The Miscellany News
Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org
Volume CLI | Issue 21
April 18, 2019
VSA in flux with reelections
Hospital treatment inadequate
Mack Liederman and Jessica Moss
Jessica Moss and Talya Phelps
SENIOR EDITOR AND NEWS EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Courtesy of Kevin Arce
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tudent self-governance has been the pride of Vassar since the founding of the Vassar Student Association in 1868. As the backbone and voice of the student body, the VSA is of paramount importance—tasked with upholding professionality, transparency and an honest election process. In the senate meeting on Sunday, April 14, attendees called into question the integrity of VSA’s most recent election, the results of which were announced on Friday, April 12. After lengthy deliberations, the VSA Senate ultimately passed a motion to hold a re-election for all constituent-specific positions: House Officer, Class Senator and Senior Class Council. The contention began with an appeal Josselyn House Treasurer runner-up Chase Estes ’22 made under Article XI Section 11 Section B of the VSA bylaws, which states See VSA ELECTIONS on page 3
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
On Thursday, April 11, Jamaica Kincaid gave this year’s Alex Krieger ’95 Memorial Lecture. The critically acclaimed author has written several books and short stories, including “A Small Place” and “Girl.”
Kincaid delivers memorial lecture Dean Kopitsky
that enlightened and amused the crowd. Kincaid had been invited to give what is arguably the most anticipated lecture of the year at Vassar: The Alex Krieger ’95 Memorial Lecture, a series which takes place each spring in memory of its namesake, a talented former student who tragically
COLUMNIST
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n her weekly Sunday email, President Elizabeth Bradley called renowned author Jamaica Kincaid a “force for understanding.” Anyone who attended the lecture on Thursday, April 11 would back that assessment; Kincaid touched on numerous topics
passed away in an automobile accident in the spring of his freshman year. In the last two years alone, the lecture has been delivered by writers like Junot Diaz and Zadie Smith. To honor Alex’s memory this spring, the Krieger family joined the Vassar community in welcoming acclaimed See KINCAID on page 6
[TW: This article discusses suicide, depression and inappropriate medical and psychiatric treatment.] hen Rachel Sipress ’21 checked themselves into MidHudson Regional Hospital on Saturday, March 31, they had no idea that they would end up held against their wishes for nearly a week. Sipress had been struggling to manage their Type 1 diabetes due to intense bouts of simple partial seizures caused by PTSD, and was also concerned that they might have sustained cranial damage. “Basically, I was in the ER for 10 hours,” said Sipress, who was evaluated via video chat by a tele-psychiatrist at MidHudson. Sipress eventually received a prognosis of psychosis and was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric ward, where they continued to have seizures, and their blood sugar spiked and dipped due to inadequate administration of See HOSPITAL on page 5
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Notre Dame fire inspires reflection Ivanna Guerra
GUEST COLUMNIST
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Courtesy of Remi Mathis via Wikimedia Commons Parisians reacted with immense shock as flames engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral, a symbol of French history. The façade remains standing.
Inside this issue
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Six cities: INTL 160 students explore Europe as FEATURES Brexit negotiation unfolds
my interest in the building and in medieval architecture in general. Thus, to watch Notre Dame in flames broke my heart beyond words. I know that Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Lindsay Cook, who teaches on medieval architecture, felt the panic as a classmate and I broke the news to her. My own worries diminished as I focused on Cook’s. She had dedicated so much time to the cathedral in her dissertation that watching it slowly burn must have felt like losing a beloved colleague. She confessed that despite her general criticism of 19th-century restoration efforts, she knew how important the project was to Tallon. Notre Dame was perhaps equal parts modern and medieval. Architects Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc and Jean Baptiste Lassus renovated the cathedral between 1845-1864, during which time Viollet-le-Duc altered the cathedral to match his desired aesthetic. Thus, we got the most memorable parts of Notre Dame: the gargoyles, the rose window, the central portal, the flying buttresses that hold the nave, the pinnacle and even the apostles that guarded it (and no, these are not the ones that Victor Hugo deSee NOTRE DAME on page 12
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Debate: Should SHSAT remain NYC high school OPINIONS admissions standard?
Courtesy of Nick Jallat
ronically, I was waiting for my Medieval Architecture class to start when I received a notification from my CNN app declaring that Notre Dame was burning. “It’s just the spire,” I naively thought. “If any part of Notre Dame can burn, it’s the spire.” I knew that the statues of the apostles—what had most sentimental value for me—had been removed for restoration just four days before the spire caught on fire. Despite what my initial lack of worry might indicate, Notre Dame has come to mean more to me in the last few months than I had ever
believed it would. As many of you know, Notre Dame meant a lot to the late Professor Andrew Tallon. As with many of his students, Professor Tallon meant a lot to me. I took his final Art 105-106 conference sections and was completely blown away by his intellect and passion for medieval architecture, especially Notre Dame. In Professor Tallon’s classes, some of what he said sounded familiar. I had actually visited the cathedral years before. I remember it was the night Pope Francis got elected, and I was lucky to hear Notre Dame’s bell ring from a boat on the Seine to commemorate the moment. The experience sparked
Michael Mullen (above) scored five goals for the Brewers, but the junior’s exploits weren’t enough as Vassar fell 13-12 to Clarkson. The Brewers now sit seventh in the Liberty League at 1-5 in conference.
Men’s lax loses nailbiter to conference rival Clarkson Kelly Pushie
GUEST REPORTER
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he Vassar men’s lacrosse team traveled up to Clarkson University this past weekend for a clash between two programs in the Liberty League’s bottom half. Clarkson got on the board first, but Vassar was quick to answer with four goals in the first quarter, three of which came from the pocket of junior Michael Mullen, with
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first-year Logan Hyde adding the fourth. The Brewers came out hot in the second quarter, too, with Mullen scoring again off a feed from senior James Thomas, and Hyde then scoring unassisted. Clarkson responded with two goals to cut the lead to 6-3, but Vassar extended the lead to 8-3 with another goal from Mullen and a first from sophomore Tomás Meade. Down five, See LACROSSE on page 19
Coping strategies: Student pierces left nipple as stress at HUMOR school seems to triple