Misc11 6 14

The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVIII | Issue 7

November 6, 2014

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Baskin supports ‘possible’ Senior plans Ugandan book drive two state-solution in talk B Erik Halberg

Features Editor

Rhys Johnson Reporter

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n Nov. 3, J Street U Vassar, a student organization committed to discussing a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the context of a two state-solution perspective, hosted an event featuring Gershon Baskin, one of the foremost activists on the subject of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Aside from establishing his own research organization and negotiating with Hamas, Baskin recently wrote a book titled, “The Negotiator: Freeing Gilad Schalit

from Hamas.”

As a recent high school graduate from Long Island, Baskin was first inspired to learn about Israeli-Palestinian relations while on a study-abroad program in Israel sponsored by Young Judaea, a Zionist youth group he had been involved with in his high school.

“It dawned on me,” said Baskin of his Zionist education, “I just spent the whole year in Israel and I didn’t have a single conversation with an Arab the whole time I was there.”

See ISRAEL-PALESTINE on page 4

ook drives seemingly happen all of the time. But because most book drives donate their books to something along the lines of a local elementary school or church library or maybe even a children’s shelter, it’s not every day that students are given the opportunity to participate in a book drive for reading centers being built in Uganda.

The drive is being organized

and run by Osamagbe Ogbeide ‘15, a neuroscience major. The purpose of the drive is to acquire books that will be sent to Uganda to help stock two reading centers placed in major cities within the country. These reading centers will help ensure that Ugandans have adequate reading material that will help them foster a culture of reading.

“For me, it’s about giving these students the same opportunities to learn and engage with ex-

tra-curricular learning that we’ve had [here in America],” Ogbeide explained.

According to Ogbeide, the drive is the brainchild of a friend he met while interning with the Ashinaga organization in Japan this past summer. Ashinaga—which translates to Daddy-Long-Legs—is a non-profit organization that got its start helping orphaned children get an education and has since expandSee BOOKS on page 8

Latest NSO theft sparks questions of org. security Bethan Johnson

Contributing Editor

ore than half of a semester after a summertime theft of items totaling hundreds of dollars, No Such Organization (NSO) received funding from the Vassar Student Association (VSA) following a robbery within their group’s headquarters. This robbery marks the second theft in three years of the NSO, and, despite narratives to the contrary, fits within a larger pattern of expensive thefts of student organizations that include Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE), the Vassar Filmmakers and The

Jacob Gorski/The Miscellany News

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Miscellany News in the last few years.

Leaders of NSO and representatives within the VSA alike view this most recent robbery as a potential catalyst for larger discussions about administrative and organizational policies around security, and hope that other organization presidents will increase security measures in the face of potential losses.

The theft, which occurred over the summer with items being taken from the NSO’s clubroom, included a wide variety of goods, such as role-playing game (RPG) systems, several video games, See THEFT on page 4

Osamagbe Ogbeide ’15 is organizing a book drive on campus to help provide books for new Ugandan reading centers.

The reading centers will help establish a Ugandan reading culture and aid the development of intellectualism.

Artist, activist to incite dialogue Samantha Kohl Reporter

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or his most recent performance this October, artist and activist Dread Scott attempted to walk toward a high-pressure water jet gushing out of a fire hose, but was repeatedly knocked down and battered. This powerful piece of performance art is as familiar as it is hard to watch: Scott’s work, titled “On the Impossibility of Freedom

in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide” recontextualizes the Civil Rights Movement to cause viewers to connect police brutality in Birmingham, Ala., 1963 to police brutality in Ferguson, Mo., 2014.

At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 11, Scott will deliver a lecture in Rocky about the link between revolutionary art and social issues, to create dialogue on Vassar’s campus.

His artistic statement reveals

his innovative style: “Dread Scott makes revolutionary art to propel history forward.” As a student at the Art Institute of Chicago, Scott entered the consciousness of the American public with his installation, “What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag?” The installation sparked controversy that took over the public conversation, causing President George H. W. Bush, See DREAD SCOTT on page 16

courtesy of Dread Scott

Provoking controversy with politically charged installations, artist Dread Scott draws connections between the police brutality of Birmingham, Ala., 1963 with the events of Ferguson, Mo. in 2014. He will visit Vassar on Nov. 11.

Inside this issue

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NEWS

Republicans gain seats in midterm elections

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Senior offers crucial pre-registration HUMOR survival guide

Devoted Brewers fans chant teams to victory Erik Quinson Reporter

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assar is, on the whole, known neither for its sports teams nor its devoted fans, but, this semester, there is a growing group of Vassar students who show up in force to support the men’s soccer team. Under the leadership of junior Josh Pratt, a group of at least 20 fans finds its way out to Gordon Field, rain, wind or shine, to cheer on the men’s soccer team at every home game. Occasionally sporting face paint, they strive to emulate Premiership-style chants, shouting at the top of their lungs and willing the ball to find the net. Their passion for their team can be heard all the way from the TH path.

Although this year Pratt and co. have a consistent turnout for games, the fan club had humble beginnings, starting back in 2012 with Pratt and Ben Glasner, a junior on the men’s varsity team, as its only members.

Pratt recalled the first game he and Glasner went to with the intention of starting up some chants, stating, “We were a bit nervous since it was just the two of us, and the first chant we did, people were quiet for a bit and then they started laughing and clapping.”

But the idea quickly caught on. The team made it to the Liberty League finals that year, and the fan club rose to the challenge: “...About six of us

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did body paint. Our chants definitely upped the energy a lot, and there was a huge crowd there that day.”

Pratt hails from England, and his love for the game and the experience of being a fan for teams there inspired him to create the chants here. “I really enjoyed going to games in England, so I took some chants from there and put Vassar into them.” Pratt is not the only foreigner glad to have the chance to continue cheering for his team.

Sophomore Ioannis Filippidis comes from Greece, and, although he misses his home team’s games, he’s glad for the opportunity to get behind Vassar’s soccer team.

“When I’m back home, I always go to my team’s games. Even if I have an exam the next day, I’ll go to the game.

It’s something that I missed doing and it’s great to have the chance to cheer for a team,” Filippidis said. Yet another fan, junior Dillon Guynup, remembered what it was like to cheer at his high school and found the chance to continue here at Vassar a fantastic opportunity: “I was in our sizable cheering section at high school for the last three years. We were louder but we were also bigger. It’s great to have the chance to support the team; they’re such great guys.”

Pratt actually was on the soccer team his freshman year but decided to See FANS on page 18

Notable NYC ballet dancers to perform at VCw

Page 2

The Miscellany News

November 6, 2014

Editor-in-Chief Marie Solis

Magna Graecia

Senior Editors

Meaghan Hughes Palak Patel

Camille Delgado Far and Away Blogger

Contributing Editors

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courtesy of Camille Delgado

y program, Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies in Rome, has an eight-day trip to Sicily built into the curriculum (as well as one to Campania later in the semester). Basically, they shove all 35 students, four professors, the director and my main man Gianni (our bus driver) into a coach bus, then drive down the coast of Italy, hotel hoppin’ every night with full-day historical lectures in between.

We went to at least 13 different cities—Paestum, Reggio Calabria, Taormina, Syracusa, Ortigia Island, Enna, Morgantina, Agrigento, Selinunte, Motya, Segesta, Palermo, Monreale—and definitely more, but I can’t remember them all.

First, I’m going to start with one word: temples. Here’s a little (non-exhaustive) collage. Each picture is a different temple (except top right) and these don’t include the temples that are currently functioning as churches. I wish I were kidding.

Day 4: Ortigia Island (1 temple) I can’t really say anything about this place other than: it is beautiful.

The piazza houses a magnificent Christian basilica that started its life as a pagan temple, but is now part of a glowing area of town. Seriously.

That marble/limestone is damn reflective. I think I’m tanner here in Italy than I’ve ever been on a normal day in the Philippines, which does say something. We also spent a good amount of time singing in the ancient quarries. I believe there was a trained opera singer in our group of tourists. It was quite lovely, actually.

Day 5: Morgantina (used to have temples) Today we played Frisbee in the Agora at Morgantina and the director of the dig site stopped us so she could take some pictures for the website.

To read more about Italy from Camille, check out at farandaway.miscellanynews.org.

Not everything’s black and white.

Want to see Vassar life with #nofilter?

Check out photos from around campus and snapshots of student life on our Instagram account.

Bethan Johnson Aja Saalfeld

Features Opinions Arts Humor & Satire Sports Design Photography Online Social Media Copy

Erik Halberg Chris Brown Samantha Kohl Chris Gonzalez Eli J. Vargas I Elizabeth Dean Samantha Pianello Gwendolyn Frenzel Maddy Vogel Ashley Pecorelli

Crossword Editors Collin Knopp-Schwyn York Chen Assistant Photo Jacob Gorski Reporters Amreen Bhasin Julia Cunningham Emily Hoffman Erik Quinson Emma Rosenthal Columnists Sophia Burns Delaney Fischer Sam Hammer Sarah Sandler Design Sarah Dolan Bethany Terry Photography Alec Ferretti Emily Lavieri-Scull Social Media Kayla Holliday Hannah Nice Copy Hallie Ayres Claire Baker Kristiana Bowman Anika Lanser Cody Duan-Mcglashen Macall McQueen Alessandra Muccio Kelsey Quinn Jessica Roden Emma Roellke Sophia Slater Rebecca Weir

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Letter to the Editor

omas Guarnizo, author of “Low attendance at CSA event highlights cultural ignorance,” should read a book I have never read “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” No one will come to celebrate the events Guarnizo supports if he continues to call the readers of The Miscellany News “ignorant” and accuses us of “appropriation” and “exploitation.”

As I wrote in an Op-ed last fall, Vassar students do not have to hear it, and they do not want to in increasing numbers. Those who most support “social consciousness” structural changes at Vassar show themselves time and time again unable to understand the basics of social cooperation, the first rule of which is that you do not have any claim on another person’s life or interests. You have to appeal to a person’s interests and motivate them if you seek their voluntary agreement or support.

Vassar students who respect rather than abuse relationships with their fellow students will stop listening and coming to events that they sense have a double motivation. For groups to allegedly celebrate millennial values or to attack millennial individualism?

Follow us @TheMiscNews

—Julian Hassan ’14 was a cognitive science major.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

November 6, 2014

NEWS

Page 3

Students explore breadth of allyship in Trans Ally Training Aja Saalfeld

Contributing Editor

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n an attempt to facilitate training and education regarding issues affecting transgender individuals, on Nov. 3 and 4, the LGBTQ Center offered two training sessions on transgender allyship. This was the second year that the Center offered this programming and two students, Willow Carter ’15 and Brennan McDaniel ’17, were the co-facilitators for this fall’s sessions.

This was both the first year McDaniel worked in the LGBTQ Center and the first year they were a facilitator for Trans Ally Training. Though it was their first year working on this project, McDaniel emphasized that it was a learning experience, and that hopefully, they will have the opportunity to work on more projects of this type. “I’m hoping to have these continue—even after Willow graduates—so I’m glad I was able to help out with this one,” wrote McDaniel in an emailed statement.

As a part of this training, McDaniel hoped to educate attendees on some of fundamental issues surrounding gender identity and binaries. McDaniel explained, “I mainly talked about trans identities, defined cissexism on the legal, institutional and interpersonal level, and hopefully I stressed that ‘transgender’ is a wide umbrella term encompassing various types of experiences and bodies, and hopefully people are beginning to understand gender as more than an arbitrary system of identity.”

According to Director of the Women’s and LGBTQ Centers Judy Jarvis, who helped with logistics and planning, the more general trainings, such as the ones that happened this week, are not the only ways that the Vassar community can learn about becoming better allies. In addition to training sessions open to the greater community, there have been more

targeted sessions for administration.

Jarvis wrote in an emailed statement, “The LGBTQ Center began offering Trans Allyship trainings in the spring of 2013, and to date we have conducted eight trainings, including the two this week. We both provide general Vassar community trainings like the ones this week, as well as trans allyship trainings tailored to particular offices upon their request,” she explained.

Jarvis went on to note, “For example, last year Willow Carter ’15 and I facilitated two trainings with Res Life administrators and CDO administrators.”

While they deemed available training sessions as a critical tool, McDaniel noted that self education is crucial and often needs to be an internal motive. According to McDaniel, deep introspection and hard work are key to working on supporting oppressed groups.

“I think we should view education as a personal responsibility—[Carter] and I sitting at a booth talking about these things is ultimately not the way for people to decolonize their thoughts, to empower themselves to begin to act, and so on,” wrote McDaniel. “I said it already, but I definitely want these [Trans] 101 trainings to be seen as a starting point for people, in order to instill a small amount of consciousness/confidence that’ll somewhat demystify these politics in order to get people talking, organizing and acting.”

One student embodying this proactive attitude of self-improvement as an ally was Katie Torrisi ’15, who attended the Monday night session. She discussed one of the various motivations for student participation in such programs. Torrisi wrote in an emailed statement, “I decided to attend the trans ally training session because I felt that as a cis woman, I owed it not only to my trans friends, but to the trans community to take this opportunity to work to better myself as an ally.”

She particularly spoke to the fact that allyship is not an identity, but a process, and that one always has to do more than just declare oneself an ally.

Jarvis spoke to the diversity of knowledge regarding transgender issues among attendees, noting that topics can range in the complexity and vocabulary discussed in regards to trans identities and intersectionality. She wrote, “We seek to provide trainings that can reach people wherever they are at in terms of their social consciousness around trans issues.”

“We do, for example, go over basic trans vocabulary, but we also talk about alternative gender and sex models and focus on attendees’ questions, which means that we are sort of providing a 101, 201 and 301 all at the same time,” she continued.

Jarvis went on to note, “For this reason, we also encourage people to come back to the trainings—the process of learning and talking through concepts and realities of cissexism, trans erasure and transphobia must be continual to be effective.”

Torrisi will be one of those who continues her learning process, saying that the concrete steps to be a better ally were a helpful part of this training session and that, as a result, she wants to engage in similar programs in the coming months.

Torrisi remarked, “At the end they had us...reflect on how we could continue to do better. The handouts were very helpful. One gave us a list of ‘Action Tips for Allies of Trans People,’ and we went around the room and read them out loud.”

She continued, “We were also given a list of vocabulary terms, and invited to ask any questions we had about them. That kind of opportunity is rare. I think more people on campus should take advantage of events like this. I’m glad I went, and I plan on attending

similar events in the future.”

While learning about improving as an ally was an important part of this training, McDaniel also said that they tried to get across nuances and divisions within an ultimately diverse community. One important distinction was the reality that the people receiving the brunt of abuse within the transgender community are trans women. “[Carter] and I both made it a point throughout to emphasize that, while we talk about a ‘trans community’ to denote everybody who deviates from or transgresses our notions of strict binary gender categories, that it’s important to understand that many types of violences, including physical assault, rape, sexual assault, as well as institutional things like medical gatekeeping, imprisonment, homelessness and so on, are geared toward trans women, especially trans women of color,” wrote McDaniel.

They went on to explain, “[This is] because of the United States’ political, social and economic structures of racism, capitalism, cis-hetero-patriarchy [and] colonialism.”

While Torrisi hopes to continue her education and Jarvis wants to encourage faculty and administration to become more involved, McDaniel hopes to continue working on improving trans ally training.

Jarvis expressed her hopes that this relationship will continue in the coming years.

She said, “We would be happy to work with any office on campus to share important trans allyship information.”

Aside from hopes to continue Trans Ally Training programming in the coming semesters, McDaniels articulated another hope for trans ally programming at the College. They wrote, “Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue the trans ally trainings, maybe creating smaller, more focused groups...dedicated to organizing [and] changing things at Vassar.”

Keys promotes alternative U.S. human rights narrative Emily Hoffman Reporter

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Keys went on to talk about the end of the Cold War and how it allowed politicians to finally disagree with anti-communist leaders and the potentially brutal treatment of their constituents. She said, “Human rights emerged in a more contingent way than historians have allowed for. The concept was seized upon not by liberals but in fact by conservative Cold War hawks.” Although many attribute human rights advocacy to liberals, they tended to emphasize internal cleansing rather than outward moralizing at the time.

Keys identified Senator Henry Jackson as a key developer in the language of human rights.

She said that Jackson was outraged by détente, which was the easing of tensions between the

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

n Oct. 30, Professor Barbara Keys gave the Charles Griffin Memorial Lecture, sponsored by the Department of History, in Taylor Hall. The lecture focused on the historical importance of human rights and their implications in current foreign policy. Keys’ latest book, “Reclaiming American Virtue: The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s,” charts one explanation of the origins of the human rights “boom” of the 1970s in America.

Aside from publishing works on human rights, Keys boasts a breadth of experience as both educator and researcher. Barbara Keys holds a PhD in History from Harvard University and has taught at California State University in Sacramento and University of Melbourne. She has been a research fellow at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies and at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. She has also been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at University of California, Berkeley and the Center for European Studies at Harvard.

The lecture, “The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s,” served as a larger explanation of her book. She explained that she focused on the 1970s because it was the first time that the promotion of international human rights was established as a core part of American foreign policy. Keys asserted that one of the main reasons Americans embraced human rights in foreign policy was guilt from the Vietnam War. For Americans, the fight for human rights re-established America as a benevolent force in the world and reclaimed American virtue.

Keys began by dissecting Jimmy Carter’s inaugural address in January 1977. Carter was hailed as a major advocate of human rights and was said to have propelled it to prominence in the U.S. In his address, Carter said, “Our commitment to human rights must be absolute.”

This is the phrase that many historians use to illustrate his dedication to human rights during his presidency.

However, Keys had a different interpretation of this quote. In the lecture, Keys stated her belief that Carter was referring to domestic policy and was equating human rights to civil rights.

She added, “Human rights seemed more like a fluke than a well conceived policy choice.” She went on to say that she grappled with the questions: If it wasn’t Carter who prioritized human rights, who was it? And what influences propelled the embracement of human rights?

These questions prompted Keys to write her most new book. Keys asserted in the lecture that Carter pushed for human rights because the concept was popular with Americans. After the Vietnam War, Watergate and Central Intelligence Agency scandals, human rights became successful because of the country’s internal psychological state. She explained, “[Human rights] offered a way forward for Americans, out of a period of crisis and self doubt.”

Barbara Keys, scholar and policy analyst, discussed American human rights policies with students in her lecture, “The Human Rights Revolution of the 1970s,” in the connection with the Department of History.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Soviet Union and the United States. He referred to it as a “moral abomination,” as he believed that America was treating the perceived evil power of the Soviet Union like any other power.

He thus made it his primary cause to support Soviet Jewish immigration and justified his cause with the language of the human rights with appeals to the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Keys also identified Congressman Donald Fraser as a major human rights policymaker, who set the template for what Carter would do as president. Holding congressional hearings on human rights promotion, the Congressman asserted that if the United States continued to grant aid to countries that oppressed their people, it was supporting that oppression and its consequences.

The speaker concluded that since the 1970s, there has been a battle over whether human rights originated as a democratic or conservative ideology. Furthermore, Keys stressed that the diplomacy of human rights did help the psyche and morale of the United States, but it also obscured the Vietnam War’s brutality and the true costs and shifted attention away from American problems.

She asserted that it has been this way ever since and that the present-day stance on human rights can be read as a result of the 1970s emergence. America’s foreign policy has had very few effects over the past 40 years on improving the human rights of others. This aligns with Keys’ opinion because it was never about helping others, but about recasting America as a benevolent force in the world.

According to Professor of History Robert Brigham, who helped sponsor the lecture, this discussion of human rights has significant modern implications. He said, “Human rights are the moral language of our times, but how did they come to represent our last utopia? Barbara Keys’ lecture explained the human rights boom of the 1970s as the United States tried to reclaim virtue following the Vietnam War.” Brigham went on to explain, “Liberals were especially eager to have idealism front and center in U.S. foreign policy, and human rights allowed them to resurrect that project. Keys’ lecture was superb.”

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Outside the Bubble Local elections end with Maloney win On Tuesday, Nov. 4 the United States citizens cast their votes in the midterm elections. At approximately 12:23 a.m. Wednesday morning, the initial results from the 18th district congressional election suggested a victory for Sean Patrick Maloney. Maloney then declared his victory against Nan Hayworth with 79,705 votes to Hayworth’s 77,961. His win was confirmed later in the morning, with Maloney receiving 84, 415 votes (49.6%) in total. Hayworth received 81, 625 (48%) and Scott Smith, and Independent candidate, earned 4, 131 (2.4%).

While both candidates spoke on strengthening the local economy, Hayworth, a Republican, focused on providing aid to veterans and making changes to the Afforable Care Act. Maloney, a Democrat, ran on a platform based on creating jobs and bolstering the economy. For his two-year term, Maloney will be representing parts of Dutchess, Putnam, Westchester and Orange counties.

In the 19th district, incumbent Chris Gibson won the congressional seat when his opponent, Democrat Sean Eldridge, conceded the election in an address at 10:40 p.m. Gibson was first elected to the New York State Congress in 2010 to the then-20th district, before local redistricting. In Dutchess county, Gibson won 61% of the vote. Gibson ran on a platform based on job creation and infrastructure, but noted that his primary goal was relevant to New Yorkers in particular. “Most immediately, I will be working with the Senate to ensure passage of my Lyme Disease bill so we can get that bill signed into law by the President,” he said. “As always, my commitment to those I have the privilege to represent remains constant: I will always put the needs of Upstate New York first in everything I do” (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Gibson Wins 19th Congressional District,” 11.05.14).

Vassar’s campus is split between the two districts, and students who registered as New York voters were able to participate in this election. The College offered shuttles for students to the voting booths throughout the day.

Republican party takes control of Congress For the first time in eight years, the Republican party has the majority of seats in the Senate. After winning several key elections in Arkansas, North Carolina, Iowa and Colorado, Republicans are expected to take close to 245 seats, which is the largest margin since the Truman administration. The conservative majority will likely be at odds with the decisions Democratic president Barack Obama will try to make during his last two years in office. Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, spoke to this issue, stating, “Barack Obama has our country in a ditch, and many of his lieutenants running for the Senate were right there with him...The punishment is going to be broad, and it’s going to be pretty serious” (New York Times, “Riding Wave of Discontent, G.O.P. Takes Senate,” 11.05.14).

Some of the initial reasons for the changing tide are general dissatisfaction with President Obama’s perceived failure to appropriately deal with the economy. In total the losses were more than White House officials expected. The new majority will force Obama to seek bipartisan support for legislation regarding issues such as tax and healthcare reform. Obama has already invited bipartisan leaders to the White House to discuss potential cooperation efforts between the two parties.

Funding for the campaigns played a large role in Republican victories. Democrats spent an estimated $132 million on television ads, significantly less than the Republicans’ $205 million for media campaigning. Much of the Republican ad money came from Koch-backed campaigns, which accounted for approximately $77 million of television ads.

Newly elected Republican senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky is expected to succeed current majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada. McConnell hopes to put pressure on the White House, especially on issues of immigration and healthcare reform.

He has also promised to introduce a five-day work week and greater debate on the floor.

Other highlights from the national elections included Republican Joni Ernst’s win, making her the first woman from Iowa to win a seat in Congress, and two traditionally Democratic states, Maryland and Illinois, electing Republican governors. Additionally voters in Oregon and Washington D.C. voted to legalize marijuana for those 21 and older, with Oregon’s proposal following the precedents of Colorado and Washington State, while D.C’s legislation will not involve the selling of the drug.

—Meaghan Hughes and Palak Patel, Senior Editors

NEWS

November 6, 2014

Speaker urges compromises for peace ISRAEL-PALESTINE continued from page 1

After looking into the history and politics of the Middle East to understand the place in which he wanted to spend his life, Baskin became involved in the political relationship between Israel and Palestine, and, after discussing the issue with supporters of both Palestine and Israel, was troubled by the perceived close-mindedness of many of the people with whom he wished to engage in a constructive dialogue.

“I was actually looking for dialogue, but how can you dialogue with someone who doesn’t even recognize that you have a right to exist?” wondered Baskin.

Having developed a passion for Israeli-Palestinian relations during his two years living in a Palestinian village in Israel, Baskin found his first job in the Israeli government as the first civil servant for Jewish-Arab relations, working within the Ministry of Education to help establish the Department for Education for Coexistence and Democracy as well as the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence before the First Intifada in 1987.

The speaker stated that violence in the region, both rhetorical and actual, has developed since the First Intafada. Baskin sees the conflict as resolvable, even now, with the strain the recent atrocities of this year have put on Israeli-Palestinian relations, as long as compromises are made by both parties involved.

He said, “But an agreement is still possible because the parameters of the agreement are still there, based on the 22 [to] 78 percent split, and the Palestinians have been even, I would say, magnanimous in that they’ve said they’re willing to accept the principle of territorial swaps. Even though they say settlements are illegal by international law, they understand that no government of Israel is going to be able to remove 600,000 people.”

He continued, “So they’ve said that they’re willing to engage in territorial swaps

that would enable Israel to annex some of the settlements in exchange for equal territories inside of Israel proper for the Palestinians. The whole thing is Palestine anyway, so there’s nothing sanctified, holy about the Green Line,” remarked Baskin.

The speaker is referring to the geographical line established by the 1949 Armistice Agreements that demarcates the borders between Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. “We can go beyond the Green Line and we can actually make a zigzag border, in which Israel could annex about four percent in exchange for equal territory and keep 75 to 80 percent of the settlers where they are under Israeli sovereignty,” he said.

Some of the means that may be used to forge a solution to the need for balance between the Israeli need to protect itself against regional threats of terrorism and the Palestinian need for sovereignty, suggested Baskin, include joint security mechanisms and joint command operations, as well as a binational water utility agreement, which would guarantee denationalized water provisions to all people in the region. He explained, “We’re going to have to develop partnerships because if peace is going to be real,” he suggested, “it can’t be built on walls and fences, on barbed wire. It’s going to have to be built on cooperation.”

Despite his frequently mentioned love for Israel, Baskin encouraged criticism of, and action against, the deeds of Israel. He also stated the importance of understanding these critiques independent of accusations of anti-Semitism, a term that he found dangerous to introduce into the discussion.

A major part of his efforts to respond to the injustices of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement), which intends, as its names indicates, to put political and economic pressure on Israel to end military occupation of Palestinian lands. This movement has proven central to conceptions of

Vassar’s relationship to the conflict. Last semester, in response to the administration’s official refusal to support an academic boycott, professors noted the BDS movement on several occasions. For example, they wrote, “Nor can we ignore that many icons of the anti-Apartheid struggle–such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu–support the BDS campaign today” (The Miscellany News, “Open letter in defense of academic freedom in Palestine/Israel and in the United States,” 3.1.14).

This distaste, Baskin argues, will only prompt change in Israel’s policy. “The Israeli people are eventually, sooner, not later, going to wake up and understand that the pressure can be removed by ending the occupation,” Baskin posited.

“Israel can no longer find a way to justify and sustain the occupation of the Palestinian people and the prevention of granting the Palestinian people the same liberty and freedom that the Israelis demand for themselves,” he continued. “It simply cannot be justified anymore, and certainly not when Israel keeps building settlements, which has just ticked off the entire world.”

The J Street U Vassar event, which was cosponsored by the Vassar Jewish Union (VJU), as well as the VC Dems, the Vassar Student Association and numerous academic programs, was organized to provide a voice who had been deeply engrained in the politics and the realities of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and who could offer firsthand experience and insight into potential directions and solutions for the future.

VJU President Jeremy Brick ’15 believed that the event could prove to be beneficial to discussions of the conflict on campus. He wrote in an emailed statement, “It could provoke a productive, not necessarily controversial, but intellectual exchange about the subject, especially since it will be coming from a man who is ingrained in the constant negotiations that occur daily with regards to the conflict.”

Robbery reflects costly long-term pattern THEFT continued from page 1

board games and boffering equipment used in Live Action Role Play games, with an estimated price of more than $500. Although the organization’s safety precautions included a lock mechanism for the door, issues with the door frame made the lock ineffective.

Last Sept., NSO filed a Capital Fund request following a similar left of gaming consoles, controllers, and video games. Their request of $951.97, later approved by the VSA Council without objection, included provisions for a new lock. The request states, “We received a new lock from the school that should not be vulnerable to breaking and looting.”

However, according to reports, the added precautions were not enough to prevent another theft. It was this initial theft that left the door frame so damaged that it effectively eliminated the value of the new lock system.

In light of this information, NSO will attempt a variety of new methods to prevent future break-ins. According to the fund application placed by NSO, they “plan on discussing with Residential Life and Buildings & Grounds in order to repair our door to the clubroom.” Additionally, as part of the funding they received from the VSA, NSO’s large-ticket items will gain safety tags.

While the VSA did approve funding for safety tags, Finance Committee refused to allot the entire amount requested in the fund application. Aside from seeking replacements for the lost equipment, the organization requested new items; Finance Committee felt uncomfortable granting funding for items unconnected to the robbery. VP for Finance Maximilien Moran ’16 stated, “Given that we were already spending so much money replacing the items, we felt that it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to also spend money buying new stuff.”

Additionally, while Moran clearly stated that blame should not fall on burglarized organizations, the partial funding was borne out of a belief that this method would instill

an increased degree of cautiousness with items, operating on the economic theory of moral hazard. Moran explained, “We also thought that we needed to instill this sense of accountability to the members of this organization, even though we understand that it’s not the fault of the people who were robbed ... We need there to be some kind of repercussion when stuff is taken.”

Despite that fact that the fund application in its entirety was not supported, NSO leadership is pleased with the decisions made by Council. NSO Co-President Cat Morgan ’15 noted, “The VSA support this year has been critical in finally implementing a complete solution, and we are thankful for their help.”

While this funding has assisted NSO in rebuilding after the robbery, the organization, which boasts at least 50 active members and hosts community events which include an annual No Such Convention that boasts cosplay, video game tournaments and vendors, foresees larger impacts.

Morgan explained, “The NSO has experienced two major break-ins within the past three years, both of which caused us substantial financial losses. It’s very frustrating because we are a club that services a large portion of the student body and the greater community, and these thefts hindered our weekly activities and bigger events.”

Although spread out across numerous semesters, and despite claims by the new VP for Activities Lauren Garcia ’16, this latest theft marks yet another expensive theft for student organizations that potentially hindered the capabilities of the groups. Said Garcia in an emailed statement, “There isn’t a huge issue with theft or security in organizations. This case stands alone, and typically orgs are very responsible and take proper security measures. Sometimes, things just happen to be out of their control.”

Though there have not been a large number of reported thefts this year, historically, several organizations with big-ticket items

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

have been targets of theft. According to Moran, ViCE has reported thefts in recent years that have prompted them to increase security on their items to include security tags to prevent the resale of stolen items. Meanwhile, within the last three years the Vassar Filmmakers also experienced a theft that hindered their operating ability for a period.

Finally, a robbery of The Miscellany News over Summer 2012 saw the loss of three desktop computers. The theft required replacing all computers, as well as updates to the locks and changes in key access policy.

It is the connected nature of these thefts that has left NSO and VSA leaders advising students about security and reconsidering those precautions and responses made by the College. Suggestions to prevent future incidents range from basic steps to larger shifts in policy. Garcia advised, “Lock your things. Know who has access to these items.

Make sure your members value your org items and respect the safety measures needed to be taken with them.”

While Morgan expressed gratitude for the VSA funding NSO received, she also noted that other arbiters of College security have proven less cooperative.

She remarked, “Both times, we attempted to discuss potential solutions with the College, but our ideas have been completed only halfway, allowing criminals to continue breaking in.”

Moran asserted that funding for security tags on costly items should be requested by student organizations as ViCE does, not as a reactionary measure, but rather as a standard portion of annual budgeting.

Moran also expressed a hope that this latest theft will spur additional discussions within the VSA and beyond. He noted, “I think the biggest priority is we need to find spaces that are not susceptible to people breaking into them and having a better system whereby we keep track of who has keys and who has access.”

November 6, 2014

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Nandy hunts for moments of humanity in mass violence Alex Trunnell

Guest Reporter

L

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

eading intellectual and sociologist Ashis Nandy spoke at Vassar on Nov. 3, sharing his experience researching mass violence and human potential. He has combined these two seemingly-opposite fields of study to construct a multidimensional view of human kind.

As Professor Katherine Hite, chair of the Vassar Political Science Department, said, “Ashis Nandy has been a seminal thinker on imagining human connection and potentiality beyond conflict.”

Nandy has, in his many years as a professor and a thinker, explored the relationship between potentialities and violence. He has taken the worst of humanity and the best of humanity, putting them face to face with one another to glean new meaning. As a result, he has found glimmers of hope in even the bleakest of situations.

“I have been interested in human violence for a long time...[but] after studying it continuously for a while, you are demoralized and lose all hope for human kind. So, you need a respite from it, and then I switch to human dignity and human presence.” Nandy said at his lecture.

Though the realities of mass violence can be difficult to ignore, Nandy delves deep into history to find moments of humanity.

“Even when dealing with something as nasty as genocide, I like to look at the possible ways in which human beings face it,” Nandy explained. “That comes from my belief that there is always some human potential which we have not tapped.”

He continued, “After the end of World War II, over 500 German Jews appeared in Berlin, as if by magic. In order for them to have escaped the horrors of the Holocaust and the war, at least five hundred Germans had to have made the decision to protect them. On a similar note, after the India-Pakistani riots which surrounded the Partition of India, 40 percent of all survivors said that they were helped by a member of the opposing side: Hindus helping Muslims, Muslims helping Hindus.” Nandy takes these

Along with Professor Amitava Kumar of the English Department, sociologist Ashis Nandy sits in Rockefeller Hall where he gave a lecture on his theories about mass violence and human potentiality. events and he finds the capacity for goodness in them. “I am sure that if other researchers focused on this side of the story, they would find at least a less pessimistic picture of human kind,” Nandy explained.

At the forefront of this picture is the concept of religion. As Professor E.H. Jarow of the Religion Department notes, “It’s refreshing...to find a scholar of political science who understands religion in more than a cursory sense, understands the intricacies and problematics of how politics and religion interface… it’s never a simple thing.”

Nandy explored this relationship in his talk, and noted the dichotomy which surrounds the notion of religion: “Religion can be used as faith, personal faith...but religion can be used also as an ideology...the moment you use religion as an ideology, you are using it as a superficial religion with no deeper place in your

personal life.”

Drawing on examples of fickle religious status in Middle Eastern politics, Nandy expressed how identifying with a religion has become a matter of just that: identifying. Religion has become a marker of ideology, and not a system of beliefs which reflects personal convictions.

The meaning of the word itself has been altered from a personal faith to a political tool, at least in part; after attending Nandy’s lecture, Sophia Pitcairn ’16 expressed that “[Nandy’s] comments forced me to challenge my own concept of religion,” Pitcairn said.

Stemming from religion, and equally as important, is another idea: truth. Nandy challenged the traditional idea of truth: “I looked… not for truth, but for constructions of truth.”

This seems, at first, to be a dangerous and sad concept: if there are only constructions of truth, how can one hope to find truth itself? Or,

rather, how can one be sure that truth even exists? Jarow remarked on these questions: “Since deconstruction, there’s the impending awareness that truth is just a construction; and so, a lot of people take that and run with that annihilistically.”

Jarow notes that lacking in one truth seems to lend itself only to a negative view of the world.

Truth being nothing but a construction is a bleak concept, one which, if taken the wrong way, seems to contradict Nandy’s otherwise optimistic view of humanity. However, Nandy saw these concepts not as a shattered mirror, but rather as pieces to an otherwise unknown puzzle. Only by understanding the constructs of truth can we hope to discover truth itself, and only by building upon the foundations humanity has already laid can we construct an accurate model of truth.

When considering the lecture as a whole, it was not the specific examples nor the engaging factoids which students pulled from Nandy’s discussion. Rather, they found his views thought-provoking. “Nandy’s alternative theoretical conceptions when looking at mass violence encourages students to create new frameworks to discuss societal phenomena,” said Tanvi Jaluka ’17, an attendee at the lecture.

These frameworks begin with academia, which can be entirely pertinent to the issues of the world. As Jarow said: “His lecture debunked the myth of the ivory tower, that academics is not relevant: It can be extremely relevant to everything when you’re willing to engage.”

Ashis Nandy is a perfect example of someone willing to engage; through the combination of two opposing fields, Nandy has brought to light what has been previously unknown and has explored the ramifications thereof. “He epitomizes what an intellectual should be, because he is not in a narrow box of disciplines; he taken on things that really matter,” said Jarow.

In the face of mass violence, still human potentiality prevails. We have the ability to change things, the ability to be good. Ashis Nandy has discovered this himself, stating: “We are not as helpless as we like to believe.”

Retreat extends weekend hours to feed late-night cravings Julia Cunningham Reporter

W

ithout much money to spend, and without much energy to venture too far off campus, Vassar students don’t have many options when they get the late night munchies on a week day. Thankfully, the Retreat has come up with a solution to this issue.

Starting Thursday, Oct. 30, the Retreat added a few later hours every Thursday through Saturday, from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Bruce Harms is the Retreat Food Production Manager and the Associate Food Service Director. He wrote in an emailed statement that, from the start, Late Night seemed to be something that could become a fixed part of the Retreat schedule in the future.

“We had 240 people take advantage of the later hours,” Harms wrote. “If things go well, this

will be a permanent change to our schedule.”

Peter Inserillo, the Night Manager at the Retreat, said that the first night was incredibly successful. “The first night that we opened was a Thursday, and at eleven o’clock we got really rushed,” he said. He added, “And it was also the first night doing it so a lot of new procedures and new foods. It was very interesting. It went very smooth, and then the next night it was even more steady, so that worked out a little better.”

Vassar’s Central Dining Staff is receptive to suggestions from the student body. Late Night at the Retreat is one such example. Chris Hanaburgh, the Assistant Chef at the Retreat, said, “I heard that there was an overwhelming want from the students from management, I guess there were several emails or letters or phone calls that were present where management was approached saying that students would like later

Alec Ferretti/The Miscellany News

Students sit at a table in the Retreat enjoying snacks during the Late Night at the Retreat event last week. Campus activities is exploring new options for late night dining, this being one such trial period.

hours because its hard with their tough schedules, long hours of class and homework and everything else in order to rush down to the Retreat.” He continued, explaining, “We were approached and everyone was proactive for it.

We’re here for the students.”

Hannah Matsunaga ’16 agreed that Late Night at the Retreat was essentially a student initiative.

As the Vice President for Student Life, she deals with the non-academic aspects of student life at Vassar, including Campus Dining.

“I think the idea really came from the student body,” Matsunaga wrote in an emailed statement. “People have been talking about late night food options since the disappearance of Late Night at the Deece, a project done by last year’s VSA but imagined by students for years and years before.”

Late Night at the Deece, however, a program started last year during the spring semester, was not exactly the same thing as Late Night at the Retreat, Harms explained.

“Late Night at the Deece was a program used to determine student interest in a late night dining spot. We determined that there was indeed student interest, but the Retreat was better suited to satisfy it. We could offer greater variety and the building was already open.”

Matsunaga added that the process of creating this new late night food option was the work of many people. “The idea for food at night can’t be fairly attributed to just one person. This was also a pretty informal process,” she wrote.

Matsunaga continued, “Students, both directly and through their VSA elected officials, communicated to administrators, specifically Terry Quinn, that they wanted late night options to look a certain way, and that’s what happened.”

She added, “I think the project is fantastic and I hope people like it!”

The menu for Late Night at the Retreat is a little bit different from the Retreat’s normal offerings. If you’re craving a classic Retreat sandwich, their Retreat Burger, Retreat Veggie Burger, Buffalo Chicken Ciabatta or Wrap, Pesto Chicken Ciabatta or Wrap, and Breakfast Classic are still

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

readily available to order.

For those looking for something beyond the Retreat staples, pizza, hot wings with blue cheese dip, mozzarella sticks with marinara, or even a combo platter, hot wings, mozzarella sticks, and homemade potato chips with a 12 oz. fountain soda are also on the menu with the perennial French fries and sweet potato fries available as a side.

In order to begin planning the idea of keeping the Retreat open for longer hours, Harms added that it wasn’t just a decision for those higher up in the Central Dining Staff. “We had to determine the menu and gain the support of the Retreat staff. It’s a lot to ask of people to work until 2 a.m.”

The staff that works Late Night is the same staff that works during the day. “Right now, late night hours are offered to our staff on a rotating basis, just as we offer all overtime,” Harms wrote. “The advantage would be that full time employees are paid time and one half for the extra hours.”

Louie Lou worked as a cashier at one of the recent Late Nights. He said that the process of determining the Late Night staff was very informal. “They just told me that they have this new stuff and they’re open late. One of the managers just asked me if I wanted to stay overtime, and here I am,” he said.

Inserillo added that having late night food hours has recently become a popular option at many institutions. “I work for Aramark and those food companies, that’s what they’re doing now. A lot of the higher education, they’re serving later at night so the students don’t have to go off campus.”

Central Dining and the administration have been working together to better improve the campus dining experience. Teresa Quinn, the Assistant Dean for Campus Activities, wrote in an emailed statement, “Future plans for campus dining will include late night dining on campus, and these test pilots, along with student input, will help determine the best location, hours and menu options for this dining option.”

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November 6, 2014

Grants to enhance students’ experiences with campus tech Alex Trunnell

A

Guest Reporter

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

lot is being done to improve the sciences at Vassar: there’s a new building well under construction, Sanders Physics is already refurbished and modernized and Olmsted is currently undergoing the same treatment. Recently, Vassar added another factor into its support of the sciences upon recieving two National Science Foundation (NSF) grants, worth a combined total of $624,000.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950. “To promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity and welfare; to secure the national defense,” states the NSF Mission Statement about the organization’s goals. Vassar is one of the many schools which receives grants from NSF, which are put toward funding faculty research projects.

According to Cato, the process of applying for the grants began in the spring. “Vassar has extensive research enterprise with NSF funded grants,” explained Cato.

He remarked that in the past ten years, Vassar faculty have received over nine million dollars total in NSF grants to fund their own research.

Cato noted that when applying for the two grants Vassar just received, he went directly to the professors and asked them how the grant money would help their research.

These answers eventually became the proposal sent into the NSF. It is not, however, the faculty alone who benefit from these grants. “There is a tightly knit connection between faculty and students in research,” said Cato. He then elaborated, stating that students participate in research at Vassar by assisting professors, as well as by conducting their own independent research projects.

In an outline of how the grant money will be used, Cato wrote that the grants will further improve Vassar’s information services. “[They will] fund considerable expansion of

the College’s computing capacity and security as part of a larger infrastructure initiative, enabling faculty and students to more effectively participate in large-scale data analysis and Internet-based research collaborations,” he explained.

As an example of the relevance of this collaboration, Cato mentioned a professor who used forty seven billion data points for his research on temperature. Those data points took two weeks to download onto Vassar’s network. The grant money will go toward initiatives which will eliminate this problem and expedite the process of collecting and analyzing data. Cato explained that in order to do this, “[The larger initiative has plans to] more than double Vassar’s network bandwidth and better position the College to address long-term bandwidth needs.”

In addition to improving the bandwidth, Cato writes that the initiative will help the College interact with other educational institutions across the country. “[We will] gain the capacity for the College to participate in the Internet2 and NYSERNet (New York State Education and Research Network) research & education networks,” wrote Cato.

These are two networks which allow for collaboration among colleges and universities, which are vital to the research process as a whole. These networks allow for real-time communication, including consistent updating of data sets, which helps to keep the College’s research completely up to date with relation to its peer institutions.

Said Cato, “It was always messy to work in these partnerships, having to manually move and update data.” With the new networks, this will no longer pose a problem.

“Vassar will have access to computational and analytical resources through regional and national collaborations far beyond anything possible on campus,” wrote Cato.

He added that it is unusual for samller liberal arts college to have these benefits, and that Vassar is among the first to join the network and establish these connections.

Michael Cato is in charge of newly received grants from the National Science Foundation to upgrade faculty research capabilities. The changes range from internet enhancements to joining new networks.

As for what these connections entail, Cato provided a specific example: “Vassar will be joining eduroam, a service that will allow using a Vassar username and password to access WiFi at more than 150 institutions around the country, and thousands more around the world.”

With all of the data sure to be sent across the new networks, security is also a top priority. As Cato wrote, one of the benefits of the initiative is to be able to concentrate on working with both information and security together. “[We can now] better address research collaboration and information security needs with a cloud-based Identity & Access Management solution,” wrote Cato.

Cato also noted that the NSF actually acknowledged Vassar’s response of the cloud solution, which is something rare.

“I am really excited that this just opens the

door to a world of possibilities,” remarked Cato. And he has good reason to be; the two grants from the NSF will substantially add to the budding of the sciences at Vassar.

Because the initiative carried out via the grants was designed as a framework for the future, Vassar’s already strong research opportunities and projects will only improve moving into the future. The NSF especially realizes the impact of these grants.

Irene Qualters, Director of the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure division at the National Science Foundation, said, “NSF’s investments in campus cyberinfrastructure recognize the increasingly key role campus networks play in scientific discovery and education.”

“These two awards recognize Vassar’s opportunity to address scientific challenges through state of the art technology advances in networking and security,” she added.

Chia seeds a surprisingly satisfying smoothie staple Penina Remler Guest Reporter

W

courtesy of eat-yourself-skinny.com

hile seeking the perfect snack in my pantry, I stumbled upon a plastic container filled with something I had never seen before.

These minuscule black little seeds, initially, reminded me of bird food and for a second, and I wondered if my family had failed to tell me that they had adopted a new pet into our clan. I stared at the jar, waiting to make sense of what was inside until I finally picked it up to uncover the latest addition to our snack section: chia seeds.

Still, I couldn’t understand how this bizzare form of nutrients ended up in my house. Who in my family, I wondered, was consuming these strange little seeds? And in what form could they possibly be consuming them?

Questioning my family’s eating habits, I chose to look up this foreign ingredient online and found out that the only person at fault here was me. What a quick Google revealed was rather surprising to me. Apparently, chia seeds are way more popular than I expected and what some people might even consider “the latest trend.”

The opportunities to incorporate chia seeds into your daily diet seemed endless: Blend them into a mixed drink, sprinkle them onto a salad or even mold them into a flavored pudding. It was a wonder that I’d never heard of them before.

However, while researching online to uncover what all this commotion over chia seeds was about, I came across one particular recipe that I immediately felt obligated to try: Vegan Peach Oat Chia Smoothies.

Before finding out why or how the chia seeds ended up in my pantry in the first place, I ended up using the rest of the container for my personal taste buds. I guarantee that if you find yourself making this smoothie, you might have to head out to the store and restock your chia seed inventory before you’ve even started putting the concoction together—like I did.

What makes this smoothie recipe so irresistible is its combination of healthy yet satisfying

flavors. Since my first chia seed encounter, I have done some experimenting with various recipes involving chia seeds, and I have determined that this recipe makes for a perfect on-the-go breakfast for when you don’t have enough time to Deece before class or a great pre-workout snack on your way to the gym.

To prepare this filling drink, you’ll need some sort of blender. To continue the theme of latest trends, I hear Magic Bullets are all the rage, and your roommate or neighbor probably has one if you need to borrow it.

Begin the process by gathering and organizing the components of the smoothie. These include two peaches (or nectarines if you can’t find ripe peaches), one banana (frozen or fresh), orange juice (without pulp), chia seeds and oats.

Together, these ingredients will combine to result in the perfect elements of a smoothie based on flavor (thanks to the peaches), sweetness and texture (from the banana), consistency and thickness (due to the orange juice and chia seeds) and nutrients (fiber and manganese from the oats).

After organizing your ingredients, add them to the blender. On high, blend the mixture for no more than two minutes, or until the components seem to turn into some form of liquid.

Following the blending process, let the smoothie sit for five to 10 minutes so that the oats and chia seeds can soak into a gelatinous texture. Once the seeds and oats are well blended and no longer sink to the bottom, blend the drink once more to ensure that the entire thing has a smooth consistency.

Depending on your preference, you can add an additional banana half to make the smoothie thicker or add milk and/or orange juice to thin out the drink.

Lastly, if you think the smoothie could still use some sweetness, feel free to add in a tad of agave nectar to give it a little more kick.

If you don’t plan on drinking the smoothie immediately after you make it, be sure to keep this tasty beverage refrigerated lest it spoil and all your efforts be for naught.

The Ingredients 2 ripe peaches or nectarines 1 tbsp chia seeds 1/4 cup rolled oats 1/2 frozen banana (peeled before freezing) 1/4 cup fresh orange juice 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk Optional: 1 tbsp agave nectar for additional sweetness

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

November 6, 2014

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From madness to becoming a warrior: a personal essay Claire Standaert Guest Writer

Trigger Warning: This piece contains descriptions of depression, suicidal intent and eating disorders.

“I

n the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood / For I had lost the right path.”

I remember my team losing the final of the Las Vegas Cup and driving home quietly afterwards, listening to my breathing. I felt the anger rise when I inhaled and fall when I exhaled. I loved this power I had over my emotion. I may not have been able to prevent the other team from scoring, but I could control the rise and fall of my chest. After about 10 minutes, my breathing slowed to a normal pace. Physically controlling my emotion like this made my mind tired, so I popped in a Beyoncé CD and let her booming voice soothe my drained brain.

But as I waited at the stoplight turning into my neighborhood, I felt something unfamiliar rise up in me. The overwhelming need to eat something. I did a U-turn and sped to the nearest gas station. I bought a box of about twelve donuts. I got into my car and began to eat them as I drove home. I felt relieved that the immense pressure to eat just five minutes ago had vanished and was replaced with the sweet taste of gluttony. I parked in the garage and did not bother getting out. My family was inside, no doubt waiting for me to come home from the game. I’m sure they would’ve taken a few donuts off my hands, but I opted for the more selfish route. When I finished eating the last donut, I felt sick and guilty. The initial relief that chewing and swallowing brought me now turned into a dreadful anxiety. I had to get it out.

That day marked the beginning of my eating disorder that was to last nearly three years. I never questioned why I binged and purged, preferring to live in the moment and nurture the habit through self-loathing. It is not accurate to say that my eating disorder was by choice, for many others suffer similar neurological ailments that lead to eating abnormalities. However, I will concede that I lacked a strength that could have prevented the disease from consuming my life so completely—like poison ivy. In that sense, my disorder was self-inflicted, but at the same time so many forces were working against me subconsciously that any attempt to completely eradicate it would have proven futile.

One day, I felt a pain in my heart. It took my breath away as I was running on the soccer field in the middle of a game. It was raining heavily and drops of water fell into my open, gasping mouth as I leaned over. The sharp twist in my chest frightened me, and I wondered if I was having a heart attack. I stopped running but my teammates didn’t notice. The ball wasn’t near me. And just as suddenly as the pain had come, it left me. It was then I knew I needed help, for the feeling I had experienced was similar, although not as strong, as the jarring strain on my chest while purging.

I had read on the Internet earlier that week that purging can result in permanent damage to breathing and blood flow to the heart. And experiencing a painful pressure in that very area of my body frightened me terribly, motivating me to seek help greater than what my inner will could provide.

The look on my mother’s face after telling her I had been throwing up for two years will never leave the contours of my memory. Stricken with despair so great, her eyes looked at me with such intense gravity that I didn’t recognize her. Instead, I saw an old, grief-stricken woman who appeared to have already experienced all of life’s pains, such that a youth’s unfiltered emotion was replaced with an elder’s stoic endurance. But she was merely 40. She finally whispered, “Why would you do that to yourself, Claire?”

My heart sank. It was in that moment that I realized my afflictions could never be understood by an outsider.

I no longer have an eating disorder, which is, on one hand, a relief, because throwing up doesn’t feel good. But on the other hand, I miss everything the disease was. It was poet-

ry, tears and feeling. When I went to school, I looked at my friends and felt stronger than them. If they were sad, it wasn’t by choice. But if I wanted to feel happy or sad, all I had to do was eat. I had the key to the golden gate of emotion. Why I say this with pride is beyond me. But I can confidently say my suffering bred a creativity that provided my life with a profound meaning that I could not have found any other way.

I’ve always been a writer because I’ve always had something to say. Internal and external struggles mold into a giant mush that my writing attempts to polarize and sort into coherent ideas that move the reader to see as I see. But the fear of losing the power to convey what I think and feel about pain, love, happiness, hate, death and life terrifies me so much that I am compelled to constantly seek out avenues to spark my creative genius to write about them. And upon closer self-reflection, that is how I found my eating disorder. Or perhaps how it found me.

“It was within that moment I realized my afflictions could never be understood by an outsider.”

They say an artist is someone who reveals their wounds to the world while eternally nursing them back to health. If my wound healed, it would seem that I would no longer be an artist.

Maybe that’s why I never completely healed. Depression slowly filled the void left by the eating disorder. In the beginning, I sensed a darkness creeping over me so stealthily that neither family and friends, nor I, had any inkling my world would soon spiral out of control until the fateful day that I was hospitalized. To those who have never experienced extreme depression, the whole disease might seem conquerable. And of course it is, but to the sufferer, the pain it brings is so unrelenting in nature, taunting its victim to believe relief will never come, and if it does, it will fade away and suffering will return. And with this foreknowledge, finding the light at the end of the tunnel becomes irrational and therefore impossible. This is why during the few hours that my depressive state eased, I wrote with a desperation similar to that of a dying man pleading to God for the gift of one more day to spend with his loved ones. Words strung together into sentences that conveyed ideas of suffering and love were the only hope I had for discovering the obscure details of life and confronting its complexities.

A common theme among women writers is that many of their careers end in suicide. This fact did not escape my attention. I had a fear that because I was born to write, I was also born to suffer and in the end, as writer Cheryl Strayed puts it, “eventually collapse in a heap of ‘I could have been than this.’” Therefore, I accepted depression as a writer’s cursed blessing that was my sweet terrible beautiful rotten fate. With this preconceived idea firmly planted in my young mind, there was no escaping depression’s toxic hold on my life.

One night, I was willing to lose to the fierce trial of depression. My bed of nails had become unbearable and I began writing a suicide note. I sat down at my desk and was determined to accomplish many things within the suicide letter: convey a strength that contrasted what I was doing, relieve my loved ones of their pain through delicate phrasing and reasoning and justify a selfish death for myself. I thought of my mother getting the fateful call, dropping to her knees, and crying while she screamed. This broke my heart, so I searched for words that might prevent this image from coming true. I settled upon frequently using the sentence “Heaven couldn’t wait for me.” My mother believed in God and although I never had, perhaps acknowledging His existence would allow her to accept my death more easily, trusting that I had found my way into the warm, embracing arms of

a God who would love her lost child just as much, if not more, than she had. But an unexpected ray of light shone in as I typed the final period to seal the deal. I noticed I had only written enough to fill half a page. The rest of the page looked too white and empty for my comfort. But I had said what needed to be said. With newfound alarm, I thought, “If I have really packaged my soul’s final hymn into less than a page, then I haven’t lived long enough.” I saved the document and went to bed determined to continue plodding through life.

But this strength was fleeting and a few weeks later I was overcome with a pain so unbearable that it seemed to actually become a physical agony. I writhed in discomfort in my bed at night, crying for the oppressive force I came to know as isolation and sadness to leave. I began to think seriously of suicide as my only salvation. By this time, I was a freshman in college and playing for the women’s soccer team. One might point to my being away from home and the stresses of college as the triggers of my deep depression, but everybody goes through those changes and most come out happy, not having suffered what I did. This leads me to reason that my depression stems from much earlier influences and experiences that I subconsciously collected and suppressed. This thought caused me panic, for no solution could be sought out without understanding the causes. I distinctly remember this realization occurring to me as I sat in the school library. I then sprinted to my dorm room and frantically flipped through my journal, looking for indications of where the reasons for my depression lay. And I found nothing. Only the typical musings over boys, girls, soccer and school. I understood then that what I was fighting was invisible and could therefore never be slain.

With the foreboding reality of my situation looming in the background of my mind, I drank straight from the bottle that night. I wasn’t sure if I would kill myself the next day or not, but it didn’t matter, because I had already made up my mind that it was inevitable.

My friends made me sleep over in their dorm room that night, alarmed by my erratically despondent demeanor. I fell asleep at around five in the morning and woke around three hours later, still a little drunk. I slipped out quietly. The walk back to my room was more than a struggle—it was a brutal battle. I felt so hopeless in my despair that my body nearly collapsed after each step that drew me closer to my inescapable end.

“I had a fear that because I was born to write, I was born to suffer...”

I opened the door to find my roommate sound asleep. I was ready to end my life, so I wearily sat down at my desk and opened up the document that I had saved weeks before and finished the suicide letter. I proceeded to go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair. Thinking back, my interest in such unimportant details before imminent death seems rather odd, if not comical.

This shows just how out of control I was of my own body and mind at that time, manic depression having firmly taken hold of me and threatening to end my life. As I was preparing the means of my demise, a tinge of rationality overcame me and moral dilemma forced me to reconsider.

I called 911.

By the time I was processed into the psychiatric ward of the hospital, I had calmed down and anxiety was replaced with fatigue.

I don’t know what time I went to my cell to sleep, because there were no windows or clocks, but I imagine it was around 7 p.m., because I was given a packaged box with a milk carton, turkey sandwich and apple, signifying dinner time. At first, I was ashamed and angry that I had to wear the blue scrubs the hospital issued me. It seemed they were trying to hu-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

miliate me for being there in the first place.

But with time, I realized I was in a mental clinic, and clothes were of little importance.

When I awoke the following day, I cautiously walked through the cell hallway to the visiting room. The tiny room had only five chairs and a TV, the stereotype of a hospital’s drab environment. There was a rather large lady with silvery white hair sitting there.

As soon as I sat down across from her, she croaked, “Whatcha in here for?” I didn’t care about my personal privacy anymore at that point, so with the strongest voice I could muster, I responded, “Contemplating suicide.” She nodded appreciatively and said, “Me too.” Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, just like mine. Although depression has its idiosyncrasies, this woman and I were bound to a common pool of people struggling to conquer the ominous poisons of life. Selfishly, I found relief in the idea that my pain is borne by others as well.

“...For the first time in many months I experienced positive thinking.”

When I was called up to the counter where I was handed a plastic cup containing my fluoxetine pill, I thought of the scene in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” where a perfectly sane Randle McMurphy was forced by Nurse Ratched to take his medication orally, or else risk having it given “some other way.”

I giggled at this recollection and asked the nurse behind the counter if she had read the book. She shook her head and said, “Open up,” to make sure I had swallowed the pill.

Somewhat embarrassed that I was being treated like a psycho that I obviously was not, I sheepishly opened my mouth to appease the nurse.

I was simply a very sad girl in the midst of a terrible time in her life, not like the rest of the crazies locked up in there. I was McMurphy. The sane one amongst the insane. I even listened to multiple people’s problems and gave advice. One lady told me about how her husband cheated on her with a sleazy Dorothy in their garage every Sunday night. I nodded sympathetically and told her she didn’t deserve that. A boy about my age was going through heroin withdrawals and shaking profusely. I could tell he needed a distraction so I asked him what his favorite TV show was.

Soon he stopped shaking as he told me about some Indie sitcom I had no chance of ever remembering the name of. There was a tattooed man who kept repeating the Lord’s Prayer as he rocked back and forth. We never talked.

During my time in the hospital, I began to heal. It was hardly a holiday from the outside world : Being surrounded by other suicide attempters and contemplators created a dreary atmosphere devoid of laughter. But the routine and the simplicity of my surroundings allowed me to focus only on getting better without the distractions of friends, family and communication. The silence was peaceful, and for the first time in many months I experienced positive thinking. Everything would be okay; I would leave this place and live my life anew. Within two days, I had made the decision that suicide was not an option.

Of course, the road to recovery from severe depression takes patience, time and self-love.

But in my case as a writer, I also had to alter my dependency on misery to honesty. I could no longer write like a girl. I could no longer write with “unfiltered emotion and unrequited love.” I had to reach into the depths of my soul to say what I needed to say. Or as Cheryl Strayed puts it, “Write like a motherfucker.”

With this newfound strength, I pushed away depression. I pushed away fragility. I pushed away fear. I welcomed nerve. I welcomed truth. I became a motherfucker.

My will to survive has been renewed and like Dante’s journey through the inferno, I have escaped my hell to once again behold the stars of heaven.

FEATURES

Page 8

November 6, 2014

Literature foundational for continual growth, says Ogbeide BOOKS continued from page 1

ed its outreach to include disadvantaged and disabled children. Students who go through Ashinaga are given free schooling and housing with the understanding that after they have received their education they will repay it through what they do in their careers.

Ogbeide pointed out that the current Japanese Minister of Education was an Ashinaga student as a youth. Now, he is repaying the help he received tenfold through the position he holds and the policies he can enact to help students like himself.

“It shows that if you put the people in the right situations and the right environments and they will be able to thrive,” Ogbeide said about the Education Minister.

Ogbeide’s friend, Salongo Joseph, was a young student from Uganda who was chosen

by Ashinaga to attend school in Japan. Having recently graduated from Waseda University, Joseph now works for Ashinaga to help other students receive the same opportunity that he received. The idea for the book drive came out of Joseph’s desire to help foster intellectual growth in his native country.

“Ugandans do not have the culture of reading and one of the chief reasons is due to limited access of reading materials,” said Joseph.

“People can barely afford books given the ongoing struggle for many to even meet the bare necessities that life demands. With no public libraries or reading centers to help counter this problem, the lack of a reading culture in Uganda is a growing threat to the intellectual development of our nation.”

Ogbeide became good friends with Joseph during his internship with Ashinaga, and Joseph asked him to talk with Dean of the College Christopher Roellke­ —who was, at the time, in the same city that Ogbeide was in as part of his Ashinaga internship—and arrange to start a book drive at school. Along with Ogbeide, Joseph talked with other members of the Ashinaga program from universities such

as Princeton and Oxford, who will also be holding similar book drives on their respective campuses.

Vassar’s book drive started on the Tuesday after October break and will run until Dec. 15, just before the end of the semester. The bins will remain out for collection until then.

To push the drive to the next level, Ogbeide reached out to the community for added support. Over the break, Ogbeide took to social media to ask his friends and fellow students to go through their personal libraries at home to see if they had any spare books that they would be willing to donate to the cause.

The collection bins are located throughout campus. For those in the Town Houses, there is a bin in the laundry room next to the TH path. There is a bin next to the women’s bathrooms in the entrance of the Library, as well as a bin on the second floor of Rockefeller Hall by the bulletin board at the top of the stairs.

In planning for the book drive, Ogbeide was careful about where to place the book-depositing bins. The bin in Rockefeller Hall was put there by design: Rocky plays host to frequent faculty meetings, and Ogbeide hopes that having the bin there will encourage professors to donate books.

“The faculty read even more than the students,” Ogbeide laughed. “And we read a lot.”

There will also be bins in the College Center or outside the Retreat.

“I have already received support from the Vassar administration, so I’ll be getting textbooks and the what not from professors/admins, but I think the best additions to this book drive will be from you guys,” Ogbeide wrote online in a blurb to the Vassar community.

The faculty have been very receptive to the book drive, thanks in large part to Dean Roellke spreading the word, explained Ogbeide.

“He’s been one hundred percent supportive,” Ogbeide said gratefully of Roellke. “He’s come through with everything I’ve asked from

him. I’m really happy to have his help.”

Any kind of book is acceptable for donation, according to Ogbeide. The goal of the drive is to provide a wide array of books for people of all ages in Uganda to read—not just adults and not just students. The 50 to 60 books that have already been donated range from “Calvin and Hobbes” to textbooks to classic literature.

Ogbeide himself has donated several books: among them, “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “Decoded” by Jay-Z and a book on Banksy—the famed British graffiti artist. All of these books, Ogbeide claims, have influenced his life at different points, which is why he wants to share them.

“These are books that have pushed me during pivotal points in my life—why not share them?” Ogbeide asked.

To him, books are an important part of a person’s intellectual life, and sharing books with others allows you to share a part of yourself with them. “It’s really clear that one of our ways here [at Vassar] of showing love to one another is to share literature with one another,” Ogbeide stated. “Like this is a book that has really touched me. Here.”

Though books that have been influential in people’s lives are great to have, there are spaces in the reading centers for books of a less profound nature. Ogbeide pointed out that no one might think they are interested in reading a book on something like knitting or carpentry until they have read it and realized that they really do enjoy the subject. Any book that donators contribute will find a place in the reading centers, which are intended to serve as functional libraries and will hopefully serve a wide range of interests, he noted.

“We’re calling them reading centers but they’re more of a library. They will be placed in major areas in Uganda as places for people to go and be able to read,” said Ogbeide. “The same way that libraries function is the same way that these are trying the function.”

For Ogbeide, the book drive is, in part, a

way for him to give back to those who made his summer experience at Ashinaga such a good one, but he believes that his reason for organizing the drive goes beyond that.

“I’m more comfortable with this kind of charity than with others,” Ogbeide mused.

“Other kinds don’t really help solve the problems. That’s part of why I supported Ashinaga and fell in love with this kind of charity, it’s about aiming for long-term rewards” He thinks that more traditional kinds of charity, such as sending food and blankets to poverty-stricken areas—while they do help those in need—don’t help eliminate the reasons that the people were in need of food and shelter to begin with. Providing them with literature, he and Joseph maintained, may help start a path toward improving their situation from the ground up. The creation of a reading culture in Uganda is an effort that Ogbeide feels is a worthy cause, not just one to make himself feel better. “[This initiative] is fruitful in more ways than just ‘Oh now we’re helping these university students become more intellectually sound and well-rounded,’” said Ogbeide.

“We’re establishing a new way to feel and connect. There are no words for that.”

Ogbeide also hopes that the book drive will help Uganda help itself within its own right, without becoming another extension of Western globalization.

“But Africa as a whole is in need of a real uplift,” Ogbeide reflected. “I guess whatever angle you can get it from is better than nothing.”

Though he has his reservations, Ogbeide holds out hope that the reading centers will help motivate Ugandan culture. “What I’m really hoping is that this project is more about catalyzing free thinkers,” Ogbeide added.

“It’s a way to give back not only to people that inspired me,” Ogbeide said, “But also to support a cause that I find very moving and important.”

Hudson Valley Ventures Erik Halberg

Features Editor

I

t’s starting to get cold outside, minus a few anomalous spurts of warmth, and spending time indoors is no doubt starting to sound much more appealing to you. The only problem with staying indoors is finding an activity that doesn’t involve your bed, an uncouth amount of junk food and Netflix. Fortunately, if you can rally yourself from your fifth binge-watch of “House of Cards” and get moving, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Mansion, Museum and Library offer a great opportunity to get away from Vassar and see what the rest of the world has to offer. Additionally, if you’re the type of person that finds “House of Cards” interesting enough to binge it five times, you’ll love FDR’s mansion.

Located a short drive north of Vassar in the incredibly scenic Hyde Park, the Springwood estate lies nestled along the edges of a small forest. Purchased in 1866 by his father, President

Franklin D. Roosevelt was born and raised at the mansion. Even long after his childhood, at the apex of his political career as the 32nd President of the United States, FDR remained fond of his childhood home, taking many trips away from Washington to vacation or visit with family and close friends.

Inside the mansion, through which guided tours are still offered on a regular basis, Roosevelt’s relatives have done their best to preserve the furniture and items that Roosevelt himself used and of which he was fond. Hanging on the walls are FDR’s favorite paintings and photographs of him growing up on the estate.

Constructed in the early 1800s, the mansion features the architectural style of the time, minus some improvements made by FDR. You can wander through the narrow corridors and the cramped stairways that were built with people a couple inches shorter than you in mind. One of the more interesting diversions are the vari-

Courtesy of twintravelconcepts.com

The front door of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s mansion in Hyde Park is open to visitors. Not far from the mansion are his personal presidential library and a museum of his writings and memorabilia.

ous servants’ stairwells and corridors—designed so that the servants could traverse nearly the entire house without needing to disturb any of the guests the Roosevelt’s may have had over.

There are entirely separate stairwells, that you can only reach by going through doors disguised to look like the rest of the wall, that run between well-trafficked areas, such as from the kitchen to the dining room.

In the study, his desk is arranged in the same way that Roosevelt had it during his time there, along with letters he himself wrote and read spread on its surface. It offers a brilliant little glimpse into the life of the only American president to serve more than two terms in office— who helped the nation out of the Great Depression and through the years leading up to World War II—and his struggle with his own disability.

After he contracted polio in the 1920’s that left the use of his legs extremely difficult and painful, Roosevelt would often return to the mansion during times when the disease was particularly difficult. The secluded estate allowed him to hide from the cameras and gossip of political life in the relative peace and beauty of the Hudson Valley. It is from here that FDR held many of his popular “fireside chats” on public radio, often sitting in his wheelchair shaking with pain while talking calmly to the American public.

It was only here at his childhood home that FDR would allow himself to use a wheelchair rather than strap metal braces to his legs in order to be able to walk and make formal appearances as president. Allegedly, he took such care to present himself to the public as a hardy, able-bodied president that he was never photographed in his wheelchair by anyone but an immediate family member. Nor was he ever seen in public struggling to walk or function normally, no matter how much pain it caused him.

In addition to its sentimental value as the home of a lauded president, the estate also plays host to one of only 13 presidential libraries in the nation—of which FDR’s is the first to be created and opened to the public. It is also the only one that has been used by the president whose documents are housed within, making it a very

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

unique collection—particularly if you manage to take a look at the documents dealing with the Second World War. The library was actually built by Roosevelt himself, who believed that the American people—and particularly future presidents—had a right to see the correspondence and memoirs of their presidents. Housed within are the vast majority of documents and letters that Roosevelt wrote or was involved with during his entire political career—from his start as a New York senator all the way to his Presidency. Copies of his legislation and his speeches join his personal documents in a vast body of literature available for study. Since Roosevelt’s death in 1945, the contents of the library have expanded to include the works of others close to FDR, such as his wife Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as video and audio recordings and photographs.

Attached to the library is a museum that Roosevelt had built not long after the library. The museum features a variety of displays about Roosevelt’s presidency and the various records and items he left behind. Political conferences and field trips are often held in the new theater and conference rooms that were built when the library was renovated in the early 2000’s. If the tour through the mansion or library leave you a little famished, there’s a quaint little cafe to grab a small snack—albeit at pre-New Deal prices—where you can sit and eat next to life-sized bronze sculptures of FDR and his wife Eleanor reclining at a table outside the museum.

Both the library and the museum are a short 100-yard walk from the front step of Roosevelt’s mansion, though the trip between them may take a bit longer.

In the spring and fall, the natural beauty of FDR’s estate takes over as the trees and flowers in his gardens are in full bloom. The gardens themselves are quite beautiful, kept well-tended by the estate managers and featuring various statues and sculptures to get lost admiring. But with the library, museum and mansion all vying for your attention, you’d be hard-pressed to exhaust everything there is to do indoors in just one visit.

OPINIONS

November 6, 2014

Page 9

The Miscellany News Staff Editorial

Pope’s liberal Campus dining should reflect VC priorities stance breaks T from norm oday marks the final day of Vassar Sustainability’s National Food Week celebration on campus.

The three-day event, which culminates tonight with Local Foods Night at the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC), part of a larger national discussion on the topic of sustainable food systems. According to its advertising, Vassar Sustainability, working in tandem with various on- and off-campus organizations, hopes that the events of the last week will motivate students to become more involved in taking action for food practices that are both socially and environmentally just.

Although this celebration of food and sustainability is limited to a week, we at The Miscellany News believe students have demonstrated over time that local food and sustainability are priorities that should be considered year-round.

Campus dining is an important and necessary component of student life at Vassar; the Student Life Committee works methods improve the campus dining experience for Vassar students, definitively showing a correlation between student life and food.

Organizations like Slow Food make it their mission to think about students’ relationship with food and connect them to a local food supply.

Moreover, students have expressed interest in eating more locally produced foods by participating in sponsored shares like The Poughkeepsie Farm Projects’ Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). While the efforts of committees and organizations demonstrate a desire for more local foods in the Campus Dining options, this is not reflected in the way we currently get our food or the small amount of locally sourced foods served on campus.

At the moment only 24 percent of the food served through Aramark’s dining services comes from locally sourced foods.

We at The Miscellany News encourage the College to look to neighboring institutions for ideas on how to increase the pres-

ence of local foods on campus. In 2010, the State University of New York at New Paltz successfully raised the percentage of their local stock to 75 percent when they started working with Red Barn Produce, a local food distributor in Highland, N.Y. Through this relationship with a local distributor, New Paltz has been able to cut down on the amount of food waste, because Red Barn is able to fill orders quickly. As a result, their dining hall only orders what it needs. Of course, Red Barn Produce is just one local distributor in the area.

If the College were to pursue a similar path, Campus Dining could see a more substantive increase of sustainability in reducing transportation emissions and supporting the local economy. Further, by forging a working partnership with a local distributor, we open up our campus dining options year round instead of having a wider variety of locally-sourced foods on limited nights at the dining all.

We at The Miscellany News believe this discussion on the importance of sustainability also pertains to the larger issue of campus dining and a general frustration from the student body with our current food service provider, Aramark. With our current system, in order for more local foods to be incorporated on a regular basis, the total amount of the food item Campus Dining uses in a year must be calculated to see if a local distributor could sell us that exact amount.

But, in addition to limited options at the ACDC, the quality of food and the cost of buying a meal plan on campus, Aramark has proven to be questionable on a larger scale.

The food service provider has recently been entangled in a string of charges for poor service in Michigan prisons.

According to an article in Detroit’s Free Press, “[Aramark was reported to have] repeated problems with meal shortages, lack of cleanliness including maggots in and around food, and Aramark workers smuggling contraband, engaging in sex acts with

inmates or otherwise getting too friendly with them, creating security issues.” (Free Press, “Michigan fines Aramark $200,000 more for prison food,” 8.8.14) More recently, at the end of October, “A third Aramark prison food worker has been fired on suspicion of smuggling drugs into a Michigan prison,” proving this is an ongoing issue. (Free Press, “Third Aramark prison food worker suspected of drug smuggling,” 10.23.14) Given Aramark’s track record, we at The Miscellany News, despite the college’s current contract with the company, feel it would not be in Vassar’s best interest to continue using a large, corrupt corporation as our food service providers.

Incorporating more locally produced foods into the Campus Dining experiences of Vassar students is not merely an issue of increasing food options. It’s about a need for a more sustainable College community.

However, we at The Miscellany News note that Vassar College does not exist within a vacuum; by figuring out how to bring more locally-sourced food to the campus, the College will be taking action to create a more sustainable food system in the larger Hudson Valley Area, one that benefits local farmers and the economy.

But in order for the College to effectively increase the locally sourced foods on campus, we at The Miscellany News believe that ties must ultimately be broken with our current food service provide, Aramark.

The company has questionable morals that do not align with the mission of the College and has proven in the past that the student needs and wants, particularly with regards to sustainability, are not one of its priorities.

Until we find a new food service provider or make the switch to handling Campus Dining in-house, sustainability and ethical eating will continue to be an issue on this campus.

Columnist

N

ow that we’ve reached the Oct. break benchmark and have gotten into the second half of the semester, I think I’ve spent enough time as a freshman to look back on the orientation program and how much it assisted me in getting accustomed to Vassar life. Orientation week seemed perfectly adequate when Vassar was a completely new environment and I didn’t have any close friends yet. However, now that I have really acclimated to the environment where I’ll be spending the next four years, I’ve realized that the orientation programs left out some really important things, while overemphasizing others.

This is not meant to criticize any student fellows or other students who helped with orientation, but more to comment on the program as a whole. Firstly, I’d like to note that I am grateful that topics of gender and sexuality were given a lot of attention, as ignorance regarding these issues gives way to marginalization on all college campuses. However, there are some topics I wish were given more attention in order to better prepare freshmen for the beginning of their college experience.

Again, I agree wholeheartedly that sexuality and gender issues are very important and should be discussed regularly. At Vassar, I think we are lucky that these topics are embraced and not disregarded like they may be at other college campuses. I know now that issues concerning identity are regularly examined at Vassar because people can easily feel disrespected and oppressed, but, looking back on orientation about two months later, it feels like sexuality and gender dominated the discussions that took place. These things were a large part of at least three orientation events, such as “Gays of Our Lives,” and even though they were discussed so frequently, questions were still left unanswered. There was a lot of

terminology that was widely used during orientation, but not initially explained, such as the difference between gay and queer, or cis and trans. Events regarding gender and sexuality were presented as if everyone had the same experience with these topics, but it needs to be taken into account that some people are very familiar with them, but to some people, they are fairly novel. A program eventually took place where these new terms were clarified, but programs that had happened prior were not absorbed to their full potential because of this misunderstanding.

Many discussions involving drugs, alcohol, safe sex and sexual consent took place, which I agree are prevalent issues and imperative for a college orientation, but there were a range of topics that I found were mostly left out. We were educated about how to navigate Vassar outside of the classroom, but conduct in an academic setting was disregarded. Throughout the first few weeks of classes, my friends and I realized that there were some things we weren’t exactly sure how to go about. What is the proper, respectful way to email a professor?

Can I ask for an extension on an assignment?

These are some of the important questions that weren’t answered during orientation and would have been helpful throughout the first few weeks of classes.

Another topic that I wish had gotten more attention is Vassar’s basic rules and regulations.

I realize that these rules are readily available in the handbook or through asking someone, but there are likely very few freshmen that read through the rules in the lengthy handbook, and therefore were unaware of some important protocols. There are some regulations that new students just wouldn’t think to be cautious about. I was obviously aware that drugs and alcohol were something to be careful about, but I had no idea about a fire code rule, or only being able to have a small number of people in

R

a dorm room. This, and other rules like it, is something of which every freshman should’ve been made aware during orientation.

After speaking to a lot of my friends about these issues throughout the first half of the semester, it seems like one complaint was just that not much of the information provided was Vassar-specific. A lot of the programs were informative, but not in the sense that they taught us how to survive at this school in particular.

A possible program to be added could be common Vassar issues and how to navigate through them. It took me a few weeks to figure out the difference between VCash and Dining Bucks and where they could be used because some simple topics like this were not discussed, or were discussed too vaguely.

Lastly, I found that the whole orientation process didn’t really facilitate making friends.

A lot of events were planned with our fellow groups, and it was nice to have that group with which to be comfortable, but I had to try really hard to meet people outside of my fellow group. Almost all of orientation was informational sessions and activities, rather than social events, so it was necessary to put in extra effort if I wanted to meet more people. Orientation for future classes should definitely have more social events available, maybe at nighttime, so that freshmen who are away from home for the first time and nervous to approach new classmates don’t have to resort to spending the night in their rooms.

What I liked about orientation was that it presented topics to me that hadn’t been discussed much in my hometown. However, I wish that these topics had been approached as if they were completely new to everyone. Many things about orientation were helpful, but I wish additional topics had been talked about, and I hope they are for future freshman classes.

ecently lionized by the media for his unconventional stance regarding the institution of marriage and homosexuality, Pope Francis prodded a traditional conference of bishops, priests and clergymen early this October to directly address controversies that have been ongoing topics of sensitivity within the Church. This conference, the Synod of Bishops on the Family, is a two-week gathering of Catholic figureheads that occurs every two years to discuss paramount ecclesiastical concerns. At issue last month were matters of the homestead and domestic sphere, with debates for gay marriage, divorce and unmarried parents, to name a few, surfacing in violent succession. Reports on the proceedings of the synods of bishops are released to the public at the midpoint of each session, but rarely does the content of the report obtain such contentious attention from the social sphere as that of this year’s assembly.

Pope Francis, notorious for his seemingly blasé but laudably tolerant “Who am I to judge?” attitude towards the LGBTQ community, is a game-changer for Roman Catholicism. He has been determinedly refocusing the priorities of the institution ever since he was sworn in last March, rejecting the common luxuries and perks granted to the papacy and steering the attention of the Church away from “culture wars.” Hoping that a more attentive analysis of the relationship between Catholic doctrine and contemporary topics, such as remarriage and contraception, will promote beneficial social change, the Pope is withdrawing from these arguments dubbed as culture wars—gay marriage, abortion, etc.—and reducing the secular progressive vs. non-secular conservative friction that is continuously fetishized by the media. Conservative clergymen and laymen alike are unnerved by the shift in perspective that Francis is bringing to the Vatican, and while many blame news outlets for fabricating the Pope’s liberalism, others are vehement in their opposition of him. Calling the Roman Catholic Church under Francis a “ship without a rudder,” Cardinal Raymond Burke, a former American archbishop of St. Louis, complains that the Pope is straying from the faith and leaving the Church directionless and misguided. Similarly, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput bemoaned the devilish confusion caused by October’s synod of bishops. For rightwing Catholic leaders, the sudden change in the orientation of the Church’s interests is a confusing and dismaying trend, but for those marginalized for decades by close-minded ideology, the events at the Synod of Bishops on the Family were a welcome and promising change.

What’s most impressive about the execution of the Synod is the shrewd selection of the subject of family life. “The Family” is a representation of wide-ranging varieties of social structures, and it is imperative for the survival of the Church that Catholicism be made accessible to a demographic more expansive than that of the traditional nuclear family. As discovered at the ecclesiastical conference, the domestic sphere encompasses gay rights, questions about cohabitating partners, the ability of divorced individuals to receive Communion, and poverty or unemployment. The broad nature of “the family” permitted members of the assembly to delve into and engage in an uninhibited reformative discourse; consequently, within the first week of the synod an overwhelmingly positive conciliatory message for the LGBTQ , divorced and cohabitating communities was issued that went so far as to include the subject line “Welcoming Homosexual Persons.” Americans are shocked by this outlook. The Church and the papacy are now presenting what appears to be a polarized view of once fundamental Catholic principles. Pope Francis understands that the Church must adapt to contemporary society in order to shake the rigid, outdated beliefs of his predecessors and opponents. He is allowing groups previously marginalized by the religion to gain a foothold in the institution, and while this is not entirely substantial, a larger synod of bishops promises exciting developments in the unfolding of the papacy’s new age of progressivism.

—Sarah Sandler ’18 is currently undeclared.

—Emily Sayer ’18 is currently undeclared.

—The Staff Editorial represents the opinions of at least 2/3 of the Editorial Board.

Orientation fails to cover important topics Sarah Sandler

Emily Sayer

Guest Columnist

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

OPINIONS

Page 10

November 6, 2014

Flip a District campaign targets Minnesota Congressman Rhys Johnson Reporter

A

llow me to preface this by distancing myself from some of Bill Maher’s other, more controversial views, for they are in no way related to what I wish to say here. I would ask that those reading this do me the same courtesy.

Bill Maher, perhaps more than any of his contemporaries in his brand of political humor, is not afraid of controversy. The media has piled on him for his comments immediately following the September 11 attacks, his recent quarrels with actor Ben Affleck and scholar Reza Aslan over the global character of Islam that have sparked new anger among liberals and conservatives alike, and a handful of times in between. So when I first heard about Maher’s “Flip a District” idea, I can’t say I was surprised. But I also can’t say that there isn’t something admirable in what he’s doing for the state of Minnesota.

“The media has piled on him for his comments...”

For as long as politics has existed, so has satire. Only in places like North Korea or the totalitarian regimes of the past have the two ever been separated, and not coincidentally so. Humor reaches people in a way that serious talking points or discussion can’t seem to mimic.

Sometimes, it’s necessary to laugh at the absurdity of things to really grasp how ridiculous they are. Satire, in its many and ever-evolving forms and methods, from Mark Twain to P. G. Wodehouse to Jon Stewart, fulfills that necessity in people. Is it a perfect way to reach people about issues as extensive and as troubling as those that pervade the world today? No. I don’t think any creditable satirist in the world today would say so either. So why then is Maher’s “Flip a District”

campaign so worthy of praise? Because to realize how abysmal some of our politicians are, I think many Americans need a comedian to point out just how hilariously bad these government officials are.

I don’t think it warrants explanation to say that there is a profound problem in the way the American people perceive politics, nor to say that this country has its fair share of rotten politicians.

But surely there must be something deeply flawed about a country that can somehow maintain a congressional approval rating that hovers around 10% in conjunction with a 90% congressional reelection rate. Those frightening statistics are beginning to exist within the realm of ridiculousness on which political humor thrives, and perhaps only political humor can properly describe.

So when I see Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and others like these figures in pop culture make a mockery of politicians left and right, I think that that style, however unorthodox, is one of the best chances America has at realizing the fault in having elected such laughably miserable politicians to these offices which hold so much power.

Maher’s campaign, however, stands out to me as particularly commendable because at its core exists not only the serious, underlying subtext that makes satire so poignant, but a concerted desire to act on it. Say what you will about Bill Maher as a comedian or a political thinker, but no matter who leads the charge, the United States is in dire need of an effort to end the complacency and the laziness that are not unfair assessments of so many Americans’ relationship with their government and politicians.

Is Minnesota Representative John Kline, the Republican target of the “Flip a District” campaign, the root of the problem, or even a major player in it? Not at all, and Maher has been quite open about that fact. Has Kline, however, been pretty notably bad at his job?

Yes. He’s voted against every forward-thinking piece of legislation that I could think of

off the top of my head, even amid numerous outcries from his constituency, voting to defund climate change research, block samesex marriage and, most infamously, increase student loans through market interest rates, much to the chagrin of his district’s hordes of debt-crippled graduates.

“...it isn’t Kline that really matters, in the grand scheme of things...”

His very existence in politics embodies many of the problems that seem to just skulk their way back into Congress at every election, not because he’s one of the heavy-hitting crazies that make for hilarious soundbytes, but because he is the silent, behind-thescenes politician who votes like those that are but sneaks by much of the criticism he deserves by keeping his head down and riding the party line.

Will John Kline win reelection in these coming days? That seems to be the way things look, unfortunately. But it isn’t Kline that really matters, in the grand scheme of things, nor is it Maher’s movement to unseat him, even.

What matters at the end of the day is that in this campaign, many Americans can perhaps discover that their dissatisfaction with those who are supposed to represent them, yet so often they represent the interests of corporations and lobbying firms that foot the bills of their reelection campaigns, is a political force of its own, and that it is not without an outlet with which to create real political change.

There is far too much popular disillusionment with the American Government as it operates today to continue to pretend that there isn’t something that is worth doing

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and can be done about it. For trying to show people that fact, for trying to dispel the idea that politics in today’s age of lobbying is out of our hands, this is the type of action that should be applauded.

Sure, it may be easy to write Bill Maher off for some of the more outrageous things he’s said in his time. It may also be easy to call him a celebrity carpetbagger who is stepping too far out of his niche, and those are certainly reasonable concerns upon which to look at all this with due skepticism. Yet is a campaign to spread awareness of the people who represent us in Washington, regardless of who mans the helm, not laudable in principle at least?

Far too often have I seen people turn their heads away from “Flip a District” simply because, for separate reasons, they don’t want to be pooled in with Maher’s ilk. Such reluctance, when it ultimately leads to further disappointment and continued resentment of the government, can only be blamed on those who chose to regard the idea less than ad hominem attacks against the its progenitor.

Bill Maher himself said, “This isn’t about me.

It’s about how Americans have had crummy, corrupt representation for so long they’ve just accepted these people hanging around.

Except you don’t have to. They’re your representatives, not your relatives.”

If I may be so bold as to entreat those reading this once more, I would ask that they, above all, recognize the necessity of efforts like this to promoting a healthy relationship between the American people and those that represent them more than just in name. In times as confusing and as divisive as these, perhaps the only way we’ll ever really see the change for which we criticize those we elect to public office, or write impassioned comments on social media, or tune in to the upcoming election campaigns, is to welcome the actions of those who take that extra step to implement it.

—Rhys Johnson ’18 is currently undeclared.

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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

November 6, 2014

OPINIONS

No urgency surrounding SAVP vacancy Emma Redden Guest Columnist

A

s an institution, Vassar has prided itself on its sensitivity and victim-centered approach to sexual assault. However, when Elizabeth Schrock, the former Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention (SAVP) Coordinator, left her position in July, Vassar failed to make decisions in line with either of these ideals.

As SAVP coordinator, Schrock counseled and advocated for victims and survivors of sexual abuse. She guided people through victimizing bureaucratic processes like Title IX investigations and organized preventative programs, such as bystander intervention training, in hopes of fostering a safer, more responsible community here at Vassar.

The hiring process to replace Schrock began in July, when she notified the school that she would not be returning to the position in the fall. While we can understand why the position has remained vacant since the beginning of August, as it is of vital importance that the search for a new SAVP Coordinator be conducted with as much thoroughness as possible, the lack of transparency during the transition has had victimizing effects on students trying to report assault.

This institutional irresponsibility indicates a fundamental lack of comprehension for the importance of this position to the entire student body. It also forces us to question how student-focused institutional resources are being deployed.

So far this semester, we have received several emails from both Dean Roellke and Dean Brown about unsafe situations on and off campus. These emails are, overwhelmingly, about threats posed by “intruders.”

However, we have yet to receive an email addressing Schrock’s departure and the current vacancy of the SAVP Coordinator position.

Additionally, our deans have not publicly acknowledged or addressed threats and violence when our safety is threatened by our own sexually-violent Vassar students.

The student body was not notified that

Schrock left her position during the summer, nor were we told that the position would be taken up by Renee Pabst, the Director of the Office of Health Education.

We were also not told that the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) would continue to be available to students during the interim.

As a result, students are unaware of whom to approach for help and resources. Furthermore, the resources that are available, such as the SAVP Process for Reporting page online, are not accurate or up to date. Student survivors of sexual violence have been left floundering, and many have chosen to seek advice from peers who are not necessarily trained or equipped to responsibly advocate.

“...our deans have not publicly acknowledged or addressed threats and violence...”

Pabst is an administrator who is already in a full-time position. The decision to give her the responsibilities of another full-time job is unfair to her, and it inappropriately suggests that such a job can be done without one’s full attention. SART, a group of faculty and staff that works in conjunction with the SAVP coordinator, has also been forced to assume the responsibilities of the position, even though they are only trained as first responders who also have full-time jobs. Why did our administration fail to hire an interim SAVP coordinator and/or adequately publicize that Pabst was doing both jobs until the position could be filled long-term?

This is not the first time that the administration has failed to notify the campus regarding vacancies in positions important to vulnerable members of the student body. When the former Director of the ALANA Center left, his

departure and the replacement process were not adequately reported, and other administrative figures as well as students were forced to take up the role in the meantime. The parallels between the SAVP Coordinator and ALANA Center Director hiring situations show that the school doesn’t feel the need to be transparent regarding positions whose services are integral to supporting already marginalized communities on campus.

As of now, a new SAVP Coordinator has been hired, and will start on Dec. 1. The position is at-will, which means it has no job security. It is a coordinator position, which is one of the least powerful positions in our administration, and it comes with an entry-level salary that is not guaranteed for a full year.

This has already adversely affected the search, as three of the top nine candidates dropped out because of the low salary. The next SAVP coordinator is the only staff member at the school paid specifically work to support survivors of sexual violence.

This person is a first responder and an educator and works alongside SART, Residential Life, CARES and The Office of Health Education, serving as a resource for this community, and will be responsible for counseling and advocating for up to 28 percent of the student body. The role is vital in adhering to federal mandates to create a space that takes sexual violence seriously and understands that we are all responsible for ending sexual violence.

While we are relieved that the position has finally been filled and have faith in the recent hire, we wish that the administration had been more thoughtful and concerned about the vacancy, the hiring process and the resources available to the students in the meantime. We hope that, in the future, the school will take the initiative to improve the deficits mentioned above as a demonstration that they are committed to the lives and livelihoods of survivors of sexual violence.

—Emma Redden ’15 is an international studies major.

Apps invade privacy of smartphone users Delaney Fischer Columnist

G

oing through Apple’s App Store, I always feel overwhelmed. There are so many apps to choose from that I go in looking to download one app and I end up downloading three or four. While it is always nice to have options, I am becoming concerned that we are in “app overload.” I am beginning to question where technology is going, particularly in the app world . Don’t get me wrong—I am a huge fan of many apps, particularly practical apps, such as those assisting businesses, like Square. I also love educational apps, like Duolingo and the Khan app that links one to Khan Academy educational videos. With that being said, looking at all the available apps has started to freak me out, as so many apps can be extremely overwhelming to the individual smartphone user.

For starters, I came across an app called Quicket. At first glance, this new app looks like one that may be helpful for those traveling by plane. The creators of Kwiket GmbH describe Quicket as a “multipurpose mobile application that aims to be a ‘one-stop-app for all your travel needs’” (App Store, “Quicket,” 11.2.14). The app can help one search for and book flights…and also follow who else is on the flight. That’s right, this app allows you to see who else is on the flight and access their Facebook profile.

Immediately, I questioned why this is necessary and was creeped out. I’m sorry, but I do not want complete strangers virtually stalking me because this app is giving out my information. My first concern was definitely consent and even though a spokesman made it clear that your fellow passengers won’t be able to spy on you without your consent, saying, “Only users who approve the social feature will be presented on the flight,” I still feel weird about the whole concept even being an option (DailyMail, “Taking creepy to new heights: New app lets you Facebook stalk your fellow passengers before boarding

a plane,” 11.1.14 ).

What does it mean for me to give consent?

Earlier this semester, I wrote a piece about Facebook putting consent in the fine print of their user agreement so that many were giving consent without realizing it, and now I wonder if simply buying a ticket to fly will one day give my consent for this app without my knowledge. Adding to my worry is the lack of information provided by the creators about not only this issue of consent, but security and, honestly, the app overall. On the creators’ website, their privacy statement does not include substantial information regarding consent, and the only advice they give on privacy protection is that minors should not use the app (Quicket.to, Privacy Policy, 2014).

They also claim in the App Store to have great reviews from big names like Forbes, but I can’t find that review anywhere online.

Another app that has made me question the goal of apps in general is Gist LLC’s Deadline. Deadline is an app filed under Health & Fitness that supposedly tells you exactly when you are going to die. It uses data from Apple’s HealthKit (another app) if available and information you provide about your lifestyle to give you a best guess of “your date of expiration,” as the creators term it. The creators continue on, commenting, “You’re going to die.”

“Sorry, we all do eventually. Would it motivate you to be healthier?” Gist LLC writes on their app page. This app provides the user with a ticker, counting down to the very second of their estimated death. While it appears that the creators are hoping users will take up a healthier lifestyle to extend their ticker, I’m not sure the app is working how they thought it would. From reading reviews online from the DailyMail and other media sources, it appears the ticker has caused added stress and anxiety for a lot of users.

While technology that predicts death, along with other aspects of life, has been present for many years now, the fact that it

combines with another health app has a lot of people feeling paranoid and a bit concerned.

The reality is that this app is not based on science. Doctors in the healthcare field are not the ones providing you with life expectancy based on your health and lifestyle.

According to Gizmodo, the app’s claims of being accurate are not entirely true, instead being just “a genetic algorithm that forecasts your death” (DailyMail, “The app that predicts when you’ll DIE: Deadline uses Apple’s HealthKit data to accurately count down to your demise,” 10.31.14).

Chris Mills, a writer for Gizmodo, goes on further, stating, “Most HealthKit apps are single-mindedly practical, created with the sole aim of making you healthier or tracking your sleep. This app is the opposite. This app wants to creep you out big time” (Gizmodo, “Creepy App Uses HealthKit To Say How Long You Have To Live,” 10.30.14). For me, I am just very confused by this app, and it saddens me that people want to make money so badly that they are willing to make apps with no merit like this to scare people and spread false information.

What these two apps have made me question is this: In what direction is the app technology going? Here, we have one app that may or may not let a stranger on my flight stalk me even before boarding, and another app that is trying to scare me. I think for me, it shows that I need to be a lot more careful with my app choices and be more selective with what I actually download. It’s also wise to check all the features of the apps and possibly look up the creators’ websites for more details before downloading. I wonder who thinks of this stuff, and why? What is the purpose? Is one simply looking for profit? Are we taking technology too far? Lots of questions are boiling in my mind, but at least I have the answer to one of them: When will I download my next app? Probably not for a very long time.

—Delaney Fischer ’15 is a neuroscience major.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Page 11

Word on the street What “Word on the Street” question would you ask?

“Is this because you guys have no more ideas?”

—Catherine Zhou ’15

“What is your favorite food at the deece?”

— Heather Ingram ’15

“How many days ‘til Valentine’s Day?” — Kyra Steiner ’18

“If you could create a class to be on the course catalog, what would it be?”

— Lily Ngaruiya ’15

“Who is the most underrated professor on campus?”

—Dylan Bolduc ’15

“If you could ask a midnight question what would it be?” ­­— Kira Greenberg ’15

Christopher Gonzalez, Humor Editor Jacob Gorski, Assistant Photo Editor

OPINIONS

Page 12

November 6, 2014

Transportation has potential to re-enchant the every day Sophia Burns Columnist

O

n the ride home to my busy suburb of Philadelphia, I was especially excited about one item that would be awaiting me.

No, it was not my bed; it was my car. Although it is thoroughly beat-up, almost as old as I am and the check engine light stares me down every time I drive, I am emotionally attached to that hunk of steel. However, I do not believe that it is the car itself that I love—I wouldn’t be particularly upset if it suddenly transformed into a 2015 Jaguar. I don’t even think it’s the act of driving, as driving can prove to be more stressful than your toughest midterm some days.

For me, driving is a symbol of freedom, as it is for most Americans who just couldn’t wait to pass their driving test and be rewarded with a little piece of plastic complete with one of the most unflattering pictures they’ve ever taken.

Cars are an American infatuation, which has been evident since they became a staple of life nearly 100 years ago, especially with the proliferation of suburbia. Living car-less at Vassar for almost two months and meeting others who live completely different lifestyles has made me realize how much having access to a car can affect one’s experience.

Although I grew up in suburbia, I did not enjoy the conveniences of a housing development; we lived on a busy road without sidewalks where cars zoomed past at 50 mph.

There were no neighborhood kids to play with, and the concept of going out and playing in the street was something I only witnessed on TV. My parents drove me to school and to my friends’ houses: Without the car, I would’ve been a prisoner in my own home.

You Got This in the Bag!

Living a life dependent on cars can be limiting to children, especially when their parents work and they live in a place without any other children. Playing with friends becomes an ordeal that has to be organized, coordinated and planned around, rather than an everyday occurrence. First, your parents have to set up a play-date and decide at whose house it would be, when would be convenient for both parents, what time it will begin and what time it will end. For children whose parents have to drive them to see their friends and go through this trying process just for a few hours of playing tag, social interaction can become scarce.

These children are not familiar with where they live because they are often not allowed to walk anywhere for fear of dangerous drivers and because of sheer inconvenience. I recall having a friend who lived a few doors down from several of our other friends, and how exhilarating it was when we walked to their houses in fourth grade. There were no parents consulting with one another via days-long phone-tag, no schedule conflicts, no waiting for dad to get off work—we just got up and went on our own accord. At that age, cars can be more of a restriction than a liberating tool, and as people choose to live further and further from one another, they must take into account the effects that this will have on their children and their socialization.

Driving also affects a person’s relationship with their environment. It is entirely possible to drive to the same place every single day and not notice any of the landmarks on the way there—when we drive, our attention is everywhere and nowhere all at once. You change the radio station, insert a CD, turn on the wipers, change lanes, honk at the person about to

merge into you, make obscene gestures at that same person, glance at the clock obsessively, calculate how late this traffic jam is going to make you and mentally flagellate yourself for lying in bed for those five extra minutes. This happens daily, if not several times per day, wearing them down and stressing them out.

Amidst all that action and stress, it is easy to miss the beautiful sights we speed by.

Conversely, when walking to class at Vassar (so long as you’re on time), one can have a very peaceful experience as they pass by countless exotic trees, picturesque buildings, oddly friendly squirrels and the occasional “womp womp” sunning itself in an open expanse of grass. Walking down Raymond Ave., one can peek into store windows and run into a classmate on the way to the bank.

Even taking public transportation facilitates more of a relationship with wherever a person happens to be and where they are travelling.

Whenever I take the Port Authority Transport Corporation train into Philly (because driving there is a veritable nightmare, and my car dons the battle wounds to prove it), I can learn about different events, hear about a popular new restaurant and make a friend who knows a shortcut to wherever I’m heading.

While visiting a friend in Washington, D.C. over October break, I really enjoyed taking the Metro and walking around the city—by the end of my weekend, I felt like I knew the city a lot better than I did when I was driven through the city. Walking encouraged me to stop into odd little shops on my way to my destination and sample small local eateries rather than just driving from one known point to another, while the Metro provided a glimpse into the local culture and a few encounters with locals

and other college students.

I noticed more than just the monuments and museums and got to know D.C. as more than just the place that I visited during my eighth grade field trip. I felt a lot less like a time-pressed tourist and more like a curious visitor, partly because none of my trip was wasted searching for parking spots or sitting in stagnant traffic.

Driving is a very solitary activity—even when driving with friends, it is easy to feel confined and anxious while behind the wheel, navigating traffic and trying to beat the clock.

Those factors, coupled with the cost of driving and its environmental impact, make it a lot less romantic and may persuade future planners to make suburbia more walkable or at least provide better public transit.

In my experience, I have found that these methods foster a sense of community and allow one to truly take in the area and its people, rather than zooming past them. While driving allows one to get to know a large area more quickly, they often only know those few points to which they have traveled. Other ways of transportation allow one to meet new people, encounter old friends and stop and experience places that are off the beaten path.

Driving shouldn’t be the only way that we can be free to travel and explore the area around us, and no one should be restrained from these experiences because they cannot afford a car. While cars probably won’t lose popularity in the near future, we should consider ways of transportation that won’t just get us form point A to point B, but allow us to experience who and what is in between.

—Sophia Burns ’18 is currently undeclared.

The Miscellany Crossword

by Collin Knopp−-Schwyn and York Chen

ACROSS

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34 Jack, to some 7 Day that is the last Friday in 62 Thorntree of Oceania 35 Anesthetic, once April 64 Mauna ___ (the taller one) 37 Pub drinks 12 Impala or Rabbit 65 Harry, to Albus Severus 38 State of being moon-struck 13 Sound upon opening a fancy 66 Lots of eggs Rate word Collin Knopp−Schwyn and York Chen40 gift 67 “For ___ a Jolly Good Fellow” 41 Stealthy Cooper 14 Spain and Portugal, and also 68 Flightless Aussie birdie 44 Foot torture device Andorra 69 They might be tiers first?

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43 Evidence of the Kool-Aid Man? 6 Ritzy and glitzy 45 World War II, in 1945 21 Nave’s partner 7 Aid’s partner in crime 39 40 41 22 Peeper 8 Kicks back 46 Vagina monologist Ensler 23isHome of9Kevin 47 Where Holden Caulfield It mayRitter’s be bought at a 43 44 "Cat" stock market?

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50 Wow 51 Gallant, vis-à-vis Goofus 53 Egyptian crosses 55 Lactation station 56 Alpaca friend 57 Ushered to the top floor 59 Ruckuses 60 Kettle and Rainey 61 “___ A” (2010 film) 62 Insert 63 Us, whenever we wave at you in order to 16-Across you

You Got This in the Bag!

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46 Vagina monologist Ensler © CC−BY 4.0 | VASSAR COLLEGE MISCELLANY NEWS 47 Where Holden Caulfield 2 What one might do to 28 "And friends" on science is some dumb fish at a BBQ papers (abbr.)

48 Jingoistic chant (2 words) 30 Squeal or squealer 49 What Obama did in 2012

61 "___ A" (2010 film) 62 Insert 63 Us, whenever we wave

HUMOR & SATIRE

November 6, 2014

Page 13

Breaking News From the desk of Chris Gonzalez, Humor & Satire Editor ‘All I Want for Christmas’ Kickstarter campaign seeks to end Christmas carols played before Thanksgiving Holiday Hour: Valentine’s Talk that Talk: the benefit Day closer than you think of conversing with yourself Penny Luksic

Makes ‘Serious Moves’

P

acking away my house’s ghoulish decorations the other night, I was struck with the sadness that follows every Halloween. Each year, I am reminded that it is one of my favorite holidays. Even before Halloween meant taking four shots without stopping and using Stop & Shop Spring Mix as a chaser, the holiday was a break from reality, a time to pretend and make believe, to allow myself to get a little scared. It was also the best night to brag about how clever I was.

One year, I dressed up as a piece of chewed bubblegum. Another year, I was a fried egg. Besides fostering creativity, Halloween was the only time of year that my mom allowed me to walk around the neighborhood with a paper bag to collect what would essentially get me high.

Now that the haunting season is over, however, department store and small businesses around the nation are readying themselves for the next big thing: Valentine’s Day! Be gone, black and orange! Goodbye, plastic masks that make your face sweaty with your own breath!

Hello, Red 40 and sprinkles! Now you’ll see heart cookie cutters and “Cupid’s Crib” doormats.

Michael’s is carrying three new candles for the season: Misty Kiss, Moonlight Proposal and Sex Fart. Walk into any convenience store and you’ll find red and pink helium balloons and buckets of roses for sale. Even the Internet can’t wait.

YouTube is advertising new romantic comedies and lingerie sales. I’m getting Groupon emails for couples’ wine tastings and horseback riding.

Though raspberry-filled chocolates are an exciting winter treat, I think what makes Valentine’s Day great are opportunities to make serious moves on that special someone. I made my most serious move in the second grade. That year, Valentine’s Day was especially exciting because I had my first crush. Zach W. was his name and twisting the swings was his game. Before the special day, our teacher instructed us all to make shoeboxes for class Valentines. We were each to make 22 Valentine’s Day cards and bring candy without nuts. Zach W., that pre-teen dreamboat, loved “Ice Age.” On his card, I drew a mammoth that said, “Woolly you be mine?” For everyone else’s Valentines, I stuck a heart sticker on a mini chocolate bar and left them in my mom’s hot car.

On the big day, we put the shoeboxes on our desks and did laps around the room, delivering card after card. I made my way to the shoebox Zach W. had decorated with Sports Illustrated: Kids pages and quickly dropped the card into it, burying it under other notes and a pile of Hershey’s Kisses. Unfortunately, Zach W. never responded. His Valentine’s Day card to me only had a mini Snickers bar with nuts and no personal note. No love for Penny.

Since then, I’ve learned that Valentine’s Day is a holiday for very serious people only. In order to really tell someone you care, Valentine’s Day has to be approached with zero nonsense. I suggest including some serious moves, like buying cruise tickets, making house down-payments, signing pre-nuptial agreements or having a fucking kid. Wedding +1 invitations are also a great way to show people you’re blossoming affection!

Opening a joint checking account is another rad move if you’re looking for a more passionate V-Day celebration. Nothing says “I love you” like picking a check design.

There’s no space for pictures on Facebook of your happy Valentine’s Day glows. While I sit in bed with a bag of heart-shaped marshmallows scrolling through my newsfeed, I don’t have time for your emoji-riddled statuses! If you use the diamond ring emoji, the red heart, the kissing face and something weird from the food page, I’m going to scroll past it. I’m looking for something romantic, OK? Something like a photo album that documents your new bathroom renovation.

I want a helpful link to some mall coupons, or a review of those new shower slippers you’ve waited three days for.

Serious love is what Valentine’s Day is all about. I promise you, taking Valentine’s Day seriously is the only way your new relationship will last! Throw woolly mammoth puns out the window! I propose a revision of chalky conversation hearts. Instead of KISS ME, let it read I’LL DRIVE. Instead of UR CUTE, let it say UR CAPABLE. Instead of BE MINE, let’s try I’VE GOT TURBO-TAX. So, next time you walk by a storefront window painted brightly with roses and lip prints, remember that the key to anyone’s heart is through a very serious announcement of affection. And if you think you can’t handle that, go with the fucking nut-chocolate. Live on the edge.

Lily Horner Monologist

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alking to yourself is an art form. I have spent a good part of my 19 years on this earth talking to me, myself and I. The problem with this habit of mine, though, is that people just don’t seem to get it. They see me in class moving my head and lips slightly as if I’m whispering to them. They turn to me with their raised eyebrows, expecting me to repeat what I just said, but I shake my head apologetically, “I was talking to myself,” I say for the 204th time in my life. They turn away in disgust, and I can tell how hard they’re judging me. Newsflash, people! I don’t have to be talking to anyone!

Like everyone else in this overpopulated world, I get lonely sometimes. But I have absolutely no idea what other people do when they get lonely. Do they watch TV? Curl up into a ball and sing along to “Let Her Go” by Passenger? Does anyone do that? Do they stare at pictures of themselves with their friends, thinking of what could have been? Probably. When I’m on my lonesome, I reflect on my day so far, telling myself not to think about when I fell down on flat ground in front of that cute guy who is my mutual hookup on Friendsy. Or, if it’s only the beginning of the morning and my roommate has left for her class already, I pump myself up for the day to come. “Don’t worry, Lily, you won’t cry today in women’s studies, no matter how down you get about the patriarchy.” In general, I never go a long time without talking, so that if I’m in a situation where I can’t talk the conversation in my head just gets stronger. Professors have noticed how I laugh to myself or make faces reacting to something in my head.

They’ve assumed that I’m reacting to their lecture, when in reality I’m not listening to a word they say and I’m just thinking about what I’m going to eat for lunch.

Usually, though, I save talking to myself for the walk in between classes, which is probably not the wisest choice. I make fun of the person who is running with their backpack, or I wallow in how everyone else is dressed so nicely while I’m most likely wearing the same shirt I wore on that exact day last week (because I only have seven outfits). Sometimes I think about movies I saw a long time ago and I remember a par-

ticular funny scene and I start laughing, which definitely makes strangers worry about me.

Don’t think I don’t see you start to walk faster, it only makes me resent you and talk to myself more about how you think you’re better than me. That makes me think of the SNL skit called “You Think You’re Better Than Me?” which just makes me start to laugh again, and prompts you to break off into a sprint.

Being able to get all my own jokes and not having to explain my humor to anyone is definitely the best part of solo talking. I laugh at many things I say to myself, and I’m amazed that when I repeat them that others don’t find them equally hilarious. It’s fine. Maybe they think they’re better than me, but at least I get to laugh more than they do, which is good because apparently laughing strengthens your abs, and Lord knows those puppies need help.

The thing that worries me the most, though, is how I refer to myself in the plural first person. “What are we gonna do today? Who do we think we are?” This is the most evidence that I am a multiplication, or whatever Walt Whitman said 200 years ago (I don’t take math or poetry so I don’t really know). I wouldn’t necessarily say that I “hear voices” other than my own, because when I have conflicting feelings about something I have no problem arguing about it with myself. And I mean I go in, I lay it on thick, teach myself a lesson. If I liked someone but didn’t want to admit it, that’d be a source of contention within myself. “You don’t know what you want, stop being stupid.” “No you’re the one being stupid.” “No you are.” “No you.”

That’s how the conversations go until I get tired and start playing Sudoku on my phone.

I see people on TV lose it in solitary confinement, doing push-ups and getting super into shape, but when they are released, they’re just a shell of who they used to be. Their problem is they don’t talk to themselves! If I were in solitary confinement, I’d never do any push-ups or pull-ups or any “ups” of any kind, I’d just talk to myself about why Scary Spice was the best Spice Girl or how annoying it is when people take the last breakfast calzone at the Deece.

“We don’t really need them,” I’d say to myself.

“They don’t get us like we do.” No, Lily, no one gets you like I do.

Enlightened senior offers tips on surviving pre-registration

by Chris Gonzalez, Number Four

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y senior year, pre-registration isn’t a worry on your radar. You have job applications to weed through and bodies you need to find, ones with which you can hopefully and consensually smash naughty bits together. More important things. But for the freshies out there, the process can seem a bit mystical, like a will-o’-the wisp beaming off on the distant edge of shimmering lake. Is that a proper analogy? Probably not, but I bet you’ve never even seen a will-o’-thewisp and you’ve definitely never experienced a pre-registration in which being number 657 in the freshman class means you’re getting diddly squat, especially if you’re a bio major or a person. So. In times like these, I wish I had a guide my first year, but instead of remaining bitter, I figured I’d pass on some knowledge. Here are tips on how to make it through the pre-registration process without losing a limb or crying over your pre-major advisor’s tendency to be a bit neglectful when you need them most.

Reach out to your pre-major advisor early

Tattoo your PIN onto your bicep

Be Cautious

The process lasts a whole two weeks, and in reality, it takes all of five minutes to figure out the classes you want to take. Still, even if you believe you got this whole college thing down by now, you absolutely don’t. And even if you want to major in economics and your pre-major advisor is from the Art History Department, odds are, they have a wealth of knowledge. And let’s face it—you don’t.

Doesn’t have to be your bicep, but also why shouldn’t it be? A measly four digits might be easy to remember, but if you write it on a scrap of paper or enter it into your smartphone, you’re cheating yourself out of an opportunity to make memories. Once you reach the end of your senior year, you’ll boast an impressive seven tattoos that form a ring around your bicep. People (should) do this.

Make sure you stay hydrated

Prepare numerous back-up classes

As the deadline draws closer, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and shuffle around your classes. But do stop before midnight strikes on the final day, or else you might royally fuck yourself over. If you put your most popular class option down as number three or four in your list because of negligence, you might as well pull up a seat to the pre-registration II dining room table. It’s like Thanksgiving there, if the platters were filled with sloppy seconds and cold leftovers no one wanted.

You might not think that pre-registration is a physical event, but dammit if you won’t break at least one major sweat. Tracking down your advisor sometimes requires running upstairs, pacing back and forth in front of their office until they open up and pretend to remember who you are, and passing out in a puddle of your own tears and/or urine when you don’t get the classes of your choosing.

Nothing blows harder than setting your hopes high for that really cool comics course in the English Department, only to drown on the bottom end of a waitlist longer than “The Faerie Queen.”

Freshmen, it will happen. Print out the catalog, tape it to your wall and throw darts until it lands on a course. When the year ends, you and the roomie can remove the eye-sore together as one final act of bonding.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Draw Numbers Matter

If you find you are fourth in your entire class, especially if you are a senior, track down the first three and challenge them to a Hunger Gamesstyle elimination. After all, even if you’re guaranteed all of your courses, it means more if you could be number one for once. Plus, it’s the only real way to win pre-registration.

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November 6, 2014

Professors present micro-lectures for Artful Dodger series Charles Lyons Guest Reporter

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Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

ssistant Professor of Economics Ben Ho scored a spot in the Artful Dodger by chance—the opportunity practically fell into his lap.

“I was at some event, and happened to be seated next to Elizabeth Nogrady, who runs the series,” said Ho. His presentation, held on Friday, Oct. 3, was entitled, “The Price of Beauty: A Behavioral Economist on Value in Art,” and discussed ideas of pricing and valuing the intangible art. He also touched on the inherently personal, interpretative qualities of both the worlds of economics and art, using Andy Warhol and Richard Prince pieces as a starting point for the exploration.

“For example, one student project in my class ran an experiment where they gave away coffee with different cards with stories printed on them. They found the story printed on the card (about fair trade or about shade grown) affected the subject’s perceived taste of the coffee. I also have done research on how the associations with the things we consume affect how we value something,” said Ho. Prior to his talk, Ho, a behavioral economist with a concentration and interest in environmental economics, who teaches courses in behavioral economics, political economy and micro-economic theory, had no professional experience with art, despite his own personal interest in the subject.

“I’ve never actually talked publicly about art before, so it was a little intimidating...I based the talk on some of my discussions with a curator at the Museum of Modern Art and the vice president of Kickstarter, a Vassar alum. Both were interested in measuring their impact on the economy, and my work in environmental economics back at the White House happened to be relevant,” said Ho. Held in the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, each entry of the Artful Dodger series consists of a 30-minute talk by a person from the Vassar community—often a professor, but not necessarily. Administrators, experts, researchers or simply those passionate about a particular subject involving art are welcome to develop a concept for the series. Following the talk is a 15-min-

The Artful Dodger lecture series merges the worlds of art and academia with an unusual approach: 30-minute Friday talks by professors revolving around new and unseen pieces at the Loeb. ute period, during which the audience may ask questions and interact about the subject at hand with the speaker. The series appears to be more casually-styled than traditional lectures.

The Artful Dodger is often a forum for dissections, like Ho’s, involving interpretation and personal ownership or bias. Others, such as Associate Professor of History Michaela Pohl, gave a different kind of talk for the Artful Dodger on Friday, Oct. 10, with a historical slant rather than an economic one, stressing the centrality of interpretation in the study of photographs.

“I like using photos, but they always require a lot of narration about the point of view of who made them, why they made them...They need to be discussed and positioned and narrated in order to let the viewer make up their own mind, so that’s something I really liked to do with this talk; I gave a lot of background, but ultimately, I left it up to the viewer to interpret the photo with help from me. And then in the discussion afterward I asked [the audience] some questions too,” said Pohl.

This level of interpretive discourse was key

to Pohl’s talk, “Three Photographs of Russian Soldiers,” which examined the eponymous trio of pictures by Jewish Red Army photographer Yevgeny Khaldei, taken in 1944-1945. Pohl explained their historical context, both in the modern and canonical sense, as she found many connections to the summer’s international conflicts between Russia and its bordering states in addition to fertile ground involving the meaning of being a Red Army soldier at the time and the weight of the victory in Russian society.

Pohl, however, a 15-year veteran of the faculty whose teachings and studies focus on Russia and Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan and Chechnya, sees the loose way the Artful Dodger series is billed (described on Vassar’s website as “relaxed and informal discussions”) as somewhat misleading.

“It’s not really that casual for the speaker.

It seems casual for the audience, but...you still have to prepare. It was actually unhelpful for me because I didn’t have a place to put my water and my lectern notes. There’s a reason why we have lecterns and things like that, so ‘casual’

makes it less comfortable for the speaker... [It’s a] pretty academic talk,” said Pohl, continuing on to add, “Maybe what makes it casual is that the professor who speaks isn’t always a specialist on that art or they may do something way out of their field. But that doesn’t make it casual. It’s in a unique setting...it gets people to the art museum.”

The speakers’ experiences giving the talks were on the whole positive, with receptive, enthusiastic audiences that attend in reliably large numbers. “It was a very sophisticated discussion and it was very nice to get that sort of public feedback rather than from a class, because they’re a self-selected audience. They pay a lot of attention and they really want to be there, not that students don’t...Since it was an adult audience, their memory is longer, so when I talked about the war and after that about Kruschev, who gave Crimea to Ukraine, a couple of people in the audience nodded because they actually remembered those events,” said Pohl.

Ho shared Pohl’s positive experience. “It was a lot of fun. The gallery was packed and the audience was very engaged and asked great questions; all the people that came to the talk were very enthusiastic about it. I think people interact with art in many different ways and it is neat to learn about how others perceive it,” said Ho. The Artful Dodger series also acts as a reminder—or even an introduction—for audience members and speakers alike to the tucked-away haven of endless resources and artistic density that is the Loeb. “I actually had never been in the Loeb Center until I was invited to speak at this event. It was a nice surprise to find such a well curated collection, and a nice refuge on campus,” said Ho. In effect, the series unites the diverse members of the campus community with a sense of togetherness founded on intellectual and sensory discovery. “I think it brings people together—students, teachers, administrators, everyone involved. That is something unique to this event,” said Pohl.

Likewise, although this was Ho’s introduction to the Loeb, it was an experience that brought him closer to students. “I took a lot of art history classes in college and so I had a lot of fun preparing. It brought me back to my college days.”

From NYC to Vassar: premiere dancers to perform ballet Jake Soloman Reporter

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This event will be the first time that Mearns will be performing in front of an audience like this one. Mearns wrote, “I have not performed in this capacity before. I have been part of galas at universities but not in such an intimate setting.

I am very excited for it. I love how informal and down to earth it will be. I feel I can relate really well to this type of audience.”

Sara Mearns will have the opportunity to show the Vassar community a bit of her personal style as a dancer, and perhaps even influence some of the students. Mearns wrote, “[My style is a] ballerina with a rockstar edge. I don’t take myself too seriously, but pour every ounce of passion and willingness into my art form. A bit emotional and dramatic at times, but don’t get caught up in the

drama and selfishness of it all.”

Besides this event at Vassar, all of the upcoming performances at New York City Ballet will be keeping Mearns and Angle busy. Mearns wrote, “Coming up soon is Nutcracker at New York City Ballet. Soon after that in January and February is our winter season.”

Vassar dance students in particular are excited to see the performance to see what they can learn from these professional dancers. Zerlina Panush ’17, a member of Vassar’s dance group VRDT wrote in an interview, “I am excited to see NYCB principal dancers, Sarah Mearns and Jared Angle perform on the Vassar stage. The experience is truly one of a kind and I hope to garner much inspiration from their dancing.”

courtesy of Paul Kolnik

he world of a professional dancer includes the glamour of performance, the tedious memorization of complex choreography and diligence from an early age.

A window into this world will open up to the Vassar community Saturday, Nov. 8 when NYC Ballet principal dancers Sara Mearns and Jared Angle will perform at the Frances Daly Fergusson Dance Theater in Kenyon Hall. They will be performing two pieces at 7 p.m. and will host a Q&A session afterward.

Even though its reputability may seem insurmountable, the proximity of Vassar to New York City is one of the reasons that this event is able to take place. John Meehan, Professor of Dance on the Frances D. Fergusson Chair and Chair of Dance at Vassar, said, “The Dance Department [organized this event]. We’re so close to NYC, we have this absolutely world class facility and dance theater so it’s the perfect opportunity to put the two things together. We have world class performers from NYC and I believe it’s created a lot of interest on campus because reservations are pretty heavy.”

Mearns and Angle’s closeness in age to undergrads positions them as relatable figures for students, especially those also studying dance.

Meehan said, “What’s going to be interesting is that they’re not too much older than Vassar students. They had to face, as they were in their late teens, many of the same questions that people in high school were feeling: What am I going to do with my life?”

Mearns had to answer this question early on in order to become the successful dancer that she is today. Mearns wrote in an emailed statement, “In ballet, you have to decide at a very young age if you want to make this a career, that means at 13 years old. You try to get into the best schools in the country which will then hopefully be exposing you to the directors of major ballet companies

which will in turn hire you at age 17. It takes the effort of your parents and teachers to provide the best training possible for you to succeed. You take advantage of every opportunity such as summer programs, master classes, schooling, and in my case, financial aid to further you at a young age.”

Mearns continued on to discuss her early career work, “My background from an early age is mostly ballet. But I have also studied tap, jazz and musical theater. I studied in South Carolina, in both Columbia and Greenville, Charlotte, North Carolina, and finally New York for 14 years. My mom put me in ballet class at age three.”

Angle and Mearns have been able to work together for some time now due to their positions in the NYC Ballet. Meehan said, “Sara Mearns and Jared Angle are two principal dancers at New York City Ballet. New York City Ballet is one of the two major American ballet companies and it’s based in New York City. Jared and Sara have danced together quite a lot and have a wonderful partnership. Sara is considered one of the most important ballerinas dancing today.

The New York Times has called her one of the premier dancers of her generation. Certainly, she’s extremely well-thought of. And when [Jared and Sara] dance together, they have a truly amazing partnership.”

This closeness between Mearns and Angle have allowed them to feel comfortable while dancing together. Mearns wrote, “It’s always a dream and thrill ride to dance alongside Jared. He is one the best partners in ballet so I always know I am in good hands. I can be and do what I feel within reason and he will be right there with me.

It never feels like work with him.”

The event this Saturday will include a full program featuring two performances, distinct in style, that showcase the performers’ range of talents. Meehan said, “They’re doing two dances, one is the pas de deux from Swan Lake, and the other is the slow movement from a ballet by Peter Martins called Barber Violin Concerto.”

Professional dancers Jared Angle and Sara Mearns will visit Vassar on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. The pair dances for the New York City Ballet and has mastered a variety of styles through their training.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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November 6, 2014

Page 15

Beeman jetés into professional dance during gap year Emma Rosenthal Reporter

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Jacob Gorski/The Miscellany News

rom Washington D.C. to Chicago, and now at Vassar, Anna Beeman ’18 has made her mark on the ballet world. Beeman began dancing at four years old, but advanced her skill at the Maryland Youth Ballet (MYB) when she was eight. She was in the MYB for eleven years until she graduated from high school and began her gap year with the Joffrey Ballet. Beeman then brought her talents to the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater (VRDT) for her college dancing career.

When she was starting out, reaching for higher goals drew Beeman to increase her commitment to ballet. “I did a lot of things when I was a kid... but I always felt like I wanted to pursue ballet.

And my goal was that I wanted to be on pointe and from there my goals kept increasing...and I really loved it,” she said. Beeman also noted, “After pointe, I always wanted to be in the top levels of my pre-professional ballet school, so I wanted to work towards that and I wanted to be there by the time I was in high school.” As Beeman progressed, she used her goals as well as people to help her succeed. “My principal, whose name is Michelle Lees, really pushed me. She was kind of like my mentor the whole time, she really pushed me. Out of my original level that I came in to MYB, I was the only one who made it all the way through without quitting or getting injured and dropping out,” she said.

As Beeman’s time at MYB and her high school career came to an end, she had to decide where she would take her dancing next. “I auditioned for [professional ballet] companies in January and February of my senior year and I had already gotten into Vassar at that point because I did ED I. After I got into Vassar, I felt like I was kind of missing something and I was like ‘I want to have some sort of professional ballet experience.’ So I chose the best offer which was from the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. They offered me a trainee-ship position for the year,” Beeman noted. Beeman left her home in D.C. to get the taste of professional ballet she wanted in high school. “I lived in downtown Chicago in my own apartment... and we would just have a technique class like a ballet class in the morning and then we would have rehearsals or supplementary classes,” she said. Beeman had to figure out how to balance

her work with the new experience of living alone.

She commented on finding that balance: “[Joffrey has] a school as well, so we were in between...

It’s a bridge between student and professional...

It was interesting because I was literally living on my own. I had roommates and I had people in my apartment but I was cooking for myself, taking care of the apartment, doing errands. I was living in the city on my own so it was really cool.”

Although taking a gap year means a delayed graduation, Beeman knew it was the right decision. “This is one time in my life where I have no academic or financial commitments and I can just do this for myself...It was exactly what I needed to do,” said Beeman.

Beeman’s now-instructor and director of the VRDT, John Meehan, commented on his first contact with the dancer years before: “I knew that she had been accepted into the College, so I was very excited that she was coming. And then I found out she had taken a gap year to go to Joffrey’s pre-professional program, so then I was very disappointed because she was obviously a very good dancer. But anyway, I was thrilled that she turned up this year.”

Moving into her next stage of ballet, Beeman shifted gears to college life and the VRDT. Meehan and Beeman were equally as excited to work with each other once she arrived at Vassar.

“VRDT was a big reason why I applied to Vassar, especially because of the director of VRDT. His reputation really attracted me to the program,” she said. In addition to its prominent director, many other aspects of the VRDT interested Beeman and her fellow dancers.

Natalie Westgor ’17, a fellow VRDT dancer, noted, “VRDT is part of the Balanchine Trust which means that they can stage and perform ballets choreographed by George Balanchine who is one of the most influential choreographers of our time...There are very limited institutions that can teach Balanchine ballet.”

Beeman has already shown her deftness in ballet to her peers and director. Emily Martin ’18 said, “She is a very strong dancer technique wise, but she is also a very personable dancer.” Westgor noted as well, “You can really tell in any company when someone has a sense of real professionalism and training...There’s such a competence to her dancing but she’s such a gracious dancer...She

Anna Beeman ’18 rehearses for a ballet performance through the Vassar Repertory Dance Theater.

After spending one year with the Joffrey Ballet as a trainee, she now joins Vassar’s dance community. doesn’t have to tell people she was a trainee—it shows.” Meehan said, “She’s a very smart worker.

She works hard, she works cleverly.”

Beeman, only less than two months into VRDT, spoke highly of her peers as well as the program.

“It’s nice to be able to have that community and we’re all dancers and we all think similarly,” Beeman said. Westgor and Martin also commented on their experience with VRDT. “VRDT does a wonderful job of allowing everyone to...have a really just awesome sense of professionalism but it still allows college students to be college students,” Westgor said. “The community of dancers is very strong and it’s a very good group of people. It’s been very beneficial to have people like Anna with different backgrounds and it diversifies the community,” said Martin.

In terms of her future in dance, Beeman looked forward to her plans post-Vassar. “I want to go professionally if I can and...I want to audition again for companies when I’m a senior and see what I get. And if I don’t get anything, that’s perfectly fine... I know that I’ll still have a degree.

That’s why I decided to come to college.” Meehan as well commented on Beeman’s ballet future, a telling testament to her ability. He said, “I think there’s no doubt that she can dance as a professional. She could now and I’m sure she’ll be able to once she graduates.”

Despite Meehan’s optimistic about Beeman’s future, she’s focused on the present. She said, “School is just as important to me as ballet is; Vassar is a great school and to have this program as well was the perfect fit.”

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November 6, 2014

‘1989’ expands and delivers on Swift’s new pop prowess Maddy Vogel

Social Media Editor

1989 Taylor Swift Big Machine

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ithin 48 hours of the release of Taylor Swift’s new album, “1989,” it was expected to sell over one million copies. The last album to do this was “Red,” Swift’s last release. This woman has star power, and her latest album doesn’t disappoint.

Swift released three songs from “1989” early—“Shake It Off ” was her single of the summer, followed by a pre-release of the songs “Out of the Woods” and “Welcome to New York.” As popular as “Shake It Off ” was, and how excited fans were to speculate about the relationship behind “Out of the Woods,” these three songs are actually a letdown compared to the rest of the album.

“Welcome to New York” opens the album in a flurry of ’80s synth beats and repetition that continues through every track, but it’s the next two songs, “Blank Space” and “Style,” which are the highlights of the album.

“Blank Space” pokes fun at the rumors that have followed Swift her whole life: that she is a man-eater who writes songs to get revenge for being wronged. She calls out the rumors with the oh-so-clever lines, “got a long list of ex-lovers / they’ll tell you I’m insane / but I’ve got a blank space, baby / and I’ll write your name,” and reminds us that she’s well aware of what people think of her.

In “Style,” Swift relays a relationship between her and someone that never seems to end, because they “never go out of style.” The whole track has an undercurrent of anxiety and secrecy that inherently feels like a tense, difficult relationship that never comes to an end. Swift paints an image of illicit romance and film noir with descriptions of “slicked back hair” and the “red lip classic thing that you like.”

“Blank Space” and “Style” perfectly compliment each other and truly set the tone for

the whole album.

The next few songs are a bit forgettable, though. “Out of the Woods,” on its own, is both heavy and delicate, making me think of the fear that can make or break a relationship, but when it plays right after “Style,” I get a little disappointed. On its own, it’s a brilliant track, but it’s not a standout on the album. “All You Had to Do Was Stay” is classic TSwift.

She’s got a formula for songs, and it works, but it also gets a little boring. “Shake It Off ” is possibly my favorite song of the summer, and it was absolutely the perfect first single, but after months of listening to it non-stop, I’ve moved on (a little).

“This woman has star power, and her latest album doesn’t disappoint.”

Next comes “I Wish You Would,” which, upon first listen, sounds like a typical Taylor song—there’s more guitar sound in this one than in the previous six songs, along with romantic pining and sadness—but when you sit back and listen, the track is much more dynamic. She writes from the perspective of the ex-boyfriend, which is new for her. It’s also full of regret and self-blame, which, until recently, she shied away from. Swift’s old songs were always about being wronged and getting hurt, but a prevalent theme in “1989” is taking on the blame herself and realizing that relationships are a two-way street. This realization is most obvious in “I Wish You Would,” when she sings, “I wish we could go back / And remember what we were fighting for / Wish you knew that I miss you too much to be mad anymore.”

I always get the next two songs mixed up.

They sound nothing alike but for some reason “Bad Blood” and “Wildest Dreams” are interchangeable in my mind. Swift likes to refer to herself as a feminist, and while I’m super proud of the steps she’s taken to learn more and to take back problematic things she’s

said in the past, “Bad Blood” shows that she clearly hasn’t learned or fixed everything yet.

The song is a beat-heavy, angry track about a friend stabbing her in the back, and definitely doesn’t promote the girl-loving world she says she wants.

“Wildest Dreams” sounds like Lana Del Rey. It’s pretty forgettable on this album and sounds like the old TSwift has been hanging out with Lana a little too long and lost what makes herself so great. It’s my least favorite song on the album.

“How You Get the Girl” is a breath of fresh air after the last two songs. It’s cute, sounds like it could be from a Disney movie, and feels like the TSwift from “Red” but happier!

It’s a simple song about getting a girl, a tried and true formula for her. It’s fun and makes me think about spinning around in my room while getting dressed for a date. Plus, it’s in an adorable new Diet Coke commercial, which makes it even better.

“This Love,” “I Know Places” and “Clean” close out the album and perfectly sum up how she’s changed in the past two years and how her approach to life is different.“This Love” is quiet and unassuming. She’s reminiscing on a relationship that had to be let go so it could breathe and both parties could mature. “These hands had to let it go free / and this love came back to me,” she proclaims in a low, breathless voice, letting us know that her breakup was sad and difficult, but ultimately was for the best.

“I Know Places” is a standout on the album.

The song points out how the media focus on her life ruins so many of her relationships and makes it impossible for her to have a normal life. Swift proclaims that “they are the hunters / we are the foxes,” obviously referencing the stalker-like focus the media has on her at all times.

Swift co-wrote “Clean” with Imogen Heap, and it is the perfect closing track for this album. “Clean” ties together the themes of the album—letting love go, moving on and loving yourself—and presents it in a clean little package. Swift makes it obvious that the past two years have been about getting over the heartbreak of her album “Red” and this song

sums up how difficult that was. “Ten months sober I must admit / just because you’re clean doesn’t mean you don’t miss it,” she sings, summarizing how difficult it can be to move on from a relationship that doesn’t really feel over.

Now, if you bought the Target deluxe version or downloaded the album illegally, you most likely have heard the bonus tracks, “Wonderland,” “You Are in Love” and “New Romantics.” These are extra songs, so they don’t fit as well with the overall theme of the album, but they are definitely still great.

In “Wonderland,” she sings about jumping straight into a relationship, despite what her friends and the media say, a typical subject for Swift.

“Swift likes to refer to herself as a feminist... she clearly hasn’t learned everything yet.”

“You Are in Love” is a beautiful, fragile song about what it means to fall in love. My favorite line in the whole album is in this song: “You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars / And why I’ve spent my whole life trying to put it into words.” “New Romantics” is fun and full of ’80s synth that just makes you want to dance.

I would recommend getting the deluxe version just for these songs.

Overall, “1989” is Taylor Swift’s best record to date. It’s a complete break from her country roots, but it feels carefully planned and constructed (which it was). Swift finds her home here, bringing her impeccable songwriting to well-made beats to make a new, innovative sound. Swift isn’t borrowing styles from the pop greats, she’s making her own and doing it so well. This album is pure pop goodness and I’d recommend anyone who just wants to shake off the haters to check it out (but not on Spotify).

‘Girl Meets World’ activates Controversial innovator Dread Scott to visit campus nostalgia despite missteps

DREAD SCOTT continued from page 1

to denounce Scott’s work as “disgraceful.” “I don’t approve of it at all,” President Bush said on the floor of Congress before passing a piece of legislation to “protect the flag.” Scott’s work has shown to possess the power to spark reactions grounded in real-life actions.

Scott, whose name is both a nod to Dred Scott and to the emotion of dread, then went on to complete an independent study at The Whitney Museum of American Art in 1993. He has since exhibited works at The Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, the Contemporary Art Museum Houston, the Pori Art Museum in Pori, Finland and in many non-traditional spaces.

His pieces take form in a variety of mediums: In addition to his performance art, Scott works in painting, photography, prints, video and installation.

Scott will be making a campus visit through unFramed, a new organization, spearheaded

by Matthew McCardwell ’17 and Sophie Asakura ’16, which seeks to bring artists working in socially-conscious or politically-oriented spaces to help foster regular campus dialogues regarding contemporary issues.

“UnFramed seeks to bring public art and performance art to campus and take art off the walls of traditional spaces, like galleries or museums, and moving it out into the Vassar community,” said McCardwell. “A lot of the artists we are bringing are doing work to combat issues in their communities. [Bringing these artists to campus] takes discourse out of the town hall atmosphere and takes them on visually. We will then try and work better as a community, hopefully, by just seeing another artist or community’s perspective.”

UnFramed finds value in having Scott come

to Vassar’s campus in particular. McCardwell said, “By bringing him here, he is able to help us reframe dialogues we need to be having, like how to make sure everyone here has the space on campus, nobody is taking up space or marginalizing people further, to teach people not to commit microaggressions or to make people feel like they don’t belong here. So that’s one of the things we are hoping to gain from this–it’s just another way to create a dialogue.”

Scott’s work goes beyond creating dialogue; he questions society and invites the viewer to join his constant questioning and reexamining of society. His work also seeks to bring “forgotten” or “suppressed” histories or movements back into the contemporary conversation.

“This is a world where a tiny handful of people controls the great wealth and knowledge humanity as a whole has created,” Scott states on his website. “It is a world of profound polarization, exploitation and suffering and billions are excluded from intellectual development and full participation in society. It does not have to be this way and my art is part of forging a radically different world. The work illuminates the misery that this society creates for so many people and it often encourages the viewer to envision how the world could be.”

Scott’s goal speaks to many Vassar students’ desires, making him a perfect guest. Asakura said, “Matthew and I thought it was really important to start unFramed and bring Dread Scott to campus because we see the need and desire for broader social dialogue.”

He continued, “The arts, and especially performance art, are an active and important venue for tackling issues of deep personal importance and social and political relevance.

We think Dread will add insight, energy and nuance to ongoing conversations on campus.”

Chris Gonzalez Humor Editor

Girl Meets World April Kelly Disney Channel

W

hen news broke that Disney Channel would launch “Girl Meets World,” a spin-off to the hit series “Boy Meets World,” I felt the warm touch of nostalgia stirring in my heart. Though nowhere near the age of the show’s cast, I had grown up with Cory, Topanga, Shawn and Eric. I sat back collecting lessons from Mr. Feeny, wondering if I, too, was destined to find the love of my life in sixth grade (I wasn’t).

“Girl Meets World” picks up with Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel reprising their roles as Cory and Topanga Matthews, respectively, 14 years after they departed for New York. The couple are now parents to 13-year-old Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and her five-year-old brother, Auggie (August Maturo). Watching Cory and Topanga struggle to cross the tightrope that is parenthood is what I imagine it will be like when my best friends begin having children, raising teenagers, living adult lives.

They’re flawed and awkward, and in Topanga’s case, struggling to hold onto a familiar sense of self as career obligations begin to close in around her. In the middle of their thirties, neither have figured it out, and the show tells us that’s entirely okay.

But the focal point of the show is Riley, a girl with a heart as big as the world she sets out to meet. Blanchard’s portrayal leaves no

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

room for doubt—Riley is Cory’s daughter.

She’s loud, socially awkward, unpopular and a genuine goofball. She cares deeply about her best friend Maya (Sabrina Carpenter), the same way Cory does about Shawn. Maya is much cooler than Riley, though, and like Shawn she walks around with a chip on her shoulder. She comes from a broken home and the Matthews have kindly taken her in; Cory vows to treat her as a daughter and to never leave her behind.

This is where “Girl Meets World” loses its appeal. Cory serves both as teacher and father to Riley, the Mr. Feeny and the Alan of the show. But in having him occupy both these positions, the extra voice of reason is missing. Instead, we watch as Cory’s role as the authority figure constantly hangs over Riley’s life. And while the lessons in “Boy Meets World” seemed natural, the ones in “Girl Meets World” are heavy-handed, alway drilling in the importance of friendship and staying true to oneself.

Cory had seven seasons to grow up and meet the world, from sixth grade to college.

It feels like Riley’s clock is already counting down and she must cram the lessons Cory and Topanga learned in multiple seasons into one season of her life.

In spite of the show’s flaws, the neon pop of color that characterizes it as just another Disney show and the awful laugh track, “Girl Meets World” still holds much of the heart of its original and resonates with longtime fans. Even if we aren’t the intended fanbase for this new series, the references to the original series, cameo appearances and the fun of Cory and Topanga’s relationship make it worth checking out, if only for the sake of briefly quenching the thirst of nostalgia.

ARTS

November 6, 2014

Page 17

‘John Wick’ refreshes fatigued formula Excuse me, with aesthetic pleasures, loopy style Charles Lyons Guest Reporter

John Wick David Leitch, Chad Stahelski Legendary Pictures

W

ryly, not smugly, self-aware and with a self-mythologizing streak that is playful and maybe even convincing rather than bloated or self-important, “John Wick” is a strange bird.

A seemingly disposable and generic early-winter actioner with a washed-up star from a bygone era of tepid Hollywood fame, the film, against all odds, winds up making an impression, revealing a hypnotic and technically accomplished vision by first-time filmmakers and former stuntmen David Leitch and Chad Stahelski. Their debut is concerned with the fearful reputation and preposterously competent, hyper-violent energies of revenge-seeking hero, John Wick (Keanu Reeves), whose wife, Helen (Bridget Moynahan), dies of illness. John reacts in the only way he could: immeasurable sadness and a little bit (we come to find, quite a lot) of anger. It isn’t until young Russian gangsters with links to his hitman past strip him of two of his remaining joys—a small dog gifted to him by his dead wife as a symbol of emotional refuge and comfort, and his ’69 ‘Stang, natch—that he takes a sledgehammer to his floor, collects his hidden, long-cast-off array of weaponry and heads to NYC to vanquish his taunting abusers, dangerously flirting with reentry into a life of crime.

Leitch and Stahelski trust the power of image. “John Wick[’s]” first scenes are almost totally wordless, but they act as potent visual expression of all we need to know in terms of characterization and narrative. As we watch a woman die and the man who clearly adores her (very internally) crumble, the directors present a series of measured, often straight-on shots that watch patiently as events unfold in front of us; a sorrowful hospital scene in the final moments of Helen’s life, with the camera setup placed direct-

Campus Canvas

ly facing the bed, framed at a distance by a window and two sides of a wall, both eludes heavy sentimentality and quietly devastates. There is a poetry to the filmmakers’ eye for detail, too— it’s in the way their camera lingers on the unreceived drip of the coffee machine in Wick’s home as he impatiently fills his cup before the brew has finished or the arrival of police cars illustrated not through blaring sirens but rather by the silent, blinking red and blue lights that bore through the man’s tinted windows.

This is not to say “John Wick” is somber or self-important—the directors have a self-conscious, exuberant stylishness that is intoxicating and uplifting in its pureness. Even when dialogue—often delightfully silly, knowing, and absurdist—enters the picture, they relay their exposition with smart humor. Wick’s true capacity for destruction comes to the fore during a delirious exchange (and one of the highlights of the film) between mob boss father, Viggo (Michael Nyqvist) and meddlesome son, Iosef (Alfie Allen), where the filmmakers and actors invest what could have been a staid information-dump à la “Inception” and the work of Christopher Nolan with enlivened cinematic life, equal parts ridiculous, engaging and impressive.

The film has its setbacks. Although its visual interest and patience is to be appreciated, it doesn’t always substantiate its style. Other critics have lauded its action scenes for not relying on an accelerated speed of hundreds of cuts and flashy editing to ramp up the pulse of a given sequence, and its long takes of bodies battling, contorting and squeezing triggers at one another are certainly well-composed.

However, there isn’t necessarily a purpose or moral scrutiny to the violence on display like that found. For instance, in the two bookending James Bond films starring Daniel Craig, Martin Campbell’s “Casino Royale” and Sam Mendes’ “Skyfall,” and it ultimately uncovers Leitch and Stahelski’s lack of thematic underpinnings. A dearth of larger meaning is excusable, especially in such a relentless cavalcade of aesthetic enjoyment, but it does give “John Wick” a flimsy and minor temperament. In addition, the film

wastes the great Willem Dafoe in a supporting role, whose initial appearance and first scene as an old friend and colleague of Reeves’ character promises a more clever usage of the talented actor than it eventually delivers, squandering him as something of a plot device.

Just when it seems the rampant violence will go completely unchecked, though, the film offers a wonky action sequence that partially amends its previous heinous treatment of death.

The scene begins on a shot of a first-person shooter video game in the vein of “Call of Duty” or “Halo” that fills the frame, and as we get our bearings we watch, improbably but hilariously, as the characters playing the game are picked off, one by one, in the film’s actual reality by a sniper outside their apartment. It’s a sequence distinguished by a startling self-awareness and a spiky meta-commentary on the very portrayals of exploitative and all-too-gleeful violence to which the film itself sometimes falls prey.

It’s interesting to consider “John Wick” in the context of 2014’s other genre film offerings. Kenneth Branagh’s “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” a tamer film by most barometers, at least initially boasts the moral hesitation and discombobulation of outright murder that “Wick” comes up short in with its shrewd, affecting portrayal of Chris Pine’s titular hero’s personal burden in executing his first kill. Otherwise, “Shadow Recruit” has only hints of the kind of groovy, unique visual approach that “John Wick” and the comparable “Lucy,” one of the better action pictures of the year, have in spades. The Luc Besson-directed “Lucy,” in fact, appears the most fitting comparison to Leitch and Stahelski’s work, an equally bonkers and visually dazzling tale that has just a touch more humanity and relevant societal evocativeness to its images. However, it’s in comparison to David Fincher’s disappointing “Gone Girl” that “John Wick” stands almost wholly triumphant, with the latter film’s pair of directors elevating their own potentially stale and unremarkable material with a sense of pulpy magnetism and flair of which Fincher was incapable, elevating their “John Wick” into the ranks of the year’s better genre efforts.

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

Saturday morning cartoons are going out.

Which cartoon will you miss the most?

“‘Teen Titans.’” ­­— Jasmine Martinez ’18

“‘Chalk Zone.’”

— Zoe McNichols ’17

“‘Courage the Cowardly Dog.’” — Campbell Woods ’17

submit to misc@vassar.edu

“‘Rugrats.’”

— Aleena Malik ’17

“‘Rocket Power.’”

— Tim Veit ’16

courtesy of Paige Auerback

This piece is oil on canvas and is 20 by 30 inches. I completed it this August as a project in a summer course in which the sole focus of the course was oil painting. The project assigned was that we must paint a pair of our shoes. However, the painting had to be dynamic, rather than boring or mundane as shoes are often seen as. Additionally, the painting had to embody your persona in some way. What I found most rewarding about making this piece was the struggles that I had to overcome in order for the shoes to come alive. Trying to make inanimate objects feel real, lively, and exciting was difficult, which led to frustration.

But working through that frustration led to the possibility of implanting new techniques and experimenting with paint in ways I never had before. This piece is meaningful to me because I feel like it is a successful embodiment of everything I learned over the course of the summer. Because I am able to see my progression as a painter in this piece, I feel a sense of accomplishment.

—Paige Auerbach ’18

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“‘Kim Possible.’”

— Olga Voyazides ’16

Jacob Gorski, Assistant Photo Editor Samantha Kohl, Arts Editor

SPORTS

Page 18

November 6, 2014

Students strive to emulate English Premiership fans Freund added, ”They’re all pretty witty, or at least creative.”

As for Palmer’s favorite chant, “We’re the famous Vassar Brewers and we’re gonna win the League!” is representative of the kind of school spirit and pride that Pratt and co. are trying to capture and come together around.

“It’s a great way to come together as a school, to come together behind a sports team. It’s a great way to unify the school, I mean we’re singing songs like ‘I’m Vassar ‘til I die,’ and yeah it’s lighthearted, and we wouldn’t do it unless it’s fun, but we put our effort behind the team and we get to share in their victories.” Pratt believes that the work he and his band of fans do is not only a great boost for the team themselves but for the athletics department as a whole. “Ultimately, going to watch the guys is about giving them positive energy and what we’ve observed is that it spreads around. We give our positive energy to the team and they give it back to us.

And they’ve gone and spread that positive energy at other teams games now. Every time they finish their games, they give us a round of applause and they show their support for us.”

The positive energy that Pratt puts in to the soccer team has exhibited itself far more than one might first expect. Palmer and Freund recalled the time when, after they’d finished their match on Gordon Field, they went over to watch the field hockey team who was playing RIT. RIT had just scored to tie it up, and it was toward the end of the match. In attempts to bring the Brewers to victory, the Vassar stands erupted in chants led by the men’s soccer team.

Palmer recounted, “Pratt started doing his chants, and the crowd joined in and we really got excited about it.“ Pratt also remembers the day vividly, but his memories were slightly different than Palmer’s: “They were my chants but [the men’s soccer team] led them completely.

They swung the energy right back to Vassar, who then scored with two minutes to go.” Not only is this a good example of the inter-team support that athletics offer to one another, but it also adds to the idea of the oft-mentioned

courtesy of Vassar Athletic Communications

FANS continued from page 1 stop playing for academic reasons. His time on the team, however, left a deep impression on him. “I came away from the team with a huge amount of respect for their team spirit,” said Pratt, “They’re really great guys together—a really strong unit. They really pour themselves into the team and I thought they deserved some committed fans.”

The passion shown by these fans has not gone unnoticed. Junior midfielder Jordan Palmer was very grateful for what these fans do for the team. “Josh Pratt and the guys he comes with to the game really bring a great atmosphere. We really appreciate what he does.

Especially when it’s raining out, knowing there are people there who care about the game and how we do,” he said.

Palmer continued, “He really tries to emulate the atmosphere of the European matches, which obviously we all follow. It brings something extra to the game and the venue which you really only find in the European arena, so that was a really special thing he did. We were surprised when we first heard them but obviously we love what he did.”

Sophomore forward Andreas Freund agreed with Palmer, adding, “It definitely fires you up, knowing you have a bunch of fans in the stands who are as passionate about the game as you are. Especially when it’s raining, it fires us up to know that these guys are willing to come out there and care about how we do.”

Though they may succeed at bucking up team spirit, both Palmer and Freund laughed when they thought of the chants themselves. Freund admitted, “They were pretty funny cause they have some pretty personal ones about some of the players.”

An example of this is the Jordan Palmer chant: “There’s only one Jordan Palmer! / One Jordan Palmer! / Walking along, singing this song. / Walking in Palmer Wonderland! Jordan Palmer!” Freund’s favorite picks out Jordan Palmer from the field, “I like the one about Jordan, I find it hilarious.” On further reflection,

Men’s soccer fans, led by Josh Pratt, work to bring the intensity of diehard English premier league fans to Vassar. The group, pictured above, come up with chants for each player to amp up Brewer pride. home court advantage.

Though Pratt is the driving force behind this cheering initiative, he noted, “More and more people are taking the initiative; [freshman] Louis Moffa decided we should make some signs, and so a bunch of us got together last night and made up some signs that said ‘The Famous Vassar Brewers’ and we wrote each of the players’ names on it.”

This ingenuity is very exciting for both Pratt and Vassar athletics. One of the toughest parts about Pratt’s project is getting more people involved. Guynup considered this problem, “I think probably the biggest challenge is getting non-athletes to come to games. I know a lot of the freshmen, their roommates are on the team, and it’s definitely important to support your team, but it would be good to have more people who aren’t connected come out and support

our teams.”

Aside from the give-and-take that the fans and the team engage in with one another, Pratt’s motivation to find the time to come out to every game is the gratitude he feels towards the team for doing what they do. “The reason it’s worth getting behind these guys is because they sacrifice themselves for the team, two hours of practice everyday. They work hard for something bigger than themselves and I think it’s the least we can do to show them that they’re not just working for themselves but for us as well.”

Most Vassar students might be unaware of the time and energy athletes put in to their sport. Pratt and company wants to change that; they see the potential for Vassar as a place where students and faculty can be proud of their teams and where their teams can be proud to play for them.

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November 6, 2014

SPORTS

Page 19

VCMS secures bid in league playoffs SEC dominance reveals faulty V playoff format Ashley Hoyle Guest Reporter

assar’s men’s soccer team has found itself in the Liberty League playoffs after a very strong 2014 regular season. Once they finished off their in-season work against Bard with a 2-1 victory, the team sported an impressive winning record of 11-5-2. They have now advanced to the Liberty League tournament. Senior forward Andre Cousineau explained in a written statement what he thought drove the team’s success this year: “The success from our regular season stems from 100 percent commitment from everyone on the team to help each other and grow as a team together.”

He attributed the team’s record to their team’s ability to grow and adapt, saying, “We constantly learn, whether it be the day’s practice, the Monday video sessions, or the coach’s advice. The willingness to improve, even when victory was achieved, was the main reason for our success. Hopefully it continues.” Head Coach Andy Jennings gave credit to the personnel. “Although we lost some good seniors last year, we had a great group of freshmen (four start most games) come in,” he said, “So the recruiting really paid off, and some older players have really stepped up.” Senior captain Zach Nasipak echoed Jennings’ sentiments, commenting, “A lot of our success this season is due to the depth of talent we have on our team. We lost a good group of seniors last year, but brought in a very skilled group of freshmen so the level of skill on this team continues to improve with each year. We are constantly pushing one another in practice and demand a high standard because we know that we are a very good team. There is a lot of self-belief on this team and that motivates us every game to perform to the best of our abilities.” What made the difference for senior captain Justin Mitchell was the team’s

mentality; he explains, “A lot of our success can be attributed to the fact that we committed to playing quality soccer. Even in tight situations where it’s easy to play ugly and try to regroup, we were able to play good soccer out of those situations. Because we played a high quality of soccer, it’s tough for teams to defend us.” Each of the above essentials to success has fueled a strong performance from the Brewers since late August. Cousineau recalled some of his more favorite moments with the team, recalling, “I think the most important moments are the ones where we are in practice and everyone gets to be themselves and put their little twist on the VC brand of soccer. And the moments where we joke around before practice, or sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to someone after.

The little things like that, which are actually great moments in time, will always stay with me. I get look back and see how fortunate I was to have those moments.”

While this is the fourth consecutive post-season run for the men’s team, no one expects that the future will be devoid of challenges. Two other teams in the tournament are nationally-ranked, both St. Lawrence and RPI, and neither wins will come easily. Coach Jennings stated, “The obstacles are that the top teams make it to the playoffs—so we are facing the best teams in a league that is considered one of the top soccer conferences in the country. However, we have fared well against these teams this year and despite losing to one of the final four, we know we can beat them so there is certainly a belief that we can advance.”

Mitchell foresees the same challenges, adding, “There aren’t any weak teams in the playoffs, and to win against these teams we really need to focus on finishing our chances.” Nasipak agreed, but noted that there are internal difficulties to sort out, saying, “The Liberty League is one of the best leagues in

the country and you have to perform at your best every game to be successful, no matter who you are playing. But honestly, I think we are our own biggest obstacle. We know we have a talented team and we have put together some great performances recently but have struggled a bit getting the results we want. If everyone is focused and playing at their best during the playoffs, we will be very successful.”

A number of players have had an impact and helped carry the team through the regular season. Freshman Reid Smith has had a standout rookie performance. Mitchell said of Smith, “He’s an incredible player, with a bunch of assists and a goal already this season.” Midfielder and junior Jordan Palmer is also promising looking player. Nasipak commented, “Jordan Palmer has been performing extremely well in practice and I think his creativity in the midfield is going to help us a lot this postseason.” According to Cousineau, Vassar’s goalkeeper, sophomore Adam Warner, has also had a standout season and should find continued success as the team advances.

While each of these athletes will bring a lot to the table, Jennings believes each player will carry the Brewer’s performance. “It is difficult to identify one or two players as we have had a number of players step up for us—they are all contributing—even the players who do not see a lot of time in games. Relatively speaking, we are a very good possession-based team and this can only be achieved through work in practices so the players that do not play as much in games are absolutely critical (during those practice sessions) in helping us achieve any of the success we are currently enjoying.”

With so many talented athletes and an optimistic mindset, the men’s soccer team could quite possibly achieve Jennings’ simple post-season goal: “Win the tournament.”

Accolades herald end of MLB season Robert Carpenter Guest Columnist

F

acing baseball withdrawal? The season officially ended last week, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in game seven of the World Series.

And the next Major League Baseball game won’t be played until Opening Day 2015 in April. That’s a long time without America’s favorite pastime. But wait—there is still hope to feel the warmth of baseball one more time before it recedes into hibernation.

Next week, Major League Baseball (MLB) will recognize the league’s best with yearend awards. And if you’re not a Giants fan, and the odds are you’re not, this is your team’s last chance to leave this season with any type of trophy.

Starting next Monday, one of the four major awards will be announced every day of the week until Thursday, when the baseball award season will wrap up with the presentation of the Most Valuable Player award.

For those of you tuning in at home, that is Manager of the Year on Monday, Rookie of the Year on Tuesday, and Cy Awards on Wednesday. Each award will acknowledge one player from both the American and National leagues, which leaves the question: Which player really is the MLB’s most valuable asset? This question is never officially answered, for which I propose a televised primetime arm-wrestling battle between both leagues’ MVP champs to determine who is truly the best. I digress.

Some years, deciding the winners of the awards is easy, such as Barry Bond’s 2001 MVP selection, for which the slugger hit 73 home runs and received 98 percent of the MVP voting; other years are not so clear.

2014 saw a healthy batch of rookies enter the league. The Rookie of the Year Award (ROY) recognizes players who usually aren’t given much acknowledgment, which is an injustice considering how difficult it is to transition into the top level of play that the MLB offers. For the American League ROY, Jose Abreu, who plays first base for the Chicago White Sox, is almost a certain winner.

The slugger is 27 years old and had already played many seasons in his native country’s Cuban National League before joining the White Sox and beginning his American baseball career this past year. Abreu had one of the best batting averages in the league at .317 while still launching 36 home runs.

Abreu’s only threat, which is not very big given his scary numbers, comes from Yankees’ rookie relief pitcher, Dellin Betances, who dominated late in games with a 1.40 earned run average and 135 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched.

The National League’s Rookie of the Year race is much harder to predict and is a tight race between the New York Mets’ starting pitcher Jason deGrom and Cincinnati Reds’ center-fielder Billy Hamilton. The two rookies both had excellent seasons, and yet they could not be more different from each other.

DeGrom went 9-6 as a starting pitcher with 144 strikeouts in 140 inning pitches, while Hamilton was a speed demon with 56 stolen bases and patrolled center field with excellent defense. A telling stat line that may give deGrom an edge is the fact that he had six wins and one loss in 10 starts in the second half of the season, all while Hamilton slowed down to a lackluster .200 batting average after starting batting .285 in the first half. But Hamilton has the advantage of more exposure, playing 152 games of the 162 game season, while deGrom, a starting pitcher, had a more concentrated presence, playing in only 22 games.

Another tight race dominated by two star players is the American League Cy Young Award. The Cleveland Indians’ Corey Kluber and the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez are both dominant starting pitchers with downright scary stats. Both pitchers have sub-three earned run averages, which is elite for starters, and both won 15 or more games; Kluber had 17 wins and Felix had 15 wins. Yet it is difficult to determine who did more for his team as neither the Indians nor the Mariners made it to the playoffs.

Hernandez won the Cy Young in 2010 and, as “the King,” may not reign over this race,

but, if Kluber won the prize, it would be in one of the closest Cy Young races ever. For this award, honorable mention goes to Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox, who went 12-4 over the season with 2.17 earned run average and an impressive 208 strikeouts. But his 174 innings pitched puts him way behind in playing time compared with Kluber (235 innings pitched) and Hernandez (236 innings pitched).

The National Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards go hand-in-hand this year, as it is expected that both will go to the Los Angles Dodgers’ starting pitcher, Clayton Kershaw. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ star pitcher was a one-man wrecking crew this season, striking out 239 and winning 21 games with only three losses, all while pitching six shutouts and two complete game shutouts. It is difficult to argue that Kershaw is not the most valuable player and deserves his $215 million seven-year contract that made him the highest paid pitcher in league history. But his playoff performance leaves a sour taste in voters’ mouths, as the pitcher went 0-2 in the play offs and gave up a disastrous three-run homer to St. Louis Cardinals in a elimination game that would actually end the Dodgers’ season in one swing of the bat.

In the American League, it is difficult not to give Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels the award he played the last three years to obtain. The center-fielder “jack of all trades” was phenomenal in almost all aspects of his game, hitting for average (.287), power (36 home runs) and runs with a league leading 111 runs batted in, while topping it all off with a solid 16 stolen bases. Shockingly, this might have been Trout’s worst season in his three year career, as he batted .326 and .323 in the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Yet, Mike Trout is valuable and almost indispensable in every part of the game he is involved. The Angels might even want to try him out as a pitcher. But in all seriousness, between Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw, it is likely that both MVP Trophies will be sent to Los Angeles.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Sam Hammer Columnist

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s November begins, it is time for college football fans to start trying to figure out which teams will be selected for the new four-team college football playoff system. Currently, the four playoff teams are Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn and Oregon. The other teams currently in contention include Oregon, Alabama, TCU, Michigan State, Georgia and Baylor, to name a few. As all college football fans know, the next few weeks will be filled with upsets and close games, and the playoff teams are bound to change.

Five of the teams mentioned above belong to the Southeast Conference (SEC). The SEC, along with the Pacific-12 Conference (PAC-12), Big Ten, Big Twelve and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) make up the power five conferences in college football.

These five conferences include the strongest college football programs in the country. It is almost a guarantee that the national champion this year will come from one of these conferences since they have the strongest schedules. Qualifying for the college football playoff is not merely a matter of win-loss record but also which teams those wins came against.

While all five of the major conferences are strong, the SEC stands above the rest. Five of the top ten teams in the AP Top 25 poll come from the SEC west division alone. That is a staggering number compared to the other major conferences. The issue in the SEC is that the strength of schedule for teams is actually too strong. Currently, the number-one ranked team in the poll, Mississippi State, is the only remaining undefeated team in the SEC. Mississippi State’s five remaining regular season games include a matchup with sixth-ranked Alabama, followed two weeks later by a meeting with arch-rival Ole Miss. It would be nothing short of incredible if Mississippi State were able to finish this season undefeated after fighting through the gauntlet that is the SEC. If the college football system were truly fair, the participants would include four teams from the SEC, or maybe three SEC teams and currently undefeated Florida State. The SEC is so good that it is really not even fair that they have to compete for four playoff spots with the members of the other power five conferences whose schedules do not even come close to matching the rigor of going up against SEC opponents week in and week out.

I believe the only way to remedy the current situation is to eliminate the conference system. The best teams in the nation should not all have to fight against one other in one conference every year. It would be fairer on the teams and more interesting for fans around the country if the best teams could play against a wider variety of opponents. Why should a good team such as Florida State this season be forced to play games against weaker ACC opponents when they could be testing themselves regularly against the likes of Auburn, Oregon and Michigan State?

I see no reason why rival schools cannot continue to schedule matchups against each other every season. For example, despite not belonging to the same conference, Notre Dame and Michigan play against each other almost every year in order to preserve their historic rivalry. Not belonging to the same conference has never been an issue for them.

What I am suggesting is a system similar to the NBA’s where there is an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. Teams would play about twothirds of their games against conference opponents and the other third against teams from the other conference. Under a system like this, teams like Alabama, who play in the stacked SEC, and Florida State, who plays in the much less competitive ACC, would be able to play schedules against similar opponents.

I would also reduce the length of the regular season to ten games. Those two extra games could be added as rounds to the new playoff system. With the addition of two more rounds, 16 teams would qualify for the playoffs and a chance to take home the national title. A field of 16 would certainly include all of the possible contenders and would give them each a fair chance to win the title. It would be like a miniature version of college basketball’s March Madness Tournament. A longer playoff would be easier for fans to understand and would also provide more opportunities for schools to get revenue from television advertisements. I do not know if these changes will ever come about, but I believe they would improve the competitive balance in the game.

SPORTS

Page 20

November 6, 2014

Brewer teams power through end-of-season fatigue Eli Vargas & Erik Quinson Sports Editor & Reporter

Fencing

Women’s Volleyball

Although VCWV didn’t make the playoffs, that didn’t stop them from ending their season on a high note against the Sage Colleges on Nov. 1. It was senior day, and the Brewers’ three seniors, Clara Cardillo, Taylor Mosley and Marie Pitre, didn’t disappoint as they led the Brewers to a 3-0 win. Women’s volleyball finished the season 4-8 in liberty league play, and 13-17 overall.

Cross Country

This past Saturday, the Brewer cross country teams looked to end with a bang at the Liberty League championships. The teams traveled to Saratoga State Park, where RPI were the hosts.

The Brewer men ran hard, but couldn’t dis-

Swimming and Diving

In their second meet of the fall season, the College’s swimming and diving teams traveled to the Palladium Athletic Center to go against NYU in head-to-head dual meets this past Saturday. With their seasons now in full swing, the teams were trying to build some momentum and improve upon last week’s wins against Bard on Oct. 29. Unfortunately, both teams couldn’t keep up the with the strong NYU teams. The women ended up losing the meet 87-199, and the men lost 204-62, but they hope to have worked out all of the kinks in their techniques, as that was their last meet before they begin Liberty League Competition. The men’s team looks to make a splash in the Liberty League as they enter the pool against Skidmore College on Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. at Kresge Pool.

Women’s Rugby

Over the weekend, the women had a tough rematch against Rutgers University in the Tri State Conference Final on Saturday, Nov. 1. The game got off to a bad start with Rutgers scoring a converted try within a minute of the starting whistle. However, the next fifteen minutes saw the Brewers tighten up their play and they kept the ball in Rutgers half. Unfortunately, as was to become a staple of the game, the Brewers couldn’t hold onto the ball and gave up a pen-

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

For their first event of the season, the College’s fencing team traveled to the Big One Tournament hosted by Smith College to gauge how much their hard work and conditioning during the offseason had paid off. In this pre-season tournament, the Brewers experienced much success. Freshman Jonathan Alperstein earned first place honors on the épée squad. The men’s side seems to have a strong recruiting class, as fellow freshman George Whiteside joined in at fifth place out of 72 contestants for the Brewers.

The women’s side found much success in multiple divisions of play. Sophomore Olivia Weiss finished as one of the highest Brewers, reaching the semi-finals in the épée to reach third place. Freshman Annie Innes-Gold reached the same heights as Weiss, when she finished third in the sabre. Youth were champions of the day for the Brewers, and the teams look to continue their strong start and defend their home turf of Walker Field House this Sunday at 10 a.m.

tance themselves from the pack and ended up finishing fifth. Senior Andrew Terenzi set the pace with a time of 26:48 over 8k. St. Lawrence continued its league championship streak, and the hosting team, RPI, finished second.

The women’s team fared better than the men’s team as they finished third out of seven teams, winning a tiebreaker over host RPI. They were led by senior Cassidy Carpenter, who finished the 6k course with a time 22:29 to finish seventh overall and earn All-League honors. Next up for the Brewers are the ECAC Championships on Nov. 8 at Westfield State.

Field hockey is one of a number of teams for Vassar who are in the midst of the playoff hunt.

Sophomore Lauren Shumate has been a key contributor for the Brewers with her strong defense. alty just yards from the line. It was an exciting match, but Rutgers won the day with strong running and struggling defense from the Vassar women, the final score was 38-10. The Brewers will take part in the first round of the regional play-offs on Saturday, Nov. 8, hosting Buffalo State University.

Men’s Rugby

The Brewers played Sacred Heart University on Sunday, Nov. 2 in the Tri State Conference Final. Both teams ran impressive offense, but it was the Brewers who took an early lead scoring two unanswered tries. The men from Sacred Heart were not to be disheartened and came back strongly, but never enough to overtake the Brewers. Due to a sub-par performance on

defense the Brewers conceded 34 points, but luckily made up for it amounting a total of 48 points in response to win the day and a spot in the Tri Sate Conference final against Fairfield University on Sunday, Nov. 9.

Field Hockey

It was a hard weekend for the Brewers, playing New Paltz away on Saturday Nov. 1. Conceding three goals in the first five minutes, the Brewers could not claw there back and conceded the game to the hosts. The match was non-conference. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Brewers head to Saratoga Springs to take part in the Liberty League Tournament. The Brewers will start with a game against second-seed Skidmore College.

Newly divided squash program begins strong season Amreen Bhasin Reporter

T

his year, the Vassar College men and women’s squash teams are in new territory. The squads were merged for the 2013-14 campaign due to both graduation of seniors and study abroad commitments. That forced the returning women, as well as newcomers, to compete for playing time alongside the men. For the women, many players return from last year after gaining experience in late season scrimmages. Despite the co-ed designation, many women were able to break into the lineup last year. Three key players for the women include top returners senior captain Karina Primelles along with sophomores Carly Scher and Isabelle Bertram.

Scher described her excitement at the team’s re-split. “I am really happy about the teams being split again,” she wrote in an emailed statement. “I think it will be a really beneficial

and great experience for everyone. Last year, being on the men’s team was definitely a great experience and helped me to improve, but I think I speak for all the girls when I say that we always wanted a team to ourselves. The men and women practice together all week, so we are still playing with the men and we get to bond with them which is awesome, but we also have our own matches and get to play women’s teams now which is really exciting; surprisingly enough, men and women play very different games of squash, so it will be good for us to be able to focus on playing women’s squash.” She went on to add, “I think the women on the team will be more comfortable focusing on playing women rather than men, so I’m really excited about it.”

Primelles played at the No.6 spot last year for the co-ed team during the spring semester, as she was abroad in the fall. She went 1-2 overall, but the year before, in her sophomore

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

The College’s squash team has recently split back into men’s and women’s sides, and both teams were successful at the Hudson Valley College Individual Tournament this past Saturday in Kenyon Hall.

season, she chalked up the second-most wins on the team with eight. Bertram competed with the men for playing time last season and won four matches and going 3-0 in exhibition matches. Scher played 20 games last season at the No. 7, 8 and 9 as well as the No. 2 and 3 spots. She was 6-14 overall and finished with the highest number of season wins on the team.

Along with these returners, freshmen Hannah Nice and Cherrylann Mucciolo are strong recruits. Nice, in particular, is ranked by U.S. Squash as a Junior U-19 player. Seniors Ellie Opdahl and Roxanne Ringer both played with the team second semester last year. Ringer went 1-2 at the No.7 spot while Opdahl did not get any match time. To help bolster numbers, junior Stephanie Zhu and freshman Emma Glickman joined the squad and are working to gain experience quickly.

Scher seems optimistic based on the team’s pre-season play. “Pre-season this year has been going so incredibly well, and I am feeling really good about the upcoming season. Every single one of us has been really dedicated to getting into shape and getting ready for the season. We’ve had some amazing practices so far. Personally, I think this pre-season is going so much better than last year’s and that I am already more prepared for the season. I’m in much better shape and have already improved my skills a lot. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and can not wait to continue to improve.”

She also has been impressed with Nice’s play so far.. She added, “Especially as a freshman new to the women’s team, Hannah Nice has proven herself to be an extremely strong player and she is really going to make our team good.

I’m excited to see what she will do this season.”

Looking at the men’s team, the men lost some key members to graduation and currently have members abroad. The team holds 11 to start the season and will welcome back more players in the spring. They are captained by seniors Ryan Kurtzman and David Garfinkel. The team also welcomed back sophomore Vincent Mencotti, who was injured in the first tournament of his freshman campaign after going 5-0 and earning a title at the Hudson Valley College Individual

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Tournament. Junior Timothy Veit should also be a name to watch after playing 11 games at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, going 3-8 on the year.

Senior Noah Kulick finished 5-6 last year at the No. 5 spot. Sophomore Sam Hammer was 2-2 at the No. 6 spot. The lineup is also bolstered by a group of five newcomers. Mencotti agrees that pre-season has been a great experience and feels that his teammates’ returns will only help build on everything from the fall. “[Pre-season so far has been] incredibly strong. Our intensity is high and the focus level at practice is very high. Everyone is there to get better and perform. The first semester will be a little developmental as four of our starting nine are abroad and our new players will have to step up to fill the gaps until they return in the winter.

But our intensity level is really unique this year.

We all have goals for ourselves and the team as a whole. We all know that only our best will accomplish these goals.”

It seems that the team’s optimism has been warranted. The teams opened up play at the Hudson Valley College Individual Tournament this Saturday in Kenyon Hall. Primelles and Opdahl both were undefeated for the women, as they both went 3-0 on the day. Primelles played in the “C” Division, defeating two men and one woman but did not win the bracket due to seeding. Opdahl earned the individual title in the “E” Division after defeating two Fordham players and Zhu. Mucciolo made it to the “D” Division Finals and placed 2nd in the flight. Ringer took 5th in the “E” Division and Zhu took 3rd in the “E”. Nice was the only female in the “A” Division and went 1-2 on the afternoon, but both her losses were very close.

Scher and Bertram both had a win in the “C” bracket.

For the men’s team, junior Tim Boycott earned the title in the “D” division and was named Liberty League Performer of the Week for Men’s Squash after winning 9 of 11 sets.

Mencotti finished third in the “A” Division while Veit was fourth in the “B.” Kulick finished 3rd in the “C” Bracket.

Both teams are back in action, taking on Haverford College and New York University Nov. 8 at 12 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.