The Miscellany News
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Volume CL | Issue 2
September 14, 2017
Soccer snags two home wins
Pizzarelli moves jazz forward Courtesy of Vassar College
Mack Liederman Sports Editor
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young and promising Brewer women’s soccer team found its stride and rewrote the record books this past weekend, as they picked up two impressive home wins in the Vassar Invitational. After suffering two early season losses to NYU and Western Connecticut State and a tie against Montclair State, the Brewers rebounded with a 3-0 shutout of Mount Saint Mary College (MSMC) in the opening match of the Invitational on Saturday. Early in the game, the Brewers proved that they had overcome their previous struggles with finishing plays. Vassar was aggressive right out of the gate, stringing together ambitious lead passes to their forwards and getting many great looks on goal in the first 10 minutes. The scoring opened in just the ninth minute, when junior midfielder Sara Seper took a very deceiving lead pass that snuck through several MSMC Knight defenders and found fellow junior Audrey Pillsbury near the box. Pillsbury, noticing the MSMC goalkeeper Mary Riley was out of position, raced to the ball for a slide kick. See SOCCER on page 18
On Sept. 6, President Elizabeth Bradley (center) gave her first address at Vassar’s Fall Convocation. Associate Professor of Film Mia Mask (right) delivered the keynote speech, and VSA President Anish Kanoria ’18 also spoke.
Convocation ushers in a new year Dylan Smith Reporter
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n Wednesday, Sept. 6, Vassar students, faculty and community members gathered in the Chapel to witness the academic circle of life. The annual Convocation ceremony recognizes the Vassar community in all stages of its academic careers: first-years, graduating seniors and alumnae/i. The theme of the evening was transition and reflection, resonating with students and alumnae/i as they take their next academic steps. Associate Professor of Film Mia Mask delivered the Convocation address. Titled “Transformation and Renewal: Moving Beyond Existential Crisis,” Mask remarked on periods of life
transitions and existentialism. Vassar College President Elizabeth Bradley and Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Anish Kanoria ’18, who gave remarks Wednesday afternoon as well, also touched on these themes. Vassar’s senior class—the Class of 2018—marked the event as the beginning of their final days at Vassar. They began the evening by processing through the Chapel and taking the stage to stand before the audience. The Convocation Choir, composed of Vassar students, performed Anton Bruckner’s “Os justi meditabitur.” Accompanied by the mighty Chapel organ, the students’ melody struck a solemn mood, reflecting the bittersweet atmosphere of the ceremony.
Next, President Bradley took to the lectern to welcome everyone to this year’s Fall Convocation ceremony, Bradley’s first at Vassar. She took the opportunity to reflect on a personal anecdote. Setting the tone for the two subsequent speakers, Bradley directly addressed the theme of the afternoon. “You’re likely undergoing transformation,” Bradley said. “I’m going to talk about letting go of things that have been important to me.” Bradley’s remarks harkened back to 1986, when she began a career in hospital administration. Back then, Bradley was working in the government programs office at Massachusetts General Hospital. She told of a time when she See CONVOCATION on page 3
Meet new Meat Haus: Silent film preserves post-bacs rebrand TH Jewish anthropology Laila Volpe
Assistant Features Editor
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cording to post-bac Joseph Szymanski ’17, some of the post-bacs started as first-generation low-income students who went through Transitions. Now he organizes the Senior Gift Campaign, a scholarship fund that seniors can give to; this year, all the funds will be given to a member of the Class of 2022 who has significant financial need. Szymanski stated in an email, “It’s a gift from students, for students and will have a real impact on a student’s life next year.” The campaign helps make Vassar more accessible, and any senior can pitch in by emailing joszymanski[a]vassar.edu. Before this semester, the Vassar post-bacs lived dispersed throughout the dorms. Post-bac and Vassar After See MEAT HAUS on page 6
Courtesy of Max Cordeiro
The post-bacs gather in the living room of their new Town House, enjoying the communal space where they can relax after work.
Inside this issue
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NEWS
News column addresses national, local politics
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Matt Stein Arts Editor
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ith the flicker of a film and the strike of a piano key, the audience became engrossed in the celluloid imprint of actors many years passed. No words came out of the characters’ mouths, and yet the audience was able to empathize with the hopes and dreams, the love and loss translated through the music that filled the room. Last Sunday night, the Villard Room travelled to 1910s Warsaw in a film screening of the 1918 silent film “The Yellow Ticket.” Presented by the Jewish Studies Program, the film was accompanied by a live score performed by Alicia Svigals on violin and vocals and Marilyn Lerner on piano. “The Yellow Ticket” is especially notable for being filmed in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw, Poland,, remaining one of the few cinematic documentations of pre-World War II Jewish ghettos. “The Yellow Ticket” follows Lea, a young Jewish woman who lives in the Warsaw Ghetto. Hoping to study medicine at a university in St. Petersburg, Lea is forced to register as a sex worker, receiving a “yellow ticket” as proof of her status as a prostitute, or else she will go to prison for being Jewish. Posing as the deceased Christian sister of her former tutor, Lea reluctantly lives these dual lives until a classmate discovers her at the brothel and she tries
Alums, juniors offer words of wisdom to firstFEATURES years
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
uaranteed four-year housing...or maybe five? According to Vassar’s website, recently graduated students can apply for a position as a post-baccalaureate (post-bac) in order to augment their academic record. The post-baccalaureate program, whose members just recently relocated to the Town House (TH) known as Meat Haus, plays an important part in Vassar’s culture, even if most students are unaware of its role. The post-bac program gives these graduates an opportunity to work on campus by letting them take on different positions designed to improve life at Vassar. These jobs range anywhere from working with campus activities to organizing outreach programs. Ac-
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
The 1918 German silent film “The Yellow Ticket,” released in the U.S. as “The Devil’s Pawn,” was shown in the Villard Room on Sept. 10 with a live score. to commit suicide. Associate Professor of English and previous Director of Jewish Studies Peter Anteyles discussed the discourse created from this screening of a film with Jewish characters featuring a score inspired by traditional Jewish music: “It allows us to talk about Jewish film but also Jewish music, and also finally to expand our understanding of conditions Jews lived in and the diversity of positions they held. There’s not a lot talked about, for instance, that there was a Jewish brothel See ANTHROPOLOGY on page 14
13 HUMOR
Sasha Gopalakrishnan Assistant Arts Editor
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ate in the evening on Sept. 9, the buzz of light chatter drifted through an absolutely packed Skinner Hall, as audiences from all over the neighboring Hudson Valley awaited Vassar’s annual jazz concert, this year featuring the John Pizzarelli Trio. The small talk ceased as the trio swept onto the stage and, without further ado, began their set. Strumming to lighthearted lyrics, Pizzarelli’s face filled with mirth as he crooned out, “Pens come from Pennsylvania, vests from West Virginia and tents from Tent-essee,” drawing laughs from an audience that was already tapping its feet to the upbeat performance that had commenced out of nowhere. Only after playing three songs back to back did Pizzarelli get around to introductions. The trio comprised Pizzarelli on guitar and vocals, Mike Karn on the upright bass and Ted Rosenthal on the piano. The singer then regaled us with anecdotes related to the artists whose songs he had just performed, interspersing his spiels with witty jokes. He looked the part, too, sporting his guitar and salt-and-pepper hair, as a string of dad jokes came out of his mouth. His delightful stage presence during the outstanding sets, featuring lively beats and slow jazz, immediately indicated why Vassar’s Music Department selected this world-renowned jazz guitarist and vocalist for their Fall 2017 Concert Series. This concert series brings carefully selected artists to the prestigious Skinner Hall stage. Within this deeply held tradition, the Music Department organizes a yearly jazz concert, an event eagerly anticipated by students and faculty alike. Director of Choral Activities Christine Howlett delved into the notion behind the Concert Series: “As we strive to do each year, we have a rich variety of performances by guest artists, faculty and students. Our guest artists [this year] include John Pizzarelli, The Brentano Quaret and Latin tango aficionado Pablo Aslan.” Last year’s Fall Concert Series included modern jazz, rare classical music, Gaelic harp pieces and senior recitals from Vassar students. The next performance in the Fall Concert Series will be from Vassar’s very own organist, Gail Archer. Archer will be performing selections of Max Reger’s compositions in the Chapel. Pizzarelli, the latest feature in the series, is a contemporary interpreter of the Great American Songbook, which contains the most influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century. Hailed by the Boston Globe for “reinvigorating the Great American Songbook and re-popularizing jazz,” Pizzarelli has concentrated on doing covers of songs by Paul McCartney, See JAZZ on page 14
Students form cult in rebellion against WiFi ills
The Miscellany News
Page 2
September 14, 2017
Since Prague often feels like it’s made up of two separate worlds—the polished tourist realm above and the domain of the locals beneath—it’s only natural that, to act like a Czech native, you have to literally dig deeper. This notion was reaffirmed when I was introduced to Vzrkovna, an utterly unique bar that has apparently been the hotspot for generations of students in my Film Production program. A flight of stairs descends into a funhouse-like network of catacombs, with candles and colorful lighting illuminating walls enveloped by graffiti, a smaller out-of-the-way bar selling regular and spiked tea, and a room fully dedicated to foosball. Best of all, the bar is inhabited by a huge and ancient wolfhound, leading to its sobriquet “Dog Bar,” and pups belonging to other patrons can often be spotted perched in the rafters or observing the live band.
Courtesy of Talya Phelps
Courtesy of Talya Phelps
A sign outside a restaurant in Český Krumlov forbids visitors from bringing in drinks or trdelníks.
Pictured above is Old Town Square at night, featuring The Church of Our Lady before Týyn, the main church of this part of Prague since the 14th century.
Editor-in-Chief
Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson
Senior Editor Noah Purdy
Contributing Editors Sarah Dolan Eilís Donohue Rhys Johnson Anika Lanser
News Laurel Hennen Vigil Humor and Satire Leah Cates Yesenia Garcia Arts Matt Stein Patrick Tanella Sports Mack Liederman Robert Pinataro Design Yoav Yaron Online Jackson Ingram Copy Tanya Kotru Gode Sumiko Neary Assistant Features Laila Volpe Assistant Arts Sasha Gopalakrishnan Assistant Copy Claire Baker Assistant Social Media Hannah Nice Web Master & Technical Advisor George Witteman
Courtesy of Talya Phelps
While paddleboating on the Vltava, a river in Prague, Czech Republic, Talya Phelps snapped a shot of architect Frank Gehry’s Dancing House. To read more about Talya’s exciting JYA experience and read about other students’ travels, visit farandaway.miscellanynews.org!
The Miscellany News 14
September
Thursday
Weekender_ 15
September
Exhibit Opening: The Children’s Books of Nancy Willard
Blueprint for Counter Education
Nancy Willard Exhibit - Film Viewing
Remix: Interdisciplinary Exploration by the 2017 Summer Multi Arts Collectives
5:30pm | Main Library | Library
6:00pm | Library 160 - Electronic Classroom | Library
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Friday
September
Saturday
Tennis (W) Scramble
Tennis (W) Scramble with NYU & Conn College
Tennis (W) Scramble with New Paltz, NYU, Conn College
12:00pm | Joss Tennis Courts | Athletics
Soccer (M) vs. SUNY Oneonta
10:00am | College Center Palmer Gallery | Campus Activities
12:00pm | Gordon Competition Field | Athletics
Courtesy of Vassar College
Get excited for the return of fall’s most fiery show! Come see the barefoot monkeys perform on the quad this parent’s weekend, on Sept. 16! It will be a spectacle of talent you don’t want to miss!
September
Sunday
Tennis (W) Scramble
11:00am | Joss Tennis Courts | Athletics
10:00am | Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center | The Loeb
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Field Hockey (W) vs. Ramapo College of New Jersey 12:00pm | Weinberg Turf Field | Athletics
Parent’s Weekend Fall Fire Show 7:30pm | Outdoor Space Residential Quad | Barefoot Monkeys
Reporters Dylan Smith Kaitlin Prado Andrea Yang Columnists Izzy Braham Jimmy Christon Jesser Horowitz Steven Park Sylvan Perlmutter Drew Solender Design Rose Parker Allison Shao Maya Sterling Copy Andrea Yang Anna Wiley Gabriela Calderon Isabel Bielat Isabel Morrison James Bonanno Jillian Frechette
9:00am | Joss Tennis Courts | Athletics
9:00am | Joss Tennis Courts | Athletics
Fall 5K Fun Run & Environmental Fair
11:30am | Vassar Farm | Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve
Career Chat: Margarita Capi ‘08
12:00pm | Main Building Faculty Parlor | Career Development Office
Faculty Recital: Gail Archer
CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only accept corrections for any misquotes, misrepresentations or factual errors for an article within the semester it is printed.
1:00pm | Chapel | Music Dept.
Paper Critique
9:00pm | Rose Parlor | The Miscellany News
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.
September 14, 2017
NEWS
Page 3
Convocation speakers ponder transition and reflection CONVOCATION continued from page 1
Courtesy of Vassar College
was forced to deny a woman life-saving care because the hospital’s budget did not allow free care for non-United States citizens. Bradley pushed other administrators at the hospital to give the woman care. Ultimately, she had to inform the woman that they’d be unable to help her. “On that day, I knew that this job was not for me,” Bradley reflected. “I was no longer doing what I was inspired, called and meant to do.” Subsequently, Bradley threw herself into public health, earning her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Health Economics from Yale University. She observed of this new chapter in her life, “Every day I was happy, doing things that mattered to me.” Tying her story back to the evening’s theme, Bradley recalled, “I experienced transformation quietly ... Life continues to unfold for each of us, even if there is work not yet done.” Bradley’s message seemed to resonate with the two major groups at Fall Convocation: incoming first-years and graduating seniors. After Bradley’s remarks, it was time to recognize the appointment of three professors to endowed chairs. The first, the Mary Clark Rockefeller Chair, is awarded to pre-tenured professors who are involved in Environmental Studies at Vassar. Professor of Biology Justin C. Touchon was appointed to this chair. Professor of Music Michael Pisani was appointed to the Mary Conover Mellon Chair, and Professor of English Susan Zlotnik was appointed to the Mary Augustus Scott Chair. Next, Missie Rennie Taylor ’68 took the stage to present two awards on behalf of the Alumnae and Alumni of Vassar College (AAVC). The AAVC’s first ever Young Alumnae/i Achievement award was presented to Dr. Marguerite E. O’Hare ’08 for her recent work in animal-assisted therapy. Next, Frances “Sissy” Tarlton Farenthold ’46, P’75, won the AAVC’s Distinguished Achievement award. A native of Texas, Farenthold was recognized for her notable work in public service, having served in the Texas House of Representatives
Associate Professor of Film Mia Mask gave the keynote speeach at Sept. 6’s Fall Convocation, an annual tradition at Vassar. Mask spoke about transformation, existentialism, activism and change. (the only woman in the Texas House at the time) and coming in second for the 1972 DNC vice-presidential nomination. Farenthold later went on to serve as the first chair of the National Women’s Political Caucus. After the awards, President Bradley invited VSA President Anish Kanoria ’18 to the lectern. Kanoria began humbly. “Whatever I will say will be inadequate and incomplete to capture the depth and breadth of experiences in this room,” he stated, calling attention to previous VSA presidents’ words at other convocations. In preparation for his own, Kanoria read through 16 years of convocation speeches, reflecting on them: “The only common link in all these remarks is an underlying desire for urgent and rapid change.” Kanoria sought to contrast the words of the past, however. He recommended patient reflection, rather than urgent action. “I urge you to identify and savor the moments and rhythms that make this place meaningful for you. Make it a community for you.” “Just stop walking, look up and be,” Kanoria
said. He highlighted taking time to think—to think about Vassar, and to think about the world. He also remarked on taking time to imagine. He encouraged the audience to picture the world they wanted to create. “The power of imagination lies in its ability to see, hear, touch, feel and sense differently—to envision, and to enact.” In his concluding remarks, Kanoria first addressed the incoming first-year class—the Class of 2021. “Make college what you want it to be and let it make you,” he said. Then he addressed his classmates in the Class of 2018. “This is it,” he told them. “Let’s make our final 264 days count!” Following Kanoria’s turn on the stage, President Bradley introduced Professor Mask. Mask’s address was at the center of the Convocation ceremony. In it, she reflected on transformation and existentialism, applying these ideas to activism and change. This, for Mask, means finding oneself in the world around them, which she suggested in her speech is the utility of a liberal arts education.
Calling to mind works of existential philosophy, she remarked, “One major theme in all of them is the emphasis on individual expression and freedom of choice.” This expression and choice, she added, are important steps on our quest as human beings to lead meaningful lives. As a film scholar, Mask naturally incorporated movies into her address. She made a clear connection between the cultural power of cinema, the individual power of existentialism and the political power of civil rights. Mask spoke at length of James Baldwin, author of such works as “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” Professor Mask sought to remember James Baldwin as a way of honoring activism. “To me,” Mask said, “James Baldwin is the father of modern Black film studies.” Baldwin was writing during a time of transformation for Black Americans. In her address on Wednesday, Mask noted the transformation of Black actors in popular cinema, citing a contemporary example in the recent “Get Out.” “‘Get Out,’” Mask observed, “is frighteningly accurate in presenting themes and ideas present in the zeitgeist. ‘Get Out’ is doing for cinema what James Baldwin did for literature.” Though the role of Black filmmakers, actors and writers has changed over the last half-century, Mask noted, they are still not often allowed to reach their full potential. “Let me not be mistaken in saying that transformation is the same as progress,” she said. She underscored, however, the importance of remembering that progress is possible. “The work of activists like Baldwin reminds us of the importance of doing what we can to improve society.” Here Mask concluded, “American politics may not be healthy now, however we can strive to transform the world in our own ways, even in difficult times.” Following Mask’s address, the Convocation Choir led the audience in the singing of “Gaudeamus Igitur.” Once the refrain was complete, the Class of 2018 left the hall, clad in their caps and gowns, off to start their final undergraduate year.
Seniors and first-years serenade under sunny skies Clark Xu Reporter
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Courtesy of Clark Xu
n the relaxed Sunday afternoon of Sept. 10, the Residential Quad buzzed with country music and students chatting on the grass for the Vassar Serenading tradition. Representatives of the various residential houses presented original lyrics to an audience who symbolically exchanged bright flowers, followed by a concert performance of the music group Roundabout Ramblers, which is mostly composed of Vassar professors. Serenading is one of several long-standing events hosted by the Vassar College Traditions Committee. Event organizer Ashley Hoyle ’18 explained, “The basic idea of Serenading is to make connections across class years and an opportunity at the beginning of a first-year’s career to meet some seniors and some upperclassmen.” In an academic environment that can often be divided by the difficulty and specialization of courses, this event provides a space to build new and surprising links in the Vassar community. The event has evolved over time to fit the changing needs of community-building at Vassar. As event organizer Katie Shively ’19 elaborated, “That’s what Vassar traditions are all about. Serenading originally started as an event where people from different classes would sing their class song to each other and the songs would would be passed down through the classes. It has had other iterations, but in recent iterations it has been where the freshmen write songs to serenade the seniors, and the seniors give them carnations in different colors and everybody enjoys music and food.” Reflecting on the development of Serenading, a first-year resident of Raymond House who asked to not be named remarked, “I love partaking in the Vassar traditions because they’re so historic and there’s always a neat history behind them.” After the students’ songs, the Roundabout Ramblers played their repertoire of country and other music genres. Like Serenading, the music group has a history to tell. Associate Professor of Biology Jennifer Kennell recalled, “DB Brown, the previous Dean of Students, started the original band back in the late 70s. At that time it was called ‘The Raymond Avenue Ramblers.’ It was comprised of faculty, staff, administrators and stu-
dents from Vassar for many years. [Professor of Psychology] Randy Cornelius joined in the early 80s.” She continued, “The band took a hiatus for a few years but around the time I came to Vassar, in 2008, DB and Randy were thinking about starting up the band again. It was reborn as ‘The Roundabout Ramblers,’ named after the newly constructed roundabouts on Raymond. My husband, Aaron Linder, a lab technician in Chemistry, plays the bass and [Assistant Professor of Biology] Megan Gall, joined a few years ago along with Chris Garrett.” Later this year, the group will play at Arlington Street Festival and at the Culinary Institute of America. Matt Thomas ’18 observed, “This is definitely the best year for Serenading that I’ve seen. It’s been bad for years, so this is a good start. I like this year more than any other.” VSA President Anish Kanoria ’18 agreed: “The attendance was good, but I do wish more seniors showed up! It was a very pleasant afternoon.” In the past Serenading had a darker atmosphere than its modern counterpart. Hoyle explained, “This is the second year the event looks like this. For a long time, it was a water balloon fight. Only the seniors had water balloons and there was a huge culture of drinking around Serenading. And I did some work as House Team President and then as Co-Chair of Traditions Committee to identify how we could return Serenading to its original objective of creating connections across class years.” The water balloon fight would travel to each residential house, pitting seniors against first-year students and calling into question the power dynamics associated with the event. Hoyle continued, “We decided to change it to something that was more central in the interest of building one community together and something that was a little bit more charming. We just exchange flowers and we exchange music, and I think it’s a lot more comfortable and a lot more accessible to a lot of people. It was nice to see people this year take note of that.” The House Team members of each residential house helped mobilize students to sing at the event. According to a student fellow of Raymond House who requested anonymity, “Our main goal
First-year students and seniors mingle on the residential quad during Sept. 10 Serenading. Traditionally, seniors give the first-years flowers in Vassar colors to thank them for their songs. is to hype up our first-years to participate in tradition. Also, most of my friends are seniors and they showed up and it was adorable.” Thinking more broadly about the event, the student fellow concluded, “I think it was nice to see the people that you don’t usually see in your house because I know that there were people who weren’t firstyears and who also weren’t seniors come out and just like hang out. People who I usually don’t get to see.” One of the future aims for the Traditions Committee is to steer Serenading in this direction. Shively remarked, “This year we tried to [encourage] attendance because Serenading is a lesser-known event. It’s mostly freshmen and seniors, but we would love for it to be an all-campus event like some of our larger traditions.” Looking back on this year’s event, Shively added, “I think it worked out well. I think the only push we’ll make is to encourage attendance from all class years.” A common motif among senior students who
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
attended the event was nostalgia for time past. Pietro Gerarci ’18 commented, “It’s crazy to think that here we are seniors. I’m excited for it, but it’s bittersweet. It’s hard to comprehend really. You have the seniors who are passing these flowers onto the freshmen and finding more about them, what they’re interested in doing, and I mean that was us three years ago. Yesterday I feel like it was the other way around, we were getting flowers from the seniors and serenading for them.” Speaking about Vassar traditions in general, Hoyle remarked, “It makes you feel more connected to the people you go to school with and the people who’ve gone to Vassar in years past. You can always go to a reunion and chat with people about your Founder’s Day.” Hoyle concluded, “It’s exciting to be part of so many communal memories and events. It’s really exciting to be able to know that the events that you are planning and taking part in are what people look back on their Vassar career years after.”
NEWS
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September 14, 2017
Professors speak on Houston after Harvey
News Briefs Irma batters Florida, Caribbean
Laurel Hennen Vigil News Editor
-Pazit Schrecker, Guest Reporter
Courtesy of US Navy
A satellite image of Hurricane Irma heading toward the Caribbean and Florida, where it caused great damage and resulted in dozens of deaths. Irma came on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, which similarly devestated Texas.
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hile Hurricane Irma ravaged the Caribbean and Florida, Houston, TX began the long struggle to recover from the catastrophic flooding that occurred during August’s Hurricane Harvey. This was the storm the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Brock Long called “the worst disaster [Texas has] seen” (The Washington Post, “FEMA director says Harvey is probably the worst disaster in Texas history,” 08.27.2017). On Wednesday, Sept. 6, many of Vassar’s earth science and geography professors gathered to discuss the hurricane’s environmental and social impacts in a lecture titled “Houston After Harvey.” The sizable panel featured Associate Professor of Geography and Chair of Earth Science and Geography Mary Ann Cunningham, Professor of Earth Science Jill Schneiderman, Professor of Geography and Director of Independent Program Joseph Nevins, Professor of Geography Brian Godfrey, Professor of Geography Yu Zhou and adjunct instructor of Geography Evan Casper-Futterman ’07, who called in via Google Hangouts. Though there wasn’t as much discussion about Houston’s future as the lecture’s title may have implied, many of the professors touched on the factors that caused so much destruction, particularly why natural disasters like Harvey disproportionately impact poorer, primarily non-white parts of the cities they damage. Houston is one of the most racially diverse cities in the country, but like many other cities that rank high in diversity, it is also fairly segregated by race and class (FiveThirtyEight, “The Most Diverse Cities Are Often The Most Segregated,” 04.01.2015). “[Catastrophes like Harvey] are a snapshot of who is least privileged,” said Schneiderman, who brought up the concept of environmental justice, which she defined as “a social movement that demands fair distribution of environmental benefits and burdens.” One of the major environmental burdens that activists focus on—and one that is currently affecting Houston—is the prevalence of toxic waste in areas populated by people of color. During Harvey, at least 14 toxic waste sites in and around Houston flooded, and dozens of petrochemical plants and refineries released 4.6 million pounds of airborne pollutants (The New York Times, “More Than 40 Sites Released Hazardous Pollutants Because of Hurricane Harvey,” 09.08.2017). Many of these
l Roun a c i d lit
During Hurricane Harvey in August, much of Houston, TX, flooded. Professor Godfrey noted during the panel that better city planning likely would have helped prevent such devestation.
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his past week Hurricane Irma, coming on the tails of Hurricane Harvey, hit and destroyed parts of the Caribbean and then moved up and into Florida. At the time of publication, there have been 55 confirmed deaths attributed to Hurricane Irma in Florida and the affected areas of the Caribbean, and this number may increase. The Carribean islands affected include Cuba, St. Martin, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos and Puerto Rico. The small island of Barbuda suffered damage to 95 percent of its infrastructure, and the storm left 50 percent of residents homeless. Thousands of people were evacuated from parts of the Caribbean before the storm touched down, including parts of Cuba and the Dominican Republic (BBC News, “Hurricane Irma: Caribbean islands left with trail of destruction,” 09.10.17). By the morning of Sept. 10, 6.5 million people across Florida had been instructed to leave their homes in one of the largest storm evacuations in United States history. On Sept. 9, Florida Governor Rick Scott directed the evacuations, stating that “once the storm starts, law enforcement cannot save you” (The Washington Post, “‘Once the storm starts, law enforcement cannot save you’: Fla. governor issues stern warning ahead of Irma,” 09.09.17). The scope of the evacuation has extended up parts of the Georgia coastline, and states of emergency were declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama (The New York Times, “Storm Gains Strength as It Nears Florida,” 09.10.17). Hurricane Irma was originally classified as a Category 5 storm and was the first Category 5 hurricane to touch Cuba in almost 100 years. While later downgraded to a Category 3 storm, it was reclassified as Category 4 as it approached the Florida Keys. Hurricanes are classified based on sustained wind speeds: Category 3 hurricanes have wind speeds between 111 and 129 miles per hour, Category 4 hurricanes can have wind speeds up to 156 miles per hour and Category 5 storms are characterized by wind speeds above 156 miles per hour. Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Keys on the morning of Sept. 10, shortly after 9 a.m. (CBS News, “Hurricane Irma makes landfall in lower Florida Keys,” 09.10.17). Earlier this week, all residents of the Keys were directed to evacuate. The storm caused at least eight deaths in the state and left over 6.5 million Floridians on the mainland without power. Storm surges measuring up to 15 feet are expected in Florida, as well as up to two feet of rain. The surges are a result of fast wind speeds on shores that increase the water level and thus send large waves onto the coasts. These surges contribute to the destruction of homes as well as the increasing death tolls in Florida and the Caribbean. As of the night of Sept. 11, the storm had been downgraded to a tropical depression and was moving from Florida up to Georgia. At this time, flash flood emergency warnings were issued in parts of South Carolina. While Irma caused surges and power outages throughout Florida, the overall damage and devastation throughout Florida was less than was originally predicted.
Courtesy of Air Combat Command
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Talya Phelps In this week’s headlines... President Trump sided with Democratic leaders to increase the debt limit and finance the government for three months, sparking Republican outrage, and is now seeking support from the left for his upcoming tax reform plan (The New York Times, “Trump Lashes Out at Congressional Republicans’ ‘Death Wish’,” 09.08.17). Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is working to roll back guidelines put forth by the Obama administration on campus sexual assault, which called on schools to take assault allegations and investigations more seriously. DeVos’ announcement last week, in which she claimed the current policy denies due process to individuals involved, led to #StopBetsy trending on Twitter (CNN, “DeVos announces review of Obama-era sexual assault guidance,” 09.08.17). A Kremlin-linked Russian company is suspected to have purchased $100,000 worth of Facebook ads used to influence the 2016 presidential election (The New York Times, “The Fake Americans Russia Created to Influence the Election,” 09.07.17). President of the University of California system and creator of DACA Janet Napolitano is suing Trump officials on the grounds that ending the program violated administrative procedures and due process requirements (The New York Times, “Napolitano Sues Trump to Save DACA Program She Helped Create,” 09.08.17).
sites were clustered in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods (The University of Virginia, “The Racial Dot Map”). “It remains to be seen whether this hurricane will become a model of environmental injustice,” Schneiderman noted. Casper-Futterman also brought up the disparity in Harvey’s impact, noting that while it’s drawn many comparisons in the media to Hurricane Katrina, it may actually bear more of a resemblance to Hurricane Sandy. In New Orleans during Katrina, he explained, while many of the poorest neighborhoods were hit hardest, no part of the city escaped unscathed. In Houston, however, like New York and New Jersey during Sandy, that kind of totality of destruction didn’t occur, which could impact the governmental response and rebuilding efforts in the years to come. “When an event is so totalizing [as Katrina in New Orleans], public officials have a more unified narrative to think through what their [constituents] expect them to do,” Casper-Futterman said. “The mayor of Houston is going to be dealing with people for whom daily life goes on and with tens of thousands of other people for whom that is not the case.” The aftermath of natural disasters, Casper-Futterman went on to say, can sometimes be so devastating here, even in the wealthiest nation on Earth, because the United States is notoriously bad at mobilizing emergency response agencies like FEMA, often due to underfunding and understaffing. He compared this disorganization to countries with strong central governments, like Japan or Cuba, saying, “One of the things that strong
states—or socialist states—are particularly good at is mobilizing and deploying resources at the scale necessary to meet the threat and challenge of extreme weather events. The United States is in basically the worst possible position for this, because we have an actively anti-governmental attitude that prevents the federal government from having the resources necessary to help.” Cuba did make a valient evacuation effort during Irma, with over one million people reportedly leaving the most dangerous areas, but the hurricane still resulted in 10 deaths there, as of press time (The Wall Street Journal, “Hurricane Irma Blamed for 10 Deaths in Cuba,” 09.11.2017). Beyond disaster planning, city planning also played a large role in the destruction in Texas. Houston, one of the most spread-out metropolises in the nation, has an enormous amount of impervious land cover—concrete, asphalt and the like, which don’t absorb water easily—and comparatively little green space, which exacerbated the flooding (The Atlantic, “Houston’s Flood Is a Design Problem,” 08.28.2017). “With a climatic event of this magnitude, there was going to be flooding,” Godfrey noted. “But there is a broad agreement in urban planning circles that enlightened policy and public planning would have lessened the severity of the devastation.” After the catastrophic back-to-back hits of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, it remains to be seen what impact these disasters may have on U.S. urban planning and emergency preparation in the future.
Trump’s Former Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon will deliver a speech at a Hong Kong investor conference calling for tougher U.S. policy toward China; Bannon has spoken of the need to “confront China on its rise to world domination” and supports halting trade to put pressure on North Korea (The New York Times, “Next Stop for the Steve Bannon Insurgency: China,” 09.08.17). Stepping back from earlier threats, Trump said that he would prefer to solve the North Korea situation without a military strike, commenting last week, “Certainly that’s not a first choice, but we’ll see what happens” (CNN, “Trump: ‘It would be great’ if North Korea could be solved without military action,” 09.07.17).
coast of Malaysia (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Services for Poughkeepsie sailor Corey Ingram set for Monday, Tuesday,” 09.08.17). On Dec. 7, Hillary Clinton will visit Rhinebeck to sign copies of her book “What Happened,” which was released on Sept. 12 (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Hillary Clinton set for Rhinebeck on book tour in December,” 08.28.17).
In our backyard... Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert G. Rolison supported working toward a more bike-friendly city, saying, “In addition to our Market Street Complete Street project, we need more bike facilities throughout the city, as well as more bike racks at key destinations” (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Yes, it’s possible to create ‘bike-friendly communities’, 09.09.17). Rolison was referring to the ongoing effort to create streets that are more conducive to mobility and community connection, which was undertaken in coordination with the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (City of Poughkeepsie, “Poughkeepsie City Center Connectivity Project”). On Tuesday, Sept. 12, Poughkeepsie residents voted in primaries to choose candidates for county legislature positions, city council seats and town supervisors, among others (Poughkeepsie Journal, “Candidates from Dutchess, Ulster competing in Tuesday primaries,” 09.10.17). That morning, a funeral was held for Poughkeepsie native Corey Ingram, who was one of 10 sailors who died following the Aug. 21 crash between the USS John McCain and a tanker off the
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Keeping up with 2020 hopefuls... Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduces his single-payer health care bill this week. Single-payer (or Medicare for All) would see all healthcare financing coming from a single entity, cutting employers and insurance companies out of the equation. Sanders’ plan would do away with cost-sharing measures like deductibles and co-payments, with financing for the plan coming mainly from increased taxes (Money, “What Is Single-Payer Healthcare and Why Is It So Popular?,” 04.13.17). Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) will propose an alternative plan that allows individuals and businesses to buy into Medicare. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) have both announced they will co-sponsor Sanders’ proposal. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) have also spoken positively of single-payer healthcare, which some, particularly within the progressive base of the party, see as a defining policy issue for 2020 Democratic hopefuls. (CNN, “#2020Vision: Kamala Harris fires the single-payer starting gun; Sanders on the trail; Castro’s next move; Kander’s early-state offices,” 09.08.17). Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has created a new political committee, American Possibilities, and has been arranging one-on-one meetings with donors. Harris, Gillibrand and Warren have also been holding fundraisers, suggesting they may be planning to finance 2020 Presidential bids (The New York Times, “Long List of Top Democrats Have 2020, and Money, on Their Minds,” 09.02.17).
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Updates from the VSA Chosen Names You can now change to using your preferred name on email, Moodle, the student directory and class lists! Go to iam.vassar.edu, click the Profile tab and choose Chosen Name. Type in your name as you want in Vassar systems. Your Chosen Name can be updated as needed.
Title IX Student Advisory Committee Apply to be on the new Title IX Student Advisory Committee (SAC)! The Title IX SAC presents policy and education suggestions to the Title IX office, raises awareness about ongoing efforts to reduce sexual assault on campus and presents an annual report to the VSA about this work. We recognize that in the current climate, many of you may be looking to get involved in efforts to reduce sexual violence on our campus. There is a form linked in VSA President Anish Kanoria’s weekly email to apply! Tasty Tuesday The first Tasty Tuesday will be Sept. 19, and all of the vendors who accept VCash will also be accepting Arlington Bucks. We are looking for more all campus-program-
Student/Labor Dialogue Rally Student/Labor Dialogue (SLD) is calling all students and workers to show up to a rally on Friday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. in ACDC. Meet on the outside steps of the ACDC at 4:50 p.m. so we can bring everyone up to speed on the particulars of the action and enter the space together.
Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson / The Miscellany News
Forum with President Bradley VSA Senate had a forum with President Bradley this past Sunday. She is eager to hear students’ ideas, questions, comments and concerns, and she wants to hear from students via email. Additionally, she holds office hours every Sunday evening. These were some of the issues discussed in the forum: possible responses from the college on DACA, the need for a change in the campus party rules to reflect out-of-class needs of students and some information on Vassar’s endowment and financial aid spending.
ming events for Vassar students, so if your org is interested please email vsaorgs[at]vassar.edu.
AEO Feedback Have you had an experience with the Office of Accommodations and Accessibility? The VSA is looking for anonymous student input to provide information to the administration so the AEO can be improved. See the form hyperlinked in Kanoria’s weekly email. Project Period Project period will be returning! The Committee of Health and Wellness will be ordering more products soon. DACA Rally Reimbursements Do you need to be reimbursed for your train ticket to the DACA rally in NYC on Saturday? Come see Chair of Finance Robyn Lin in her office hours with your receipt and a photo of you at the rally! Her office hours are Thursday 12-2, Monday 3-5 and Tuesday 1-3. Upcoming Elections Elections for VSA Vice President and firstyear VSA Senate positions are soon to be under way, and there will be a Q&A session with the candidates Thursday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Sanders Classroom. Voting starts Friday and ends Sunday!
The new Street Eats food truck stopped in Main Circle on Tuesday, Sept. 12. In addition to Street Eats, Tasty Tuesday is also starting up again next Tuesday, Sept. 19. -Sarah Jane Muder, VSA General Intern October Break One-Way Bus to Boston Campus Activities will once again be offering an October Break bus to Boston. Ticket sales started Wednesday, Sept. 13, and will continue until the tickets are sold out. Date and Time: Friday, Oct. 6, 3:30 p.m. sharp (Check-in starts at 3:15 p.m.) Location: front of Main Building. Cost: $45 Cash/VCash/Check. NO REFUNDS.
Stop 1: MBTA Riverside Station, 333 Grove Street, Newton, MA. Stop 2: MBTA South Station, Atlantic Avenue & Summer Street, Boston, MA. Tickets may be purchased in the Campus Activities Office Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets will be on sale until they are all sold out. Please contact Gail Beckwith with any questions at gabeckwith[at]vassar.edu. -Anish Kanoria, VSA President
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The Vassar Haiti Project will have its 17th annual art sale Sept. 15-17 at Vassar College, 124 Raymond Ave., Poughkeepsie.
The sale features art and handcrafts from Haiti. Fair prices for crafts start at $5, and paintings at $50. Admission is free. Proceeds support a medical clinic, education, reforestation, water access and purification and other programs in Chermaitre, a mountain village in Haiti. The event will be held in the College Center multi-purpose room on the second floor of the Main Building.
Hours: Friday 12pm to 7pm Saturday 10am to 5pm Live Auction 2:00pm Sunday 10am to 2pm
Information: www.thehaitiproject.org or call 845.797.2123 MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
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TH serves as home, professional space for post-bacs MEAT HAUS continued from page 1
documented students. With the housing, meal plan and work experience included, the post-baccalaureate program is the total package. Colin Peros ’17 vouched for the convenience and low cost, stating via email, “I was not going to live in a single, and this is by far the cheapest living option.” As they all live in one place now, this TH is meant to be a professional space where the recently graduated post-bacs can organize their programming in one area instead of spread out around campus. Cordeiro affirmed that Inoa intended for Vassar students to use it as an accessible resource, although more planning may be required before the Town House can serve this purpose. Living in the same space where they work can feel stressful. Szymanski reflected, “It can sometimes feel like I never leave my job for the night, but it’s a small price to pay for a really great housing situation.” The fact that they have a space where they can relax that’s not a bedroom, namely the living room, is a positive aspect for most of the post-bacs. While this co-op is sizeable, its use as a professional space may be controversial. Because the THs consistently throw parties—and the post-bacs are supposed to be separate from that part of student life—it might be difficult to maintain that boundary between professionalism and the THs as party central. Le agreed, stating in an email, “The worst is the bros running around screaming, chanting and tipping garbage cans on weekend nights. Please stop.” Other post-bacs might have issues with individual houses themselves, such as the post-bac for Inclusion and Equity with the Engaged Pluralism Initiative (EPI) Sheharyar Imran ’17. Imran works with ALANA Center-affiliated identity organizations and is on the EPI group for Inclusion, Belonging and Community Building through the Arts. Imran stated via email, “[The biggest negative aspect of living in Meat Haus is] having to walk past a Thirteen Colonies U.S.
Courtesy of Max Cordeiro
School Tutoring Coordinator Max Cordeiro ’16, who has been a post-bac for three years, explained, “The idea was that the post-bacs would somehow help with house team and provide insight as a recently graduated professional, but realistically there wasn’t too much for us to do with house team.” While it can be helpful to have someone who has experienced all four years of Vassar and can knowledgeably weigh in to improve house team, Cordeiro and other post-bacs found that house teams were generally self-sufficient. Therefore it was not necessary for them to live in the dormitories with the other students, although it was convenient for them to live close to their jobs. Former Assistant Dean of Students Luis Inoa decided that the post-bacs should still live on campus, but that they should live together. He originally considered placing them in the Raymond annex but chose to house all 10 post-bacs in Meat Haus. Most students usually view Meat Haus as a co-op that flaunts its non-vegetarianism, but this semester it will be rebranded by the move to the THs. In addition to the extra room this provides, the post-bacs can live together in a residential community and get to know each other instead of remaining relatively isolated and living in separate dormitories. Szymanski stated, “I imagine that must have felt pretty isolating at times: most of our friends graduated with us and are no longer on campus, so it’s been nice to have friends close by who are also trying to figure out how ‘adulting’ works.” According to Cordeiro, the cost of housing for an adult living on campus is about $200 a month, but the post-bacs can pay this off by working; they can live on campus essentially for free while obtaining valuable work experience at the same time. For example, Richard Le ’17 wanted to work with communications; now Le makes movies for the Office of Communications and helps with Transitions, the program created for first generation, low-income or un-
In the photo above, post-bacs sit in the kitchen of Meat Haus. Max Cordeiro ’16 (left) appreciates the fact that because of the new meal plan, they don’t have to cook every day. flag on my way home.” As Imran expanded, “I imagine it’s rooted in a heightened sense of nationalism or perhaps a desperately misguided nostalgia for the past. Either way, it makes me uncomfortable to see settler colonialism and its continued iterations being celebrated as such.” However, despite some of the confusion and conflict that has arisen from this move, the postbacs largely seem to enjoy their new living arrangements. Cordeiro, who was apprehensive about living with nine others, appreciates the spaciousness of the TH, and added that the differing schedules of the post-bacs make it less cramped. His only qualm is the name associated with this TH. The name Meat Haus originated as a contrast to Ferry House, the co-op that tends to be
known for its mostly vegetarian or vegan inhabitants. As the post-bacs want to rebrand Meat Haus, they have some ideas about its possible new name. Cordeiro expanded on some of his personal favorites, which include names such as “Full House” or “Normal House.” Imran wanted “The Flat Earthers’ Forum for Epistemological Inquiry,” while Le pulled for “DeepHouse.m4a,” and Szymanski liked the irony of “Adult House.” On the other hand, Peros wanted a complete change of pace and voted to change “Meat Haus” to “Meat House.” When the new name is finally chosen, students will find out how the post-bac house functions as a professional space in the midst of the other Town Houses, and they will find out just how creative these post-bacs are in the process.
Czech out this starving artist’s budget-friendly food recs Talya Phelps
Guest Columnist
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Courtesy of Talya Phelps
’ve often felt that disaster follows me wherever I go, and apparently, it managed to fly 4,000 miles across six time zones and land safely with me in Prague. Case in point: My first time frying eggs in my new flat, I somehow blew a fuse and all the lights went out with a pop. Although we got the electricity (and more importantly, the WiFi) back on, our stove has now been out of comission for over a week. This fact, combined with my ineptitude for cooking and my fear of blowing all my money on takeout, has led to some meals of a lower quality than anything I’ve ever experienced at the Deece. Wait, I’ve been away from campus for so long that it might not even be called the Deece anymore. Texting here costs about an arm and a leg, so someone please snail mail me your review of the new dining hall...and preferably along with enough food to last me until December. 1. Scrambled Eggs à la Microwave Ah, eggs—so wonderful when they’re made well, and so repulsive when they’re not. On the spectrum of egg deliciousness, rotten eggs lie on one end, and on the other end are freshly deviled eggs with a sprinkle of paprika and eggs expertly fried over medium so that just enough yolk drips onto the plate to mop up with your toast. Somewhere in the middle is microwave scrambled eggs, a dish so aggressively mediocre that it’s impossible to tell whether you’re enjoying it or hating it. Eating these eggs is a deeply confusing experience. The texture is somehow dried out and slimy at the same time, much like a kitchen sponge at the end of its lifespan. In fact, calling them “scrambled” might be a stretch; these eggs are to real scrambled eggs as a discount blow-up sex doll is to a relationship. Yet there is something about these eggs that appeals to the basest of human instincts. Shoveling them into my gullet on only a piece of stale bread, I feel connected to my ancestors. I feel like I am satisfying a hunger more primal
than the one I have for protein. Frankly, I feel alive. To prepare Scrambled Eggs à la Microwave, beat two eggs in a microwave-safe bowl. Tear up a piece of cheese and sprinkle it in. Microwave the mixture for 30 seconds, stir and then microwave for another 85 seconds. Finish with a pinch of salt. For the most authentic experience, enjoy in bed while binge-watching “Rick and Morty” and thinking about your past mistakes. 2. Fruit Medley To start this recipe off on a positive note, I can actually say the names of three entire fruits in Czech: apple, orange and strawberry, or jablko, pomeranc and jahoda, respectively. However, getting my two servings has been a challenge (not least because traditional cuisine in this country appears to have been invented by someone with a mortal phobia of fruits and vegetables). Going to the supermarket for a fresh jablko is too much for me to handle on most days; Czech checkout lines are known for being extremely fast-paced and stressful, and it’s hard to avoid panicking as I root around in my purse for the right change like a starving squirrel digging for nuts. Thus, my award-winning Fruit Medley consists solely of Haribo raspberry- and blackberry-flavored gummies, with a garnish of sour straws. The only problem here is my impending sugar-induced root canal. Despite my griping and my inevitable cavities, I really do love it here in Prague, and I’m incredibly lucky to spend my semester in The City of a Thousand Spires. I’ve also picked up another Central European culinary tip definitely worth sharing: Beer is cheaper than water, and apparently a pint has as many calories as seven slices of bread, so by ordering a large beer to go with a small meal, I can easily trick my naïve stomach into thinking it’s had a delicious sandwich. They said study abroad would be educational, and they certainly weren’t wrong. Now, if you need me, I’ll be on WebMD looking up symptoms of scurvy.
Ingredients 2 large eggs 1 slice unidentified Czech cheese Pinch of salt 4 oz homesickness Despair, to taste
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To first-years, with love: advice on surviving and thriving Even though It’s been an entire year since I’ve graduated Vassar, I still believe one of the most important takeaways was that it’s perfectly alright to feel emotionally vulnerable. By extension, it’s perfectly alright to feel the other less desirable emotions—anxious, tired, frustrated, confused, confuzzled and more. But vulnerability was something I was unaccustomed to for the longest time and something I couldn’t name for even longer—it was subtle and positioned itself under anxiety or disappointment, cloaked itself in a shroud of worry or nibbled away at my confidence when I needed it most. It made me defensive when I made mistakes and secretive when I disappointed myself. It took me far too long to realize that was alright, and my mistakes were stepping stones to success—but those are common words of advice. What’s a bit rarer is to hear that it’s okay to be afraid, to be uncertain. To feel pangs of guilt or moments of fear. To feel wounded or threatened or isolated. To feel vulnerable. To feel human. Understanding and, moreover, accepting these emotions was my first step towards inner peace, and when I took the risk of exposing these parts of myself to others, I learned two things. First was that the nature of vulnerability is far more universal than you might first expect, and having someone to lean on in troubled times is empowering. Second is the real growth you get from acknowledging and accepting those very human feelings—and then working (possibly collaboratively) to understand and work toward fixing their causes. Everyone faces innumerable hurdles during their four years at Vassar. Exams, classes, colleagues, health, politics and an uncertain future are heavy burdens we face, but you aren’t alone. We all believe in you, just as you should believe in yourself. –Aaron Hill ’16
Go out and meet people! College truly is the time to make friends, enemies, memories, relationships and connections. The scariest and most uncomfortable part of your first year often is not knowing many people, but remember that you are ALL in the same boat; no first-year ever has (enough) friends, no matter how popular they may seem. Keep that in mind, and don’t be afraid to say hi to random people you see around! Say hi to that person you’ve seen around campus but to whom you haven’t introduced yourself, say hey to the person in the laundry room with you or the person behind you in line at the Deece. I’ll bet they would love to meet you just as much as you would love to meet them. Make it a point to meet at least one new person (maybe in your classes) every day, and try to remember their face and name; just take the first step, introduce yourself, and I guarantee that everyone you meet will be amazing (just like you)! –Matthew Au ’19
Congratulations! You’ve made it! You may not know it yet, but these next four years are going to be the hardest, scariest and most exciting years of your life. College is the perfect place to reinvent yourself, explore new things and make mistakes. *This is important.* I wish someone had told me on my first day of orientation that making mistakes is okay. So what if you had a bit too much to drink after a huge plate of Baccio’s penne alla vodka and puked all over your roommate’s bed? It happens! Life goes on. I think the biggest takeaway I took from my four years at Vassar was that you can’t wait around on the sidelines; you have to take risks and do what makes you happy. Go out for a sports team (even if there isn’t an athletic bone in your body), join a club that YOU think is interesting and, most importantly, talk to new people! It’s also important to let loose once in awhile. You know, we all need to take a step back, have fun, cut a rug and maybe even do the things that terrify us the most. Welcome to college, a place of endless possibilites.
The best advice I could give would be to find a club that is the right fit for you. The best decision I made as a freshman was joining Vassar on Tap, Vassar College’s only tap ensemble. Of all the random orgs that my friends and I signed up for during the club fair and all the email lists that I’m still on because I keep forgetting to unsubscribe, Vassar On Tap was the one that stuck. Its combination of exercise, creativity and a low commitment of only an hour a week really makes it the ideal club for any overwhelmed and exhausted college student. Having a place full of amazing people who want to have a blast and do cool things is the ultimate way to to deal with stress. Obviously, for me, that’s tap dancing, but there are tons of amazing orgs that don’t involve coordinated foot movements if that’s not your thing. Have fun and find ways to not let your schoolwork overwhelm you! Also definitely join Vassar On Tap! –Cassidy Nealon ’19
–Parisa Halaji ’16
New student adjusts to life at Vassar, finds second home Hannah Hildebolt Guest Reporter
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Courtesy of Hannah Hildebolt
here were lots of people screaming. Well, to be more specific, they were actually cheering. Upperclassmen clad in blue tiedye shirts jumped up and down, welcoming my family to Vassar College as loudly as they could. My mom thought it was funny, and she waved gaily at them as we pulled up to Strong. Several of the kids scrambled to help us get my suitcases and boxes into the elevator, and a few more joked with me as they handed me my room key. My nerves jangled in the pit of my stomach. Would I soon know all of these people by name? Would I like them once my parents were gone? What the heck was going to happen to me now? The next week answered all of my questions. Sumiko [Disclaimer: Sumiko Neary ’20 is a copy editor at The Miscellany News], my amazing student fellow, led my fellow group everywhere, from meals to lectures to house team introductions. I learned how painful it can be to sit in the Chapel for two hours in 90-degree weather, and I also learned that it can be impossible to eat healthy when the Deece serves fries all the time. The most difficult part of the process was picking classes—I had this hunger to learn everything. It felt good not to have my choices restrained by the rules of high school curricula. Now I could take courses I loved without having to worry about AP credits. Then, of course, there was the social aspect of the whole thing: I had to make new friends. It was thrilling to meet everyone I’d seen on Facebook, including my roommate Delaney, whom I’d chosen because of our online interactions. Kids would even come up to me and bring up things I’d said or done, which made my stomach glow with warmth. It was nice to already have a sense of community on which to lean; there were old posts to refer back to and online jokes we could pull out when the time was right. It was way easier to strike up conversations that way. If there was a hard part, it was that we were all new to each other. No one knew my backstory. Back in high school, I’d been surrounded by people who had grown up with me, and so
I’d been secure in the knowledge that everyone around me knew my background. This was not the case at Vassar. I found myself fumbling to explain certain facets of my personality. However, I knew that as time passed, my classmates would become familiar with the nuances of my life. It was just something I would have to wait out. Maybe that was why I found myself reaching out to my family so often. I’m away at camp a lot, so my family is used to me being gone for month-long stretches. It’s fairly difficult to get ahold of me at camp because I’m so wrapped up in whatever I’m doing, and we figured college would be the same way, but that ended up being wrong. My mom and I have exchanged texts nearly every day, and I’ve called my house at least three times in the past two weeks. I think that being surrounded by so many people who don’t know me has made me want to talk to the people who know me best. It’s not a bad thing by any means—in fact, I think it’s great that we’re so in touch—but it’s made me think a lot about how important my family is in my life, and the differences between living with them and living in Strong. Despite the difficult transition and homesickness, I love dorm life so much. My summer camp took place on a college campus, so I’ve been in and out of dorms for the past few years, and I’ve realized that I thrive in communal living . It gives you access to your friends at any time of day or night, which means that even the most mundane things become fun. Going to the bathroom can turn into a gossip session, and walking down the hallway alone becomes an impromptu trip to the dining hall with five other people. Being part of such a large communal living space provides an endless source of stimulation, both emotionally and mentally, and that energy is just the most wonderful thing in the world. If it’s ever a drain, I know that I can just close the door to my room or slip off to take a walk in the more remote parts of Vassar’s campus. Once classes started, I realized that dorm life wasn’t the only source of energy here. Academic discussion at Vassar made me eager to participate. My classmates brought so many new
Hannah Hildebolt ’21 (right) and her friend, pictured above at Sunset Lake, revel in the freedom that Vassar affords, and look forward to the many adventures they will have here. perspectives, and I felt like I was surrounded by people who wanted to talk about the differences in their experiences as well as the commonalities between them. This was something I’d never experienced before. Even the homework was thought-provoking, and all of a sudden I found myself beginning to take notes, a new habit for me. The reading I had to do as a humanities and social sciences kid was a lot, but at least I was enjoying most of it. I noticed that the classes at Vassar tended to be very specialized with a lot of depth, and I appreciated that a lot more than the broadness and lack of depth I usually found
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
in my high school classes. Learning was a much more natural and enjoyable experience for me this way. I can feel myself adjusting more and more to life here at Vassar as time passes, and it’s a good feeling. The campus is becoming my home—an unusual one, but one nonetheless. There have been countless moments when I’ve wondered how I’ll feel about Vassar and my first year once I’m back on Long Island for the summer. My gut is telling me that things will feel as good then as they do right now. I’m hoping my gut is right.
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September 14, 2017
Org of the Week: DRC envisions broader dialogue Aidan Zola
Racek continued, “We are trying to shed light on some of the difficulties that have grown to he Disability Rights Coalition of Vassar become everyday occurrences within our soCollege (DRC) is taking aim at issues ciety.” of disability, accessibility and inclusion both The art installation will add to the DRC’s on campus and in the greater Poughkeepsie growing list of events. Last spring, the org community. One of the many Vassar student hosted disability rights advocate April Coughorganizations with a mission centered around lin to speak at Vassar about issues such as acactivism and intersectionality, the DRC wel- cessibility as well as the struggles that occur comes all interested students regardless of when attending institutions of higher educaability. tion while disabled. The DRC was founded last semester, reMember Brian Xing ’18 commented, placing ACCESS, the previous org with dis- “She discussed her experience as a wheelability and inclusion as its focus. According chair-bound individual navigating her camto the DRC’s Facebook page, “[The group re- pus when she was in school. And she actually branded itself with] the intent of advocating brought up some topics that people don’t even for students with disabilities and educating talk about.” the community on issues pertaining to disabilThrough organizing these meetings and ities as a whole and their intersections with events, the DRC hopes to gain more visibility other identities.” on Vassar’s campus. As the DRC is a relatively This semester, the organization hopes to new org, Goss added, “We’re always looking to meet weekly to discuss upcoming events and join events and collab with other orgs for acdifferent topics about disability. DRC Pres- tivism on and off campus.” ident Anne Goss ’19 elaborated on what she She continued, “By trying to get involved expects the meetings to look like: “We had with other orgs and events, it helps bring light the idea that every month it’d be a different to the fact that there are things on this camThe topic that we would talk about. We planned to Hills pus andAre thingsAlive in society as a whole that affect do a month about how disability affects Black disabled people differently than able-bodied The Disability Rights Coalition of Vassar women, LGBT or different groups. We’re hop- people.” aims to promote accessibility and inclusion ing to do a series each month for continued That said, the org is open to all opinions andDOWN ACROSS learning.” suggestions for future events. Goss elaborated, through the various programming they offer. 1. A note toafollow sol ideas on things we’d1. The deadly sin of desire In addition to regular meetings, the DRC “We have lot of different plans to collaborate with the Office of Health like to do, but a lot of it is about gauging our2. affect anybody.” A variety, of candy for instance 3. Drill through Education this November to bring an art in- members’ interests. So even though we have Racek described the importance of having a A sinkorganization or a bowllike the DRC on Vassar’s 7. Electrical adapter stallation to campus to raise awareness about an exec board, we don’t make all the decisions.3. student ableism and ability. We do like to keep an open mind.” campus: “There are just so many instances 4. Black and white whale 11. Winter sicknesses Treasurer Tom Racek ’18 explained the When asked if there was any particular rea- where individuals with disabilities have just Not coping imaginary 13. Length timesthe width premise of the installation in more depth: son for starting DRC, Goss explained, “I5. been with and dealt with for so long “We’d like to show how art is viewed by14. in- Afind that disability is not part of the dialogue at that it’s not necessarily 6. Hearing organ a blip on the radar anytheater box dividuals with disabilities. For example, we Vassar when it should be because disability is more. It’s nice to be reeducated about them A braid 15. Clean between youranybody, teeth regardless7. because would write a Shakespeare piece backwards, something that can affect it’s just something you become accusor we’d have special screenings where 16. you What of theirarace, sexual orientation, class or any tomed to.” scarecrow should do to 8. A mobster can’t see the movie, or you can’t hear it.” other intersectional identity—disability can Xing discussed the struggle of inducing emGuest Reporter
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Courtesy of DRC
birds (2 words) 18. Related to an author 20. Where pottery is baked 21. A drink with jam and bread “The Hills Are Alive” 22. Did a race by 23. A "Woe ____" ACROSS 43. warning, A needle pulling thread 1. A note to follow sol 44. A ____ mortal, not flawless 24. A spirit or creature 3. Drill through 45. Hogwarts’ Radcliffe 26. A lot of time 7. Electrical adapter 46. An incense burner 28. A, long, way to run 11. Winter sicknesses 48. 43 across,long in solfege 29. One cubic meter 13. Length times width 49. A wildebeest 14. A theater box 50. Kept 30. Let outat an incline 15. Clean between your teeth 51. A court which reverses decisions 31. Barbies' boyfriends 16. What a scarecrow should do to birds (2 54. Yellow tropical fruit 32. Outline briefly words) 56. Tiny amounts of effort 18. Related to an author 57. A knife’s cutting 35. Panache and surface flair 20. Where pottery is baked 58. One of the Adriatic, Black, Sargasso, or 38. Window ledge 21. A drink with jam and bread Mediterranean 39. Gives assistance 22. Did a race 59. Second-hand 43. A pulling thread 23. A warning, “Woe ____” 60.needle Get some sleep 24. A spirit or creature 61. Letter greeting 44. A ____ mortal, not flawless 26. A lot of time 62. A name I call myself 45. Hogwarts' Radcliffe 28. A, long, long way to run 46. An incense burner 29. One cubic meter 30. Let out DOWN 48. 43 across, in solfege 31. Barbies’ boyfriends 1. The deadly sin of desire 49. A wildebeest 32. Outline briefly 2. A variety, of candy for instance 50. Kept at an incline 35. Panache and flair 3. A sink or a bowl 51. A court reverses 38. Window ledge 4. Black andwhich white whale 39. Gives assistance 5. Not imaginary decisions 6. Hearing organ Answers to last week’s puzzle 54. Yellow tropical fruit 7. A braid 56. Tiny amounts of effort 8. A mobster 57. A knife's cutting surface 9. A person from Uganda 10. Old Faithful’s kin 58. One of the Adriatic, Black, 11. Speaks well Sargasso, or Mediterranean 12. Find 59. Second-hand 15. Hellenic spirits of fortune 17. Makes do sleep 60. Get some 19. A dropgreeting of golden sun 61. Letter 23. After alpha 62. A name I call myself 25. ____-Contra affair
9. A person from Uganda 10. Old Faithful's kin 11. Speaks well 12. Find 15. HellenicCosta spirits of fortune Benjamin 17.30.Makes Prince, indo Arabic 31. A piercing or a sharp 19. A drop ofhowl, golden sunknife 33. A computer’s active profile 23. After alpha 34. Toxic metal element 25.35.____-Contra One who flees theaffair scene 26.36.Wander lazilymatches the wind A current which Fabric sidewalk roofsscouts 27.37.Cookie-selling 40. Tie off 30. Prince, in Arabic
pathy when there is a lack of a personal relationship, expounding, “In general it’s not a topic that people enjoy, and if you don’t actually know someone who has a disability, it’s really hard to feel that kind of connection.” With a student organization like the DRC, making these connections becomes a more accessible feat. The organization allows for a heightened understanding of the intersections between disability and other social identities. Racek discussed his favorite part of being a part of the DRC: “My favorite part of the Disability Rights Coalition has been just becoming aware—becoming aware and becoming enlightened of the issues that are still very much prominent within our society, and how they’re ignored.” Goss and Racek explained the primary mission of the DRC. As Goss remarked, “We’re hoping to bring voices to the students who are actually affected because we live here.” Racek agreed, elaborating, “I think if anything it would be to help promote dialogue. If we can promote dialogue and we can promote awareness, then I think there can be plans implemented in the future, or maybe not-soBen Costa future, that would allow a more inclusive environment and would also better help serve students, faculty and staff that identify as being 31.disabled.” A piercing howl, or a sharp The DRC anticipates tabling outside the knife in the near future to increase publicACDC ity. if you’dactive like to be added to 33.Additionally, A computer's profile the email list, DRC asks you to contact either 34. Toxic metal element or chgodisabilityrightscoalition[a]gmail.com ss[at]vassar.edu. 35. One who flees the scene The DRC leadership hopes that more stu36. Awillcurrent amtches the dents decide towhich join in their mission of inclusion. Goss concluded. “I think it’s a very imwind portant issue and very important topic to be a 37. ofFabric sidewalk part the discussion, so weroofs hope to get more people involved to ensure that it will continue 40. Tie off in the future.”
41. Duad, triad, tetrad 42. Skids uncontrollably 44. Self-referential 45. A deer, a female deer 47. Between rain and snow 48. Polearm 42. Skids uncontrollably 44. Portion Self-referential 51. of a church with the 45. A deer, a female deer altar 47. Between rain and snow 52. desperate request 48. A Polearm 53. Go bust, in blackjack 51. Portion of a church with the altar 52. A request 55. Adesperate cat's sole
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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
2017
September 14, 2017
OPINIONS
Page 9
The Miscellany News Staff Editorial
Vassar community must continue to fight DACA decision
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hroughout his presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to reverse Barack Obama’s “unconstitutional executive orders” in his first 100 days of office. For Democrats, this was in part a clear reference to Obama’s immigration reform, specifically the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) (The Washington Post, “Trump says he’ll cancel Obama’s ‘unconstitutional’ executive actions. It’s not that easy,” 12.03.16). In June 2012, the Obama administration established DACA in an effort to protect those brought into the country as children without documentation. DACA status, which is renewed every two years, protects recipients from deportation and provides them work permits (University of California at Berkeley, “DACA Information,” 2017). Also known as DREAMers—named for the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, which, though also intended to protect residency opportunities for undocumented children, was never passed by Congress—DACA recipients must be under 31 years old at the time of their application and must have a clean criminal record. In addition, they must have lived in the U.S. since 2007 and have arrived before the age of 16. Furthermore, DREAMers must be enrolled in or have graduated from high school or college, or have served in the military. As of 2017, there are about 800,000 DREAMers, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website, a majority of whom come from Mexico (NPR, “5 Questions about DACA Answered,” 09.05.17). DACA was conceived in response to a dearth of legislative action that protected minors brought illegally into the country due to forces outside of their control, and it hoped to address the nation’s ensuing refusal to recognize them as American despite their being raised and educated in the United States. Unsurprisingly, conservative and moderate Republicans alike heavily opposed the creation of the DACA program, accusing Obama of abusing executive powers to force through otherwise legislatively infeasible immigration policy. As a result, when Trump campaigned strongly against illegal immigration, conservatives saw
his election as a means by which to dismantle DACA and, more broadly, to turn back the tides of an evolving—and increasingly liberal—popular sentiment on immigration reform. Since Trump was slow to begin reforming Obama’s immigration policies, on June 10, Republicans pressured the new president by announcing their plan to sue against DACA by “seeking to amend a lawsuit stalled in federal court.” That lawsuit was against another one of Obama’s executive actions, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA), which sought to extend the protections of DACA to undocumented parents whose children were legal residents or citizens of the United States. As a result, on Sept. 5, the USCIS stopped accepting new applications for DACA that protected undocumented immigrants from deportation. Although DREAMers, whose work permits expire before March 5, 2018, can still apply for their two-year renewal, they are forced to meet a fast-approaching and inconvenient Oct. 5 deadline (NPR). Trump has left the responsibility of preserving DACA up to Congress, which now has six months to decide if it wishes to legalize the program. However, considering that in the following month Congress must provide disaster funding for victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, in addition to providing funding for the government to avoid a shutdown and addressing the White House’s push for tax overhaul, there is considerable doubt that that GOP leaders will spend political capital to protect the program. The effects of the Trump administration’s decisions on DACA hit close to home, as Poughkeepsie has the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants in the Hudson Valley. According to the NY State Comptroller, “Immigrants make up 35% of NYC population and about 20% of population in Dutchess County and Long Island.” We as a community should remember that Trump’s decision threatens the wellbeing and livelihoods of our neighbors, and we must stand in solidarity and support of the families of undocumented immigrants who have lived in Poughkeepsie for generations. Following Trump’s announcement of his plans to phase out DACA, President Elizabeth
‘Finstas’ breed realistic, healthy self-presentation Emily Sayer
Guest Columnist
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’m very taken with Instagram. I don’t really understand it, but there’s something very satisfying to me about editing and sharing photos and videos. Curating my Instagram is like tending a little garden: I have no affinity for botany, but damn if I’m not going to make my neighbors think I do. I never had a real interest in photography or digital scrapbooking until they became a platform to showcase who I am. I love that Instagram, in some ways, gives me control over how people perceive me; I can convey to people how I like to joke, what I like to do and what I like about myself. Sometimes I can’t articulate those things very well in person. I like that social media gives me extra time to think about how to respond to someone and how to present myself in a given situation. Of course, this also causes some of us to be exceedingly disingenuous online, presenting a cookie-cutter, uncontroversial picture of ourselves, which brings me to my point: The “finstagram” trend is a beautiful thing, because it’s a rebellion against rose-tinted social media. “Finstagrams,” for those of you who are more respectable than I am and don’t know the meaning of the word, are secondary Instagram accounts (“fake Instagrams”) on which people post more accurate, satirical portrayals of their life, such as a selfie with a self-deprecating caption. “Finstas” (as they are abbreviated) have actually made it cool to delegitimize whatever persona you’ve crafted for yourself online. I have one. It’s not particularly funny or alternative, but it does serve as a diary for me, and I think it does the same for a lot of people. It bolsters the feeling that you’re not alone in your bad days and that no one looks cute all the time. (Well, some do,
and they do exist. Thanks to Instagram I’ll always be able to freely compare myself to them, should I choose to do so...which I do, because for some sadistic reason it feels good to take a hit to the ego and just look at pretty people and their lavenderand-matcha-painted pages). Via these little online diaries, people discuss the more mundane content that doesn’t make it to their primary accounts: a bad sexual encounter, a weird relationship with mom, a Snapchat video of a friend eating pad thai with her foot, something—or some latte—that tasted better than it looked and just didn’t photograph well, the daily trials of living with mental illnesses... That sort of stuff. Mundane, not flashy. But even so, this sort of content is really cool. We’re part of a generation that’s seeking to normalize aspects of life previously shunned from the public sector. We’re not only learning to accept the aspects of our life that we consider undesirable, but also to become comfortable enough with ourselves to share them with others. And for a lot of people, finsta-culture has helped them to create a safe space for themselves in which they and their friends and followers can have a dialogue about politics, health, society, etc., away from the usual deluge of internet harassment and spam. And better yet, finstas get people talking about their feelings. Whether feelings can be trendy or not is a whole other can of worms I’d like to get into at some point, because I suspect that even with finstas people tailor their content to match moods and attitudes that are en vogue, but in general I think that this form of “oversharing” is a positive thing. If nothing else, we can at least remind ourselves that we are not alone in being imperfect, and that we’re pretty cool for being able to hold down such great rinstas (real Instas) when our lives are actual messes.
Bradley sent a community-wide email denouncing the decision. She communicated her plans to join universities in their statements made against the removal of DACA, consult legal counsel and protect students “to the full extent allowed by law.” In addition, President Bradley provided the names of faculty members— Professor of Sociology Eréndira Rueda and Professor of Education Jaime Del Razo—who will serve as resources for students (President Bradley, “A message to the Vassar Community DACA,” 09.06.2017). We commend President Bradley for affirming Vassar’s commitment to addressing the effects of this decision. We hope that the College will take further action in the coming months to protect students affected by DACA and communicate said plans to the Vassar community. Furthermore, we urge President Bradley to extend her concern to all students who come from families of immigrants, as all of these people are affected by this presidential administration’s bigoted immigration policies. Additionally, we applaud the Vassar Student Association’s (VSA) timely actions to support students who wished to attend protests in response to these events. By providing a free shuttle and train ticket reimbursements to the Sept. 9 rally in New York and transportation to the Sept. 11 protest in Poughkeepsie, the VSA demonstrated their commitment to encouraging activism both on and off campus (Anish Kanoria, “It’s me again,” 09.11.17). We at The Miscellany News applaud students who took part in rallies and protests in Poughkeepsie and NYC, and we encourage students to continue to fight Trump’s discriminatory policy. The following is a list of some of the ways that students can resist the repeal of DACA: Explore your options to volunteer with local groups that do work to benefit migrant populations, both directly and indirectly. The Office of Community-Engaged Learning currently offers fieldwork positions with the Rural and Migrant Ministry, Planned Parenthood and Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson, for example. Stop by Main Building N-165 to discuss the possibilities. Share your story by filling out the anonymous DACA Response and Resource Google
Form and/or contacting Yasemin Smallens ’20, who plans to do a podcast on the issue. Contact state representatives from NY and/ or your hometown and tell them to resist the repeal of DACA. In addition, tell them to co-sponsor and/or support the bipartisan “DREAM Act of 2017,” which paves the road to citizenship for those with DACA or temporary protected status who graduate from a U.S. high school prior to entering college, the workforce or the military. For more activism opportunities, visit the following websites: We are Here to Stay, the Indivisible Guide and the International Rescue Committee. If you have DACA status, the following are some online resources: Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Notifica. Trump’s attempt to halt the DACA program inspires questions about, and fear for, America’s future. It remains unclear which inclusive immigration policies the president will attempt to dismantle next. His actions and rhetoric come as an attack not only on the children of undocumented immigrants, but also on all of the families that have immigrated to the U.S. We as citizens should be prepared for Trump to continue to alter who is able to apply for and receive citizenship and when they may do so. This is acutely un-American, and it is our duty not only to keep fighting bigoted and racist policies as they emerge, but to proactively monitor and challenge the discourse on these issues. We express our solidarity with students and immigrants who are marginalized by Trump’s hateful agenda. We must strive to make Vassar a safe and protective space for all students and visitors, regardless of their documentation status. It is important that students become informed about these issues before they make headlines, and we must acknowledge the fact that during the majority of the time, we merely react to the decisions that leaders make in this sociopolitical climate. Trump mentioned repealing DACA during his 2016 campaign, yet we are surprised that he is now attempting to achieve it. We must take his words seriously as we witness the setbacks in social progress that Trump consistently proves himself capable of realizing.
Letter to the Editor
September 8, 2017 To the editors of The Miscellany News: Thank you for your Open Letter (Thursday, Sept. 7) and for your thoughtful consideration of so many important issues at Vassar. I appreciate your goals and honesty. The ideas that you raised are often complex and nuanced, and I expect some disagreement as they are discussed among students, faculty, staff, administration, and the Board. I have found that the best way to proceed on controversial issues is to build relationships so that dialogue on hard issues begins with trust and the parties stay at the table. The campus initiative of engaged pluralism is designed to help create that culture throughout Vassar. I look forward to continuing the conversation about these and other topics, and I would welcome the opportunity of meeting to discuss how it would be best for me to work with The Miscellany News reporters over the next year. Thanks again,
Elizabeth H. Bradley President, Vassar College
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
OPINIONS
Page 10
September 14, 2017
Political parties need to unite in face of climate change Drew Solender Columnist
Spoiler Alert: The following article contains “Game of Thrones” spoilers
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f there is one thing I like more than talking and reading about politics, it’s talking about and watching the critically-acclaimed series “Game of Thrones.” For those who don’t know, “Game of Thrones” is a series about the fictional, Britain-like continent of Westeros in which various factions vie to rule the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Except that it’s not. As many have argued in the past, and as has been essentially confirmed this year, “Game of Thrones” is actually is about a deadly and seemingly unstoppable force that threatens to wipe out humanity, and the people who fight against that threat. One could be forgiven for spending the first six seasons of “Thrones” focused almost exclusively on the infighting within the Seven Kingdoms only to discover shockingly that the true fight wasn’t between warring houses, but rather against a destructive force that threatens humanity (which is a result of humanity’s own destructive actions). After all, that has largely been what societies have done for most of our modern history. You see, “Game of Thrones’s” true plot of White Walkers threatening humanity, according to Vox, is actually an allegory for climate change. The article explains that “White Walkers are a threat to all humanity... yet instead of uniting to combat the shared threat to human existence, the houses in the show spend basically all their time on their own petty disagreements and struggle for power” (Vox, “‘Game of Thrones’ is secretly all about climate change,” 07.14.2017). If you swap White Walkers for climate change and houses for countries, it then resembles the predicament that our globe is currently facing. As a disclaimer, I must admit I would not consider myself an expert on climate change, but I do my research and the basics of climate change are pretty easy to grasp. According to a World Bank study on climate change, “we’re on track for a 4°C warmer world marked by extreme heat-waves, declining
global food stocks, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity, and life-threatening sea level rise” (World Bank, “Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Summer,” 11.18.2012). A combination of factors, mostly man-made—such as energy consumption, heavy use of cars and airplanes, production of meat products and widespread industrial and consumer waste—are responsible. These activities flood our atmosphere with carbon dioxide, which absorbs radiation from the sun and keeps it within the atmosphere, thus heating the Earth’s surface. It should be noted that this is not an opinion—it’s a fact. Yet polls consistently show that climate change is not a motivating issue for most American voters. In one NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, just eight percent of voters said climate change “should be the top priority for the federal government” (NBC News/Wall Street Journal Survey, 05.15.2016). For comparison, 26 percent of respondents said the economy should be the top priority, while 20 percent said the same for national security. The issue fares no better in other polls. One Quinnipiac poll has just six percent of voters saying it was the “most important issue in deciding your vote” (Quinnipiac University Survey, 07.23.2015), versus 37 percent who said the economy. Finally, a Bloomberg poll had just five percent, one in 20 voters, claiming that they see climate change “as the most important issue facing the country right now” (Bloomberg National Survey, 06.06.2014). One might argue that the chronological trend of these polls shows an increase in attention over time. But a three-percent increase over three years is so small, it doesn’t even quite surpass the margin of error for most of these polls. The reason climate change isn’t higher on people’s list of important issues is pretty intuitive if you really stop to think about it. Firstly, the average citizen participates in politics to make their daily life better. The only people who really suffer day to day from the effects of climate change at the moment are those on the coasts of southern states like Louisiana or who suffered from drought in California. One could also argue that victims of massive
and devastating storms such as Harvey (and, to a lesser extent, Irma) would fall into that group as well, but I would counter by saying that it is harder to make the link between the hurricanes and climate change than between warming, droughts and wildfires. (Though, it should be noted, the link is definitely there to some extent.) However, even in the case of droughts and wildfires, some link must be drawn that makes climate change a particularly difficult policy issue to promote. According to a comprehensive Pew Research poll on climate change, between 41 and 43 percent of Americans believe climate change is the cause of things like “harm to wildlife and their habitats,” “storms becom[ing] more severe,” “more droughts or water shortages,” “damage to forests and plant life” and “rising sea levels; eroded shore lines [sic]” (Pew Research Center, “Public views on climate change and climate science,” 08.04.2016). Furthermore, it would be safe to assume that more of the individuals who don’t believe in those links come from conservative states like Louisiana, Texas and North Dakota—all feeling the sting of climate change right now—than from liberal states like New York and Massachusetts. So there is seemingly a counter-intuitive correlation between being impacted by climate change and not believing in it. Besides the difficulty of having climate change as a priority on most politicians agendas, there is also the issue of disbelief. In fact, nearly half of the country doesn’t view man-made climate change as much of a problem. According to the aforementioned Pew Research poll, just under half (48 percent) of Americans believe in man-made climate change. 31 percent believes it is “because of natural patterns” and 20 percent, one in five Americans, believes there is “no solid evidence” to support the claim that the Earth is warming (Pew Research Center, “Public views on climate change and climate science,” 08.04.2016). That’s essentially half of Americans who do not support the fact that human activities cause climate change, and an indicator that a significant chunk of the population does not take the urgent situation seriously. There are a couple of big factors that make maintaining the
status quo in energy production and consumption, agriculture, waste and transportation—all major causes of man-made climate change—a preference for businessmen, certain politicians and many voters. After all, activities such as fracking and offshore drilling are not only a boon for the economy and huge producers of jobs, but also put us on a strong footing in the international political scene, in which strong oil production is essentially the foremost indicator of strength. An energy magazine, Oil Price, put it best when they wrote “‘Oil is Power!’ I don’t just mean power as in ‘energy,’ I mean power, as in being a primary factor in the process of asserting and maintaining political dominance and control” (Oil Price, “The oil industry and its effects on global politics,” 10.22.2009). This brings us back to “Game of Thrones.” Many different micro-political priorities get in the way of focusing on the larger issue. There are many other cases like this, in which groups with disproportionate political power pull strings and spend money to turn the people against one another and away from the focus on climate change. It’s all to protect their bottom line. Despite the fact that renewable energy is fast on its way to becoming more profitable and a bigger job creator than natural gas or coal, it is still relegated to a small place in our energy economy, especially in comparison to countries in Europe or Asia. There are many other innovations, such as fuel-efficient or hybrid cars and meat substitutes such as the impossible burger, that would significantly cut our carbon footprints, but which have failed to make it into the mainstream of our economy. I would like to encourage all readers to make themselves aware of these innovations, consume them, work in these sectors, vote for candidates who promote them as well as environmental regulation and continue to stand up to the Trump administration and malignant conservative billionaires on these issues. While issues like healthcare and national security are important, make sure to also vote, protest and organize with climate change always in mind as well. Don’t let the “Game of Thrones” distract you. Winter (or summer) is coming.
Global job industries should prepare for growth in AI Steven Park Columnist
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arlier this September, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk stirred up a huge Twitter-storm when he posted that global competition in artificial intelligence (AI) superiority could potentially lead to World War III. This tweet came after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared, “Whoever becomes the leader in [artificial intelligence] will rule the world,” to which Musk tweeted, “It begins...” (Independent, “Elon Musk Warns Battle For AI Supremacy Will Spark Third World War,” 09.06.2017). Of course, Elon Musk is rather infamous for making grandiose predictions and promises that often fail to come true. In 2016, he announced that his company SpaceX will master space travel and colonize Mars as early as 2024, only to pull the plug less than a year later when he realized that traveling to Mars in 25 minutes isn’t exactly feasible (Wired, “SpaceX’s Mars Plans Hit a Pothole. Up Next: The Moon?,” 07.22.2017). However, Musk’s tweet about World War III has been one of many such warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence, going so far as to reference the “Terminator” movies. “AI is a fundamental existential risk for human civilization, and I don’t think people fully appreciate that,” he stated at the 2017 National Governors Association in Rhode Island (NPR, “Elon Musk Warns Governors: Artificial Intelligence Poses ‘Existential Risk,’” 07.17.2017). But is the situation really that dire? The CEO of robotics and computing company Neurala Massimiliano Versace argues that these doomsday predictions surrounding AI are all largely unsubstantiated (CNBC, “Why this artificial intelligence expert says Elon Musk is ‘selling fear,’” 09.06.2017). In fact, his biggest complaint so far is that non-experts like Musk who have no clue about how AI actually works seem to be dominating the discussions. In contrast to Musk’s warnings, Versace says that it is much too early to start regulating AI and that doing so would hinder innovation. Several other critics have also voiced their opinions addressing the robot apocalypse scenario that Musk seems to predict. CEO and
co-founder of Google Larry Page made the case that AI is designed to make people’s lives easier so that they have more time to pursue their own interests (Vanity Fair, Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse,” 04.2017). Likewise, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg compared fears about AI to early fears about airplanes and encouraged people to “choose hope over fear.” On the other hand, it’s not like Musk is the only dissenting voice in the room. Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking similarly expressed how artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race, and Microsoft’s Bill Gates voiced his worries that AI might become a problem after it becomes intelligent enough to dominate the workforce (Huffington Post, “Should We Fear Artificial Intelligence? The Experts Can’t Seem to Agree,” 04.07.2015). However, rather than a “Terminator”-style takeover, the bigger concern for me from a cultural perspective is the direction that AI might take the world in. It’s undeniable that today’s society places a disproportionate amount of attention on science and technology over any other discipline. Given how dependent on machines we’ve become, it’s no surprise that so many people hold degrees in math-intensive STEM subjects such as computer science, robotics and electrical engineering, and that we place these individuals atop lofty pedestals. As a result, pursuing a degree in the humanities is widely seen as a high-risk gamble considering the increasingly bloodthirsty modern arena known as the job market. But the problem here is that the widespread implementation of AI will likely exacerbate this issue even further. Last March, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin brushed aside all concerns about AI and stated that “In terms of artificial intelligence taking over the jobs, I think we’re so far away from that that it’s not even on my radar screen.” Unfortunately, Mnuchin couldn’t be more wrong (Wired, “Hate To Break It to Steve Mnuchin, But AI’s Already Taking Jobs,” 03.24.2017). In reality, AI has already started to seep into the workforce. Let’s list some examples. In San Francisco, Simbe Robotics’s Tally robot can navigate
around human shoppers at the supermarket to make sure that everything is stocked, placed and priced properly (The Guardian, “Robots Will Destroy Our Jobs—and We’re Not Ready For It,” 01.11.2017). Meanwhile in Japan, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance has already replaced 30 of its employees with an AI system that can analyze and interpret data better and much faster than a human can (Fast Company, “Bet You Didn’t See this Coming: 10 Jobs That Will Be Replaced By Robots,” 01.19.2017). Artificial intelligence is also replacing financial analysts in the business sector simply because it can predict market patterns faster.
“Sure, jobs won’t completely disappear, but I predict that the tech industry will be the only area in dire need of employees.” Not only that, careers thought to be safe from the encroaching tech revolution—such as journalism and teaching—are now at risk as well. For instance, companies such as Narrative Science and Automated Insights have created AI bots that write countless business and sports articles for clients like Forbes and the Associated Press (The Guardian, “Actors, Teachers, Therapists—Think Your Job is Safe From Artificial Intelligence? Think Again,” 02.09.2017). The United States military also relies on a computer-generated virtual therapist to screen soldiers in Afghanistan for PTSD, and physical robots are being used in Japan and Korea to teach English. Even actors could be replaced by some kind of technological innovation like with Grand Moff Tarkin in “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Given the efficient and cost-effective nature of AI, it won’t be long until these systems are used in practically every industry. Of course, there are various reassuring argu-
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
ments out there. A common response is that new jobs will naturally form once old jobs are filled. However, exactly what kind of job do you think will be in demand once more and more companies implement AI in their business? A really insightful article by Clive Thompson has a headline that states it best: “The Next Big Blue-Collar Job Is Coding” (Wired, 02.08.2017). Sure, jobs won’t completely disappear, but I predict that the tech industry will be the only area in dire need of employees. Another common response is that a greater focus in STEM education will eventually solve everything. Jenny Dearborn, an executive at the software company SAP, argues that young people today have a responsibility to become more educated in technology. “If you want to do health care, major in tech with a healthcare focus. If you want to be a neuroscientist, major in tech with that focus,” she emphasized (CNBC, “Why Elon Musk Might Be Right About His Artificial Intelligence Warnings,” 08.25.2017). However, that’s easier said than done. The United States already lags behind in STEM education compared to the rest of the world, and considering how our current Secretary of Education is a billionaire who has spent millions of dollars fighting against government regulations and crippling teachers’ unions by taking away their right to strike, I’m not feeling too optimistic (The Guardian, 01.11.2017). Plus, what if you’re simply not naturally inclined toward skills in STEM? What about people who just don’t enjoy it? Obviously, the last thing I want to do is bash the STEM disciplines and discourage people from pursuing STEM careers. I truly believe that science and technology can inspire wonder and excitement for everyone. However, I worry that students who discover their passions in the humanities will likely end up squeezed to death under the STEM-oriented educational system even more than they do today. As a college student who once had plans of majoring in the humanities, I’d hate to imagine what job searching will be like in a future where AI made has made that notoriously grueling, overly competitive process even harder.
September 14, 2017
OPINIONS
ADA reform bill threatens accessibility Jesse Horowitz Columnist
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n 1990, Republican President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. The legislation prohibited discrimination against disabled people in all areas of public life. In many ways, it was similar to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and is similarly revered by disability rights activists. While not perfect, the ADA provided major protections to disabled people that they had never been guaranteed and validated the hard work of those activists who struggled to ensure that the government recognized that disability rights are civil rights. Enter Ted Poe, a Republican congressman representing Texas’s second district. His website describes him as a “leading advocate in Washington for limited government, free markets, low taxes and individual liberty.” Known as one of the more conservative members of the House, Poe has spent his time in Congress advocating both for causes that would make Vassar students squeamish, such as stronger border security and limiting abortion, and ones that ought to be universally celebrated, such as fighting human trafficking. He’s also a climate-change denier who believes that President Barack Obama is not a United States citizen. His most recent project has been the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017. The bill is pitched as a measure to protect small-business owners, but in practice would create a mandatory waiting period for disabled people who want to file an ADA lawsuit. Currently, if a business violates the ADA— which could range from a hotel not having a ramp to blatant job discrimination—a disabled person can file a lawsuit against them or complain to the Department of Justice. There is currently no other way of enforcing the law. While this situation isn’t ideal, at least those affected may seek immediate recourse. A disabled person, however, is unable to receive any monetary benefits from an ADA lawsuit. The only thing the courts can do is force the business to comply. The only state in the country where this
is not the case is California, where business owners have to pay lawyers’ fees and could be required to pay damages to disabled people who visit their business and don’t have access. If the Reform Act is passed, a disabled person would have to wait 180 days before proceeding with an ADA lawsuit. This supposedly gives the business time to acknowledge the problem (which they have 60 days to do) and correct the violation (which they have another 120 days to do). There is no other right guaranteed by the Constitution that has a mandatory waiting period (a reminder that there is no mandatory federal waiting period before purchasing a gun and even advocates of waiting periods have proposed it to be only three days). The logic behind the law stems from an egregious misunderstanding of the ADA. Many more conservative outlets have lamented a supposed rise in frivolous lawsuits as a result of the Act. This stems from two misconceptions: firstly that the complainant can profit from the process (which I already addressed), and secondly that the complaints in question are unimportant. What these critics fail to understand is that the specifics are necessary. A parking space being too narrow by a few feet means the space isn’t van accessible. Yet critics claim that businesses should have time to make these changes once they are aware of the issue. I agree, and I think they’ve already had more than enough time. It’s been 27 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed; businesses have had nearly three decades to comply. And disabled people needing access to these buildings often can’t wait 180 days. They need to get into the building now. If the only CVS you can easily get to isn’t accessible and you can’t pick up vital medication because of it, you can’t wait 180 days before doing something about it. That wait could be the difference between life and death. Instead of prioritizing the lives of disabled people, Poe prioritizes defending small businesses from what he refers to as drive-by lawsuits. According to Poe, these lawsuits are filed by people who are not customers of the store for the purpose of making money, which is not directly possible
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through the ADA. Popular newscaster Anderson Cooper has a different theory. In a report for “60 Minutes,” he claimed that lawyers would hire disabled people to drive around and sue different businesses that they find have ADA violations. In his report, to be fair, he did find Daniel Delgado and John Morales, two disabled folks who admitted to being hired by attorneys to go to businesses simply to file lawsuits against them. Delgado told Anderson Cooper that he been promised “$1,000 per lawsuit” and that by doing so he “would help improve access for the disabled” (CNN, “What’s a Drive-By Lawsuit,” 12.4.2017). Yet Poe’s preferred solution does little to alleviate the problem and further limits access for disabled people. Lawyers who are so committed to making money that they violate ethical practices could still go on doing what they’re doing, and likely could even increase the number of lawsuits or engage in even less ethical practices such as blackmailing owners to guarantee return on investment. This bill doesn’t protect businesses from crooks, it protects businesses from legitimate lawsuits. And while it would be easy to blame this on the Republicans, a great many Democrats have signed onto the legislation. These left-leaning sponsors include Representatives Ami Bera of California, Jackie Speier of California, Pete Aguilar of California, J. Luis Correa of California, Bill Foster of Illinois, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Bobby Rush of Illinois, Terri A. Sewell of Alabama, Henry Cuellar of Texas and Jim Costa of California. Representatives Peters, Bera and Speier were also among the original co-sponsors. These representatives are selling out the disabled community to create the illusion of being pro-business. Ironically, if these Democrats really wanted to be pro-business, they would urge compliance with the ADA. Those businesses that are not accessible to disabled people are leaving a large amount of people unable to financially support them. The most responsible thing for Congress to do, both in terms of supporting the economy and protecting disabled people from discrimination, is to let the ADA stand.
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Word on the street What is your least favorite song?
“ ‘What’s New Pussycat’ by Tom Jones” — Matthew Casagrande ’20
“I hate all of the Justin Timberlake shit” — Sessi Blanchard ’18
“I’ve been rickrolled one too many times. So ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ ” — Kenji Nikaido ’20
“ ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ ” — Anya ScottWallace ’20
“ ‘500 Miles’ by The Proclaimers” — Alexandra Hatch ’20
“The Justin Bieber one, ‘Despacito’ ” — Daisy CatlingAllen ’20
Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
HUMOR & SATIRE
Page 12
September 14, 2017
Breaking News From the desk of Leah Cates and Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire Editors In attempt to further agenda of campus domination, womp-womps plan to file for various VSA positions Five sure-fire ways to land Transfer students baffled yourself a significant other by abbreviations, professors Abby Lass Love Guru
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o it’s happened.―Your greatest fears have been realized. Weeks of college have come and gone, and you still haven’t found that special someone to share your mozz sticks with. You crave that glorious moment when you change your Facebook status to “in a relationship,” yearn for the chance to have an adorable Instagram picture of the two of you kissing to make all of your single friends implode with envy. Trust me, I get it. I’ve been there. Lucky for you, I’m here to help. Here are five bona fide, tried-and-true, 99.99 percent effective strategies that are guaranteed to get you a significant other. 1: “Channel Trelawney”
Step one: Acquire a crystal ball and master the art of divination. Step two: With your crystal ball in tow, position yourself somewhere that your superstitious target will likely stumble upon you. Step three: Convince them to let you read their fortune. Step four: While reading their fortune, prophesy unforetold horror and bloodshed. (Pause for dramatic effect.) Step four: Tell your target that the only way for them to avoid this terrible fate is to find a lovely individual who can read fortunes and takes advice from newspaper humor columns. Clarify that you’re speaking about yourself if they don’t quite get it. 2: “Send in the Fam”
Step one: Find an older, particularly extroverted, relative and shmooze; don’t forget to accept any food that is offered to you. Step two: Casually mention that there is a special event at your school during which all the students can bring their favorite relative, and that you’d love for them to accompany you. Step three: At this aforementioned event—you may need to plan one if it’s not currently in the works—position your relative next to the target. Step four: Allow your relative to speak at lengths about how awkward you were as a youth and list every single thing you have ever accomplished, thus proving to the target what an endearing, family-oriented catch you are. 3: “The Big Sick”
Step one: Contract a severe medical illness that will require a trip to the emergency room. Step
two: Call the target, explain your predicament, and tell them that you need someone to stay with you in the hospital. Step three: When they arrive, have the doctor elaborate on the severity of your condition, and tell the target that the signature of a spouse or significant other is needed immediately in order to provide you with life-saving treatment. Step four: Thank your new significant other for legally verifying your relationship status before you are wheeled off to surgery. 4: “Conditioning? Classic”
Step one: Make a playlist of hyper-romantic music (I recommend Tchaikovsky’s “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet” and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito,” just to cover all your bases). Step two: Play the music loudly enough that the target will hear it before they see you. Step three: Remain at a distance until the music has visibly worked its magic and the target is, at a bare minimum, bopping along. Step four: Appear, and engage with the target in a charming and witty dialogue. Step five: Repeat this process until the target comes to associate you with the romantic vibes of the music and eventually asks you out. 5: “Smacking Down”
Step one: Train extensively in the art of 16th-century Italian fencing. Leave a minimum of six months in order to do this properly. Step two: Hire a burly henchman and secretly instruct them to slander the target in a highly public area. Step three: Once the henchman has carried out your instructions, declare that the henchman has impugned the target’s honor and challenge the henchman to a duel. Step four: Vanquish your opponent with your impeccable swordsmanship skills. For added dramatic effect, allow them to nick you so as to elicit the target’s sympathy (any scars will also add to your debonaire appeal). Step five: Allow the target to tend to your wounds and, after thanking you, pledge their heart to you forever. I know these look daunting, but trust me when I say that these over-the-top, time consuming and highly invasive maneuvers are your best chance at finding the love of your life. If nothing else, they’ll keep you preoccupied enough that you’ll be able to ignore the little voice telling you that, yes, it is a good idea to buy another cat. Happy wooing!
Blair Webber
New Kid on the Block
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s the school year begins anew, Vassar’s campus is flooded with new faces. Between the incoming first-years who are excited to be away from home and the exchange students sharing the campus for a semester or two, one group of faces stands out more than the others: transfer students. Coming from places as far afield as New York City, these seasoned college veterans are, once again, attempting to make a place for themselves at yet another school that abbreviates every single thing. One transfer student, an incoming sophomore, shared her experience of starting anew. “It’s all the little things, you know? Like that our IDs are called VCards, not MCards, or that it’s VCash, not MCash, that we use to pay for laundry. Those things add up over time. You’ve been so used to doing things one way, and now you have to change everything. In my dorm at my old school, for example, we had gender-inclusive restrooms, and here all the restrooms are gender-neutral. We also had an art installation with every denizen of Hell mentioned in ‘Paradise Lost’ instead of a garden with every plant mentioned by Shakespeare. So that’s an adjustment.” While the meal plan is new even for returning Vassar students, the sophomore has had a hard time adjusting from her previous meal plan. She shared how difficult it is just to figure out where she might possibly be supposed to eat. “So, at my old school, we had two different cafeterias, and Vassar only has one, and that kind of throws me off. Where am I supposed to go when I want to eat pizza with a slightly different crust? I just wandered around campus my whole first week trying to find a second dining hall,” she said. Lack of dining options is not her only obstacle to a balanced diet. The sophomor recalled, “For two years, the abbreviation ‘The Deece’ has meant ‘Disciplinary Center’ to me, not ‘All Campus Dining Center.’ I was on probation for my
whole first year, so I was there a lot. It smelled like cheap incense and spilled Italian dressing. It was grim. Every time someone here asks me if I want to go to the ‘The Deece,’ I scream and run away,” she said. Classes hinder her ability to navigate Vassar culture as well. “There are only like 30 people in my biggest class. I don’t even need to bring the binoculars I bought for my freshman writing seminar last year. I can actually see the professor. She keeps looking me in the eyes and addressing me by name. It’s weird. She does it with everyone. It’s like she’s obsessed with names. I told her super briefly that I was going to New York for the weekend, and not only did she give me a list of art installations on the intersection of gender and jean-pocket depth that she said could not be missed, she also asked me how my trip went before class the following Tuesday. Why would she remember an undergrad’s weekend plans? Doesn’t she have a team of graduate students desperate for her attention?” said the sophomore. Weekend activities also bamboozle this transfer student: “At my first college, the on-campus club was called ‘The Bridge Cafe,’ and the coffee shop was called ‘The Mug.’ So last Friday night, I showed up turnt to The Bridge Cafe here, and no one was there. It was only one a.m., so I waited for about half an hour. No one showed up, so I just went to Sunset Lake and dangled my head off of the bridge there, which I guess is a thing people here do for fun? Someone said it is referred to as ‘waterfalling.’ We did a similar thing back at my other school, but it involved a funnel and the women’s rugby team, and we called it ‘flip cup,’” she said. Getting involved in social life on campus has also proven particularly difficult. “Why do they say ‘orgs’? Why not just ‘clubs’?” asked the sophomore. Recently, this transfer student has been seen around campus carrying a hamper into the Old Laundry Building, and asking people which building Sander’s Classroom is in.
My Exasperating TSA (Terribly Scary Agency) Experience Tanya Kotru Gode, Frequently Frustrated Flyer
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he last time I came back from India, I had a funny experience with the TSA. When you land in the United States, they make you stand in a line, and a dude looks at your passport and customs form and asks “Where are you going?”, “Are you up to no good?”, etc. I usually get through these security procedures hassle-free, because I make an innocent-looking face, not reflective at all of the annoyance inside me saying, “I don’t wanna answer your questions, idiot!” Hmmm...maybe I’ve underestimated myself as an actress. I got through that part scot-free, but I was worried about having filled out the custom forms incorrectly—the dude just squiggled something on it without saying anything. I was traveling alone internationally for the first time, and God knows what weird-ass stuff adults write on these forms. I always have to study them carefully before filling them out to avoid making mistakes. I’m pretty sure I spent 10 minutes on the part where it said “name,” like “Am I writing my name correctly?”, “Is this how it was spelled on my passport?” and “Does my name sound suspicious at all?” I am an overthinker, and clearly not fully an adult yet. I treat these
forms like a calculus exam. I took my bag (which had a “fragile” sticker on it, but was the only bag that tumbled off the carousel) and proceeded to make myself look stupid as I attempted to pick it up. (I’m just 5’2”, and I have the upper-body strength of a peanut.) I was heading towards customs, and I started imagining weird situations about how I could be singled out for a random check because I’m traveling alone and I’m Indian. I was thinking, “Do I look white enough to be spared any racial profiling?” I have a lighter complexion among Indians, so I was hoping they wouldn’t care that I’m brown. Like every skin commercial in India ever (senseless beauty standards exist everywhere), I was asking myself “Am I fair-skinned enough?” And then, guess what? I got singled out for a random bag check! So I was led by this kinda good-looking white dude. Stupid me would’ve flirted with him if he wasn’t a TSA guy about to go through my stuff. I was sweating buckets. Thankfully, no one smelled me (I’m sure I didn’t smell that bad, though). He first asked, “Where is your money?” to make sure I wasn’t carrying hideous amounts of cash. I wanted to say, “Whoa, I’m
not just gonna show you my money. Mind your own business!” But of course I showed it to him. I can’t stand up to mean people in general—do you really think I’d stand up to a TSA officer? Then he rummaged through my backpack, and checked my suitcase. He asked, “Did you pack this bag yourself?” I was tempted to candidly say, “My mom stuffed everything in because I’m incompetent at packing.” But I said I packed the bag, and he opened it. And voilà! What do you see when you open Tanya’s bag? Colorful bras and underwear! Piles of them! I have the funkiest underwear—polka dots, stripes—you name it, I have it. I bet I have the most colorful laundry. I have some regular underwear also, but of course those were at the bottom of the bag, and my funky ones were on the top. I bet that guy was judging me. I bet he laughed about me later, like “that Indian girl was dressed in the most basic way, but her underwear was funkay af.” So the dude proceeded to rummage through my underwear while making small talk. Perfect! When he was done, he made more small talk, and said, “What are you majoring in?” On the inside, I was like, “I don’t know. I’m clueless
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
and indecisive and I procrastinate, and my life is like my hair on a humid day.” But I lied and said, “Oh, I’m thinking of psych.” That’s usually my backup answer for the airport for these kind of situations, so that I don’t look completely clueless. He proceeded to talk some more about how his brother also studied psych. And I was standing there awkwardly, thinking, “I don’t really give a shit about your brother. He could have majored in scrambled eggs for all I care. I’m sleep deprived, I’m hungry, I wanna leave. Thank you very much.” Oh well, he let me go soon after. I wonder if I was singled out due to my race. A brownish-looking person traveling alone— very suspicious, indeed. God knows what kind of dangerous things I’ll do in the U.S.—pushing on pull doors, eating cereal with water, staying up till three a.m. watching K-pop videos like a little rebel. Honestly, these immigrants and foreigners are always up to no good! I think next time I’ll color my skin blue just to throw them off so that they wouldn’t know my race. Oh wait, then they’d actually think I’m an alien, and the whole end-of-“E.T.” thing would happen. Never mind, I’ll just stay brown then.
HUMOR & SATIRE
September 14, 2017
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Praise be unto Student Secure: Inside Vassar’s WiFi cults Steven Park
404. Byline Not Found.
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ast week, the Vassar administration announced that it would start cracking down on the notorious “WiFi cults” after groups of students in hooded black robes marched around campus holding candles and carrying signs that read “RIP Internet” and “Eduroam Does Not Forgive. Eduroam Does Not Forget.” Vassar College has always been infamous for its issues with Internet connectivity, as well as its bizarre grudge against computers in general. In 1983, the college banned students from bringing personal computers onto campus despite marketing itself as a forward-thinking, tech-savvy institution (I’m not joking, this really happened). But last year, after the drop in the already questionable quality of the WiFi connection on Vassar’s campus, countless students became so desperate that they started praying to Student Secure in an attempt to appease the ethereal being that so ruthlessly held their GPAs in the palm of its hand. “We’ve tried everything—meeting with CIS, talking to administrators, turning our devices on and off—none of it worked. All we can do now is beg for mercy,” stated one cult member who wished to remain anonymous. Members of this new creed call their group “The Holy Church of Student Secure.” It largely consists of students who have been badly traumatized by the shaky Internet connection on campus and have multiple horror stories to tell. One hooded member recounted her tale in shudders: “It was the week of midterm exams. I had a paper in history class that was due, but I rarely had the chance to work on it because I was drowning in exams. Then, on the night before the paper was due, I finally decided to pull an all-nighter to get it done. But...but as I turned on my laptop, I saw that dreaded icon on the bottom-right corner. That yellow exclamation
ARIES
mark...I...I panicked. My links, my bibliography, everything that I had started writing, it was all online...No matter how many times I entered my password, nothing worked. That night, I learned that there is no God. Only...only Student Secure.” Other members had similar stories—their iPhones never connecting to the server when they needed to look something up, losing connection randomly in the dorms, the countless hours of frustration as a deadline neared. For these students, it was truly hell on Earth.
“I learned that there is no God. Only... only Student Secure.” For many of the cult members, turning to CIS was a pointless endeavor. One solemnly stated, “They’re just as clueless as we are. Humans cannot possibly understand the cruel whims of a God.” Instead, the Church of Student Secure relies on “dark magic” rituals, which they claim will probably be more helpful in the long run. According to the cult members, these ceremonies take place in incredibly sketchy areas, such as the dark catacombs of the Noyes and Main basements, in order to lure out the ghost of Matthew Vassar from the darkness and revive Internet connectivity from the dead. One of these rituals includes the Liturgy of the Loading Screen, where members draw the WiFi logo on the ground with their tears before holding hands and spinning in circles to emulate the rotating icon they frequently see on their computers and phones. Another is the Rite of Screeching Fire, where they congregate specifically in the Jewett base-
HOROSCOPES
March 21 | April 19
TAURUS
April 20 | May 20
GEMINI
May 21 | June 20
CANCER
June 21 | July 22
LEO
July 23 | August 22
VIRGO
August 23 | September 22
You’ve been carrying yourself far lately. You’ve got a lot of passions bringing you a lot of places, and it’s making you zig and zag from Olmsted to Kenyon to the SoCos (for some reason). Turns out you broke both your feet doing it. Bummer! Maybe next week will be a better week. Now is a good time to surround yourself with your crew. This could include friends, family, or other Taurians. One famous bull who doesn’t get enough love is James Monroe. In fact, to pay him the homage he deserves, take a trip to visit his home in Virginia. Resist the urge to stop at Monticello instead.
This is the week to live your life in a straight line. In fact, even some back and forth straight lines. Don’t worry about making stripes. It turns out you’re mowing a lawn and it looks good anyway. If you were to hypothetically be in a lawn mowing competition with your neighbor, you’d be winning for best lawn.
You sometimes shy away from really expressing yourself, Cancer, due to your sensitive nature and fear of ridicule. But it’s time to let your freak flag fly. With the stars in Virgo right now, the best outlet through which to express yourself is custom license plates. If you feel out of place, go down to Virginia. They really love them there for some reason. The storm is really weighing on you this week. Even though everyone keeps telling you “You’re in New York! There probably won’t even be rain this week!” take a word of advice from my mom and “Center yourself in your heart.” That’s pretty much her advice for everything.
Celebrate prime Virgo season by going to Dollar Beer Night at Billy Bob’s. Not 21 yet? Tell them “IT’S VIRGO SEASON!!!!” when they ask for your ID and they HAVE to let you in because the stars say so. While there, make sure to wear a “It’s My Birthday” sash for every week of Virgo season. It’s all about you.
ment and burn pages of their textbooks in a sacrificial fire in hopes that the ear-piercing cries of the fire alarm might “awaken” the ever-dormant WiFi from its slumber. One cult member said, “We believe that true devotion will be rewarded with eternal salvation—a land of free WiFi and fast Internet. We await the day when our holy saint, the Chrome dinosaur, reaches the end of its endless desert pilgrimage, and our eternal suffering can finally come to an end.” Despite how exclusive the group initially appeared, members of the cult asserted that they will always welcome new devotees. One anonymous cult member promised to accept anyone who also felt victimized by the poor quality of WiFi on campus: “We are all brothers and sisters under the same network, united in cause against poor connectivity. If you feel frustrated or upset about constantly losing Internet access and how the College is doing jack shit about it, join us, and together we’ll reach salvation. To find us, simply listen for the fire alarm. If it’s ringing, it means we’re there.” However, when confronted with this issue, the administration firmly stated that they disapproved of these disruptive Satanists on their campus. Dean of the College Christopher Roellke commented, “As bad as the WiFi may be, we simply cannot have groups of students in hooded black robes roaming around campus at night chanting in Latin and setting dorms on fire.” In one of their recent attempts to break up these cult groups, the administration replaced the infamous Student Secure network with a new system called Eduroam. However, that plan backfired when the network change made it impossible for students all across campus to log in to the system no matter how many times they typed in their username and password, a cataclysmic event that the newly formed United Congregation of Our
Lord Eduroam branded as “The First Sign of Judgment Day.” According to the Congregation, “Our Lord has sent us a message from the Ethernet. We must prepare for the day when network connectivity is lost from our campus entirely, and the bridge between students and the Internet is torn asunder for eternity.” One of the cult prophets, a senior History major from Raymond, chanted “Eduroam does not forgive. Eduroam does not forget.” It is unknown whether the Church of Student Secure will react positively to the newly formed doctrine or denounce it outright. At the moment,, neither group has made any statements regarding the other, although both congregations have unilaterally condemned users of Vassar Public WiFi as “heretics.”
“...both congregations have unilaterally condemned users of Vassar Public WiFi as ‘heretics’ ” After its latest fiasco, the Vassar administration announced that they will work together with CIS to remove these “radical elements” from campus. Former interim president Jonathan Chenette stated, “We are doing all we can to handle the current situation. CIS already has plans set in mind to improve the WiFi here on campus. By going through proper administrative protocol and meeting with our Board of Trustees about the issue, we hope we can come up with a solution that will appeal to everyone.” In response, one cult member commented, “Lol, we’re doomed.”
Theresa Law and Natasha Sanchez amateur astrologists
LIBRA
September 23 | October 22
SCORPIO
October 23 | November 21
SAGITTARIUS
November 22 | December 21
CAPRICORN
December 22 | January 19
AQUARIUS
January 20 | February 18
PISCES
February 19 | March 20
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Did it feel like you got a double bogey today? Even if you’re not in the Beginning Golf class? Just a double bogey of life? Well lucky for you, Libra, life is more than just an 18 hole golf course, and tomorrow you may just get an double birdie. Do those exist? I should ask my dad. He likes golf.
You’re pretty darn extra, Scorpio. You’re like, hiring-an-air-balloon-to-show-up-at-your-wedding level extra. For some people a hot air balloon showing up is just a happy coincidence, but not for you. You’re gonna plan it. No WAY is your cousin Carol going to have a better wedding than you. Everyone knows the saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But you’re not sour enough for lemons. You’re more creamy, mushy and green. Like an avocado. And some days, avocados, which are beautiful and wonderful, get bruised and squashed. But that means you have guacamole! Enjoy your guacamole, Sagittarius. Something is grating you right now. Maybe it’s a feeling or an itch or something. More likely it’s your roommate snoring waaaay too loudly. Buy them some Breathe Right strips and make everyone’s lives better. Or talk to your Stufel! You’d be surprised at what Stufels have been trained to deal with. Sour. Dough. Two tastes that are seemingly incompatible, yet come together to make one of the best creations known to humankind. There may be two forces fighting within you that seem contradictory to one another, but if you give them a taste together, they make a beautiful marriage. “Sour. Dough. What’s up with that?!” -the Jimmy (my dad). As a true water sign, you probably like showers. This weekend, I took one of the greatest showers of my life. There was an overhead rain-like shower head AND a normal shower head AND a portable shower head AND a steamer. Would highly recommend trying to find a shower like this for yourself.
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Klezmer musicians accompany JWST silent film screening ANTHROPOLOGY continued from page 1
in the U.S. during this period in downtown New York, that Jews were in every profession. And this is a way we can expand what we look at and what we think about as Jewish culture.” The screening featured an introduction by Director of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religion Marc Michael Epstein along with Antelyes, plus a Q&A with Svigals and Lerner. When Svigals reached out to Vassar’s Jewish Studies Program about potentially hosting a screening, Antelyes saw a wonderful opportunity. “We in Jewish Studies were really excited about it and contacted her. I had known about her because she was one of the co-founding members of a group called The Klezmatics, which is a really important klezmer group. So I was a real fan of hers, so it was a pleasure to hear
that she was doing this traveling event. Also, I wanted to bring her myself because I teach a course in Jewish-American literature, which I’m doing this semester, and one of the texts we do is Sholem Asch’s play ‘God of Vengeance’ ... I thought it would be a perfect complement to the play.” “The Yellow Ticket,” originally titled “Der Gelbe Schein,” was originally released in 1918 by German production company UFA-Pagu, which also produced Fritz Lang’s magnum opus “Metropolis.” Released at a peculiar time between World War I and the Russian Revolution, “The Yellow Ticket” stars Pola Negri in one of her earliest roles. Negri traveled shortly after to Hollywood, where she became known as one of the first actresses to popularize the femme fatale role. Due to her success in America, Par-
Courtesy of Tina Chaden via aliciasvigals.com
Alicia Svigals on violin and vocals and Mariyln Lerner on piano performed Svigals’s klezmerinspired score to the 1918 German silent film ‘The Yellow Ticket’ in the Villard Room on Sept. 10.
amount released “Der Gelbe Schein” in wide release as “The Devil’s Pawn.” Svigal’s score was commisioned by the New Jewish Culture Network of the Foundation for Jewish Culture from a restored print by the distinguished silent film historian Kevin Brownlow. Audience member Jacob Liss ’20 was very captivated by the rare experience to see a silent film with live music. “I feel it helped to magnify the emotional and comedic scenes of the film, as well as give the film a more realistic and grounded quality, at least to me,” Liss explained. “I also enjoyed how much of the music was based in following specific dramatic themes of the movie, à la having a musical motif for shame, sadness and happiness instead of just being simple underscoring, and that felt very affective to me.” Behind this project and in front of the screen were Alicia Svigals and Marilyn Lerner. Svigals, who composed the original score for “The Yellow Ticket,” was a founding member of The Klezmatics, a Grammy award-winning musical group of international renown. Using traditional Yiddish music with a post-modern contemporary influence, The Klezmatics have contributed to the revived interest in klezmer music. Lerner, a prominent jazz pianist who received the Montreal International Jazz Festival award for best composition, has also composed a Yiddish song cycle based on the poetry of Anna Margolin. Since the premiere of the restored version of “The Yellow Ticket” in 2012, Svigals has been traveling around the world performing with Lerner, including to Warsaw, the original filming location. Liss described what he found to be the most memorable moments of the evening: “I personally really enjoyed the film. Of course, a lot of the physical and facial acting is overdone, but that’s just part of the silent film charm in my opinion. I also really enjoyed this film’s use of the flashback, and I think I remember hearing in the Q&A that it was actually one of the first films to do so.”
On Oct. 18, the Jewish Studies Program will be hosting a reading by Irena Klepfisz, a well-respected poet writing bilingually in Yiddish and English. In November, Jewish cartoonist Eli Valley and Jewish historian Eddy Portnoy will be having a moderated conversation, drawing on their backgrounds. Epstein explained the mission that the Jewish Studies Program has adopted and how it aims to be untraditional while enriching through its courses’ explorations of Jewish traditions. “Jewish Studies at Vassar is a multi- and inter-disciplinary program, where students can engage in lively encounter with everything from classical texts, traditions and contexts to their postmodern reforms, revisions, reimaginings and even rejections,” he noted. “It’s an antidote to [the] presentism and identism so rampant among some of us nowadays—many of us tend to be interested in what is happening to US, NOW, not to some other people at some other time: Jewish Studies teaches that Jewish identity is multiplex, its manifestations span all historical periods.” Besides these events, the Jewish Studies Program has many courses designed to fit their modernized mission. Their newest course, JudaismS, is being taught by Ágnes Vetö with a syllabus designed around new, deeply nuanced and informed conversations. The course incorporates traditional Jewish sources with contemporary Jewish perspective. Epstein did not ignore the anthropological ties ‘The Yellow Ticket” revealed about Jewish history: “I’m sure for nearly all of the members of the audience, the fact that Jews were restricted from living outside of the Pale of Settlement—that they could not reside in cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg unless they received the ‘yellow ticket’ to be prostitutes—was new information and profoundly shocking. Issues like the ones raised in the film—and in the performance, which was full of different musical modalities and tropes—are the very issues we discuss in Jewish Studies classes.”
Jazz guitarist delights, brings contemporary flair to campus
The John Pizzarelli Trio delighted the audience in Skinner Hall late into the evening of Sept. 9. The group takes older jazz works and gives them a contemporary spin for a modern audience.
Courtesy of Wikicommons
Pizzarelli, commenting, “The thing I like about John Pizzarelli is that he’s very engaging on stage, he has a great sense of humor and he’s always improvising with the spiel he gives. He may touch upon on a current event or somebody he sees in the audience, but every show I’ve seen him in, he cracks the audience up. And you just have such a good time at his concerts.” As per his usual witty style, Pizzarelli introduced one of his songs, the jazz classic “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” by Duke Ellington, with the disclaimer, “But before you get too excited about it, it’s a particularly depressing arrangement that I’ve come up with.” Despite his humorous introduction, the piece wasn’t depressing at all. Rather, it was reminiscent of noir detective films and dark crime dramas. With its fast tempo and haunting style, it was my personal favorite from the show. As audience member Sam Cibula ’20 commented on the concert, “It was the very classic type of entertainment you’d expect at a jazz club or a restaurant in the ’50s. I liked the songs, and they all played very well. I especially liked the Bossa Nova music, that was my favorite part.” Towards the end, each member of the trio performed a solo piece highlighting their individual talents, after having given us a taste of their harmonious coordination as a group. When the two 45-minute sets of the program were over, the trio received a standing ovation, after which Pizzarelli performed a sprightly encore. Overall, most of his sets were invigorating, infused with an energy that couldn’t stop you from tapping your fingers against the armrest or your foot against the floor. In addition, his slower pieces had a very calming quality to them, and several audience members closed their eyes during those songs to truly enjoy their subtle charm. As Osborn, whose expertise lies in jazz, expressed, “Most people in the audience will probably be focusing on his singing, but he is a dazzling jazz guitarist. He is very fast, very clever, he has interesting ideas when he plays his solos. Everyone at his concerts, even non-jazz folk, tend to enjoy his music very much.”
Courtesy of Wikicommons
JAZZ continued from page 1 Johnny Mercer, Frank Sinatra and Antônio Carlos Jobim for the past few years. Director of Jazz and Wind Ensembles James Osborn explained that Pizzarelli was influenced deeply by artists he listened to while growing up in Paterson, NJ. “As a kid he was listening to the Beatles and all those popular artists of the day, and that influenced his work,” commented Osborn. In fact, an early album of his focused on music by the Beatles, and after its release, Paul McCartney apparently called Pizzarelli up personally to let him know how much he enjoyed it. Pizzarelli first learned jazz guitar from his father. As Osborn continued, “His father was a very famous jazz guitar player in his own right—his name was Bucky Pizzarelli. Bucky is now in his 80s, I believe, and is still performing. John still maintains that his father was his most important teacher.” A child prodigy, Pizzarelli began playing guitar at six years of age and performed with such titans of the jazz world like Benny Goodman, Les Paul and Zoot Sims. He released his debut solo album ‘I’m Hip (Please Don’t Tell My Father)’ in 1983. Pizzarelli then formed a trio with his younger brother, Martin, and released several tribute albums to Nat King Cole. In 1997, Pizarelli starred in the Broadway show ‘Dream’, about the music of Johnny Mercer. Currently, Pizzarelli hosts a weekly radio show called “Radio Deluxe” with his wife Jessica Molaskey, who is an actress that has appeared in multiple Broadway productions. Each program features a list of songs personally selected by Pizzarelli and Molaskey, frequently playing both new and old versions of songs from The Great American Songbook. Pizzarelli’s most recent album, “Sinatra & Jobim at 50,” is a tribute to Antônio Carlos Jobim, a Brazilian jazz musician and one of the pioneers of bossa nova, and Frank Sinatra, who recorded a collaborative album with Jobim 50 years ago. The album features Daniel Jobim, Antônio Carlos Jobim’s grandson, on vocals. Osborn also mentioned his own views on
The concert provided a classic form of entertainment for the student body and visitors to the campus. Pizzarelli’s set was invigorating, infusing an energy into a traditional musical form.
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WVKR reflects, encourages new student participation Kaitlin Prado Reporter
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after a couple years at Vassar I got hipster enough to feel comfortable having a show and I signed up for the summer. I’m friends with a couple of DJs like Dakota Lee [’19] and they told me I should do it.” Looking forward to the new year, they added, “I’m really pumped to have a duo show with Dakota Lee this semester. Whenever they sat in on my show it was a lot of weird fun and a good time. Also, I fill the dream pop vacancy which is great. Never enough dream pop in the world.” Additionally, representation and broad inclusive listenership is a priority for WVKR. The visual designer for WKVR this year, Jonathan Rodriguez ’19 (also known as DJ Valentina Gansito) plays music exclusively produced or created by Latinx artists. They explained what this meant for the station by saying, “We aim to highlight queer and trans Latinx
Courtesy of Bandcamp Daily
heir website will tell you that WVKR has been broadcasting since the early 1970s with the same mission, to “promote music not heard elsewhere and to serve the community interest through eclectic radio programming.” This past weekend, Vassar’s independent radio station WVKR held their interest meeting and interviews for new stations, and I had the privilege of getting a preview of what’s to come, and what’s been going on above the College Center. General Manager Lena Redford ’18 explained, “I got involved with WVKR as soon as I got to Vassar. My first semester of college, I eagerly applied for a show, and even though my time slot was from 3 to 4 a.m. on Monday nights/Tuesday mornings, I was stoked. Through WVKR I have made a lot of friends and memories, and as corny as that sounds, it’s true!” Redford continued, “I learned how to mix through doing radio and have been able to DJ paid events as a result. I’ve also been able to produce podcasts, make original music and even meet some of my musical inspirations through WVKR-sponsored events.” Although it was a while ago, she recalled the intense nerves of applying for that first show: “I wanted it so bad. I was proposing a show called ‘girlectro’ that was to feature electronic music by femme artists from ‘then and now.’ Which meant I spent a bunch of time researching the history of electronic music from the early 1900s. I memorized the biographies of so many influential women producers who we never talk about.” While some of the show hosts have been a part of the organization for their whole time at Vassar, some students jump in a little later. Self-proclaimed lover of SoundCloud Kiki Walker ’19, looking back to the start of it all, recalled, “This past summer I got a WVKR show. I had friends who had some and I would go to their shows, and it sounded really cool so I applied in the summer.” Speaking to what some may consider a daunting interview process, Walker clarified: “I interviewed twice. Once for summer, which was pretty chill, I
just said what I wanted to play, had a playlist which I sent over. The semester interview was a bit more spicy. I knew that lots of people were applying so I came up with a spiel of why I should get to continue having a show during the semester. I also made my playlist a bit more ‘obscure,’ like artists I thought they wouldn’t know as well as more experimental mixes, rather than playing it safe.” Redford also commented on the interview process, stating,“In the end, I was totally over-prepared. But it was cool to see that the interview process was actually quite chill. I hope this year’s applicants felt that way, too. I hate that it’s this scary thing. We’d like everyone to feel comfortable applying for a show.” Like Walker, it took a little time for Maddy Ouellette ’19 to seek out WVKR. They summed up their introduction to the opportunity by saying, “I guess
Having an independent radio station provides a voice for many students on campus. WKVR has been a staple at Vassar since the 1970s, and applications for new radio hosts are now open.
artists, especially Afrolatinx and indigenous artists, many of which influence Latin music greatly (and all music at large), but are often abandoned when their sound is praised and awarded. (Read: ‘Despacito’ is a banger but dembow and reggaeton roots are really the roots to be praised by Puerto Rican and AfroCaribbean counterparts, not Justin Bieber’s flashy appropriation of the sort.)” Rodriguez maintained, “Vassar doesn’t do well on ‘community’ in my opinion, and the purpose of having this platform is to broadcast new and important music and talk that have insight on future artistic and political movements.” This idea extends to WVKR as a whole entity, considering just how rare independent radio has become. As Rodriguez explained, “Radio space is a direct link to the Poughkeepsie community and a community larger than Vassar. Crafting representation and relevant content takes a lot of work, and the thought and message under what shows are privileged to have the space is in itself a form of expression I think as a station and as an individual we are continuously reevaluating and evolving.” Walker also contributed to this important dialogue, emphasizing, “I think black music is so important, it’s very influential. So my show is just about playing remixes of black music, because even if it’s oldies, or like new school mumble raptype stuff, the remixes turn it into something new. She continued, “I think that remixes create a space for people to build community within the black community because it’s something new built off something we already know. Like music has always been important within black culture, but with remixes I can go from playing Sade to Lil Uzi and it flows perfectly, like it’s not jarring because the two remixes work together.” If you missed this past weekend interest meeting, don’t fret. While there aren’t enough slots for everybody, Redford pointed out, “Not having a show doesn’t mean you can’t still be a part of the WVKR family. We hold a bunch of events and can always use volunteers on our music staff!” No matter what your role is, WKVR is a staple at Vassar, and provides a voice for many students on campus.
Del Rey’s ‘Lust for Life’ creates yearning for sad Lana Patrick Tanella Arts Editor
Lust for Life
Lana Del Rey Interscope Records
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The hope that “Love” gave me for the album as a whole sunk with the next four promotional singles. “Lust for Life,” the single, features The Weeknd, and while their voices go together beautifully, the track is repetitive and forgettable. “Coachella – Woodstock In My Mind” seems like a spontaneous addition to the album. I know Del Rey is a fan of ’50s and ’60s America, but glamorizing a past that was filled with so many issues gets tiring very quickly. All hope is not lost on “Lust for Life.” There are some truly excellent tracks embedded in the middle of the album. “Cherry” is my personal favorite, as it describes Del Rey coming to terms with the fact that real love is never easy. It reminds me of older Lana vibes while expanding on her sound through a faster pace. “Cause I love you so much, I fall to pieces” is such a resounding lyric for me. Love truly tears you apart, and Del Rey is no exception to its hardships. While “Lust for Life” is certainly not her best
album to date, it gives me hope for the future of Lana Del Rey, both in terms of her happiness and in her music. I think that if she is able to combine her new sound with her melodramatic past, she’ll only continue to grow as an artist. Trying to conform to pop music norms will only result in her losing true fans. I would absolutely love to see Del Rey live one day. Unfortunately, she seems to have an aversion to performing in New York City, her home. She’s performing here for the first time in years this October, but my die-hard friend and I were not able to get tickets due to a malfunction on her site. My friend is considering suing the site so we can go for free, and I will be sure to keep the dear readers of The Miscellany News Arts section updated on this case. But for now, don’t just listen to that terrible “Summertime Sadness” remix, but explore all of the sounds and ideas that this profound artist represents. I promise you won’t regret it.
Courtesy of Flickr
013 was a simpler time. After listening to quite terrible music for most of my life, I was introduced by my best friend at the time to what we called the holy trinity of the music industry: Lady Gaga, Marina and the Diamonds and Lana Del Rey. Four years later, my music taste has dramatically changed, but I still hold a special place in my heart, and in my Apple music history, for these artists that truly changed my perspective on life and happiness. At the time I started to delve into her discography, Del Rey had released her debut LP “Born to Die” to incredible critical and social acclaim. It still holds the record for most copies sold of an alternative record, and you can always count on hearing “Summertime Sadness” every time you walk into Pacsun or American Eagle. Additionally, an extended EP entitled “Born to Die: The Paradise Edition” consisted of some beautiful tracks, including “Ride” and “Yayo.” Shortly after, Del Rey released “Ultraviolence,” which is still my favorite of her albums. Her dreary, melodramatic vocals resonated with me, a discontented teen stuck in suburbia that retreated to the city every chance I could. “Brooklyn Baby, “Cruel World” and “Money, Power, Glory” are some of her best work. After “Ultraviolence,” however, I have been continually disappointed by one of my former favorite artists. Her third full-length album, “Honeymoon,” was an absolute disaster. Other than “Music to Watch Boys To,” which is mediocre at best, each song was exhausting to listen to. They all muddled together with similar-sounding instrumentals and lyrics, and it felt as though Lana wasn’t even trying anymore as an artist. This past July, Del Rey released “Lust for
Life,” which is a dramatic change from her previous work. While her iconic gloominess is still apparent, the clouds appear to be slowly dissipating. As the title suggests, the album has a lighter tone, and is a stark contrast to the Lana Del Rey that discussed her discontentment with life in an interview following the release of “Ultraviolence.” While I am obviously enthusiastic about Del Rey’s new-found ‘Lust for Life’, her often-depressing lyrics were an essential aspect of her sound. My first disappointment with the album is the missing collaboration with Marina and the Diamonds. A couple of months ago, a leaked setlist had revealed a song called “Dahlia” which featured Marina. Once I saw that tweet, I immediately broke down in tears, as I couldn’t believe that one of my dreams from years ago would possibly be fulfilled. Sadly, the song is not on the album, but I am hopeful that a collaboration is somewhere in the future. Del Rey described her previous two albums as having a California sound, which is apparent in their dreamy, languid lyrics. However, “Lust for Life” is a representation of her New York City roots, as it is more upbeat, faster and less dreamy. Its first promotional single, “Love,” treads familiar themes from her previous work, including nostalgia and an idealization of past American life. Del Rey argues that the romanticization of our culture in terms of love and affection facilitates young people in the world today in conquering adversity. Additionally, it diverges from previous sounds by preaching self-love, which contrasts to her often self-loathing nature in “Ultraviolence” and “Born to Die.” “But you get ready, you get all dressed up / To go nowhere in particular. Back to work or the coffee shop / It don’t matter because it’s enough. To be young and in love.” The mundane nature of modern society values love over all other trivialities. While “Love” is not her best work, it is dramatically better than her “Honeymoon” era. The same friend that introduced me to Del Rey recently said she’s listened to “Love” exactly 282 times, and it is her go-to cry song. So clearly people like the direction Del Rey’s going.
The incomparable Lana Del Rey, in her fourth full-length album, experiences a new “Lust for Life.” While I will always have a special relationship to her sadder work, I’m happy she’s happy.
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FJM blurs fragile line between comedy and full-on doom Izzy Braham Columnist
Pure Comedy
Father John Misty Sub Pop
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Courtesy of Flickr
e warned—you are in for one wild ride if you chosse to listen to Father John Misty’s (FJM) recently released third album “Pure Comedy.” The album is a tragicomedy mocking everything from the culture of millennials to religion to capitalism, and to human nature itself. The record is intense, apocalyptic and imaginative in parts, but also bears stunning truth. Unlike a lot of music, “Pure Comedy” isn’t something you can listen to on a Sunday afternoon when you are doing homework. It is a piece of art that will make you stop and think. There are many moments of FJM’s quintessential snark, but on the whole, the album’s vibe leans more towards a lamentation of humankind. This may sound overwhelming for those of you who are unfamiliar with Josh Tillman (creatively known as Father John Misty), but as a longtime fan I can attest that he is truly a unique, laudable individual. Originally a part of a plethora of bands, but most notable for his time with Fleet Foxes, FJM is an indie folk artist from Maryland. It is hard to note every quality of the bearded free spirit—He is undeniably wild and provocative, having an undying love for his wife, and you’ll probably only see him in his natural state, wearing some androgynous outfit while massaging his temples as he ponders the idiocy of man. Some find him and his music pretentious or annoying, and honestly I can understand that, but even so, I think there is a lot of brilliance in his lyrics and a critical edge to his artistry. One thing important to note about FJM is that his albums aren’t solely about the sound—I think his talent primarily shines in his lyrics. He is all about bringing sarcasm and humor into his music.
“Pure Comedy,” however, takes a little more of a dramatic turn, including more cold-hard criticism than single-lined moments of hilarity. The album starts with the title track, which is arguably the best song in the record. As the song starts slowly, FJM sarcastically comments on the human condition, singing, “Now the miracle of birth leaves a few issues to address. / Like, say, that half of us are periodically iron deficient.” The song continues to build in both melodic complexity and lyrical intensity as a sharp saxophone makes a climactic debut. Additionally, the singer lays out some unanswerable criticisms about humanity, such as, “Where did they find these goons they elected to rule them? / What makes these clowns they idolize so remarkable?” FJM then goes on to bash religion by saying, “And how’s this for irony, their idea of being free is a prison of beliefs.” He ends the song on a note equally dreary as it is rather heartwarming, “Just random matter suspended in the dark. / I hate to say it, but each other’s all we got.” Other highlights of the album include “Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution,” where FJM imagines life on a post-apocalyptic earth, and “Leaving LA,” a 13-minute diatribe where Tillman scrutinizes superficial L.A. culture, fame and his own reputation as a musician. The song sarcastically includes a line about his album: “I used to like this guy. / This new shit really kinda makes me wanna die.” After “Leaving LA,” a song ridiculously entitled “When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay” comes up next in the queue. You can probably imagine what this one is about. It includes Father John Misty feistily moaning to God: “Try something less ambitious the next time you get bored.” Just when you think you have heard the lowest of lows, FJM throws in “The Memo,” a sleepy tune with a melody that starts off slightly more hopeful than the other songs. Not too fast. However, this song is a formidable attack on modern art with FJM returning to the lyrics throughout the song: “If it’s fraud or art / They’ll pay you to believe.” To top it off, FJM ends the album with “In Twenty Years or So” that features slow guitar strums
Father John Misty is not an artist you can easily miss. While some may roll their eyes at his satire, his newest album serves as a way to ponder about life and the state of the world. coupled with some meandering piano. FJM sings, “in twenty years more or less this human experiment will reach its violent end.” But then in a turn of events that is wholly unexplained, he says, “And it’s a miracle to be alive,” and “there’s nothing to fear.” The album ends with some some sweet, tranquil melodies that grow louder and then fade out again, like a wave rolling in and then receding. The ending was reminiscent of a long sigh—the whirlwind is finally over. It’s okay to roll your eyes! After listening to this album, you may feel defeated as a human being. I definitely felt drained and I was concerned that FJM had reached an unprecedented sadness. I also felt that he solidified himself as that self-important miscreant that critics like to deem him as. But alas, I still felt admiration towards him and especially agreed with some of his anger towards politics.
My main criticism of the album has to do with how sad the record is. Compared to his 2015 album “I Love You, Honeybear,” an endearing comedy about love and marriage he wrote to his wife, “Pure Comedy,” with its attempt to question humankind’s foolishness, is utterly upsetting. However, understanding Father John Misty’s persona, the album is not to be taken at face value—it’s supposed to be satirical. I would stipulate that the album blurs the fragile line—if there even is one—between comedy and straight-up doom. Father John Misty trades his perfect mixture of sentimental and sassy remarks in “I Love You, Honeybear” for an unappeasable cynicism in “Pure Comedy,” which is sometimes too dreary to find laughable. I would recommend this album if you are feeling particularly angry about the state of our world and are in a mood to ponder man’s folly.
‘Dhalgren’ essential novel to literary world, modern life Jimmy Christon Columnist
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany Bantam Books
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Courtesy of Pintrest
he opening words of this book are: “To wound the autumnal city.” In my biased opinion, this is one of the best opening lines in literature. Right alongside the stately “On a dark and stormy night,” and “Midway through our live’s journey,” I can think of no opening words that are better at calibrating the head of the reader for the world of the text than “Dhalgren’s” ominous opening. “Dhalgren” is a book written by Samuel R. Delany about a fictional Midwestern city called Bellona. The plot of the novel follows the protagonist, named Kid, as he travels through the city. If there’s any propelling force in the plot of this novel, the easiest narrative to name is Kid’s search to remember his name. However, this narrative is rather concelealed, feeling engulfed within this 800-page epic. As you can probably tell from these opening paragraphs, “Dhalgren” is an odd book. I also think it’s a great one, though. that it is well worth your time. This review is going to be an inverted one: I’ll start with the book, and then move onto the author’s biography as I think that is important to spark your interest in the rest of the novel. So like I said, this book is odd. I read it this summer as a follow-up to “Finnegans Wake” by James Joyce—I can hear the groans now. The main reason I picked this book as a successor to Joyce’s “book of Doublends Jined” is that it ends (and starts) the same way as Joyce’s masterpiece: two sentence fragments that loop into one another. This isn’t the only similarity between the books that I found, but that’s part of a longer discussion that is not part of this review. Where Delany moves past Joyce is in both the concept of “Dhalgren” and the way in which he delivers said concept. “Finnegans Wake” is a lot
of things, but it most assuredly is a dream of (or maybe from) the city of Dublin. In “Dhalgren,” Delany removes the city by one abstract step: “Dhalgren” is a story about the city as a concept. The city of Bellona is a fictional one, and for all intents and purposes it is the American city. Something has happened in Bellona that has cut it off from the rest of the world. This event is never explained; the book isn’t about that. Instead, this seclusion of the city is used to study the city itself. The unifying concept of the book is this study of the city. “Dhalgren” examines how the city itself affects the psyche of those living under the skyscrapers. The characters and communities of “Dhalgren’s” Bellona live in anomic and chaotic conditions where existence itself is infused with a sense of paranoia and dread. The city of Bellona isn’t so much the setting for the novel as it is a completely enigmatic half-character, one whose actions reverberate throughout the novel. This is the central concept of this brilliant book. Everything Delany writes in this behemoth of a novel is related to how a city cultivates the mindset of its inhabitants. And this is not the gentrified city of the 2000s. Delany was writing his magnum opus as a Black man living through the Civil Rights era. Delany’s Bellona is a city of bodies: a city where sex, mental health, paranoia and friendships create communities around concrete. In fact, Bellona is not just one city. Delany wrote the city as a mural of cities across the globe. From Baltimore to London, Bellona is truly a city of the world. Delany writes prophetically of the paranoid amnesiac existence we find ourselves in now. While it might not appear so, everything from William Gibson’s “Neuromancer” to HBO’s “Girls” owes itself in some form to Delany’s “Dhalgren.” This poses the question of who was this visionary author. Samuel R. Delany is a writer known predominantly for his science fiction. “Dhalgren” came out in the ’70s, so if you’re looking for a contemporary of Delany, then Ursula K. Le Guin is the obvious choice. In fact, this comparison is far from out of place: Both Le Guin and Delaney are
While many may not be aware of this astounding work, “Dhalgren” is a behemoth of a novel. Through the lens of Kid, it takes you through the city of Bellona, a mural of cities across the globe. obsessed with examining human culture, both wrote fantasy alongside sci-fi series and both quote Mary Douglas in the openings of their novels. What makes these two writers influential for their times (and what makes “Dhalgren” even more of an achievement in my opinion) is that they represented a huge shift in who could get published in the field of science fiction: Ursula K. Le Guin as a woman and Delaney as a Black man. An important additional note is that both also wrote about sexuality from a non-heteronormative point of view. In Le Guin’s famous “The Left Hand of Darkness,” her protagonist explores the feelings he finds for an alien whose species is androgynous; and “Dhalgren” envisions a community of bisexual, polygamous pseudo-gangsters as a response to the hippy flower-power movement. This is why I think “Dhalgren” is an essential
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
novel to the literary world. Any novel can be well -written, but “Dhalgren” goes beyond the conventional standards of literature. It was one of the first books of its kind to explore what literature could do during the then-emerging modern age. This book has something to say on such a breadth of topics that it could only exist as a story that sets out to examine life itself. It’s like if you took Radiohead’s “OK Computer,” infused it with the Romantic tendencies of Mary Shelley, Samuel Coleridge and John Keats, and spiced it up with the then-emerging dialogues of queer theory, dialogues of which Delany was a part of (go look up his name in the library), you would get a stew resembling something like “Dhalgren.” I highly recommend this novel, and all of its particularities, to any avid reader of scientific literature or someone who has the time to read the lengthy (but worthwhile) 800 pages.
September 14, 2017
Campus Canvas
ARTS A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists
Page 17 submit to misc@vassar.edu
Excuse me, Who do you miss?
“Whitney Houston” — Braiden Morris ’20
“Cappy” — Devon Wilson ’19
“My dog, Storm” — Robyn Corleto ’19
“My grandma” — Fiona Madden ’20
“My friend who graduated from last year” — Eileanor LaRocco ’20
“Billy Mays from the infomercials” — Aden Kahr ’20
Dana Chang ’19 (she/her/hers) Media Studies I shoot very sporadically and go through waves of hating + liking my own work, these photos are what stood out to me at a specific time and place. Any given day, what my eye deems as interesting changes. I post a lot of photos on instagram and often hate a photo one hour or one month after posting, but I try to resist the urge to delete. I think what you chose to share with others is significant, for better or for worse it means something about who/how you were at a very specific time that often transcends what’s shown in the actual photos.
MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE
Leah Cates, Humor & Satire Yesenia Garcia, Humor & Satire
SPORTS
Page 18
September 14, 2017
Led by talented first-years, women’s soccer scores big SOCCER continued from page 1
set up by the great initial pass to Cascone. “We have been working this season on finding the second-man runner,” Seper said. “Meaning, rather than passing the ball to the obvious choice, it is crucial to find the person who is running in behind them, someone who won’t be marked as closely and someone who is generally coming from the other side of the field towards the goal.” Seper added that she is happy the way the team has been working together to play unselfishly and find the open man. “We are an extremely close team and are all really great friends on and off the field,” Seper said. “It inspires everyone to play their hardest, because you want to win and do well for your teammates. It is definitely one of the biggest strengths that our team has, especially when playing difficult competition, we are still encouraging and in support of each other at all times.” The Brewersfinished out the Mount Saint Mary game by playing the Knights even throughout the second period. First-year goalkeeper Fiona Walsh, who is currently the only available keeper on the team, was strong throughout the weekend and was awarded the shutout. Moving into a quick turnaround game on Sunday, Vassar dismantled a developing program in Elmira College, 8-0. The game marks the most goals scored in one match since 2009. First-year Ashley Ferry racked up a school record four assists in the contest. For her efforts throughout the weekend, Ferry was named both Liberty League Performer of the Week and Rookie of the Week. “The adjustment to the college game has definitely been a great experience so far,” Ferry said. “I could not imagine a better and more welcoming team to join, and it already feels like we have been playing together for awhile. It’s amazing to be surrounded by a bunch of people who have so much dedication and passion for the game and each other.” The forward tandem of Pillsbury and Fer-
Courtesy of Carlisle Stockton
Pillsbury’s shot just barely poked past the goalkeeper and slowly rolled into the left corner of the open net for her first goal of the season. Pillsbury said: “We had been working a lot in practice on taking the shot when we have a window of opportunity. I was really proud of everyone for taking what we practiced into the game and having the confidence to fire off shots from all sorts of angles and spots on the field.” The Brewers would continue to capitalize on scoring opportunities in the first period. Just 12 minutes after Pillsbury’s goal, Seper earned her second assist of the game on a brilliant crossfield through pass to first-year forward Ashley Ferry in the box. Ferry, taking her time, hit the ball strong and low, beautifully placing it in the left corner of the net. Early in the season and with her two assists on Saturday, Seper has established herself as a leader on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Now with two full years of college soccer under her belt, Seper is an experienced and poised player who knows how to read the field and control the pace of the game. “As someone who plays center mid, you are basically the first line of both the defense and offense, and you need to be able to do both really effectively,” Seper said. “I am someone who talks a lot on the field, and I think this communication is what has helped me be an effective player in the midfield, because it allows for the team to work as a singular unit.” After Seper’s two assists, the Brewers tacked on their third and final goal of the game at the 27:17 mark in the first period. A perfectly aimed lead pass from midfield found a running forward, junior Arianna Cascone, inside the box. Cascone, electing to take her time as opposed to shooting a rushed straight shot, was fouled by the goalkeeper Riley in an attempt to stop the play. Riley was given a yellow card, resulting in a penalty shot for the Brewers. Junior defender Emma Lavelle took the penalty shot and connected with the back net to score the goal, all
First-year Ashley Ferry turns on the turbos in a varsity women’s soccer game against NYU. For her performance this past weekend, Ferry was named Liberty League Performer of the Week. ry will prove to be a dangerous combination for the Brewers as their season continues to develop. Pillsbury is a junior who has a great presence on the pitch and is the team’s most consistent offensive performer, while Ferry is a lightning-quick forward who is unafraid to take a big shot. “Playing up top with Ashley has been really fun, she has great vision and we read each other’s runs nicely,” Pillsbury said. “She’s a stud.” The first-year Ferry has been complemented by a strong Class of 2021. First-year midfielder Hannah Daley had two goals and an assist in the match against Elmira, while fellow first-year
Brenna McMannon scored a goal and first-years Skylar Herrera-Ross and Ally Thayer both added assists. Daley and Walsh were both named to the Liberty League Honor Roll for their play in the Invitational. “The [first-years] killed it this weekend,” Pillsbury said. “Every single one of them has a great attitude, a great work rate and contributed immensely to our success this weekend.” The Brewers will continue to rely on their first-years, along with their core group of experienced returners, as they continue their season this Saturday on the road against Oneonta.
Volleyball serves up clean sweep in Vassar Invitational Kelly Pushie
Guest Reporter
T
Courtesy of Carlisle Stockton
he Vassar women’s varsity volleyball team dug, aced and blocked their way to an undefeated weekend at the Vassar Invitational. Not only did the Brewers win each of their four matches, but they did so without dropping a single set. The team matched up against King’s College and Medaille College on Friday and against University of New England (UNE) and Bates College on Saturday. “We put together a pretty solid weekend overall,” said head coach Jonathan Penn. “We knew we were one of the best teams in the tournament, so our focus was in playing our best game, keeping our focus, and taking charge of the tempo and tenor of the matches.” In their first contest of the weekend, the Brewers faced the King’s College Monarchs. The team played well on both attack and defense, but it was Vassar’s ability to execute powerful serves that secured the 3-0 win. The Brewers had 15 aces over the course of the match while allowing the Monarchs just one. Vassar also had double as many kills as King’s with 38 against 19. Sophomore Jane McLeod struck 10 kills, while junior Devan Gallagher and sophomore Colette Cambey had nine each. “We are really working on spreading the ball around to improve our offensive versatility,” junior Annie MacMillan said. “At the same time, we are continuously striving to grow together and play as a unit.” In the second match of the day, the Brewers took on the Medaille College Mavericks, securing a comfortable win with scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-20. Vassar’s defensive unit held the Mavericks to only 17 total kills, compared to the Brewers’ 39. Vassar proved to be a stronger hitting team posting a 0.172 hitting percentage while the Mavericks finished the match at 0.011. Again, Gallagher was among the leaders in kills, putting up 11 in the second match of the day, while Cambey and senior Bria Corham both posted seven kills. Junior Annie MacMillan was responsible for 30 of the Brewers’ 38 assists. In their third match, the Brewers were finally put to the test. The match against University of
New England started off easy, with Vassar flying through the first two sets 25-9 and 25-7. However, the last set proved to be a challenge for the Brewers, who eventually pulled through with a nail-biting 32-30 win. McLeod dominated the match, putting up 16 kills and five aces, while Gallagher and Corham recorded nine and seven kills, respectively. MacMillan led the team in aces with nine. The Brewers improved their hitting percentage to 0.304, rivalled by UNE’s 0.139 hitting percentage. “We did a good job of that for the most part, even as we occasionally let our execution slip a little bit here and there,” said Penn. “We need to improve the consistency of our team confidence and aggressiveness, making sure we are always playing at our highest level regardless of the opponent or match.” In their final match, the Brewers had no trouble bringing home the fourth win of the weekend and securing the Invitational title. Facing off against the Bates College Bobcats, the Brewers sailed to a 25-11, 25-18, 25-22 win. At 0.369, the Brewers posted their highest hitting percentage of the tournament. The Brewers struck an impressive 51 kills, 18 coming from Gallagher and 12 from Cambey. MacMillan is satisfied with the way the team was able to play as a unit and develop throughout the Invitational. “The team had a solid weekend,” MacMillan said. “We had opportunities to work on a lot of things offensively and defensively, as well as mix up various line-ups.” MacMillan added that everyone on the Brewers roster got the opportunity to play this weekend, which is rare in college sports. MacMillan, a junior, has come back strong for her third season as a Brewer. Through the first nine matches of the season, MacMillan has already posted an incredible team high of 323 assists, as well as 52 digs and a team-best 23 aces. Looking ahead, MacMillan is hoping the team can use their upcoming matches to get ready for Liberty League play. “We are in a strong conference and will use every opportunity to prepare during these next two weeks,” said MacMillan, who is eager to get into conference play. She feels the team has potential and versatility, two essential characteristics.
Junior Annie MacMillan prepares a set for the kill in the Vassar Invitational at the AFC this past weekend. Through 29 sets this season, MacMillan has had 323 assists and 23 aces. A successful weekend such as this was not out of character for the Brewers, nor was it unexpected. Senior Sophia Tiajoloff commented on how strong the team is looking this year. “Practices have been incredibly competitive,” Tiajoloff said. “Everyone has been actively engaged in the program on and off the court.” The Brewers are extremely dedicated this season, using the fact that they failed to take home the Liberty League championship title last season as motivation. “After losing in the championships last year, our team wants to win the Liberty League,” Tiajoloff said. “We want an NCAA bid and are putting in work now to try to make that a reality.” After a 4-0 weekend without dropping a set, it is apparent that all the work the team is putting in is paying off and priming them for a NCAA run. As a senior, Tiajoloff is determined to be a leader on this year’s team. “I am working to set a positive example to
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newcomers while pushing everyone to the best of their abilities,” Tiajoloff said. “I think seniors provide the team with a different perspective and a greater sense of urgency.” This sense of urgency has given Tiajoloff high hopes for the team this season and a win-now mentality. “As it is my last year on the team, I want to make sure we accomplish all that we can this year,” Tiajoloff said. “This determined group of women has a lot of talent and potential. It is very important to me that we live up to that potential.” With an undefeated weekend and with three other wins under their belt, the Brewers are already off to a stellar start. It looks like the team, stacked with a group of solid returners and a crop of talented first-years, is bound to live up to the potential that Tiajoloff knows the team can reach. Up next, the Brewers will travel to Montclair, NJ, to face off against Lehman College and Montclair State University on Saturday, Sept. 16.
SPORTS
September 14, 2017
Page 19
Big money transfers, cause Week-one recap: NFL season for concern in club soccer kicks off in dramatic fashion Glyn Lloyd
Guest Columnist
T
he Summer 2017 transfer season has ushered in a new age of massive spending on the part of the world’s richest soccer clubs. In the short period from June to the end of August, British clubs alone spent a total of 1.5 billion euros on new players. This does not even take into account the gigantic sums put forth by European giants FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich. In total, the five largest leagues in Europe have collectively spent over 5 billion euros this summer. This pattern of increased spending is a recent phenomenon and has left the soccer community both excited and alarmed at the massive financial risk-taking on display. The new race to the top between rival clubs all over the world began last season, when big money Chinese clubs came out of obscurity and began offering European players massive transfer fees to move to China to play soccer. These hefty monetary incentives were over-priced, and forced European teams to increase their own spending in order to compete with their Chinese challengers. Ever since this surge in spending from China, players have been selling for astronomical amounts of money. Audiences all over the world were stunned when 25-year-old Brazilian superstar Neymar was sold to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for a record-shattering 222 million euros. Because Neymar’s contract with Barcelona had not yet expired, PSG were forced to buy it out, a move that will cost the club nearly 500 million euros over the next several years. To put this insane price in perspective, the most expensive player prior to this deal was sold at a fee of only 105 million Euros. Aiming to become the first great club of the digital era, PSG knows it cannot buy the prestige or tradition of excellence of Barcelona, Real Ma-
drid or Manchester United, but it certainly can buy the right players. However, this mission will come at an unprecedented cost to the club, as putting great strain and pressure on both the managers and players to succeed will raise the prices of players all over Europe. When PSG bought Neymar from Barcelona, a chain reaction was set off in which Barcelona spent $173 million on French prodigy Ousmane Dembélé to fill the hole in their attack, and Real Madrid offered French youngster Kylian Mbappé over $200 million to compete with their Spanish rivals. As of September 2017, 12 of the 50 most expensive deals in soccer history were made in this summer transfer season. In effect, the buying and selling of players has become a sport of its own, and clubs are making more money than ever before on investments. With soccer currently at peak popularity, spending increases seem more justified. However, with players selling for sums far above their real value, a complete crash could occur in the future if club revenues begin to fall. The head of FC Bayern, the fourth richest club in the world, voiced these concerns in the past. Another important issue raised by the surge in club spending is that of wealth inequality between larger and smaller teams. Because large teams regularly take in more revenue than their less wealthy counterparts, they can afford to purchase star players off of the smaller teams. This widens the imbalance in talent between teams of unequal wealth. In turn, these star players bring in more money for their clubs, perpetuating the cycle of inequality between the clubs. Because of this, several of Europe’s top leagues are dominated by a single massive club, making the game less competitive and far less compelling for fans. Controlling the massive spending sprees in club soccer will undoubtedly be a top priority for the game’s administrators in the years to come.
GK D D F D M M D M F F S S S S S S S S S
Sh
Goalie Walsh
Vassar College
Elmira College G
A
POS
Player
Sh
SOG
G
A
POS
GK F F M M M D M F D D S S S S S
Grampp Clark Rousselle Hanson Blackmore DeLellis Diem Sullivan Kazerouni Proulx Spitznogle DeSalvatore LoPresti Wagstaff Mitchell Kronick
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GK D D M M D F M D F D S S S S
Totals.......
1
1
0
0
0 1 0 4 0 3 2 0 3 8 4 4 0 2 1 3 2 1 0 9
0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 2 2 0 1 0 2 2 1 0 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
47
23
8
7
Walsh Alvarez Trasatti Thayer Coughlan Seper Longo Lavelle McFarland Ferry Pillsbury Deitch DeBenedictis McMannon Chroscinski Chernet Saari Herrera-Ross Cutler Daley Totals.......
SOG
psets, injuries, breakout performances and more. Just one week into the NFL’s 20172018 season, and there is already to a lot to talk about around the watercooler. As far as upsets go, perhaps the most notable came in the first game of the entire season, in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 42-27 rout of the New England Patriots. Star quarterback Tom Brady had a disappointing performance, passing for just 267 yards and no touchdowns. The Chiefs’ offense was highlighted by quarterback Alex Smith, rookie running back Kareem Hunt and wide receiver Tyreek Hill, all of whom had outstanding performances. The Chiefs were expected to have a strong offense going into the season, but this may indicate that the Cheifs will be even more of a force than expected. The Arizona Cardinals’ season got off to an unfortunate start, to say the least. On top of a disappointing loss to the Detroit Lions, Cards’ starting running back David Johnson was placed on the Injured Reserve. Johnson took a hard shot to the wrist from a Lions defensive back, and was forced to leave the game. The injury has not been given an official diagnosis yet, however the prognosis is that his wrist was dislocated. This will likely mean a recovery period of over two months. This is a tough loss for the Cardinals’ offense, as David Johnson is widely regarded as one of the top five running backs in the NFL. Arizona resigned free agent Chris Johnson in hopes that he can help fill the void. He will certainly help, but at 31 years old, Chris Johnson is not the same player as he was in his prime. Quarterback Carson Palmer will need to seriously step up if the Cardinals are going to be a winning team. In other news, Ezekiel Elliot’s six-game suspension was blocked, which allowed him to play in the Dallas Cowboys’ week-one game against the New York Giants. He had a dominant performance, rushing for over 100 yards in the contest.
September 9, 2017
September 10, 2017
Player
U
Minutes
GA
Saves
90:00
0
1
Goalie
Player
Sh
Marcelino Sands Gilmore Smith Stansell Olsson Novas Van Brewer Collins Mrlik Davis Goldsmith Bow Baliat Lukasik
Totals.......
0 0 2 2 3 1 1 4 0 5 0 1 0 2 0
21
Minutes
GA
Saves
Goalie
Minutes
45:00 45:00
3 5
7 8
Marcelino
90:00
Grampp DeSalvatore
Though the NFL is working to appeal the court’s initial decision, this leaves Cowboys fans hopeful that they will have Elliot to highlight their offense this season. If Elliot is not around for the next few weeks, however, it will be intriguing to see how the Dallas offense adjusts, since their backups are not particularly impressive. Darren McFadden is a bit past his prime, and Alfred Morris, simply put, is not very good. The Cincinnati Bengals made a piece of lamentable history in their week one matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. In a 20-0 loss, the Bengals became the first team since 2006 to not score a single point in their home opener. During the contest, the Ravens looked similar to the days when Ray Lewis and Ed Reed patrolled the gridiron. The defense was electric, with five sacks and five takeaways (one fumble recovery and four interceptions). The offense was not spectacular, but that is to be expexted with inconsistent quarterback Joe Flacco and a running game that leaves much to be desired. The Falcons got off to a strong start this week, returning from a crushing Super Bowl loss at the hands of the New England Patriots. The high-powered Atlanta offense, led by quarterback Matt Ryan, grinded their way to a 23-17 win over the Chicago Bears. The game was far closer than it needed to be, but the Dirty Birds showed a lot of promise, as Ryan passed for 321 yards and a touchdown. Running back Devonta Freeman did not rush for nearly as many yards as expected, but his touchdown was crucial for the Falcons to pull out the win. In the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see whether the Falcons give Freeman the ball more often. He is a strong asset, and the twelve touches he got this week do not allow the team to take full advantage of his skill set. As is the case in every season, the landscape of the league has shifted significantly from what was expected of week one. Looking to week two and beyond, it looks like another exciting season of NFL football is underway.
Vassar College 0, Stevens Institute of Tech. 1
Vassar College 8, Elmira College 0 POS
Sports Editor
Men’s Soccer
Women’s Soccer
Vassar College
Robert Pinataro
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Stevens Institute of Tech. G
A
POS
Player
Sh
SOG
G
A
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GK D D M M D F F M D D S S S S
Henry Doran Cousillas Abdelhady Aversano Melendez Nasti Brito Masur Dorsay Boylan Johnson Ulasevich Hocken Hammons
0 0 0 1 3 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
6
0
0
Totals.......
9
5
1
1
GA
Saves
SOG 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1
4
Goalie Henry
Minutes
GA
Saves
90:00
0
6
SPORTS
September 14, 2017
Why
we
Bryan Rubin
Guest Reporter
I
made it all the way to the championship that year. Most people have probably long forgotten the 2005 LMLL single A division championship game, but I remember it like it was yesterday. In the final inning of a tough contest against the dreaded Blue Rocks, I came up to the plate with a runner on second base. As the helicopter moms prepared post-game snacks, and the less interested kids picked dandelions in the outfield, I was locked in. All business. Who cares that it’s just Little League? I wanted to win, period. I took a nice healthy left-handed Hack and sent the ball into orbit (okay, maybe it wasn’t THAT far). The announcer shouted, “Hammerheads win! Hammerheads win!” and the color commentator chimed in, “What a clutch performance from Rubin!” I headed back to the bench for the post-game
Bryan Rubin, Baseball will my team to victory. The only problem is that I’m not on the field, I’m a backup. We got so close; we were first-and-goal with inches to the goal line. Tough loss, no matter. The next year rolled around, and despite months of hard work and major improvements in my skill as a player I found myself once again, “riding the pine.” This was the moment that I decided to transfer. It’s a good thing we didn’t win the National Championship the previous year. If we had, I would have probably stayed at Emory. I started the transfer process covertly. I knew that if word got back to my coach that I was considering a transfer, I would never again see the field. It was a risk I was willing to take because the playing time that I had under my belt was already minimal. I did some research online and discovered that I could fill out a waiver through
Courtesy of Carlisle Stockton
Vassar is fortunate to have so many talented and dedicated student-athletes on campus. This year, The Miscellany News would like to highlight the voices and stories of these athletes. “Why We Play” will be a weekly installment in the Sports section where Vassar players will have the opportunity to speak about what their chosen sport means to them. This week, we are excited to have junior Bryan “Ruby” Rubin write about his successes in baseball, from his childhood in the suburbs of Philly to the mound of Prentiss Field. t’s May 5, 2017, and the Vassar baseball team is in Upstate New York, only a stone’s throw from the Canadian border. After maneuvering through a weekend of unpredictable weather, a bus driver who zig-zagged his way up I-87 and a rain delay dance-off, we found ourselves locked in a one-run battle with St. Lawrence University. This was the moment for which we had prepared all year. A victory would clinch us a playoff spot and tie the school record for most wins in a season. In the world of Vassar baseball, the stakes could not be higher. Luckily, I hadn’t pitched yet in that series. I was ready to go. I began my slow jog out of the visitor bullpen with my head down, laser focused. Coach Righter managed the hell out of that weekend. He knew I had gas in the tank, I knew it, and the other team knew it. Two and a half tense minutes later, and it was over. Fastball high and inside...strike three! Got ’em. Playoff bound, baby. Playoff bound. The first time I picked up a bat, I was a carefree, 104-pound third-grader with a quiet demeanor and a big appetite. My dad, an ex-ballplayer himself, had bought me a cheap foam bat and a plastic tee to accompany it. He took me out to the driveway of our Eastern Pennsylvania home and gave me the first of many hitting lessons. However, before we even started, I found myself getting yelled at. “You’re not left-handed! You’re standing wrong!” Without thinking, I had lined up in the left-handed batter’s box. Before he could adjust my positioning, I took a swing. Here’s the thing about my swings, even my first one ever: When I swing a bat, I take Hacks with a capital “H.” I made solid contact, then flipped around to the right-handed batter’s box and did the same thing. “Holy shit! This kid can hit!” Every ballplayer has to launch their career from somewhere. For me, it was on the bumpy fields of Gladwyne Elementary School, a spot I still return to for batting practice in the summertime. I hooked up with the Hammerheads of the local Lower Merion Little League. My team
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Junior Outfielder and Pitcher Bryan Rubin prepares to take a Hack with a capital ‘H’ in a game for the Vassar men’s varsity baseball team last spring. Rubin is a transfer from Emory University. . interview and Gatorade shower that never came. It didn’t matter that the announcer was in my head or that I was the only one who heard the broadcast that day. I thought, “This baseball thing is kind of fun. Does this mean I’m clutch?” Fast forward ten years and I’m (you guessed it) at another ballfield. This time there’s a real broadcast and a few thousand people in the stands. It’s late May 2015, and the Emory University Eagles are in Appleton, Wisconsin, for the Division III College World Series. I’m trying to
the NCAA giving me 30 days to talk to the coaches at potential new schools. It was during this small window of time that I reconnected with former Vassar baseball coach Jon Martin. Three years earlier at a travel baseball tournament in Virginia, Coach Martin had followed my travel team closely. In fact, he trailed my team so well it was kind of creepy at the time. I found out later this was because he was interested in recruiting not one but FIVE of the players on my travel team.
I sent a shot-in-the-dark email to Coach Martin, praying that he would somehow remember me from the thousands of players he had seen since that Virginia tournament. After making sure that communicating with me would not violate any NCAA rules, Coach Martin shot me a quick return email. He remembered me! Even better, three years later, he still wanted me to come to Vassar. At the time, I had also been accepted to six other schools, but Coach Martin gave me the hard sell, and I chose Vassar. Transferring to Vassar was undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to me. 36hours into orientation week, my world was rocked when Coach Martin told us he was leaving to go coach at another school. No matter. I knew I was in the right place. Coach Blayne Fuke, a Hawaiian infield guru with hair that flows like the waterfalls of Oahu, steadied the ship as the administration prepared to hire a new head coach. When I first met new Head Coach Matt Righter, I knew we were going to get along. Coach Righter has a laid-back demeanor, but he has the ability to crack the whip and control the room whenever he wants. He’s a flat-out winner with the knowledge and foresight to take the program to new heights. Just the kind of guy any serious ballplayer would want to play for. I still have three semesters to go at Vassar, but I’m already sad that I’m going to have to leave. I’ve met so many amazing people here and have tried new things that I would have never considered in the past. This place has given me the confidence and vocabulary to explore and define who I am at my core. The point of this column is to provide insight into why athletes do what they do, “Why we play.” The funny thing is, although we spend hours everyday playing or training for our sports, “Why we Play?” is quite simply too big of a question for athletes to think about on a daily basis. I can’t speak for other athletes. I play because I have a passion for the game and a hunger to see how good I can become. I play because I like to take Hacks with a capital ‘H’ instead of swings. I play because I have a burning desire to compete and a deep-down belief that I can repeatedly come through in the clutch, when the game stands tall. I play because there is nothing like being part of a team and striving for a common goal. I play because I can. Bryan Rubin is a junior outfielder and pitcher on the Vassar baseball team. If you are a student-athlete interested in writing a reflective piece on your sport, please feel free to email mliederman[a]vassar.edu and rpinataro[a]vassar.edu.
NFL experience in hand, Young joins Vassar coaching staff Robert Pinataro Sports Editor
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Courtesy of Robert Pinataro
ne... two... three... one... two... up... The tempo echoes through the Vassar College varsity weight room on a typical day for Vassar’s newstrength and condition coach David Young. Coach Young took on this role over this past summer after spending three years as one of the strength and conditioning coaches for the San Francisco 49ers. Prior to his stint with the Niners, Young coached at both University of Iowa and University of Memphis. The transition from the strength and conditioning staff of an NFL football team to that of Vassar College is a big one, but Young has truly enjoyed the process of beginning his new role at Vassar thus far. “The student-athletes have been enjoyable to work with and receptive to coaching. Our coaching staffs have been a huge asset in helping me understand how we can best serve the needs of the student-athletes at Vassar,” he said in an email. Young is excited about the opportunity to do what he does best. “ My goals for the student-athletes that I coach improve [athlete’s] performance in their sport and decrease their likelihood of injury as part of a personal growth process,” he said. He points to his predecessor, Coach Cam Williams, as a tremendous resource throughout this transition period: “He was extremely open with the things he was able to accomplish and the struggles he faced during his time [at Vassar] ... His willingness to share information with me
shows how committed he was to helping the student-athletes at Vassar even after he left.” For Young, weightlifting has always been a passion. What began as lifting weights with his father at the YMCA grew into a high school training regimen that landed him a spot on the football team at Central College in Iowa. After a strong career there, Young earned his Masters of Arts in Sport and Leisure Commerce from the University of Memphis and began his career as a strength and conditioning coach. Young cites Charles Poliquin, Chris Doyle and Kurt Schmidt as significant influences on his career and his philosophy about strength training. One of Coach Young’s major focuses in athletic training has nothing to do with weights, cardio or sports at all. “Good training is a relationship-based process that best prepares athletes for the demands of their sport. In my experience, the foundational step in developing productive relationships with athletes is establishing trust,” Young said. It is this emphasis on relationships and trust that has had Vassar’s student-athlete community buzzing about Coach Young. Junior infielder for the baseball team, Alex Hartnett, had only positive things to say about Coach Young. “I have really enjoyed working with Coach Young so far,” Hartnett said. “He brings a ton of energy to the weight room and he has made a great effort to get to know the athletes that he trains.” When it comes to training itself, Young speaks a lot about training with a purpose. “On day one, I told our student-athletes that
New Strength & Conditioning Coach David Young directs senior varsity baseball player Chris Lee through a Romanian deadlift with perfect tempo. Young comes to Vassar after 3 years with the San Francisco 49ers. there would be a ‘why’ for everything we do in training,” Young said. “If there isn’t a strong ‘why,’ we’re not going to do it.” One of Young’s training methods that is new to Vassar student-athletes is called tempo training. Athletes perform common weightlifting move-
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ments such as squats, but each part of the movement is timed. Using the example of the squat, athletes deliberately lower themselves until their thighs are parallel to the ground over a three-second interval. The next part of the movement is a two-second pause at the bottom of the squat. Finally, after five seconds that feel like an eternity, the athlete explodes upwards to a standing position. Several other exercises such as rows, pull-ups, and Romanian deadlifts are performed with the same tempo. Naturally, there is a strong why for this intense training. Young says that this is beneficial because it requires athletes to “own” every inch of the movement, which makes them more aware of their body and its compensations. Despite the added difficulty, athletes on campus are enjoying the new style. Senior women’s tennis player Lauren DiFazio commented, “I think that [tempo training] is one of the ways [Coach Young] does a good job designing a program that focuses more on making sure all of the athletes are strong and capable of performing the functional movements they need to be successful.” On top of these control and stability benefits, Young said, “The tempo we’ve utilized also allows us to accumulate more time under tension which is linked to improvements in body composition.” Coach Young has gotten off to a great start training Vassar’s athletes, and athletes will only continue to improve once they have completely adjusted to the coaching switch. Though the year is still “Young,” it appears the new strength coach will be able to take Vassar athletics to new heights.