The Miscellany News
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Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Volume CL | Issue 13
February 15, 2018
Why do we bingewatch?
Professor revives epic poem
Abby Knuckles
Jimmy Christon
GUEST REPORTER
REPORTER
hile the use of escapism as a coping mechanism stretches far back into human history, and mass media consumption is certainly not a new phenomenon, the ability to binge-watch is a fairly recent development. For clarity, I define “binge-watching” as any instance wherein three or more episodes of a single show are watched in immediate succession. A decade ago, I definitely could not have watched three seasons of “Outlander,” a whopping 42 hours of television, during finals week. Now that whole seasons of television are often released at the same time and old favorites are consigned to easily accessible locations, series practically beg us to watch them all at once. As a chronic binge-watcher, I have a personal investment in answering the question of why we binge. Is it purely a malignant method of escapism designed to fill some void in the real world, or is it, as some have suggested, the new zeitgeist medium for storytelling? Can any viable middle ground be found? With these questions in mind, I set out to discover the benefits of binging, as well as its often-noted malicious See BINGE-WATCHING on page 6
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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Chelsea Manning and fellow activist CeCe McDonald visited Vassar on Wednesday, Feb. 7 to participate in “No Prisons, No Wars: Setting a Trans Abolitionist Agenda,” an event hosted by several campus organizations.
Trans prison abolitionists visit VC Clark Xu
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
I
n its mission to equip students with a profound and well-versed liberal arts education, Vassar makes an effort to foster political discourse that challenges societal injustices and rethinks American institutions. Inviting CeCe McDonald and Chelsea Manning as individuals who have experienced these injustices, the Vassar Student Association (VSA), the Women Studies’ Program, the Women’s Center, the Africana Studies Program, the ALANA
Courtesy of Mitch Davis
Dancers shined in VRDT’s ModFest performance on Feb. 9, which featured diverse types of dance from ballet to tango, capturing the theme of “adapting.”
VRDT performers embody ‘Adapting’ Izzy Braham
ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR
D
ance is expression, passion and resistance. Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT) made that loud and clear at their Feb. 9 ModFest performance. The show, featuring faculty-and-student-created works and new pieces by Adjunct Dance faculty member Leslie Sachs and returning alumna Alaina Wilson, presented a variety of different styles of dance, from classical ballet to Argentine tango. The performance gave the viewer a peek at the breadth of Vassar’s dance department while simultaneously expressing this year’s Modfest theme of “adapting” through different types of movement. The show, which ran for
Inside this issue
3
NEWS
Black history acknowledged by alumnae/i of College
a little over an hour, was composed of eight very diverse pieces. The performance began with a classical ballet piece choreographed by Assistant Professor of Dance Miriam Mahdaviani. The dance was the first work to include pointe in a VRDT ModFest show. Mahdaviani, a dancer and teacher trained at the New York City Ballet, commented, “What I really want people to take away from the piece is that even though it’s a classical ballet piece, I think it still resonates with people today. It’s not like an old-fashioned relic that belongs in a museum somewhere.” Mahdaviani emphasized that the beauty of ballet is timeless—it is a type of dance that audiences will alSee DANCE on page 15
15 ARTS
Center, the LGBTQ Center and other organizations supported a public conversation, “No Prisons, No Wars: Setting a Trans Abolitionist Agenda,” with the two activists in Taylor Hall on the evening of Feb. 7. The discussion centered on their responses to questions from the student hosts. One host, Sessi Blanchard ’18, noted, “The event was originally conceived as an intervention … Such [abolitionist] politics necessitates the creation of a new way of thinking that exceeds the current order of things.”
VSA President Anish Kanoria ’18 reflected, “McDonald and Manning are both inspiring people who are leaders and advocates in this country. Seeing them in conversation with each other promised to be a fundamentally interesting experience.” The event, which has been in the works for months, is part of an effort to widen the public visibility of LGBTQ identities and create space for reconsidering the legitimacy of the incarceration system and the military-industrial See DISCUSSION on page 3
27 for 270 raises over $190,000 for athletics Fiona MacLeod GUEST REPORTER
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n just over the span of one day, Vassar’s student-athlete community blew a novel athletic fundraising contest out of the water. The challenge played off of Vassar’s 27 athletic teams, attempting to collect 270 donations in 27 hours, starting on the morning of Feb. 7. The Brewers skyrocketed past this initial goal, collecting 3,595 donations and totaling over $190,000 in this short time. The Brewers Fund was launched in August 2016 with the main goal of enhancing the overall college experience for Vassar’s student-athletes. This movement allowed alumnae/i, parents and friends to donate exclusively to student-athletes at the college for the first time in history. “Launching this fund was an exciting step forwards for athletics at Vassar, as many of our peer institutions have a similar fund for their respective athletic programs,” the Director of Athletics and Physical Education Michelle Walsh said. “The 27 for 270 challenge was a natural next step in the evolution of the Brewers Fund, as crowdfunding has lately become a popular fundraising technique in higher education.” Once the clock struck 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, donations came flooding in. Any gift of $5 of more counted as a donation towards the competition’s donor goal. In just one hour and
Theme of adaptation reflected in Vassar dance creations
two minutes, the Brewers fulfilled the challenge’s goal of 270 donations and showed no signs of slowing down. The efforts of the student-athletes were accompanied by the rallying of parents, family members, friends, alumni, Vassar faculty and coaches. These groups consistently pledged challenges, matched donations and advertised in order to help the community exceed all prior expectations. Upon reaching the initial goal of 270 donors, alumni Jim Citrin ’81 donated $10,000 to the challenge. Because the first goal was met so quickly, Vassar President Elizabeth Bradley then offered a new challenge to the Brewers. Raising the bar to 555 donors, one for each student-athlete, she promised to donate of $5,000 to the athletic community if the goal was met. Student-athletes rose to the occasion, meeting this second challenge in under a single hour, and earning the additional $5,000 by just 11 a.m. “Our students, alums, current and past athletes and their friends really came together,” said President Bradley. “In my experience, having proper coaching and programming makes a huge difference to the quality of athletes’ college experiences, so I’m happy to see some of the money my husband and I have donated to Vassar this year go towards athletics.” The donations from Citrin and PresSee FUNDRAISER on page 18
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“T
he Odyssey” is one of the best-known stories of all time; there’s no doubting that. But it might be hasty to call it the best-known book of all time. You’ve heard the story regardless of background or homeland. Centered in Greece, the story of “The Odyssey” has spread far away from the Western civilization that so happily claims it as its own. Indeed, the only thing to travel more than Odysseus is the story of “The Odyssey” itself. This very fact calls for a pause of appreciation, one that should be followed by excitement, as the next step in this legendary journey is taking place right here at Vassar. There is no need to slaughter any goats for this celebration or bring out prized swords to give as gifts. This Thursday, Feb. 15, at 5:30 p.m., University of Pennsylvania Professor of Classics Emily Wilson will be giving a talk on her newly released translation of “The Odyssey.” Wilson will read from her translation and talk about the experience of translating this daunting classic. Wilson is the first woman to ever translate “The Odyssey” into English. Regardless of whether or not we’ve read the translation, or are even familiar with “The Odyssey,” it is significant that we can all be here to celebrate a milestone like this on our campus. Case in point, I haven’t read this translation of “The Odyssey,” and I’m sure very few students have. However, a propensity for not doing the reading is something that all Vassar students have in common, and this event can serve as a valuable introduction to the world of Homer. Wilson’s translation has garnered much acclaim in a short amount of time. The professor has made the cover of The New York Times Magazine, with the byline, “The Classicist Emily Wilson has given Homer’s epic a radically contemporary voice,” (The New York Times Magazine, “The First Woman to Translate the ‘Odyssey’ into English,” 11.02.17). A month later, The New York Times Book Review gave Wilson a favorable appraisal as well, stating that she boldly dares to match Homer line for line (The New York Times, “A Version of Homer That Dares to Match Him Line for Line,” 12.05.17). What makes Wilson’s translation so noteworthy—enough for these reviews to frame her translation as a formidable combatant to Homer himself—is that it is one of the more distinctive translations to come out in quite some time. What makes Wilson’s translation stand out, in contrast to older ones, is its dedication to translating the original text line for line, and its strict adherence to iambic pentameter. What this means is that Wilson’s lines correspond exactly with the lines of the Greek original. This puts pressure on Wilson to act like Proteus and morph the language of the poem into a style suitable for See ODYSSEY on page 16
Vassar fencer reflects on sport’s SPORTS positive effects