The Miscellany News
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Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Volume CLI | Issue 2
September 13, 2018
History of women in Guide seeks to ‘disorient’ students science deserves heed Noah Purdy and Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson Contributing Editors
Opinions Editor
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or some unfathomable reason, modern society in the 21st century seems to be stuck with the antiquated notion that science is a field primarily for men. While we have made visible breakthroughs in opening the doors of science and technology to talented women worldwide, an unsettling cultural bias seems to persist in the shadows of progress like a specter of a bygone era haunting us still. For instance, according to a study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, women made up only 28.8 percent of researchers in the world in 2015 (UNESCO, “Women in Science,” 29.06.2018). With regard to the United States specifically, the U.S. Economic and Statistics Administration reported that women held only 24 percent of STEM jobs in 2015 (Economics & Statistics Administration, “Women in STEM: 2017 Update,” 11.13.2017). The numbers become even smaller if one sorts the results based on a specific field of science. While 59 percent of graduates with bachelor’s degrees in biological and biomedical sciences in 2016 were women, female
graduates in the U.S. made up only about 38.5 percent of physics degrees and about 18 percent of engineering and computer science degrees earned in that same year (Catalyst, “Women In Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics (STEM),” 01.03.2018). At the same time, women in America accounted for only 38 percent of economists, 26 percent of computer and mathematical scientists and nine percent of mechanical engineers (National Science Board, “Women and Minorities in the S&E Workforce,” 2018). As discouraging as it may be, the gender gap in some of these STEM fields, such as astrophysics and mathematics, remains so vast that experts estimate that it may take more than 100 years before gender parity is achieved (Science News, “Closing the gender gap in some science fields may take over 100 years,” 04.20.2018). Unfortunately, the fact that so few women are involved in STEM despite global efforts to encourage young girls to become leaders in science has led many smug and contemptible men to interpret this trend as proof that women just aren’t meant for the sciSee SCIENTISTS on page 14
[TW: This article mentions rape.] n Friday, Aug. 31, Director of Safety and Security Arlene Sabo emailed the campus community reporting the distribution of a document titled the “Vassar College Disorientation Guide 2018–2019” to around 400 students, some of whom were firstyears. The Disorientation Guide, signed by “VC brewers hellbent on nothing but destruction,” aims to provide an alternative to the information presented by the College during First-Year On Friday, Aug. 31, around 400 students received the Vassar College Orientation, the end of which coin- Disorientation Guide 2018–2019. Authors of the document, who wish to See DISORIENTATION on page 4 remain anonymous, were inspired by similar documents at peer institutions.
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Courtesy of Disorientation Guide authors
Steven Park
Counselor recounts summer trials Frankie Knuckles Copy Staff
[TW: This article mentions a shooting drill.] t the beginning of third grade, my teacher Mrs. Sheibels assigned us a project: write and illustrate a mini book about all the places our feet took us over the summer. I remember exactly two of my chapters. First, my feet took me to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I drew
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a stick figure version of myself in a hospital bed with an IV machine off to the side, several other stick figures around me with concerned faces. Second, my feet took me to my sister’s 18th birthday party, where I got to see some idiot teenagers suck helium out of balloons and speak with comically high voices. I attempted to draw that scene, and the sketch bore an unfortunate resemblance to a back alley drug exchange. Eleven years later, I’ve kept up the
habit of dramatic introspection at the close of the summer instilled in me by that project. This summer lent itself to the practice better than most, and it left me with a number of answers to my more existential recurring questions. At the end of last semester, I sent a hopeful email to the boss of my old high school job at my hometown public library. Some responsibilities were the same as during my illustrious career as See SUMMER on page 10
Kanye’s lyrics mirror societal ills Kaepernick’s Nike deal demands skepticism Holly Schulman Guest Columnist
[TW: This article includes discussion of rape, domestic violence and eating disorders.] he first time I listened to Kanye West’s eighth studio album, “ye” (2018), I was on a train from Paris to Amsterdam. Light rain over the European countryside created the perfect backdrop for perhaps the most beautifully melancholy—while also terrifyingly angry—Kanye record to date. An introspective ode to his own fear, depression and sense of being lost, “ye” was released at Kanye’s most controversial moment in the public eye, exactly one month after his infamous claim that hundreds of years of African-American slavery in the United States “sounds like a choice” (Rolling Stone, “Kanye West Says 400 Years of Slavery ‘Sounds Like a Choice,’” 01.05.2018). The album offers a peek into the mind of this incredibly influential man, who increasingly embodies the phrase he coined years ago in his song “Feedback”: “Name one genius that ain’t crazy.” While barreling through Belgium on my high-speed train, I began a ritual that I developed years ago. I do not listen to any songs from a newly reSee KANYE on page 8
Emmett O’Malley Guest Columnist
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Courtesy of Wikipedia
Kanye’s “Violent Crimes,” from his 2018 album “ye,” raises questions about the artist’s treatment of women in the past and reveals new implications for how he wishes to transform himself into a positive father figure going forward.
Inside this issue
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ARTS
With Loeb’s help, art history no longer a mystery
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Pitfalls of drug therapy brought to OPINIONS light
rom the moment Colin Kaepernick unceremoniously knelt during the National Anthem of an NFL preseason game in the waning days of Summer 2016, there has been nothing short of public outcry. Kaepernick’s activism transcends sport; his every move is now scrutinized by conservative media outlets and, correspondingly, the President of the United States. To many conservatives—a faction sliding closer to white nationalism every day—there is almost nothing that better epitomizes the decline of so-called American values than a Black man, donning an Afro, kneeling for an anthem written by the oh-so-patriotic-slaveowner Francis Scott Key. A discussion of the symbolic significance of the anthem and the flag is likely in order, but I’ll leave that conversation on the sidelines. For now, let’s simply acknowledge the period ranging from Aug. 14, 2016, to Sept. 3, 2018, as a period defined by the radical political activism of a Black man on America’s largest stage in sport, and the corresponding “whitelash”
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conducted by those reactionaries on the political right. Let’s also define the period between January 2017 and this very moment as a period in which Colin Kaepernick—a man certainly talented enough to hold an NFL roster spot—was blackballed by the NFL. That’s our baseline. On September 3, Nike released its newest advertisement campaign. In all likelihood, you’ve seen it. The coverboy? Colin Kaepernick. His unedited face is set in sharp black and white. Plopped atop is a customarily tight, pre-packaged, retweet-ready slogan in a font only slightly more ambitious than Times New Roman: “Believe in something. Even it means sacrificing everything.” Kaepernick serving as Nike’s coverboy for their 30th-anniversary “Just Do It” campaign is a very real paradigm shift. He has been one of the most public faces of anti-racist activism, avidly and persuasively denouncing police brutality and racebased inequality, while simultaneously donating more than $1 million to progressive organizations. And yet, as of Sept. 3, he has become perhaps the most highlighted See KAEPERNICK on page 19
“Fun” job in bakery proves nothing HUMOR but fakery