Misc12 4 14

The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVII | Issue 10

December 4, 2014

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Report finds serious Vassar, community unite to protest flaws in Security Dept. Ferguson decision in local rallies Failing to prove racial profiling, study advises institutional changes Bethan Johnson

Contributing Editor with additional reporting by

Marie Solis

Editor-in-Chief

e are extremely concerned about the state of the Vassar College Safety and Security Department,” read the opening page of a recently released security evaluation conducted by Margolis Healy and Associates. Roughly after retaining their services, the Vassar College Administration released the firm’s preliminary report regarding its security policies to students and staff. The review, entitled “Vassar College Public Safety Management Study,” though declining to definitively state if racial profiling occurred at Vassar, wrote that certain Security officers responded inappropriately to incidents commonly referenced as moments of racial profiling.

Of the 38 suggestions in the report, most speak to combating perceived structural inefficiencies.

Along with strongly advising the College to write clearer operating procedures for officers and to update the Security Department Officer’s Manual, the report also advised the College to launch diversity and inclusion training to address perceptions

with additional reporting by

Marie Solis and Chris Brown

Editor-in-Chief and Opinions Editor

O

n Nov. 25, in the wake of the nighttime announcement that a grand jury refused to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting Michael Brown, hundreds of members of the Vassar community engaged in peaceful protests both around Main Building and outside of the Dutchess County Jail. Utilizing various forms of social media and working in conjunction with such local activist organizations as Community Voices Heard and End the New Jim Crow, students rallied with Poughkeepsie residents and in unison with nationwide actions. Despite the substantial showing of students and staff at the events, some in both the See RACIAL JUSTICE on page 4

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

“W

of racial profiling.

Representatives from Margolis Healy, a college security review firm comprised largely of former law enforcement officers, asked faculty, staff, alumnae/i and students for their thoughts on the Safety and Security Department and on their perceived level of safety on campus. For five days in September, associates from Margolis Healy conducted forums and one-on-one interviews with a variety of community members before withdrawing to review their findings and draft recommendations.

Among the main concerns of the report are the serious issues within the Safety and Security Department. It stated, “It was readily apparent during our time on campus that the Department does not have an appropriate infrastructure for effective strategic and operational management.”

The report continued, “It is this lack of up-to-date, effective policies, combined with several other factors, that likely contributes to wide variation in performance and conduct amongst patrol officers.”

The report enumerates the lack of a defined standard for written directives that would govern the actions of See HEALY on page 4

Bethan Johnson

Contributing Editor

Vassar students hold up signs reading “Hands up don’t shoot,” a popular phrase associate with the recent death of Michael Brown, at a night rally on Nov. 25.

VSA looks to improve structure Rhys Johnson

T

Assistant News Editor

he Vassar Student Association (VSA) is currently undergoing an external review of its structure, policies and activities by an outside specialist firm, the SG Consulting Group. They will comment on issues that should be addressed and offer

suggestions as to how the VSA can operate as a more effective body. The SG Consulting Group has worked with dozens of campuses across the country, specializing in revising student constitutions and bylaws, training in parliamentary procedures and development of solutions for problems facing student governments.

The decision to pursue an external review arose from a common feeling of alienation between student groups and the VSA as well as a perception of stagnancy and lack of transparency on the part of the VSA. Vice President for Activities Ramy Abbady ’16 commented, “I want this See VSA REVIEW on page 7

Carpenter carves up record book Cushing, Greens unite in arts activism event W Amreen Bhasin Reporter

omen’s cross-country has had a successful season this semester, but one runner in particular has drunk deeply from the chalice of success. Senior cross-country run-

ner Cassidy Carpenter is proud of the team she was a part of this fall, as she explained in an emailed statement. “This year was the best the team has done since my freshman year three years ago [in 2011]. And I think that this is really indicative

of the supportive, inclusive and kind atmosphere we have on the team.

But in addition to the positive atmosphere, everyone is really motivated, competitive and willing to work hard to reach our team goals and to See CROSS COUNTRY on page 18

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

Senior cross-country runner Cassidy Carpenter has plenty of reason to be smiling, as her hard work and dedication over her four years as a Brewer culminated in her senior year when she ran at the NCAA National Championships in Ohio.

Inside this issue

8

Retiring workers recount times at FEATURES VC post office

9

Healy report must be acted upon by OPINIONS administration

Emma Rosenthal

Assistant Arts Editor

E

ach residence house on campus holds different events throughout the year and they are as diverse as the houses themselves. This year, Cushing House is holding “Effecting Change Through Art” in the Villard Room on Dec. 5 at 6 p.m. in collaboration with the Vassar Greens. Beyond providing a forum for students’ and community members’ artistic talent, the organizers hope to reclaim the Villard Room as a space for expression.

Esin Asan ’17, Cushing House President, has been preparing for the event and planning to make the importance of art unmistakable to the guests. She wrote in an emailed statement, “...We are collaborating with the Vassar Greens to make this event happen. Basically, we are transforming the Villard Room into an art gallery and performance space for students. We want the event to focus on how art is a tool is to create change in the society.”

To make this a night full of the arts in every dimension, Asan and the Vassar Greens are planning to incorporate many different genres of art into the space. “The Vassar Greens invited two folk singers

14 ARTS

who will be performing. We have digital and physical submissions from many students, and many students signed up to perform. There will be lots of yummy food and a ton of talent, fun and good company,” Asan commented.

Gabrielle Pollack ’17, Co-President of the Vassar Greens, joined Asan in the preparation for “Effecting Change Through Art” and adds another perspective to the event.

She wrote in an emailed statement, “The Cushing House/Vassar Greens event is a collaborative effort to reclaim the Villard Room as a space of art, activism, and student work. Art is a really powerful form of expression and through this event we wanted to encourage students at Vassar to share their work, posters, videos, songs, etc. with us.”

The arts-centric event will be open to everyone in the Vassar community and features not only a broad array of art styles but also contributions from a range of organizations on campus. Asan commented on who she reached out to in preparation for the event, “I’ve been sending emails to all the campus organizations whose general body members See ART ACTIVISM on page 16

Manhattan artist examines machines through modernism

The Miscellany News

Page 2

December 4, 2014

Editor-in-Chief Palak Patel Marie Solis

Monument Valley

Senior Editors

Meaghan Hughes

Eliot Cowley Nerd Culture Blogger

Contributing Editors

M

onument Valley, a game for iOS and Android by developer usTwo Games, is by far the most gorgeous, elegantly designed mobile game I have ever played. Granted, the only mobile games I really ever play are Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, and Pixel People, but even so, I’m especially picky about the mobile games I play, and this one makes the cut and then some. Hardcore gamers often make fun of anyone who plays mobile games, calling them “casuals” and the games themselves not “real” games.

This game alone should silence those people, while at the same time be another example of how games are art.

The premise of Monument Valley is the following: you are a princess who has been cast out of the kingdom you ruled over because you stole some precious pieces of geometry, and you are now trying to give them back and ask for forgiveness. But all that’s left of the place are magnificent monuments that the people built, geometric wonders that boggle the mind. The game clearly takes inspiration from Escher by challenging you to solve puzzles where you have to move architecture around, walk on walls, and really just forget everything you know about the laws of physics.

The story is intentionally ambiguous, as is often the case with indie games, which I happen to really like. Ambiguity allows the player to draw his/her own conclusions, and come up with fantastic fan theories. Besides, compared to the gameplay, the story of Monument Valley isn’t all that important anyway. The game lasts for only about an hour or two, but in that short amount of time you will think differently than you ever have had to before, and that is an enormous compliment for any video game.

Not only will you have to move architecture around, but you will also have to think in terms of perspective. If you’ve ever played games like Fez orSuper Paper Mario, you’ll know what I mean. Sometimes, even if you think that it shouldn’t be possible to walk across a certain pathway, if you shift the perspective in just the right way, it suddenly becomes possible, simply because it lookspossible from that angle. I’ve written papers about this stuff before—these kinds of worlds are called “strange spaces.” It’s an utterly fascinating topic that I encourage anyone who’s interested to pursue.

Bethan Johnson Aja Saalfeld Marie Solis Meaghan Hughes

Courtesy of Two Games Courtesy of Two Games

To read more of Eliot’s review of Monument Valley, visit maincircle.miscellanynews.org

This is our last issue of the fall semester, but stay tuned online for Misc content during break!

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

Erik Halberg Chris Brown 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 Assistant Design Sarah Dolan Assistant News Rhys Johnson Assistant Arts Emma Rosenthal Reporters Amreen Bhasin Julia Cunningham Emily Hoffman Charles Lyons Erik Quinson Columnists Sophia Burns Delaney Fischer Sam Hammer Sarah Sandler Design Sixing Xu Photography Alec Ferretti Emily Lavieri-Scull Social Media Kayla Holliday Hannah Nice Copy Hallie Ayres Claire Baker Kristiana Bowman Anika Lanser Cody Duane-Mcglashen Macall McQueen Kelsey Quinn Jessica Roden Emma Roellke CORRECTION Sophia Slater Rebecca Weir

The Miscellany News does not expressly endorse any of the opinions of the columnists featured within the pages of the paper, except for the staff editorial.

miscellanynews.org | @miscellanynews The Miscellany News on Facebook farandaway.miscellanynews.org | maincircle. miscellanynews.org | exposure.miscellanynews.org

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

LETTERS POLICY The Miscellany News is Vassar College’s weekly open forum for discussion of campus, local and national issues, and welcomes letters and opinions submissions from all readers.

Letters to the Editor should not exceed 350 words, and they usually respond to a particular item or debate from the previous week’s issue. Opinions articles are longer pieces, up to 800 words, and take the form of a longer column. No letter or opinions article may be printed anonymously. If you are interested in contributing, e-mail misc@vassar.edu.

December 4, 2014

NEWS

Page 3

Staff, students rally against shifts in labor policies at ACDC Emily Hoffman and Rhys Johnson Reporter And Assistant Editor

O

Palak Patel/The Miscellany News

n Monday, Nov. 24, roughly 150 students and staff members held a rally in the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) to support ACDC workers who are fighting for changes to their treatment by the Administration and their labor conditions. Vassar’s Student/Labor Dialogue (SLD), an organization for laborers and students to work together to foster transparency around workers’ issues at Vassar, create a community for students and workers to meet and connect, and push for better working and learning conditions at Vassar, organized and publicized the rally.

Together, students and workers in the SLD, founded less than three years ago, seek create a social space to meet and connect and to rally together for better wages, benefits and overall working conditions for Vassar workers. In broader terms, the SLD is a forum to address issues of socioeconomic class disparity since many issues which workers face, such as unaffordable health care and debt, are the same issues students face.

At this rally as well as in recent weeks, the workers have argued that the unfair schedule changes not only push a disproportionate amount of hardhsip onto them, but also serve to mask a larger problem of understaffing in ACDC itself. One student from the SLD commented in an emailed statement, “As a result of the buy-out program, seven full-time employees have either already retired or are retiring in January, and management only plans to replace two of those jobs. The schedule changes changed several 40hour/week positions to 32-hour/week positions, effectively eliminating another position.”

The student continued, “Workers in the Deece are already overworked. This amounts to a permanent speed-up of the work process, permanently overworking ACDC workers.”

The buy-out plan referenced is the Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program, instituted by the College this summer to reduce the size of the workforce, eventually reducing staffing by 68 people. The full effects of the policy will become evident to students and staff at the be-

ginning of the semester when the final wave of individuals officially leave the College.

Representatives from the SLD view these shifts in schedule shifts as a means of hiding the issues this program will cause. The student said, “These drastic schedule changes are management’s way of dealing with understaffing, and it’s not going to fix the problem. Rather than replacing the jobs that have been lost, management is proposing to change everyone’s schedules, making it extremely difficult for workers to take care of their families, maintain their second jobs and livelihoods, etc.”

The student continued, “Changing the schedules won’t change the fact that there are less people to do the work. As long as these positions remain unfilled, workers in ACDC will be overworked and understaffed.”

In conjunction with their protests, the students organizing the petition released a statement illustrating their stance on the issue. The statement read, “We believe that the College needs to fill open positions in the ACDC instead of pushing more work on current workers without an increase in pay. Not only do we recognize the vital role workers of ACDC play in making the College run, but we also see that the injustices workers are facing on campus are connected to a global trend of increasing inequality in the workplace.”

It went on to say, “When students and workers come together in solidarity, we show administration the kind of community we want at Vassar—one built on respect and justice.”

Students gathered together on the small side of ACDC at 9 a.m. to begin their action. They sang songs and chants that highlighted the issues they saw with schedule changes and understaffing. Some of the lyrics included, “We are working extra hours, staffing cuts across the board but the College keeps a billion bucks while the endowment soars. But when we fight together our demands can’t be ignored, for united we are strong!” Another portion said, “Workers’ rights are under attack, SLD has got your back! Hey, Ruth Spencer, listen up! We won’t take these staffing cuts.”

While the students engaged in chants and

Vassar students stand together in protest of the College’s mistreatment of its employees, calling for the Institution to treat them with the respect that they deserve as members of the community. songs, several ACDC employees addressed the crowd, speaking about their struggles with schedule changes and understaffing and the problems that they posed.

The students attending the rally remained outside of the office of the ACDC management while they engaged in discussions with the employees regarding the rescheduling. The students cheered while employees walked to the office to commence these meetings and continued to chant their demands while the meetings were in session.

The SLD and students alike have lauded the demonstration as an important gesture in the fight to show the College the ramifications of its actions toward workers on campus. Organizer of the grassroots community organization Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson Spencer Resnick ’15 remarked, “This rally provided community support to workers who are fighting back against understaffing and exploitation in their

workplace. The Administration, like employers around the world, [has] a strategy of forcing workers to do more with less and not get paid for it.”

He went on to note, “Dining center workers, with support from SEIU and the SLD, have begun a long-term fight against this strategy for a better workplace.”

Going forward, those who were present for the rally hope to continue to raise awareness among the student body about the perceived mistreatment of workers on campus and to promote solidarity and fairness between members of the Vassar community.

Samantha Kohl ’17, who attended the rally, remarked, “I think it’s very important that we realize that these are the people we see everyday, who cook our food, and provide our sustenance.

We should treat them with the respect that they deserve for the work they do and because they are members of our community.”

Over 1,000 sign petition to improve mental health services Maryam Norton and Bethan Johnson Guest Reporter and Contributing Editor

A

lthough hoping to receive 900 signatures on their online petition to the Administration when first published, Vassar Students for Mental Health saw almost 1,100 signatures in support of substantial changes to the staffing of Metcalf and the awareness of mental health services. Entitled “Hire four mental health counselors, decrease stigma surrounding mental health issues, and increase awareness of on-campus services for mental health,” the petition serves as yet another example of attempt by students to alter the College’s practices on issues of mental health. During recent years, calls to Metcalf have more than tripled in number, and students continue to turn to student-run counseling groups such as The Listening Center (TLC) and CARES rather than those provided by the College itself.

The petition, signed and commented on by hundreds of students, alumnae/i, faculty and staff, articulates several demands of the Administration. First, the petition aims to significantly increase the size of the staff at Metcalf—which includes four licensed psychological counselors, one consulting psychiatrist, one post-doctoral fellow, one counseling intern and one social work intern—by requesting that the College hire, four additional mental health counselors. The authors explained, “This petition is not discounting the competence of the counselors or the compassion they show to students; it is simply calling attention to the need for more trained mental health professionals on campus [as it] is the responsibility of the College to be a steward of the mental health of its students.”

The petition also seeks to combat the social stigma associated with mental health issues and increase awareness about the services the College currently provides. The document reads, “in addition to an increase in [counseling] staff, we also ask that a workshop addressing mental issues be added to New Student Orientation.”

This petition comes in light of an apparently increasing need for counseling services by Vassar

students and the reality that the College’s counseling provisions are challenging to utilize. Following a meeting with Director of Psychological Services, Dr. Wendy Freedman, on issues of staffing at Metcalf, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) released a letter asking for increased staffing to President Hill. The letter said, “Compared to the 2012 fall semester, [January 2013 saw] a 27% increase in crisis calls and a 375% increase in on call/weekend contacts.”

The increasing number of students seeking assistance skill uses the same, varied channels to find suitable mental health care on campus. Dr. Freedman said in an emailed statement, “The majority of students are then scheduled for an initial intake appointment with a counselor. In that intake, the student’s concerns are explored and the student and counselor work together to determine the most appropriate treatment plan for that student.”

She continued, “This could mean short-term, individual or group counseling at the Counseling Service or it can mean a referral to an off-campus therapist if the student is needing more regular or ongoing care and the student has the financial means to go to an off-campus therapist.”

If a student has an emergency, Metcalf has a crisis counselor on call Monday through Friday who is available to meet with students. At these meetings, the student and counselor would work to determine the severity of the situation and what the appropriate next steps would be.

In Sept. and Oct. of this year, the average waiting period for an appointment with Metcalf was 8.39 days, including weekends; after the assistant director left in Oct., the wait has since increased to 13 days. Metcalf is currently working towards filling that position.

According to Freedman, when students begin working with Metcalf, there is no limit to the number of appointments that students can schedule. That being said, with high numbers of students seeking counseling, many students need to go off-campus to receive appropriate care. This can be an issue for students on financial aid. Vas-

sar student health insurance, United Behavioral Healthcare, covers many off-campus therapists with whom Metcalf has established relationships.

Students have to pay a co-payment for each sessions, which can be a financial burden. Vassar usually refers students within walking distance of campus, or occasionally they take public transportation or a taxi, which is subsidized by Vassar.

Besides Counseling Services, students can get assistance from both TLC and CARES. TLC provides confidential peer-counseling as well as referrals to campus and community services, according to Campus Resources. CARES is a confidential peer-listening service for Vassar students affected by any type of personal violation issue.

The number of students seeking care at Metcalf has remained stable over the past few years; what has increased is the severity of the mental health issues being addressed. From the 2011-2012 academic year to 2013-2014, the calls made to the on-call counselor rose from 87 to 329. Dr. Freedman explained, “The Counseling Service staff have been deeply moved and appreciative of the growing recognition across campus of the mental health needs in our community and we look forward to ongoing conversations and partnerships in thinking through how to best serve our students and meet this rising need.”

Meanwhile, the use of TLC has increased in recent years. In a joint emailed statement leaders of TLC Lea Rendell ’15 and Kain Smith ’16 stated that the average usage of TLC­—a short-term resource for students seeking assistance—has increased.

The leaders also agreed that policies regarding mental health services at Vassar must change.

“We believe that Vassar’s counseling service needs more funding from the institution. Not only does Metcalf need additional financial support from institution to hire more counselors (furthermore, specialized counselors), but Vassar also needs a bigger building to house our mental health services (we’re not sure if Metcalf could physically fit more counselors),” they wrote.

“Furthermore, as advocates for mental health, The Listening Center supports the call for in-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

creased transparency from the institution on the types of mental issues that are experienced most frequently by Vassar students and how to seek accommodations from the institution.”

While popular in its latest iteration, this Change.org petition stands as merely the latest in a series of student-led calls for changes in the treatment of mental health issues by the Administration. In 2013, the Campus Life Committee released six demands of the Administration, one of which included additions to Metcalf.

According to the petition statement, “the creation of a postdoctoral position within Counseling Services is necessary to meet the needs of the student body...Future hiring decisions must prioritize experience with and commitment to serving students from marginalized identity groups.”

It continued, “There must be expansion psychiatric consultation services to meet the needs of students with financial need [and] increased outreach to students and [an] increase in the visibility of counseling services.”

Last year, in their letter to President Hill, the VSA advocated for the hiring of a post-doctoral fellow in accordance with the six demands of Campus Climate, a student-run pressure group.

They hoped that the creation of this position would alleviate some of the increased pressure on Metcalf in light of rising student need. The letter stated, “The VSA Council feels hiring a post-doctoral fellow is necessary not just to remain in line with our peers, but most importantly, to satisfy a growing need in our community...As mental health affects all aspects of student life, VSA Council feels adequately staffing our counseling center should be a top priority.”

Although it has far surpassed its target number of signatures, the future of the online petition remains unclear. Currently, the Administration has yet to respond. The VSA, despite having promised to have meetings on the issue of mental health care provisions led by VP for Student Life Hannah Matsunaga ’16, has yet to bring any bills or letters to the Administration regarding the issues discussed in the petition to the Council floor.

Page 4

NEWS

December 4, 2014

Community skeptical of report’s ability to spark change HEALY continued from page 1 individual Security officers. Margolis Healy asserted that written directives are fundamental to all security programs and help prevent issues of racial profiling and other unfair practices.

Without these clearly established procedures, the firm argues, only limited behavioral protocol can exist, thus allowing for widely varying interactions between the Security Department and students. “For example,” the report explains, “we found no evidence of the existence of a use of force policy to provide guidance about when levels of force, if any, are authorized.” Through interviews with Security officers, the study also found varying practices regarding when to stop individuals on campus. A lack of apparent channels for students to file complaints against specific officers has also harmed the credibility and ability of the Department, Margolis Healy found.

While unclear policies have harmed students, Margolis Healy also noted the toll of such ill-defined standards on Security officers. The firm observed, “Generally, the officers expressed a fear of doing their jobs because they are confused as to what is expected of them.”

The report further articulated the effects of apparent institutional shortcomings within the Security Department. Describing two commonly cited incidents of perceived racial profiling, the report first denies both incidents as moments of racial profiling and instead argues that these stand as instances of improper Security responses which were the result of larger, flawed systems.

The report noted, “This incident does not appear to meet the definition of racial profiling since the officers were responding to a call for assistance from a campus community member.” Beyond these instances, the study fails to explicitly report on any substantial pattern of racial profiling. It said, “While we were unable to definitively determine if Safety and Security officers purposely

engage in a practice of biased-based policing, primarily based on the lack of available data to analyze...” Instead the firm noted a large number of anecdotal narratives from community members who had experienced racial profiling.

Despite the lack of statistical evidence, Margolis Healy felt that the College must significantly alter its behavior due to the perception of Vassar as a campus where racial profiling occurs. The report argued, “There is absolutely no doubt that many members of the Vassar College community believe that the Safety and Security Department routinely engages in racial profiling.”

The report also highlights that accounts of racial profiling have largely gone unaddressed in recent years, likely exacerbating tensions between students and administrators. The firm remarked, “It is troubling to note that these complaints appear to be consistent over the years, which implies that the Department has not changed the way it engages with traditionally underrepresented groups and that the College has not held those responsible for enacting change accountable.”

The firm noted that these incidents cannot be perceived as isolated and require large-scale shifts in policies. “In our professional opinion, the perception of racial profiling in the Safety and Security Department is reflective of other larger campus climate issues related to diversity and inclusion,” said the report. The firm offered a series of recommendations to address the intersection of race and security on campus, in regards to the operation of the Security Department and campus climate.

The firm first recommended the use of bodyworn cameras by Security officers. The firm also advocated for the creation of a Safety and Security Advisory Committee consisting of various elements of the campus community, to address all issues of security and review the Department’s benchmarks for success. Another such group from the campus community is recommended to

serve on committees assisting in the hiring of new Security officers to ensure a diversity of experiences and identities.

The firm also believed that many of these issues are the byproduct of larger shifts beyond the Security Department. “During our time on campus, we noted palpable tension around the College’s readiness to welcome diversity and provide appropriate support for members from traditionally under-served groups,” explained the report.

It also noted, “It appears that the College has not implemented appropriate programming to orient students to their multi-cultural campus environment. This is problematic in several ways, and many students of color expressed being treated disrespectfully by their own peers.” This finding is noted again later in the report that the popularly cited incidents of racial profiling originated from student requests for Security officers.

The report said, “We believe it is important for the College to consider diversity and inclusion programming for the entire campus community.”

More specifically, Margolis Healy suggested universal training and re-training programs for all facets of the College. The firm wrote, “The College’s leadership [should] take the lead and commit to diversity and inclusion training to demonstrate to all members of the community the importance of a broad understanding of issues of diversity...”

They also suggested, “[Vassar] should invest in initial orientation and ongoing training programs for Safety and Security Department to build stronger awareness, knowledge, skills and sensitivities around issues of race, diversity and inclusion.”

At an open forum with co-founder and managing partner of Margolis Healy Steven Healy, students, faculty and Security offciers cast doubts on the efforts and motives of the Administration.

Healy highlighted that his firm was neither fully equipped to advise on diversity training nor did he believe the College will fail to achieve its aims.

Chief among concerns with the report was its qualification that it could not prove racial profiling as a patterned action due to insufficient data.

One student asked, “Why is data being held higher than firsthand accounts?” Both Healy and President Hill denied this, arguing that data collection—as the study suggests officers ask students for their perceived racial or ethnic identity— would allow them to better hold officers accountable and that Margolis Healy did recognize the value of personal narratives.

The Chairperson for the Security union also criticized the College’s motives. She said, “I brought up this situation in 2008. I am a product of racial discrimination here at Vassar.” She noted that the report advises that Security officers receive diversity training, which she says they have long been willing to do. “We started a petition to say that we never had any problems with going through racial profiling training. We stated that we wanted it to be in our package for officers to get training. Management told us, ‘Hell no.’...You’re saying one thing, you’re doing another. I want to know what is this—is this a joke?” she said.

She continued, “If they don’t allow us to have diversity training I need you students to back us and rally for it.”

Despite concerns at the forum, the Administration has pledged to follow their suggestions, hoping to start a committee to facilitate this, consisting of senior administrators, faculty—some related to the Safety and Security Department—and two VSA-appointed students.

Administrators conceded their guilt to the report’s and students’ statements. Dean of the College Christopher Roellke said, “It’s very clear tonight...that we have failed to make this place as inclusive as it needs to be. I take responsibility.”

President Hill echoed these apologies. She said, “I’m sorry we haven’t done enough. We are committed to being better.”

Student activism may bolster local voices, protestors say RACIAL JUSTICE continued from page 1

Vassar and the rest of Poughkeepsie community question the motives of some participants and can only hope that students will remain engaged in these discussions in the coming months.

While reports had swirled for days predicting the potential date of the decision, the Poughkeepsie protesters almost universally registered the same response. Kevin Lozano ’15 recounted, “I was doing my radio show and I stopped it early. I told everyone who’s listening at around 11:45 that they should come to this.” This loss of words was also found in Darielle Gadsby’s ’15 initial response.

“I couldn’t speak anymore. I have no more words for it. I am absolutely not shocked and thoroughly saddened by it,” she noted.

The news also gave Tré Artis ’15 pause without being surprising. He wrote in an emailed statement, “I believe I was in the library working on a homework assignment when I first heard the grand jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson in the shooting of Mike Brown. I can’t say that I was surprised, but I was very disappointed.”

Co-Vice President of the Black Student Union (BSU) Raquel Jackson-Stone ’16 wrote in an emailed statement, “I was in a meeting with BSU trying to solidify our mobilizing efforts in response to the decision. I was saddened by the decision because it shows once again that black lives don’t matter in this country.”

Residents of the Poughkeepsie community had similar responses to the decision. Poughkeepsie resident and participant in the evening rally outside the jail Jeanine Johnson recalled, “[I was] hurt but not shocked; that’s always the decision.”

However, not all residents focused on the validity of the jury’s decision when receiving the news.

Poughkeepsie Police Captain John Watterson, who was on duty during the Dutchess County Jail rally, explained that, due to the conflicting accounts and his distance from the case, he formed no opinion about the ruling in Ferguson. Instead, his automatic reaction was focused on the community response. “We started to thinking about events like this where we have to start planning for things like this,” Captain Watterson said. “As a police officer, especially as a captain, I start thinking ‘What could happen now?’ and planning for protests and dealing with any sort of aftermath.”

As the Poughkeepsie Police Department almost immediately began planning for protests, activists began organizing and advertising events

responding to the decision.

The use of social media was critical in the planning of both events attended by Vassar students. An email written by BSU board member Kayla Fisher ’17 was sent around campus via the Vassar Student Association (VSA) and other students, first alerting students to the evening rally.

A Facebook page and virtual conversations led to students’ offering to provide transportation to the rally and publicized another event happening hours earlier outside of Main.

“I heard about the protests in and around the country including Vassar mainly through social media; it really is a powerful tool for spreading the message and bringing attention to pertinent issues,” Artis noted.

Dressed in black, carrying signs with the trending hashtags “BlackLivesMatter” and “ShutItDown,” as well as copies of artist Dread Scott’s collection “Wanted,” students, administrators and at least one professor gathered around Main Building. Distributing flyers, the group of more than 50 individuals started by standing outside of the front entrance to Main before separating into additional groups standing on either side of the College Center amid the Tasty Tuesday crowds.

Hundreds of Vassar students then attended a rally outside of the Dutchess County Jail starting at 6 p.m. The rally remained entirely peaceful, as the Poughkeepsie Police Department expected. Over the course of several hours, the crowd of roughly 500 community members and Vassar students listened to a pastor, marched to the Sheriff’s Office, held up a variety of signs and chanted phrases such as “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.”

The large crowd and the mixture of students and Poughkeepsie residents left many participants proud of the community. Johnson said, “I am very happy with the outcome tonight. I didn’t think there was going to be this many people. [I am] very happy with Poughkeepsie, with this.”

Gadsby also observed, “I think this is amazing.

I think I expected Poughkeepsie community to really come out and show their support, but this is unbelievable. This is more than I could imagine.”

Although prompted by the grand jury’s decision in Missouri, protesters consistently explained that this ruling and the circumstances the Michael Brown death cannot be separated from the realities in Poughkeepsie. Johnson explained, “We are going through the same situation and it

hurts. It could have been my son.”

Chapter Organizer of Community Voices Heard in Poughkeepsie Blair Goodman argued, “There’s real problems like there’s everywhere with racist administration of justice. There’s three times as many black people arrested in Poughkeepsie as there are white and there’s not three times as many black people in Poughkeepsie. It’s just not right.”

He continued, “Our members have sons and daughters in this place right now; there have been young men of color killed in this town.”

Member of End the New Jim Crow and the American Civil Liberties Union Tracy Givens-Hunter explained that this latest decision warranted a response particularly from student activists due to their potential association with Michael Brown. She remarked, “What happened tonight was amazing. Why? Because the End the New Jim Crow in Poughkeepsie has been protesting out here in front of this jail for months and to see all these kids come out and finally realize that any one of them could be a Mike Brown, and that they need to step up and be involved.”

Artis agreed with this more systemic view of Ferguson’s national importance. He wrote, “I wanted my fellow students who interact with me every day, some of which consider me a friend, classmate and someone they’ve known for years... [to know] that these issues [affect] me and people like me.”

He stated further, “I felt after the decision, [now] more than ever, that on any given day, I or someone like me, can be murdered in broad daylight and there would be no accountability and it would be considered just under the law.”

Jackson-Stone noted, “My motives in bringing this protest to the Vassar community was that as a black woman on this campus who has faced racism and discrimination, and have seen countless instances of this injustice gone unpunished, I felt I had an obligation to myself, other students of color on campus, and the Poughkeepsie community to present this opportunity to stand in solidarity.”

Despite the positive responses of students, some remain more skeptical about the motives of some of the protesters. “I felt that at the protest outside of the Sheriff Department there were many white people trying to show solidarity but it felt a little insincere. I felt that it’s more white guilt than anything,” Artis observed. “Now the spotlight is on white people and they feel the

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

need to show public support but I wonder if the same holds when the light is no longer on them.

I didn’t feel connected to them then and I don’t now.”

A sense of connection between the Poughkeepsie community and Vassar students is something that the evening rally organizers hope occurred to students. Givens-Hunter remarked, “Vassar is part of the community. They want to be able to come off that campus and walk the streets and to do that you have to be part of the community.

They cannot live behind those walls and expect the community to be open arms with them.”

She continued, “They need to come out, [and] they need to be involved in what’s happening socially in the area that [they live in]. While they’re here, they are living here and they need to know what’s happening around the neighborhood.”

BSU Executive Board Member Emmanuel Odei Ntow ’17 said, “I think we all know that we can’t sit back at school and think things will go fine if we don’t show some action after the announcement of the indictment. I think everyone who came out here has the same purpose and knows that they have to show to other people and to themselves that they are not going to let stand... and that something must change.”

He went on to explain, “It can only change by action and by doing something and by putting our bodies out there in the forefront where action needs to be taken.”

Both town residents and students alike remain hopeful that these rallies will resonate and inspire further action and change. End the New Jim Crow hopes to transfer the energy and activism around this issue to their attempts at stopping the controversial prison expansion passed in the last year.

“What Vassar needs to know is Dutchess County is getting ready to build a $200 million [prison] and, if we work together, we can get them to take that money and reinvest it for people to go to college, for people to get jobs, for homeless people to get someplace to sleep, for people who are starving to get some food, for people to get training,” Givens-Hunter noted.

The sense of optimism around the continued engagement of students remains mixed. Artis explained, “It’s probably too early to tell if the peaceful protests will have an impact on the campus in the coming weeks.” Meanwhile, Jackson-Stone said, “Yes, there are many more actions to come.

So keep on the look out for ways to get involved.”

December 4, 2014

FEATURES

Page 5

CommunityHack to cultivate competition in programming Erik Halberg

Features Editor

F

Palak Patel/The Miscellany News

or most, the concept of hacking carries a negative stigma, due in large parts to things like Julian Assange and his Wikileaks and the recent hacking of celebrities’ private photos.

However, members of the Computer Science Department are organizing a CommunityHack event for Saturday, Dec. 6 that will showcase a different side of hacking and of computer science in general.

The CommunityHack is part of a much larger event known as Local Hack Day, which is run by the Major League Hacking (MLH) organization. Founded in 2013, the MLH is responsible for overseeing the over 70 hackathon events taking place at colleges all over the United States and United Kingdom as well as the more than 25,000 students who participate in them.

At first glance, one might think that the MLH is endorsing and promoting a safe space for hackers to continue breaking into computer systems and peoples’ private information, but the MLH is actually striving for a different definition of hacking: one that focuses on exploring innovative new ways of programming.

Hackathons, which are part of the MLH’s national league that features colleges around the nation competing for points and rankings, are usually held on weekends, in which programmers form teams to work on projects. These projects are up to the teams and are allowed to be on just about anything. For instance, the group messaging app GroupMe originated as a team project at a hackathon in 2010.

Aaron Hill ’16, a computer science major who is helping to organize the event, feels that the definition of hacking is misunderstood by a lot of people. “Well, in computer science the term, ‘hacking’ can mean simply putting together a program,” said Hill. “A hackathon

Growing up, Laura Barreto ’17 believed computer science was uncool because she had never been exposed to it. The CommunityHack event she is organizing is an attempt to help others find joy in computer science. is where you slap together a program under a deadline.”

Though many hackathons are huge events with cash prizes, CommunityHack will be focused on a less competitive and more educational kind of hackathon.

Laura Barreto ’17 is a computer science major who conceived and organized the idea for the CommunityHack. Barreto feels that more people should be able to experience the opportunities that computer science has to offer.

“Once I realized that there was a chance to get the brilliant and passionate people of Vassar College involved, I knew I had to bring a

“hackathon” to Vassar,” said Barreto. “At Vassar, I’ve had the opportunities to witness amazing feats accomplished through Computer Science. But I had to go to college to realize this... something that a lot of people may not even consider, or afford.”

The CommunityHack will also have a community-oriented event aimed at educating attendees about computer science. Students and faculty will be making presentations on various projects they are working on; visiting professor Jay McCarthy will be showing off the 8-bit music synthesizer he designed and built. They will also be hosting workshops on

various aspects of computer science, such as beginning programming languages like LOGO which allows users to draw with their code.

“There will be a live stream of different talks being given throughout the day at different events on topics such as ‘Intro to iOS,’ or ‘Intro to Git,’” said Barreto. “[The Hackathon will also have] a Skype presentation given by a representative from Harmonix in order to show students how CS is used in relatable topics.”

In between the presentations and workshops, attendees will be able to socialize with faculty and student members of the Computer Science Department over lunch and snacks provided to those in attendance. The event itself is free and open to everyone—both Vassar students and members of the community.

According to Hill, this is because the event itself is designed for people of any, or no, level of skill with computers.

“Anyone can join, regardless of experience, since we’re making it accessible to people who might not have coding experience,” said Hill.

Barreto agreed, citing her own experience growing up and not being able to discover her interest in computer science until college.

“I saw a prime opportunity to give students from the surrounding high schools awareness of CS as a field of study,” said Barreto.

Barreto reported that there are about 20 Vassar students already registered for the event and she is hoping to get at least an equal amount of students from local high schools or other parts of the community, such as Marist.

“While MLH indicates that the hackathon should be competitive, Vassar’s CommunityHack will not have a competitive aspect, instead taking a more collaborative, introductory and encouraging approach,” Barreto said. “This will hopefully be a more inviting environment for the high school students!”

Hopped up on beer, two senior Brewers write ‘The Imbible’ Marie Solis

Contributing Editor

I

standing how every action and variation within the brewing process will affect the final product.

I’m striving to get to a point where I’m totally cognizant of these variables and can begin to predict the exact flavors and qualities my beer will have while I’m brewing.”

Gish echoed, “[It] takes the mystery out of something we so often consume and yet adds more mystery to it than we could ever have imagined. We have some idea of what our beer is going to taste like, but we can’t be entirely sure.”

As they work toward their dream of opening a

taproom and nanobrewery, Chapman and Gish’s aim is a simple one.

“I’d love the site to expand to encapsulate an actual physical space where the various beers we brew can be found. We want to create an inviting social space for drinking, live performances and beer education,” Chapman explained. Gish finished, adding, “I want people to start thinking about the beers that they drink more creatively and bringing the act of storytelling back to social gatherings. Homer is dead, but The Imbible is just getting started.”

Jacob Gorski/The Miscellany News

t’s not difficult to draw a connection between beer and college. For Vassar, this link is practically written into its founding. Yet few take the Brewers name as seriously as Kevin Gish ’15 and Kiran Chapman ’15.

This past October, the pair launched their blog “The Imbible,” dedicated to all things alcohol.

Although still in its beginning stages, Drinkmorehops.com consists of the collection of Gish’s and Chapman’s energetic reviews of stouts, ales, lagers and beyond.

“One night [Chapman] approached me with an idea he had brewing in his mind about starting a nanobrewery and a kind of taproom after graduation. I was completely taken with the idea and that night we excitedly searched for beer-related activities to productively wile away the time until we could start really working towards our dream.

The Imbible was the first fruition of that evening’s hysteria,” wrote Gish in an emailed statement.

Keen on the idea of jumpstarting their postgrad goal, Chapman agreed The Imbible would be a good way to get their feet wet. “It occurred to us that the only way we’d cultivate the skills to describe beers and expand our palate would be to just jump right into it,” he added in an emailed statement.

The writing style of the beer reviews themselves certainly reflects Chapman and Gish’s experimental taste. Amid their critiques of flavor profiles is a larger stream-of-consciousness narrative, full of invented dialogue, crude jokes and pop culture references.

Chapman’s most recent post takes the form of a space adventure, beginning, “You wake up in your backyard to the dulcet tones of Billy Idol’s iconic single Rebel Yell, your iPhone resting comfortably against your upper cheek,” and ending with, “You and Steve [McQueen] ride off together, along with Gonzo Imperial Porter (Flying Dog), and have the best first space date ever.” It may be unconventional to a seasoned beer sommelier, but Chapman and Gish know no other way.

“Beers are generally quite evocative, from their flavor profiles to the way they’re named and branded, which gives them very unique characters,” explained Chapman. “Our narratives begin after our first sip. We take our initial flavor notes using the A.S.T.M.O. scale (appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel and overall impression) and then

brainstorm with one another.” He jokingly added, “Kevin only speaks in reverent alliteration when he’s drinking.”

Gish elaborated, stating, “…For the time being we’ve come to the conclusion that we could better serve our readership by explaining how we think a beer feels more than how it tastes.

We found it much more fulfilling to take a mental journey with our first sip and save scrawling down relatively meager tasting notes for the end of our reviews, and I think that’s much more enjoyable to read.” He thinks this approach keeps their audience in mind, too, composed not of industry veterans but of college-age readers looking to procrastinate.

“We know we can’t rival the monolithic beer review sites at this point, and until then, we’re going to use our particular set of skills to provide a distinctive and (we hope) hilarious read for anyone putting off a 15-page research paper. And we wanted the narratives to be so vivid that they stay with you, so that when you see a beer somewhere you’re immediately able to connect it with an experience, and I think there’s something really magical in that,” Gish continued.

Accompanying their cheeky prose is always a rating, recommendation and literary counterpart for the Hemingway in everyone. Known to pair reading and drinking, Gish finds the combination relaxing. “I think that the literary counterparts arise from thinking about novels we wish we could have written so that we could insert a mention of that particular beer into the plot somehow,” he explained. “It’s all about enhancing and adding texture to the experience of life: the beer enhances the book, the book the beer.” Currently, Gish’s favorite beer is the Imperial Black IPA, which he described as “Richard III in your mouth.” Also a fan of dark beer, Chapman’s current number-one is Lagunitas Nighttime Ale, a coffee-infused black ale. Informed by these tastes, the two have been taking on their own nanobrews.

“The process of brewing beer requires a lot of patience and extreme cleanliness,” said Chapman. “While every beer is made differently, we’ve been brewing mostly American Ales. Our Demeter IPA is made with two-row malted barley, English roasted barley, caramel malts and Cascade and Chinook hops.”

Though it can involve tedium and guesswork, Chapman described home brewing as a labor of love. He continued, “I love the process of under-

Kevin Gish ’15 and Kiran Chapman ’15 are currently jumpstarting their post-grad goals of starting a nanobrewery through their blog, The Imbible. Both seniors have also begun brewing their own beer.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

FEATURES

Page 6

December 4, 2014

Students stay ahead of curve with virtual reality start-up Alex Trunnell

Guest Reporter

V

Jacob Gorski/The Miscellany News

assar students are known to be a brilliant and industrious bunch. And, as the company vcemo (vee-cee-mo) demonstrates, students don’t have to wait until graduation to do great things. vcemo is a company comprised of Vassar students Matthew Griffiths ’16, Harris Gordon ’15, Casey Hancock ’15, Alejandro Dinsmore ’15, Jarrett Holtz ’15 and Henry Rizzi ’16 whose purpose is to create a platform for virtual reality content. “The one sentence pitch is that we’re a YouTube-meets-Vimeo hub for virtual reality videos,” says Gordon. As virtual reality grows in popularity, so does content for it; as of yet, there is no one place to access that content or to browse through it. vcemo is going to change that.

The initial idea for vcemo came from the media itself. Co-Founder Griffiths, a film major, found himself interested in virtual reality and 360 degree films. However, the more digging he did, the more apparent it became that something was missing. “I started looking into [virtual reality] more and just found that there was no one making a platform for it yet. The market needed it,” Griffiths explained. Eager to take on the task of creating this platform, Griffiths knew that he needed a team; to assemble this team, it was as simple as an email to the Computer Science Department. “It was hilariously serendipitous, because the kind of ‘exciting moment’ is Matt sending out an email,” Gordon laughed.

And, ironically enough, this email did not even find a computer person; rather, it resulted in Gordon joining the team.

A cognitive science major, he knew a bit about computers and programming, but not enough to be the computer guy for the company. Instead, he handles things like outreach.

In another moment of serendipity, Harris was walking through Main one day and noticed Hancock sitting in the VSA office. “Immediately after I told him what we were doing, he was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that.’ We had him meet Matt, and then we just started to move for-

Vassar students Matthew Griffiths ’16, Harris Gordon ’15, Casey Hancock ’15, Alejandro Dinsmore ’15, Jarret Holtz ’15, and Henry Rizzi ’16 have formed vcemo to create a platform for virtual reality. ward,” says Gordon. From there, the rest of the team gathered over time.

Though still in its developmental stages, vcemo has hit the ground running. Griffiths knew that time was of the essence, and that the faster vcemo could launch, the better. “I knew that there were a lot of corporations like YouTube who were going to try to do it themselves too, and they’re…just known to not be about the users. They’re all about profit,” Griffiths remarked. vcemo, however, is user-centric and places focus on the filmmaker.

This is where Griffiths really shines: As a film major, he understands the time and effort it takes to create a quality 360-degree movie. vcemo was designed with this in mind, and as such boasts a professional design and approach. “We have a lot of very unique features…that other people haven’t done before,” adds Griffiths.

Currently, vcemo’s main focus is gaining funding for their project. Though they currently have an ongoing kickstarter which has already raised $9000, the vcemo team is looking bigger. “[We are reaching out to] people who have experience with new technology and who have funded it, who have a good basis for advice and guidance, and who are willing to venture into something new and take that risk with us,” Gordon explained.

Once these funders have been secured, Griffiths explained, vcemo hopes to grow both in notoriety and in numbers. They hope to hire additional staff and to move the company into the city, and to provide a space for senior programmers to go directly after graduation from Vassar. vcemo wants to keep going on the project and to keep the current team together.

In order to do this, Gordon has been preparing a pitch for possible funders. A daunting

task, Gordon cites one resource as imperative to the process. “The Vassar Alumnae/i Network has been the most helpful thing for all of us, and I encourage anyone who is doing anything to use it,” Gordon said.

The Alumnae/i Network has given him access to a number of individuals who were willing and eager to give advice on technology, running a company, etc. Gordon remarked that the alums are incredibly friendly and are very willing to get on the phone with students and simply give advice to them.

As for the content for which vcemo is providing a platform, virtual reality is only just beginning to hit its peak. “We think it’s going to take off and become mainstream and consumer ready...first, the gamers are going to adopt it...then, it’ll start moving to regular people,” Gordon predicted. The Oculus rift will be coming out sometime in the next year or so, and vcemo intends to be ready when that happens. Virtual reality marks the next advancement in gaming and in media as a whole.

As such, its applications extend beyond movies and video games. “There are so many applications for virtual reality that are really untapped, and I’m curious to see how that’s going to change over time,” Gordon remarked. In fact, for his thesis, Gordon is looking at using virtual reality as a teaching mechanism to do something like shoot a basketball.

The passion the vcemo team has for virtual reality shines through in their platform, and is really what keeps the company going. “I love [virtual reality], I love this stuff. You can’t really predict the future, but if I could be working with this and doing this the rest of my life, I would be more than happy,” Gordon said. vcemo is a necessary addition to the booming market of virtual reality. Its user-centric design created with the creators as well as the consumers in mind will prove to be an effective method for making virtual reality content more readily available, and as the company continues to grow it will only improve on this.

As Harris said, “This is the perfect idea at the perfect time.”

Sweet and sour sauce serves as secret to stir-fry success Penina Remler Guest Reporter

I

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

courtesy of PanlasanaPinoy.com

hate when people claim that it is pretty much impossible to mess up stir-fry when, in fact, it totally is. So many times my stir-fry dishes have ended up tasting too either salty, too bland, overcooked or not cooked enough. I’ve tried it all: ginger, garlic, onion, chili flakes and somehow, I just can’t seem to find the perfect combination on my own.

Moreover, there is something about knowing when to put in each component down to the second that consistently stresses me out. By the time I am ready to add something to the pan, my spinach is basically all shriveled up and dry and I am forced to start all over again.

The frustration caused by this unending battle with stir-frying usually has me skip over the stir-fry station at school or just order take out for when I am at home and hungry.

Although, I will admit that my ongoing battle with making my own stir-fry is truly a shame since it is simultaneously one of my favorite dishes. When I am lucky enough to find myself in front of a well-made stir fry-dish, its proximity to perfection usually comes down to the variety of ingredients used in it.

Call me crazy, but when done right, the combination of vegetables, fruit and protein all mixed in with sweet and sour Asian flavor is simply irresistible.

This brings me to my very own version of stir-fry for dummies, a recipe that I question whether or not it was made specifically for me: stir-fried pork and pineapple.

Not only does this recipe fulfill the requirement with diverse components and suffice as a fulfilling dish, but it is also debatably easier to master than mess up—a motto that I tend to live by in the culinary world.

The recipe requires some preparation.

Start by prepping the protein which, if you’re not a fan of pork, can also be substituted with chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu. Cut the meat into slices that are two inches long and one inch wide so that each piece can relatively cook for

an equal amount of time.

Following this procedure, prepare the stir-fry sauce. The sauce is comprised of rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and salt, which will all be mixed together. After mixing the ingredients of the sauce into the bowl, add in the pork along with cornstarch and vegetable oil.

While you wait for the meat to marinade, take the extra time to organize your stir-fry essentials. Begin by cleaning a ripe eggplant and cutting the vegetable into eight to 12 pieces of approximately 1 inch width.

Next, dice up three scallions (include the green tops) and cut up one cup of pineapple into 3/4 inch chunks. Lastly, set aside vegetable oil, fresh ginger and chili for the stir-fry.

Now that it’s finally time to start cooking, place your wok or frying pan on high heat. The pan usually takes about one minute to heat up, but you can double check by pouring in some water and testing if it steams. If it does, you’re ready to go. If the water merely bubbles, give it some more time.

After confirming that the pan is hot enough, add in the vegetable oil and simultaneously shift the pan around to ensure the oil gets an even spread on the bottom as you pour it in. If you don’t get the even spread the ingredients aren’t going to cook thoroughly.

Start by adding the ginger and pork together and stir-fry them together until the meat appears to be lightly brown. This noticeable change takes about two minutes and is followed by adding in the pineapple, eggplant, sauce, scallions and chili.

Once all the ingredients are in the pan, stir-fry them together for about three to five minutes, or until the pineapple is well heated up (be sure to avoid burning the fruit). As with all stir-fry, make sure that you get the various ingredients well-mixed together for the best taste.

After gradually reducing the heat, take the mixture from the pan. After you put it in a bowl and let it cool to your desired temperature, put it out on the table, where you can top it off with fresh cilantro, and enjoy.

The Ingredients PROTEIN: Pork Meat 8 oz of boneless pork 2 teaspoons soy sauce 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 teaspoon cornstarch SAUCE 2 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt STIR-FRY 8 pieces eggplant 3 scallions 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 tablespoons thinly slivered fresh ginger 8 ounces fresh pineapple (approx. 1 cup) 5 to 8 thin rings fresh chili

December 4, 2014

FEATURES

Page 7

ProHealth toiletry drive raises awareness of local need Julia Cunningham Reporter

A

s the holiday season fast approaches, it brings with it the spirit of giving that has come to so greatly characterize it. Though most people merely extend this spirit to giving to their friends and family, some people hope to help others by giving to those less fortunate than they. Until the very end of the semester, ProHealth is holding a toiletry drive on campus to collect personal care items, benefiting the Catherine Street Community Center which helps those in need.

ProHealth and the Community Center worked together on this drive to fundraise and grow awareness for local and global public health care cause. The Catherine Street Community Center is one of many pre-existing beneficial organizations in the Poughkeepsie area.

Its purpose is to promote and coordinate educational programming to enrich the lives of individuals and children and families, according to their website. ProHealth also works with the Community Center in treating HIV/AIDS patients. As an organization, ProHealth fundraises and volunteers at the Center.

ProHealth Treasurer Colin Crilly ’15 wrote in an emailed statement that Pro-Health has been seeking to partner with others to assist whomever they can. “Over the last couple of years, Vassar ProHealth has been interested in collaborating with and providing support to Catharine St. Community Center, because of all the incredible work that they have been doing for low-income HIV/AIDS-positive residents of Dutchess County.”

He added that they wanted to be able to provide something useful to those in need. “We

Erik Halberg/The Miscellany News

Placed around campus, ProHealth has provided several collection boxes for students to donate toiletries that will go to the Catherine St. Community Center to help those in need during the Holidays.

asked the staff at Catharine St. what they were specifically unable to provide to the people they served, and they focused primarily on their need for toiletries, because those items are not covered by the food stamps that low-income Dutchess County residents depend on. The decision to have a toiletries drive was therefore entirely based on the needs of Catharine St. at this time,” said Crilly.

ProHealth President Lena Josephs ’16 added that the Community Center doesn’t have other ways to provide toiletries. “It was suggested by them that we hold a toiletry drive, since the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) does not cover personal care items.” This is the first time that they have held this toiletry drive.

The purpose of this drive was to not only help out people at the Community Center, but also to increase the ties between Vassar and the Poughkeepsie community. In order to support the fundraiser, all you need are extra, unwanted toiletries. Drop-off boxes are located in the Main Library, the College Center near the post office and the front entrance, ACDC and Rockefeller Hall until Dec 19. Josephs wrote, “Small sizes are ideal.”

Though it is not the first time ProHealth has fundraised with the Community Center, it is the first time they have had this event. “We have never had a toiletries drive before, which is exciting, since I think that it’s a group of important supplies for low-income individuals that are not often highlighted,” Crilly wrote.

There have already been donations, and ProHealth is looking forward to collecting many more. Josephs wrote, “[W]e have received toiletry donations and we expect to receive more.

We do think it will be successful!” Crilly added that the only issue that the staff is expecting is space. “We do not have a definite goal in terms of how many supplies we are hoping to attain.

The only issue that Catharine St. was worried about was having enough space to store everything that we donate, but since we have a couple of seniors in ProHealth who are willing to

keep these toiletries in their houses, we would much rather have too many donated toiletries than too few!”

The drive was relatively easy to plan. Crilly had to spend about a month emailing back and forth with Catherine Street representative Jackie White at the Community Center to brainstorm. Much of the time was spent waiting for White to get approval from the rest of the Catharine Street Community Center staff. According to Crilly, the drive was completely costfree. “But once we were given the go-ahead, it was just a matter of taping the list of requested supplies to some cardboard boxes, and we had a drive ready to go!” ProHealth didn’t collaborate with any other orgs on this drive because of the low cost and the minimal amount of work required. Crilly added, “We’ve already collaborated with both the Biology department and CHOICE this semester, so I like that we are doing something entirely of our own doing.”

ProHealth and the Community Center’s past collaborations have included several events, such as the Condom Couture events held every year. Josephs wrote, “Our annual Condom Couture charity fashion show and concert fundraises for the Catharine St. Community Center, which assists HIV/AIDS infected people in Poughkeepsie and aims to educate the Vassar community on the disease to reduce its stigmatization.”

In addition, ProHealth works closely with Partners in Health to support maternal health in Haiti and four sites in Africa and Planned Parenthood. Their meetings are used to open discussions and reflect upon local, national and global public health issues.

ProHealth appreciates being able to step outside of Vassar and help the surrounding community through their connection with the Community Center.

“We were excited to be able to do this for them,” Josephs wrote. “The ProHealth club greatly values our connection to the Catharine St. Community Center and [we] wanted to become more involved with their work.”

ADVERTISEMENT

External review intends to address student concerns

VSA REVIEW continued from page 1 review to help the VSA become more efficient, better at representing students, and help us figure out how to restructure. We know that the VSA has had very negative interactions with many groups on campus, and I hope that this review will help us become better able to work with all students.”

The proposal was met with approval by the VSA, who agreed that students would benefit from it. VSA President Carolina Gustafson ’15 said, “I think a lot of the stagnancy in addressing the changes students have demanded of the VSA repeatedly has been from an inability for any one person involved in the VSA to be able to see the whole big-picture.” She continued, “I sincerely appreciate the student demand that has pushed for this review. Hopefully with someone else talking and analyzing the VSA, the VSA Council will start spending less time talking about themselves and more time actually working to serve student concerns and needs.”

The Operations Committee has begun to work closely with SG Consulting to create an unofficial audit subcommittee to offer the firm resources, including lists of expenditures, audio recordings of VSA Council Meetings and interviews with members of the VSA, to assist them in their assessment. Gustafson said, “I hope that this External Review can help to set the VSA on a path towards being more accessible, open, efficient and transparent. Students have been demanding these things for...years and it is the obligation of the VSA to respond to students concerns and work on ways to identify how the systematic problems that have plagued the VSA since its inception can be tackled better.”

In addition to bridging the perceived rift between students and the VSA, SG Consulting will seek to balance the burden placed on certain positions within the group so as to promote a more cooperative, cohesive unit that can adequately address student concerns without compartmentalizing the work too heavily on specific mem-

bers. Abbady remarked, “[W]e know that many positions in the VSA are severely overburdened, and I hope that this review will help us figure out how to better distribute the work that we do. I want this review to help the VSA become more efficient, better at representing students, and help us figure out how to restructure.”

On Dec. 3, there was an open forum with one of the VSA’s external reviewers at SG Consulting in the Villard Room. Students were invited to ask questions and to engage in a dialogue with the SG Consulting representative and with members of the VSA so that the process by which the VSA is adapting to become more transparent and effective at addressing students’ concerns can itself be transparent and effective in the same regard.

The external review has, despite good intentions, not been without criticism. Many students were alarmed by the amount of money that will be spent on the project: $6,500, not including travel fares and incidentals, to be split halfway between the Dean of the College Office and the VSA Discretionary Fund. Questions have also arisen as to the necessity of an outside reviewer, when, according to some students, the problem of a disconnect between students and VSA can be appropriately solved internally simply by an emphasis on greater communication and understanding between them.

Members of the VSA Executive Board responded to such issues over social media, answering questions posted by students on the Facebook event page for the open forum. Vice President for Student Life Hannah Matsunaga ’16 commented, “I think jobs that require large amounts of labor should be done by people who can be compensated for that labor. I also think that if we were to devote all our time & energy on our internal structures, we’d get somewhere, but 1. We’d neglect all of the stuff that’s not explicitly about us and 2. We wouldn’t get as far as a firm with expertise in student governments and an understanding of what works well for other schools.”

Addspace Indoor Self Storage Summer, Semester and Yearly Storage Packages

Ask Us About Our Most Popular Deal On The Storage Locker!

Packages Include FREE Pick Up And Delivery!

We offer fast sign up on the internet. Just visit our website at ADDSPACE.COM and click on the Vassar link. It’s that easy!

YOU CAN ALSO RESERVE BY CALLING US AT 845-297-1500

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

FEATURES

Page 8

December 4, 2014

Post office retirees reflect on past, future of mailroom Chris Gonzalez

Humor & Satire Editor

T

Emily Lavieri-Scull/The Miscellany News

he campus mailroom works like a well-oiled machine. It’s constantly circulating a myriad of documents ranging from admission applications and health forms to issues of The Poughkeepsie Journal and an abundance of presorted standards to the students, faculty, staff and administration of the College. While 16 student employees might be the most visible workers, manning the front windows and shelving packages, behind the scenes, everything is held together by a team of full-time employees boasting over 90 years of experience in the postal service.

As a result of opting into the Non-Faculty Employee Voluntary Retirement Program, Manager John Viola and employees Mary Tucker and Vic Cannon will finish out their time with the College at the end of 2014.

Tucker arrived at the College two years after retiring from the United States Post Office in November 1992. She said, “I took an early retirement, but I still put in my 35 years. My mother was ill at that time. I saw this job and they had posted they wanted a postmaster here. But my mother was dying, so the College had to wait for that time to pass.”

Tucker explained she took the job in order to help her daughter attend Hofstra University and maintain her lifestyle. She spoke kindly of her time at the College, citing the beauty of the campus and having the opportunity for her family to visit. “We got a lot accomplished with me working here,” she said.

In the ’90s, Vassar still offered a fully functional post office to the campus community and, according to Tucker, she helped revitalize the environment in the office itself.

“It was so disorganized,” she stated, reminiscing. “So with the experience that I did have, I tried to clean it up. We had to write everything by hand. With every box, we had to write the number and the name of the student, we had to take a piece of paper and put it on the box. All the labels on the boxes were one color and we had no way to identity the students’ status other than these little colored dots we would take and put on the boxes.”

Now the boxes are separated by colored labels for student class years, offices and faculty members. Around this time the College implemented

a computer system, which helped streamline the process for checking in packages and alleviated the employees of added stress. “They changed the configuration of the whole post office,” Tucker said.

Eight years after Tucker started working with the College, Cannon was hired in 2002. He had retired from a 28-year run with the postal service. “I was 60 years old when I retired and I wanted to do something else.”

After 11 years with the College, Cannon was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2013.

After already having surgery this past April, he underwent chemo until more recently, when he started dialysis. In April of 2015, he plans to travel to Israel for a dialysis procedure.

Still, Cannon tries to make every day enjoyable through humor and his love of people. “I think people are one of the most important aspects we have,” he said.

For Cannon, a work environment is supposed to be about a joint effort of the workers; no member of the team should be made to feel inferior, including students. “Even when I was a manager, I felt like I worked with the people. I never felt that people worked for me,” he said, adding, “I found that I really worked well with [the students] and they worked well with me. They’re vital to the College not only as students, but also as employees.”

Tucker further emphasized her appreciation of the students. “The students have so much life, so much energy and personality. If the students weren’t helping us, I don’t know how we would get that job done. They man the window, and they deal the most with the mail.”

The appreciation for the students is not the only factor that bonds the three postal service veterans. Although Cannon has only been with Vassar for 12 years, he has known Manager John Viola since 1973, when Cannon worked as a clerk under Viola, and then as the superintendent of window services at the Poughkeepsie post office.

Currently, Viola serves as the head of the entire operation. Over the last seven years, Viola has integrated himself into the Vassar community. He’s audited a history course on the rise and fall of the Nazi party taught by Associate Professor of History Maria Höhn, plays tennis at the Walker Field House and has taken a course on

John Viola and Mary Tucker, along with Vic Cannon (not pictured), will be retiring from Vassar’s post office at the end of the semester. With their departure, the post office may see changes to how it operates. non-combat boxing.

Like Tucker and Cannon, Viola retired once before, but it was short-lived. He said, “I retired from the postal service on a Friday and I started working here on a Monday. I’ve never been out of work for a single week since I was 17 and a half years old. And I’ve never taken off more than two weeks at any time in my entire life. This is going to be a change in my life.”

Viola, Tucker and Cannon will not be the only ones experiencing a change. The future of the mailroom remains unclear. According to Viola, the College is discussing the possibility of combining the Card Office, the Copy Center and the mailroom, with extended hours to make it more convenient for students. “They’re talking about possibly a one-stop shopper for the Vassar community where they can get a lot of things done at one place,” he said.

At the moment, Tucker stated, no immediate action has been made to fill the three empty positions. She said, “Right now, no one is being trained for our jobs, and it seems like someone does not have the insight to see that someone

has to be in this seat to be trained, so that when we walk out of here it’ll be a smooth transition.”

At the end of all of this, though, Cannon thinks the students will be affected the most. “I leave with a heavy heart, because the students are what’s important to me. I’m not sure that the students are going to get what they deserve...Somebody’s going to have to do [the work]. I think students are going to become one of the important work forces, but that’s not what they’re here for.”

Although uncertain, Viola believes that whatever changes may arise will ultimately work out.

He said, “Nobody really likes change, but I’ve been through three major reorganizations in my lifetime, and I’ve always found that the end result is beneficial to the organization.”

While the future remains open in many aspects for Tucker, Cannon and Viola, the three are excited about the freedom before them and have expressed gratitude for their time at the College. Viola said, “It’s so important to enjoy the moment, enjoy today. And to not take it for granted. Enjoy today and get every drop of pleasure and love out of today that you can.”

Hudson Valley Ventures Alex Trunnell

Guest Reporter

T

he list of things to do at Vassar is infinite.

The list of things to do at Vassar in the winter, however, is not. It can be dull. It can be lonely. So, when a friend from back home visited and asked if we could tour the Culinary Institute of America, I jumped on the invitation.

Going in, I must admit that I had certain expectations of what to expect: My gut reaction to “culinary school” was students in white coats and tall hats prancing through the halls while whisking a nice meringue. I pictured old Frenchmen yelling about the ways to properly cook an egg in front of a class of eager, curious chefs-in-the-making. Like a scene from a movie or something, a bunch of rows of white-robed students watching and

listening intently as some mustachioed chef gesticulates wildly as he extols the virtues of tomatoes from one region over those grown in some other region.

However, as with most things in life, I figure that these romanticized expectations would not be met. They couldn’t be met, no one would actually be able to learn in that environment. Right? Beneath my and colorful hopes for something beyond imagining, I figured that this school would be just as normal as any other.

Oh, how wrong I can be.

As we arrive at the CIA, we are met with a fairly typical campus scene: buildings, trees, parking lots. We see dorms and a gym. We park in a below ground parking garage. We take an elevator to ground level. Everything is, for all intents and purposes, normal.

Courtesy of njchef.wordpress.com

Roth Hall is the main building of the Culinary Institute of America. Just a short drive from Vassar, the building is open to guided tours that showcase a different way kind of education.

However, upon emerging from the elevator, any trace of normal has disappeared. We are in a balcony-style garden overlooking the Hudson River, perched at the top of a hill with statues and topiaries and a fountain. And, at the head of this miraculous sight is an enormous and regal building of red brick and dozens of tall windows. This is the famous Roth Hall, where all the magic happens.

When we enter Roth Hall, we enter a magical land of food and fancy. After paying the $6 tour fee, we are directed to a grand staircase gracing the enormous foyer. We join a group of other tourists who are also waiting for one of the guided tours of the school. Three student tour guides introduce themselves, including their majors: One is culinary arts. One is pastry. One is restaurant management. This is the first sign that we have entered a land beyond our own. Where Vassar students introduce themselves as “Econ majors” or “STS majors,” here they major in pastry, or culinary arts—which I can only assume is some kind of general degree on how to be a good cook of a variety of foods.

What happens beyond this point, I can only describe as follows: Imagine entering the school where High School Musical was filmed, only it’s real. You walk the halls, trying not to expect the students to burst out in song. And then...they do. Everyone sings and everyone is all in this together. Every insane expectation is met, somehow both slowly and suddenly. You walk the halls slack-jawed, grinning from ear to ear, marveling at everything because of the sheer improbability of it all.

Walking through the CIA is like that. When we pass a particularly beautiful room, I make a snarky comment about how it looks like a church for food. Our tour guide then informs us that it was originally a chapel when the building was part of a monastery, as it was

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

originally constructed to be. When the CIA purchased its current campus in 1970, they found it only fitting to turn the chapel to a dining hall. Though I meant it in jest, my snarky comment could not have been closer to the truth: The CIA is a literal church for food.

This is the kind of place the CIA is.

The tour moves through Roth Hall and focuses heavily on the pastry wing of the college. Visitors move through long hallways flanked by numerous kitchen classrooms, and students with trays of bread and cakes flit around the tour groups. Yes, they are wearing white coats. Yes, they are wearing tall white hats. Some of them have hands covered in flour, some of them are taking aprons to be cleaned. Large windows let the sunlight filter in and allow for a glimpse into the world of the CIA, and you cannot help but gawk at the sheer wonder of it all.

Along the way, the tour guide enlightens the group about the goings on of a culinary college: how classes work, what classes are, the specifics of the shockingly strict chef’s uniform, the bizarre hours of the students working in the bakery. It is as if Disneyland were giving a college admissions tour. Visitors learn about CIA history, everyday goings on, the restaurants on campus, the life of a student and the curriculum, which ultimately creates great chefs.

The Culinary Institute of America is an absolute treasure. Unexpected and fun, it is an hour and $6 of my life I would offer up again in a heartbeat. A short 15 minute drive down Route 9, this is a venture you should be sure not to miss. If you ever feel the need to get away from all the stress and tension on campus to somewhere a little more lighthearted and free, you can’t go wrong by heading up the road to the CIA for a couple of hours of leisurely adventuring.

OPINIONS

December 4, 2014

Page 9

The Miscellany News Staff Editorial

Healy meeting Admin. must realize systematic change fails to impress L student body ast week, Margolis Healy & Associates released their preliminary report highlighting their findings and future recommendations for Vassar College’s Safety and Security Department. In the report, they revealed that they found the state of the security on campus to be concerning.

The evaluation cited the lack of a “Use of Force” policy within the Safety and Security Department as one major flaw leading to confusion and inconsistencies in the ways Security deals with issues on campus. There are currently no explicit guidelines for Security to follow that explains when they are allowed to stop students and faculty members. These holes within their framework create tensions between Security and the Vassar community.

The report—which cited when Poughkeepsie police were called to the Library after a noise complaint was filed against black teenagers as well as when Security was called on three women of color students to investigate “suspicious activity”—continued on to say that Margolis Healy could not definitively prove racial profiling occurs on campus due to a lack of data, but found an overwhelming perception within the Vassar community that it does occur. Due to this perception, the firm concluded that raciallycharged issues have to be dealt with, whether or not they believe it happens on campus. The report also revealed that the College continues to function on antiquated policies that fail to address its continuing diversification.

The College does not currently have any type of consistent diversity and inclusion training requirements for the Safety and Security Department or for the Administration. It is clear that a change needs to be made within the upper levels of the College to address the changing composition of Vassar’s community. While the College prides itself on diversity, it fails to institute systems within that help students and faculty of color feel safe and secure on campus.

The firm offered a series of options to the College. One of the primary recommendations is to have more student involvement in the hiring

practices of Safety and Security, as well as a voice in their new policies and distribute an annual survey asking the students and faculty on campus for their opinion regarding Security. However, the College is under no obligation to follow these recommendations. While pledging to institute all of the recommendations, the committee they have established to ensure this consists of senior Administrators, faculty, representatives from Security, and two VSA-appointed students. No discussion has been had about the power of the committee to force administrative action, leaving the potential for nothing to change.

Another significant point of contention has been the pledge by the College to adopt the recommendations made by the firm prior to consulting with other members of the Vassar community affected by such shifts in policy.

While it is important that the College take the findings of this report seriously and follow up on its promise, they must also consider student, faculty and staff in these decisions.

We at The Miscellany News feel it is important that the College makes steps to fix these gaps in policy, revise the antiquated rules, and consider the validity of instituting these policies, before they hire new people to fill recently opened positions made vacant by the buy-out program.

Furthermore, the senior Administration needs to treat these incidents with a racially conscious view. These findings are significant and indicative of larger patterns. The Miscellany News feels that addressing these issues needs to be a top priority. A continual failure to address these issues points to a lack of thought within the Administration and that is truly unacceptable.

The College is currently juggling several issues, including master planning, buy-outs and hiring.

While these issues are important, they take away attention from the major issues currently affecting student and faculty. We must hold the Administration accountable for the changes they have promised, not allowing them to lose focus on this central problem.

A recently published Gawker article by Associate Professor of English Kiese Laymon

shows that faculty members are also highly affected by the continued institutional negligence occurring here (Gawker, “My Vassar College ID Makes Everything OK,” Nov. 29, 2014). Another

by Associate Professor of English and former Associate Dean of the Faculty Eve Dunbar, discussed her experiences with the reality that many professors and Administrators of color are subject to increased scrutiny and feel the need to constantly prove themselves to fellow faculty members. (“Who Really Burns: Quitting a Dean’s Job in the Age of Mike Brown”) The report also showed repeated patterns of racially-charged situations, as reported by alumnae/i of the College. This continues to show the College’s lack of urgency. We want to emphasize that these issues revolve around race. Students, staff, faculty and alumnae/i have shared countless stories of profiling despite an unwillingness by the College to listen, and urge the College to see it in that light.

In the past, the onus to exact change has fallen onto students and faculty members. It is always the same group of students and faculty of color who struggle to make institutional changes at Vassar. It cannot always be the same people trying to change the College. It is neither the sole duty nor the burden of threatened and oppressed people to educate the College about these issues and to instigate shifts in policy. Many have indicated that they do not feel safe or welcome to speak in numerous spaces on campus, including Administration. The entire campus needs to recognize this reality and understand that alterations to policy must be the responsibility of many. Changes need to occur at a higher level and it is time the Administration takes action.

The Miscellany News would like to emphasize that this is an issue that needs to see change. This is not only an issue about race, but also about our institution truly caring for its students, staff and faculty and allowing them to feel safe and respected on our campus.

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

Injustice in legal system to be addressed Delaney Fischer Columnist

Trigger warning: This piece talks about different aspects of sexual assault and sexual violence.

4

00,000. Does that number have meaning to you? 400,000. When you see that number what do you think of? 400,000. Do you think of money? 400,000. Do you think of that number in terms of people? 400,000. When I see that number, I think of how much hasn’t been done. 400,000. That’s the number of rape kits in the United States that haven’t been processed.

400,000 rape kits that sit on a shelf. That’s 400,000 times a human being had to be photographed and probed and swabbed and relive being violated only for their pain to be put on a shelf.

One of those 400,000 tests belongs to Heather Marlowe, a woman who was attacked at a party that she had been attending. She was drugged and raped. She immediately filed a report with the police, and with completing a rape kit, had hopes her rapist would be caught.

But a year went by and Heather heard nothing. She kept checking in with the cops and nothing, until one day a cop finally provided her with answers. Her rape kit was never processed and instead was sitting on the self at a local storage facility. Heather asked why, and an officer explained that her rape “was not a good enough rape. It will probably never make it out of there because our lab is just too backed up processing more important crimes” (Huffington Post, “How Many of the Hundreds of Thousands of Untested Rape Kits in the US Are in Your City?”

9.19.14).

One woman was raped and no one cares. Two women were raped and no one cared. 400,000 women and men are raped and apparently no one cares. How many people have to be attacked for someone to care? More specifically, how many people need to be attacked for a cop, a district attorney, a senator, someone who can immediately make action happen to care; someone

who take Heather off the shelf.

Well, I can take a breath, for someone finally cares. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance has stepped up and said enough is enough. Earlier this month, Vance has announced a program in which $35,000,000 in civil forfeiture assets will be used not only in New York City, but also in many cities nationally. Vance hopes to unite our country in this movement of taking victims off the shelf. He stated, “Rape kits that are untested are not just going to solve crimes in the jurisdictions where they are, but because some of these people are serial offenders, this could lead to solutions of crimes all over the country.”

Rape victims nationwide deserve to know that the invasive examination they underwent had a purpose, and the resulting kit was not left to gather dust on a forgotten shelf” (NYTimes, “New York Initiative to Help Other Cities Clear Rape-Kit Backlogs,” 11.12.14; CBSNY, “Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance’s Office To Fund Rape Kit Testing Nationally,” 11.12.14).

Rape kits around the nation range from $500 to $1000 to process. An organization that is hoping to help with these fees is the Joyful Heart Foundation, founded in 2004 by Mariska Hargitay, best known for her role as Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” Hargitay has strong words regarding the vast backlog of rape kits stating that it is a “brutal and clear demonstration of how crimes of sexual violence are regarded in our society.

The rape kit backlog sends two terrible messages. To victims, it says, “you don’t matter. What happened to you doesn’t matter.” And to criminals, it says, “what you did doesn’t matter.” Regarding the new program Vance has introduced, Hargitay stood by his side with pride at the program announcement, giving her full support.

She said, “At long last, survivors hear the message: You do matter. What happened to you matters. Your cases matter” (New York Observer, “Cyrus Vance and Mariska Hargitay Announce $35 Million to Test Rape Kits Nationwide,” 11.12.14). 400,000 people coming off the shelf.

400,000 victims who can hopefully feel relief and possibly justice.

I read all about Vance’s plan the day he announced it. I was stunned with a sense of relief that someone was finally caring about victims and at the same time amazed with sadness that so many of them had been forgotten about and pushed aside. With so many recent events in our country, in the world, I ask myself: What is important and what is justice? This program Vance has created is important to me, but is it important to you? Is there something more important to focus on?

I suppose it depends on one’s perspective.

Yet, in my eyes there doesn’t have to be a “this issue is more important than that issue” argument. There simply has be change for this issue just as there should be change for other issues in our nation. The reason I was so animated when reading about this program is because change is occurring. This isn’t just talk, this is action.

This is not me saying I hope 400,000 people will be taken off the shelf someday because that hope is now happening after so many years. Instead of simply being angry, upset, and frustrated with the system regarding how rape kits are handled, Cyrus Vance is taking action. He is making a change. This isn’t a dance around a problem.

It’s a “there’s a huge mess and no one else is going to clean it up, so I will do my best.” This is action with purpose.

I was disappointed when I brought this program up with friends and not one person knew about it. No one read any articles about it. No one knew it was happening. It was in headlines on multiple news sites, in multiple newspapers, but no one knew about it.

To me, this is a big deal. Change is happening, and for once in what seems like forever, it is change for the better. Progress in the right direction. Slowly but surely, our nation will take 400,000 people off the shelf, and I think that’s something worth recognizing.

—Delaney Fischer ’15 is a neuroscience major.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Christopher Brown Opinions Editor

W

hat some people have gone through this past week is excruciating. The level of pain, anguish and resignation I hear in some people’s voices when talking about the current state of the campus climate ignites those same feelings within myself. I in no way can relate to some of the atrocities that many people on this campus have faced. However, I can say with absolute certainty that after being here for almost three years, I know just how little the administration does for members of this community who are hurting and seeking help. And this recent Margolis Healy forum I sat through confirmed all of my fears. It’s not that the Administration doesn’t care about Vassar or its community. They just have absolutely no idea that there is a problem.

First of all, I want to say I was deeply alarmed that the majority of the people who were at the forum were people of color. People of color get it. We get the atrocities that happen on this campus worldwide, specifically regarding the different levels of racism that run rampant through all structures. But let’s face it, the majority of the people on this campus are white. I believe that current percentage ratio of white students to colored students is 65 to 35. I know I’ve called out white people on many platforms before. It is because white people, or at least some of them, are a big part of the problem. It saddens and frustrates me that there weren’t more white people there, at least for a quick education on the concept that, surprise, racism still exists.

In terms of the main purpose of the forum, there could not have been more eyes rolling. After I heard the same canned “We get it and we need your help to make change” answer for about the fifth time, I could have screamed. These issues aren’t new. Vassar students have been begging for change for decades. One of my faculty mentors told me after the meeting that since she started working here, multiple consultants have been hired to say the same things over and over. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been wasted on these people. And for what? To tell us that it’s the burden of a person of color to have to call out racism, teach the system about it’s wrongs, all while dealing with daily microaggressions and inequality? That is seriously messed up.

Steven Healy said that he would not be doing his job if he did not believe that issues like racial profiling and other racists systems cannot be overcome at institutions like Vassar. I partially agree with him on that point. I do think that with the right internal systems set in place, Vassar can combat the larger national institutions that plague oppressed peoples all the time. I don’t necessarily think we’ll get there by having all security officers wear body cameras, but hey, I’m not the man getting paid six figures to make these calls. But if these systems aren’t set in place soon, then Vassar will continue to be a part of a vicious cycle of oppression and racism. It’s going to take a complete overall of the top powers at this school in order to really get somewhere. It is not secret that the only dean who was a person of color, Eve Dunbar, recently stepped down, and was replaced by a white man. With a board of people who just don’t understand and a Board of Trustees that seems virtually nonexistent, not much will ever get done. People will continue to feel unsafe here years after I have graduated, and voices will continue to go unheard.

Do I think that now, after such a public forum attended by so many, that the Vassar administration suddenly gets it and is ready to jump in guns a-blazing and make real change? No, not really.

Not at all, actually. Yet I will still keep praying to the universe for my fellow people of color who are not safe on this campus. I will keep praying for those who feel like they’ve been bamboozled into coming to a school that touted itself as diverse and made for everyone when it so clearly is not. I’ll keep praying for the Administration and students on this campus that have been fooled by the system into thinking that everything is all hunky-dory in the world and people are treated equally. Good God, I’ll pray for them a lot.

—Christopher Brown ’16 is a mathematics and political science double major.

OPINIONS

Page 10

December 4, 2014

Thanksgiving food not limited to family homestead Sophia Burns Columnist

T

hanksgiving is a relatively “easy” holiday: all you have to do is watch a few parades, sit down with the family, eat, make some small talk and maybe watch a football game or two.

Without gift-giving or meticulous party planning to stress over, Turkey Day seems pretty hard to compete with in terms of simplicity.

However, that food has to come from someone’s kitchen.

Some family members were kind enough to volunteer their time (and nerves) for the greater good, usually resulting in some degree of frustration dependent upon the size of the family being served. For these people (or person), there was no sleeping in and lazing around in their pajamas for hours: Instead, they got up early and dealt with a 20-pound bird that needed to be thawed, basted, cooked and stuffed.

While it is true that this volunteer probably enjoys and even excels at cooking, why shouldn’t Thanksgiving be a restful, worry-free day for everyone? Shouldn’t everyone get to laze around and enjoy a day off with their family without having to cook an enormous meal and make sure that their house is suitable for guests? For these reasons, eating out for Thanksgiving seems increasingly appealing.

Although my family has never hosted Thanksgiving dinner, I’ve always been awestruck by the amount of work that my aunt put in with the help of her two adult daughters to prepare a beautiful, delicious spread.

I feel a little guilty knowing that although my family did have to do the traveling, we just walked right into an abundance of fresh, home cooked food awaiting us. My selfless aunt never asked much of us, except to maybe help set up and clean up, which is nothing compared to the time and effort she put into preparing an entire meal for nine.

I wonder (and cringe) at how much more stressful it would be if we had a large family

twice that size. So, why can’t we all just meet at a restaurant and leave the cooking and cleaning up to the professionals? This option is growing in popularity: A survey from the National Restaurant Association shows that in 2011, 14 million Americans ate at out for Thanksgiving dinner, increasing to 33 million by 2013. Is this a result of fed-up hosts who are tired of doing all the work, an improving economy or a society that just loves to eat out? Whichever it is, having a restaurant do all the dirty work is a viable option.

“...why shouldn’t Thanksgiving be a restful, worry-free day for everyone?”

Perhaps the biggest draw of a non-homecooked Thanksgiving is the idea that everyone can sit down, eat and leave without having to do anything too stressful. For families with picky eaters, though, the options are the greatest asset. There are few things more embarrassing on Thanksgiving than having a child or sibling refuse to eat what your loved one spent hours preparing and perfectly good food hitting the trash can.

At a restaurant, Junior can order chicken nuggets or spaghetti and meatballs and spare his parents the agony of trying to convince him of the merits of stuffing. Dietary restrictions can also usually be met at a restaurant, allowing everyone to enjoy what they really want without being limited by allergies, special diets or religious restrictions that are not shared by the rest of the family. In some areas, eating out can be cheaper than cooking for the whole family.

According to USA Today, Thanksgiving dinner for a family of 10 costs $49.04 in 2013, down from previous years and expected to shrink in years to come. However, I know

that my family spent a great deal more considering the inflation in their affluent Philadelphia Main Line town and the breadth of food provided.

While in most cases it is cheaper to cook at home, smaller families may benefit financially from eating out, especially in less expensive, non-metropolitan areas. Also, when eating in a restaurant, eating is the main and only attraction. If everyone arrives separately, there is no awkward obligation to stay and watch the game or chat for two more hours.

If the tryptophan is setting in and you’ve had enough family gathering to get you through until the next holiday, the freedom to get in the car and go home exists.

Or, if you wish to spend more time together, it is easy for those who wish to take part to meet at someone’s home without the host having to cook, clean, or do much else besides host. For families who need a little more flexibility than the traditional celebration affords them, taking the meal to neutral ground can be almost a necessity. However, Thanksgiving should also not impede on the contentment of others, namely those in the service industry.

Working in a restaurant, whether as a cook, server, host or busser, is one of the most taxing and underpaid positions. Servers especially experience long shifts that are physically taxing and can only guarantee $2.13 an hour, forcing them to rely on tips. These people, like everyone else, would love to be spending Thanksgiving with their families, but instead are serving enormous tables without proper breaks.

For this reason, eating out at large chain restaurants is not advisable, seeing as these businesses could be closed for national holidays and experience little to no financial repercussions. Seeing as their workers are often already exploited, patronizing these businesses on Thanksgiving does not aid their cause.

There are, however, some restaurants that

open on such holidays without encroaching on their staff ’s holiday. My family of four spent Thanksgiving at a particular restaurant twice in a row and had an excellent experience. We were regulars at this restaurant and had come to know the owner and many of the servers, who were mostly family members who had recently immigrated, who did not celebrate Thanksgiving.

Although in an ideal world, everyone would be able to rest on our national holidays, if people choose to work because it is not a significant day for them and it supports their family business, then it is a beneficial choice for all.

Perhaps, then, it is best to seek out restaurants where the staff has chosen to work that day and profit from the food-centric holiday, which they may not choose to celebrate for various different reasons.

“Thanksgiving should also not impede on the contentment of others...”

As the nature of families and holiday get-togethers evolve, so too may the choices we make on Thanksgiving. There are growing benefits of eating out for the traditionally home-cooked holiday, both financial and social, which can reduce stress and promote a more amicable holiday.

However, in the spirit of fairness and graciousness, it is important to remain ethical when eating out to avoid sacrificing another family’s holiday for your own. Thanksgiving dinner can be customized to fit families’ needs, and for some, that means a little less awkwardness and a little more freedom, and will likely become more apparent in years to come.

—Sophia Burns ’18 is currently undeclared.

ADVERTISEMENT

Use this coupon and receive 50% off any Laser Hair Removal Package!

Limit one coupon per customer. Expires December 31, 2014. Cannot be combined with any other offers.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

December 4, 2014

OPINIONS

War on Christmas myth of Christian right Rhys Johnson

Assistant News Editor

I

love Christmas. I love Christmas with every ounce of my being. My love for Christmas, if I may quote “The Fairly OddParents,” burns with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns.

I’d like for there to be a more refined reference than Nickelodeon cartoons to describe my feelings for the holiday season, but doesn’t Christmas make all those who celebrate it feel a little younger, and rightly so? Just the thought of that indescribable feeling of transcendent, almost surreal, happiness one gets in their heart when waking up on Christmas morning gets me all chirpy and saccharine.

I could go on, drawling on about how The Misc doesn’t have enough room in its pages to do justice to my holiday cheer, but I’ll save the ink. I think I’ve made my point. So then for what purpose do I continue? What could possibly ruin the merriness and joy that I, like millions of other people, feel when December rolls around?

The “War on Christmas” people, that’s what. I can count on two things inevitably happening when December rolls around. I can be certain that I’ll be belting out some Christmas tunes, much to my family’s chagrin, while setting up decorations my sisters and I made as kids. But without fail, every year I overhear my parents’ television across the hall playing “The O’Reilly Factor” in the background while my father irons, and every year I hear everyone’s favorite Fox News host complaining about the clear and present danger of all these rabid heathen buzzkills out smashing nativity scenes and suing Christmas carolers.

Allow me to be the first atheist to come forward to dispel this unfathomably ignorant illogic on the part of Fox News and other like-minded conservatives out there. There is no war on Christmas. I’ve seen the secular groups come out, and rightly so, against the obvious disregard for the First Amendment when Christian symbols and displays are allowed to be displayed in public areas when

no other religious group, let alone a secular group, would ever be able to do so. I’ve seen David Silverman, President of American Atheists, get invited onto show after show only to be mocked and yelled at by self-righteous crusaders in defense of old Xmas.

I’ve seen excerpts from Kirk Cameron’s new movie, “Saving Christmas,” and all the movies that act as though Christians in America are some endangered and oppressed chosen people.

I’d like to be able to articulate my response in a polished, sophisticated manner, but all I can really say is just come on. Give us a break. Don’t insult the American intelligence than it already has in recent years. Over 70 percent of Americans are Christians, hardly a number that makes me think how awful the apparent tyranny of the minority. Is it really too much to ask that the people who thump their Bibles and swear by the Second Amendment that they have at least a little respect for the First?

I must also say that I am becoming increasingly shocked and rather appalled by (and in saying so I am speaking specifically to the Fox News folks, who seem happy to do the job of making themselves into walking, talking generalizations for me) the hypocrisy of the people that have, and will continue to have, grumble and grouse about how marginalized they, as Christians, have come to feel in today’s society, citing examples of “Christians can’t pray in schools anymore” or the horribly offensive billboards and advertisements taken out by “those damned atheist groups” all along the way, yet seem blithely ignorant, if not openly resentful, of the reality that those same people weirdly seem to be the pioneers of the unspeakable intolerance that people of Middle Eastern religions in the United States.

Quite frankly, such people should be ashamed of themselves, for their parochialism contributes to atrocities far worse than asking someone to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”

I don’t mean to attack conservatives in writing with this vitriol. I probably share more conservative views than a good number of people at Vassar, and I’m not ashamed to admit that. I find myself arguing the conservative side at the dinner table more often than I realize, and I don’t think there’s any shame in that.

But this is the point at which I have to draw the line. I have to stop and look around and wonder: Why have so many Republicans just become Jerry Falwell? One never sees left-leaning people complaining about how endangered Christianity in America is.

So why then, in this post-Reagan era, post-1980s-evangelical revival nation must some of these Republicans on Fox News and the Internet stand by these ridiculous claims that have absolutely no credibility to them?

In what plane of reality do these people live in that they claim America to be a Christian nation yet act as though they’re being martyred for being part of a pretty sizeable majority that gets what it wants without ever having to ask?

Is it even worth rattling off the vast instances of Christian privilege in America?

Just look at the number of polled Americans that would be hypothetically willing to vote for a non-Christian presidential candidate, or how laughable it would have been if someone were complaining about where it would be appropriate to build a church, or the baffling fact that it is literally illegal for an atheist to run for public office in seven states, and you’ll see what I’m talking about, in case you didn’t already.

So please, Christian right, please stop overzealously defending Christmas. The holiday season is awesome no matter what religion you are, and having to think about how repugnantly thankless the people at Fox News and those that agree with them on this issue can be ruins my Christmas cheer more than anything non-Christian. Happy holidays, though.

—Rhys Johnson ’18 is currently undeclared.

Eerie links between Ferguson and India Udbhav Agarwal Guest Columnist

T

wo weeks ago, an article titled “Justice denied for citizens of Bhopal,” India was published in The Miscellany News(11.12.14). It mentioned how every now and then, the average person is gently reminded how insignificant they are in front of the larger structures, the systems that govern their life. The article had made me sad, both as the writer and its reader: Why was it the case that incidents like the Bhopal Gas Tragedy happened? Why had we become so oblivious and unaware of the injustices that were going around us? How could we let them pass?

It had barely been a week since these questions had started riddling me, when the verdict in the shooting of the Michael Brown case came out of nowhere (so much for being aware). It was disturbingly poetic: As we approached the 25th anniversary of justice being denied to the citizens of Bhopal, another case of injustice surfaced halfway across the world.

Not just any kind of injustice, but injustice that was sentenced, proposed, propounded and asserted by those very systems that we had given permission to govern us. The contradiction is absurd.

But there is one key difference between what happened in Bhopal and what is happening 25 years hence in Ferguson. There is still time to make amends. Public outrage, usually, has been ridiculed for being a means that never really focuses on reaching a substantive end. Just the other day, the day after the verdict, one of the students in my Sociology 101 class aggressively questioned the purpose of the #BlackLivesMatter post-its, deeming them as “pointless”—and I understand where he is coming from. Facebook posts hardly materialize into legal actions. But the end that these posts, the flyers, the protests and the marches achieve, is something much greater–making people aware of the fact that justice has not been served, and every day that passes by is another day without it being served.

“Don’t post stuff on Facebook you ain’t living,” reads a comment on the Miscellany News Twitter page, citing a quote from a speaker at the recent Dutchess County prison rally. I agree. A few weeks ago, in another article titled “Gender equality a larger societal issue,” written right after the HeForShe campaign, I talked about the ‘false sense of philanthropic satisfaction’ that one achieves by pressing a ‘Like’ or sharing a post (Miscellany News, 10.1.14). I do not endorse ignorant behavior on social media as a solution to resolve the Ferguson case; I endorse any behavior that will help fuel public involvement and social outrage in the case, be it at the cost of the ignorance of a few.

Since the day of the verdict, the Ferguson case has reminded me of a homicide verdict that saw a similar end in India. On April 30, 1999, Jessica Lal, a former model, was shot dead at 2 a.m. by the son of a politician, in front of 300 possible witnesses, for refusing to serve liquor after the scheduled time. The case went to trial, and the culprit Manu Sharma, was not convicted. Five years later, a headline in the daily newspaper The Times of India (“No One Killed Jessica”) changed everything. Sustained public outrage after the headline, visible in forms of public protests, text messages, candle-lit marches, polls—kept media coverage alive. A pressurized government ordered the case to be reopened and assessed—leading to the acquittal of Manu Sharma on Dec. 15, 2006.

The Ferguson case right now finds itself in a similar position as the Jessica Lal case back in 1999. Though not as “open and shut” as the latter, the Ferguson verdict, that rules out indictment, is downright unfair, to say the least—a sentiment which has been assumed by a large section of our society. In 2010, only 11 out of 162,000 registered federal cases were given the same judgment as the one delivered by Ferguson’s jury. The country is outraged. College campuses, major cities—are witnessing protests. Social media is abuzz. All it needs now, is a structured continuation of

all of these—to not let the people forget what happened in Ferguson before legal progress is made.

Over the past few days, as I spent Thanksgiving in New York City, I was caught off-guard by a protest at Times Square. I was aware of what had happened in the Ferguson case, but had it crossed my mind recently? No. When I returned back from break, the first thing I saw in Davison were the #BlackLivesMatter posters stuck on the walls, undisturbed—just as I had last seen them. Once again, I was gently reminded about Ferguson: made to remember that justice had still not been served. It is due to incidents like these that people stop and notice the thorns. Maybe, no change is visible at the moment, and one might use that to project cynicism against such “trivial” activity, but tonight, when I go to sleep, I know that I find myself more drawn and more involved in the protest because of such trivialities; and if this sentiment resonates with a million others— the end is nearer.

I quote the end of the article on the Bhopal Gas Tragedy: “The sad part is that this is not the first time we find ourselves in such a position, and I know this won’t be the last time.

Yes, I am angry, but at the same time, I am disappointed...by convicting the right people at the right time, [the judgment of Bhopal Gas Tragedy] could have stood for much more. It could have sent the message, loud and clear, that if one commits a crime, no matter how influential, powerful or big he or she might be, justice will be served. It could have, but it didn’t. And now there is nothing we can do about it” (Miscellany News, “Justice denied for citizens of Bhopal,” 11.12.14).

Yes, there is one big difference between both these cases. There is still time to make amends. Justice can still be served in the Ferguson case and there is something we can do about it. Let’s not make a mistake again. Not every article has to end that way.

—Udbhav Agarwal ’18 is currently undeclared.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Page 11

Word on the street Which Vassar professor would win the Hunger Games?

“Richard Born would form a coalition and win.”

—Eric Gorski ‘18

“Dianne Harriford, ‘cause she’s the fiercest person I’ve met.”

— Abby Nathanson ’14

“Lisl PraterLee. Enough said.”

— Olivia Harries ’15

“Paul Johnson, because he’s from Australia.”

— Chloe Hallum ’16

“Tobias Armborst.

Temporary use is where it’s at.”

—Uriel Walker ’15

“Nick Adams would “Finnish” first.” ­­— Jacob Heydorn Gorksi ’15

Christopher Gonzalez, Humor and Satire Editor Jacob Gorski, Assistant Photo Editor

OPINIONS

Page 12

December 4, 2014

Callous comments reflect historic erasure of Native people Meaghan Hughes

Contributing Editor

L

ast Thursday, I, along with millions of other Americans, sat down on the couch to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. At my house, it’s a tradition: come downstairs in your pajamas and watch the floats and lip syncing top-40 artists while Thanksgiving dinner begins to simmer in the kitchen. It’s a bit cheesy, but like the Rose Bowl parade, it happens every year, so I watch it every year.

This time, however, was a bit different. This time, the parade was more than a shameful plug for the new ABC shows. It was a site where racial inequity was quietly pushed under the rug.

Firstly, there were the protesters who demonstrated their anger and frustration in response to the Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson. They were promptly arrested and, to my knowledge, their presence was never made known to the viewers of the program. I only found out about the protest after the fact.

Secondly, there was a quick, paternalistic comment about one of the marching bands from the Bahamas. The commentators noted that the band served as a way to deter Bahamian kids from engaging with drugs or violence, and he emphasized that the audience should feel good about knowing such information.

This, of course, fails to note the European and American influence that has shaped the country’s economy since Columbus first landed there 400 years ago. To me, the comments seemed to be a means of showcasing a developing country’s socioeconomic struggles within the frame of American capitalism, completely removing the element of historical blame.

In the midst of all of this, what was most

“Surfin’ Safari”

striking to me was a quick introductory sentence to the float sponsored by the tourism department of South Dakota. The float itself featured a miniature version of Mount Rushmore, complete with people dressed as mountain climbers pretending to scale it. One announcer exclaimed, “And here we have Mount Rushmore, a perfect symbol of democracy.” At this point, I nearly spit out my pumpkin-flavored coffee. To me, a carving into a mountain centered squarely in stolen land illegally acquired by the federal government from the Sioux tribes is more exemplary of dominance, not democracy.

“Carving into a mountain...is more exemplary of dominance, not democracy.”

Full disclosure: I’ve been to Mount Rushmore. Admittedly, it’s a great artistic feat, but when visiting the site, there is absolutely no mention of the land itself. There is no sign that marks it as land that had been occupied by indigenous people for centuries, was then promised to them in the mid 19th century only to have it stolen away several decades later when gold was discovered in the Black Hills. The thousands of tourists that venture to the attraction are never told about the historic struggle of the Sioux and hundreds of other Native tribes who watched the land their ancestors

lived on disappear.

Even the faces of Mount Rushmore completely disrespect Native peoples. George Washington fought against a confederation of Native tribes during the French and Indian War so that Britain could gain control of the territory. Unlike the French who, while far from engaging in perfect relationships with Native peoples, attempted mutual reciprocity with the indigenous people, the British were focused on dominating the land and its inhabitants. Thomas Jefferson oversaw the purchase of 800,000 acres of “empty” land, resulting in the exploration of Western territory that began a legacy of theft and murder of Native peoples west of the Mississippi. Abraham Lincoln approved of the largest mass execution in American history, in which 38 Dakota Indians were hanged for their role in the Santee Sioux uprising in Minnesota. Theodore Roosevelt established the National Parks Service, which sought to “preserve” America’s natural beauty by forcing any and all indigenous people living there to move elsewhere so that white tourists could visit and the nature would be undisturbed. Never mind that those same indigenous people had been living there for centuries and had already kept it beautifully. Furthermore, he referred to the Sand Creek massacre—an attack on Cheyenne and Arapaho people that resulted in the deaths of 600, most of whom were women and children—as “a righteous and beneficial a deed as ever took place on the frontier” and remarked about Native people more generally, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of 10 are, and I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.” These are the men who have been carved into the mountainside of sto-

len Native land.

Most Americans are never told this, and quick comments such as the one made during the parade further clouds the complex legacy of American expansion that has been devastating to Native peoples and whose effects are still felt today. Worse yet, the context of the comment is a Thanksgiving parade. The holiday itself chooses one moment in time, a brief peaceful exchange between the Wampanoag tribe and the Pilgrims, and turns it into the creation story of America. Never mind that due to Chief Massasoit’s mercy, the Pilgrims lived and were able to pave the way for thousands of other European settlers who brought smallpox with them and consequently killed over 75 percent of the indigenous population in Massachusetts.

The erasure of Native people and the disregard for their sovereignty happens at the level of history textbooks, which ignore Indians until the West is conquered by cowboys some time during the 1800s. It happens within Congress, which barely managed to pass the Violence Against Women Act that would punish non-Natives who sexually assault women on reservations because it would take away some degree of power from the federal government.

It happens in the environmental destruction of Native lands that happens across the entire continent, from the Tar Sands to the uranium mines on Navajo territory.

Callous comments about the democratic nature of Mount Rushmore are only a small part of the ongoing violence against Native peoples. When we celebrate Thanksgiving, we celebrate centuries of indigenous peoples being pushed to the margins.

—Meaghan Hughes ’15 is a psychology major.

The Miscellany Crossword

by Collin Knopp−-Schwyn and York Chen ACROSS 48. Heaps it on Albert Hofmann 1. Quiet sound of appreciation 51. Tiniest tree 35. Compete for, as affections 5. Lightning city 54. Cons’ nemeses?

36. God whose skull has Hrungnir’s 10. “Nutcracker” author Hoffmann 55. “Reach” and “Guardians” game whetstone embedded in it 13. Boko ___ responsible for 56. “___ Beginning to Look a Lot Like 37. Dance that may end with someone kidnapping 276 schoolgirls in 2014 Christmas” being lei’d 15. Around, as town 58. Lump of butter 38. Sharp lil puppy bark 16. “Ghosts” and “Black Ops” game 59. Command to a thief vis-à-vis the 40. John Suckling wants to know why 18. What to do with the wealth getaway car his fond lover is so pale and this 19. Lennon’s partner 60. Make up, as for sins 44. Chirp 20. Ruckus 63. Untruth 45. Big boob?

21. Word with ring or dial 64.

Serious Water nymph, like Ondine Collin Knopp-Schwyn and 47.

York Chen Surfin' Safari 22. Peasant, derogatorily 65. What snow might do to a flight 48. Musician Fiona of “Tidal” fame 23. A million on a platter with an 66. The last box you fill in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Adam’s ale and a cryin’ Johnny with a this puzzle double black cow and let it walk 67. Where of this was printed 13 1. Quiet sound 25. Helper 68. Hogwarts garb 14 15 26. Sunset Park to some residents, appreciation quizás city 5. LightningDOWN 17 18 29. Took charge 31. “Eureka!” inspirer 10. "Nutcracker" 1. “Hush!” author 32. Spaceman Spiff’s secret identity 2. Aye’s opposite 20 21 Hoffmann 36. “___ will be done.”

3. Span 39. Hayworth who lost to13.

Maloney this 4.

Woman given the “gift” Boko ___ (group year of a box 23 24 responsible for for kidnapping 40. What each of 15- and 64-Across, 5. Bitter, one and 4-, 12-, 26-, 38-, 44-, and 48-Down 6. Hate, like lot 276 schoolgirls in a2014) is 7. Along with 26 27 28 town“bones” and 15. Around, as 41. Shade “stones”, 42. 00:00±0 symptom of and "Black Ops" 16. "Ghosts"“groans”, 33 34 35 31 32 43. Garland hyperparathyroidism game (abbr.)

44. Price to pay for driving 8. Virginal 45. Marvel “Man” to be played Shenzi, 9. Noshed or Ed 17. by Paul Banzai, 39 40 Rudd 10. Chinese martial artist with green? the wealth 18. What to do 46. Remove a gift’s dermis Jet being 11.

Marvelously sculpted, 42 43 Lennon'saspartner 19.puzzle Answers to last week’s abs Memphish 20. Ruckus 12. Mud brick hut P H D D A B S C P A 14. People who signed the 45 with ring Treaty or dialof Waitangi 21.C Word T E A S E S A U A R D unequal 22.

Divacup alternative A R I A T I T E R22.A Peasant, V I D derogatorily 48 49 50 51 52 53 24. Art director S N A R F D E A R E S T onCherry a platter with 23. A million 26. named for a E E L P A S O F R O Chinese horticulturist T Y Adam's ale and a cryin' 54 F L U an S T A R T U P 55 27. Scott who helps you T O T S I S P A R A Johnny with a double black Party Down S C I F I A G E N T L A D letMusical it walkthat is La 59 58 C A P H cow P O T I C Kand 28. bohème set in New York C A P R I C E P O I S E 25. Helper 29. Test paper K O I B A S S T O N 30. Carbon-carbon 64 Park to some double 63 I S Sunset M O26.

T E P I C E N E bond suffix T H A N S I N A I G Y R O residents, 33.quizás Julius “Dr. J” Erving I O T A A R I D G E R M 67 won 3 MVPs in this league 66 Took charge 29.

R E B T I S H E R A 34. Acid synthesized first by

ACROSS

© CC-BY 4.0

31. "Eureka!" inspirer © CC-BY 4.0 NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE 32. Spaceman Spiff's secretMISCELLANY identity DOWN 36. "___ will be done."

1. "Hush!"

49. What one might do to an abscess 50. Attended to, lovingly 51. What Elizabeth Bathory probably didn’t do in the blood of virgins 52. Short vaudeville musical bits 53. Things you don’t do, young man, it’s not polite!

55. Perceive aurally 57. 52-Down for one, maybe 59. Disturbingly violent Rosetti on Boardwalk Empire 61. Apprehend a suspect 62. Where you’d find a lot of cones 8 9 10 11 12

16 19 22 25 29

30 36

37

38

61

62

41 44 46

47

57

56 60 65 68

34. Acid synthesized first by Albert Hofmann

December 4, 2014

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 13

Breaking News From the desk of Chris Gonzalez, Humor & Satire Editor If you rearrange ‘Santa’ you get ‘Satan;’ in unrelated news, Humor editor’s mother has the wackiest maxims First-year student tackles Thanksgiving dishes, lifelong Black Friday shenanigans wishes: a humorous listicle Kayla Lightner

Not Here For This

A

ll was silent. No one else moved, spoke, or even breathed, for that matter. They all just stared at the locked automatic sliding doors with this sort of hungry look on their faces. To be honest, the whole thing kind of reminded me of the piranha tank right before feeding time at the aquarium. But it was far, far worse than your scariest nightmare (like when the pizza station is closed at the Deece). These piranhas were wearing mom jeans, sandals with knee socks and turtleneck sweaters with scrappy cats on them. Yup, it was Black Friday, the day on which we worship the God of Capitalism by sacrificing our earnings and tired souls, and the one day out of the year where supposedly grown adults manage to thoroughly fuck up hundreds of years of evolution in a matter of hours.

Looking around, I almost felt bad for them.

Some of these people had been standing outside in a line since 9 p.m. on Thursday night, but I had just sauntered up to the party about five minutes before they began, after rolling out of bed 15 minutes earlier. My hair was piled into a shameless mass on top of my head, I was wearing some baggy sweat pants with a hole in the crotch, and I quickly realized that I forgot to put on deodorant. But, no matter—I wasn’t going to stick around for long.

At the top of the hour, the doors whipped open and everyone stampeded through. Some were hurdling over those who had fallen, while others used the people ahead of them as battering rams to push through to the front. But me, I just strolled along the aisles, sipping on a cup of Starbucks that some lady had dropped while hauling ass for the cookware section.

Yes, I came to the store to shop on Black Friday, but not for the half-priced flat screens and food processors that everybody else had in mind. Instead, I was here to pick up some stuff for exam week. You know, a few highlighters, a couple packs of coffee, some boxes of tissues for when shit got too real—the basics. I wouldn’t have to fight anyone for the stuff I needed, but I still would get the discount price; a win-win for the Lightner.

As I shuffled past one aisle, I saw two men beating each other with golf clubs from a set

that was marked 75 percent off. In another aisle, I saw a young couple circling an old lady who had been foolish enough to pick up the same bed set that they wanted. “Those sheets aren’t even that cute,” I muttered. I would have stopped to save her, but there was no time; a pack of highlighters was calling out my name.

Then I turned the corner into the food section. It felt as if someone had sucker punched me in the kidney. The aisle was packed with at least two dozen other college kids like myself, clawing over each other to snatch stuff off the shelves. In my naiveté, I had assured myself that I was the only person here who had finals coming up, that I was the only broke college kid who saw Black Friday as the perfect opportunity to stock up on exam week essentials.

I realized how wrong I was as I watched two girls scratch each other’s eyes out over a pack of five-hour energy. I realized how stupid I’d been as I stared at some poor kid screaming, “You don’t understand, I haven’t been to a single lecture all semester!” as he tried to fend off others trying to take his Ramen Noodles.

With all the carnage around me, going after the grandma with the bed set, or even the guys with the golf clubs, seemed more appealing, because they would only go so far. Yes, they would get pretty heated about the golf clubs.

Yes there would be some bloodshed, maybe even a black eye or two, but at the end of the day they weren’t going to outright kill each other. They both probably had families to support, jobs to think about and reputations to uphold.

But these kids, these monsters in front of me had nothing to lose. They had no serious jobs from which they could be fired, and any small amount of reputation they built during the week would be demolished over the weekend.

All they needed was something to help them last through exam week. And if I was the only thing blocking them from those caffeine pills, I’m sure that none of them would bat an eyelash before hurling a shopping cart at my head.

As some bulky dude who had at least five inches and 60 lbs. on me began eyeing the Cliff Bars I clutched in my hand, “Let There Be Peace on Earth” droned softly on the store’s P.A. system. Two aisles over, someone let out a primal, blood-curdling screech.

Penny Luksic

Salad: Brooches Around Table, Best to Worst

Ideal Dinner Guest

1.Mother’s turkey brooch 2.Mother’s adjacent double-ear-of-corn brooch 3.Grandma’s dragonfly-with-red-eyes brooch 4.My aunt’s children-holding-hands brooch 5.My other aunt’s “F-A-M-I-L-Y” brooch 6.My cousin’s rhinestone alien brooch

M

y family likes a traditional Thanksgiving meal. None of that tofurky or talk about genocide that would force us to uncomfortably deal with the damning effects of our own whiteness. (Um...gulp.) Family is important, and so are napkins in an autumnal color scheme. I look forward to the holiday every year, not because it means a short vacation from school or because I can have four slices of pie instead of my usual two, but because it’s an excellent opportunity to observe my family’s quirks. What follows is a deep investigation into the minds and hearts of my boring kin.

But first, some wisdom I’ve picked up over my twenty-one years.

Green Beans: Things the Dog Ate Under Table

—Gravy from my aunt’s spoon —A mushroom that dropped on the floor —Spilled wine —A used Chobani cup —My shoelace Mashed Potatoes: Being Thankful

Mother: “Everyone’s here, healthy and happy.”

Father: “Good friends and good wine.”

Grandma: “You all and this wonderful meal.”

Aunt: *happy the snow stopped falling* Other Aunt: “After-dinner nap.”

Uncle: *half-hearted thanks for the company* Me: *Poorly sung chorus of “Food, Glorious Food” from the 1968 musical, “Oliver!”* *Blank stares from my grandfather and nineyear-old cousin*

From the mouths of babes:

“Normally, Thanksgiving is a holiday where a bunch of smelly old relatives that you never see come over, eat turkey and leave.” —some boy I babysat one time, 9 From the mouth of a sage:

“When I was your age, I walked four miles in the snow to pick up a pheasant! The pheasant wasn’t dead yet, but it was by the time I got home.” —a man who is related to me, 90

Sweet Potatoes: My Post-Grad Plans

—Go with the flow —Clean and sober —Good Writer —Really on top of LinkedIn —Probably Queens —Refrigerator box

Appetizers: Family Jokes Q. What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A. Gummy bear.

Q. What’s the difference between God and a

surgeon?

A. God knows he’s no lawyer! Wait, God knows he’s no… did I say doctor?

Q. What did the cannibal say after eating the clown?

A. This tastes funny.

Q. Why wasn’t the pony allowed to sing at the concert?

A. He was a little hoarse.

Stuffing: iPhone Pictures My Uncle Showed Me

—Neighbor’s dog —His backyard —The flowers in his backyard —The lawn chairs in his backyard —His backyard fence —The hole the neighbor’s dog dug under the fence in his backyard.

Turkey: Things Grandpa Said

Dessert: Helpful Suggestions

“I don’t like butternut squawk ravioli!!”

“I don’t like the fruit that Trader Joe has.”

“Is this a milk ball?”

“These two tweeny-boppers are going to figure out my telephone!”

“I don’t like that Edward Norton.”

—Get a haircut.

—Travel after graduation.

—Start a Roth IRA. No, it’s not too early.

—Don’t cook the turkey upside down.

—Find yourself someone nice.

—Watch “Brideshead Revisited.”

Dos and don’ts of winter fashion with Misc-adventurous Maddy

by Maddy Vogel, Lover of Leggings

A

s the temperatures drop and we all give up our hopes of a mild winter, those of you new to the northeast may be wondering, what do I wear?! How do Vassar students manage to look hipster-trash chic while also not getting hypothermia!? Well don’t you worry your pretty little head—I’ve got your Vassar Winter Fashion Guide right here.

Do: Have one coat that looks hipster-hot and does absolutely nothing to keep you warm.

You’ll need it until about February when you will actually turn into an icicle if you don’t pull out that giant puffy winter coat you surely own.

Don’t: Sacrifice your looks for warmth. Your appendages can take it.

Do: Wear leggings as pants. Comfort is imperative through this Arctic freeze and I’ll be the first one in line to tell you that leggings ARE pants. If you’re really worried, wear a long

shirt, but I think we’re all past the time where we feared panty lines and camel toes. At least I am… #jadedsenior.

Don’t: Wear sweatpants to class. Again, your social standing is at risk here! Winter is where we separate the strong from the weak!

Do: Find your perfect winter lipstick. Something bright, but not too bright. Maybe a dark red or berry shade. Classic red is always good.

Don’t: Use MAC’s Ruby Woo. That’s mine.

Do: Again on makeup, wear it. We all look washed out and sickly, but that is no excuse for looking washed out and sickly! Pack that bronzer on! Perfect the winged eyeliner. Crying because the wind is so cold is no excuse for runny mascara.

Don’t: I mean, if you don’t like makeup, don’t

wear it. These are just suggestions, tbh.

Do: Stock up on sweaters. This is a given. I can’t believe I have to write this one down for you!

Don’t: Think you can get by on your long sleeve t-shirts. We’re talking negative temperatures here. If you’re hard pressed for finding warmth, check out the Free and For Sale page. I’ve got some great stuff I’m selling. (Please buy it.)

Do: Wear hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, ski masks. All at once.

Don’t: Carry an umbrella when it’s snowing.

You look FUCKING ridiculous.

Do: Buy more boots than is actually necessary.

You’ll be wearing them into late March, because despite that one week of warm weather we’ll get, winter is never over. I recommend you have a functional pair for when it snows and you have to ice skate to class, a cute pair that has a bit of traction for when you’re out on the weekend and want to look super hot but also not die, and a pair of Chelsea boots because fashion.

Don’t: Keep wearing your Converse. We all know your toes are freezing and you slipped like eight times on your way to class.

Do: Form a relationship with the spider in your shower. Name them Trevor.

Do: Continue to wear dresses and skirts with tights. Once I got so sick of pants that I wore dresses for a good two weeks in below freezing temperatures. True bravery. Worship me.

Don’t: Form a relationship with the cockroach in your kitchen. Have standards.

Don’t: Wear shorts. Please, straight boys, we get it. Just don’t.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

ARTS

Page 14

December 4, 2014

Miller explores modes of seeing in new Palmer exhibition Yifan Wang

Guest Reporter

T

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

hough art has the ability to engage all of the senses, at the root of its audience’s experience is seeing. Concerned with the gaze of the viewer, J. Pindyck Miller, and George Laws, a friend of his who works at the Vassar’s Office of Communications, will debut their sculptures, wall reliefs and other works on paper in The Palmer Art Gallery on Tursday, Dec. 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition, “Looking Machines,” will be open through Dec. 23 and is the fifth of eight annual shows hosted by the Palmer Gallery.

Among Miller’s steel, alumninum and wood sculptures that retain their material’s natural quality are vibrant geometric counterparts.

While certainly in coversation with each other, the artist doesn’t consider these works as belonging to any specific collection, but rather to a lifelong creative process.

“We’re talking about not one series, but a few of them. Some of these works go back a few years and some of these are new. But it’s correct to think of an artist’s work as a stream. It’s always moving forward and a brand new work is always influenced by everything that came before it...

[The works] all come from one source, which is somewhere at the back of my head,” Miller said.

With a nebulous theme linking the works on display, Miller took into consideration the particularities of the site of the Palmer Gallery and exhibition equipment when selecting the works to display.

“Once I determined that I wanted to do the step displays, we fabricated them. And that determines that I can put a certain amount of sculptures on the step displays. Not too many not too few…. So what you show has to do with the conditions you’re showing in.”

He added, “It’s not really a manner of making a hard and fast decision that such-and-such work has to be shown. So there’s a lot of chance, rather than a lot of deliberation that goes into the selection of the works,” Miller explained.

The exhibition’s intended universal and simple nature is also reflected by its title: “Looking Machines.” Miller wanted to bring the focus

Artist J. Pindyck Miller’s exhibit “Looking Machines” focuses on different perspectives and gazes through multimedia. The exhibit is on display in the Palmer Gallery from Dec. 1 to 23. back to “looking” as the essence of art with such a name.

“I came up with the title ‘Looking Machines’ because the purpose of a work of art is to be looked at. And you can say a million other things about it if you want. You can talk about influences; you can talk about materials; you can talk about artist’s intentions. But in the final analysis, someone’s gonna come into this room and they are gonna look at the thing. And they’re gonna relate to it or not relate to it. That encounter is really what it’s all about.”

Educated at Middlebury College and the Brooklyn Museum School, Miller has been exhibiting his art for nearly 50 years. One of his large-scale sculptures is actually on a permanent view at Middlebury.

The State University of New York, Albany, the Mid Hudson Art and Science Center, Stamford Center for the Arts and the Hammond Museum

in Westchester have organized retrospective exhibitions of Miller’s work. Miller’s work has been shown at numerous galleries in New York City and his large-scale sculptures have been on view at Storm King Art Center and the Wilderstein Historic Site, among other venues. His works can also be found in the collections of several major corporations and in private collections throughout the United States.

Looking back at his long career, Miller finds a solace in his work, personally and globally. “I really have a sense that the only purpose of life that anyone of us are ever going to be able to fulfill is the sense that we’re looking to attain some grace in the world. Because there’s a lot that ain’t graceful at all. How do you navigate that?”

He continued, “So much of the time we’re still those primitive fearful animals. And getting through life is finding a way away from that primitive animal into a way of dealing with life

ADVERTISEMENT

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

that’s positive and rewarding, and reaching for that state of grace. All this I do in my life and all this I do in my work,” said Miller.

Monica Church, as the Associate Director of the Palmer Gallery, shared her perspective on the process of bringing the exhibit “Looking Machines” to Vassar.

“We invited J. Pindyck Miller to have a solo exhibition at the Palmer Gallery two years ago after reviewing his submission to the gallery...In addition, his work came highly recommended by members of the Vassar College Community. We are very happy to have the opportunity to exhibit his work at the Palmer Gallery,” she wrote in an emailed statement.

Having seen Miller’s art since the 1980s in a Manhattan gallery, Laws pointed out the role of the machine and utilitarianism of the works on display this time. “With a modernist love of the machine, Miller delights in the meticulous machine-shop craft that is highlighted in his work, and his method, informed but not limited by constructivism. This utilitarian air is made explicit in the exhibition subtitle: ‘Looking Machines,’” Laws commented in the brochure of the show.

He continued, “It is such carefully calibrated details that endlessly reward the viewer, and in which the artist reveals his sense of humor and delight in the work.”

Church is also confident about the reception of the exhibition. “Audiences will have the opportunity to see constructivist forms in wood, corten steel, collage etc. in combination with the beauty of Miller’s sense of color and sensitivity for surface. His paintings, sculpture and collage are incredibly well felt and whether one is interested in form or color they will not be disappointed.”

On the other hand, Miller himself stays open and neutral to what audiences and viewers would get out of his works. “An artist should be equally indifferent to positive and negative responses.

And what the viewer takes from the work is a question for him or her to answer,” said the artist.

The exhibit, Miller maintained, speaks for itself. “When we’re done installing the show, that’s my statement.”

December 4, 2014

ARTS

Page 15

Through gender bending, Merely Players revise fall show Emma Rosenthal

Assistant Arts Editor

M

erely Players, a student-run theater organization, will bring their gender-bending adaption of Henrik Ibsen’s play, “An Enemy of the People” to life on the Mug floor. The show premieres on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. and will have performances through Dec. 6.

Cassie Stirpe ’15, the stage manager for the production, wrote in an emailed statement, “An Enemy of the People is the story of Dr. Theresa Stockmann and her town, where Dr. Stockmann makes a discovery that threatens not only some of the town authorities, but the livelihood of many of its people. The show follows the aftermath of that discovery—how she handles it, and how the town reacts.”

Director of “An Enemy of the People” Zach-

ary Boylan ’16 commented on the main plot of the show from a different angle. “‘An Enemy of the People’ is a play about a person who tries to make a positive difference but is then ostracized by the people they are trying to protect.

It is one woman’s journey from hero to pariah,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

The preparation for this show began a couple months ago, and now members of the cast and production team are taking their final steps in preparation before presenting the show. Stirpe wrote about the process, “It’s been great watching the show progress–and seeing how much more the actors have to offer each time we run a scene. Each time the actors take the next step–going off-book, getting in costume–the energy intensifies, and that’s been fantastic to see.”

Stirpe continued, “One of the things I most

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

Lead actress Rachel Messbauer ’16 plays Dr. Stockmann, a role originally designed for a man, Merely Players’ fall show. The director and cast will present an exciting twist on Henrik Ibsen’s classical play.

love is watching how everyone builds off of one another, and how everything just keeps growing... suddenly all of the work we’ve been doing for the past couple of months is coming together.”

Rachel Messbauer ’16, the lead actress in the show, plays Dr. Stockmann and wrote in an emailed statement about the progression of the show. “Because our show is opening so late in the semester, we’ve had the time to develop ourselves not only as characters, but also as a cohesive cast. Before we even began rehearsing scenes, we spent time reading through the script and clarifying backstories and relationships between characters, making choices about things that the author doesn’t tell us.”

She continued, “We also had rehearsals entirely dedicated to movement and acting on impulses; those rehearsals were great opportunities for us to develop a sense of trust among the cast.”

In terms of goals for the show, the cast and crew are hoping to convey dramatic, but relatable themes to the audience with “An Enemy of the People.”

Jacob Sowder ’18, an actor in the show playing Aslaksen, wrote in an emailed statement about his interpretation of the main themes of the drama. He wrote, “It’s a show about truth, democracy and power.”

Boylan elaborated on Sowder’s idea of the motifs he has been trying to create as the director of the show, adding, “The main theme I am trying to get across is that people often refuse to accept the truth when it contradicts with your personal interests.”

Messbauer had another perspective on the show, “One of the major themes of the play is that there is no ‘good’ and ‘evil’–even those who we might want to believe are in the right can show themselves to be less than perfect, and, on the flip side, even those people that we want to demonize can have some justification for their actions.”

Apart from the more indirect audience engagement the cast and crew are trying to

Movement drives plot of Unbound play Emma Rosenthal and Charles Lyons Assistant Arts Editor and Reporter

F

tidisciplinary classes in that department, and I think that work has influenced my directing,” Like the director’s past experiences at Vassar, as a freshman and cast member, Byrne saw the production as a chance to expand his repertoire.

“I auditioned for this show originally because I was very involved in theatre throughout my four years in high school and I knew I wanted to be a part of student theatre here at Vassar and ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’ sounded like a pretty different kind show from the ones I’ve performed in the past/a fun time,” wrote Byrne.

For Feldberg, the drive to stage “Rappaccini’s Daughter” came from the most basic artistic desire: to spin a great yarn for the audience to enjoy. “I’m always trying to get better at making theatre, and I like to hope I have. I do theatre because I like to tell stories and I just want to tell this one the best way I can,” she wrote.

Hudson Valley

Arts

The Women’s Room: Female Perspectives on Men, Women, Family and Nation Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art 1701 Main Street Peekskill, N.Y. Through Dec. 7, 2014 12 p.m. $5 admission Unison’s 24th Annual Crafts Fair New Paltz Middle School 196 Main Street New Paltz, N.Y. Through Dec. 7, 2014 10 a.m. $4 admission

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

riday, Dec. 5 kicks off a weekend full of theater and arts productions at Vassar. Beginning at 7 p.m. in the Kenyon Club Room, it will also launch the weekend of performances for Unbound’s fall play, “Rappaccini’s Daughter.”

The director, Talia Feldberg ’16, wrote in an emailed statement about her choice to stage the play, “Over the summer, I was looking for a play to direct this semester and my research turned ‘Rappaccini’ up. The next day I went to the library, read it, and knew it was the right play.”

As to what specifically moved her about this particular play, Feldberg wrote, “The beautiful language and really vivid re-imagining of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s strange, gothic story [drew me to the material].” Colby Byrne ’18 also commented on the same aspects which inspired Feldberg to direct “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” “...

It’s been different from my past theatrical experiences because the show is a straight play that relies heavily on movement and very expressive language/narration,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

Unlike other plays going up this fall, choreographed movement is central to the show’s plot.

Byrne wrote, “I’m most excited for the audience to experience Rappaccini’s garden (which is played by actual people) and the intimate nature of the play...My favorite parts of the show are the various movement sections of the play where the messengers interact with each other and the audience.”

Feldberg as well commented on this distinctive characteristic of the show, adding, “This is the first time I’ve done a movement-heavy piece and worked with a choreographer (we actually have two), and it’s been a really positive and helpful experience.”

Especially for a student-directed project, the production is ambitious. Its relatively large scale, however, proved one of the more difficult aspects for its actors and creator. “Kenyon Club Room is a great space, but it definitely [has] challenges. Scheduling a cast of 11 is also very

hard, but that has less my challenge than that of my wonderful stage manager, Bethan Johnson [’15,]” wrote Feldberg.

An actor in “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” Elizabeth Fetterolf ’17 found the specific demands of the part to be demanding given what she feels to be her natural limitations. “Probably the movement sequences [were the biggest challenge of acting in the play] since I don’t have any kind of a dance/movement background and am a little bit of a klutz,” said Fetterolf via email.

Feldberg attributes her ability to conceive and help create such an offbeat and ambitious project, which includes an innovative use of movement, to the varied and deep selection of classes Vassar offers. She wrote, “I’m a drama major, which means I’ve taken a variety of classes related to theatre. I’ve had really great experiences in some collaborative, pretty mul-

achieve through dramatic themes and messages, there will also be some physical audience participation. Stirpe wrote, “I also think the audience is going to have an amazing experience in Act 4, which is designed to really bring them into the world and make them feel like a part of the action.”

Messbauer commented on another aspect of the show which she is excited about, “One unique thing that we’ve done with this show is gender-bend the cast—the Doctor is usually a man. I think having Doctor Stockmann be a woman adds an extra layer to the play: It highlights how women in the sciences must often struggle to be taken seriously.”

As the cast of “An Enemy of the People” has been finalizing the show during their last few days of tech week, they are looking forward to presenting Vassar with their drama.

The director played with idea of gender-bending to make a point not only about the discrimination of female scientists in the field, but also as a nod to more contemporary family values. Boylan wrote, “I decided to gender bend it because I also wanted to make a commentary about women scientists not being taken seriously. Also if left in, although historically accurate, the relationship between the doctor and his wife is problematic in a modern setting.”

Although this interesting choice of switching Dr. Stockmann’s gender will be a refreshing twist to the classic play, it has also presented some challenges to Messbauer, who plays the part.

She commented, “It’s been a challenge in certain ways, because the play was written with certain rigid gender roles and gender stereotypes intended for Dr. Stockmann and especially his wife. In order to maintain realism with the time period that the play is set in, we had to put some thought into how to explain the dynamic of a gender-bent Stockmann family. I think that making Dr Stockmann a woman makes the play much more relevant to today’s world and the difficulty [for] women in male-dominated work environments.”

Unbound will perform the play “Rappaccini’s Daughter” in the Kenyon club room on the weekend of Dec. 5. The play proved challenging for its cast due to its bold use of movement.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Carrie Haddad Gallery Presents Landscapes & Bodyscapes Carrie Haddad Gallery 22 Warren St. Hudson, N.Y. Through Dec. 14, 2014 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Soundpainting Workshops Trillium Gallery 228 Main St. Saugerties, N.Y. Through Dec. 16, 2013 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. $25 admission

ARTS

Page 16

December 4, 2014

Art gallery to Bollywood film tackles political themes reclaim while staying true to comedic tradition Villard Room Palak Patel

Editor-in-Chief

DANCE continued from page 1

might be interested in showing their art, such as Phocus, Wordsmiths, VC Filmmakers, Boilerplate Magazine, and other houses.”

She continued, “The best part of planning this event has been reaching out to different people who might be interested in making a change through their art. I’ve contacted numerous organizations and artists, which made me realize how much talent and creativity there is in the Vassar College community.”

Soloman Ajasin ’16, the Vice President of Cushing House has also been heavily involved with the creation and execution of this event. He wrote in an emailed statement, “We thought it was a wonderful idea; one that is rarely seen on campus. The idea of presenting activism in the form of art is very intriguing and allows a different subset of people to take the spotlight as we highlight their activism within and outside the Vassar community.” Pollack as well commented on what her organization has brought to the planning and development of the night: “The Greens will help Cushing make this event zero waste and there will be a large selection of vegetarian and vegan food at the event!”

Aside from creating a unique multi-media experience, the organizers wanted to make this event different from previous ones hosted by other houses in the Villard Room. Asan wrote, “This event came about because the Cushing House team thought that Vassar College students should have access to a space where they can freely present their art to the whole campus community. Our campus is home to very talented students, and we rarely get to see their art in any space, let alone in one of our galleries.”

She continued, “With this event, we also wanted to reclaim the Villard Room as a safe space for Vassar students. There is a stigma attached to Villard Room events. We want to break that stigma and show that Villard Room can be used by the students as a space to make change using art.” Karen Crook ’17, wrote in an emailed statement about the event through her lens of a Vassar Greens’ Co-President, “As an activist club on campus, we are so excited to be sponsoring an event that encourages activism through art, which can be such a powerful medium.”

Ajasin spoke to not only the power of social change at the event, but the activism he has seen in preparation for the House team event. He commented, “The best part about planning this event is seeing just how engaged my fellow house team members are in their preparations. On top of that, I was amazed by the number of people who volunteered to have their art presented, or perform a song, or reveal their interest in activism.”

Pollack, Ajasin, and Asan are all excited about the event, after weeks of planning and organizing.

Pollack wrote, “[I’m most excited for people to see] the art...what people have prepared whether about activism or just their own artwork! I don’t think we give Vassar students enough opportunities to showcase art that they might’ve done in class or outside shows!” She noted as well that she is looking forward to the folk singers that the Vassar Greens are planning on bringing from the greater Poughkeepsie area to the event.

She continued, “We are working on getting some activist protesters/ singers/ folk singers to come out to the event which will show how the Greens and Cushing are opening the event to the general public as well!”

Ajasin commented on his expectations for the art pieces at the event, “I am most excited for people to see that art is not something that is only made by extraordinary artists and hung up in fancy museums and galleries. Art is created right here,

by Vassar students. I want people to see all the wonderful art created by their fellow students.”

Asan is eagerly anticipating a different aspect of the night, “I personally am very excited to see the projected artwork. We are going to project the digital submissions during the open mic performances.” Ajasin closing remark will be sure to draw in a crowd of college students to the event, “There will be sandwiches from Rossi’s and sparkling apple cider. Also, there will be folk singers and a host of performances happening. Who is not excited about that?”

Dr. Cabbie Jean-Francois Pouliot Caranel Film

G

rowing up, some of the only movies I watched featured brightly colored costumes, flashy musical numbers and exotic locales. No, I’m not talking about musicals, I’m talking about Bollywood— the Indian equivalent to America’s Hollywood.

The most prolific film industry in the world, Bollywood produces about 1,000 films every year.

As I grew older, I realized these movies weren’t actually that great, but I still come back to them on a regular basis because there’s just something I love about a cheesy love story.

“There’s just something I love about a cheesy love story.”

Over break, I was given the opportunity to see a new Bollywood film called “Dr. Cabbie.” After a quick Google search, I realized it was a Canadian fusion film, meant to draw in a large English-speaking audience to boost ratings. Basically, I had no idea what to expect when I sat down in the darkened theater that night.

Starring Indian-Canadian actor Vinay Virmani and American actress Adrianne Palicki (“Friday Night Lights,” anyone?)

“Dr. Cabbie” is a charming and light film

that works hard to cover some larger issues surrounding immigration and healthcare in Canada. Co-stars Kunal Nayyar (“The Big Bang Theory”), Mircea Monroe (“Heart of Dixie”) and Rizwan Manji (“Outsourced”) round out the cast and keep many familiar faces on the screen throughout the film while also infusing the film with quirky characters that are typical of a Bollywood comedy.

Virmani stars as recent medical school graduate Deepak from India who takes his mom to Toronto in the hopes of becoming a doctor and following in the footsteps of his dead father. However, he hits a major roadblock when he realizes his top-notch Indian education counts for nothing in the Western world. While a completely trained and qualified doctor in India, Deepak is unable to find a job as a doctor in his new home and is forced to start driving a taxi cab around Toronto to make a living.

Deepak doesn’t let driving a cab keep him from his dreams, though. On his first day of work, Deepak gets stuck in traffic with a pregnant Natalie (played by Palicki). Low and behold, Natalie goes into labor and Deepak has to bring out his doctor skills to save the day.

From that day on, Deepak begins to actually start treating patients from the back of his cab, including doling out illegal prescription drugs. While Deepak soon turns into a local hero for providing cheap medical care, he also finds himself in trouble with the law for his illegal practices.

While not ground-breaking in any way, “Dr. Cabbie[’s]” formulaic plot delivers plenty of laughs and heartwarming moments. The film struggles to fully ground the story in reality, but that’s often to be expected in a Bollywood-produced film.

However, “Dr. Cabbie” does do a good job at illuminating the continued problem of highly skilled immigrants being unable to attain jobs in their desired fields due to discrepancies between the Eastern and

Western educational traditions. Multiple times, while Deepak is applying to hospitals, he brings up the fact that Canada has a dearth of doctors and that he is more than qualified for the position.

“While not ground-breaking...the plot delivers plenty of laughs.”

A normal Bollywood film runs about three hours, but Canadian director Jean-Francois Pouliot chose to keep the film at a more palatable 98 minutes. While the main plot fits perfectly into that timeline, Dr. Cabbie overextends itself with minor subplots that don’t add to the story or character development of the film.

Plot snags aside, “Dr. Cabbie” had just enough Indian influences within its script that I found myself nostalgic for Bollywood. There are really only two musical numbers in “Dr. Cabbie,” and they are heavily produced English/Hindi fusion pop songs with some typical Indian flair.

Hindi is rarely spoken due to the Canadian setting, but the set design makes Toronto come alive on the screen, drawing more Indian influence into the film.

“Dr. Cabbie” certainly isn’t my favorite movie ever, but there was something about the strong Indian influence within the Canadian film that made me enjoy it.

Clearly, I wasn’t the only person to enjoy it, either, since the film was the second highest-grossing film in Canada the day it was released. The film has something everyone will enjoy, plot problems aside. For those who are interested in getting into Bollywood without diving headfirst into the glitz and glam, “Dr. Cabbie” just might be the film to dip your toes into.

Slapstick humor thwarts sequel’s potential Charles Lyons Reporter

Dumb and Dumber To Farrelly Brothers New Line Cinema

T

he films of brother filmmaking duo Bobby and Peter Farrelly are seemingly ordinary bro-centric, mean-spirited comedies. The pair boast a filmography characterized by lowbrow humor (mostly involving sex and poop) and one-joke concepts; however, under scrutiny, the Farrellys’ films emerge as humanist love stories with a presentational flair for the grotesque and the absurd.

Their movies impress with a sensitivity to human feeling and an affinity for the truly strange and ridiculous and bear insight into the plight of victimized and societally disregarded individuals. Their twelfth film, “Dumb and Dumber To,” is their first sequel of any kind and returns to the blissful idiots who first headlined the Farrellys’ 1994 debut, “Dumb & Dumber.”

20 years removed from their cross-country schemes to get the girl and deliver a suitcase full of money, Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) is paralyzed and in an over-exaggerated aftershock from the events of the first film, housed in a sanitarium where his best friend Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) visits him every Wednesday, quite literally wiping his friend’s ass and foolishly keeping him up-to-date on his own shambling life.

As the film proper begins, however, and the bulbous, colorful title card bursts onscreen, it’s revealed Lloyd has been playing a grand prank on his BFF. Lloyd occupied a wheelchair and feigned unconsciousness for two decades, extending what amounts to a flimsy charade

blown up to oversized proportions. The gag is a bold announcement of the filmmakers’ aesthetic, in which characters will go to any length to create their own false image or guise. In many of their films, “I’m just fucking with you” is the most-uttered phrase, indicative of a filmography flush with deception and layers of aesthetic untruth, where genuine human connection is buried beneath constructions of humor and anarchic acts of protracted defiance.

Their newest effort is an unusual test case for this central juxtaposition. The narrative is essentially the same as the first film: An inciting incident—in this case, Harry discovering he has a fully-grown daughter he never knew existed—urges Lloyd and Harry to the road. The film proceeds from there, detailing the detours, hiccups, and distractions along the way.

“Dumb and Dumber To” makes for an interesting Farrellys film because, due to the abysmally low intelligence of both of its lead characters on which the series’ concept rests, we have little emotional access to these deranged men, and, in fact, they sometimes barely register as people at all. This means that the hard-earned, sweet humanism and sentimentality that marks almost every other entry into their oeuvre is an impossibility in either “Dumb and Dumber” film. A full embrace of the films’ emotional undercurrents is often obstructed by the spectacle of absurdity and bumbling slapstick behavioral insanity of its characters. Thus, the films are not the Farrellys’ most emotionally accessible outings, but their spectacle is fascinating enough nonetheless.

A depth of human feeling isn’t entirely shut out, though—the multiple fantasy dream sequences the filmmakers conceive for their protagonists are more imaginative than they were in the ’94 film. The dreams are gleeful and endearing portals into the hilarious misjudgment, poor taste, and primitive deepest desires of Harry and Lloyd’s psyches, tender yet still

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

biting interludes staged with as much panache and artistry as they are charming while staying loyally true to the characters’ idiosyncrasies and established personalities.

In addition, Carrey and Daniels’ performances attempt to convey the veritable sadness and desperation of these sorry men underneath their unhinged lunacy with problematic but still admirable commitment.

Carrey puts on a show among the funniest and most abstractly silly of his career, but he still sometimes grates on the nerves, his sheer devotion to the part translating into an actor trying a little too hard, adding an off-putting abrasiveness to his Lloyd that is distasteful, only made more so by the tiresome bathroom humor he returns to frequently throughout the film. Daniels is more successful, a gentler but equally misguided counterpart to Carrey’s character whom the actor brings to life with a glassy-eyed, flailing unkemptness that has the sneaking feel of a bruised, hurt vulnerability underneath. Both actors’ rubber-lipped bodily contortions and freakish gyrations are equal parts mesmerizing comic showcases and frustratingly opaque and impenetrable displays of alien behavior.

The way the Farrellys shoot their lead actors’ glowering, almost rabid faces in close-up detail in “Dumb and Dumber To” when a woman is in their sights is a boldly physical evocation of the frequent demented exploitation and objectification of the female form by a male viewer.

The film reduces heightened male authority to a joke, as it does every institution it encounters, including the worlds of wealth, science and basic interpersonal etiquette. The Farrellys’ films are less concerned with satirizing these environments as they are stripping them of their reputability and reducing them, like everything else they depict on screen, as flawed and deformed, a furthering of their personal and audacious phantasmagoric anarchism.

ARTS

December 4, 2014

Page 17

Frankie Valli’s magic captured on screen Charles Lyons Reporter

Jersey Boys Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. Pictures

R

eleased in November on DVD and Blu-ray— and the first of two Clint Eastwood-directed films in 2014 (along with the upcoming “American Sniper”)—“Jersey Boys” is Eastwood’s gayest film since, well, the director’s last movie, 2011’s “J. Edgar.” Eastwood, who has a history of extreme productivity as an artist, directing two movies a year in seven different individual years throughout his over 40-year career as a filmmaker, is here adapting the jukebox musical originally written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice for a 2005 Broadway run that resulted in four Tony Awards.

The show and film track the 1950s beginnings and subsequent 1960s rise in popularity and rather slight disintegration of the band the Four Seasons, which was composed of lead singer Frankie Valli (played both in the film and onstage by John Lloyd Young), lead guitarist Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza), keyboardist Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen) and bass guitarist Nick Massi (Michael Lomenda), using songs from the real band’s catalogue. It’s rather frivolous and insubstantial subject matter—the Four Seasons’ music isn’t thought of very highly and the drama surrounding the politics of the band, professionally and personally, is pretty unremarkable and low-key as far as these things go—but Eastwood’s subtle and understated style is an unexpectedly fitting match for the material, not taking it too seriously while locating the important context and vitality in this story of the blossoming of youth culture in a transitional period of American history.

Not only does Eastwood link the Four Seasons’ earning of cultural notoriety as a part of youth culture’s growing irrepressibility, but also, rather daringly for a known and outspoken conservative Republican, as a story rife with homoeroticism. Preceded by his transcendent, sensitive depiction of J. Edgar Hoover’s lifelong love affair with Clyde Tolson in his excellent

Campus Canvas

biographical “J. Edgar,” Eastwood furthers his interest in closeted but unmistakable sexual identity in “Jersey Boys,” immediately and poignantly establishing the film as one of concealed personal behaviors and secrecy. One of the first times we see Frankie he is subsumed by images of nighttime urban mischief, skirting around his hometown with friends, breaking into cars, hiding behind buildings, taking cover and whispering. We see a woman watching him in a nearby window, peeking out from behind curtains. The imagery becomes even more explicit as the film wears on, with Eastwood and DP Tom Stern using microphones as phallic symbols and developing complex spatial dynamics between the group’s members that create visual and undeniably sexual tension between the characters.

This contextualization gives the material the urgency it needs. The director emphasizes the threat of the law and police at every turn to suggest the dangerousness and trenchant impact of the cultural shifts that occurred at the time and the conservative backlash they inspired. In one particularly memorable scene, a radio DJ introduces one of the Four Seasons’ biggest hits, proclaiming a confusion whether the group is made up of women or black people, but that, whoever is performing it, the music is revolutionary and unprecedentedly exciting, with police demanding entry into the studio as he speaks. Though this may, from a broader perspective, be hyperbolic in relation to the actual effect of the group, the scene is a potent and necessary piece of Eastwood’s depiction of a changing cultural landscape. Similar is the sequence in which Bob runs into an old friend in the halls of a music studio, a man who makes flirtatious passes at all of the group’s members, leading them into a tuckedaway high-society party where even the Seasons feel out of place and archaic; the gathering is clearly entrenched in an almost Warholian artistic and intellectual progressiveness that extends in spirit far past the early ‘60s time period.

The filmmaker’s expression of the momentum and fluidity of societal organizations is emboldened by the way he shoots the musical scenes in the film, which best those found in John Carney’s otherwise surprisingly good “Begin Again,” another 2014 film about the spontaneity and power of the community of art-making

featuring impromptu live music performances.

“Begin Again” certainly tapped into the idea of communal togetherness in a compelling way but skimped on the actual music being performed, which proved largely undercooked and indistinctive. “Jersey Boys,” however, genuinely gave me chills at various moments, using its aforementioned spatial aliveness in the performance scenes (as well as uniformly strong singing from the cast) to convey a group of people united, sometimes contentiously, always fiercely, by a passion for the work they’re doing, bonded irrevocably through the ties of art. Eastwood patiently and powerfully illustrates the effect the Four Seasons’ music has on its audience; one of the best shots of the year is a long take of Christopher Walken’s character’s face as he watches the band perform, his eyes welling up, overcome with emotion. Think of the movie as something of an outré Hollywood musical version of Abbas Kiarostami’s “Shirin.”

“Jersey Boys” is a technically and visually beautiful film but it isn’t without its stylistic derivativeness. Eastwood and Stern ape Martin Scorsese in a couple of tracking shots accompanied by to-the-camera addresses by characters breaking the fourth wall that screams “GoodFellas”—the shots are admittedly very well mounted but they never leave that other great director’s shadow. The addresses to the fourth wall, however, which are given by each of the band’s four members throughout the course of the movie, are more effective, and the culmination of their accounts and perspectives in the film’s final moments is a joyous celebration of a community and gives the proceedings purpose and dynamism in its variance of perspectives on display; Eastwood is an empathetic filmmaker but never a biased or unfair one, constantly maintaining measure and grace to his work.

True, “Jersey Boys” verges on white-boy circle-jerk in its short-shrifting of its female characters and its totally white cast, but that hetero-male-centrism is, at least in part, deflated by the movie’s expressive and thoughtful gay subtext. Shrouded in the mystery of Stern’s customary gorgeously shadowy cinematography, Eastwood’s latest story of personal and mass-identity in flux resonates in spite of its occasional setbacks.

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

Excuse me, What famous building would you like to be made out of gingerbread?

“Washington Monument because it’s really tall so there’s more to eat.” ­­— Leo Chen ’15

“Grand Central Terminal.”

— Alex Butler ’18

“The Pentagon.”

— Ryan Eykholt ’17

submit to misc@vassar.edu

“Cappy’s house.”

— Sarah Horowitz ’17

“Capitol Building because there’s a lot of surface area.”

— Zach Sherman ’16

courtesy of Nick Adelman

“Pasithea” Oil on Canvas. 2013 Pasithea, the wife of Hypnos, has been referred to as the Greek goddess of hallucination. I chose to depict my friend, Hailey, as Pasithea in the form of a portrait bust. The life-like portrait bust symbolizes the mind’s detachment from reality when hallucinating. Hailey’s likeness is flanked by a still life containing wine as a reference to drunkenness, an apple symbolizing sin, and grapes as fertility. The contrast in lighting references Caravaggio’s famous style – Tenebrism.

-Nick Adelman ‘18

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“Guggenheim in Bilbao.”

— Dylan Finley ’17

Jacob Gorski, Assistant Photo Editor Emma Rosenthal, Assistant Arts Editor

SPORTS

Page 18

December 4, 2014

Despite early failures, men’s basketball looks to rebound Ashley Hoyle

Guest Reporter

V

assar’s men’s basketball team officially kicked off their 2014-2015 season on Nov. 18, playing their opener against New Paltz in Vassar’s own Athletic and Fitness Center. Starting off on the right foot, the Brewers got their first win by a margin of 70-61, lighting up the stands full of enthusiastic fans.

Since the opener, the team has struggled to keep up its momentum, picking up three losses since that night. The first loss came in a matchup against Drew University in Madison, N.J., where the men took a tough 60-80 defeat on Nov. 22. They saw their next loss on Nov. 25 in Danbury, Conn., dropping a game to Western Connecticut State by an even bigger spread, this time 51-92. Their third loss of the season was closer this time, 44-52 against Trinity College, at home on Nov. 30.

In light of past success, the Brewers are hoping to get out of this slump. In the 2013 season, VC men’s basketball almost took the Liberty League Championship, and senior forward Luka Ladan expressed his enthusiasm for the coming season, “I am excited to try and repeat the success we had last year, and build upon them with the group of guys we have on the team this year.”

With a final score of 75-74, the Brewers lost last season’s championship game.

Under Coach BJ Dunne, the program has seen enormous growth, growth that was expected to be continued into this season. Senior guard Jonathan Safir spoke of the expectations that come with the team’s recent success, “In comparison to last year, no one saw our success coming but us. We believed in each other and came within 1 point of achieving our goal (losing in the conference championship game). This year, we are the team that everyone in our league has marked on their schedule. Being voted preseason #1 in the league comes with a lot of expectations, and we are working very hard every day to meet, and exceed, those expectations.”

“Our only goal is to win the Liberty League, which will hopefully come through hard work and dedication,” said Ladan. This goal does not

seem too far-fetched. In a coaches’ poll released in mid-November by the conference offices, the Brewers were picked to take the whole tournament. The men were the recipients of seven first place votes, giving them an overall score of 63.

Skidmore was slated second, with one first place vote and 57 total points.

Vassar will face off against Skidmore on Jan. 3 and 30, first away in Saratoga Springs, then at home. RIT was picked for third place, collecting the last first place vote and totaling 44 points.

The Brewers will match up with RIT first on Jan. 17 and then Feb. 13, also first away in Rochester and then home. Safir agreed with his teammate, saying “Our goal for this year is to win the Liberty League. We want to be the first men’s basketball team in school history to win the conference and hang a banner.” In fact, this mentality is uniform across the board, as senior captain and forward, Alex Snyder agreed, “Our goal this year is to win the Liberty League and play in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.”

The team knows that the Liberty League is a tough arena this season, and their dreams of winning the title will be earned on the court, point by point, each game. Snyder explained the team’s outlook on their schedule, “Some of our biggest competitors will be Skidmore, Trinity, Springfield College and RIT. Overall, our entire schedule is solid and our league is very tough.”

Safir weighed in to add his views on the upcoming season, “We have already faced some extremely tough competition to help prepare us for league play, including a top-25 team and a couple of NCAA tournament teams. Come league play, I believe that 1-9 all teams in the league will be very tough and competitive. However, Skidmore, Union and Hobart will be very tough.”

Many agree that #2 seed Skidmore will be one of the closest competitions in season play. Safir is no exception, and he agreed with this sentiment, “The league in general will be really tough.

There’s a lot of parity, but Skidmore College really stands out because their rotation is both talented and experienced. Competing in the league will be a tough test all season.”

Ladan expressed his views concerning how

the Brewers will be successful this season, “If we stay committed to the process and work harder than ever, then we can really make a run. It comes down to working together and staying unselfish, which we did all of last season. We just have to build on our previous success and get better every day.” The Brewers are thoroughly experienced, as five of their players will be suiting up for their senior seasons, so they will have maturity on their side this season.

Along with veteran experience, Snyder explained that the Brewers have a good sense of who they are as a team, on their personnel, “Our team is very balanced. We have a good presence inside as well as some of the best shooters in the league. We all play very hard defensively and work as a unit.” Senior captain, guard and junior forward Andrew Adkins will continue strong this season, after he played in 27 games and totaling 2.4 points 2.2 rebounds last season. His fellow captain, Snyder will hope to continue his strong stat line after averaging 10.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in the 2013 season and being named Honorable Mention All-Liberty League.

Senior Curtis Smith will offer up his talents after averaging 9.4 points and .667 free throw percentage last year. Safir will provide depth in the guard position this season, as well as sophomore Ryan Huegel. Ladan helped make the Brewer’s defense one of the strongest nationally, and will continue to contribute in his final season in burgundy and gray. Safir said of the Brewer defense, “Our greatest strength this year is our post-play down low. The “Bash Brothers” Luka Ladan and Alex Snyder, are two of the best bigs in the league. They can cause matchup nightmares for the opposition.”

But like any team, the 2014 Brewers are still working to fill the holes left by alumnae/i of the program and integrate younger players as quickly as possible. Ladan commented, “We have a very experienced group of players, so we know what it takes to be successful at this level. Our upperclassmen have done a great job of guiding the younger guys along and leading by example, so it just has to stay that way all year. From the top down, the commitment to improving as a group

is already there. Losing [junior] Johnny [Mrlik] is tough because he was so crucial to our success last season, so we’ll have to learn how to play without him. It’s a process, but just improving daily is key.” Another personnel concern beyond graduating starters is losing one to injury. Mrlik, as mentioned above, is unable to play due to injury. Ladan expressed the difficulties that injuries can produce, “The biggest obstacle will be playing without Johnny because he can do so much on the floor. Just getting used to new rotations and playing styles can be tough, so we really have to buckle down and improve. And we can’t get down on ourselves if things don’t go well at first.”

Snyder sees success being bred from the top down. It starts with the coaching staff, he said, “We plan to achieve this goal through hard work and preparation. Our coaches do a great job of getting us ready for games, and we plan to step up and use these game plans in order to get some wins against some very good teams.” The coaching staff, according to Snyder, can do the team the greatest service by keeping motivation high.

“Complacency will be our biggest issue,” he said, “After the success we had last year we need to stay hungry in order to do even better then we have ever in the past.”

With a strong tradition of success at their back, and experienced leadership moving them forward, the Brewers are set to have outstanding performances on the court. However, when speaking of what is most exciting looking into the season, it is not the physical aspect that players mention.

Ladan elaborated, “I’m most excited about growing as a group and getting even closer to the guys on the team. In the end, it’s all about team chemistry, so just working on that every day will be really fun. We love playing together, which makes basketball that much more enjoyable.”

Team chemistry is ultimately what the Brewers will enjoy, and what will carry them through a potentially remarkable season. “What I am most excited about for this season is the opportunity to have one last chance at making history here at Vassar,” said Safir, “and creating memories that will last a lifetime with my best friends.”

Senior finishes running career fulfilling dream of nationals CROSS COUNTRY continued from page 1 improve their own PR’s [personal records].”

While the Vassar College women runners had plenty of reasons to be happy with their overall season, Carpenter was a standout competitor in her final season with the Brewers. Carpenter scored points at the Atlantic Region Championships for the Brewers for the fourth time in her career. In 2011, as a freshman, she placed third for Vassar and repeated her third-place finish in 2013. This year, she placed first for the Brewers and finished 16th overall with a time of 22:16.8. This made her the third fastest woman, by time, in Vassar College history over any 6k course.

More importantly, though, it earned her a spot at the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship. Carpenter was just one of seven individual qualifiers out of the entire Atlantic Region.

Carpenter is humble about her performance and didn’t think she’d pull out the stellar times she did this year, “I really wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did this year. Of course it’s always been such a dream of mine to make Nationals, but I had no idea how close I was going into this year’s season. I’ve always ran the miles just like everyone else and done the work in order to improve so it’s very exciting to see all that work manifested in great performances and huge PRs this past season.” Carpenter was one of the Brewers’ constant scorers this season, finishing first place for the team in four of her five races this year.

This consistent success led Carpenter to Nationals this year which took place at Kings Island Golf Center in Mason, Ohio. Carpenter was looking to cross the finish line under the 22-minute mark for the first time and finish as the fastest women’s cross-country runner in program history.

Unfortunately, Carpenter’s race at nationals wasn’t quite the day she was hoping for.

She ran a 23:34.7 and placed 147th overall, as she was bogged down by traffic as she was

one of the minority individual runners in the race, there without her team and on a very mucky course after a spat of freezing rain from the night before.

Despite not achieving the time she was hoping for, her success this season and the fact that she qualified remains a positive point for Carpenter. “It was so amazing to go to NCAA’s this year and [that is] something I will always remember. I don’t feel great about [my] race at NCAA’s; but, I [am] try[ing] to focus on the process and taking it step by step and enjoying the little things along the way that made the whole journey exciting and worthwhile.”

In a statement made to the Vassar Athletics website, Carpenter’s coach, James McCowan echoed his runner’s sentiments. “Nationals is a tough meet, especially as an individual without the support of the team she has trained and raced with all season, and Cass wasn’t quite back to 100% after a cold earlier in the week. No excuses, it just wasn’t the day we were hoping for.”

And he reflected upon her cross-country career at Vassar, “That said, I’m very proud of Cass and her season…She really put it together this year. Cass has always been an impact runner for us in November, all four years, and this year she came into the season with 12 months of great, injury-free training… that background really allowed her to uncover some of the greatness we know is there and I know [nationals] just left her hungry for track.”

Carpenter is certainly going down in the record books as one of Vassar College’s best female cross country runners, but all her accolades are even more impressive considering that she only started running competitively about six years ago. “I actually haven’t been running that competitively for very long. I’ve always loved running but up until my junior year of high school I played competitive soccer. Then I tried cross-country for fun and realized that I was way better at

cross-country than soccer, but it wasn’t until track of my junior year that I formed a passion for this sport and quit soccer to focus more on running.”

Carpenter will be back in action with the Brewers later this spring during the track season. Looking forward, she explained how she likes to prepare before competition and plan to do her best. “I definitely race way better when I have a relaxed mindset before.

Even during my best race at regionals this year, I tried not to think about goals, times or place the week before. Because at that point, there isn’t much you can do training-wise, so I just try to maintain a mindset of running for the pure joy, with a goal to just go for it and challenge myself. That’s not to say I don’t have goals, I just try to not let them scare me. Although this is often easier said than done, so before races I usually listen to upbeat music and dance a little bit with my teammates. Recently, I’ve been listening to ‘Burning Down the House’ by The Talking Heads right before races.”

Despite all her running accolades, Carpenter is just as motivated and busy with her academic life. “My major is Science, Technology and Society [STS for short] and I am also pre-med. So, this semester I am doing research on the protein p53 that is critical in cancer and I’ve also had an amazing opportunity to watch surgeries at the hospital this semester.”

If it seems like Carpenter’s schedule is jam-packed, that’s because it is, but the senior explained how she is able to make the balancing act work. “It’s a very challenging and delicate balance, and often times I do feel like either my running or my school suffers because of the other. But, [I’ve become] really good about planning ahead and ultimately, school is always the priority.”

In spite of the difficulty, Carpenter couldn’t imagine not running at Vassar. “I chose to be a student-athlete because I absolutely love running competitively. From

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

the day I was born, I’ve always been super active and the thought of not doing something active sounds horrible. Also, I believe there is a huge benefit to challenging yourself mentally as well as physically. I’ve really loved that part of being a student-athlete at Vassar-there’s something really empowering and refreshing being able to challenge myself in two things that in some ways are very different and complement each other well, but in reality require the same sort of intensity, work-ethic and lifestyle.”

Beyond cross-country, Carpenter, a Calif. native, was drawn to Vassar College due to its academics and class sizes. “I always had a dream of going to school on the east coast and my mom suggested I apply to Vassar. I was really convinced on my visit by the emphasis on academics and just the educational opportunities here. The biggest selling point was the small class size. Being pre-med, I love the fact that I don’t have to take Orgo in a lecture hall with 500 other students, but instead my professors offer weekly review sessions and many opportunities to meet and talk one-on-one.

In terms of what she’s learned in her last four years at Vassar, Carpenter had this to say. “While I do love the season changes here, I have realized that I love the California weather and lifestyle more than I knew.”

Carpenter is currently training for her position as a distance track runner for the Brewer women. She’s hoping to make it back to Nationals and do even better to end her career at Vassar. In closing, she left younger and future student-athletes with some advice: “Success comes to those who work the longest and the hardest. And sometimes that work is hard and not fun every second, but ultimately you do it because you love it. For the great majority of us it’s the last time we can do sports at such a competitive level so have fun and go for it! Don’t get so intense that’s it’s not fun, but take advantage of this opportunity to pursue your passion.“

December 4, 2014

SPORTS

Silver dreams of sports gambling gold rush Robert Carpenter Guest Columnist

O

n Nov. 13, NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined the ranks of John McCain, Vladimir Putin and Angelina Jolie by writing an Op-ed article for The New York Times. In this case, the NBA’s commissioner took to the pages of the Times to encourage Congress to “adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports.”

This groundbreaking statement went against the NBA’s previous stances on gambling. The Op-ed also came after the Association agreed to make the fantasy sports-betting site, FanDuel, their fantasy sports partner with a four year agreement.

Officially, gambling on sports in the United States (excluding Nev.) is illegal under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). But whether this law is being followed is hard to tell these days with all the talk of money being lost and won on fantasy sports. Fantasy sports allow fans to compete against each other by composing make-believe teams with players they believe will perform the best on any given day of competition. Then the fantasy leagues use stats from real athletic competitions to give out points and determine winners. Fantasy sports leagues have prospered in the Internet age and the ruling of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that made Internet fantasy sports gambling legal.

In particular, single-day fantasy sports leagues that take place in a single day of competition instead of an entire season have skyrocketed in popularity over the last year. A charge led by fantasy gambling sites such as FanDuel and Draft Kings.

In this way, fantasy sports make sports gambling legal but just not directly. Silver’s opinion article in the New York Times sought to do away with the barriers and allow complete sports gambling across the U.S. as long as it is done in a regulated manner. Silver acknowledged that sports gambling is already taking place on a large scale and estimated

that in the U.S., “$400 billion is illegally wagered on sports each year.”

But the way that gambling takes place leaves room for improvement and takes place mostly through “illicit bookmaking operations and shady offshore websites.” According to Silver, “There is an obvious appetite among sports fans for a safe and legal way to wager on professional sporting events.” And the U.S. should authorize gambling on sports in a responsible way.

Silver’s Op-ed hit the presses at a time when sports betting is already a contentious issue, and especially in N.J., where Governor Chris Christie allowed sports gambling as recently as Sept., only to have the ruling rejected by a federal court because it violated PASPA. Silver acknowledged that Christie’s decision was “a law the NBA and other leagues have opposed.”

Supported by the fact that sports gambling is illegal at a federal level, Silver took a stand that betting on games should be federally legal and monitored, not on a state to state basis but everywhere. A critical elaboration considering that the NBA’s disapproval of Governor Christie’s decision would have seemed two-faced in light of the Association’s new partnership with the online fantasy gambling site, FanDuel.

Even though Silver is the first leader of a major American sports league to encourage the legalization of sports gambling, internationally, he is not progressive. Outside of the U.S., sports betting is extremely popular and legal. In England, fans are able to bet on soccer matches online, from their phones, or, if they are at the game, from team sponsored gambling kiosks. The NBA is popular on an international scale and is heavily bet on outside of the U.S., and yet a fan can’t wager on a game from the location it is being played.

Outside of the U.S. sports gambling is legal, regulated, cutting edge and, possibly most important to Silver, profitable.

It is easy to forget that a dark shadow falls on the NBA and gambling after 2007’s con-

troversy involving NBA referee Tim Donaghy gambling on games that he was officiating.

Claims arose that Donaghy even made calls to influence point spreads and his own betting outcomes. Not only did Donaghy violate NBA protocol but he also broke the law and as a result was sentenced to 15 months in prison and banned from officiating in the NBA. The Donaghy scandal took place before Silver was commissioner but it is surely an event on his mind as he takes a pro-gambling stance. Donaghy’s actions display that if gambling on NBA games is to become legal and widespread, it must be heavily regulated and monitored in order to protect the quality and morals of NBA basketball games.

Silver’s opinion may seem passionate but truly it was economically strategic. According to BusinessInsider.com, the NBA trails both the MLB and the NFL in earnings as the two leagues made $8 billion and $10 billion in 2013, respectively. The National Basketball Association only managed to bring in $4 billion in profits. While still a key member of the U.S.’ “Big Three” sports leagues, the NBA has a smaller nest egg to fall back on when compared to other leagues and must be more fiscally-aggressive in order to make a profit.

Legalized gambling would allow the NBA to take on sponsorships from casinos, increase their number of followers and charge a fee on bets placed on their games. With this in mind, Silver kept himself and the NBA ahead of the curve with his announcement and started the process of opening a new revenue source for the NBA. After David Stern’s highly praised 30-year career as NBA commissioner ended in February of this year, Silver has already began making positive waves. Starting with Silver’s skillful lifelong expulsion of Donald Sterling at the very beginning of his term, the commissioner continues to lead the Association in a positive direction. Silver’s Op-ed reveals that even though Stern is retired, the NBA and its future continues to be held in intelligent and competent hands.

Love and basketball: shaky start for Cavs Sam Hammer Columnist

W

e are now officially one full month into the NBA season, which means it is also time to talk about this year’s numerous stories and performances. Without a doubt, the most hyped team coming into this year was the Cleveland Cavaliers due to their summer acquisitions of LeBron James and Kevin Love.

Currently, the Cavaliers have a win-loss record of 7-7 and are failing to live up to the expectations that were set during the offseason. The offense so far has shown some signs of brilliance, and their offensive efficiency rating is currently ninth in the league. The team is fifteenth in the league for defensive efficiency and their defensive performances up to this point have left something to be desired. Although Cleveland currently has many quality offensive players on the roster, they are seriously lacking a depth in players who are able to defend effectively. In fact, other the LeBron and Anderson Varejao (who has been prone to injury throughout his career), the Cavaliers lack any real defensive threats to opposing teams.

Of course, the season is still young and the Cavaliers still have ample time to figure things out before the playoff race begins in earnest. There is no doubt that it was unwise for analysts and gamblers to choose Cleveland as the front-runner for the NBA Finals since it takes time for a team to learn how to play together, and a great basketball offense cannot possibly compensate for a solid defense in the NBA playoffs. Even still, the hype exists, and it is expected that a pairing of two of the top ten players in the league in Kevin Love and LeBron James, along with young star point guard Kyrie Irving should produce a good team. Part of the issue rests with the fact that the three stars, who are all used to carrying their teams, have been forced to learn new offensive and defensive schemes under a rookie NBA head coach David Blatt.

Currently, there is a great deal of debate

over how Kevin Love will find his role in Blatt’s system. Kevin Love has the option to opt out of the final year of his contract after this season and become a free-agent. Although it is unlikely, if the Cavaliers are not able to learn to play effectively together this season and the early struggles continue, there is reason to believe that Kevin Love would consider playing elsewhere. While playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Love made it clear that he would enjoy playing for a premier team in a major city such as the New York Knicks, or the Los Angeles Lakers. Although Cleveland is not usually considered a major market or a hotbed for stars, Love was enticed by the opportunity to team up with superstar LeBron James in the hopes of creating the next NBA super team. The question is: Will Kevin Love find it in him to sacrifice his statistical dominance and be patient enough to see the Cavaliers succeed, even if it takes the team several seasons to get it right?

A native of Calif., Kevin Love played in college for UCLA, where he led the one-seed Bruins to the 2008 Final Four before losing to University of Memphis. The Memphis Grizzlies took Kevin Love fifth in the 2008 NBA draft before trading him to the Minn.

Timberwolves. On the Timberwolves, Love came into his own and developed into one the league’s premier power forwards. His ability to combine spectacular rebounding along with precision three-point shooting made him extremely difficult to guard and turned him into a unique offensive weapon. During him time in Minn., Love was the NBA leader in rebounding in 2011, made the All-NBA Second Team in 2012 and 2014, and played in three All-Star games.

For all of his offensive brilliance, Love was never able to lead Minnesota to the playoffs.

Although his playmaking ability has always been great, the fact that he has never been able to harness his skills in meaningful games has diminished his reputation in the league.

After several seasons of building frustration

with the Timberwolves’ front office along with the failure of team General Manager David Kahn to sign love to a five-year max extension during the 2011-2012 season, the Kevin Love sweepstakes began. Last season, with one year remaining on his contract, Love expressed a desire to be traded, and multiple NBA teams including the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics made recruiting pitches to him. Of course, Love ended up being traded to Cleveland soon after LeBron announced that he would be returning to bring the city a title.

Unfortunately for Love and the Cavaliers, his performance up until this point has been short of expectations. The frustrations for Love culminated in a game against the Washington Wizards on Nov. 26, where Love only managed to score eight points, and felt that he was not being used in the offense enough.

Jesus Gomez of SBNATION explains how the Cavaliers are not using Love in an effective manner offensively, “A much larger percentage of Love’s total points are coming from three-pointers (37.7 percent) than in the paint (24 percent). Obviously, his free throw attempts per game and offensive rebound percentage have lowered as a result. The Cavs have taken only one aspect of what made Love especial on the offensive end—his outside shot—and have emphasized it to the extreme. As a result, a guy who was an absolute offensive beast last season is producing like a role player” (SBNATION, “The Cavaliers need to rethink Kevin Love’s role” 11.22.14).

Defensively things are not much better as Love is currently allowing opponents to make 67.2 percent of field goal attempts within six feet of the basket. Love’s teammates Anderson Varejao, and Tristan Thompson are being forced to mask his defensive liabilities, yet this strategy will not be effective in the long haul. If the Cavaliers plan on being successful this season they will need to figure out how to make use of Love, or else next year they might not get the chance.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Page 19

Mt. Eiger, a fatal attraction for climbers Claire Standaert Guest Columnist

D

eemed the “murderous wall” by the most expert of climbers, the north face of the Eiger continues to claim lives of ambitious mountaineers, following the first ascension in 1938. Its unique combination of loose rock, ice and snow makes it terrifyingly difficult to scale. Although magnificent to look at, the 6,000 ft. Swiss mountain has an elusive aura created by its concavely shaped form, the sun never reaching it. With the death toll exceeding 60, the Alpine Journal voiced the common perception that the Eiger is “an obsession for the mentally deranged.” However, Jon Krakauer insightfully counters this from the perspective of a climber, saying, “Most climbers aren’t in fact deranged, they’re just infected with a particularly virulent strain of the Human Condition.” We can come close to understanding this abstract perspective by looking at the history of climbing the Eiger. By 1935, the Eiger’s north face remained the last major peak in the Alps to be climbed. Fierce competition to reach the top ensued, with multiple fatal attempts exacerbating the desire to conquer “the Ogre” (the true meaning of the word “eiger”). The German climbers Max Sedlayer and Karl Merhinger were the first to seriously attempt the north face in 1935, but died from exposure after spending the night trapped in a violent storm.

An attempt in 1936 had a greater impact on the world’s perception towards the Eiger. This was the famous struggle by the four friends Andreas Hingertoisser, Edi Ranier, Willy Angerer and Toni Kurz to scale the north wall. They found a strategic passage called the “Hinterstoisser’s Traverse,” in which one must fasten a peg above a large unscalable rock overhang, and swing with a rope across the vertical spot. A few days after this success, bad weather struck and the group was forced to retreat. Then an avalanche hit. An unsecured Hingertoisser fell to his death, while the other three roped-up men fell, still connected to the mountain. Only Kruz survived the fall. Rescuers reached the scene a day later and stood around 10 feet below his dangling body. They asked him to cut the rope so they could catch him, but his fingers were frostbitten and he couldn’t move. Weak and injured, Kruz’s famous last words were “Ich kann nicht mehr” (I cannot go on).

And he died there, just yards away from his rescue party. Local Swiss authorities banned climbing the mountain following the tragedy, but this ban only lasted for a few months. The mountain already had a grim reputation that triggered the testosterone of young men willing to risk everything to conquer its face.

A team of two Germans, Andel Heckmeir and Ludwig Vorg, and two Austrians, Fritz Kastarek and Heinrich Harrer, became the first to successfully reach the top of the Eiger and return alive in 1938. The impossible had proven possible, and from there on, the Eiger’s north face entered the realm of legend, or as might be expected, Hollywood. Clint Eastwood’s famous 1975 thriller “The Eiger Sanction” has him play a climber assassin, who famously notes, “If the target’s trying to climb the Eiger, chances are my work could be done for me.” However, the Eiger was far from easily conquerable and fatalities continued into the 1960s. Ironically, the mountain became a theater for tragedies to unfold before the public eye—the north face is within easy view of villages below. And the hope, desire and perhaps naiveté, of climbers continued to provide the actors for such gruesome scenes to play out.

Today, fatalities are much lower with the improvements in safety equipment, so much so that the most elite mountaineers now have their sights set on breaking records. Climber Dani Arnold set the speed record for climbing the Eiger’s north face at two hours and 28 minutes in March 2011. The Eiger continues to take lives, although not as frequently as before the 1960s.

This is because of the monstrosity of the mountain due to violent storms, loose ice, slippery sheets of rock, nearly vertical incline and unpredictable avalanches.

There is no defeating nature when it comes to climbing. John Harlin III, whose father died attempting the Eiger when he was nine-years-old, later ascended the north face himself. He provides some insight into the dangerous strain of the “Human Condition” that drives man to attempt such undertakings: “Many have noted that when you climb this face, you’re climbing with the ghosts of those who came before. It challenges you, calls out your name and says, ‘Do you dare?’ Climbers from now until eternity will have to wrestle with that question.” And those who dare climb the Eiger.

SPORTS

Page 20

December 4, 2014

Muggles cast spell on competition in Butterbeer Classic Eli Vargas & Erik Quinson Sports Editor & Reporter

Q

courtesy of Vassar Quidditch

uidditch, a now non-fictional game created

by J.K Rowling in her magically successful fictional series “Harry Potter,” has become as common of a staple for the Vassar student body as a Weasley being placed in Gryffindor. Vassar College boasts the second oldest Quidditch team after Middlebury College, who created the game in the Muggle world around seven years ago. The first ever World Cup match was played between Middlebury and Vassar College. The College’s aspiring witches and wizards adopted all the rules from the Potter books, but unfortunately, seeing as we live in the Muggle world, they are grounded to playing with a broom between their legs. But this hasn’t stopped them from trying all the same.

If you live in Davison House and you look out your window on either Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3-5 p.m. you may think that your dreams have come true and that you finally arrived at Hogwarts after receiving your letter. However, alas this is not the case, and it’s actually just the Vassar Butterbeer Brewers, and they’re welcoming of like minded Potterheads.

Junior Emily Stensloff, a chaser, wrote in an emailed statement, “The snitch is one of the better positions because they don’t really have very many rules that they need to follow. It gives them the allowance of being really annoying jokesters, which might not be fun for the seekers, but is definitely entertaining for the spectators.”

Captain and sophomore Max Fine, who plays the position of beater, wrote about the physical aspect of the game in an emailed statement: “The atmosphere at tournaments varies. We faced teams that were very fond of tackling and playing aggressively at our first away tournament this semester.” Though this kind of play is not necessarily against the rules, it’s frowned upon by the world’s second oldest team. When Vassar hosts tournaments, it generally doesn’t invite

Vassar’s Quidditch team, known as the Butterbeer Brewers, do not have a designated facility, but they are often seen practicing on Joss Beach. This semester, they hosted the Butterbeer Classic, placing second. teams who play an aggressive style of Quidditch.

Fine described them, “Our home tournaments are competitive, but they’re also a little more relaxed by comparison. We always hug the opposing team when we finish a match, regardless of whether or not we won or lost. While we’re a competitive team, we try to make sure that we play fairly and most importantly, have fun.”

Physicality isn’t what one would assume to have on a Quidditch pitch, but a quick YouTube search will show the interested observer that Quidditch games can quickly become a field full of contact with more than just a deflated dodge ball. Stensloff added to Fine’s statements concerning the choice of teams invited to the exclusive Vassar tournament, “Mostly we get along

with the other teams at our tournaments because we invite teams that fit with our Quidditch-philosophy. We aren’t going to invite a team that we know doesn’t like to play by the rules or that is overly aggressive. Because we invite teams we have previous good interactions with, it tends to make the atmosphere at tournaments really relaxing and fun.”

Vassar has hosted one tournament so far this semester, the Butterbeer Classic, and Fine was pleased with the team’s result, “Our tournament went very well, we had three victories and two losses, and came in second place overall. Everyone played phenomenally.” Their record supports Stensloff’s statement about team spirit and management, “We tend to play competitively,

Women’s basketball tip off winning season Eli Vargas

Sports Editor Women’s Basketball

Over Thanksgiving break on Tuesday, November 25, the Brewers continued their winning streak by beating Wesleyan University at home with a convincing scoreline of 64-39. Vassar’s defense was on form that day, and Wesleyan couldn’t find a way into the game. Junior Caitlin Drakeley has continued to impress on the court, recording twenty points and a career best of fifteen rebounds.

She averaged 22 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4 assists last week to earn a place in the Liberty League honor roll. Sophomore Zoe Walker scored a career high of eight points and 10 rebounds. For her role in helping the Brewers to start their season off on the right foot, freshman Ariella Rosenthal earned the recognition of being the Liberty League’s Rookie of the Week. She scored a career high 10 points last week.

On Tuesday, December 2, the Brewers

traveled to Mount Saint Mary College for a tough matchup against the Knights. VCWB came out on top beating the home team 6959. The Brewers are currently 4-0 for the season with no signs of letting up. They tip off this Saturday, Dec. 6 at home against Stevens Institute of Technology.

Squash

The weekend before Thanksgiving break on Saturday, Nov. 22, the women hosted two teams at Kenyon Hall: William Smith College and St. Lawrence University. The Brewers lost in both matchups, unable to hold on to their two-game winning streak from the weeks before. The Brewers were unable to win a single match against St. Lawrence.

However, freshman Hannah Nice was able to win her match getting the Brewers their only point in a 1-8 loss to William Smith.

The Brewers women will host Tufts University this Friday. Dec. 5 at home. The Brewer men will also host a match on Friday

against Tufts University, and then they will travel down to New York City this Saturday to face Fordham University.

Men’s Swimming and Diving

On Saturday, Nov. 22, the Brewers traveled to Elting Pool to compete against local cross-river rivals SUNY New Paltz. It was a tough day at the races, as the Brewers lost to the Hawks 169-92. However, it was a record breaking day for freshman Jonah Strand, who swam a career best of 2:19.54 in the 200 yard breaststroke. Strand was honored at the competition with the award of Liberty League Rookie of the Week for the second time in his young Brewer career, after also garnering individual victories in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:04.70 and in the 400 IM (4:35.42) at New Paltz.

Brewer sophomore Anthony Walker finished tops in New Paltz with times of 2:07.10 in the 200 yard butterfly and 54.82 in the 100 yard butterfly to earn top honor roll in the Liberty League. The Brewers saw many individual accomplishments over the course of the season,and they will wrap up the 2014 schedule in the Liberty League Championships this Friday at Rochester.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

Junior guard Caitlin Drakeley and freshman guard Samarah Cook have been part of a formidable backcourt, that along with a strong defense, has helped the Brewers start the season 4-0.

The women also traveled to SUNY New Paltz to compete at Elting Pool. They, too, had difficulty as a team with the neighbors across the river. The Brewers posted a 166-96 loss, with the Hawks taking eight of fourteen races with their superior numbers.

Vassar had a few stellar individual performances, such as that of senior Olivia Harries had the top time in the 1000 yard freestyle, finishing in 11:05.44. She also broke her season record in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:28.04, and coming first in that race.

Harries completed her hat-trick with a win in the 200 yard freestyle.

Sophomore Julia Cunningham set two records with a time of 2:09.40 in the 200 year fly, and 4:43.02 in the 400 IM. With those pool records, she was named the Liberty League’s women’s swimmer of the week, which happens to be her second selection.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

but not aggressively. Other teams have different styles. So we go in with different strategies for different teams. But no matter the level of aggression, I’d say that it’s always competitive at least to some degree.”

Stensloff was also happy with their most recent competition, “The tournament went pretty well. The weather was beautiful, which was such a nice change from the Butterbeer Classic last year. It was like playing Quidditch in Antarctica. Also, I’m pleased at how smoothly things ran because we had a last minute cancellation. Fortunately, our captains were able to quickly rework the schedule. It was great having Smith and Middlebury back, too, because they’re always wonderful teams to play against.”

The Quidditch community is strong not only against the competition but within Vassar. The team draws players from the general student body, tabling in the College Center, and having open practice. This year they even held a special event during freshmen orientation. Fine commented on the Quidditch family saying, “The team gets dinner together after our practices.

We also have weekly readings of Harry Potter.”

Stensloff talked about prematch rituals, “We have a chant and dance. Usually the dance is reserved for important games, but the chant is said before every game.”

The biggest tournament of the year, The World Cup hosted by the International Quidditch Association, has member teams from at least 12 different nations. The Butterbeer Brewers do not compete, which may be in part to fear that the events that transpired at the Quidditch World Cup in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” would reoccur. However, Vassar does host the most coveted of tournaments in the spring, with the winner receiving “The Cup That Shall Not Be Named.” As may have been noticed, the allusion to Harry Potter within the Quidditch community is rife; one comes across it as often as finding a Slytherin in Knockturn Alley.

Weekend Scoreboard MEN’S BASKETBALL VASSAR

VS

52

TRINITY COLLEGE

44

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VASSAR

VS

59

MOUNT SAINT MARY’S

69

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VASSAR

64

VS

WESLEYAN

39