The Miscellany News, Volume CXLVII, Issue 18 (April 3, 2014)

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The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVII | Issue 18

April 3, 2014

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Noble Ingram neWs editor

Administration has not yet accepted workers’ union status Anna Iovine

AssistAnt neWs editor

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he Vassar Security Department is organizing to form a union. The Student/Labor Dialogue (SLD) has been showing support through the hashtag “#DemocracyforVCSecurity,” as well as a photo campaign. Additionally, they have made a community petition featured on their Facebook page, which members of the Vassar community can sign to support solidarity. According to a student member of the SLD, the support letter and petition has two goals: to show the Administration that the community wants a safe environment for the union drive to happen, and that if the majority of security workers want a union, the College should respect that. “Security officers are running a unionization drive—that’s something that’s coming from workers in security. That may have popped up if the SLD never existed,” said the anonymous member of the SLD. They continued, “I think if the SLD has played any role in starting this, it’s making a particular environment in which people See UNION on page 4

n Thursday, March 27, the President’s Office announced the speaker for this year’s Commencement ceremony. Vassar alumna and physicist Dr. Sau Lan Wu ’63 will speak at the 150th Commencement ceremony on May 25, 2014. Wu serves as the Enrico Fermi Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her work with the ATLAS team of physicists lead to the announcement of the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle,” a new subatomic particle, back in July of 2012. Professor of Mathematics John Feroe explained, “She’s the leader of an international research team engaged in understanding matter and energy at its most fundamental form, work that has contributed to

the establishment of the existence of the Higgs boson, the subatomic particle that accounts for the presence of mass.” As the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery’s website reads, “Inside the heart of the atom, physicist Sau Lan Wu is mapping the very structure of our universe. In 2012, Wu, the leader of the UW-Madison contingent at the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe, played a major role in identifying the wake of the Higgs boson-an elusive subatomic particle believed to give all matter its mass.” The site continues, “It was yet another landmark in a career that includes being the leader in the discovery of the gluon—which ‘glues’ together pieces of an atom’s nucleus—and contributing to finding a See COMMENCEMENT on page 4

courtesy of the University of Wisconsin, Madison

Security Physicist Wu to give commencement speech officers seek O unionization

Dr. Wu ’63 will speak at the 150th Commencement ceremony. She was among the physicists who proved the existence of a new subatomic particle in July 2012.

Res Life implements new housing process Bethany Terry stAFF desiGn

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ith new technology, there are always kinks to be worked out. This was no exception for Vassar’s new online housing system, Residence by Symplicity. Used for winter and spring break housing applications previously, this year’s housing and apartment draw was the first time many students interacted with the software. Providing both benefits and

frustrations, Vassar students had mixed feelings on this new software. Using a program created by Symplicity software isn’t something new for Vassar. Currently, the Career and Development Office (CDO) utilizes Career Services Manager (CSM), to host VCLink, an internship database for Vassar students and alumnae/i. Residence was chosen by ResLife after much consideration. Residence by Symplicity offers

new online features. Students now have the option to design their own online profile, as well as search for housemates based on their answers. Another feature available is the ability to apply for break or commencement housing or to live off campus. Information available on Residence allows one to check their current and future living arrangements, as well as view their meal plan.

The software lets students access a variety of information in a central location. Director of Residential Life Luis Inoa explained the decision to use the software. He wrote in an emailed statement, “We were working with CIS for a number of years on finding the right software. Symplicity offered the kind of flexibility we were looking for, in addition to being web based and affordable.” See SYMPLICITYon page 6

‘Truth About Truth’ VC track team off to fast start examines absurdity T Sam Hammer Guest reporter

Jake Solomon Guest reporter

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he Truth About Truth (Everything is Breakfast Food),” as a title, reveals very little about the play’s content. And creator Ethan Cohen ’16 would not have it any other way. As

“The Truth About Truth” actress Erin Leahy ’16 stated in an emailed statement, “The title is a witty summary of the play, which aims to reveal all the brilliant and strange truths in the world and in Ethan Cohen’s head.” See TRUTH on page 15

Inside this issue

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The Misc says farewell after 100 BREAKING years as weekly

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VC community cares for stray cats on FEATURES campus

courtesy of Vassar College Athletics

Jacob Gorski/The Miscellany News

‘The Truth About Truth (Everything is Breakfast Food)’ first performance will be on Thursday, April 3 at 7 p.m. in Sanders Classroom’s Spitzer Auditorium.

his past Saturday, the men’s and women’s track teams competed at Monmouth University, despite terrible weather conditions. Notable performances included senior Abe Gatling running a 51.90 second 400-meter and placing third, freshman Alfredo Mazzuca posting a time of 4:12:47 in the 1500-meter and sophomore Taylor Vann clearing 1.80 meters to tie the Vassar record for the high jump. On the women’s side, senior Aubree Piepmeier won the 1500-meter event by posting a time of 4:42:81. Junior captain Heather Ingraham came in second for the 800-meter event. Head Coach James McCowan provided a summary of the events so far: “The season was off to a good start out in Arizona for our spring training trip. We had 10 personal bests and several school records run out there, including Heather Ingraham’s school record 400m run which is the top time in D III as of now. The Arizona meet is a great opportunity for our sprinters to run fast in early warm weather, and a good chance for our distance runners to get in some hard training and blow off the rust,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “From there, we have races every week through the end of the semester, with last chance See TRACK on page 18

�Both the men’s and women’s track teams recently traveled to Arizona over spring break for training, and competed against Monmouth State University.

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Administration must reconsider athlete OPINIONS GPA boost


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