The Miscellany News | Dec. 9, 2010

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The Miscellany News Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

December 9, 2010

Volume CXLIV | Issue 11

Interest in minicourse program renewed

Faculty awarded NSF grants Chelsea Peterson-Salahuddin

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Caitlin Clevenger News Editor

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Eric Schuman/The Miscellany News

t the end of Spring Break, Vassar students may have the option to participate in a new activity with a familiar format. The Vassar Student Association (VSA) and the Campus Activities Office are considering a trial program of studentled courses following the model of mini-courses. In the past, minicourses were a non-credit extracurricular activity offered each spring. Students could register for mini-courses through the Campus Activities office and attend class once a week for four to six weeks, learning anything from sushi-making to poker strategy. The mini-courses could be taught by students, faculty or staff, with or without a fee. However, minicourses were discontinued for the 2009-2010 academic year, after former Assistant Director of Campus Activities Megan Habermann, who had supervised the program, resigned and her position was left unfilled. Another factor leading to the discontinuation of mini-courses was the controversy surrounding the “Language of Ladies” minicourse in the spring of 2009, which was cancelled after concerns about gender and ethnic stereotypes in the mini-course’s subject matter See MINICOURSE on page 4

Above, officers from Safety and Security are on their shifts. Director of Safety and Security Donald Marsala attended the latest VSA Council meeting, where he fielded critical questions regarding the role of Safety and Security on the campus.

Safety and Security fields questions Mitchell Gilburne

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Features Editor

irector of Safety and Security Donald Marsala appeared at the Vassar Student Association (VSA) council meeting on Sunday, Dec. 3 for a forum in which questions, comments and concerns of council members and their constituents were

shared and discussed. The questions, often critical as well as inquisitive, covered the scope of Safety and Security’s duties and events spanning the entire semester. In regards to the most recent incident of sexual assault on campus, Marsala credited student reports with the apprehension of the offend-

er, adding, “We’re asking everybody not to allow piggybacking because that’s how it happens almost every single time.” He continued, “Don’t confront anybody. If you see someone suspicious in the dorm, call us and we’ll check him out. We ask your help to be our eyes and ears. See SECURITY on page 7

Faculty opinions vary on course repeat policy Mary Huber Reporter

Christie Chea/The Miscellany News

Director of the Writing Center Lee Rumbarger, pictured above, will be leaving the position she has held since 2006 at the end of the fall semester.

Senior Editor

As students work furiously towards a month-long break from Vassar, Director of the Writing Center Lee Rumbarger is facing a decidedly different kind of departure. Rumbarger will be moving to England at the end of the semester, ending her

three-year tenure as director. “We are really terribly sorry to lose Lee Rumbarger,” explained Molly Shanley, director of the Learning, Teaching, and Research Center (LTRC), which encompasses the Writing Center. “If you ever come [to the Writing Center] between 3 and 5 See RUMBARGER on page 20

Inside this issue

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FEATURES

The College’s grand birthday approaches

23 SPORTS

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new proposal to change Vassar’s course-repeat policy has divided faculty into opposing camps. The policy, which would allow students to retake a course in which they received a D during their first three semesters, has evoked strong opinions from faculty members. Dean of Freshman Benjamin Lotto explained in an e-mailed statement that he brought the idea before the Committee on Curricular Policy (CCP) after a disturbing conversation with a freshman. “This freshman had been doing D work in a 100-level course, and the instructor offered to give the student an F so that the student could retake the course and master the material before moving on to the next course. I felt quite uncomfortable that the opportunity to repeat this course to improve the student’s learning was tied to manipulating the student’s grade,” wrote Lotto. The most common complaint against the new policy is that it coddles students, allowing them to avoid responsibility for a bad grade. “A group of diverse faculty and I re-

Thoughts on Qatar and the 2022 World Cup

alize that this policy would really only effect outliers, because very few students at Vassar would ever find themselves in this situation,” See REPEAT on page 6

Reporter

he National Science Foundation (NSF) announced Wednesday, Dec. 1 its decision to award five Vassar science professors and their colleagues at peer institutions $2.7 million to help fund their research projects, $313,400 of which is solely going to fund research carried out by Vassar’s professors. The foundation annually awards $6.9 billion in research funding, and operates as the main fiscal source for approximately 20 percent of all federally funded research in American colleges and universities across several academic fields. The National Science Foundation has been a longtime supporter to Vassar College. Since 2005, Vassar’s science professors have received $10.5 million in research grants. In addition, earlier this fall the National Science Foundation awarded Vassar College $1.2 million to train and support mathematics and science teachers in high-need school districts and $1.6 million to advance the College’s scientific infrastructure. The Vassar professors who will be the direct beneficiaries of the most recent grants are Assistant Professor of Computer Science Marc Smith, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Alison Spodek Keimowitz, and Assistant Professors of Biology Lynn Christenson, Jodi Schwarz and Erica Crespi. Collectively, the money awarded will be used to fund wide-range research projects within their respective fields. Smith and his colleague, Tiffani Williams, assistant professor of Computer Science at Texas A&M University, will use the funds to work on a project entitled “Novel Techniques for Understanding See SCIENCE on page 4

Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News

Rumbarger departing Center she transformed Angela Aiuto

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

A bridal store on Main Street dresses up for the holidays. See page 12 for holiday tips and suggestions at Vassar and in Poughkeepsie.

24 SPORTS

Coach Cox set to lead Vassar tennis


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