as a solo artist over material she has been featured in, such as Justin Bieber’s “Cold Water” or Major Lazer’s “Lean On.” The latter, which contributed majorly to her fame, seemed to be a large coup for Major Lazer while it mostly left MØ, the vocalist, in the shadows. For example, the March 2015 song’s rise in popularity was fueled by social media interaction and publicization of MØ’s dancing. A friend of mine, though he knew how much I loved MØ, posted a photo of her dancing and tagged her as Major Lazer, right in the face—without even knowing that she was featured in the song. “Lean On” sparked a trend of songs that do not represent MØ to the fullest. One of the first was “Kamikaze,” which is not the worst, but it leaves a lot to be desired. The electronic sound overtook her unique vocals, and the lyrics seemed to not be as well thought out or have as much meaning as her earlier music. A few more songs came out, each of varying quality in my eyes. “Final Song,” for example, offers a magical opening and conclusion with a beautifully produced music video. “Drum,” on the other hand, has to be one of my least favorite songs that I have ever heard. It is boring, stale and repetitive, combining all of the worst traits of her electronic dance pop music and brings in little to no originality and or vocals. Though that was the trough, “Cold Water,” by Justin Bieber featuring MØ is not much better, as it has been overplayed and is a mark of commercialization. Overall, I am very pleased with MØ’s new EP and thestylistic direction it takes her in. I would be very surprised if anything ever measured up to “No Mythologies to Follow,” so, for a recent release, it defiantly satiates my appetite for anything that I consider “good MØ.” I was so happy about this release, in fact, that when her joint tour with Cashmere Cat’s tickets went on sale, I bought tickets for the Jan. 25 show in Brooklyn immediately after they came out. Though MØ has changed epically throughout the years, I have no doubt that, at the core, her treasure trove of music will never cease to amaze me and link with wherever I am in life.
Björk’s new album dazzles with unconventional beats Jimmy Christon COLUMNIST
Utopia
Björk One Little Indian Records
F
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
or me, Björk albums are always multi-leveled affairs. On one level, you usually get a great album; the songs are all great and it’s an enjoyable experience listening to the album because it feels so fresh and unique. On another level, the music on these albums tends to be boundary pushing on a regular basis. There’s always some new musical flavor to be enamored with. And finally, there’s always the distinctly flamboyant “character” (not a narrative character, but a thematic one) that Björk displays on her album and continues to expand upon in all her live performances. With Björk’s new album, “Utopia,” I can say that she has nailed all but one of these categories, but the explanation for this miss is that she hasn’t gone on tour yet. On “Utopia,” Björk displays some of her most trailblazing music yet. And based on the album artwork, alien is not an inaccurate word to describe this new release. I think that the alien imagery is odd, funny looking and unique in the best way possible. Everything about the artwork associated with this album has been maximally weird–that is, it is memorable. Even better than just being memorable, the artwork goes hand in hand with the music on display here. Let’s go to “The Gate” into this album. There’s a lot to say about this. I think this track represents the mood of the album well, but not necessarily the rest of the album as a whole. What I mean by this is that this song’s lyrics, musicality and performance from Björk are great at representing the general musical ideas that are represented throughout the album, but that doesn’t mean that this song sounds like the others on this album. This is because this song is sparse. It is six minutes long, and the vast majority is just
Björk’s vocals and then some flutes. And even these vocals are just a repeating chorus of the phrase “I care for you / if you care for me.” And I love it. The instruments on this album are great. I love the keyboard flourishes, flutes and bass reverberations sprinkled throughout this track. The music video is also marvelously weird. But for a song that is six minutes of mainly Björk’s vocals, I am floored by how quickly this track goes by without ever dragging on. I also especially love the way she stretches the word “care” out into two syllables. It’s absolutely fantastic. The highest praise I can bestow upon this track is that it reminds me of the now 20-yearold track by Björk “All is Full of Love,” off of her album “Homogenic.” And this comparison extends to the albums as a whole.”Homogenic” was, before “Utopia,” the album most influenced by the Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) scene (this is no coincidence either, considering that the main producer on this album is the IDM artist Arca). Tracks like the nine-minute “Body Memory,” “Courtship” or “Losss” all feature drum sequences that would not feel out of place on a Venetian Snares or Aphex Twin album. If Aphex Twin’s “Richard D. James” album was an orchestra with IDM beat-sequences, then “Utopia” is an IDM album with Björk’s voice and someflute. The animal noises are also worth mentioning. This review wouldn’t be complete without it. There are cougar growls, cat purrs and a plethora of bird chirps scattered throughout this album. I would be remiss to say that these sounds didn’t stick out. Especially when some of these animal noises are sped up to a chipmunk-intoned pitch. Out of all of the elements on this album, this is the one I feel the most weirded out by. For example, on the track “Arisen My Senses,” there’s this very grand, wholly immense musical progression–a progression that gets bumped out of whack by the repetition of all the bird chirps. There are a ton of flute arrangements across this album and they are beautiful. Björk has always been a musician who has pushed boundaries by bringing instruments in conjunction with
Björk’s recent album “Utopia” makes use of underlying flute and bass reverberations, weird yet innovative animal noises and grand musical progressions, resulting in a fantastic collection. one another in ways that sound odd upon first listen. I’m talking here of the synths and strings of “Homogenic” and Björk’s voice itself on “Vulnicura.” And in “Utopia’s” case, it’s these flute arrangements with the beat sequences. Albeit, it sounds pretty pretentious to be like, “Oh the flute is so beautiful on this album, I mean just listen to these flutes!” But at the same time, the flutes on this album are used in a wonderful way that really coheres with the musicality of the album as a whole. And finally, I want to talk about the biggest strength of the album and its greatest fault. This album is great at being emotionally resonant. Björk described this album a while ago as her “Tinder album.” “Tinder” as in it is the album tracing her return to emotional and romantic availability after the breakup described on “Vulnicura.” This might sound generic coming from someone who has been making return-to-dating-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
scene classics like “Possibly Maybe” her whole career, but this should only reinforce the claim that it is just that much more astounding that Björk was able to make this generic theme (for her and in general) sound so compelling and fresh on her ninth album, rounding out over 20 years of musical endeavors. The album’s greatest fault is that it’s too long. Björk normally has her albums end at around 40 minutes; this album is 70 minutes long. And when a lot of these songs are five-plus minutes of very dense and odd material from a dense and odd musician, it can get a bit draining. But this point is negligible, as I can already tell that I wouldn’t listen to this album all the way to the end each time I listen to it. Rather, it’s an album I’ll add to my collection and listen to bits and pieces of as time goes by. That is to say, it’s like every other Björk album out there: a fantastic collection of fantastic songs that are well worth adding to your collection.
November 30, 2017
Campus Canvas
ARTS A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists
Page 17 submit to misc@vassar.edu
Excuse me, What are you doing to keep warm on these cold Poughkeepsie nights?
“It’s always hot in Noyes” — Fiona Madden ’20
“Turning up the heater to 9” — Sachi Depardon ’20
“I close the blinds, turn up the heater, and make some tea” — Ke Wang ’20
“Sex with people’s boyfriends” — Robin Corleto ’19
“Burning my hopes and dreams for warmth” — Jade Smith ’21
“It’s all mental” — Erin Abrams ’20 Acacia Willis 3rd Year International Studies Major with an emphasis in History and Women’s/Queer Studies and Film Correlate I am interested in using film to highlight social justice issues, particularly those affecting women and LGBTQ people around the world. My short-term goal is to get a camera to document my study abroad experience in which I will be studying human rights. I am currently fundraising for this on GoFundMe. My long-term goal is to become a full-length film director.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Sumiko Neary, Photography
Page 18
SPORTS
November 30, 2017
Coats, tests and winter sports: VC warms up to new season WINTER SPORTS continued from page 1
Women’s Squash: The 2017-2018 women’s squash campaign has begun on the right foot. Playing in nine matches and with only two losses, the Brewers have already asserted themselves as a strong team. The women knocked off teams such as Fordham, Boston University, Bucknell, University of Rochester and Smith College. The two losses this season came at the hands of William Smith and Mount Holyoke. Vassar has one more match in December against Bates and Haverford College, but won’t play again until they face off against Boston College and Bucknell at the end of January. Sophomore Sydney Nemphos, who has been a solid player for the Brewers the past two seasons, commented on this large break and what it means for team looking ahead. “After this upcoming weekend, we don’t have any matches until January, but everyone on the team is super dedicated and will definitely be doing some form of preparation over break, whether it’s getting on court or doing some other sort of workout,” Nemphos explained. “We also come back the week before our matches so that we can practice, which will get us back into the swing of things before taking on Boston College and Bucknell.” It is clear that the Brewers should have no issues dealing with the break in their season, thanks to the dedication of the team. Men’s Squash: The men’s squash team has suffered some tough losses and have gained some strong wins, going 4-5 thus far. The Brewers have picked up big wins against Lafayette, Swarthmore, Siena and Colgate, and lost in an extremely close match against Bryant University. The Brewers will host their next four matches at home, facing up against eight different teams. However, after next weekend, the Brewers won’t play again until the end of January, leaving a big gap in between their next two matches. Senior captain Alex Riccio explained that the goal for this season is making sure the team is continuously improving. “We feel like we can do some damage in our division at Nationals in February, so we want to keep improving so we can have a strong performance there,” Riccio comment-
ed. Riccio is looking to help guide the team down the right path over the next few months. “As a captain, I’m looking to continue helping the new members improve their games - both from a technical and strategic perspective,” Riccio said. “Playing practice matches is also a big component of our training, so helping everyone be match ready is something I’m focusing on as well.” Women’s Swimming: The women’s swimming team has swum strong thus far, posting a winning record of 3-2 over their first five meets of the season. The women started off their season with a huge win against Brandeis University, followed by another win against Bard. Their third win of the season came on the road in Saratoga Springs, where the Brewers beat Skidmore 165-127. However, the last two meets have proven
to be less favorable for the Brewers. Vassar fell to both RPI and New Paltz in their last two matchups. Looking ahead, the Brewers will compete in the RIT Invitational, as well as the Seven Sisters Championship, along with four other home meets to round out their season before Liberty League Championships. Men’s Swimming: The men’s swimming team has started off their season going 2-3, picking up wins in conference against Bard College and Skidmore College, but falling to RPI, Brandeis and New Paltz. This upcoming weekend the Brewers will travel to Rochester, NY to compete in the RIT invitational. After the RIT invitational, the swim team will only have four more meets, spanning the next two months before the Liberty League Championships begin at the end of February.
Courtesy of Carlisle Stockton
son University and lost to Haverford College, Liu Post and Drew University. The following weekend, the Brewers hosted another tournament, the Matt Lampel Hudson River Invitational, where the they went 4-2. The team knocked off Liberty League foe RIT and beat Liu Post this time around. Up next this weekend, the Brewers will be hosting the Traditional Multi-Meet. Men’s Fencing: The men’s fencing team has stormed out of the gates with a perfect 13-0 record. The Brewers have knocked off Liberty League opponents, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Rochester, as well as some tough out of conference teams in Haverford, Army, Drew and Cornell. Up next, Vassar will host the Traditional Multi- Meet on Sunday, Dec. 3, where they will be facing up against schools to the likes of Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Penn State. Senior Tom Racek, who has been a key member of the men’s fencing team since his freshman year, explains the importance of the upcoming multimeet. “The multi-meet is something we have been building up to, so we are prepared in respect to the physicality of the meet and also the mental intensity and resilience that will need to come with it,” he commented. Racek also noted the level of difficulty that some of these matches entail. “What people are not aware of in fencing is that there are no separation of the divisions, so essentially everyone is competing at a Division 1 level. It is not uncommon for some of us to face Olympians, national champions or World Team members while we are competing,” he explained, making the feat of going undefeated in the first 13 matches even more impressive. As far as the rest of the season goes, Racek explained that the main goal of the team is continual improvement. “We want to continue to build upon the talent that is already present and ensure that every year is a progression,” he noted. With such a strong start so far, there is no question that this season could be their best yet.
Sophomore Noey Berger bouts in a fencing match earlier this seasons in the Bays. The men’s fencing team is one of many winter sports off to a strong start, currently holding a 13-o record.
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November 30, 2017
SPORTS
Page 19
Giants’ problems go beyond Eli, trace to poor offseason Jonathan Levi-Minzi GUEST COLUMNIST
F
Serious Concern for Giants at Left Tackle,” 08.17.2017). I think the Giants, even before Week 1, dropped the ball on their offensive line problems. The front office failed to sign former Lions tackle Riley Reiff, who has gone on to be a leading left tackle for the playoff-bound Minnesota Vikings. Instead, the Giants were only able to get D.J. Fluker, a former first round pick who was shifted in from tackle to guard after failing to live up to his potential. As Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report wrote at the time of Fluker’s signing, “The fact that Los Angeles chose not to bring him back to a line that isn’t exactly loaded with talent sends a message to the rest of the league” (Bleacher Report, “D.J. Fluker, New York Giants Agree to 1-Year Contract,” 03.13.17). What really drives home how the Giants’ front office decided to mail in the team’s 2017 offseason is the fact that Reiff signed with the Vikings days after the General Manager Jerry Reese made the call to spend a significant portion of the team’s free agent money on receiver Brandon Marshall, a former star wideout moving towards the back end of his career. I was excited about Marshall, make no mistake about it. “No mercy w the wrs,” I texted my friend, noting how the team now had Beckham Jr., Marshall and the highly regarded rising sophomore Shepard. But he and I were both wary of what was simultaneously not being done—fixing the offensive line. “We cant seriously go into the season w flowers and bobby hart [right tackle] tho,” I sent. “Flowers is absolute garbage,” he replied, “I think we should draft a tackle in the first couple rounds...” Sure enough, the Giants did not draft any tackle in the early rounds. Quarterback Davis Webb was taken with the third round pick. This was supposedly a value pick, taking a future QB
in a later part of the draft. The jury on that pick will of course be out for at least another season or two. But the jury is in on the Giants’ offensive roster construction for this season. Any type of offense, whether a vertical power-running offense, or a spread, west-coast type offense, needs offensive linemen with the requisite attributes and skillsets for the respective systems. What had been an obvious 2016 problem was allowed to fester over the course of the offseason, and it ultimately derailed the 2017 season.
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
or Giants fans, the current century of football hasn’t been all good and certainly hasn’t been all bad. What it has been, though, is a dizzying mixture of the two. Since the turn of the millennium, the Giants have only once won ten games in back-to-back seasons. About half, eight out of seventeen seasons up to 2016, have resulted in playoff trips. Fans like me are seemingly always watching our “G-Men” go to battle with knife’s edge stakes at play. And those past NY Giant teams in which we have invested our hope and belief are maddeningly inconsistent, seemingly as a rule. No player embodies this inconsistency more completely than Super Bowl superstar quarterback, and interception record-setter, Eli Manning. Sure, there have been some obviously lost seasons over this 17 season span (which roughly coincides with the span of my own fandom— and life). Former Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s last few seasons didn’t leave much to the Giants fan’s imagination after Week 8 or so. But the 2017 season has brought a new level of decrepitude for millennial fans. Entering Week 13, the team is 2-9. Through the first two games, the Giants made no pretense of being even decent, dropping contests haplessly by scores of 19-3 and 24-10. Then, the team went on a streak...of three losses by five points or less. Each of these games seemed to indicate that the Giants could be counted on as a middling contestant bound for a .500-or-so record. And then, one by one, in increasingly inexplicable fashion, each game suddenly slipped away before the bell. Star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s gruesome ankle fracture (the kind with a
viewer discretion label slapped on it) in the 2722 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers put a jarring exclamation point on the team’s steady plunge into mediocrity. The Los Angeles Rams hit that same note with a sledgehammer the following week, ravaging the Giants 51-17 at MetLife Stadium. One problem that has consistently reared its ugly head in the Giants’ 2017 travails is their offense. Bringing in receiving weapons like star Brandon Marshall and rookie Evan Engram was supposed to unleash the passing game by diverting attention away from Beckham Jr. It was theorized that the two additions would be big, fast bodies over the middle that made it impossible for opposing defenses to focus all their efforts on stopping the perennial vertical threat of Odell. (Sports Illustrated, “Off-season report card: New York Giants, 05.30.2017). Though this plan was ultimately hampered by Beckham Jr.’s health, it was also faulty to begin with. The real issue for the team was not their receiving corps. Sterling Shepard, drafted the previous season, was a great compliment to Beckham Jr. in his role as slot receiver, running many routes over the middle. Increased physicality in the middle of the field was needed, but it was needed in the form of a tight end, not another top receiver. What dogged the Giants last year and what, in my opinion, has caused almost all of their considerable 2017 struggles, is the meager offensive line. Left tackle Ereck Flowers has been terrible for a few years now. Before the season even began, ESPN Giants’ Staff Writer Jordan Ranaan wrote that, “[He] showed a handful of the lowlights to several ex-NFL offensive linemen and some independent offensive line coaches. They all agreed it was brutal. One said: ‘Worst I’ve seen, period’” (ESPN, “Erack Flowers Remains
On Tuesday, the Giants annouced that QB Eli Manning (pictured above) will be benched.
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Known steriod users must be evaluated in larger context Daniel Bonfiglio GUEST COLUMNIST
L
ast Monday, the Baseball Writers’ Association released its list of players eligible to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. On that list are names like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Manny Ramirez. And for yet another year, the vote will be shrouded in controversy. All three of these players have two things in common: They are undoubtedly good enough to be in the Hall Of Fame, and they took steroids. Hall of Famer Joe Morgan recently re-energized the debate over whether steriod users should be allowed into Cooperstown, when he wrote a passionate letter urging the Writers’ Association to leave these players out. “We hope the day never comes when known steroid users are voted into the Hall of Fame. They cheated. Steroid users don’t belong here.” Morgan goes on to say that many Hall of Famers he’s spoken to agree with him. It makes sense. Steroid users cheated, and should not be honored for it. But in reality it is more complicated. To really understand, we have to better understand the Hall of Fame itself. The selection process of the Hall of Fame is a complicated one. It is not the players, coaches or fans who vote players into Cooperstown, but a group of specific baseball writers. There is no exact science to the voting and voters examine both a player’s accomplishments and the way that player went about getting them. The Hall of Fame’s aloof “character clause” weeds out the good but rotten players—in theory. Upon closer inspection however, the Hall of Fame is home to many who perhaps have some character left to be desired. Ty Cobb, one of the original five players admitted into the Hall of Fame, was a renowned jerk. On the field he was known for sharpening his cleats and sticking them up in the air while sliding in attempts to stab opposing players trying to tag him. As a result, his stolen bases record stood for almost 50 years. Off the field he was a vocal racist and had repeated altercations with African-Americans. One even resulted in a murder charge. Cobb was also implicated with fellow Hall of Famer Tris Speaker in a game-fixing scheme, and they were both rumored to be Ku Klux Klan members. Cobb and Speaker are also hardly the only
open racists in Cooperstown. Cap Anderson, a former Cubs manager and player, was instrumental in setting up the color barrier Jackie Robinson would eventually break. Anderson would go so far as to pull his team off the field if the opposition had any African-American players. More recently, Orlando Cepeda was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, despite spending almost a year in prison for smuggling drugs. However, none of these men ever “cheated” at baseball. For the Hall of Fame voters, it would seem to be integrity on the field that matters more than character off it. Steroid users broke the laws of baseball. And for that, along with baseball’s all time hit leader Pete Rose (who gambled on games), they are to be shunned. These three players’ use of steroids, however, is much less black and white than Morgan made it seem. These players played during the early 2000s, a time known as the steroid era, where almost every single player used steroids. Baseball didn’t begin testing until 2003, so not to use them was not to do everything you could to help your team win. Not to mention that the difference in performance after taking them could mean millions of dollars in contract money. If everyone was taking them, you had to to keep up. These three players didn’t shine because of their steroid use, they shined playing against an entire league of steroid users. So you can’t really blame them for juicing. What you can blame them for is what they did next. Instead of apologizing for their actions, these players tried to cover their footsteps. The following trials and investigations opened a gap between steroid users and baseball that has yet to be closed. The same can be said for Rose, who repeatedly denied his actions, putting himself at odds with a certain select group of baseball writers. So should steroid users be banned? I honestly have no idea. They cheated, but they had to. Perhaps the bigger question is whether this would all be for nothing if they had played along with baseball in the first place. Cobb also gambled on games if you recall, and many other steroid players who apologized could soon be up for the Hall of Fame. So are these three banned for cheating, or their defiance? Only a small group of powerful baseball writers in Cooperstown can answer that.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
SPORTS
Page 20
November 30, 2017
Men’s basketball takes trip down south to Memphis F
or the weekend of Nov. 18, the Vassar men’s varsity basketball team traveled to Memphis, TN, to open up their season in the Rhodes College TipOff Tournament. Jetlag may have been at play as the Brewers fell in their first game to an offbeat offensive team in Rhodes Colleges with a score of 126-110. The game marked a new single-game scoring record for the Brewers, as junior Paul Grinde paced the team with 25 points. The Brewers went on to drop their next matchup as well, falling to LeTourneau University, 79-64. The trip proved as a good pair of tests for Vassar, who are now 0-4 on the season. Pictured here is a collection of photos and snapchats from the trip, all taken by members of the team.
Women’s Basketball
Men’s Basketball
Vassar College 75, SUNY New Paltz 63
Vassar College 57, Williams 90
November 28, 2017
November 28, 2017
Vassar College #
Player
SUNY New Paltz
MIN TO AST STL PTS
#
Player
Vassar College #
MIN TO AST STL PTS
Player
MIN TO
Williams
AST STL PTS
#
Player
MIN TO AST STL PTS
29
4
2
1
21
21 M. Dietz
37
1
2
0
19
34
P. Grinde
23
2
1
0
9
3
M. Greenman
21
0
3
0
17
A. Rosenthal 25
1
2
0
16
12 M. Van Pelt
21
1
1
0
15
2
J. Browne
28
3
2
0
8
32
K. Scadlock
19
3
0
0
13
32
2
5
1
9
14 R. Simon
32
1
1
2
7
10
A. Seff
22
2
0
2
6
5
J. Heskett
15
2
1
0
9
23 K. Romanoff 29
2
2
0
7
45 P. Niemeyer
19
1
0
1
6
21
J. Brownridge 18
2
0
0
3
21
M. Kempton
18
0
4
1
8
23
2
2
0
5
34 L/ Bettke
36
1
2
1
2
5
O. Murray
27
1
3
1
2
10
C. Teal
21
1
2
0
3
20 I. Peczuh
16
2
2
0
7
20 S. Harris
7
1
1
0
5
20
H. Gettings
18
1
1
0
9
24
M. Karpowicz
11
2
1
0
10
30 R. DeOrio
11
0
1
1
2
15 D. Herasme
5
2
0
0
5
4
H. Durham
14
0
1
0
9
11
B. Casey
23 1
2
1
7
21
J. Roelke
6
1
1
2
2
50 B. Alberga
7
0
0
1
4
30
S. Palecki
3
0
1
0
7
33
J. Porath
8
1
0
0
7
4
N. Teta
5
0
0
0
2
25 P. Teape
13
1
0
0
0
33
Z. Bromfeld
18
3
0
0
3
31
M. Babeck
10
0
1
0
5
15
L. Mousley
4
0
0
0
2
3
T. Howell
9
0
1
0
0
13
T. Caletti
17
3
2
1
1
44
M. Soto
10
0
1
0
4
22 S. Schmid
4
1
0
0
2
32 N. Ziogas
8
0
1
0
0
42
M. Dyslin
12
0
0
0
0
14
M. Meyers
6
0
0
0
3
14
M. Leong
14
0
1
0
0
25 A. Skopetos
6
0
0
0
0
12
H. Feinberg
13
0
0
0
2
12
J. Cenan
2
1
0
0
0
15
D. Kacmarek
5
1
0
0
2
4
C. Galvin
16
0
1
1
0
22
M. Taylor
4
2
1
0
0
32 S. Nick 31
24 M. Sussman
11
S. Cook
Totals.......
200 16 18 5 75
Totals.......
200 9
9
5 63
Totals.......
200 17
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
11 4
57
Totals.......
200 13 17
3 90