Misc9 10 15

The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVIII | Issue 1

September 10, 2015

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

ALANA Center welcomes new director, fresh ideas Noble Ingram SENIOR EDITOR

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Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

midst the typical frenzy of early September and the new school year, a new face has emerged that seeks to redirect the campus’ prolific activist energy..

The New Director of the ALANA Center, Bethel “B” Nathan has moved into the space, located above the Susan Stein Shiva Theater.

Nathan has spent the past eight years working as an administrator for Colorado State University. The ALANA Center, dedicated to serving the needs of students of color on campus, was previously directed by Luz Burgos-Lopez, who left Vassar last spring.

The walls of Nathan’s office are still bare and the thudding from the ALANA Center’s remodeling construction punctuates her speech.

Although she has only been at Vas-

sar since July, Nathan expressed excitement at the possibilities her new post has given her. She reiterated her desire to do meaningful work with the center.

“I moved across the country 2,000 miles. For me to move across the country 2000 miles that means I wanted to find a place that I’m committed to,” she said.

The challenges of the position, however, are very real. Even a visionary ALANA Director still reports to a list of other administrators, many of whom have priorities that do not always match with those of the center.

As Associate Professor and Chair of the Spanish Department and member of the search committee Eva Woods explained, “On the one hand there is what we would hope an ALANA center director would do but then there is the reality of what the See ALANA on page 4

Bethel “B” Nathan has big plans for promoting diversity and inclusion on campus in her capacity as the new Director of the ALANA Center, but also expressed her wish for her colleagues to engage with the community about such issues as well.

Transitions makes radio waves OVA offers veterans college opportunities Rhys Johnson NEWS EDITOR

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n her closing remarks to this year’s cohort, Transitions Intern Taylor Veasley ’18 wrote to this year’s 56-student group, “You did not get in because of your disadvantages, but in spite of them.”

On Sept. 1, the Vassar Transitions program was featured in a story entitled “Helping low-income college students feel at home” on the American Public Media radio program Marketplace.

The Transitions program, now in its sixth year, was created to help

confront the social pressures facing low-income, first-generation and veteran students on campus and to help those students adjust to life at Vassar. Dean of Studies Benjamin Lotto commented, “What our students were telling us is that they felt that they didn’t belong. They were great students. They graduated. They did good work. They got good grades, but they weren’t happy here. They felt like the school was for someone else” (Marketplace, “Helping low-income college students feel at home,” 9.01.15).

As the Los Angeles-based radio

show noted, the Transitions program seeks to address those issues in the week before freshmen begin orientation, offering workshops and mentorship on career development and financial aid in addition to providing students with a working knowledge of the College’s various support systems as well as a sense of community among students to whom they may relate more easily.

Transitions Intern Italo Calderón ’18, who himself was unable to participate in the program during his first year, commended Transitions’ See TRANSITIONS on page 4

Julia Cunningham

ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

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osh was running late. He had been off campus helping a veteran who hadn’t fully registered for the four classes that that were required by his GI Bill and hadn’t noticed the time.

Operation Veteran Admission (OVA), the organization that Joshua Ridley ‘17 helped found, was created exactly to address that type of issue.

Veterans who return home run the risk of becoming part of the over-

whelming statistics regarding suicide rates and homelessness. Ridley, along with the other co-founder of OVA David Carrell ‘17, hope to reach the root of the issue by addressing education.

“We feel that having veterans go into a school setting is an easy transition for us,” Ridley said, “Because it’s not really real life.”

Veteran education was something that Ridley and Carrell both found they were passionate about, which See OVA on page 13

Pacio expands reach of CAAD Walsh hired as new Director of Athletics A Connor McIlwain REPORTER

Amreen Bhasin REPORTER

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Connor McIlwain/The Miscellany News

regular trailer rarely receives much attention. But the surprisingly adaptable Collaboratory has been all over campus and played host to a number of creative installations, displays and workshops since its inception last year. According to the Creative Arts Across Discipline website, “CAAD is an experimental laboratory for trying out new models of research, pedagogy and parctice, that foreground critical making and doing as complementary activities to critical thinking.”

New Interdisciplinary Arts Coordinator, Tom Pacio now oversees the project and has high hopes for expanding the site’s potential uses and visibility this year.

Originally coming to Vassar in 2007 to work as the Education Director for Powerhouse, Pacio’s recent job shift to CAAD has been a whirlwind of work.

“I have only been in this position since the beginning of August, so the majority of my efforts thus far have been spent producing the three MultiArts Collectives which are taking place this fall on campus,” wrote Pacio. “In addition to that, I am coordinating the use of the Collaboratory and sending out calls for proposals for next year’s See CAAD on page 17

Diya Nag ’18 and Emma Butensky ’18 pose in the Collaboratory. Vassar on Tap offered free cookies and mini tap lessons outside of the College Center this week.

Inside this issue

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Misc music critic takes on summer’s HUMOR & biggest hits SATIRE

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Summer travelers recount their worldly TRAVEL adventures

n Aug. 17, Vassar College’s new Athletic Director, Michelle Walsh, had her first day of work as a Brewer. Walsh was selected after an exhaustive national search to fill a position that former Director Sharon Beverly had left unoccupied for over a year. After Beverly left Vassar for the College of New Jersey in March 2014, current Associate Director of Athletics, Kim Culligan, served as the interim Athletic Director for the school.

Walsh comes to Vassar from SUNY Geneseo, where she served as an Associate Athletic Director as the Senior Woman Administrator at the school.

Through a wealth of experience on both the performance and administrative side of the athletic world, Walsh has been able to develop strong career goals and opportunities that she now hopes to build upon with Vassar. She explained, “I have been involved in athletics for most of my life. As an undergraduate at Swarthmore College, I participated in field hockey, basketball and softball, serving as

14 ARTS

a captain for each sport during my senior year. My own liberal arts education taught me to [develop] skills that have guided me throughout my career: how to learn and how to lead. These skills were acquired while aspiring to excellence both in the classroom and on the playing field; as a Director, I am passionate about providing those same learning opportunities for our student-athletes here at Vassar.”

Walsh has extensive experience in handling the challenges of college athletics, particularly at the Division III level. While she was a celebrated player in all three of her sports, Walsh has had even greater experience from the administrative and coaching sides. She has been an Assistant Basketball Coach at Smith College and was the Interim Head Golf Coach at William Smith College, a Liberty League foe, where she also served as an administrative intern and an assistant basketball coach once again. She worked as the Facilities Coordinator and the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, before heading to Fitchburg State See WALSH on page 18

Loeb displays Asian art in preparation for conference

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The Miscellany News

Vassar’s student newspaper of note since 1866. Available online at miscellanynews.org.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

September 10, 2015

Editor-in-Chief Palak Patel

Senior Editor Noble Ingram

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

Rhys Johnson Emily Sayer Zander Bashaw Zach Rippe Sam Pianello Sarah Dolan Elizabeth Dean Hannah Nice Anika Lanser

Crossword Editor Alycia Beattie York Chen Colin KnoppSchwynn Assistant Features Julia Cunningham Assistant Opinions Sophia Burns Reporters Amreen Bhasin Ashley Hoyle Connor McIlwain Sieu Nguyen Yifan Wang Columnists Penina Remler Sarah Sandler Design Samana Shrestha Sixing Xu Copy Claire Baker Antigone Delton Kelsey Quinn Jessica Roden Sophia Slater Rebecca Weir Laura Wigginton

CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only corrections for any misquotes, resentations or factual errors for ticle within the semester it is

accept misrepan arprinted.

September 10, 2015

NEWS

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New security director looks to rebuild community trust Shelia Hu

GUEST REPORTER

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courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

s announced in an all-campus email this summer from Dean of the College Christopher Roellke, the College has officially appointed Arlene Sabo as the new Director of Safety and Security.

According to the online job description, “Reporting to the Dean of Students, the Director of Campus Safety and Security is responsible for the development, implementation, and management of campus security/safety programs and services, including security, environmental health and safety, fire safety, emergency management, and key control” (Vassar College Office of the President, “Director of Safety & Security Position Description”).

It is the Director’s responsibility to oversee campus safety and security in compliance with federal, state and local laws, in addition to the College’s own policies and regulations. The Director is also responsible for managing the recruitment, training and monitoring Safety and Security personnel, as well as the review of all security incidents on campus and ensuring that appropriate follow-up investigative actions to such cases are taken.

Sabo earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Education from Castleton State College and SUNY Potsdam, respectively before completing an additional graduate study in counselor education at SUNY Plattsburgh and earning executive police leadership certification from the FBI National Academy.

She served as the Chief of University Police at SUNY Plattsburgh since 2001, focusing on fair and impartial policing on campus and implementing the school president’s commission on personal safety of students. She previously served as Director of the Equity Commission at SUNY Plattsburgh and as the advisor to Clinton County, New York on the Violence Intervention Project.

Sabo remarked that the application and interview process was extensively thorough,

Despite inheriting a troubled relationship between her department and the community, new Director of Safety and Security Arlene Sabo is optimistic that she will succeed in winning back the trust of students. but exciting in that students were involved in the selection process. She commented in an emailed statement, “I was excited to learn students were part of the search committee. Their questions were very insightful. Students bring energy and enthusiasm to the table that makes everything so much more enjoyable.”

She also posited that her time on campus showed her how important the position’s role is to students on campus. “The next round was an on-campus interview,” she wrote. “I spent a day and half at Vassar. It was apparent the campus community and campus administration made this position one of high priority. I met with students, faculty, staff, administrators (including the campus president), the Town Police and Fire, members of Safety and Security, and the entire Search Committee.”

She went on to comment, “When I read the job description my immediate thought was – ‘This was written for me. It plays to all my strengths.’ I am certain that by virtue of who I am as a person and the experience I bring we will make positive progress in important areas.

Perhaps even become role models for change for other campuses.”

Reflecting on important part of daily campus functions, she commented on what she felt are her biggest concerns about campus safety and security. She remarked, “I think sometimes people forget that the safety and security of a campus relies upon the involvement of the entire community.”

“We must all do our part,” she continued.

“Some challenges are common to most every college campus (alcohol abuse, drug abuse, off

campus behavior that negatively affects the community, the well-being and mental health of our students, rape culture, bias related crime, overall safety and security issues, etc.). Some challenges are somewhat unique to Vassar and will need to be addressed uniquely (what does an open campus mean at Vassar, who will step up and become allies for positive change, etc).”

Sabo enters the position inheriting a tenuous relationship with the community, however, particularly in light of strong student concerns about racial profiling on campus. The issue came to a head in April 2014 when police were called to respond to a largely non-white group of local teenagers, and largely tarnished Safety and Security’s already-questionable reputation.

At the time, an anonymous student witness wrote, “This recent event is obviously racially charged. This one case is not an anomaly, as VC security has previously called the cops on Black people (students and faculty even) and has a long-standing history of racial discrimination, and there are numerous personal testimonies of similar run-ins with VC security from our student body.”

They continued, “Many students and faculty are perturbed by this occurrence and VC’s complicit sanctioning of racial profiling” (The Miscellany News, “Police respond to call from security,” 04.30.14).

In spite of such concerns, however, Sabo remains confident in her ability to rebuild relations between her position and the surrounding community, in addition to enforcing the rules. “A safety and security department must work in partnership with all members of the community in pursuit of the goal of public safety on campus for all,” she remarked.

She went on to say, “Fostering strong relationships with the campus community, based on mutual trust and cooperation, is imperative to safety and security on campus. I look forward to forging partnerships with students, faculty, and staff to address the many challenges we face.”

Students, alumni seek to bridge racial divide on campus Eilis Donohue GUEST REPORTER

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Council of Black Seniors while at Vassar, and helped Director of Africana Studies and head of the Committee on Inclusion and Excellence Zachariah Mampilly, who will also speak on the panel, develop the Transitions program to help low-income and first-generation students adjust to life at Vassar. She now works for the Posse Foundation’s Los Angeles office.

The event, which will be moderated by Professor of Film Mia Mask, was organized by Associate Professor of Latin American History Leslie Offutt and Professor of Dance Miriam Mahdaviani. The professors developed the idea for the “Bridging the Racial Divide” after work-

something students organizations have asked for in the past. The event will ideally open continuous conversation among student groups as well as between students and staff.

The aim of the panel is to prompt further conversation about inclusivity and division, not to reach any tangible goals. When asked for a specific example of an issue they hope to see addressed, both cited the concept of students of color feeling unwelcome in what they perceive as “white spaces.” They hope to work towards ridding the campus of those barriers.

Mahdaviani says, “We thought it was especially important to at least begin to come to an understanding and be more sensitive and aware that these racial divisions do impact us.”

The organizers realize conversations about issues of race and division are already happening around campus, but they hope to bring these conversations to a wider audience. As Mahdaviani notes, “You’re not going to change

things overnight…but I would like people to have a more open way of thinking about things.” Offutt agrees, “We couldn’t presume to solve the problems; what we can hope that this brings forward is a greater ability and willingness to come together…to respect and learn from each other.” Both organizers hope that conversation will help unite the smaller communities at Vassar into a wide, welcoming one.

Any and all members of the Vassar community are urged to attend and participate. “These are issues that are meant to be addressed by all of us, engaged by all of us … There are voices that, to the extent that we are segmented into our identities (faculty, administrators, staff, students), we don’t have the opportunity to hear,” acknowledges Offutt. The idea is for all to feel welcome, both at this event and at Vassar, and to work through issues while appreciating differences. She maintains, “Diversity and inclusion are not antithetical.”

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

n Sept. 13, the College will host a panel entitled “Bridging the Racial Divide in the College Classroom and Beyond: a Conversation” from 3:00 to 5:30 pm in UpC. The event was designed to facilitate a conversation between members of the Vassar community about issues of racial division in a college setting.

The panelists, chosen for their experience with issues of diversity in policy-making and education, will include Deputy Director for the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Howard University Professor and former Senior Research Analyst for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Ivory Toldson, as well as Assistant Professor of African-American History at Georgetown University and Ford Foundation Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow Marcia Chatelain, who initiated the #FergusonSyllabus Twitter movement in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death to help teachers discuss issues of race in the classroom.

Also featured in the panel will be Vassar alumni Shaka King ’01 and Indiana Garcia ’11.

King is an award-winning Sundance filmmaker and the recipient of the 2015 W. K. Rose Fellowship in the Creative Arts, given annually to a Vassar alum working in the arts. King will be arriving at Vassar the day before the panel, and will screen two of his films to prompt thinking about the following day’s discussion.

ing together in February in collaboration with the Bardavon Theater, a downtown Poughkeepsie opera house. Mahdaviani and Offutt joined the Board of Directors at the Bardavon to present two plays, “Rhapsody in Black” and “Through a Lens Darkly,” in honor of Black History Month.

This panel will serve as a follow-up to the earlier collaboration. Offutt explains, “The goal [was] to bring the Vassar community into a conversation with the larger Poughkeepsie community about issues of shared concern,” Offutt explains of the February event, while this month’s will be aimed at addressing what can be done here at Vassar.

The Vassar-Bardavon collaboration was funded through the Dialogue and Engagement Across Differences Initiative (DEAD), a grant program distributed through the President’s office. The DEAD Initiative is also making the upcoming panel possible. According to Mahdaviani, President Catharine Bond Hill reminded faculty in a recent meeting that the fund is available for use by anyone who applies for a grant. Vassar Student Association President Ramy Abbady ’16 anticipates the conversation being a beneficial use of the DEAD funds. He says, “The programming I’ve seen hasn’t targeted racial issues in particular.” Offutt and Mahdaviani encourage students who have a vision to take advantage of the opportunity.

They assert, “Their voices need to be heard... [although] sometimes they don’t think they have a voice.”

The event is designed to be a conversation between the professionals and Vassar participants. Offutt asserts that there is not a planned set of topics to be discussed. She remarks, “It’s not [the organizers’] role to be prescriptive.

It’s our role to invite the concerns to come forward, and then figure out what we can do with them, in the company of people…who have real-world experience.” The panelists will be able to make suggestions for advancing the mission to create a more inclusive campus. Students and staff are equally invited to attend. Abbady hopes that the conversation might prompt faculty to consider diversity training, which is

In light of growing tension about race on campus, Professor Mia Mask along with Professors Leslie Offutt and Miriam Mahdaviani have planned a panel to foster creative approaches to bridge difference.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

NEWS

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Outside the Bubble Kentucky Clerk Jailed for Refusing SameSex Marriage Licenses On Sept. 3, Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk, was placed in contempt of court by a federal judge for continually defying to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Davis, a 49-year-old Democrat in Rowan County, Kentucky, had received requests over the summer after the Supreme Court recognized same-sex marriage nationwide, but refused to issue the licenses on the grounds of her religious beliefs. Despite being an elected employee of the court and county, Davis refused to disobey her religious convictions.

She was asked by CNN under whose authority it was that she could deny the licenses. “Under God’s authority,” she told the reporter. Under further scrutiny in court, Davis reinforced her argument.

“Marriage is between one man and one woman,” she said. “It’s not of God” (CNN, “Same-sex marriage showdown in Kentucky,” 09.03.15; New York Times, “Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage,” 09.03.15).

The Kentucky couples sued Davis over the matter and, along with the case’s plaintiffs, petitioned for Davis to be fined for turning away legally-qualified couples. At the time, no charges had been filed against Davis, but she was given a proposal to allow her deputies to issue the marriage licenses instead.

Davis’ attorney Mat Staver replied, however, “We cannot represent to the court that she would allow licenses to be issued” (CNN, “Kim Davis stands firm on same-sex marriage; the Kentucky clerk stays in jail,” 09.03.15).

District Judge David L. Bunning was not happy with Davis’ decision. The judge ordered for Davis to be taken into custody until she agreed to comply with the court. “The court cannot condone the willful disobedience of its lawfully issued order,” Bunning said. “If you give people the opportunity to choose which orders they follow, that’s what potentially causes problems” (New York Times, “Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage,” 09.03.15).

Many lawyers, on the other hand, disagree with Bunning’s criticism of Davis’ actions. Many argue that it is impossible for Davis to fulfill the court order because it conflicts with her religious beliefs, and forcing her to carry out the action would impede on her First Amendment rights.

Legal scholars do believe that this argument can hold water in this scenario, however. Katherine Franke, a law professor at Columbia University, explained the situation. “She has absolutely no legal ground to stand on. As a public official, she’s supposed to abide by the law and perform her public duties, which are issuing marriage licenses to qualified couples. Same-sex couples are now qualified to marry in the state of Kentucky, so she is refusing to do her job,” Franke said (Northeast Public Radio, “Kentucky Clerk Found In Contempt For Refusing To Issue Marriage Licenses,” 09.03.15).

“Kim Davis has all sorts of religious liberty rights secured under the First Amendment and under other laws. But they are not at stake in this case,” Franke went on to say. “All she’s asked to do with couples that come before her is certify that they’ve met the state requirements for marriage.

So her religious opposition to same-sex marriage is absolutely irrelevant in this context” (Northeast Public Radio).

Florida International University law professor Howard M. Wasserman compared Davis’ predicament to that of George C. Wallace, a segregationist Alabama governor who barred University of Alabama from integration in the 1960s. “In a way, she’s out George Wallace-ing George Wallace,” he remarked. “It does now feel like the civil rights era, with people ignoring court orders, taking a stand and being held in contempt” (New York Times, “Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage,” 09.03.15).

Protesters — both for and against same-sex marriage — have gathered outside the Rowan County courthouse shouting their sides. However, despite the chaos outside, five of Davis’ deputies have agreed to issue licenses, making many couples elated and excited to officially marry. April Miller, who sued the clerk for denying her license, reflected on Davis’ sentence and on her future as she prepares to get her license the following day. “We’re saddened by the fact that Ms. Davis has been incarcerated,” she said. “We look forward to tomorrow; as a couple, it will be a very important day in our lives” (New York Times, “Clerk in Kentucky Chooses Jail Over Deal on Same-Sex Marriage,” 09.03.15).

— Derek Sonntag, Guest Reporter

September 10, 2015

Nathan asks colleagues for greater activism ALANA continued from page 1

limits are to the position.”

She continued, “The director to the ALANA center is beholden to the administrative structure. Administrators don’t have tenure. That makes a big difference in terms of what you can say and what you can accomplish. So there are restraints no matter who takes the job.”

But Nathan had a solid understanding of what it meant to do work for the center. She reported being ready for the demands of the job. “I came into this job wanting to set the tone,” she said.

Former Director Burgos-Lopez stayed for three years before moving on. As Ed Pittman explained, Burgos-Lopez was the first person to serve as a full director, as opposed to an assistant director, since before the economic recession of 2008.

Pittman remarked on the job’s rapid turnover, “We’ve had a few challenges over the last eight years in maintaining consistency in the staff there. A lot of it relates to professionals coming in and not feeling the support is there.

Sometimes it relates to their own career goals and where they want to be at the time.”

Burgos-Lopez’s departure late last year had company, however. The College also bade farewell to former Director of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action and Title IX Coordinator Julian Williams and former Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention Coordinator Elizabeth Schrock.

The retention rate among these administrators hasn’t been ignored. As Pittman explained, the College has actively taken goals to address this issue. He remained optimistic about Nathan’s potential for longer-term service. Nathan herself was adamant about her commitment to the position’s longevity. She isn’t going anywhere. As she said, “I want to be here for a long time.”

Despite the excitement surrounding Nathan’s arrival on campus, many were cautious to think of Nathan as a sole figure of positive

change. As Woods explained, “There is not one hero in this big play of the grand drama of Vassar. It’s a journey that we’re all going on together. So to put so much pressure on one individual is unfair and I’d really like to get off of that heroine narrative.”

Pittman echoed this idea, reflecting on the interdependence necessary to every position under the umbrella of Campus Life and Diversity. “My historical affiliation to ALANA tells me that in order for the center to be effective there has to be collaboration with other parts of the College and students are integral to building a vision for the Center. There are no heroes at Vassar. Its everyone in this together,” he explained.

Nathan herself recognized that her position falls into a complex web of cooperative, synergistic efforts. She recognized the role she plays in a bigger context. According to Nathan, countering forces of systemic oppression requires work from everyone.

As she remarked, “On the topic of race and ethnicity, I need my white colleagues to do their work. I need my white colleagues to participate and be committed to eliminating systems of oppression because when we are talking about race, the privileged folks are the white folks.”

She continued, speaking to the role of everyone on campus. “The fact that we work at Vassar, the fact that we go to Vassar, that is privilege. Privilege is not a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing when we don’t own it and when we’re not committed to using it in a positive way,” she explained.

The memory of last year’s sometimes heated discussions about race on campus is still very much alive for many this year. Woods spoke to this, coloring last semester’s campus as a space that wasn’t always open to discussion about issues of diversity and inclusion.

“Right now identity politics is the dominant discourse on campus when it comes to issues of race as opposed to, say, a discourse of soli-

darity. There are people who subscribe to tactics of calling out when we are in a discussion,” she said.

Although she wasn’t on campus to witness these interactions, Nathan has still confronted their legacy. She asserted that she isn’t interested in delving too deeply into the past, however. In her own words, “[She] wasn’t there.”

Even given the potential challenges and opportunities, which are plentiful for the new Director, many recognize the fundamental importance of the position. Nathan may not be a sole actor but her work for the center serves an often underrepresented group at Vassar..

Pittman, who has worked with the center for most of its 39 years and was the first director of the center in its current location, reflected on just how much the center does for students, particularly students of color. “When the ALANA Center is strong, students of color feel very competent and confident in building the kind of bridges required to extend the Center’s vision across campus,” he explained. “When the ALANA Center isn’t strong, I believe students begin to build a fortress, stand guarded and they don’t feel as free.”

Nathan also tremendously values the work of the ALANA Center. She remembered working for years under oppressive forces and fighting to find a comfortable, safe space for those affected by intolerance and oppression.

As she reflected, “I feel good. I wouldn’t have taken this job if I wasn’t interested in it and if I didn’t believe what we do is good work. I’m too far in my career. I have settled too many times and I said to myself I wasn’t going to settle again.”

She continued, reiterating her commitment to work at Vassar in a long-term capacity to promote long-term ideas. As she said, “My integrity is near and dear to me and it’s a huge value. I’m committed. I believe that students here and faculty, staff and administrators here are committed. You’ve got people here who stay for a long time. That says something.”

Orientation program promotes inclusivity TRANSITIONS continued from page 1

efforts in providing essential information that many students could otherwise be unaware of. “I was never given a run down of the vast amount of resources we had here on campus (I didn’t know/used the writing center or Q-center, until my second semester),” Calderón wrote in an emailed statement. “I found it extremely beneficial as a second-year student to (re)learn about all these resources available to me, some of which I felt were a little inaccessible to me my first year.”

Omri Bareket ’19, who was one of 56 students in this year’s cohort, felt particularly strongly about the tools the program has given him to navigate college life socially and academically, and has already resolved to work in the program in the near future. “We were given tools by Transitions and as students with that privilege, it is our duty to use and pass on those tools to our fellow peers and future generations...” he said. “I’m deeply honored and humbled to be one of a select few who are able to fulfill that position and can’t wait to continue the work for years to come. I look forward to being a Transitions Intern for each move-in day of my career here at Vassar and to continue to grow as a family as well as individually.”

Despite media praise, however, the program and those working for it are far from complacent. Calderón remarked that there is much room for improvement in preparing its cohorts for the culture shock of life at Vassar. “Perhaps one thing I wished we did a little more was talk about the larger Vassar community,” he commented. “Regardless of all the positiveness and support we give the students, coming into a school that is mostly white and higher income is always going to be a great culture shock. And that can be a little disheartening.”

He continued, “Coming from an intimate program of 56 students that instills in them a sense of belonging, support, and self-worth and going into another program (orientation) where there are 600 students (most of which are white and wealthy) where they are seemingly ‘just another student’ can be a lot to take in. And while I understand that there is only

so much Transitions can prepare them for, I feel that a little more time should be dedicated to having conversations with the students about what they may encounter as soon as all of Vassar gets here. That way at least they enter with an idea of what to expect so that it may potentially lessen the culture shock they may experience.”

Transitions Co-Coordinator Tyler Fultz also asserted that in light of student feedback, the program’s leadership is constantly planning improvements for the coming years. “There have been a number of changes so far and there are plenty more in the works,” Fultz wrote in an emailed statement. “The pre-orientation program was a full day longer this year than it had been in the past, now reaching a total of 6 days.

We also had our largest incoming cohort this year which hit 56 students, including 6 Posse veterans. The full day extension meant that we were able to incorporate far more down time into the program as well as an opportunity for students to tour the city of Poughkeepsie prior to orientation.”

Calderón remarked at the particular benefit of the added day, “With nearly back-to-back programming (including info sessions, classes with homework, structured social activities), Transitions can be a very overwhelming program. By making it longer, it gave us and the students more down time. I believe it allowed for more instances where the students could make connections/friendships in a more natural, less formal way. It also allowed for more fun activities at the end of the program, as a way to start winding down before orientation.”

Fultz and fellow Co-Coordinator Diane Eshelman, however, wished to emphasize the fact that Transitions is not a program working only for incoming freshmen during pre-orientation, but one that looks after its participants throughout their time at Vassar through networking opportunities like monthly Transitions bunches and programming in conjunction with other student resources on campus, like the Career Development Office (CDO).

According to Eshelman, Transitions began putting out a bi-weekly newsletter this year, high-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

lighting upcoming events and showcasing the achievements of Transitions students, and had its first ever Senior Summit. Fultz explained, “Last weekend, we launched, in tandem with the CDO and upon the recommendation of the Committee on Inclusion and Excellence, the first annual Transitions Senior Summit, a full day of workshops for low-income and first-generation seniors to prepare them for thesis writing, searching for jobs, and applying to graduate school.”

He continued, “We had 25 students attend, along with another 25 faculty and administrators for our mock networking session, including Cappy. We have received a lot of positive feedback so far and are in the process of brainstorming ways to improve upon it next year.”

The creation of the Senior Summit was, however, only one of the many projects that the Transitions program will pursue with the help of the $1 million grant given to Vassar in April by the Cooke Foundation for its accomplishments in financial aid.”

Despite being in a constant state of evolution, Transitions’ leadership maintained that they have no intention of allowing themselves to fall back on praise or achievements, although many expressed their happiness at being recognized for their efforts. Calderón reflected, “I feel that being covered by Marketplace just reinforces the happiness and pride we felt after the program. It feels good to be acknowledged for the work you do! Also, I feel that the students really enjoyed the coverage because it gave them a sense that Transitions is a great program that’s worth being covered.

There were a lot of students who were sharing the article on Facebook stating how proud and thankful they were to be part of such a program.”

Bareket echoed the sentiment, expressing particular gratitude towards founder of the program, Luis Inoa. “It’s empowering to know that we have an impact outside of our closeknit family,” he said. “As important as it was for us to be within ourselves, the fact that others see the vitality of a program like Transitions is a humbling fact for us all…”

September 10, 2015

OPINIONS

Page 5

The Miscellany news Staff Editorial

New Admins need stronger support system from College D

uring a session of last year’s VSA Council, former VSA VP for Student Life Hannah Matsunaga ’16 remarked at a concerning trend that she and many others have observed about young administrators at Vassar: they’re all leaving.

Though most students would expect the Administration to balk at such a premise, Director of Residential Life Luis Inoa, who was himself present at the meeting, explained that the egress of young administrators into jobs at other institutions isn’t an unusual occurrence, and that it’s a normal part of many of these positions. We at The Miscellany News are troubled by this phenomenon, and by the acceptance of this system as a standard protocol.

Positions like SAVP Coordinator and ALANA Center Director are crucial to supporting student life at Vassar. However, based on the constant turnover of these administrative positions and others, it appears that the College does not perceive them to be as important as students do.

Because these positions focus on supporting students, we as a community need to take care of the people that occupy them.

The College’s inadequate support for people in these administrative roles indicates a lack of interest in providing students with the support they need from these offices.

Many have taken up these positions because of a desire to improve conditions on college campuses or the lives of students in general. However, they continue to leave Vassar in search of better job opportuni-

ties. This indicates that the College is not sufficiently supporting them, whether it be in terms of pay, benefits or hours.

These positions are presented as short term positions, which has the potential to make the administrators filling them feel as though they are not meant to effect long term change on campus, limiting the ways that they can support students and frustrating the people in these positions.

Lately there have been many searches for administrators to fill the roles of those who have left for better opportunities. While lengthy searches progress, students are left with interim directors who split their time between their primary roles on campus and filling these vacancies.

Not only is this difficult for students who need the support of these administrative positions, it’s difficult for those administrators who take on additional work as the search goes on. This shortchanges not only the students and the support system, but also members of the faculty and staff.

Julian Williams’ departure from his Title IX Coordinator position to work as a senior-level administrator at George Mason University has left his colleagues, particularly Kelly Grab and Colleen Cohen, to divide his position’s responsibilities while the College continued searching for a “permanent” replacement.

Julian Williams isn’t really at fault, however. Who can blame young administrators for using their positions at Vassar for the purposes of benefitting their career

if that is not only the status quo, but the accepted expectation of those positions?

The labeling of these roles as short term, resume-building jobs becomes incredibly problematic for our community. The absence of people to fill them leads to deficiencies in the support they are supposed to offer and overworks administrators who are struggling to fill these gaps.

Another crucial area of student support is not immune to turnover. Three House Advisors are new this year and there have been many changes in the roles House Advisors play outside their houses. Both House Team Training and Freshman Orientation were put together by Christina Winnett who began working at Vassar in July. Running and creating these programs requires an intimate knowledge of campus and student life that takes longer than two months to attain.

These programs would be most effective were they were under the supervision of someone with a deep knowledge of campus so that they could be catered to Vassar-specific experiences. Were these roles long term, trainings and orientations could be planned with Vassar in mind and would be more effective for students. Additionally, without a consistent advisor and support system it becomes difficult for student leaders to be effective.

Students need time to foster trust and understanding with the individuals who play a large role in their houses and lives at Vassar.

Turnover of these roles hurts relationships and contributes to a lack of trust between students and the administration.

These positions should bridge the gap between the resources created for students and upper level administrators.

However, this is not possible if people holding crucial roles like the SAVP Coordinator, the Director of Safety and Security or the Director of the ALANA Center consistently leave every few years. Positions such as these thrive on their connections to students and their experiences, particularly since they relate to fundamental aspects of college life.

If the people in these roles take the job with the expectation that they’ll be moving on in a few years, how can students then expect to develop the mutual trust and understanding that these positions require in order to be successful?

We at The Miscellany News believe that the Vassar community needs to provide more support for these positions and stop portraying them as resume-builders in order to create roles that have the potential to fully support students and affect long term change on campus. The College should have enough respect for itself that it will hire administrators it intends to keep and that have the long-term goals that students want and need.

—The staff editorial represents the opinions of at least 2/3 of The Miscellany News editorial board.

Perceived major practicality restricts student freedom Sophia Burns

ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR

T

his summer, the usual slew of college-themed articles came across my screen, discussing everything from Greek life and party culture to the real economic value of college today. One in particular stood out to me—an article in the Atlantic proclaiming that “Rich Kids Study English,” which was interestingly published in the Business section rather than Education.

This new data that revealed a correlation between parents’ income and students’ chosen major was reported on by a number of sources, so I was already aware of this seemingly logical trend. However, while this argument is well-established and has data to support it, I had to question what these sources were trying to say about low-income students and their educational and lifestyle choices.

Although there has been a lot of positive, praising coverage of the successes of low-income college students (including an excellent piece on Vassar’s own Transitions program), this sort of assumption is anything but complimentary.

“...these students have little agency because of their socioeconomic status...”

Many of the claims are expected, especially like the ones made in the following excerpt from an article in USA Today: “[r]isks are also taken into consideration. Weeden says students with lower economic statuses tend to major in subjects with more job availabilities.

‘Majoring in something like performing arts or something in the humanities may be riskier in terms of job opportunities,’ says Weeden. ‘At least students think that it’s riskier in terms of later job opportunities and because of that, it’s going to be the students who have a financial cushion to fall back on if they don’t immediately have a job who are going to be more likely to choose those particular majors’” (USA Today, “Link found between student’s chosen major,

parents’ income,” 07.23.2015).

Given the exceptional opportunity of attending college, it is not surprising that low-income students want to make the most of it and have the ability to earn the most that they can after graduation. A cost benefit analysis shows the need to use college in the best ways possible for low-income students.

The Atlantic plainly states, “Kids from lower-income families tend toward ‘useful’ majors, such as computer science, math, and physics.

Those whose parents make more money flock to history, English, and performing arts. The explanation is fairly intuitive. ‘It’s consistent with the claim that kids from higher-earning families can afford to choose less vocational or instrumental majors, because they have more of a buffer against the risk of un- or under-employment...’” (The Atlantic, “Rich Kids Study English,” 07.06.2015).

While it is remarkable and noteworthy that these students are pursuing degrees in such in-demand fields, it appears that these students have very little agency in their educational choices because of their socioeconomic status, and are thereby “forced” to study something “useful.”

It is true, of course, that low-income students have a lot more to lose if they are met with un- or under-employment, especially if they have loans to pay off, and one cannot deny the economic benefits of in-demand majors. However, the points made in these pieces wrongfully suggest that certain majors are off-limits to anyone but the wealthy, creating yet another boundary in addition to the hurdle of attending college in the first place.

This type of generalization is not productive, as it perpetuates the idea that, for these students, college is not about the wonders of learning and discovery. It instead paints a very utilitarian image of the meaning of college for a good portion of college students.

For them, education hardly becomes more meaningful than the high school experience of simply following a path of pre-selected courses in order to graduate, except this time they are paying steep amounts for courses and required materials.

This is where the conflict of interest versus utility becomes treacherous. If a student has thousands of dollars in loans and is working several jobs to support themselves and/or others, in addition to attending classes that they

are struggling or disinterested in, dropping out will seem like the only viable option after endless semesters of stressful workloads with little initial payoff.

Sticking out two, four, or (more likely) six years of something so expensive and time consuming is a feat, as only 24% of public 4-year and 44% of private 4-year students receiving a Pell Grant (granted to students with a household income of less than $20,000) graduate in four years (National Center for Education Statistics, “Analysis by the Council of Independent Colleges,” 04.09).

It is also important to take into account that many low-income students have to take (and pay for) remedial courses before even beginning their major, which alone is expensive and discouragingly tedious.

“By assuming that low-income students normally study certain majors... they can be dissuaded from pursuing a degree that they excel in...”

If a student is struggling in a program that does not match their skill set or interests but that they feel they have to pursue, then all of these factors can lead to dropping out rather than obtaining that “useful” degree, or any degree at all. This leads lower-income students back into a trend of maintaining their socio-economic status. This on top of their “wasted” few years at college that amounted to nothing due to the overwhelming workload they had to take on, Ultimately, dropping out is the least-desirable outcome for students who have the ability to succeed in college, as the financial implications can be huge.

A Slate article examining the gap in graduation rates based on socioeconomic class says, “It’s not so much that [bright, low-income students] don’t attend college—only 12.4 percent skip higher ed entirely. The problem is

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

that most don’t finish, or settle for less than a bachelor’s degree, which of course limits their earning power later in life” (Slate, “Smart Poor Kids Are Less Likely to Graduate From College Than Middling Rich Kids,” 06.02.2015).

These students are motivated to reap the benefits of a college education, but a number of stumbling blocks often accumulate until the student can no longer justify or fund the endeavor, eventually rendering all of the initial hard work moot.

By assuming and asserting that low-income students “normally” study certain majors and that others are off-limits because of their class background, they can be dissuaded from pursuing a degree that they excel in and eventually drop out altogether if their chosen major proves unfit for them. The assertion actually forces lower-income students to subliminally reduce their college experiences.

While the data presented in these recent articles is irrefutable, the way it is repeatedly framed is unhelpful and even dangerous to low-income college students. These arguments fail to help low-income college students succeed in higher education, instead giving them negative ideas about their self-worth and future prospects.

These students have likely been confined by their financial situation more often than not, and they should be recognized for their commitment to their education and for the majors that they choose regardless of their practicality.

They shouldn’t be placed into boxes.

By nature and learned experience, these students are assiduous and extremely capable of planning ahead, being independent, considering consequences and overcoming obstacles.

It is highly likely that a student from such a background would be able to navigate a tough job market with any degree because they are already adept at searching for opportunity and resources where others may not think to look.

They should not be viewed as confined by their background, but as empowered individuals capable of excelling regardless of their college major. Studies should work to reflect more positive outcomes rather than perpetuating the possible negative ramifications of pursuing higher education.

—Sophia Burns ’18 is undeclared. She is the assistant Opinions editor for The Miscellany News.

OPINIONS

Page 6

Name familiarity breaks down first year barriers Drew Hardin

GUEST COLUMNIST

F

reshmen orientation is a prime opportunity to make mistakes: entering the wrong buildings, tripping over the wobbly Deece step, occupying the hallways because you’re scared of the TH’s and even forgetting the names of those in your fellow group. Every grace period must end, however, and as we (the freshmen) enter our second week of classes, we are met with the same uncertainties of our first week, but this time without the safety net of having every person’s name in your student fellow group’s GroupMe. While the majority of the awkwardness has subsided (hopefully; if not, stay strong), particular moments of discomfort still remain, especially when it comes to remembering names.

Somehow, it becomes creepy to retain basic details such as a person’s hometown and interests so long as you are unable to remember their name. Trust me, calling someone “Southington” after just meeting them is honestly just weird and if you think it isn’t, you’re wrong.

(If “Southington” is reading this, I am so sorry.) I am not suggesting that one’s credibility is wholly dependent on the ability to recall a meaningless moniker, simply because no name is meaningless. Moreover, every name has a story: something cultural, something historical, something personal. Often, inquiring about this will almost directly result in a trip to behindthename.com, but I am asking you to fabricate a polite smirk as your friend, “wisdom,” lights up from her description. While it may not mean much to you, be kind to Sophia— you’re in no position to turn down friends, and you’re never in a position to be a jerk.

Names are important; they’re the doorway

to developing our own identities and differentiating ourselves. A name is a first impression and paves the way for further conversation. We share it with others to make a connection, and in doing so, we imply that our connection will go beyond a single, isolated meeting. We open ourselves up to those around us, allowing them into a part of our life. We are able to connect with others by forming a common ground and starting a conversation. In this sense, freshman orientation is a part of our everyday life; we must open ourselves up to opportunity in order to try new things and meet new people. While a blatant depiction of interest can be perceived as uncomfortable due to the vulnerability involved, stop fake texting for ten seconds—you don’t even look cool. For a moment, you are a freshman: approachable, judgment-free and excited. Abandon the cop-out, “I’m so bad with names” along with your apathy. These are appealing because they are easy and uninvolved, but detrimental to a friendship for those same reasons. Strong barriers can be hard to break down, but often the first step isn’t plunging full-force into a conversation, it’s letting someone else in.

Ignoring the surface-level interpretation of the mantra “first impressions are important” allows us to delve into the implications of why first impressions are important. We care about how others perceive us. We care that people care about us. While my sweeping statements can be easily disproved, my goal in bringing them forth is to urge you to pay less attention to how you are perceived and more attention to how you involve yourself in the ever-stressful small talk with new people.

September 10, 2015

Letter to the Editor I am writing this open letter to the incoming VSA president Ramy Abbady and to Vassar faculty members who share his views. As a former student with a Vassar degree, I understand that it is both faculty and students who determine campus programming, and I wanted to raise some concerns.

Over several years, you have uniformly expressed the view that campus programming should always support black and brown bodies. I am a Middle Eastern, Turkish young man. Why do you speak of bodies like mine in the abstract? I never hear specifics about brown bodies when you raise this issue. It makes me think that you are afraid of black and brown bodies, or worse, that your use of the term “body” is a word game that demeans the reality of the body.

I would be surprised to see campus programming about my hairy legs, my thick beard, the hair between my eyebrows (which my partner, and before that my mom, used to force me to pluck), my milky almond skin, and the musty odor under my arms, which I cover with Primal Pit paste made of natural coconut oil. I bathe my body with goat milk or tallow soap and use raw egg yolks to add protein to my hair. I drink raw, unpasteurized and cultured goat milk whenever I can get a hold of it, like my ancestors. I gain weight quickly on cow’s milk, because my forefathers didn’t have cows. I add rose water to my tea, which is so fragrant it would make any Confederate drinker of Southern sweet tea pass out, as he deserves much worse. My body is healthy and strong because of my love for wise, ancestral traditions. My last name “Hassan” speaks towards my body. It means handsome, unshaven one.

You all say that one big way to defend black and brown bodies is to protect Islam

from criticism on campus. Does this mean that black and brown bodies belong to Islam? I don’t think this beautiful body of mine belongs to Islam anymore than it does to the Crusaders. Black and brown bodies pre-date Islam and Christianity.

I co-founded the Vassar Conservative Libertarian Union, because I see a lot wrong with the discourse on Vassar’s small campus.

If VCLU or another campus group chooses to have programming this academic year that criticizes radical Islam and defends Israel, like Marc Thiessen’s 2015 VCLU lecture or William Jacobson’s 2014 lecture for the VCLU, then I will still support their VSA protected right to do so, whether or not I agree or disagree with the content of the lecture. In the event that this happens, I would like to see a real discussion about black and brown bodies because it took me some courage to describe the realities of my body in the Miscellany News rather than a forum, and Vassar needs courage.

Lastly, thank you Ramy for defending the 2013 VCLU Alex Epstein lecture on fossil fuels. The VSA used to be divided over this, with some thinking it was racist and some not.

My Middle Eastern body stays plump with an olive gloss, because industrial farm methods and infrastructure powered by cheap, carbon energy allow so many more people to be alive on this planet today.

Congratulations on a new year at Vassar College, Ramy. Let’s set our minds to make this the year of the body.

—Julian Hassan ‘14. He was formerly president of the Moderate Independent Conservative Alliance (MICA), which he helped disband to form VCLU in an attempt to give center-right students more of a voice on campus.

— Drew Hardin ’19 is undeclared.

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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

September 10, 2015

OPINIONS

Rikers Island abuses mentally ill inmates Nicholas Barone GUEST COLUMNIST

J

uxtaposed against the grand urban expanse of America’s largest metropolis sprawls a fortified jailing complex, staffed with an army of over 9,000 correctional officers and spanning over 400 acres.

The drab exterior and sheer grandeur of the facility, while imposing and desolate, does little to indicate the extent of the atrocities committed within the walls of this isolated symbol of the highly bureaucratic and mechanized justice system.

Rikers Island has served New York City’s local arrestees and short-term convicts since 1932.

Within those eight decades, numerous instances of discrimination, excessive and unwarranted violence, abuse by correctional officers and unnecessary and highly invasive strip searches have been reported, with some judicial action being taken to remedy the ghastly state of the complex.

However, the facility’s reputation as a hotbed for the city’s mentally ill has been one of the most pertinent and disturbing issues to arise in the past few years. More significantly, the staff’s reactions, treatment and accommodations (or lack thereof) in regards to the island’s mentally ill population underscore not only a gross lack of understanding of mental illness in the context of the country’s justice system, but also the injustice and discriminatory attitudes that often lead to the mentally ill being sentenced to an endless cycle of hospitalization and imprisonment.

Rikers Island is in desperate need of radical reform to not only address the needs and accommodations of its mentally ill population, but also to defend their individual rights and uphold their dignity. A notable example of Rikers Island’s consistent failure in regards to treatment of its mentally ill population was reported by The New York Times in the summer of 2014. Jose Bautista was arrested for a 2013 misdemeanor charge regarding a family dispute.

He was incapable of posting $250 bail and was placed in Rikers as a result, highlighting the classicism that also permeates the American justice system. A few days later after his impris-

onment, Bautista attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself with his underwear from the highest bar of his cell. Four correctional officers managed to “rescue” him by cutting him down from the bar. However, instead of referring him to emergency medical or therapeutic treatment, they responded by forcing him to the ground and beating him to such a degree that he suffered a perforated bowel that necessitated surgery. This was not just an isolated incident.

The New York Times, through their four-month investigation of Rikers, reported innumerable episodes of “brutal attacks by correction officers-particularly those with mental health issues” (The New York Times, “Rikers: Where Mental Illness Meets Brutality in Jail,” 07.14.14.).

This is a startling discovery that has its roots in the disastrous trend of New York deinstitutionalization beginning in the mid-20th century.

“Rikers Island is in desperate need of radical reform...”

Beginning in the 1960s, a trend of disgust and outrage over the crowded and draconian mental institutions developed across the country that led to the discharge of thousands of patients who were still in need of long-term care.

Instead of being properly integrated into local communities, many found themselves in homeless shelters, jail or out on the streets. This trend led to the inescapable cycle of imprisonment and short-term hospitalization that many mentally ill individuals found themselves trapped in.

Despite a backdrop of relative economic growth and prosperity, New York City was one of the urban areas hardest hit by deinstitutionalization, as indicated by the rapid influx of homeless individuals in the 1980s. This coincided with the frightening levels of racial profiling and police brutality towards the black community.

The issues of institutional racism and oppression of the mentally ill are inextricably linked

when analyzing New York’s justice system, especially during that time period. Perhaps most dangerously, deinstitutionalization and lack of community care have increased the level of stigmatization in society as a whole, as manifested in the callous and horrific treatment of Mr. Bautista.

The general stigmatization of the mentally ill can be a major factor and contributor to the lack of wide and sweeping reform in regards to mental health, in both the prison complex and government sector. Rikers Island has become a symbol of the aftershocks of deinstitutionalization and the profound issues that have arisen as a result of increased ignorance towards the realities of mental illness and the systematic oppression that the mentally ill suffer at the hands of correctional bureaucracy.

Rikers Island stands as a correctional institution, yet its approach to the treatment of the mentally ill population is not only inherently dehumanizing, abusive and oppressive, but also often worsens the conditions that forced these individuals into jail in the first place. An Occupy protester (interviewed by The New York Post) who was sentenced to 90 days in jail reported that the mentally ill were denied schizophrenia, anxiety and depression medications by Rikers personnel who were completely untrained and unauthorized to do so. (New York Post, “Time to fix the mental-health horrors that plague Rikers Island,” 08.10.15.) The environment of Rikers Island is not conducive to the growth, treatment, and care that many mentally ill individuals are in dire need of. Instead, they are maligned, beaten, intimidated and killed as a result of conditions that they have absolutely no control over.

In a complex holding a population that is classified as 40% mentally ill, long-reaching reform regarding community care, heightened training for law enforcement and correctional officers and facilities that are well-funded and capable for treating those in need of long-term care is vital to both the integration of the mentally ill into society and the upholding of their dignity and basic human needs and rights.

— Nicholas Barone ’19 is undeclared.

Trump’s rise indicates GOP frustration Joshua Sherman GUEST COLUMNIST

A

s I watched the 2016 race ramp up this summer, Howard Beale’s word came to mind: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” To be precise, I don’t mean that I’m mad as hell–or any more mad than I usually am–but rather that the entire country is mad as hell, and that the country can’t take any more of the usual political cycle that it’s forced to experience every four years. And this kind of anger is becoming apparent as primary days approach–one needs only to look at the success of Donald Trump to realize this.

First and foremost, Donald Trump has experienced a resurgence like no other in the last few months. Emerging with a vitriolic, egotistical speech back in June, Trump made his thoughts very clear about the status quo. He criticized just about everything Obama has done since coming into office nearly seven years ago. He said that all the politicians were bought by the lobbyists who pay for their campaigns. Then Trump made absolutely clear one thing: He was going to be nothing like those other candidates running for President of the United States.

“I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care.

I’m really rich,” Trump reminded his audience during the June 16 announcement. He then proceeded to blame everything on migrant workers from Mexico, the need to secure the border and President Obama (Time, “Here’s Donald Trump’s Presidential Announcement Speech,” 06.16.15). All of this is meanwhile met with massive applause at Trump Tower, except of course back at the studios where political pundits everywhere watched with shock and awe. Trump was back, and this time he was as bombastic and offensive as ever. And of course, Trump paid for these words. Almost immediately after his comments about Mexico, Trump lost both his partnership with Univision for the

Miss America Pageant, and also lost his branding and namesake for NBC’s reality show “The Apprentice”. Pundits immediately targeted him for his offensive acts, far from the other dozen more mild mannered people currently vying for the Republican ticket. It already seemed, to most political commentators, that Trump was setting himself on fire right at the starting gate. But whatever feelings you may have about Trump as a character, don’t be fooled that his racist, politically incorrect comments are going to prevent him from acquiring the GOP nomination. Trump is surging in the polls compared to his weak 2012 attempt at the presidency. One of the most recent, a Monmouth University poll, clocked him in at 30 percent among the plethora of other Republican candidates. Next was neuroscientist Ben Carson at 18 percent, and then former GOP favorites Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz at just 8 percent each. What’s clear as we enter September is that Trump has evolved from the laughing stock of 2012 into the front runner of 2016. Trump isn’t just a potential candidate, he is the new favorite. Now that Trump has signed the GOP pledge to stand behind the party, he is opening himself to an equal chance at winning the nomination, so long as he continues performing well through the primaries early next year (The Hill, “Trump hits 30 percent in new poll,” 09.03.15). Believe it or not, this is in fact history repeating itself, but I don’t mean when Trump last ran four years ago. I’m talking about how much this borrows from the anger and frustration millions of people expressed during the Tea Party movement in 2009 and 2010. The upheaval that ultimately removed the Democratic party from the House of Representatives (and ultimately even the Senate just last year) is now coming back to haunt both parties. The GOP conservative base is mad as hell, and they aren’t going to take it anymore.

They’re scared as hell too. With the baby boomer generation in full speed toward retire-

ment age, all they can think about is the finite money left in Social Security, fears about tax increases and the perceived belief that America is under attack at all fronts, whether it’s ISIS, Mexico, China or some other international boogeyman. Americans can’t come to terms with the idea that a mid-20th Century America, ripe with manufacturing jobs and low on debt, is going away in favor of a high-debt, service-based economic realm. This may seem easy to observe under the Vassar bubble, and Trump may seem easy to criticize here, or even at home if you come from a staunchly liberal, anti-racist household. But fact are facts–the average conservative American is in love Donald Trump. The same people who identify as Anti-Tax, Pro-Business and pro-GOP are by far seeing Trump as this alternative to the status quo.

This anger is building a lot of steam for Trump to fuel himself through the winter.

What matters after that is whether voters want more of the same, or more of the radical Trump. The Tea Party movement has gotten far in Congress, and now the very candidates who once identified closely with that movement, such as Ted Cruz, are finding themselves without a paddle against a flood of Trump support.

For liberals like myself on campus, Trump is at first glance at an outright maniac bent on torpedoing the GOP out of a presidency Clinton or Sanders can easily beat out. But in reality, if the angry fuel doesn’t burn out, there are plenty of “mad as hell” people who may really want Trump in the Oval Office. Don’t forget–before becoming president Ronald Reagan was a movie actor turned governor. Barack Obama was a junior senator from Illinois just beginning his political career. Momentum is what makes presidents, not resumes, and Donald Trump has a ton of momentum. That is what makes me mad as hell.

— Joshua Sherman ’16 is an English major.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Page 7

Word on the street What would you rather be asked than “how was your summer”?

“What do you get on a sandwich at the Retreat?”

—Sam Panken ’19

“What TV shows did you watch this summer?”

— Macall McQueen ’17

“What did you eat today?”

— Mothman ’17

“Can you describe your summer using one place, one noun, and one verb?”

—Hayden van Brewer ’18

“Did you go on vacation this summer?”

—Kataura Ross ’17

“What is your shoe size?”

— Zack Meadows ’17

Zander Bashaw Humor & Satire Editor Sam Pianello, Photo Editor

OPINIONS

Page 8

September 10, 2015

Bush manipulates holiday to further conservative ideology Emily Sayer

OPINIONS EDITOR

W

hether savoring the remnants of summer or preparing for the work week ahead, we are reminded on this Labor Day to reassess the current state of education, work and generational progress in the U.S. Our brief reprieve from daily tasks affords us the glossy sense of patriotism and countrywide unity typical of any American tradition; however, despite the day’s wholesome nature, the sentimentality of Labor Day and other national holidays often lends itself to exploitation by limelight-seeking politicians, eager to use any instance of emotionalism as a platform for self-promotion and ideological propaganda.

With campaign season for the 2016 presidential election underway, reflection and re-evaluation are prevalent amidst the melee of frothing candidates, many of whom spout nostalgic rhetoric of homegrown American principles to win sympathy from voters.

In one particularly distasteful blog post, candidate Jeb Bush describes on his campaign’s website a heartwarming memory of his underprivileged charter school students erecting an American flag. He writes, “That Monday morning, 90 kids raised the American flag together.

That moment symbolized so much of what we were trying to do—give every kid a chance to be part of American opportunity” (Jeb 2016, “My Passion for Education Reform,” 09.05.15.). It’s a cosy image, but those kids won’t be “ooh-ing” and “ahh-ing” when they realize that “American opportunity” means nothing more than the stagnant social reform and political diversion tactics that another potential Bush administration is sure to perpetuate.

This Labor Day, Bush has capitalized on the relationship between unions and education re-

“Cappy’s Hill”

form to promote his fervent belief in the school choice and tax credit scholarship system. He established these practices in Florida over a decade ago after being elected governor, instituting a program in which individuals or corporations would be able to donate funds to charter schools and tax credit scholarships in exchange for a reduction in tax liability. The charter school education, which is constructed to be superior to that of the public school experience, is then afforded to low income households and students who previously had limited options in regards to schooling and high quality learning.

He advertises the school choice method as one that narrows the learning gap between economically-diverse students, and one that incentivises schools to market to the specific needs of families in order to compete for pupils. Bush, as well as proponents of school choice, also provide that this financial scheme is ultimately cheaper than the state-funded public school system due to the fact that each child is not being accounted for in one overarching budget.

Continuing to exalt his program, Bush criticizes the Florida teachers’ unions filing lawsuits against school choice, denouncing them as entities acting in opposition to the welfare of children. On September 1st, 2015, he wrote a blog post on his campaign site titled “The Unions’ War on Parental Choice,” claiming that these liberal “special interests” groups are creating harsh environments for education reform and obliterating a family’s right to choose a certain path for its children. He affectionately dubs teachers’ unions, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Bill De Blasio “Hillary Clinton’s staunchest supporters,” slandering these agencies as being resistant to improving the nation’s schools (Jeb 2016, “The Unions’ War on Parental Choice,” 09.05.15.). This is not exactly the

supportive verbiage that one might expect an eager-to-please politician to declaim on Labor Day. In theory, Bush’s aims are practical and beneficial; he states that his intentions are to bolster academic performance in previously low-achieving areas and to present disadvantaged children with the chance to attend better schools.

However, the consequences of school choice and the tax credit scholarship program are less than desirable. The system is publicized as one oriented towards the well-being of impoverished or minority communities, and yet the minimum yearly income that a four-person household must make in order to qualify for scholarship eligibility has risen to about $62,000, which neglects an entire population of students living closer to, or beneath, the poverty line (The Gainesville Sun. 07.05.15. “Judicial review of school voucher program is badly needed.”). The quality of the education itself is even debatable, as the private schools funded by the tax credit system do not require teacher certification or textbooks and curricula that are aligned with the standards for all schools across the state. School choice neglects the public schools that are desperately in want of repair, distracting citizens with a gleaming opportunity for betterment while masking the need for a more centralized national public school curriculum that includes regulated and consistent standards for learning. After all, improving a public school offers a gateway to a safer and more prosperous surrounding community, and by drawing attention away from the work that needs to be done within neighborhoods and cities, Bush is ensuring that the lives of struggling students will continue to suffer.

Furthermore, a large portion of the tax credit

money is being funneled into parochial schools, deceptively circumventing the principle of separation of Church and State, with many organizations demanding that their scholarship recipients attend a parochial institution. Almost 80 percent of all of the students on the school choice program joined these religious schools.

Opponents of the system filed a lawsuit against Florida, arguing that it violated the “no-aid” clause in the state’s constitution, which proclaims that “... no revenue of the state ... shall be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid ... of any sectarian institution” (The Gainesville Sun, “Judicial review of school voucher program is badly needed,” 07.05.15.).

Unfortunately, the Tallahassee court reviewing the case declared that no violation of state legislation had occurred. Bush recounts this fondly on his blog, saying, “I know we can do it [increase opportunity for every American] because I saw what happened when we took on the teachers union in Tallahassee and won, putting students first.”

Concerningly, in a world envisioned by Jeb Bush, it’s difficult to imagine what society may devolve into when these types of initiatives disguised as general welfare projects are continually enacted. With the unfolding of campaigning events, we can hope that this nauseating form of superficial politics will at least meet some successful bipartisan resistance, or that external appeals for change will prevail over the white noise of catty mudslinging and self-interested fundraising. If not, it is unlikely that the results of the 2016 election will do much, if anything at all, to inspire the real advancements that the nation craves.

— Emily Sayer ’18 is undeclared. She is the Opinions editor for The Miscellany News.

The Miscellany Crossword

ACROSS

57 Tire gauge no.

33 Golf time

FUCK

1 Sail staffs

58 You can count on them?

34 180 degrees / pi (abbr.)

47 It’s hot and brown

6 Wally West, or to be publicly indecent

59 Weeee wooooooooo weeeeee woooooooo

36 Legal or Maxi

48 Away from the dramatic action

38 Sick!

51 Heckelphone relative

11 Big tub of mayonnaise, maybe

60 “Blueberries for ___”

39 Middle Eastern flute

52 Spun tale

14 Irk

61 Stole the apple’s heart, but violently

41 Civil War buffs’ activity

53 “___ of the Ancient Mariner”

42 Professional maker

16 “What ___ you afraid of, weenie?”

62 Change the Constitution

43 Pass, as time

54 Fought the Blackfoot at the Battle of Belly River

63 Chicago train

44 Feudal lord counterpart

55 Give an ear

17 Road 180

64 Plusperfect, among others

45 Org. that decrees you can’t say

56 This clue does this now

18 Nice way of saying goodbye?

65 Requirements

19 “___ what you did? Mom’s gonna kill you!”

DOWN

15 One who thinks highly of Haile

20 Home to Vassar’s longest branch (2 words)

1 Tear to pieces

22 Cronus, to Uranus

3 Qt lil nose

23 Vogue

4 133.3 pascals

24 Blues

5 Neuronal bridges

26 Like white people (shout out Donald Trump)

6 Splits ends

30 Backstab

8 Where Tajikistan is

31 Frivolous

9 What 7-Down might also serve

32 Pillsbury Toaster product

10 Like Murphy’s “Mansion”

35 Soak up the sun 36 Greek praise song

11 Where students once skated (2 words)

37 Cloud pee

12 Nipple disc

40 Like your music library, maybe

13 Itty-bitty

42 Foot wrist

21 Decompose

43 Balanced

25 Everlasting, obsoletely

45 In an unencumbered manner

26 Eve, early on

46 Big-ass

27 Santa ___, California

47 A truth

28 TA stream

49 Search engine, formerly with Jeeves

29 Tatting up!

50 Ultimate lawn (2 words)

32 Score you’ve already forgotten

2 Kind of matter (but like not)

7 Soup server

30 What’s in the oven

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

September 10, 2015

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 9

Breaking News Nicki Minaj leaves Vassar concert upon the realization that TroyBoi is not her ex-boytoy, is really from London Acclaimed music critic kicks Student lies on the couch all pop songs while they are up summer, then lies about it Zander Bashaw

TRYING TO BE EDGY

I

f you spent time with a faulty aux cord this summer, you must have encountered some new music. I said new, not good. Here are five of the lowlights.

1. “See You Again” by Wiz Khalifa Wiz is like cheese wiz: kind of gross, and made for stoners. I can’t deny that “We Dem Boyz” will always get me feeling hype but this song, which recently blew up for some reason, is hardcore bad. Wiz really should have stuck to what he does best: smoking and rapping about smoking. In this disaster of a track, he tried to express emotions and rap, and failed miserably at both. Aside from the whiny meaningless hook, which is shallow and bad in its own right, Wiz spends an entire verse talking about a line that will never be crossed. The only meaning you could possibly derive from this is that he isn’t turning to new drugs anytime soon. It seems that everyone else was on them, however, because this travesty of a song was #1 for 12 weeks.

2. “Sugar” by Maroon 5 Maroon 5 has become Maroon 1. One kind of song, one kind of sound, one shitty hit after another. At some point after the first few albums someone must have approached them and said “We can give you a gajillion dollars if you leave any semblance of musical nuance behind and go all pop, full stop.” I presume Adam Levine looked at his heart mom tattoo and was like: “Yeah fuck it.” Several years later we end up with a song like “Sugar”. Listening to “Sugar” is like eating pure sugar: quick, sweet and addictive. It certainly isn’t healthy, sustainable or multifaceted. Unfortunately, radio stations didn’t pick up on the second part, and played it 476 times per day. Each time was like having splenda forcibly poured down my throat.

3. “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk the Moon on every station at once “Shut up and Dance” went viral, in a much more literal definition of the term. It was contagious, insidious and all encompassing. One innocent car ride I found it playing on four radio stations at the same time. The govern-

ment declared martial law, it was advised that all people should stay inside and far away from radios to avoid further outbreak. Food was handed out so people could avoid hearing it in grocery stores. At least that’s how it should have been. Instead, we received an onslaught of a decent band’s worst song. I am casually fond of several other Walk the Moon songs, but this one was like an E. Coli outbreak that gives the whole genus–most of which are harmless–a bad name.

4. “Honey, I’m Good” by Andy Grammer I’m actually surprised that this song was popular this summer, not just because it absolutely sucks musically, but because it spreads a very different message than the usual. Lots of songs that sound like this include lyrics about leaving concerns behind and just partying the night away. Pop music provides a great soundtrack to do stupid and regrettable shit to.

It’s the perfect excuse to hook up in a baby pool filled with ketchup or set off fireworks in your passed out friend’s sleeping bag. Andy Grammer steps out of this mold and writes a song that sounds musically like any Ke$ha anthem that promotes blacking out, but instead promotes not cheating on your partner and avoiding binge drinking. That message paired with a middle school beat and whooping comes off as more corny than high fructose corn syrup, but it’s a perfect listen for a school bus driver.

5. “Bad Blood” by Taylor Swift Ft. Kendrick I love Kendrick Lamar and I love Taylor Swift. I didn’t love Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift. Listening to this song is like biting into an egg salad and jelly sandwich: two great things sometimes don’t mesh together, and T-Swift + Kendrick was a prime example of two parts being greater than the whole. The transitions between chorus and verse sound like they were made on iMovie. Kendrick sounds constrained rapping clean, Taylor sounds out of place singing after the rap. I was equally weirded out by the hunger games style video, but I know I shouldn’t question Taylor’s method of channeling boy angst. Maybe when Taylor starts dating me she’ll transition away from the enraged music videos, and we could film something in the Crafted Kup.

Lily Horner

PATHOLOGICAL LIAR

“H

ey Lily! How was your summer? What did you do?” Ok, I hate those questions already. For most people, the answer is quite simple. They usually went on vacation to some dinky place like St. Barths, or Fiji, or Dayton, Ohio. Other people did prestigious and forgettable internships. These overachievers worked as media interns at Bing, or got coffee for executives at Starbucks’ corporate headquarters, or got coffee for bosses in their offices. Perhaps they wrote online articles that no one ever read. I relate to those last people the most. I write for the Misc! I bet you ten whole dollars that the only people that will read this article will be my mom and dad (hi guys).

However, this summer was more complicated for me. No, I didn’t have a job. I didn’t work for anyBODY or anyTHING, in fact (except for myself, of course). Please stop asking me if I spent all summer on the couch.

Just because I made a Snap story of my dog every day doesn’t mean I didn’t do anything!

No! Just because all my tweets were me recounting my stress dreams about clown zombies doesn’t mean I didn’t also make a lot of really funny inside jokes with my group of close (celebrity) friends. Because I did. I made a lot of hilarious inside jokes, trust me.

This summer I became America’s next sweetheart. My album “1989” is now five times platinum, whatever that means. Is that somehow better than gold? I’m pretty sure it is–how impressive of me. Because I am so popular around the world, I launched an extremely successful summer tour and sang to sold out stadiums across these United States of America.

During this tour, I brought all of my many important and beautiful female colleagues on stage to help me celebrate the power of Female Friendship. Those words are in capitals because they are so important to me. I had my best friend in the whole world, Cara Delevingne, come on stage (for those of you who did not know, I’m very close friends with Cara Delevigne, although I still don’t know what she does or how to pronounce her last name). I also had my other best friend in the

whole world join me on stage, Selena Gomez (I mainly just ask her questions about “Wizards of Waverly Place”).

Then, Lisa Kudrow asked if she could join and I let her sing a song about a cat that was on some TV show in the ‘90s. But don’t worry, I did it ironically. Also, a bunch of other people you’ve never heard of came, too. It was pretty radical and people ate it up with one of those big spoons people use to toss salads.

I got this great boyfriend, and we took a lot of pictures together on Instagram. I’m pretty sure he’s also a musician and his name is probably something like Steve? I can’t remember- I was too busy basking in the aura of all my female friendships. It wasn’t all female-on-female support, though. I did get into a Twitter war with the Nicki Minaj because my publicist told me I had to stir up some drama. I had no idea what I was doing, and got totally wrecked. Miley Cyrus co-opted that feud, though, after I apologized and America forgave me for my ignorance and promised to love me again. Nicki and I are best friends in the whole world, now, by the way. We performed at the VMAs together and it was not forced at all.

In case you didn’t think I did enough this summer, I just thought you ought to know I also starred in the highly successful blockbuster film “Jurassic World”. I was the one who found Rachel Dolezal’s parents and exposed her as an imposter to the whole country. And I was waiting to reveal this on Ellen, but I’ll tell my dedicated Misc readers (hi again, mom and dad) that I am Amy Schumer’s ghost writer. That’s right. I write all of her stand-up, I wrote “Trainwreck”, and I am actually the only one who is best friends in the whole world with Jennifer Lawrence.

I have been Hanna Montana-ing all over the place! They say that behind every great man, there is an even greater woman. This is partly true except it’s not just men and every single one of those great women is me. So yeah, I’d say my summer went fairly well. I did not, according to popular belief, re-watch all of “Toddlers in Tiaras” and make a butt dent in my couch. No, that was my evil twin.

Definitely NOT me.

Hold me back: the story of a sophomore fighting for a rerun

by Kayla Lightner, Perennial Freshman

A

s I begin my second year at Vassar, I admit that I’m still unsure about a lot of things. I’m clueless when it comes to my major (“undecided” should definitely count as a field of study), how to successfully be an adult remains a mystery and I’m still waiting for Cappy to email me back about my request to make “Drunk In Love” our new Alma Mater. However, I am absolutely positive about one thing: I want a do-over. Yep! Forget the class of 2018; I’m repeating freshman year.

Why, you might ask? Why would I want to re-live a year full of cringe-worthy naiveté and soul-crushing mistakes (i.e. going to the Mug sober)? The way I see it, last year was a trial-run, during which I obtained valuable nuggets of knowledge that will help this year go much smoother. You know how you return a “mysteriously” damaged item to the store for a newer, less fucked-up version? That’s basically what I’m going for here.

As I embark on my journey as the newest member of the class of 2019, my plan is to have no plan. Last year, I had every facet of my life strategically arranged. I was certain of my major. I knew which classes I was going to take all the way through my senior year. Hell, I’m pretty sure I had how many times a day I went to the bathroom accounted for.

After receiving a less-than-helpful draw number for class selection, I was crushed when I didn’t get the classes I believed myself predestined to be in. To avoid disappointment, I’ve decided that this year I’ll choose my classes completely at random. I was thinking of attaching the names of different courses to womp-womps, releasing them in Noyes circle and catching four of them to be the classes I take this semester. Or, I could just do “Eenie Meenie Minnie Moe”–I haven’t worked out the logistics yet. Also, I’ll make sure that this same level of nonchalance will

continue once I’m in my classes. Last year, I had at least one stress-induced panic attack every other week. This year, I will live by a simple rule: It’s only a lot of reading if one chooses to do all the reading.

While becoming more relaxed in my class selection, I also see my second freshman year as an opportunity to be slightly choosier with my friend group. Remember how you would try to be friends with every person you met during freshman orientation, only to realize weeks later that you have nothing in common? Then you become stuck in this weird acquaintance limbo. You’re not really friends, but you still have to acknowledge each other’s existence with an awkward head nod.

This year, if someone doesn’t make the cut, I’ll sit ‘em down Dr. Phil style and explain that we just didn’t work out. Maybe our paths will cross again someday, but until that point we can just pretend this never happened.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Who could forget the infamous freshmen fifteen? At first, I thought it was just a myth that parents–still bitter about the loss of their own quick metabolism–tell their college-bound children out of spite. My now too small shorts have proven otherwise. Will I be using my second chance as a freshman to eat a healthy diet and go to the gym regularly?

Hell no! The way I see it, the freshmen fifteen is like death and taxes; it’s inevitable. You can succumb to it after a lengthy bout of kicking and screaming, or you can embrace it with a warm gooey chocolate chip Nilda’s.

This is the perfect plan right? I mean, I’m sure there’ll be some paperwork to push through and some administrators win over with the old Lightner charm. But ultimately, I’ve provided myself with a fresh start. The only thing I haven’t worked out is how the hell I’m going to cough up an extra year’s worth of tuition.

Page 10

TRAVEL

September 10, 2015

Hong Kong, China O

courtesy of Chris Brown

ver the summer, I had the privilege of working in Hong Kong for a summer job with the Center for Talented Youth as a Residential Assistant. While there, I lived in the dorms taking care of K-12 children from around the world.

Hong Kong was easily one of the most bustling and vibrant cities that I had ever had the pleasure of visiting.

Their public transportation system is by far the most efficient subway line in the world. Trains come every 10 minutes on the dot, and how a city so large and dense can maintain such a spotless railway system is beyond me.

Hong Kong is very small in terms of geographical size, but there are so many different sights and places to visit, that it was impossible to get the full experience in the three weeks that I spent there. One of the most breath taking places that I saw while in Hong Kong was the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery.

It was a secluded little place near a random Ikea, but once you got there, it was just a massive amount of gold life size buddhas all lined up, leading to a hilltop monastery that was filled floor to ceiling with little buddha figurines.

You had to walk about a half of a mile up a very steep set of stairs just to reach the main part of the monastery. All of the while, it is pooring rain while still maintaining a solid level of humidity. Needless to say, I sweat through my shirt immediately.

But once we finally got to the top, after passing the various different buddhas, we saw some of the most peaceful images in the world. The top of the monastery gave way to a view of the industrial jungle that is Hong Kong.

Buildings and skyscrapers were surrounded by lush trees and a low hanging mist in the air. Around me were historic sculptures that represented the souls of people who had passed and reached a point of nirvana in the eyes of the Buddhist religion.

It was one of the most spiritually moving experiences in my short life, and I look forward to chasing that feeling again.

—Christopher Brown ’16

courtesy of Chris Brown

courtesy of Chris Brown

Florissant, Colorado

courtesy of Zoe Kurtz

courtesy of Zoe Kurtz

T

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

courtesy of Zoe Kurtz

his summer I had the opportunity to be a counselor for Sanborn Western Camps, an educational western camp for boys and girls from ages 8-15. It is located in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, so my job entailed leading girls on a multitude of different outdoor activities amongst the mountains including hiking, canoeing, mountain climbing and developing other outdoor education skills. This opportunity allowed me to really see and explore a part of North America that most people do not have the opportunity to visit.

While we made good use of the many different exciting hikes and campsites, we also traveled off camp property to continue and explore the surrounding mountain ranges.

My favorite trip was off camp property in Pikes National Forest. My co-counselors, nine campers and I traveled off property for a four-day mountaineering, backpacking trip with the main intention of climbing Mt. Silverheels and the Continental Divide. Where we were in the Pikes National Forest was very near to Breckenridge, Colo. for all you skiers. And, for all the fans of South Park, we climbed what some believe to be the lone mountain in the background of the show (because the show is based off a real town in Colorado named South Park, yes). We camped in the forest for three nights and were able to traverse a thirteen-mile area, which for nine twelve-year-olds is a huge accomplishment. The summit of Mt. Silverheels was possibly the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. It was not on a different continent, and being from Colorado, it was something I could have always had access to, but when the sun rose over the ridge, I felt as if I was in an entirely different world and so lucky to be able to experience something so breathtaking and humbling at the same time.

My other favorite trip off property was when we led a canoeing/paddleboarding/fishing trip to Eleven Mile Reservoir. This is a man-made reservoir that provides Denver drinking water. It was amazing to experience our water supply in such a different way.

This summer I was able to travel all around my home state and really come to appreciate where I live. I feel so blessed to be able to live in such beautiful places; however, sometimes I feel as if I fail to really explore where I am. I am so worried about my life in the future or where I want to go that I don’t realize that where I am is beautiful. This summer allowed me to appreciate that beauty up close.

—Zoe Kurtz ’16

September 10, 2015

TRAVEL

Page 11

London, England I

courtesy of Sarah Sandler

’ve always loved traveling, I mean who doesn’t? Therefore, I was extremely thankful to be able to study abroad sooner than my junior year. I arrived in London in mid-May and would be living there until the beginning of August, so I had time for all the exploration the city has to offer. Of course my time included going to class, writing papers, and working at a magazine internship, but the sightseeing and traveling is the more interesting part.

One of the best parts about my time in London was the location of our dorms. Right across the street from the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a few blocks away from Hyde Park- there was no excuse not to get out and see all that London has to offer. Out of all the museums I visited in London, the Victoria and Albert was hands down my favorite, thanks to their extensive collection of artifacts spanning from centuries and centuries ago to present day. They even have a courtyard in the middle where you can relax in the grass with a Pimm’s Cup (one of Britain’s signature cocktails). Hyde Park is London’s biggest park and it is the perfect spot for morning runs, leisurely walks, picnics, and just hanging out with new friends. We even got to go to a Taylor Swift concert in the park at the end of June. We didn’t have tickets but tons of people just sat outside the gates and listened to the concert.

I am extremely obsessed with food, so it goes without saying that I spent a lot of time in London trying all the amazing food the city has. British food doesn’t have the best reputation compared to other European countries like Italy and France, but if you take some time to explore, you’ll find a ton of amazing options. My best food experience would be the multiple trips I took to the famous Borough Market. This sprawling part indoor/part outdoor market has produce, bread, cheese, meat, and tons of prepared food stalls. You could make a meal out of the samples alone, but it would be a shame to miss out on the grilled cheese, smoothies, Indian food and more that Borough Market has for sale.

When you’re in close proximity to tons of other European countries, you can’t pass up traveling to other cities on the weekends. I braved the nine hour bus trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, then a few weeks later my friends and I took a cheap flight to Amsterdam.

I’m so thankful for the time I got to spend in London. Not only did I learn through my classes and my internship, I also got used to living in a big city. I took the Tube almost every day all over the city, bought groceries and cooked for myself in the dorm, and made friends from other colleges. I got to see The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper, saw Taylor Swift in concert (well, almost), and tried more new foods than I ever have in my life. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back during JYA. —Sarah Sandler ’18

courtesy of Sarah Sandler

courtesy of Sarah Sandler

Williamsburg, Virginia A

courtesy of Alexandra Trunnell

little over 100 years after it was the bustling capital of Virginia, the town of Williamsburg was just another sleepy college town. Now in 2015, it has become a haven for the revolutionary war enthusiast and the average vacationer alike. By stepping into the colonial district of the town, you cross into 1776: costumed workers pass out flowers in the street, and you can quite literally hear whispers of revolution as you mill about the streets. The mix of old and new is striking: strollers mingle with horses, running shorts are interspersed with full skirted dresses, “totally” is melded with “indeed, sir”. You can’t spit without hitting history.

Colonial Williamsburg revolves around Duke of Gloucester (gloss-ter) Street, the mile long road connecting William and Mary College with the capitol. Along Duke of Gloucester are shops. Some are typical tourist traps while others are homes to the craftsmen. Cooks and bakers use authentic recipes and recreated kitchens to create the smells and sounds of the time, asking children if they can identify any of the smells: is it ham, or chicken? A dance troupe performs for the town and teaches period dances to those brave enough to make utter fools of themselves in front of strangers.

Everywhere you look, history smiles back.

Indeed, active history is the name of the game in Williamsburg: come with your mind open and your comfortable shoes. Walk over to the asylum turned art museum, and experience a genuinely chilling account of mental health care through the ages. Take a tour of the Governor’s Palace and wonder if people in colonial times were colorblind or just that gaudy. Have a long conversation with a sassy continental army sergeant between orders barked at him by his general. Watch General George Washington ride into town on a literal white horse.

After hours, the fun turns spooky. Come back and search for orbs as a modern guide leads you through the town and recounts tales of the ghosts still lingering in this 300 year old town, and freak out when the modern inhabitant of the house turns a light on. Join the jury and question everything you know about your own values as you recreate the trial of Blackbeard’s crewmen in the candlelit capitol building. Williamsburg is like Disneyland for the eighteenth century.

Come, and come ready to learn. Come ready to take tours, come ready to hear James Monroe recite poetry, come ready to try spiced hot chocolate, come ready to dance, come ready to rebel.

Come ready to step back in time.

—Alexandra Trunnell ’17

courtesy of Alexandra Trunnell

courtesy of Alexandra Trunnell

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

FEATURES

Page 12

September 10, 2015

Recent Vassar fellowships foster worldly wisdom abroad Julia Cunningham

ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

Y

Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

our plans for next year could have been determined as early as Aug. 20, according to the ‘Important Dates’ found on Vassar’s Fellowships and Pre-Health Advising website.

Students who apply for these fellowships are competing not only to gain an unforgettable experience, but also to further their own knowledge of a unique topic important to them.

Already this year, ten Vassar students and alumni, graduating from as far back as 2004, have been granted scholarship and fellowship opportunities.

Ellie Opdahl ’15 graduated as a biology major, and is currently a Research, Restoration, and Educational Outreach Post Baccalaureate Fellows for the newly established Vassar Conservation and Environmental Engagement Cooperative (VCEE-COOP).

In an emailed statement Opdahl explained, “In brief, we are working on creating a stronger conservation network in the Hudson Valley by establishing research projects, environmental education, and outreach activities on the individual, local, and regional levels.” Applying for the fellowship was a way for Opdahl to continue exploring her major. “I knew I wanted to pursue conservation biology in some form, but I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to take,” she said. “I was applying for a number of jobs, and thought that the fellowship offered a lot of valuable opportunities for me to narrow down my interests.”

Fellowships such as Opdahl’s play an important role in spreading Vassar’s name and reputation around. Director of the Office for Fellowships and Pre-Health Advising, Lisa Kooperman, said in an emailed statement, “When folks receive awards they become part of the network of recipients, in addition to our alumni network, so yes I would say that these opportunities create lasting relationships that provide many opportunities.”

Vassar encourages students from any academic background to apply for fellowships.

“Any and all majors are eligible for a variety–

Fellowships offer a gateway to study overseas for many. Students not only experience classic classroom learning, some work among the locals, learning the culture and working on personal projects. some fellowships are geared toward specific career paths (Goldwater-Sciences, Udall- Environment) and others are wide open like the Fulbright,” Kooperman said. It mainly depends on who the fellowships are looking for.

Updahl added, “I think fellowships are looking for recent graduates who are up for anything, willing to learn, and are excited about their position.”

Some of the fellowship recipients for this year will be traveling among specific groups of people to do research, while others have found organizations to work with. Sahara Pradhan ’15 won the 100 Projects for Peace Prize for her project entitled “Ghar Jaun” (“Let’s go home”).

“Ghar Jaun,” outlined on the Fellowships website, is an internship program for unemployed Nepalese youth who have no other career options than the harsh and unpredictable working conditions of migrant laborers. “The

program will empower these young people and provide them with successful entry into the local workforce as young professionals,” according to the website. Her project will work with the Socio-Economic Welfare Center for Energetic Women (EWC), a thriving grassroots NGO. English major Jelena Borak ’15 is using her Watson Fellowship to investigate “Peace of Mind through Storytelling.” Throughout the 2015-2016 year she will be traveling through Ireland, Belgium, Cyprus, South Africa, Nepal, South Korea and Thailand, speaking with locals about post-war reconstruction.

In her application for the fellowship she wrote, “I will explore how storytelling-or giving testimony of one’s own experiences-functions in a post-conflict society, and its possible role in healing divides between old foes, eventually leading to personal and societal healing.”

She went on to say, “By conducting interviews, documenting stories of grief and hope, and observing the transformation of relationships in these communities, I hope to discover what place storytelling has in peacebuilding efforts.”

For some, fellowships provide a door to experiences they may not have had without the fellowship. Elijah Ness ’17 in an emailed statement explained, “I wanted a chance to study abroad for both of my majors (Urban Studies and Chinese) and so I looked into summer semester options. They are expensive so I applied to the Ann Cornelisen Fellowship to fund the Qingdao program.” In order to fund his study abroad, Ness said, he needed the fellowship.

“I would not have been able to go abroad this summer without the fellowship,” Ness went on to say.

In China, Ness attended the Chinese Language and Culture Intensive Summer Immersion Program at Qingdao University. When asked if he thought his future was impacted by his time in Qingdao, Ness said, “Potentially.

There are a lot of factors that go into career choice but I liked my time in Qingdao and can see myself working there sometime in the future.”

Borak plans to get as much as she can out of her experience as a Watson Fellow. In her application she said, “By observing the development of intercommunity relationships, I’ll also get an opportunity to build my own connections with the people and culture, becoming a participant in my surroundings during this seven-country journey, instead of a mere observer.”

Similarly, Opdahl believes her fellowship is merely another way to connect with her biology major. “I do think that my fellowship will help me in my future career path. Conservation biology is an enormous field, and this fellowship has already allowed me to experience many facets of it” She went on to say, “I’ve been gaining so many valuable skills from display making to activity coordinating, and what I learned here will definitely be beneficial in the long run.”

Foodstagram: an account of a juicy summertime fling Penina Remler REPORTER

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he classic “Hey, how was your summer?” conversation is inevitable upon returning to school. In fact, the person who asks this obligatory question is often interrupted mid-sentence with the standard, “Good, thanks. How was yours?” It’s debatable if the two conversing are genuinely listening to one another, but the generic “back to school” script is pretty much protocol, so most people tend to just go along with it. After spending a great deal of time interning downtown in Manhattan, I’ve decided to spice things up a bit; my basic “good” has now been promoted to “delicious.” At first, people seem a bit startled by the succinct and unique response, but it’s the truth. For two months I was surrounded by endless options capable of satisfying each and every one of my culinary cravings; from the first day, I couldn’t turn away (I reassured myself that it simply would be rude to ignore them). Little did I know that this culinary conquest would also come with a long list of summer flings. It all started with my first ever Matcha latte, which I couldn’t help but describe as love at first sight. Or so I thought…

A few weeks later I was introduced to acai bowls. Initially, I felt bad about neglecting Matcha, my first love, but I couldn’t turn away. I was completely hooked until things started to get sticky between us. It was tempting to blame this on the drizzled honey and shaved coconut toppings, but truthfully, the authentic taco bar down the street simply stole my heart. And the list goes on. After trading in Prince Street for Poughkeepsie, I am beginning to reconsider whether these romances were more than just summer flings. Each time I sift through Instagram, I am reminded of the many dishes that molded my summer and true love for the creative culinary culture. As I find myself slowly adjusting to the #DeeceLife, I find comfort in the many “foodstagrams” that, after this summer, virtually fill what currently feels like my empty stomach void. Below find a few of my latest coping mechanisms, but I should warn you— follow at your own risk. noleftovers_

With an array of promising meals that come from a range of upscale to hole-in-the-wall secret spots, Jackie Gebel provides a library of photos that one can only dream to eat off the screen.

The name speaks for itself with dishes that debatably taste even better than they look (and they look great). Guaranteed to keep your mouth watering all through the night.

Do you ever find yourself starving and simultaneously clueless as to what kind of “food mood” you’re in? Firstly, you’re not alone and secondly, HuffPost Taste is your fix. Prepare yourself for a full-fledged food tour as this account provides both photos of food across the fifty states and inspiration for your next dinner party. You probably won’t find your next diet trend here, however.

@iamafoodblog

@dominiqueansel

Via Instagram, Chef Dominique Ansel provides a taste of his latest creations, which his profile claims is “not always what you think.” Whether a pastry or entrée, each post is likely to leave you torn between admiring the exquisite, artistic details and yearning to devour it all at the same time. A follow earns you an instant visual sample that many have to wait hours in line to taste.

Stephanie Le is the mind behind “I am a food blog” and her 77.5k followers might argue that it could be the very best. Rather than posting pictures from her favorite spots, Stephanie Le goes ahead and recreates them, often with an artistic, appealing twist. It’s hard to believe that Le’s photos are homemade, which in turn, might motivate you to embrace your inner “top chef” too.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Gretchen Röehrs best describes herself as the grownup who is “still playing with food.” Röehrs’ sketches don’t just include food, they personify a plethora of foods into stick figure friends that might leave you pondering over what a radish bodysuit would look like on you.

This account will make you understand that saying “bodys come in all types” in an entirely new way.

September 10, 2015

FEATURES

Page 13

International recruiting values more than just numbers Alan Hagins

GUEST REPORTER

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China, Fischer said, “You have a lot of wealthy families who can send their students to top tier schools,” More than that, finding the Chinese students who will thrive in Vassar’s environment becomes even more complicated because of “agents”. “Agents craft applications for students.” Fischer said, “Sometimes we see an application, and we don’t know if it’s the actual student.” The increasing interest and limited availability of American Schools creates a culture of high competition, and in addition to hiring agents, students will often memorize answers to standard interview questions centered on academic and extracurricular interests.

Language proficiency, and being culturally savvy, Fischer suggests, are the two most important factors for recruiting. To test these, while making sure to avoid memorized responses, Fischer and other international US re-

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

n two weeks, newly hired Assistant Director of Admissions, Sarah Fischer, will travel to a few select schools in Hong-Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam to recruit the best and brightest to Vassar. Fischer, along with most of the other admissions staff, will spend about eight to ten weeks overseas this year alone.

This number that has consistently increased over the last several years.

Head Director of Admissions, JC Tesone, believes this amount of travel time is crucial for the department’s central aim: “We want to bring in as diverse a group of students as we can to the college, and to represent as much of the world as possible.”

For Tesone and the admissions team, there is a big educational benefit to the entire student body when they are exposed to people from around the world. The Admissions Department does a surprisingly thorough job fulfilling this goal given their resources. By the end of each year, admissions officers will have traveled to Canada, South America, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the Middle East, China, India, the Pacific Rim and British Columbia. However, there are some major impediments to their ambitious goal of representing the world.

The limitations to staff size and travel time requires some creative thinking. As a result, regional placement of admissions officers differs based on volume and interest of applicants.

In 1995, when Tesone began working at the Admissions Department, travel to East Asia was limited. He said, “Now, every college in America sends about two or three staff members to China and Asia for about three months a year.” With a small staff, there has to be a focus on countries like China, which have large populations of qualified students interested in top-tier American educational institutions.

A delicate balance is played out at Vassar Admissions between the dedication to finding the most diverse group of students possible, and being realistic about available resources.

Unlike domestic recruiting, international re-

cruiting at Vassar is not need-blind. The college has roughly $4.5 million per year to spend on need-based financial aid—a relatively small budget.

Amherst, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Princeton, MIT and UPenn are the only American Universities to offer need-blind admissions to international students. Vassar is on the small list of US colleges to offer any need-based admissions for international students, but the admissions team dreams bigger. Tesone’s personal hope is for a large alumni endowment in international recruiting in the next few years.

Until then, recruiters can only do the best they can with the resources offered.

Back from Beijing, Shanghai, Changzhou and Ningbo in July, Fischer has a unique perspective on Admissions’ efforts to bring the most diverse group of students possible while keeping in mind the realities of a limited budget. In

Vassar international students pose together before the start of the 2015-2016 school year.

Over the past 20 years, the college has activally increased its recruitment efforts abroad..

cruiters have invented some unusual questions: “I’ll ask questions like: ‘what is your understanding of the ‘black lives matter’ movement in the US?’ or, ‘tell me your thoughts about Hillary Clinton running for president. What do you think it means to have a female president?’” These kinds of questions not only test their language and cultural proficiency, but how they express ideas that are very complex.

While Fischer and other American recruiters have adapted to changes in the global admissions environment such as these, there are other schools and recruiters who capitalize on the wealthy emergent applicant pool. Vassar’s international admissions keeps itself in check with its mission to foster the most diverse group of students possible.

Faith Adongo ’16 is a political science major here at Vassar from Nairobi, Kenya. In sophomore year she was the Vice-president of the African Students Union (ASU), and in Junior year she was an active member of the Vassar International Students Union (VISA). But, after she was initially accepted, it was unclear whether Adongo would make it.

At the last minute, Adongo experienced major visa delays that prevented her from arriving for her first semester. She remembered, “After a while, I lost interest.” Adongo had been accepted to a law school in Nairobi, but she wanted a liberal arts education in the States. “Vassar convinced me to go to the embassy one more time, and I got it!” Adongo said, “Had it been any other school I don’t know how invested they would be in making sure I came.”

For Adongo and many other international students, receiving a visa and traveling to Vassar is only the first step. “People can adapt to weather, and they have an idea of what classes are,” Adongo said, “but it is very difficult to adapt to Vassar’s social climate.”

When asked if she had any advice for incoming international students, Adongo said, “Keep an open mind, and be ready to be educated because it is very different. Vassar is full of activists, and it is easy for international students to get in hot water.”

Veteran admission program provides educational ease OVA continued from page 1

was how they came up with the idea for Operation Veteran Admission. “Josh and I started OVA simply by talking about what we do in our ‘free time’,” Carrell said in an emailed statement. “Once we talked about what we were doing separately we discussed creating a formalized organization.”

OVA is in part based off of a program that Carrell himself went though before coming to Vassar called the Warrior Scholar Project. “It started at Yale, and it’s a two week really intense program for vets to get prepared to go to college,” Ridley said.

College, Ridley explained, is a whole world unto itself. “Now you’re having to deal with people who aren’t your age, you have deadlines you have to meet, homework and classes and stuff, but it’s not so bad. If you don’t make

a class, you don’t hand in your homework, the worst case scenario is you fail.” There’s no blemish on your resume from being fired, either. Ridley added, “It’s just a really good transition step.”

The process of getting into school for veterans, however, is overly complicated. “If you go to the local office for your veteran disability and you talk to them and you say I want to go to school, I want to get my disability rating checked, I want to start going to the hospital, or I want to have my doctor’s appointments, you come out of their office with about an inch stack of papers and forms saying here’s all this stuff you can do,” Ridley explained. He added that it was overwhelming. “In my personal scenario I was new to this area, a new freshman student at Vassar College, trying to get the layout of the campus, trying to get the layout of

courtesy of Vassar College Media Relations

Co-founder of Operation Veteran Admission, David Carrell ’17, poses with his family in front of Vassar. OVA provides an important service to the Hudson Valley by helping vets get into four year colleges.

the courses. Now I have a stack of paper this thick that I’m trying to do at the same time. It’s so challenging.”

Operation Veteran Admission seeks to do away with any of the obstacles that surround veteran admission to any four-year program.

“OVA was born out of the need for better education advice to veterans when leaving the service,” Carrell explained. For this reason, volunteers at OVA will often physically walk alongside veterans to insure they get to where they need to be and fill out the correct forms.

“We try to say this is exactly what you need to know, this is exactly what you need to do, or, here are the programs that you can use to get a tutor or get funding for books, or something like that,” Ridley said. “At this point let’s push out all the noise.”

Because of all of the obstacles, veterans going to school sometimes seems more the exception than the norm. Carrell said, “No one ever told me to go to college when I left the military, they told me to get a job on an oil rig.” He went on to say, “Veterans are extremely capable and ready for the challenges of academia, they simply do not know about many of opportunities available to them.” Going to college, Ridley added, “Doesn’t mean that they have to come to Vassar College after they graduate and go work for Shell Oil and find out what’s the best lubricant for a car. We’re not doing that, we’re just saying do what you do, and let’s get you a little bit of education so you can get more money in your pocket. Or you can move up faster or get a better job.”

Entering college for veterans is challenging not only because of the nature of the classes, but also because of the long period of time spent away from academia. When asked if many warriors have any college background, Ridley explained that, although military bases sometimes offer community college, the demands of jobs determine if you have time to go to class. “You have to remember, vets have been in the service for at least four years, so that’s four years away from academics, and there’s

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

very likely a reason why they joined the military and didn’t go to college right away,” Ridley added.

The programs and scholarships available for vets to help them go to college allows them to devote most of their time and energy to learning, unlike their time spent on the base. Ridley said, “The majority of vets here at Vassar, I believe all of them, don’t have a job. And that’s because of how difficult the education is, and how much time you have to dedicate to it.” In addition, the Posse Scholarship allows Ridley and his fiancé to live off of one income. “But there are other vets who are going to Duchess County Community College who are going to a typical forty-hour week job, and then do classes at night,” Ridley went on to say.

Not all vets are actively seeking education, but not all vets are accustomed to asking for help, either. Ridley said, “When we go give a speech to a group of vets, the majority of them are older vets, Vietnam era or older vets, the younger vets aren’t really around.” Carrell added, “We have found that whenever we give presentations at community sanctioned events the results are limited. What we have moved to is finding veterans in daily activity within the community.” He continued, “Much of our recruiting is done in grocery store, oil changing places and everyday places.” Ridley referred to this as “looking for combat boots”: literally approaching anyone they came upon wearing combat boots. “In formal settings no one like to be ‘sold’ on anything, using a casual environment veterans have been much more receptive,” Carrell went on to say.

Veterans get shuffled around often, so Carrell and Ridley created OVA to provide them with a steadier helping hand. “I think you need that personal touch that OVA is trying to offer, exactly what I was doing tonight, to help them succeed,” Ridley said. Carrell concluded, “By utilizing ourselves as examples of veterans that have successfully made the transition to top tier institutions Josh and I hope to continue to inspire our generation’s war fighters.”

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September 10, 2015

Loeb exhibition traces history of Asian art collection Yifan Wang REPORTER

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Sam Pianello/The Miscellany News

f one walks into the Loeb Art Center this week, one can find a refreshing series of ink paintings on soft, yellowed papers, delicate jade and ceramic works, as well as various drawings from Asia. These works are part of a newly launched exhibition at the Loeb: Asian Art at Vassar. Presenting a large number of works from the college’s Asian collection since 1917, the exhibition seeks to represent the broad range of Asian artworks Vassar has in its collection.

Some highlights on display are a page of sketches created in India around 1825 depicting a Rajput king, a sixteenth-century Chinese scroll entitled “The Palace of the Nine Accomplishments” and a Tibetan painting on fabric, “One Thousand Buddhas.” Also on view in the Landing Gallery from mid-October to mid-December are contemporary Japanese photographs from the permanent collection, including works by Kunié Sugiura, Michiko Kon and Naoya Hatakeyama. The exhibition will be on view for the rest of the semester.

The exhibition is meant as a supplementary feature of the New York Conference on Asian Studies (NYCAS), which will be held on campus in October. The NYCAS is an annual regional conference of the Association for Asian Studies, the largest group of its kind in the world.

Universities and colleges in New York State host the NYCAS on a rotating basis. This year, Vassar has been invited to serve as its host. Professor of Chinese and Japanese, Peipei Qiu is one of the conference co-chairs. She oversees all aspects of the event preparation, including setting up the website, managing the budget, administering the proposal submissions, registrations and so on.

According to Qiu, hosting such a large conference was quite a challenge for a small college like Vassar. “A conference of such scale requires huge resource and support, particularly the meeting spaces and financial budget. As Vassar is a small college and we had never held a conference this big before, we had to consult with many departments and people.”

Qiu continued, “but thanks to the strong support of Dean Chenette and President Hill, as well as the thoughtful suggestions from all parties consulted, Asian Studies Program decided to commit to hosting the 2015 NYCAS.” The idea of an art exhibition as a supplement to the conference has been on the agenda since a very early stage. Associate Professor of Chinese and Japanese, Hiromi Tsuchiya Dollase is also a co-chair of the conference. She explained how they decided to work with the Loeb and launch an art exhibition.

“We included this in our plan at our first co-chairs meeting … Asian art exhibition has often been included in the NYCAS conference programs when the hosting institution has a good Asian art collection. Since Vassar’s Loeb is known for its rich Asian art collections, we thought it would be a wonderful feature to have the conference participants visit our museum and see our collections,” she recounted.

The conference organizers and museum staff worked together to select the objects on display for the exhibition. The Coordinator of Academic Programs at the Loeb, Elizabeth Nogrady said that they selected objects representative of Vassar’s Asian work collection.

“We chose objects that are highlights of our Asian collection, recent acquisitions that we wanted to introduce to our visitors, and Japanese and Indian works on paper that are not usually on view due to their more fragile condition. We hope that by having a significant number of Asian works on view in October, conference attendees will have the opportunity to explore the Art Center and see the depth of our collection in this area,” Nogrady stated.

Another theme that connects some of the artworks is food. Qiu said, “To connect this exhibition with our outreach programs, we decided to select art pieces that portray food or food production in Asia.”

Among the wide range of objects on display is an Edo-period painting by the artist Soga Shohaku, depicting men taming horses in the field. Located at the central wall of the Focus Gallery at the Loeb, its energetic brush strokes and engaging composition immediately grasp one’s attention. James Mundy, the Director of

Highlights of the Loeb’s newest exhibit include ancicent scroll paintings, works on paper, bronzes and ceramics. The college has been building its collection of Asian art since the early 20th century., the Art Center, told a long story about the painting’s journey from Kyoto to Vassar.

Eleven years ago, in 2004, Mundy saw the painting at a Kyoto gallery and was attracted right away. However, the museum didn’t have a budget for it. In the years following, Mundy went to see the painting every time he was in Kyoto. In 2014, ten years later, with a new fund for art acquisition and a depreciation of the Yen by 20%, the Loeb was finally able to have this painting in its own collection.

Mundy said, “For me, this painting was the great white whale in Moby Dick, and it is the pinnacle of our Japanese collection.”

Just like this Shohaku work, Vassar’s Asian art collections all have a long history behind them. The first Asian gifts are a large number of Chinese jade objects which came in 1917 from the then Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The Chairman then donated a series of Asian ceramics in 1936.

When Asian-related subjects became part

of the curriculum in the 1970s, the faculty support made possible many gifts and purchases of Asian art such as a Chinese ceramic Han tower, bronze vessels and Indian artworks. More recently, the museum has included more contemporary Asian artists in its collecting efforts, and just acquired a group of contemporary Japanese photographs.

Vividly, this exhibition presents this century-long history with exquisite objects, charming paintings, interesting drawings and so on.

With art, it brings to life the connection between Vassar and Asia.

Mundy also expects the exhibition to engage faculty members, students and all people interested and related to Asian Studies. “I hope to bring together everyone who’s involved with Asia and its studies,” he said. As Qiu concludes, “the art exhibition will help bring the dynamic cultures of Asia visually to life, contributing powerfully to both the conference discussions and the education of Asia to general public.”

Vice Film kick-off event brings alum back to campus Connor McIlwain REPORTER

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courtesy of Aundre Larrow/Bevel Code

he short film Mulignans opens in an homage to stereotypical Italian film gangsters. Three black men sit on the stoop of a Brooklyn Brownstone. They smoke cigarettes, file their nails and lie back in the sun, only diverting their attention to blow kisses to and catcall passing women.

But, between insults and puffs of cigarette smoke, the film’s director, Shaka King ’01, explores themes like race, city life and gentrification. Mulignans debuted this year at Sundance to rave reviews and quickly racked up tens of thousands of online views.

“The whole thing about it was that it had to be funny and it had to cross a line. It had to actually be offensive,” said King in an interview with WatchLOUD. He will be on campus moderating a discussion and screening the film alongside Newlyweeds, his first feature-length film.

The current Chair of Vice Film, Imara Jones ’16, explained, “the event is in Rocky 200 on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 3:30.”

According to Jones, the screening is Vice Film’s kick-off event of the year and signals a shift in content the group is bringing to campus.

King graduated from Vassar in 2001 before heading off to Tisch for graduate school. His work since includes both short and feature films, a project with Russell Simmons and HBO, and more. His feature film, Newlyweeds, was released in 2013 and met with overall positive reviews.

The film is about Lyle and Nina, a couple who love each other almost as much as they love weed. Part comedy, part cautionary tale, King explores the trials and tribulations associated with drug use and life and love in New York City. Similar themes find their way to King’s other works.

He describes Mulignans as a racial satire. The 5-minute film, which King also stars in, tackles serious topics and still finds room for a little humor.

Sophie Cash ’19 is a fan of King and plans on

Filmmaker Shaka King ’01 will screen two of his works on campus this Saturday and host a Q&A. His most recent shortfilm, Mulignans, premiered at Sundance and quickly became a festival favorite. attending the screening. In an emailed statement, she mentioned the untraditional way King took on such polarizing topics in Mulignans. She explained, “I thought it handled the issue of race in a very interesting and unusual way...I’m not used to seeing stereotypes portrayed in such exaggerated bluntness, and I think King’s brave depiction of these characters, since he is a black man himself, puts a very unique and personal perspective into the conversation about race.”

Jones explained some of the motivation behind bringing King to campus, “I’m really excited because I not only just want to meet him but I also want to hear what he has to say about navigating the film industry A) as a black man and B) as a young black man and Vassar grad.”

Cash also noted the importance of bringing

alumni back to campus. She explained, “Talking with alumni is a great way for current students to get an idea of where they can go and what they can be after their education at Vassar. I think it can be inspiring for students to learn about the different career paths that former students have blazed, or lives they have chosen.”

King explores many of the issues debated on campus through his film. “I’m fascinated to learn about how his time at Vassar kind of inspired him to pick a direction with his filmic content,” explained Jones. King’s connection to Vassar has logistical benefits as well. Jones explained, “It’s also coincidental that this event lined up the way it did because he’s already going to be on campus for another event. It was just a luck-of-the-draw kind of thing.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

The event marks what Jones hopes to be a shift in the content Vice Film brings to campus this year. According to Jones, “In the past couple years, it’s been mostly big name screenings, like blockbusters and Oscar movies, but this year I want to make sure we are a lot more careful with the content we are bringing to campus in terms of diversifying our palate. We don’t want just one small community coming to our events.

She continued, “My biggest goal was to start off the year with something that is a little less mainstream and that can speak to a wide variety of people on many levels.”

Ideas like these drove Jones to apply to Vice’s Exec Board. Towards the end of last year, she says she had so many ideas that she decided to take the first step towards putting them in place.

Among these ideas was a shift in focus from longer feature length films to something more accessible to students who do not necessarily have the several hours needed to spare at typical screenings. She elaborated, “in the past years, Vice Film has mostly been feature length films but this year, in order to maintain a large party or slew of people, I’m going to try and focus on more videos and short films, not necessarily feature length films. It’s going to be fun.”

King seemed like a natural fit for the first event. His controversial themes, diverse pieces and Vassar experiences bring a combination of comedy and commentary to campus. His budding popularity also makes him a prime example of what Vice Film is trying to focus on this year.

After the Saturday event, Jones says she has plenty more ideas for the club. But the content will largely be up to Vice Film’s members and the rest of the student body.

“I’m really excited to get people to come to the meetings and hear what they want. I think that’s the key to a successful entertainment group, knowing your audience and knowing what they want. I think that’s certainly going to be a huge driving force in who we choose to bring to campus,” she explained.

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September 10, 2015

Page 15

Dunn’s unorthodox seminar on silence makes noise Sieu Nguyen REPORTER

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This is not the first time Dunn’s work involves sound and silence. Dunn said, “I have been deeply involved with sound all my life, particularly through music: my academic research focuses on music and sound in early modern England, and I have been a practicing musician. More recently, for my courses in disability studies I’ve been learning about deaf culture and ASL poetry.”

Dunn continued: “It’s possible that my deepest knowledge of silence comes through music.

When I was an undergraduate I was a very serious pianist. Knowing that I needed a place to practice, the master of my residential college gave me the key to the dining hall so that I could come in after dinner every night and use the piano

there. It was a Bechstein grand, the most beautiful instrument I’ve ever played on; in the resonant high-ceilinged dining hall it made a limpid sound, like clear flowing water...I can still hear that stillness, and feel it under my hands.”

One of Dunn’s most vivid memories of silence at Vassar College was in 2001. “On the afternoon of 9/11, I went to the Vassar Farm because I was scheduled to work there. The Farm is a haven of quiet at all times, but that afternoon the silence seemed profound, absolute; we all felt it. A colleague who had taken his class on a field trip that day told me that they had felt the silence, too, and realized only later that it was partly because there were no planes flying overhead.”

Palak Patel/The Miscellany News

n the library seminar room, the students are asked to lie down on the floor, slowly close their eyes, try to shut their ears and listen to the sound of their inner body. Then they gradually open their ears, welcoming the cacophonous sound of footsteps, key chains and little conversations in the building into their consciousness, practicing what is termed “inclusive” and “exclusive” listening. This exercise happened on the first Friday workshop of Media Studies 382 The Arts of Silence.

While the college is getting excited with “Creative Arts Across Disciplines,” a three-year initiative funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Media Studies Department cannot remain a bystander. Professor Leslie Dunn came up with a 300-level seminar called “The Arts of Silence,” which fits well within the topic for the 2015/16 academic year: Sound/Silence/ Hearing. The class is an open space in which both Dunn and her students discuss the meaning of silence and its role in arts and life.

Describing her new seminar, Dunn said, “The course meets for two hours twice a week so that we have time to that [thinking and practicing of silence] both intellectually and experientially.

While studying the meanings and uses of silence in rhetoric, literature, film, drama, comics, music and contemplative traditions, we will develop our own practices of silence through weekly exercises, keeping a silence journal and experimenting with silence in the classroom.” Some questions Dunn proposes to class discussions are “Is silence the opposite of sound? Is it the space between sounds? Does silence signify absence? Does it require presence? Is it audible, visible, palpable?”

Different practices will also be experimented in the course. Dunn plans to include deep listening, meditation, the yoga of sound and several field trips in the seminar. Students will have to

get off their feet and complete different tasks besides reading and writing assignments. There will also be a wide range of guest lecturers from other departments that will join the class. Dunn noted, “The seminar is designed as an inter-disciplinary and inter-art conversation: I’ve invited colleagues from English, Film, Music, and Physics to teach guest classes. I’m excited that our group includes majors in studio art, media studies, etc.”

In addition to guest lecturers from the college, in November, “The Arts of Silence” also welcomes special guests from the field. Dunn introduced, “A highlight of the course will be a workshop with Peter Cook, an internationally renowned deaf poet and storyteller, who will be coming to campus in early November for an artists’ residency. Peter and his hearing partner, Kenny Lerner, will also give a public performance (as The Flying Words Project) on Saturday, Nov. 7th.” Another special guest is Annea Lockwood, composer and Professor Emerita of Music, who will be coming on Oct. 28 to give a talk about “Wild Energy,” a sonic installation she created that embraces infra and ultra sound worlds.

A member of the seminar, Mallory Tyler ’16 commented, “This class is not your standard seminar. We’ve discussed art, shared stories about our childhoods, meditated and walked in silence to seek out sound. The group dynamic is intimate and collaborative and the seminar feels experimental and exciting.”

Another student in “The Arts of Silence,” Elizabeth Bitsy Dean ’17 [full disclosure: Elizabeth is the Online Editor for the Miscellany News], shared her motivation for taking the class, “I took the class because it was unlike any other classes offered here; the opportunity to explore a complex concept in an open, interdisciplinary way isn’t one to pass up. I think classes have gone great so far, we have developed a good classroom environment and are already having interesting conversations.”

Leslie Dunn teaches an untraditional seminar class that emphasizes silence. Students’ assignments include meditative practices and journaling that supplement traditional reading and writing work.

Hudson Valley

Arts Concert: The Feelies with special guest Alex Bleeker and the Freaks Storm King Art Center Sunday, September 20 at 2:00pm Free with $8 admission. The last show of Storm King’s Outdoor Concert Series, performed in the famous sculpture garden’s rolling hills.

Lynda Benglis Water Sources Storm King Art Center May 16 - November 8 $8 with Student ID. An exhibit that centers around outdoor water fountains and explores the relationship between water and landscape.

Robert Irwin Excursus: Homage to the Square DIA:Beacon June 1, 2015 - May 2017 $8 with Student ID. Dubbed Irwin’s seminal exhibit, Excursus is the second version of an exhibit originally commissioned in 1998 and revolves around Irwin’s desire to create a completely non-hierarchical form.

Email misc@vassar.edu for more information!

Omar Berrada on Robert Smithson DIA:Beacon Gallery Talks September 12 at 2:00 $8 with Student ID. This one-hour walkthrough and talk closely examines Smithson’s works on display at the gallery.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Beacon 3D Main Street, Beacon NY May 15 - October 15 Free. 20 sculptures located near Main Street featuring 10 new artists and a giant donut.

Passing Storms Gallery66 Cold Spring, NY September 4 - September 27 Free. A collection of storm-related photographs by Gregory Martin and Rick Thurston.

Following Rivers Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries, Gallery at 199 Main Street March 14 - October 3 Free. A series of photos by Alison Jones done for her organization No Water No Life.

Outlooks: Luke Stettner Storm King Art Center May 16 - November 29 $8 with Student ID. An indoor and outdoor exhibit that includes a series of sculptural trenches that reflect geometric forms and pictographic languages.

ARTS

Page 16

September 10, 2015

The Voice of Tame Impala redefines breakup music China voices changes Zander Bashaw

HUMOR & SATIRE EDITOR

Currents Tame Impala Kevin Parker

Clivia Wang

GUEST COLUMNIST

The Voice of China John de Mol Zhejiang Television

S

eason 4 of “The Voice of China” (TVOC) is back.

In 2012, the show launched its first season in China. It soon created frenzy for both audiences and producers, as it topped nation-wide ratings every Friday night. According to The Hollywood Reporter, “the third season of The Voice of China racked up more than 100 million downloads within the first 15 hours of its premiere in July on the Tencent online platform and has topped the ratings every Friday night this season, attracting up to 6.1 million viewers.” The same source showed that advertisement prices for TVOC came to about 1.16 million yuan ($182,000) per 15 seconds.

TVOC is a Chinese reality show, also a part of the The Voice franchise around the world. Just like the U.S. version of The Voice, TVOC gains its large following mostly with its blind auditions and celebrity appearances. Season 4 is expected to be just as popular. It began with Jay Chou’s announcement that he would be joining TVOC as a coach. Chou is arguably the most influential musician in the last two decades in the Chinese-speaking music world. So far he has been the attention of the show. As candidates show up in blind auditions with adaptations to his hits such as “Shuang Jie Gun” and “Qing Tian,” they claim to be thrilled to meet him in person.

The idea of diversity becomes prominent in this season. Young applicants, possibly drawn by the presence of Chou, invigorate the show with a large variety of background and thoughts. Ike Zhao, 19, is a studio art major in RISD. She adapted two radio hits, “All About That Bass” and “I’m Eating Fried Chicken in Plaza RenMin,” admitting that this mix of motives (fitness and romantic relationship) represent her life at this stage. Another contestant, Will Jay, is a Los Angeles native and a member of the former boyband IM5. He performed his bilingual version of “Lemon Tree.” Vanatsaya Viseskul, above all, created an instant hit on the Internet as a 16-year-old Thai girl who looks and sings in near uniform of the Taiwanese icon of the ’80s, Teresa Teng. Her interpretation of “Qian Yan Wan Yu” was nearly indistinguishable from Teng’s original; it was soft, tender and nostalgic.

The set-up of the show has changed as well.

This season introduces a new installation of double-blindness, which means that a box of curtains is drawn to encase the contestant, thus disabling not only the coaches but also the audience in identifying the contestants by anything but their voices.

Only when the contestants have finished the song and agree to show themselves could we discover what’s behind the curtains. With this new establishment, Lin Yan, 39, a Rock ’n’ Roll mom, surprised many of the audiences. Her voice was husky, bass and instinctively masculine, which led the coaches to think that she was a male singer. But at any rate, she appeared small in person but has an immeasurable persona, along with her cornrows, faux-leather vest and baggy jeans, One has to wonder if such diversity in backgrounds represents changes in the current demographic composition of Chinese society, long thought to be ethically and ideologically stagnant.

However, while the variety of contestants is evident in their personal backgrounds, it’s not so much manifested in contestants’ age group: many are within 18 to 26. Also, it is hard keeping the show alive after three previous seasons; and TVOC has done a good job in that aspect, according to feedbacks on social media such as Weibo and Wechat, which are largely positive and engaging. Recruitment of new and old coaches is successful, as they gain no less attention from the audience than the contestants themselves.

The launch of The Voice of China changed the landscape of Chinese television market. Producers first started pirating, but are now adopting foreign reality TV programs for their own use. The market is thrilled. The Chinese people certainly like it, whether as a temporal catharsis to the permeating influence of the government or a half-open window to the outlooks of foreignness.

T

his July, Australian band Tame Impala released their third album “Currents”, a work that stands apart from their previous records. The psychedelic synth-rock style was foreshadowed in the 2012 album “Lonerism”, but this current work is far more melodic.

The attention to melody is displayed within seconds of the first track, “Let It Happen.” The bold, nearly eight-minute-long opener gets at the core sounds and lyrical styles of the album.

The song hints at an increasing emotional pressure, and the musical style details the release of mounting tension. This release is followed by the gradual integration of several melodies (vocal and nonvocal) that were introduced throughout the song.

At the soaring climax, Kevin Parker, the founder, producer and vocalist for the band sings “Maybe, I was ready all along.” Then, the song fades out on that same ambiguous note.

This gradual reduction of volume leaves the listener floating off into the distance with it. The fade-out is so well put together that the listener doesn’t feel like the any of the seven plus minutes were extraneous.

“The bold, nearly eight-minute-long opener gets at the core ...styles of the album.”

Even though “Let it Happen” is arguably the

most complete track on the record, it by no means renders the remainder weak. Most of the remaining songs pay similar attention to harmonic completion.

However, others dabble into the experimental sound department. Three songs are less than two minutes long, which serves as an interesting building plan for potential future work.

Perhaps the wobbling synth of “Nangs” foreshadows in the same way that the “Lonerism” anthems “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” and “Why Won’t They Talk To Me” alluded to what “Currents” became. The pain and struggle with interpersonal relationships elucidated in those Lonerism songs also have a strong presence in these more recent ones.

As far as lyrical and emotional tone go, this album is laced with recognizable breakup trends.

However, this is no resentful Avril Lavigne breakup. Parker’s lyrics and tone reflect moving forward and personal growth, but not without the pain that accompanies such changes.

“Yes, I’m Changing” could be the most relaxed and stoic breakup song of all time. In addition to the slow background, Parker seems to be calm and looking forward when he sings “Yes I’m changing, can’t stop it now/And even if I wanted I wouldn’t know how/Another version of myself I think I found, at last.” At surface level, everything seems well adjusted, but the mournful synth and the hints of despair (such as the long notes on “at last”) imply that this personal change does not lack growing pains.

Change is not only described as inevitable, but also inevitably painful.

The musical style of these various tracks fall under two themes: soft and melodic, funky and rhythmic. A great example of the latter is found in “The Less I Know the Better.” An upbeat intro inspires the listener to lean into the music, where we gradually hear about Parker’s decision to block out what a lover is doing with another man.

As the track goes on, the disparity between the buoyant beat and unfortunate lyrics be-

comes less pronounced. The music gets slower and sadder. This transition marks the darker veil thrown over these calm tracks about personal change and emotional release. The self doubt and regret that stem from such moments are not glossed over in Currents. The album displays the upstream and downstream causes and effects of letting something happen. Parker’s lyrics display this doubt through equivocal statements and double meanings.

“Maybe, I was ready all along,” for example, has a dark side, implying that Parker might never be able to prepare for his emotions. This equivocal nature also relates directly to the conflicting way the music sounds: in this case, simultaneously relaxed and mournful.

“Change is not only described as inevitable, but also inevitably painful.”

Perhaps the posterchild of this ambiguity is the closing track, “New Person, Same Old Mistakes.” Beneath it’s brooding, funky beat is a sense of impending disaster as the song builds to a chorus where two voices seem to argue with each other. Over an ominous pulsing rhythm, the song transitions from a near silent buildup to the surging chorus. Two voices quarrel “Feel like a brand new person (But you make the same old mistakes)/I don’t care I’m in love (Stop before it’s too late).”

This self doubt and combative energy truly summarize what makes this album interesting.

Parker is addressing the complexity and duplicity of every choice and moment. Currents displays a river of actions and emotions; it doesn’t push listeners blindly to a finish line, but rather it pulls them in many directions by many streams of sound and feeling.

Heller empowers through recent film Delphine Douglas GUEST COLUMNIST

Diary of a Teenage Girl Marielle Heller Archer Gay Productions

I

saw “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” right after watching Noah Baumbach’s “Mistress America”, and when my friend and I finally left the theater we spent the subway ride home comparing the two. Both are coming-of-age stories about young, creative women in big, North American cities. Both have been described as unique, honest and different, but “The Diary of a Teenage Girl” made a stronger impression on me and my friend.

Marielle Heller, a 2012 Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Fellow. directed the film. She adapted Phoebe Gloeckner’s novel of the same name into the screenplay. It stars Bel Powley as Minnie, a precocious fourteen-year-old from San Francisco whose audio diary serves as the narration. Her drawings and cartoons also illustrate her ideas and thoughts, which become the focus of the film. I felt it stood out from other coming-of-age stories because of the way the film reflects Minnie’s efforts to take control of her life and personhood.

The film begins after Minnie loses her virginity to Monroe, her mother’s adult boyfriend, played by Alexander Skarsgård, known for his roles in True Blood and Zoolander.

She is thrilled and walks through San Francisco with a new curiosity for sex, which seems to be everywhere. She records in her diary, “This makes me officially an adult.” She then continues her teenage life, practicing drawing, talking and going out with her friend Kimmie and having sex with other teenagers.

Meanwhile, she is in love with Monroe and continuing a sexual relationship with him behind her mother’s back. Minnie falls hopelessly in love with Monroe, daydreams about him and even manipulates him into continuing their relationship or into having sex.

But at the same time it’s very clear that Minnie is a fourteen-year-old, and Monroe is an adult dating her and her mother.

This isn’t another Lolita or Oedipus however, because Minnie is telling the story. I didn’t feel like I was observing her, I felt like I was being invited by a human being to witness her situation and feel alongside her.

Her relationship with Monroe is serious and a major part of the plot, but at the same time, she has a lot more going on in her life, and the movie passes the Bechdel test easily. At one point when Monroe tries to end their relationship she even says, “I refuse to be some sniveling cry baby.

This is my life.” She declares to take back the control of her emotions.

But despite this declaration, she’s still a teenage girl and some things are out of her control.

She can’t control her relationship with a grown man or make the teenage boys she meets understand her. She looses control due to drugs and alcohol more than once and regrets her decisions.

The film reads like a list of Minnie trying to do the things she wants to do: draw, have sex and be loved, all the while realizing that she can’t do all of those things all of the time.

“This isn’t another Lolita or Oedipus... because Minnie is telling the story.”

In the face of these challenges, Minnie has a sense of humor and isn’t afraid to show emotion, crying and screaming more than once. Her diary and drawings clearly illustrate her feelings and even though I hadn’t experienced exactly what she was going through, I was able to relate to and feel strongly for her.

Despite Minnie being unable to completely dictate everything about her life, the film is empowering. Unfortunately, the film’s rating prevented many teenagers, like Minnie, from seeing the film. Even on IMDB the top comment today

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

describes the film as being like “child pornography,” and accuses people who sat through the film of being pedophiles.

The film does feature a fourteen-year-old having sex and discovering her sexuality. It also features her having sex with an adult man, which is statutory rape. However, the film is Minnie’s story. From her point of view we learned that the relationship was unhealthy and a bad idea.

It hurt her mother, played by Kristen Wiig, and it wasn’t allowing her to grow as a person and empower herself.

Through the relationship, however, she learned about sex, which she discovered was something she loved, and about romantic relationships, even if in a perverse way. I can’t deny that their relationship was disturbing, but it was supposed to be. It was another example of how hard it is to be a teenager and also of the humanity of everyone involved.

While the film opens with Minnie reflecting on her life after having sex for the first time, it ends after she gives Monroe a drawing as a peace offering. In both scenes she is the one in control. As for those who believe that teenage girls having sex is blatantly immoral and that other teenagers should be protected from exposure to sexuality, (including the supposedly ugly side), they didn’t understand the message of the film.

Minnie doesn’t sugar-coat anything and forces the audience to reflect on controversial and challenging issues, but she also showed the audience how cool, funny and interesting teenage girls are.

Her drawings are beautiful and she walks through San Francisco with a cartoon version of Aline Kominsky-Crumb, an underground cartoonist, to whom she poetically describes her problems. She’s sarcastic and dramatic, making snide comments but also asserts herself and has a mature and difficult conversation with her father.

We’re constantly reminded that Minnie is incredibly smart, interesting, reckless and a teenager. I thought the movie was really entertaining, beautiful and smart, and it gave an interesting perspective on what it’s like to grow up.

ARTS

September 10, 2015

Page 17

Groups showcase creativity on campus Excuse me, CAAD continued from page 1 programming.”

Pacio and four student assistants plan how to use the space, which has already been home to many exhibits and clubs. He hopes to increase its visibility both on and off campus this year.

In an emailed statement, Pacio explained, “It is my goal in this year to increase the awareness across campus, and in the community, about what [CAAD] is and does. The Collaboratory is one part of our programming, but it is also the part that is the most accessible to the widest range of people.”

He continued, “It my goal to have the Collaboratory move around campus more this academic year and for it to reach a wider range of students, faculty, and staff. I would really like to see more student organizations view the space as a resource to their programming, while maintaining opportunities for individuals projects.”

Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CAAD aims to make creative work accessible to Vassar’s student body. The Collaboratory is one part of the initiative that includes three other Multi-Arts Collective projects. According to Pacio, “They are all very unique and great examples of what this grant does.”

The Collaboratory’s portability makes it one of the most flexible and visible CAAD projects on campus. It is a long retrofitted trailer that can be used by students or student groups to display artwork, host workshops or just promote activities on campus.

Groups and individuals must submit proposals to use the space. Each year, the Collaboratory tries to center its projects around a particular theme. Last year’s theme was sight. Thus, projects that incorporated visual aspects were given priority. Theme aside, any student or student group can apply to use the Collaboratory.

This year’s theme is sound. The space’s first occupants, Vassar on Tap, were a natural fit as Vassar’s only tap dance group, so they took over the Collaboratory from Aug. 31 until Sept.

4. They coaxed passerby in with free cookies and kept them interested with mini lessons and more information on the craft. Emma Butensky ’18, the group’s President, explained the process

Campus Canvas

of getting their exhibit underway, “There was a call for proposals last spring, so we applied and we got the space for this week. It was a really nice experience dealing with the Collaboratory people. They were really helpful and friendly. It was a pretty easy application and once we were accepted, everything went smoothly. In the beginning of summer Tom contacted me and we started figuring out some of the logistics of the set up process and exactly how the space was going to be utilized.”

The group outfitted the trailer with streamers and festive decorations while videos of tap dancing played against the back wall. Small wooden boards served as spaces for lessons.

Butensky was surprised with the exhibit’s success. She explained, “This is our first time using the Collaboratory, so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect. It’s been going really well though. A lot of people have come in and a lot of people have signed up for the email list. We have pages of emails right now. Lots of freshmen have come in and we’ve just been meeting a lot of cool new people.”

The space gives students great freedom to choose how they want to present their exhibit. “We had a lot of leeway with the space. We told them what we were going to do and they approved it but we had pretty much total freedom,” explained Butensky.

This freedom allows students to share their creativity with a broad audience. Diya Nag ’18, of Vassar on Tap, explained, “Emma’s really a great teacher. She’s worked with a lot of really great tap dancers, so it’s cool to have that experience.

It’s nice to get to learn something that you’ve never experienced before … you grow a lot.”

Through the Collaboratory, these lessons have reached many students outside of the club’s membership.

Vassar on Tap’s workshops took place outside of the College Center but the space is already on to its next location where the Vassar Greens and Student Class Issues Alliance (SCIA) teamed up to put on a textbook swap in the space. The free, “zero-waste” swap will take place all week between 12:00 and 2:00.

Co-President of the Vassar Greens, Ashley

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

Hoyle ’18, explained, “CAAD was absolutely amazing! They helped us get really creative with our time in the Collaboratory by moving the trailer to the green space next to the Crafted Kup and have met with me and my Co-President frequently to check in and help with publicity etc.”

So far, the collaboration and move have been successful. “The first few days have gone really well! We have had a lot of donations as well as foot traffic and we hope people continue to stop by to see what’s available as well as chat with members of the Greens about the Textbook Swap and what we do as a whole,” elaborated Hoyle.

Pacio moved the Collaboratory off campus for the first time to host the swap in an effort to increase community visibility. “This week, in working with Vassar Greens and the Student Class Issues Alliance, we decided an ideal location for the Collaboratory would be the green space on Raymond Ave. by Crafted Kup,” wrote Pacio. “While this is property owned by the college, and the Collaboratory is clearly a college vehicle, several permits had to be filed with the town of Poughkeepsie to facilitate this move.”

Pacio’s move into the community is just one of his many ideas to try to have CAAD and Vassar engage more with the surrounding community. While he may have ideas of his own, Pacio wants to keep CAAD as a student space. “...when CAAD works at its best is when ideas come from the Vassar community and I can help bring those ideas to fruition. That is how I see my job with CAAD—bring me your ideas and I will help figure out what is possible. It’s a very exciting position to be in, both creative and problem-solving centered the same time,” wrote Pacio.

He hopes that the Collaboratory will attract students to the previously unused space. “Outside of that time, it is my hope to invite some other organizations to use the space outside of the Collaboratory for small concerts, or sharings of their creative work, ideally those based in sound,” he explained. Already, Vassar Greens and SCIA will host an informal coffeehouse outside on Friday at 6:00 p.m. submit to misc@vassar.edu

Who is your celebrity dad?

“Justin Bieber.”

— James Fast ’18

“Dylan and Cole Sprouse.”

— Alec Shashaty ’18

“Axl Rose.”

— Marco Pittarelli ’18

“Who’s the old guy in ‘Men in Black?’

Oh, Tommy Lee Jones.”

— Nathaniel Lindley ’18

“Idris Elba.”

— Gabe Kawagule ’17

I took this picture last year when visiting my grandparents in Colombia. I had not seen them in a couple of years and flew to visit my grandmother. She had been in and out of the hospital for several months and was waiting for a kidney transplant. She passed away in May while I was studying in Madrid. I had never thought of this picture as being a piece of “art” and do not think of myself as a photographer.

Yet, this photograph and experience has made me question my relationship with “art,” my personal life, and different circumstances in which we are placed. To what extent are these mementos a piece of my work? To what extent is art a basis for opportunism? How much should an artist share in the name of art or success? Is this an homage or disrespect to her memory? Can this piece be talked about in terms of space, nameless figures, colors, and composition and is doing so overlooking its personal and emotional power?

My grandmother, Esperanza, was planning on coming to Vassar for my graduation. Originally, when I was contacted by the Misc I thought about showing a different piece, yet I want to take this opportunity to introduce my grandmother to a part of my life she never had the chance to see. At times, a fantasy world filled with questions about art, politics, philosophy, academia, alcohol, partying, controversy, anxiety, activism, etc. A place a million times different from her Pakistan Cinco patio in Girardot, Cundinamarca.

-Tomás Guarnizo ’16

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“Every actor who plays a single dad and is in a Disney Channel original movie.”

—Elyse Walczyk ’16

Zander Bashaw, Humor & Satire Editor Connor McIlwain, Reporter

SPORTS

Page 18

September 10, 2015

Field hockey presses forward, flicks away competition Winnie Yeates GUEST REPORTER

W

ith ten new freshman and ten returning players, women’s field hockey is looking at a whole new team comprised of both fresh talent and experience. Earning the fourth spot in the recent 2015 Liberty League season poll, the Brewers are looking to do big things in their 2015 season. Among the ten returning players, they will return three All-Liberty League performers this season; seniors Lauren Wiebe and Bianca Zarrella, and junior Lauren Shumate.

Along with these talented performers, the large group of freshmen and returning players will have an experienced group of leaders to propel

their team forward.

Over the past two seasons, Vassar’s field hockey team has certainly seen some of its most memorable moments in the program’s lengthy history. For the first time ever, the team captured double-digit wins in consecutive seasons while earning a spot in the Liberty League tournament. The Brewers even got several votes in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Top 20 poll last year.

Despite starting off with an 11-1 record last year, the team finished 11-7. The poor finish was likely due to a lack of players as injuries and illness took a heavy toll on the squad. However, this year this is not likely to be a problem as Head

courtesy of Vassar College Athlletics

Senior Bianca Zarella and women’s field hockey team celebrate during the dominant start to their season. The team boasts a record of 3-0 as of Tuesday, highlighted by a 6-0 win over Manhattanville.

Coach Michael Warari recruited one of the biggest incoming classes in the program’s history.

Shumate spoke about the advantage of having a large team: “With larger teams, there are more subs, and with a team this size, we will be able to make it farther than we ever have in VC history.”

The Brewers have actively been working on their skills and fitness over the summer and preseason. Senior Haley Merritt spoke of her summer training; “I would run after work most days to be in the best shape I could be in. I don’t have a turf field at home so I end up playing alone on a tennis court a lot which is always interesting but better than grass!” Some players even played in field hockey pick-up games or leagues over the summer. Zarrella reiterated the sentiments, “I lifted and went on runs 2-3 times a week to get in good physical shape. I also played in pick-up leagues every week to re-sharpen my stick skills and game sense for the season.” During their team pre-season at school, Zarrella explained how they worked on certain effective tactics to push them forward in upcoming games. “We have spent many hours going over our press. The press is a way of spreading the field to discourage the other team from getting the ball down the field, ultimately with the end goal of creating turnovers.”

The team’s fitness and hard work has certainly showed as their success in their early season continues. As of Tuesday, the Brewers were undefeated with a 3-0 record. They opened their season with a strong 6-0 road-victory over Manhattanville College, and later captured their second consecutive and fourth overall Betty Richey title at home this past weekend by defeating Smith College 3-0 and William Patterson 2-1.

The young team is enthusiastic about the season and eager to continue to get to know each other over the rest of the year. Mer-

ritt was enthused over the team’s potential, “I think we’re most excited just to get back into league play and really show what we can do, and go further than we have the past two years.” Shumate continued, “Incoming freshmen are adding new talent and skill while returners are looking stronger than ever. Each freshman has their own style of play, which is bringing Vassar Field Hockey to a whole new level. Everyone gets along with everyone. We are already a tight-knit family, and it shows on the field.” Zarrella spoke about getting the larger team to mesh well, “The biggest challenge is trying to incorporate the new players with the older ones. Our preseason included house [and team] bonding, so that we could really get to know each other because I don’t think anything beats playing a sport that you love with friends.” The team genuinely wants to make their teammates proud and make the experience of playing together enjoyable for everyone. These sentiments are reflected with their cherished team saying, “Always take care of your girls.”

While the Brewers have improved significantly over the last two years and have proven themselves to be a major threat in the League this year, the team is hungry for more, and strives every day to get better and better. They have their eye on the coveted Liberty League title and are not stopping for anything. According to Warari, the team is taking a teamfirst mentality. “Each member of the team has been working equally hard, playing smart and playing for the benefit of the team. I feel like we are the closest we have ever been and the deep connections [are] already established and [show] in how we spend time together, how we practice and definitely how we play. I am pleased and proud of the team so far; the effort, time and energy they have poured and keep pouring so far has been good!”

Walsh brings wealth of experience to Brewer campus WALSH continued from page 1

her background that it is possible to excel at both. She understands collegiate athletics and has broad experience in the past with all facets of running a department and athletics program.

She is extremely organized and passionate about her work and role and will be a valuable contributor to the success of the college.”

While at Geneseo, Walsh helped implement the Student Athlete-Foundational Education (SAFE) program; a new program that utilized evidence based programming to enhance the development of the whole student athlete.

Walsh’s hope as Director is to make sure that all aspects of a student’s character are receiving attention and advancing. Furthermore, Walsh truly appreciates and enjoys being at D3 institutions. “Division III places a distinct emphasis on the ‘student’ in the phrase ‘student-athlete’.

Although there may be a few exceptions, student-athletes at the Division III level are playing for the love of the game and I very much enjoy the opportunity to work with such dedicated individuals.”

All of this has given Culligan hope in both finding Walsh and choosing her as Director.

“I hope that we will find Vassar Athletics rising to higher regional and national levels of achievement as well as establishing Vassar College as the best institution both athletically and academically in our respective league(s).

When searching for a new Director, we wanted someone who could take this department and our program to that next level and I sincerely believe we have found that in her.”

One way in which Walsh has already begun addressing student athlete’s concerns on campus is through the issues surrounding the Varsity Weight Room. Currently out-of-season athletes are restricted from using the Varsity Weight Room or having team lifts. This has been a big change for many athletes, particularly those not playing a fall sport as many have only ever gone to the Varsity Weight Room to lift as their sport mandates it. Walsh explained how the weight room issues have actually allowed her to pursue something she truly enjoys about her job. “One of the things I’ve enjoyed most since assuming the Director position here at Vassar has been the opportunity to collaborate with student-athletes to address challenges. In working through policy changes to

courtesy of Vassar College Athletics

University and then Geneseo, in more administrative capacities.

Head men’s and women’s fencing coach Bruce Gillman explained how qualified and what a great fit Walsh was for Vassar along with a more personal connection Walsh has with the school. “[Walsh] is very familiar with what it is like to be a Division III athlete at a school like Vassar. Her sister attended Vassar and she was on Coach [Judy] Finerghty’s Women’s Lacrosse team. So Michelle is very familiar with Vassar specifically. She went to fellow sister school Smith for her Masters Degree, and has one of the most renowned programs in Athletics and Sports Management and Coaching Education. [She was a] Coach and Administrator at Lawrence University and at St. Lawrence (a Liberty League school). [She’s had] extensive experience as Associate AD at SUNY Geneseo.

Michelle has experience with schools like ours, knows our school well, and was ready to move up from Associate AD to AD.” According to Walsh, this position represents a milestone for her in terms of her career.

“Since making the decision to purse a career in intercollegiate athletics, my long term professional goal has been to obtain a Director of Athletics position at an academically rigorous Division III institution that values the role of athletics, physical education and recreation in the fulfillment of its mission. It’s clear that Vassar offers academic rigor while also offering a highly competitive and integrative athletics and recreation experience. Furthermore, as a person who has had the opportunity to attend graduate school at Smith College, I have a deep appreciation for and understanding of what it means to be an original Seven Sisters College. I was particularly drawn to Vassar’s commitment to a liberal arts education in a diverse and inclusive learning community. I applied for the Director position when it became available and was both thrilled and humbled to be selected as the Director of Athletics and Physical Education at the conclusion of the interview process.”

Culligan described what she believes Walsh is bringing with her to her new role as Director. “[Because] she attended Swarthmore College… she understands what pressures are on all of our student athletes but she also knows from

New Director of Athletics and Physical Education Michelle Walsh brings a wealth of experience and

ensure compliance with NCAA rules, I’ve been impressed with the passion and commitment of our student-athletes as well as the leadership from SAAC. I’m confident we’ll continue to work together to create the best possible outcome while working to generate support for the proposed legislation [about the rules problem] up for vote in January.”

When describing Walsh’s current legislation proposals, Gillman expressed that he was impressed and believed Walsh is a great asset for Vassar. “Michelle seems to me to be a clear leader and we are in need of good leadership. I think she can help us move forward…[she] has served on NCAA Committees.” Gillman also disclosed a hope he described as a bit selfish– for Walsh to serve on the NCAA Fencing Committee.

Culligan explained how she’s seen the programs and department change and progress so much in her time here and now Walsh and her are working together to help fully accomplish Vassar’s goals. “When I first arrived on campus there was no Prentiss, but rather a couple

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

of lackluster fields and we were finishing up the renovation of Kenyon Hall. Many of our teams back then were not as competitive as they are today and we needed to establish some guidelines and operating processes and procedures to move forward. We have added facilities [and] staff, become more competitive and have reached regional and now national prominence…to me this is a step forward and a positive one. The challenge I was given when I was hired [in 2005] was to help establish Vassar College Athletics as a highly competitive program and one that could compete for and win league championships and move forward into NCAA playoffs and championships. We are there and with a few more things left to be put in placewill accomplish that charge fully.”

An excited Walsh cites student-athletes as the best part of her job. “The student-athletes I’ve had the opportunity to meet thus far have been amazing! We have a diverse group of student-athletes from all over the world making an impact on their teams, in the classroom, and in their respective communities.”

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Page 19

Poignant performances confirm baseball is back Zach Rippe

SPORTS EDITOR

A

s it stands today, the Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and New York Mets are all in first place. Yes the Astros, a team that won 51 games two years ago is in first place. Yes, the Blue Jays, a team that has missed the playoffs every year since 1993 is crushing baseballs and it’s competition. Even if you started following the MLB this year and knew nothing of these teams and their historical contexts, it’s hard to say that this season is typical.

The power drought that seems to have plagued baseball over the past few years seems to be disappearing as according to ESPN.com, about 30 players seem to be on pace to hit at least 30 home runs this year. In spite of this statistic, 2015 has also been “The Year of the Pitcher” to a certain extent. With an abundance of starting pitching that includes the likes of Zach Greinke and his sub-2.00 earned run average; Jake Arrieta, whose dominance over the past few months has catapulted him into the Cy Young discussion; consistently masterful pitching from perennial ace Clayton Kershaw; and Dallas Keuchel of the Houston Astros and a host of other scary seasons from should-be Cy Young contenders all prove that young, powerful arms will be running the league for years to come.

I guess the point I’m making is simply this: baseball is exciting again. Sure, every year has its moments, but there have been a host of improbable performances that have made this season something of legend. Take the Mets for example. Two days before the trade deadline, the worst hitting team in baseball over the past two months announced (unofficially via Twitter I must add) that they would be trading Wilmer Flores and Zack Wheeler for all-star Carlos Gomez. Fans were ecstatic, so much so that they began to cheer for Flores as he recorded a routine out at the plate in the middle of the game. Flores eventually pieced together

the details of the trade and began to cry as he took the field. He became the laughing stock of all sports media and fell victim to Tom Hanks’ famous quote in “A League of Their Own”, “There’s no crying in baseball.”

To make a long story short, the trade fell through, Flores hit a walk off homerun in what was then the biggest series of the Mets’ season, the team traded for Yoenis Cespedes and took over first place from the flawed Washington Nationals, and now boast the most powerful offense in the National League over the past few months. Matt Harvey, the team’s posterboy dubbed “The Dark Knight of Gotham” by Sports Illustrated a few years ago, made controversial statements regarding his health, innings limit and postseason eligibility last week, evoking the famed quote from “The Dark Knight”: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Harvey backtracked on these comments, yet put the Mets in a 7-1 hole Tuesday night. Of course, his performance was salvaged by an incredible comeback that saw the team score six runs with two outs in the seventh inning to tie the game. They won 8-7. Add in moments like David Wright hitting a homerun in his first at bat in four months and a host of dramatic come-from-behind victories and you have the makings of a storybook season.

But enough about the Mets. The addition of a second wild card has shown to increase competitiveness amongst teams that in the past would have been out of the race come July.

Pittsburg and Chicago, two perennial losers in their own right, boast the second and third best records in the national league but are sadly destined to face each other in a one-game playoff come postseason time. In any other year, the Cardinals, aka the Yankees of the National League, armed with their video game-like rotation of gods and the best record in baseball, seem destined to steamroll through any and all competition on their way to a World Series title. But this year, anything goes. 75004

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Page 20

September 10, 2015

Young, Wild and Free: Youthful talent sparks Vassar XC Ashley Hoyle REPORTER

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courtesy of Vassar College Athletics

oming out of a long summer grinding away with personal training regimens and a rigorous preseason training block, the Vassar cross country program is preparing to enter the 2015 season with a largely new team. Cross country is welcoming eight freshman women and five freshman men to the roster while only returning two seniors. This brings a chance to start fresh after a less than ideal finish overall in the 2014 season. Things are already looking good, as the women’s program has been ranked as high as 20th in the United States Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Poll and the men have finished first over ten teams competing in the Ron Stonitsch Invitational at Vassar.

The women came in third of eleven teams.

The cross country season is like a race itself: a buildup of competitions that get tougher and tougher with the passing time. The season holds much competition, but culminates in the end in three important events: the Seven Sisters Tournament, Liberty League Championships and the NCAA Atlantic Regional tournament.

A top-five placing at the latter guarantees a bid to the NCAA national competition.

Sophomore Meghan Willcoxon, a standout team member said of Vassar College cross country or VCXC’s competitive goals this year, “As a team, we’re really looking to make an impact in the league with every race this season, which will help us to get to a good spot for the championship races later in the season. A big goal for the women’s team is to take first at the Seven Sisters Championship, and we also have our eyes set on Nationals.” On a personal level, Willcoxon has a plan to help lead the team accomplish these aspirations. “My personal goals for the season are to inspire my teammates at practices and in races and to be a supportive teammate and leader.”

Senior Ava Farrell has a more intangible goal for her final year in the program. She explained, “One thing I’d really like to see entering this

season is a continuation of the healthy team dynamic that we’ve had going since preseason began. I think every member on our women’s team is committed to the team aspect of cross country, and working together to better ourselves as a whole.”

The work for VCXC to achieve these goals started very early–this summer. Gabe Fishman explained, “A lot of the work and preparation for our season starts in the summer. We ramp up mileage in the summer to 60-80 miles a week. Summer sets a base of work that helps us train at a high level in the fall. Everyone is grinding out the summer miles and we all keep in good touch with each other. During season the mileage stays the same, but workouts increase and we race more and more. Consistency is key in training, and not letting the little things get in the way of that.”

Farrell commented on what parts of their training the team will need to focus on throughout the fall and the season, “Communicating amongst ourselves is key–this is a team sport but still a compilation of individual efforts, which makes it easier to lose communication with your teammates. I think many people in this sport agree that working together gives us a unique relationship from which a great deal of our motivation stems. Really we need to just keep doing what we’ve been doing, as we’ve got a really healthy team atmosphere going so far.”

Clearly the work ethic is where it needs to be, and another strength that the team has this year is its age. “A big strength is the young team we have this year. We graduated five seniors this past spring, and have a really solid group of eight freshman women coming in. It’s a great opportunity for the returning members of the team to set the tone for the incoming group, lead by example, and show them why this team is important to us,” said Farrell. Willcoxon added, “I think one of our biggest hurdles is overcoming how we may be perceived by other teams and how those views transfer to our own thoughts. We are a strong team, and we need

Sophomore Philip Brown ran a personal best time of 20:08.4 at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational at the Vassar Farm this past weekend, finishing eighth on the team to help the Brewers win the meet. to believe it!”

One obstacle could come in the form of injury, as the cross country season is very long and increases in intensity in time. “An obstacle we face every season is keeping everyone healthy.

It’s a long competitive season, and injuries do tend to come up in the mid to later end of it.

Our coaches are doing their best to stay on top of injury prevention through techniques like gate analysis and giving certain athletes muscle strengthening exercises tailored specifically to them,” said Farrell.

What will sustain the cross country team through obstacles is their powerful bond and sense of camaraderie. “I’m most excited about seeing what unfolds this season! With so many new runners and so few returners, really anything can happen. I’m excited to see how the

pack evolves and attacks each race! My favorite part of preseason was getting to see everyone again, catch up with those who were abroad, and talk about the great opportunities ahead.

We have a lot of traditions on the team, so it’s great to come back knowing how much fun Vassar cross country is!” said Willcoxon. This team dynamic also makes Fishman hopeful. He added, “Honestly we’re a great group of guys, and are really close good friends. As much as we put in tons of work, we have a lot of fun doing it together. It will be exciting to see the hard work we put in last year compound into this year’s success. Last year is sort of a disappointment, not in a lack of hard work, just a poor finish. We’ll hopefully see the work ethic carry over into this season, and hopefully even into next year.”

Strong starts signal successful fall for all Brewer teams Zach Rippe

SPORTS EDITOR Men’s Soccer

would never relinquish. The women’s team will look to continue their successful play this weekend at the Stevens Engineering Cup in Hoboken, NJ where they will face Stevens Tech on Saturday at 12:30 and Whitman College the next day at the same time.

Men’s Rugby

The Fall 2015 rugby season began this past weekend. The men’s team competed against SUNY New Paltz on Sunday, winning a close contest 27-14. The Brewers began the game with clean, well-put together phases, but that quickly faded as the game drew on. Vassar’s first try came from junior Seamus Taylor on the right side. Later in the half, Vargas went over and sophomore Gary Garcia completed his first conversion of the year. Garcia then notted a penalty as the half drew to a close to give Vassar a 15-0 lead. Garcia, playing in his first rugby game ever, started at scrum half

courtesy of Vassar College Athletics

The men’s soccer team opened up their season with a convincing 5-0 victory against Maritime College on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Five different Brewers scored a point on the day as Vassar netted four goals in the first half, including a header by senior captain Jordan Palmer that came on a cross from sophomore Reid Smith in the 15th minute. Senior Tom Weichert then scored off a free kick in the 22nd minute that deflected off the goalie. Sophomore Jose Novas lead the team with five points on the day and scored the next two goals off a rebound from a Wiechert shot and a ball from Palmer respectively. Vassar’s final score came in the 57th minute as senior Nick Hess headed a cross into the net. The men then headed to the Roger Williams/Squad Locker Classic this weekend where they faced Salve Regina this past Saturday. Vassar got out to an early lead via a goal from Palmer in the 33rd minute. The Seahawks then scored twice before freshman Tyler Gilmore scored his first collegiate goal with 2:10 remaining in regulation to knot up the game. The Brewers took the game into a second overtime before settling for a 2-2 tie. On Sunday, the men defeated Roger Williams University 5-1 to close out the weekend event. Weichert scored two goals and Palmer scored again on a header to lead the team as Vassar handed Roger Williams their first loss of the season. Senior Gavin Jennings also contributed a goal in the contest as Vassar finished the day strong.

University. Freshman Audrey Pillsbury scored her first collegiate goal to give Vassar the lead in the 35 minute. NYU tied things up in the 52 minute with a goal from NYU freshman Megan Carver and almost took the game in the first overtime, however, Carver’s shot bounced off the crossbar. Ten minutes later, freshman Rebecca Andrews scored a game-winning goal as she received a ball collected with space down the left sideline by sophomore Amanda McFarland and headed it into the net to give the Brewers the win in dramatic fashion. On Tuesday evening, the Vassar women faced off against Western Connecticut State University. The Brewers defeated the Colonials 2-0 to secure their first shutout of the season. Vassar outshot Western Connecticut State 18-9. Junior Emily Krebs scored her first goal of the season to put Vassar ahead 1-0 and freshman Arianna Riemma tallied the first goal of her college career to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead that they

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team began their year with a tight 1-0 loss to Mount Saint Mary College on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Mount Saint Mary senior Melissa Guillemette scored the only goal of the game in the 71 minute. Despite a 10-6 advantage in shots on goal, the Brewers could not break through the Knights’ defense.

This game snapped a 15-game winning streak for Vassar over Mount Saint Mary. The women were able to rebound this past Saturday with a 2-1 overtime victory against New York

this past Saturday. McFarland sent a powerful cross to freshman Rebecca Andrews to win the game.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

and played with intensity and toughness. Despite beginning the game with decent shape, the men began to tire in the second half as they missed tackles, failed to commit to rucks and let New Paltz back in the game with two late second-half tries to make the score 20-14. Still the Brewers managed to keep some distance as Vargas went over late in the game to score his second try and seal the victory for Vassar. The men look to build upon this effort and continue their winning ways against Siena College next Saturday.

Women’s Volleyball

The season began in Camden, NJ for the Vassar women’s volleyball team as they faced off against Rutgers-Camden Wednesday, Sept. 2.

The women won three straight sets 25-16, 25-21 and 26-24. The Brewers were aided by their 11 service-aces on the day and to Rutgers’ one and held the Raptors to a .010 hitting percentage.

Junior hitter Gabby Miller contributed seven kills, 10 digs and two blocks on the day to go along with three service-aces. Freshman Devin Gallagher added six kills in her first collegiate match as well. Sophomores Alex Sams and Bria Corham added six kills as well and freshman Annie MacMillan added a team-best 11 assists with her two aces and seven digs to round out her first game. This past Saturday, the women faced both University of New England and Lehman College in a tri-match and swept them both 3-0. They stopped UNE 25-18, 25-13 and 2522 respectively and were lead by Gallagher who added eight kills and four blocks on the day.

Vassar fell behind 5-1 in the final set but fought to regain the lead at 6-5 with a kill from sophomore Alex Sams. After the match was tied at 10, the Brewers took control to close out the match. The Brewers also handled Lehman well, winning 25-16, 25-9 and 25-18. Gallagher again lead the team with 13 kills on just 25 attacks.

Vassar had 39 kills in the victory, their most so far in a match this season. The team finished with a .290 hitting percentage in their final set, their best on the day. Miller puller her weight as well, contributing seven kills, six aces, eight digs and three blocks.