The Miscellany News, CXLVI, Issue 20 (April 18, 2013)

The Miscellany News

Volume CXLVI | Issue 20

April 18, 2013

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

LGBTQ Annual drag show Committee on Campus Center incites controversy Life passes smoking ban Survey finds majority of students vandalized D oppose band, but CCL nevertheless of two kings and three queens, at QCVC’s annual drag show last Friday.

In the past, few drag kings have participated in the Flawless Drag Show, but Hernandez and others were pleased with the change.

“I really wanted there to be some sort of drag king visibility on campus,” said Hernandez. “Last year I had intended to do it, because the See DRAG SHOW on page 6

Aja Saalfeld

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rag often evokes feelings of spectacle, of gender play and big, over the top queens. And yet at this year’s Flawless Drag Show, presented by the Queer Coalition of Vassar College (QCVC), one drag king went home a champion.

Genesis Hernandez ’15, co-president of QCVC, came first out of five performers, composed

Anna Iovine RepoRteR

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Katie de Heras/The Miscellany News

n Friday, April 12 the phrase “God hates fags” was discovered written in red marker on a wall behind the door of the Center.

Chris Sundberg ’16 was one of the first to see the hate speech. “Seeing it was a bit of a shock,” he said, “I know Vassar isn’t perfect, but seeing [the vandalism] was proof that someone willfully hated the center so much they wanted to vandalize it and make a statement to everyone who is a part of it.”

Sundberg pointed the vandalism out to Assistant Director for Campus Life/ LGBTQ and Gender ResourcesJudy Jarvis. “My initial reaction was disbelief—that this particular brand of hate speech was written inside the walls of a space that is so important to so many in the LGBTQ community was tough to believe,” Jarvis explained.

As Dean of the College Christopher Roelke noted in his email to the student body on Saturday, the hate speech was especially jarring due to the campus wide support of the LGBTQ community during the Westboro Baptist Church protests in February.

Tyler Fultz ’15, an intern for the LGBTQ Center, noticed that the campus typically gives more attention to outsiders—the WBC, for example— than to anonymous hate speech made on school grounds. However, this time community members are hopeful that See VANDALISM on page 4

Genesis Hernandez ’15 competed as one of Vassar’s first drag kings at this year’s QCVC ‘Flawless Drag Show,’ along with another king and three queens.

votes yes Noble Ingram neWs editoR

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ast Wednesday, April 10, the Committee on College Life (CCL) endorsed an all-campus Smoking Ban. The resolution that was passed will now go to the President of the College as a recommendation from the students, faculty, and administration that comprise the committee. The resolution provides for a period of education, smoking cessation programs, and other campus resources to be offered to the Vassar community before the ban would take full effect in July 2015.

The passed resolution doesn’t speak to the specifics of the process in which smoking would be banned, instead focusing on more general terms. As President of the VSA and member of CCL Jason Rubin ’13 stated, “That was an intentional decision to stay away from [defining the specifics of the process] and to make the decision to move forward with this.”

As part of the decision process, CCL listened to a presentation done by the Smoking and Tobacco Research Action Team (START) which recently conducted an electronic campus-wide survey. This sub-committee was formed from CCL. As Rubin explained, “There was concern that in terms of shared governance that there wasn’t enough outreach to the students or that students weren’t involved or didn’t know that this was happening when the vote was taking place. START was a response to a feeling that students weren’t included in the decision more broadly.”

President of the Terrace Apartments and Co-Chair of START Devin Griffin ‘13, echoed this idea, “At the end of last semester, it became apparent that these conversations [about the smoking ban] were more than that. They were looking to pass a proposal.”

He continued, “A couple of the Council members decided to pass a See SMOKING on page 4

Special Collections to exhibit historic Bible

Quidditch teams flock to VC pitch Chris Brown spoRts editoR

ith brooms between their legs and pink dye in their hair, the Vassar Quidditch team is not easily missed by people on campus.

One of the most eclectic sports held here on campus, the team recently held a collegiate tournament, aptly called The Cup That Shall Not Be Named. Over the course of one Sat-

ed from the mind of J.K Rowling in her best selling series Harry Potter.

Played on flying brooms in the fantasy novels, the sport took on a shape of its own with the creation of what has become “Muggle Quidditch,” a real life interpretation of the fictional game. Vassar Quidditch was one of the second collegiate team to be formed after Middlebury College.

See WORLD CUP on page 18

courtesy of New Mexico History Museum

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urday, Vassar hosted seven different schools in the tournament, played aggressive matches of the unique game, and made a statement to the International Quidditch Association (IQA). After the dismay of not being able to attend the World Cup, the team turned the event into what captains are calling something that will go down in Vassar Quidditch history.

Quidditch is a sport that sprout-

Calligrapher Donald Jackson helmed the creation of the first hand-written and illuminated Bible made in over 500 years. He will present a lecture on his work on April 20.

Jacob Heydorn Gorski/The Miscellany News

Nathan Hoston ’13 springs forward during the Vassar Quidditch Team’s tournament, The Cup That Shall Not Be Named.

An alternative to the International Quidditch Association’s World Cup, the competition hosted seven schools last weekend.

Inside this issue

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FEATURES

Computers and English: the jump from Middle to Modern

10

OPINIONS

Reviving Vassar’s pink roots with pride: an alum’s perspective

John Plotz RepoRteR

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elebrated calligrapher Donald Jackson will come to Vassar on April 20 as the 2013 Curtis Lecture speaker for his work as the artistic director of “The St. John’s Bible.” The lecture will be presented in the Taylor Hall 102 Auditorium from 5 to 6 p.m.

Between 1998 and 2011, Mr. Jackson led a group of artists and scholars in Wales and Minnesota to create this bible. As the first hand-written and illuminated bible in over 500 years, it is a monumental undertaking, and Vassar will receive the Heritage Edition of

16 ARTS

the Bible, which is a rare and highly valuable copy of the text.

The Curtis lecture is an annual event put on by the Library for Special Collections. Founded by John and Julia Blodgett Curtis ‘62, the latter of whom graduated from Vassar, the Curtis Lecture brings guest speakers to present research surrounding books, manuscripts, or printing.Ron Patkus, Associate Director of the Libraries for Special Collections and Adjunct Associate Professor of History, followed the creation of the St. John’s Bible because of his own interest before invitSee BIBLE on page 15

Bioshock Infinite and the eternal fight for games as art

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The Miscellany News

miscellanynews.com Blogs Multimedia Breaking News

April 18, 2013

Editor-in-Chief

Bethan Johnson David Rosenkranz

Senior Editors Chris Gonzalez Steven Williams

Contributing Editors Hannah Blume Rachael Borné Adam Buchsbaum Aashim Usgaonkar

News Noble Ingram Bethan Johnson Features Chris Gonzalez Aja Saalfeld Marie Solis Opinions Angela Della Croce Lane Kisonak Joshua Sherman Humor & Satire Jean-Luc Bouchard Arts Jack Owen Steven Williams Sports Christopher Brown Meaghan Hughes Photography Cassady Bergevin Spencer Davis Katie de Heras Design Aja Saalfeld Palak Patel Online Alessandra Seiter Copy Farah Aziz Assistant Photo Jacob Heydorn Gorski Jiajing Sun Crossword Editor Jack Mullan Reporters Amreen Bhasin Charlacia Dent Anna Iovine John Plotz Carrie Plover Eloy Bleifuss-Prados Columnists Zoe Dostal Luka Laden Zach Rippe Max Rook Jill Stein Juan Thompson Eli J. Vargas I Photography Jonah Bleckner Emily Lavieri-Scull Design Bethany Terry Online Victoria Bachurska Rachel Dorn Youngeun “Ellis” Kim Copy Sophia Gonsalves-Brown Jacob ParkerBurgard

LETTERS POLICY The Miscellany News is Vassar College’s weekly open forum for discussion of campus, local and national issues, and welcomes letters and opinions submissions from all readers.

Letters to the Editor should not exceed 450 words, and they usually respond to a particular item or debate from the previous week’s issue. Opinions articles are longer pieces, up to 800 words, and take the form of a longer column. No letter or opinions article may be printed anonymously. If you are interested in contributing, e-mail misc@vassar.edu.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

April 18, 2013

NEWS

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Jud. Board hears case brought against Board of Elections David Rosenkranz and Aashim Usgaonkar editoR-in-CHieF and ContiRbuting editoR

Katie de Heras/The Miscellany News

On Sunday, April 14 Gagandeep Anand ’15 filed a complaint to the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Judicial Board against VSA Board of Elections co-Chairs Devin Griffin ’13 and Clayton Masterman ’13.

In his statement, Anand alleged that Griffin and Masterman did not act to the fullest extent required by the VSA Bylaws in order to address complaints brought to them about the use of mass-email lists by members of two campus organizations: The Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) and SPECTRANA, a coalition of ALANA and LGBTQ organization.

An emergency Judicial Board hearing was held to assess the validity of these claims on Tuesday, April 16 at 8 p.m., just 16 hours before voting ended yesterday at noon. While the Judicial Board, in an opinion published on April 17, found the Board of Elections guilty on charges of unsatisfactory response to the complaints, sources within the VSA Council and Board of Elections believe that the material impact of the verdict on elections is negligible.

At the hearing, the Judicial Board heard testimony from a member of VSA Council (whose identity has been kept confidential), and VSA Vice President for Activities Doug Greer ’13.

Anand, Masterman and Griffin also testified.

Throughout the course of the testimony, sitting members of the Judicial Board and members of the audience began to piece together the events that led to Anand filing his complaint.

On Sunday, April 14, Anand received an email from a member of YDS with the following message: “hey y’all, VSA elections start tomorrow [sic] and people are clamoring to know who to vote for (clamoring!!). Here’s a list of candidates that have my vote. Use this list at your own discretion-- this is NOT an endorsement from YDS. Let me know if there’s anyone I should add.”

Attached to the email was a list of candidates

Judicial Board heard a case on Tuesday April 16 regarding complaints filed that the Board of Elections co-chairs failed to respond appropriately to various violations to the election bylaws. the YDS member was endorsing. Upon receiving this email, Anand contacted Judicial Board Chair Alaric Chinn ’13 and an anonymous member of the VSA Council, bringing this alleged violation of the VSA Bylaws to their attention.

In speaking with Chinn and the member of Council, Anand learned that other alleged violations of the VSA Bylaws had recently occurred. In particular, he learned that members of SPECTRANA, an informal coalition of members of ALANA and LGBTQ organization members, had sent out a mass, unsolicited email endorsing candidates for VSA positions. Anand alleged that this email violated Article 10, Section 7, Part F of the VSA Bylaws which reads, “Excepting door-to-door campaigning, no form of mass unsolicited communication shall be allowed including, but not

limited to, mass flyering and impersonal or recipient-suppressed electronic messaging.”

Anand alleged that, upon learning of the email from members of SPECTRANA, “[Masterman and Griffin] did not properly investigate the contents of the email that had gone out or the method.” In addition, he claimed that the BoE did not, as is required by current bylaws, render a decision about the complaint by phone, email and written notice in the student’s campus mailbox.

From the perspective of the defendants, Anand’s complaint did not hold water. Their testimony centered around three points: the culpability of the email from YDS; the culpability of the email from SPECTRANA; and their response to these emails as officiators of the spring elections.

With regard to the YDS email, “it was deemed

to be an infraction of the VSA’s bylways by the Board of Elections,” noted Masterman. After deeming it such, the BoE proceeded as it saw fit and reached out to the perpetrator from YDS with a reprimand. Under the auspices of the VSA’s governing documents, the only two actions afforded to the BoE are reprimand and disqualification.

The latter option — the disqualification of 16 candidates — was considered “unconscionable” and thus the former was pursued.

As for the SPECTRANA email, it became apparent through the course of the hearing that the recipients of the email were not the general bodies of SPECTRANA. Rather, the email was directed solely to the candidates that were being endorsed in keeping with elections bylways; SPECTRANA’s leadership was reported to just offer resources for campaigning to candidates were in line with its mission. Noting this through hearsay, the BoE decided not to pursue this incident as an infraction.

Lastly, the BoE co-chairs felt that given their oral and electronic communication, it was no longer necessary and, “too cumbersome,” to write a letter to be placed in the complainant’s mailbox.

“In analyzing the evidence, the Judicial Board came to the conclusion that the Board of Elections were in violation” of bylaws requiring three forms of communication regarding the BoE’s decision.

This infraction was on two counts—”once in regards to the complainant...and once in regards to the VSA representative.”

On the first count, the Judicial Board found the respondents guilty by a vote of 3-1, and on the second count, the Judicial Board found the respondents guilty by a vote of 3-2. The panel found the BoE not guilty in their actions in response to the YDS email.

While the ruling has no impact on the elections and their results during the cycle, the Judicial Board recommends in its sanction the the VSA not only “immediately institute a stricter adherence to the communication thresholds” but also, if it finds these measures too burdensome, amend them accordingly.

Speaker discusses US-North Korean volatile relationship Ben Hoffman

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world into nuclear holocaust during the Cold War, and still threatens American foreign policy today.

That said, the lecture did not imply that the relationship between America and North Korea is impossible to salvage, even in the short term. Suh reminded his listeners that when other nations have been willing to listen to North Korea’s concerns, Pyongyang has often reciprocated.

In particular, the intervention of Beijing has helped to alleviate North Korea’s recalcitrance and smooth dialogue with the United States.

This occurred most recently in the aforementioned six-party talks.

Audience member Michael Strmiska called the lecture a balanced, back-and-forth account of the manner in which the USA and North Korea have acted and reacted toward each other over the decades. Professor of Global Studies at SUNY Orange Strmiska, noted that public

opinion regarding North Korea is twisted by media into an easy, though not truthful image of the North Korea leadership as simultaneously insane and laughable. “It is as if the creators of ‘South Park’ were running our foreign policy. There is never any discussion of why North Korea might feel threatened by us,” stated Strmiska.

Asian Studies Director Peipei Qiu confirmed that media portrayals of North Korea in Asia similarly accentuate its warmongering qualities, though countries uncomfortably near Kim Jong-Eun’s regime tend to take the threat of a nuclear aggressor more seriously than do pundits in the US. Qiu, a professor of Chinese and Japanese at Vassar, noted the lecture was a very timely topic, given the situation. Despite hopes of continued dialogue with Pyongyang, tensions between America and North Korea are likely to remain high in the near future.

Spencer Davis/The Miscellany News

midst the recent discourse about North Korean aggression, Vassar students gained the benefit of a new view point on the issue of nuclear weapons and the US-North Korean relationship. The April 11 lecture by Dr. J.J. Suh tore away the foundation of this perception.

The lecture was hosted by the Asian Studies Program. Dr. Suh told the audience that “North Korea is better understood when its actions are put into the context of its interactions with the US.” His presentation showed that both sides have taken actions that reinforce the division between the two nations.

Dr. Suh works at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

In his discussion, he analyzed the progress of North Korea’s nuclear program and the standoff between Pyongyang and Washington.

Chief on the list of anxieties for any analyst studying North Korea were the three underground nuclear tests detected in February 2013. According to Suh, the North Korean government is estimated to have in its possession enough plutonium to make five to thirteen nuclear bombs.

Those who doubt the technological capabilities of an isolationist state were shocked in 2010 when North Korea constructed a highly modern uranium enriching plant within ten months.

Suh explained that while this plant does have peaceful applications for creating fuel for nuclear plants, it could also be used to enrich uranium to levels necessary for nuclear warfare, and this weapons-grade uranium would be more difficult to track than plutonium.

Suh went on to lay out three periods of concerted nuclear activities during which North Korea aggressively furthered its nuclear program: 1989-1994, 2003-2006, and 2009-present.

In between these periods, North Korea discontinued the construction of numerous nuclear facilities.

Significantly, these times when the leadership’s nuclear ambitions were reigned in coincided with various negotiations taking place

between North Korea and other nations. The most recent of these lulls, between 2006 and 2009, was precipitated by the “six-party talks”, which included North and South Korea, China, the United States, Russia, and Japan.

Unfortunately, the progress established by six-party talks began to unravel in 2009, when North Korea tested a rocket which the US believed was intended to be used in nuclear warfare. America passed sanctions, and the tenuous relationship broke down.

Regarding the recent standoff between the Washington and Pyongyang, Suh presented several aggressive moves the North Korean government has made. First, buoyed by the successful tests in February, North Korean officials announced on March 7th that the country would resort to a nuclear strike against America if the United States began violence.

On March 26, the North Korean military entered a state of heightened readiness. Three days later, Kim Jong-Eun signed an order authorizing nuclear attacks against the US if he gives the word.

After detailing this alarming sequence, Suh filled in the gaps—each of the hostile moves on North Korea’s part responded to a move from the United States. Before the first hintings of nuclear intimidation, the US and South Korean militaries carried out a major joint exercise, which caused North Korea to feel threatened.

The North Korean decision to enter combat readiness came after six days of mock bombing exercises near Korea and further exercises by B-2 stealth bombers followed it. The point was clear: responsibility for the current deadlock lies on both sides of the Pacific.

When describing the reasons for this deadlock, Suh highlighted a structure of action and reaction, in which each side’s decisions are interpreted through a lens of suspicion by the other. He noted that when there is enmity between two groups, each tends to misunderstand the other and to cast blame, rather than accept it.

According to Suh, this structure creates a “malign multiplication” of tension. A similar case of malign multiplication nearly led the

John’s Hopkin’s University Professor J.J. Suh lectured students and profesors on April 11 on the complex and often-time misinterpreted history of nuclear weapon policies for the US and North Korea.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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News Briefs Senate considers bipartisan Gun Control Legislation

The bipartisan gun control bill, coauthored by Senators Joe Manchin (D., W.Va) and Pat Toomey (R., Pa) will be voted on by the end of this week. (Reuters, “Senate to take up gun-control measure this week,” 4.14.13) To curb gun-related violence, the bill proposed an expansion of the background check system used in many gun sales.

At present, background checks and recordkeeping are mandatory only for gun sale by licensed arm dealers. The new bill will take a further step to oversee transactions at gun show and over the internet.

Although it is welcomed and supported by many politicians, the gun control proposal still faces stiff opposition from conservative Republicans. 14 Republican Senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY), threatened to initiate a filibuster in the approaching votes to derail the push for gun control legislation.

(The Huffington Post, “Mitch McConnell to filibuster gun control bill,” 4.8.13) Senator Toomey told the press,“I think it’s an open question as to whether or not we have the votes. I think it’s going to be close.” In specific, 60 votes are required for it to pass. (The Wall Street Journal, “’Open Question’ if gun plan will pass” 4.14.13) On a return trip from Hartford Conn. to Washington D.C. on April 8, President Obama was escorted by 12 victims’ family members in the Newtown massacre to voice their plea for gun control bills. Francine Wheeler, mother of a 6-year-old victim in the accident, pleaded with congress,“Please help us do something before our tragedy becomes your tragedy.” (Yahoo.com, “Newtown mom pleads for gun control at White House,” 4.13.13) The President also urged a tougher gun-control law as he referred to the Newtown tragedy, which caused more than 20 deaths. “Shame on us if we forget Newtown”, he said, trying to pressure the Senate to pass the bill. (CNN.com “Obama: ‘Shame on us’ if Newtown doesn’t bring new gun laws” 3.29.13) Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association argued that this bill would do no good in fighting criminal use of guns and would expand government power. Another obstacle on the way to enacting a stricter gun control law is centered on the constitutionality issue of Second Amendment rights.

—Liz Zhou, Guest Reporter

—Liz Zhou, Guest Reporter

April 18, 2013

President Hill to make final call on smoking ban currently set for July 2015 SMOKING continued from page 1

resolution saying that there had been no student input on this issue beyond the seven student representatives and that student input is necessary in order to ethically pass the smoking ban.”

President of Josselyn House and CCL member Casey Hancock ’15 was one of the Council members who proposed the foundation of START. He expressed frustration at the lack of student involvement in the smoking ban process and the barriers he encountered in trying to involve a stronger student voice. Hancock noted, “[START] wasn’t actually something that the VSA Executive Board wanted to happen.”

He continued, “In fact, in the first few meetings of CCL this year, the discussion was about whether or not the school should be told at all, and the administrators were saying that the students shouldn’t be told because they will believe that a ban is valid if we just do it.

Whereas if we ask the students about it, they won’t think it’s a legitimate thing and they won’t respect it, and thus, enforcement won’t work.”

Hancock also expressed skepticism at the credibility of the composition of the committee. “The number of people on CCL is the start of it. There are more administrators and faculty than there are students. The changes in the governance of the college should make it next year so that there are an equal number of students to administrators and then faculty [will be] seen as the middle ground. It is supposed to be much more balanced.”

He then described the composition of the student portion of the committee. “There are the two VSA Executive Board people which

are the President [Jason Rubin] and the VP for Student Life [Dallas Robinson], then there is the Co-Chair for the Board of House Presidents, which is what I am, and then the four class reps. And then the one other student that sits on there, there are actually two of them but one never shows up, is the assistant to the President who votes on the committee as a student but is actually paid by the college in order to push forward the agenda of the President of the college.”

Rubin, on the other hand, described CCL optimistically, saying he believed the committee did have the necessary balance of voices and representation. He noted, “CCL is a bit odd because it’s a large committee and there are a lot of people on it who don’t vote…But it’s unique in that it has a very large student representation. If students vote against something unanimously, it’s not going to go through.”

Hancock expressed disappointment with the decision to support the ban. He argued, “The results seem to show that students would be in favor of moving towards designated smoking areas because then you solve all of the second-hand smoke arguments and also allow individuals to choose whether or not they want to smoke.”

Presenting some of the reasoning behind supporting the ban, Rubin noted, “It’s multi-faceted… The [New York] state is already moving in this direction. The SUNY system is going smoke-free. That’s sort of an easier thing for the state to do because its public but we obviously get federal funding. So at some point that will happen in the future, it’s unclear when.”

Some controversy came to air in examining the questions that made up the survey

proposed by START. Some felt questions in the survey were leading and others expressed concern about the revision process for the survey.

One anonymous source stated, “The START committee had a set of questions initially that had been reviewed by a Sociology professor and the professor who is very experienced in research methods said that she thought that the original draft of the proposal was unbiased and then after that, someone on START sent the questions to Rene Pabst who is an observing [non-voting] member of CCL and she actually had the questions of the survey changed so that they were significantly more biased. In fact there were questions originally that weren’t included in the resulting memo that were taken out because of their very clear bias.”

Griffin confirmed this. “Because we’re not incredibly experienced with crafting survey questions and minimizing bias, we did send it to Rene [Pabst]. I understand that that, in a way, is a conflict of interest, but we made it clear that we weren’t trying to change the questions, and so it was working on wording, but we also sent it to Elizabeth Shrock who has her PhD in research and who also has less of a personal stake in this.”

Griffin continued, “There did end up being questions that we thought were biased or maybe unclear that we didn’t end up using in our data.”

Data from the START survey has already been shown to the VSA and is published within the Opinions section of this edition. The recommendation to President Hill will be made soon and the President is expected to enact the new Smoking Ban resolution.

Students look to reclaim LGBTQ Center

VANDALISM continued from page 1

these discussions will look different. Since the protest, he noted, “There has been a large push for students, faculty, and administration to take an active role in the response.”

Jarvis said of the WBC reaction, “We just had a huge outpouring of support for the LGBTQ community when an outside group used this exact same hate speech... So now how do we respond as a campus when it comes from inside our campus?”

In the campus-wide email Dean Roellke stated that Campus Life Response Team (CLRT) was planning on meeting the following Monday to assess how the campus should react and assure the students that Vassar is a safe and inclusive environment.

The CLRT, which is composed of members of the Residential Life Office, Safety and Security, Office of Health Education, Dean of Students Office, Campus Life and Diversity Office, the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office and a representative from the Vassar Student Association.

After the racist and misogynistic hate speech written last semester in Jewett House, the CLRT proposed town hall meetings to gauge campus reaction and reassure students. However, this time the team opposed a town hall and decided to instead celebrate the Vassar LGBTQ community. According to Jarvis, Vice President for Student Life Dallas Robinson ’14 brought the idea up to take this different approach.

After the meeting Roellke and the CLRT sent a follow up email to the Vassar community describing the campus response as “Reclaiming the LGBTQ Center.” Roellke said in the email, “Since thousands of us at Vassar stand united in love and respect for all people, this is an opportunity for our many voices to speak together far more strongly than that one hateful voice.”

“It is my hope that we can use this most recent example of intolerable speech as a catalyst for bringing our campus even closer together,” Roellke wrote in an emailed statement.

In part of reclaiming the Center, Roellke and CLRT invited those at Vassar to participate in two open houses on Tuesday. At these

open houses the center supplied post-it notes and markers for people to write messages in support of the LGBTQ Center and community as a whole. The Center was also an open space for anyone to talk about the incident, with CARES counselors there if anyone needed their services.

“We wanted to host something in the LGBTQ Center and really reclaim the space as a loving and supportive one with our own words,” Jarvis said.

“At least 60 people came by the Center in the first three hours of our open house, including many people who have never come here before, which is really wonderful,” Jarvis continued, “There have also been a lot of staff and administrators who attended because they really wanted to show their support.”

Fultz shared Jarvis’ enthusiasm about the open houses, seeing nothing but support from students and faculty. “The response has been amazing; the walls inside and outside the Center right now are decorated with tons

of allied support and positive messages,” he said.

However, the open houses are not the only planned response. The CLRT hopes to move forward and work with students to figure out other ways in which Vassar could be an inclusive community. One possibility is to have students sign a pledge, written by Spectrum org leaders, at the beginning of the school year.

“It’s just been so fantastic to see that Vassar as a whole doesn’t feel the same [as whoever vandalized the center] and gave us overwhelming support in response to this lone incident,” Sundberg said.

Fultz agreed. “We have chosen to take this incident and turn it into a positive experience for the LGBTQ community as a reaffirmation of love and acceptance of LGBTQ students, faculty, and administration at Vassar from both those in the community and the campus as a whole.” w

Katie de Heras/The Miscellany News

Two bombs go off in Boston Around 3 p.m EST Monday, April 15th, two explosions occurred around the finish-line of the Boston Marathon, leaving three dead and more than 170 injured.

President Barack Obama commented on the event on Monday night, “Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror.” The President also stated that any responsible individuals, any responsible groups will feel the full weight of justice.

According to law officials, the devices that triggered bombing were most likely from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers. They were probably hidden inside nylon duffel bags or backpacks and left on the street or sidewalk near the finish line (NY Times, “Boston bombs were loaded to maim” 4.16.13) The FBI has started probing the case, but suspects and motives remain unclear. It is now asking the general public to submit any photographs or video they may have taken at the blast site to help in the investigation.

Among the three who died in this accident, one is an 8-year-old boy named Martin Richard. According to first responders, Richard was standing near the finish-line to cheer on family friends running the marathon when an explosion took his life. Denis, Martin’s mother, is currently in a state of “grievous injuries”. (The Huffington Post, “Martin Richard dead. Boy, 8, dies in explosion at Boston Marathon” 4.16.13) For most of other victims, the bombings resulted in lower limb injuries. Depending on the severity of injuries, doctors in Boston’s hospitals are performing small surgeries to amputations to secure victims’ health.

Among those injured were three Tufts University students, seven Emerson College students, three Northeastern University students, two Boston College students, one Berklee College of Music student and one Boston University student. (Boston.com, “Several Boston area college students among those injured in Marathon bombings” 4.16.13) The city subway system was temporarily disrupted on Tuesday, and grounded flights in the Logan International Airport had to wait for FAA to lift enforcement of “no-fly zone” at 5:20 p.m.

The White House announced that President Barack Obama will travel to Boston on Thursday, April 18th to attend an interfaith service dedicated to victims in the Boston bombings.

NEWS

Following another instance of hate-inspired vandalism, this time in the LGBTQ Center, CLRT organized two open houses to ‘reclaim’ the Center by covering its wall with supportive post-its.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

April 18, 2013

FEATURES

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Art modeling reframes body image, desexualizes nudity Marie Solis

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Emily Lavieri-Scull/The Miscellany News

hen considering campus employment options, the jobs which might seem most appealing are those which require the least amount of work for the most profit. Given those criteria, working as an art model, on the surface, could be said to fit the bill—at $10 an hour, it is among the highest paid work study jobs. However, like most things, it’s harder than it looks.

Not only does the job require students to be comfortable being nude in front of their peers, it requires the ability to remain still for an extended amount of time. Not the easiest of tasks, said model Rocky Schwartz ’15.

“I don’t think people realize that it actually is hard work and can be very painful or physically exhausting,” she wrote in an emailed statement.

Joel Auerbach ‘15, another model, agreed, stating, “This job requires someone who is comfortable spending a great deal of time immobile, in occasionally difficult positions, alone with their own thoughts.”

Though the discipline the job requires can be tiring, Schwartz knew what she was getting into—she had previously modeled, clothed, for art classes in high school. Nonetheless, for Schwartz, the job is not without its occasional surprises.

She recounted, “During an admitted students weekend, I was modeling nude for two students in one of the Ely studios, with the door closed. I heard what I assume was a prospective student’s mother getting a tour of Ely from a Vassar student, just the two of them. I thought I was in the clear when they walked past the room I was in and into the other studio. My back was to the door, but I was facing a mirror. I watched in the mirror as suddenly the door knob turned and I heard the mother gasp as the student, out of my line of vision, said ‘Oh, sorry, Rocky!’ and closed the door. I still have no idea who the student was, but she knew me!”

Another day, Shwartz came to work only to find there was a male student scheduled to

Art models face the challenge of bearing it all for drawing classes. But through this experience some manage to find a new sense of self-confidnce and understanding of the human body as a work of art. model with her that she didn’t know about. “I got over it quickly,” Schwartz said.

While some might deem these encounters awkward, both Schwartz and Auerbach maintained that baring all for your classmates is not as uncomfortable as one would think. Part of the misconception is that nudity is always a sexual matter, Auerbach said. “Some people might think of it in a hypersexualized way, but for the most part that’s their own problem. The atmosphere of the class is such that no one is reacting to you as if you’re naked at all, and I never encountered any untoward behavior or attitudes in class,” he stated.

Alexandra Bowditch ’15, an art student, echoed these sentiments, saying that she has never had any issues when it came to reframing nudity for an artistic setting—and neither did her peers.“My first experience drawing nude models was at Vassar; I didn’t have any reser-

vations about it and I have known a couple of the models personally. People are always mature about it,” she said, mentioning there has never been any awkwardness when she saw the students who had modeled for her class outside of the studio.

“I have never experienced any uncomfortability seeing people I’ve modeled for.

Some of them have become good friends,” said Auerbach, adding, “Nothing like being forced to stare at someone naked for two hours to bring people together.”

For Schwartz, encountering students she’s modeled for outside of the studio is only as uncomfortable as they make it. She said, “The students and I became so familiar with each other we would smile and wave when we saw each other around. At the end of the semester, a lot of that class was in Hair, so I like to think it all evened out.”

Being an art model turned out to be not just an opportunity to become intimately familiar with her peers, but also as a way to become more familiar with her body.

“Sometimes I’ll be in one position for hours.

In a way, I consider it a form of meditation. I am hyperaware of how my body feels, but also aware of how unaware of it I am. I’ve learned that any itch will go away if you wait long enough…I’ve learned how long it takes for blood to come back to a numb limb and how to stand so I don’t feel faint. It has been incredibly informative,” said Schwartz.

Schwartz added that she thinks modeling is not only any excellent way to appreciate the limits one’s own body, but also an effective way to combat much larger issues, “…Our culture attaches significance to our bodies that may not reflect our experiences and then uses that to control what our bodies should look like, how we should cover them, who has access to them, etc. I see art modeling as the first step in breaking from this,” she said, emphasizing that fighting body insecurities is a great perk of the job.

Schwartz said, “Having a room full of people looking at what makes you insecure and then depicting it in beautiful works of art is a very good way to get over body image issues.”

As an artist, Bowditch said she had a very similar experience. “I think drawing the naked body is a great, classic way to learn to draw people. It’s really helped me to improve in my drawings and it’s also made me appreciate all different body types and has made me more comfortable with the body,” she said.

In fact, the wider range of body types, the more opportunity there is for an artist to grow, Bowditch stated. “Studying different bodies makes it easier to render different types of people rather than making ideal, iconic or symbolic figures—for example, making people look less cartoony more realistic. Definitely more unique [bodies] are more interesting to draw!” she said. Bowditch concluded, “It’s really just a great way to appreciate the human body for what it is and hopefully translate that appreciation into a beautiful rendering of art.”

Pegram combines passions to decode Middle English lit.

Eloy Bleifuss Prados RepoRteR

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Katie de Heras/The Miscellany News

omputers can complete complex mathematical computations in less than a second, but the subtlties of languages have long escaped their mechanical minds.

Tavish Pegram ‘13 has done his little part in fixing this problem.

For his computer science research and thesis project, Pegram created a program that could scan and identify the names of any person in Middle English texts.

He found existing programs, called taggers, that recognize certain types of words in Modern English and modified them specifically for Middle English.

A tricky task, according to Pegram, considering that the major difference between the two is that Middle English, spoken between late 12th and late 15th century, before England’s introduction of the printing press, was not standardized. “[Middle English] doesn’t really care about spelling, word order, punctuation is inconsistent,” said Pegram. “It is a neat poetic feature, but basically makes any kind of computer based analysis extremely difficult.”

Without a consistent grammar, Pegram , who began work last September under the stewardship of his adviser Professor of Computer Science Nancy Ide, struggled to design general rules for computers to read Middle English and pick out people’s names.

Pegram’s thesis combines two longheld academic passions.

He is a Computer Science and English double major with a correlate in Mathematics. He had known he wanted to be a double major before coming to college and the decision, he hopes , will give him an edge after college too.

“I think it is helpful for at least being employable, because Computer Science majors are notoriously bad at communicating, and [an] English [B.A.], even if it isn’t true at least implies a certain ability,” said Pegram.

After graduation, Pegram will be working for

Tavis Pegram ’13 is a Computer Science and English double major. For his senior thesis, he created a piece of software which could parse Middle English text, then extract Modern English from them. the medical software company Oracle in Madison, Wis. Eventually, Pegram said, he aspires to work with computational linguistics.

Computational Linguistics is the field of study that studies language through computers.

The iPhone’s Siri, which can interpret certain demands and reply with an index of responses, and Google Translate, which can translate snippets of text from one language into another, are examples of computational linguistics used in everyday life.

However, these achievements are still nowhere close to matching a human’s capacity for reading, speaking and understanding language.

The average student might encounter these difficulties when asking their phone for directions or seeking help from Google translate for a spanish paper. Pegram’s taggers, however, kept tripping over the messiness of Middle

English where spelling and punctuation of a name can vary even within a single text. The two works Pegram tested his program on were Havelok the Dane and King Horn, two chivalric romances from the 13th century.

There are more spelling divergences. The name “Havelok” can also be spelled Haveloc,” “Wiliam” is also known as “Willam,” and there are no less than five different ways to spell “Fikenild,” the name of the treacherous villain in King Horn.

Pegram wrote a list, or Gazeteer, of nearly 100 names and their alternative spellings for the program to memorize as persons’ names in the two texts he is working with.

Middle English cannot even agree on the spelling of one famous name. References to God are common in the texts Pegram was using, and so he had to be certain that his taggers

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

could recognize God as a name.

Pegram had decided at the start of his thesis, to make his work easier, to train his taggers only on the names of people and ignore other proper nouns, but then was God closer to people or closer to something like a country or an organization? What was God? On this unexpected question raised in a computer science thesis, Pegram said, “It is ambiguous...I’m including God as a named identity, as a person.”

With that mystery, and potential moral dilemma, solved, the next step was finding a set of rules that marked God out as a name. However, this was Middle English and neither spelling nor capitalization could be relied on.

The word for “good” was once spelled “god,” so sometimes Pegram’s tagger would erroneously conflate the word for agreeable or pleasant with the name of the supreme being of the universe. Also the adjective “god” was sometimes capitalized “God.” and sometimes the name “God” could be spelled G-O-D-E. “Gode.”

Working through challenges with the grammar and the software took trial and error and required both patience and diligence. Sometimes, he said, it required him to take a step back from his work for a while.

Said Pegram, “One thing about computer science is that nothing ever works the first time or the second time or usually the third or fourth times and it usually doesn’t work until you get really frustrated and leave and then come back a week later and it works by itself.”

Pegram believed his thesis could be useful for students like himself that are tracing the evolution of the English language.

Pegram said, “It’s helpful for teaching and linguistic research. If you have the tags in place it makes it easier to interact with the text make it a more helpful teaching tool.”

When asked if his taggers could work on the Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the most famous work of literature in Middle Enlgish, Pegram shrugged, “It should be able to.”

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April 18, 2013

Kings alter VC perceptions of the drag community DRAG SHOW continued from page 1

drag queens last year were really fierce.”

Hernandez also said he felt that it was easier to participate when another king agreed to take part in the show.

“There was another person who also signed up to be a drag king, so I felt a little more comfortable,” he said.

Cassidy Hollinger ’13, a general body member of QCVC, hosted the event and was also impressed with the diversity of acts this year.

“I’m really glad that we had drag kings because I feel that they show the whole other side of gender,” Hollinger said. “Drag king culture is a little more varied than drag queens [culture].

[Queens are] very glamorous and super feminine and drag kings are sometimes performing stereotypical masculinity but there’s also this whole level of androgynous drag king performances.”

Drag as a form of gender expression and as a historically important part of the queer community also went over well and this event in many ways has the potential to increase discussion about gender and gender expression on campus, particularly in the queer community. “[Drag] historically has been about empowerment,” said Jeremy Garza ’14. “There are just so many ways in which queers, and especially queers of color, are able to express themselves.

Events such as this are about being able to have that pride and express yourself.”

Other students, such as Willow Carter ’15, felt that while drag has a purpose on campus, it also is not free from criticism.

“Drag can be used well, specifically when

it’s already in the queer community,” Carter said. “[But when] it’s primarily done by white cisgender men, they’re kind of unaware of the privilege they have to able to play with gender and reinforce stereotypes.”

She also emphasized that sexism can be a problem in drag.

“I feel that a lot of drag queen performances are making fun of women or of gender variance,” said Carter.

But some aspects of the show were ones that many students thought were decidedly even less about empowerment or increasing discourse than some of the issues, such as sexism, transphobia and apparently ableism, that can come along with drag.

“That’s ableism,” shouted an audience member after one queen’s talent portion included an act of impersonating a visually impaired person.

Much of the audience responded quickly and negatively and several students walked out.

According to Hollinger, this year’s drag show came together without many rehearsals and with less preparation than usual. Hollinger went on to explain that this particular iteration of the Flawless Drag Show did not have a full rehearsal before it went to stage, and even she did not know what to expect for all of the talents.

“We only met with some of the judges beforehand,” she said. “The talents weren’t vetted by anyone, and no one knew exactly what the talents were going to be.”

The incident led to some quick thinking on the part of the host, Hollinger, who had to work

particularly hard to maintain the energy in the room.

“As a performer, that show was a particular challenge. It was difficult to get through after the scandalous performance that people are talking about,” said Hollinger.

“That was really hard to deal with on stage.

As a host you need to respect your audience and performers, but it’s my job to make sure the show is moving. I had to make some quick decisions to see how we were going to handle it,” she said.

Regardless of attempts by the judges and Hollinger to control the situation, many students in the audience were still shocked and offended.

“The whole thing about blindness was definitely an issue. I just thought that whole part was really offensive, and I’m surprised they actually chose to do it,” said Carter. “I was glad the audience responded the way they did, but it was still kind of shocking.”

That some of the acts could have been put together quickly and in a slapdash fashion could have contributed to some of the unexpected issues that campe up at the drag show.

“I always see queens who come in and have thrown things together last minute,” said Garza.

“It’s more likely for people to get hurt.”

Despite the fact that few people knew what the acts were going to entail, some students still stressed that being humorous should not be hurtful.

“It’s okay for drag to push norms of conventional gender expression or conventional standards, but that’s not an excuse to do things that

are offensive and hurtful,” said Carter.

Garza also acknowledged that there is sometimes a difficult balance to maintain of humor and offense.

“The performance itself alienated people and offended people. I think some of the audience reactions alienated others. My inhibitions were low and so I viscerally reacted to what we had seen on campus,” said Garza. “When it comes to performing, there is always a fine line to walk between artistry and scandal.”

Disorganization and a lack of rehearsal time ultimately led to unfortunate and alienating events that could have potentially been avoided with more guidance.

Garza said problems with organization similar to this have come up in the past with QCVC events.

“I thought it was a bit disorganized. I think QCVC has a history of putting on events that are both a hot mess and completely beautiful at the same time,” said Garza.

However, even with some of the negative publicity that came from certain parts of this show, students are still hopeful for improvement in the future.

“It made me frustrated, but I guess it makes me hope that there will be enough of a reaction that it will be better in the next year and the year after that,” said Carter.

Hernandez in particular said he hopes to inspire future drag kings.“I really do hope that this year our performances show the audience that there is so much more to drag than just simply being a drag queen,” Hernandez said. “I’m hoping that some freshmen will be inspired.”

Isard lectures on feminist Project Hoop House aims identity in modern Judaism to close Vassar ‘food loop’ Emily Hoffman Reporter

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eligion and feminism may often seem inherently contradictory. However, feminist Sonia Isard reminded students that they can equally express both aspects of their identities.

This past Monday, April 15th, the Vassar Jewish Union (VJU) hosted a discussion entitled “Young, Jewish, and Feminist” with guest speaker Isard. She is the Associate Editor of Lilith Magazine, an independent, Jewish-American, feminist non-profit publication that boasts the motto: “Independent, Jewish & frankly feminist.”

The magazine addresses crucial issues facing Jewish women today including sexual misconduct, fashion and the Jewish American Princess stereotype.

The VJU typically hosts these kind of parlor discussions at least once a semester. Tara Sheridan ‘13, co-president of the VJU, with the help of Rena Blumenthal, Assistant Director of Religious and Spiritual Life and Advisor to Jewish Students, put the discussion together.

Blumenthal met Isard while in Ukraine, working with Jews of the former Soviet Union.

The two of them agreed that she would be the perfect person to head the open discussion this Monday.

The group, of about 14 people, met in the faculty parlor and enjoyed pizza and drinks before Isard began the discussion. Isard spoke a little about herself and th history of her developing interest Judaism.

She grew up in Philadelphia and went to University of Michigan for her undergraduate education, where she ended up going abroad to Russia.

It was in Russia that she became extremely involved in Jewish communities. She went on to graduate school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She was passionate about working at Lilith because of her interest in the intersection between Judiasm and Feminism.

The conversation began with the question of what it means to identify as a Jewish-feminist. Many students contributed personal stories of moments when they realized these two identities intersected for them.

After this introduction, Isard asked the group to pick a topic from one of the past articles published in Lilith.

The group decided to discuss individual fashion senses in Jewish religion, based off an article in the Spring 2011 Lilith magazine entitled “Standing Out” by Letty Cottin Pogrebin.

Pogrebin asserted that she saw the issue of fashion Jewishly: “In the same way that Judaism expects us to embellish sacred objects, I believe that the human body deserves to be embellished.”

Furthermore, she stated, “It’s the job of human beings to improve upon and complete what God couldn’t finish...dressing the body is just another opportunity for us to elaborate upon what we have been given.”

These excerpts and more were read to the group. The article sparked several discussion questions: “What ways do you dress that express Judaism?”, “Do you think about self presentation in a way that your female predecessors did?”

The lecture also sparked discussion about appropriate ways to dress in synagogue as well as issues of younger generations dressing inappropriately at Bar/Bat Mitzvahs ceremonies.

Everyone was very actively participating and engaged in the dicussion. The group had lots of significant things to say based on personal experiences as well as their associations with Judaism and feminism.

Isard guided the discussion and ultimately ended by asking the group how their ideas and perceptions of these issues have changed over time.

According to Sheridan, a Jewish feminist study group has covered a range of topics this year, some of which include reclaiming and reevaluating women in the various Biblical stories and emphasizing the importance of working within Judaism to challenge what feels problematic to some people. The group also worked on creating new feminist rituals along with Talmudic law study.

This discussion built upon the conversations that have been occurring throughout the year.

Of the overall effectiveness of the lecture, Sheridan said, “Sonia did a great job harnessing the energy in room, and it felt like people could have kept talking. I think having Sonia here gave a fresh perspective and lead to a really fascinating discussion!”

Rachael Borné

Contributing Editor

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ince 2003, Campus Dining has focused on integrating local produce and products into food options available to the Vassar community. However, not until recently has there been an effort to connect students directly to the food production process. To address this gap in the production to consumption food cycle, members of the Campus Committee on Sustainability (CCS), Campus Dining Services and a group of students have joined together to form Project Hoop House. The initiative’s main aim is to install a greenhouse on campus that would be completely student-run. The program would give students the opportunity to learn about agriculture and small scale farming, as well as provide homegrown salad greens for the All Campus Dining Center.

“I think what the hoop house is going to do is give people an opportunity to take a look and question where their food comes from, and that’s a healthy thing,” explained Ken Oldehoff, the Director of Marketing and Sustainability for the Central Dining Facility. Despite Vassar’s location within the Hudson Valley hotbed of local and sustainable food yield, Oldehoff expressed his desire to link students even more intimately to the work and resources required to create something as simple as a salad of arugula and mustard greens.

David Orkin ’13, a member of Project Hoop House and co-leader of the Vassar Experimental Garden echoed this sentiment: “A hoop house would allow students to make a direct connection and realize that food is more than an object that appears at the deece. It takes long hours, careful planning and commitment to make it happen there.”

The hoop house would measure approximately thirty by ninety feet, and would enclose primarily salad greens. Orkin explained this strategic choice of vegetable, “They can be grown fairly easily, they are wintertime hardy, they’re tastiest in the wintertime, they don’t take up much space, you can produce a high volume, and they’re quick.”

Beginning in 2008, Aramark made a commitment to provide $3,000 per year for sustainability initiatives, but this year and next, that amount is going up to $6,000. In the past,

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

this money has gone towards locally-sourced beef for the famous Wednesday chili in the Retreat. Now CCS and Campus Dining are looking for more long-term options.

“This is a very interesting opportunity to learn about large scale business management, ecological farming, horticulture and how we can take advantage of college resources to rework the way we live our lives,” said Orkin, adding, “I think it’s the first step towards something larger.”

One goal of the Campus Committee on Sustainability is to work towards a closed loop food system. Project Hoop House would keep the human resource of food production on site, it would eliminate produce transportation considerations and generally condense the production to consumption cycle within the collective community.

Just as important as the food production component of Project Hoop House is the potential for education. Alistair Hall ’11, who serves as the Assistant to Sustainability Activities for the Campus Committee on Sustainability explain this crucial student-led aspect. “Whether through field work, student employment or independent study, we want to get students learning hard skills in horticulture and food production,” said Hall.

Although a potential location for the Hoop House is still undecided, Oldehoff emphasized visibility as an integral part of the plan.

“It would be great to have the hoop house in a prominent location, so as the tours go by, people can see what we have going on.” Orkin agreed with this idea, explaining, “Having it be really visible would indicate a commitment by the collete to making progress towards a more ecological way of obtaining food.”

In addition to gaining know-how when it comes to growing food, Oldehoff said student participants in The Hoop House project might cultivate a spirit of engagement and community consciousness that would follow them far after graduation from Vassar.

“My thought is that if can show students at Vassar that growing food on the small scale can be done, and then they become leaders in their communities or involved in their communities, they can spread this message there as well,” he said.

April 18, 2013

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Springtime unearths fresh vegetables, delicious new meals Alessandra Seiter

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online editoR

Jiajing Sun/The Miscellany News

pring has finally emerged from the depths of winter, accompanied by a cornucopia of gorgeously green produce. Hearty winter root vegetables have ceased their prominence on farms and gardens while brightly-flavored delicacies emerge, providing a fresh, welcome shift in the contents of our meals. In honor of these spring vegetables, I’d like to introduce you to four of my favorite lesser-known early-year produce varieties.

Also known as wild leeks, ramps resemble bulbous scallions with purple-streaked broad, feathery leaves. Ramps impart a uniquely pungent flavor, reminiscent of both onions and garlic, to soups, salads, sautés and rice and potato dishes. In West Virginia, the National Ramp Association hosts a ramp festival, called “Feast of the Ramson,” every April.

Though most have undoubtedly encountered green asparagus before, they may not know that the springtime stalks also come in purple-hued varieties. Originally cultivated in Italy, purple asparagus harbors a less fibrous texture and a sweeter flavor than its green counterpart, due to its 20 percent higher sugar content. Purple asparagus draws its color from high levels of anthocyanins—potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer antioxidants.

For a brief window of about three weeks every May, furled green fern tips known as fiddleheads appear at farmers markets. Harvested as they push their way through the forest floor, uncurling slowly, fiddleheads taste like a cross between asparagus and green beans, and work well in sautéed, grilled and fried applications.

A word of warning—one must thoroughly cook fiddleheads before consuming them, because they contain a toxin that causes stomach pain when eaten raw.

Perhaps my favorite of all the springtime produce, the last ingredient I’d like to discuss also costs the most: the elusive and delicate morel mushroom. Morels earn their high price tag due to their high fragility, perishability and resistance to cultivation. Resembling grey, beehive-shaped sponges, morels harbor a smoky,

nutty, earthy flavor superior to any other fungi.

Cook them as soon as possible after purchasing, simply sautéed in oil, either alone or with asparagus.

The below recipe—a verdant pasta dish bursting with springtime ingredients more easily found around the Vassar campus—features a vegan version of parmesan cheese, made from heart-healthy nuts and vitamin B12rich nutritional yeast. As opposed to baker’s yeast, nutritional yeast grows on either sugarcane or molasses and imparts a cheesy, savory flavor to just about any dish. Try it sprinkled on popcorn! Or, for those who are not strictly vegan, full-dairy parmesan cheese is an equally valid option. You can find nutritional yeast at any health food store, including House of Nutrition.

Spring Pea and Asparagus Pasta

Recipe adapted from Aida Mollenkamp.

Serves 6-8.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp + 2 tsp nutritional yeast 2/3 cups raw unsalted walnuts or cashews 2 tsp salt 1 lb whole grain pasta, gluten-free if needed (shells, orecchiette, fusilli or linguine will work) 3 tbsp olive oil, divided 5 shallots, quartered lengthwise and sliced very thinly crosswise 1 lb asparagus (the thinner, the better), woody ends snapped off, and cut in ½-inch slices diagonally 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups shelled fresh or frozen English peas (defrosted if frozen) 2 tsp grated lemon zest (from one lemon) 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about ½ lemon) 1 cup roughly chopped mixed herbs (parsley, chives, mint and tarragon all work well) Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Pinch red pepper flakes (optional) In the bowl of a food processor, combine the

The new season offers a variety of produce to create inventive new dishes. Ingredients like wild leeks, purple asperagus, fiddleheads, and morel mushrooms add a creative edge to your cusine. nutritional yeast, walnuts or cashews, and salt.

Process the ingredients until a smooth powder forms. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily-salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than denoted by the package instructions. Reserve two cups of the pasta water, then drain the rest of the pasta.

While the pasta cooks, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the shallots, season with a pinch each of salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes, taking care not to burn the shallots.

Add the asparagus and garlic to the pan, and cook until the asparagus is crisp-tender and bright green, about 3 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until bright green, about 2 minutes.

Add the drained pasta to the pan along with 1 cup of the reserved pasta water. Toss to coat.

Cook until the sauce starts to coat the pasta, about 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer its contents to a large serving bowl. Add ¾ of the powdered nut/nutritional yeast mixture and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the bowl and stir well to coat, adding more pasta water as needed so that the sauce just clings to the pasta.

Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and herbs. Taste and adjust seasonings—add a pinch of salt, red pepper flakes, and/or another squeeze of lemon juice, as required. Garnish with remaining powdered nut/nutritional yeast mixture, a pinch of black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired. Serve immediately.

Pasta leftovers will keep well for a couple of days in a refrigerated airtight container.

VC co-op explores food, farming in Hudson Valley Mary Talbot

guest RepoRteR

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or Vassar students who eat most of their meals at the All-Campus Dining Center, it is easy to take food for granted. However, some students remedy this issue by taking part in the various cooperative living opportunities on campus which enable students to become more aware of the food production process.

The Multidisciplinary Learning-Living Cooperative is a semester-long program which allows for cultural and academic immersion with a focus on food and provides students with a chance to engage with Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley in an entirely new way.

“About 15-20 students will enroll in the same set of classes, which are coordinated to be complementary, and they’ll live together in cooperative housing,” the MLLC’s website explains.

This group of students lives together in a shared Town House. “Since we’ll all have the same schedule, we’ll also have the opportunity to do field trips and projects that aren’t possible in a normal semester,” read the website.

The curriculum for the MLLC integrates multiple fields of studyin addition to field trips to farms and other food sites. This approach allows students and faculty to thoroughly examine the food focus from multiple angles and to ground it in the agriculture and culture of the Hudson Valley.

“One of the most incredible aspects of this program was the different perspectives on farming, farming methods, food and the environment that it forced us to evaluate,” wrote fall participant Alicia Robinson-Welsh ‘15 in an emailed statement.

The exposure to all of this new information inspired students to start questioning those things they had once assumed were a given.

She continued, “With an introduction to both conventional industrial farming and small-scale organic farming from the very start, we were able to think critically about both methods of producing food and come up

with our own answers to the question: How has agriculture evolved, where is it going and what is the best way to make changes to our current agricultural system in order to feed the world’s population as well as preserve and nurture the resources we will need most in the future?”

Courses listed for MLLC 2013 include Food in Cultural and Social Contexts, The Chemistry of Cuisine and A Taste of Terroir: French Methodologies for Experiencing the Earth.

These courses are designed to incorporate food into the learning environment.

However, in the past having a set curriculum has been a concern for some students who were worried about fulfilling credits for their major, but the Dean of the College Christopher Roellke announced in a recent email that in the future participants will be allowed to take courses outside of the program’s listed classes.

Another key component of the MLLC is field work, the only component of the curriculum which allows students to work on individual projects of their choice.

Robinson-Welsh wrote,“I worked at Four Winds Farm, on a small, no-till organic vegetable farm in Gardner, N.Y. twice a week on Fridays and Saturdays.”

She added, “It was my favorite part of the program because I was able to get off campus and get my hands dirty, working outside and with animals, planting, harvesting, and learning about what it means to run a farm.”

Emily Lansdale ‘14 incorporated the food focus in a different way as a volunteer at the Queen’s Galley Soup Kitchen.

“I got to meet people I never would have interacted with and learned from them and how they live. I also learned a lot about food [and] producing large quantities of healthy food for low income people that appeals to them.

I loved the social justice component to that work,” she said.

Field work was not the only chance for students to have hands-on experience. Robinson-Welsh and Lansdale both described the

group project of building and maintaining a coop of chickens, which provided the house with fresh eggs and another chance to bond with each other.

“I think they really taught us to work together too because we had to build the coop together, clean together and create a feeding schedule,” said Lansdale.

Students said it would be impossible to separate the academic curriculum, cooperative living system and off-campus trips and work from each other, or from the food focus.

Robinson-Welsh wrote, “The living component was an invaluable component of the program; it meant we got to know each other, cooked together, talked about class together... rather than hardly ever interacting with our classmates or getting to talk about the issues we were learning about outside of class, sharing personal opinions and delving deeper into the material. We were all in it together.”

Lansdale agreed, adding that the food focus was a commitment that moved beyond the classroom.

“We cook together and shop based on what we learned and what knowledge each individual brings to the group. We had two farm shares form the Poughkeepsie Farm Project so we got fresh produce every week and we get only local humanely treated meat,” she said.

Some professors involved in the program espoused the benefits of students working closely together.

Geography Professor Mary Ann Cunningham who taught a MLLC course this past fall, wrote in an emailed statement, “I would say from my perspective that moving together among classes gives both closeness and intensity.

She added, “I thought the students had a very good rapport—they were struggling together with the same things, and I understand that conversations about class topics spilled over into conversations at other times, which was something we hoped for.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

The field work, off-campus trips and focused curriculum provide a way to connect more deeply with the Hudson Valley, while also immersing themselves with Vassar in an entirely new way. Professor Cunningham described the benefits of joining students for off-campus trips and teaching them as a group. She said, “I think faculty really enjoy getting to know more about how interesting our students are as individuals.”

Another unique tradition of the MLLC is that of the faculty dinners, in which the group invites professors they’re interested in over for dinner and discussion.

“It’s so nice to know more faculty on campus from departments I normally wouldn’t know anyone from and we know them in a less formal way which is great! They could talk about their life philosophies which was so inspiring” wrote Lansdale.

Cunningham said she appreciated the opportunity to get to know students on a more personal level as well.

“I felt like I got to know the students more because we faculty spent more time with them, on field trips and sometimes in each other’s classes, and I really appreciated that. I think faculty really enjoy getting to know more about how interesting our students are as individuals,” she said.

The MLLC not only gave students the opportunity to become closer with their peers and professors, but allowed them to become more familiar with the area and all that it can offer.

Robinson-Welsh said, “The MLLC was a unique, diverse and rich program that I am grateful to have been a part of. It also brought us into the local community through our field work, field trips and the way in which it introduced us to local food producers, processors and other food-related organizations.”

She concluded, “It made me realize how rich and fertile this region is, and also the problems of food access and security in the area and what needs to be changed.”

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April 18, 2013

April 18, 2013

OPINIONS

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THE MISCELLANY NEWS STAFF EDITORIAL

College must provide smoking cessation resources Last week, the Committee on College Life (CCL) voted to implement a campus-wide smoking ban by July 2015. The vote followed a recent student survey administered by CCL, which concluded that 55 percent of students oppose the ban, while 45 percent support it.

While we at the Miscellany News understand that the majority of students did not want a ban, we view the College’s push to ban smoking as preempting possible future federal legislation requiring all public and private colleges to ban smoking on campus.

However, we were disappointed by the topdown approach of the initiative and would have appreciated further communication with the students, faculty and staff. Lastly, we believe it will be imperative for the College to provide free smoking cessation programs and materials.

It remains unclear why the College would rush to enact a smoking ban to preempt state legislation, when it is not clear that any such state-wide legislation is imminent. Does the administration wish to stop individual students and faculty from personally choosing to smoke, or protect nonsmokers from the consequences of secondhand smoke? If the motivation was personal health, then a cam-

pus-wide ban makes sense.

But if the ban is designed only to prevent second-hand smoking, the College could pursue more reasonable means. Designating certain zones for smoking would minimize its second-hand effects while allowing students and staff to smoke without venturing entirely off-campus. A complete ban without outlets for current smokers would be difficult to enforce, and may result of the dangerous consequence of increased indoor smoking. The College should give smokers options.

It is also important to note that by forbidding smoking as a personal choice, the College is taking an ideological stance. This is not unlike the decision to ban disposable, plastic water bottles on campus, which was enacted in 2012. However, the Tap That campaign to ban water bottles, which was spearheaded by the Greens, was entirely student led. In the case of a smoking ban, the momentum came from high-level College administrators who brought the proposal to the CCL. It is disheartening that the College would solicit an endorsement from the CCL as a show of student support when the data reflects that student opinion is opposed to a ban. In the future, it is our hope that such

wide scale campus initiatives will grow from the bottom-up, not the top-down.

A survey conducted by the VSA last year asked: “Should smoking be prohibited on Vassar College property?” 65.3 percent of students voted no, while 34.7 percent voted yes. Due to its inevitability, it seems that the College was bound to pass such a ban regardless of student opinion. A survey conducted by the VSA last year found that 65.3 opposed banning smoking on Vassar property while 34.7 were in favor. Rather than administering surveys us on whether or not we support the ban, the College should have solicited our opinion on how to implement the already decided upon ban, fostering a sense of transparency and inclusivity.

If, and likely when, the College enacts the smoking ban, the College must also provide current on-campus smokers—faculty and students alike—with readily accessible, free cessation programs and nicotine patches.

Though the ban will happen gradually, helping ease the transition for current smokers, this is not enough. Already, In the Pink runs such programs every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. However, there is a fee of $10 to cover the cost of nicotine patches. If the College de-

cides to ban smoking, these programs must become free and easily accessible to all students, faculty and staff. The cost for subsidizing this program will come indirectly from students, but ensuring compliance with a ban as contentious as this requires such support.

In addition, we hope that the Office of Health Education will consider taking on initiatives which prevent students from starting smoking while at Vassar.

Ultimately, we at the Miscellany News recognize that the eventual implementation of a campus-wide smoking ban was probably inevitable. However, the way in which the vote by the CCL came as a result of the actions by administration, rather than community, gives us pause. Furthermore, we urge the College to eliminate the fee for smoking cessation programs in order to make compliance with the ban as easy as possible. Lastly, we hope that the process of implementing the ban will reflect a community-oriented approach, wherein students, faculty and staff are included in meaningful dialogue.

—The Staff Editorial represents the opinion of at least 2/3 of the seventeen member Editorial Board.

In our cloud-powered age, S. Georgia prom reaffirms DVDs, CDs meet demise demand for social progress Phil Chen

guest Columnist

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his grand story about computing and business strategy started off as a personal shopping travesty. I had recently decided to replace my MacBook and its myriad distractions with the new iMac. I clicked on the emailed link to the new iMacs, marveled at the impossibly thin device, and hit the blue “buy” button.

Just when I paused to consider the financial consequence of my impulse, I realized what was missing: the slot-loading SuperDrive.

As it turned out, it wasn’t just the iMac. Apple had killed the optical drive across the board, including the iMac, the Mac Mini, and the Retina MacBook Pro, with only the regular MacBook Pro surviving (besides the Mac Pro, which nobody cares about). One has to purchase an external SuperDrive at $79 to load CDs and DVDs, but a traveler like myself would refuse to bring a free-hanging external drive on to a train or plane.

Why, you ask, did Apple do that? One reason is Apple’s obsession with elegant, or, slim design. Ironically, an example of this obsession is the very birth of this slot-loading SuperDrive that Apple just killed. According to Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs’ biographer, two weeks before the iMac’s first premier on May 6, 1998, Jobs obsessively toyed around with the final version of the blue, gumdrop-shaped iMac G3 for the first time. He was happy and excited until he hit a button and a tray slowly extended under the screen. “What the **** is this?” He shouted and paced. It was a bulky, unintuitive, and inelegant design, which he replaced after going to great lengths (to Tokyo, to be exact) to acquire this rare slot-loading technology that we have today (or had yesterday).

Besides design, Apple has a more important reason behind its decision: to further implement its “digital hub” strategy. With iPods, iPhones, iTunes and iCloud, Apple has already transformed billions of former pirates into honest citizens who consume through a central content management system and marketplace.

The most obvious result of this strategy is Apple’s shiny bottom line: the sale of one product encourage that of another because of their connectedness. This enables Apple to save marketing dollars. For example, one would expect a MacBook owner to have the iPhone and the iPad instead of owning Android devices.

It makes Apple a “sticky” brand—moving to Android means losing entire content and connectivity. In our case of killing optical drives, removing CDs and DVDs simply means forc-

ing the last few CD and DVD shoppers to surrender to iTunes or Google Play. Since Google doesn’t manufacture phones or tablets, and Samsung doesn’t get commission on a song sold on Google Play, this forced migration would only benefit Apple and its stocks in the long run.

The PC users among us then ask, should I panic because PCs will follow the footsteps of Apple and deny my inalienable right to CDs and DVDs? We probably won’t see that in the short run because it doesn’t make business sense for PC producers. Even so, a few manufacturers, like Asus, have already followed suit, but only to imitate Apple’s slim design.

The undeniable fact, however, is that disks are becoming obsolete. We now watch movies on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video; my designer friend uses the Adobe Creative Cloud, and my roommate plays downloaded games on Steam.

“The undeniable fact... is that disks are becoming obsolete.”

PHIL CHEn ’16 Plus, who doesn’t use Google Docs or Moodle? As cloud computing (content syncing across devices) becomes a fact of life, the “compact” disk has become “bulky” as a small-volume storage device. The only gap that exists between the Cloud and the disk is the Internet speed, which will take only a few years to close.

Apple has again shown its resolve to embrace the inevitable and create the future. Apple’s decision will offend, well, everyone with a CD or DVD library. We will perhaps hear the Class of 2017 whine about not being able to watch Mean Girls on DVD after buying their expensive Macs. For the rest of us who collect classical or jazz CDs, our kids will refuse to inherit them in 60 years. But don’t feel sorry for Apple, because Apple is not here to make friends—it’s here to mold the future. Apple will keep telling you what you want, and you will eagerly hand out your money, like Philip J. Fry. In the meantime, get ready to declare the disk (including the Blu-ray) as dead as VHS. —Phil Chen ‘16 is a student at Vassar College

Angela Della Croce opinions editoR

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acial segregation in the 21st-century United States seems paradoxical. Wasn’t that a mid-20th-century thing? Not in rural South Georgia. When the schools in this area were forced to desegregate in 1970-71, several school-orchestrated proms—a rite of passage— were shut down to minimize the contention around racially integrated dances. Since then, parents and students have organized these private events. White students have attended one prom, and black students have gone to another.

It was simply tradition that students who went to the same school or even lived next to one another, would be unable to attend the most anticipated event of their high school career—all because of their race.

Four students from Wilcox County High School are attempting to change that by holding the first prom where all 400 of its students are welcome. The notion of having one, integrated prom was brought up last year and has garnered increasing amounts of support. Quanesha Wallace, one of the event’s organizers, has faith in its success. “This is going to be the biggest prom ever to come through Wilcox County,” she told CNN. She and a few other students have been fundraising all year, accepting donations, and spreading the word via social media, flyers, and word-of-mouth.

The feedback has been very positive overall.

The prom’s Facebook page drew thousands of supporters and uplifting comments, and Wilcox County Superintendent Steve Smith stated, “I fully support these ladies, and I consider it an embarrassment to our schools and community that these events have portrayed us as bigoted in any way.” The principal of the high school even placed the idea of a 2014 prom on the agenda for the next school board meeting.

Yet not everyone is keen on the idea. Posters for the dance are frequently torn down, and the people who usually plan the dances have chosen to be uninvolved. Nevertheless, Quanesha and her fellow peer supporters have a lot planned for the County’s historic prom, including a Masquerade theme, catered food, and a unity toast.

As prom approaches, some supporters are worried they will not get high attendance, but the turnout thus far looks promising and even if it isn’t a huge hit, they garnered enough attention to voice their disapproval of this antiquated and discriminatory tradition. That’s what really matters.

It’s inpirational that a few students can make a historic and lasting difference in their commu-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

nity. Moving as it is, I can’t help but think of the mere notion that segregated proms are real and openly acknowledged. We pride ourselves in being the progressive, modern, forward-thinking United States where it has become commonplace to say, “Come on guys, this is the 21st century. We don’t do [insert outdated practice] anymore.” Yet when you hear stories about students who have to fight for a whole year just to be able to dance next to someone of a different skin tone, it makes you reconsider just how far this country has actually come. Various countries, including India, Pakistan, and Liberia, have had a female head of government. We have not.

On the 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, of the

“It makes you reconsider just how far this country has come.” anGELa dELLa CROCE ’15 134 countries analyzed, the U.S. sits at number 19. A report done by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked us as number 16 in the list of the best countries to be born. And despite the U.S.’ spending $98 billion a year on maternal care, 49 countries are better at keeping new mothers alive than we are. While various countries in the Americas and Europe have legally recognized marriage equality, the country that the world still sees as the image of progress and opportunity has yet to federally recognize it.

Even after decades of attempting to produce equality and acceptance across racial lines, Barack Obama in his election as the first African-American president was not free of racial hatred or accusations of being a “foreigner”, “socialist”, or “terrorist”.

On a worldwide scale, what is occurring in Wilcox Country is small but indicative of our flawed perception of this nation’s social progress. Many of us simply assume this country is the best place to live, where outward discrimination has been replaced by tolerance and forward-thinking. Country comparisons show otherwise. But with determination and the support of our community, we can be the next Quaneshas break away from the traditions that hold us back.

—Angela Della Croce ‘15 is an Economics major. She is Opinions Editor of The Miscellany News.

OPINIONS

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April 18, 2013

Plea for pink Speakers must reflect broad spectrum from 1974 T alumnus Julian Hassan

Guest Columnist

Robert Rothman Guest Columnist

When it comes to Vassar, color me Pink and Gray.·For four years, pink permeated my being and informed my soul. A pas de deux of pink on gray matter.

Yet, whenever I open the Vassar Quarterly, my heart sinks. For the Class Notes banner’s colors for ‘74 are not pink and gray, and my heart says this cannot be my class, for we were Pink and Gray.

And I only grow more despondent as there is little sight of pink in the Quarterly’s pages, very little pink in other college sponsored online publications, letters, snail mailings and what all. Why too so very little pink and gray at the college store in Main?

Was pink banished from Vassar?

Ever since pink was unceremoniously shown the door, a wanderlust of red/rose/maroon hues have come knocking. No shade semblance settling even. How can there this be? The rest are all impostors.

Vassar, our alma mater, Latin for “nourishing mother”. A Seven Sisters college. So deeply feminine from the Daisy Chain of sophomores to our college seal graced with the female goddess Athena. “There will always be another woman in my life”, I told my girlfriend. “Her name is Athena, Patroness of Learning.”

Gazing at Vassar’s architecture with Main Building’s two arms outstretched to embrace us as we enter through Taylor Gate. Or the crescent moon-shaped Noyes dorm designed by Eero Saarinen with its Jetson’s space age lounge nicknamed for that 60’s TV show.

Vassar’s architecture greets us with Main Building’s two arms outstretched to embrace us when we enter through Taylor Gate. The crescent moon-shaped Noyes dorm cradles its residents. with lullabies originating from a Jetson’s space age lounge, nicknamed for that 60’s TV show.

At our most recent reunion in 2009, I couldn’t help but notice cows painted on the fence surrounding Davison’s dorm renovation, and I realized that Athena was announcing herself in another guise. For this was cow-headed goddess Hathor, Athena’s Egyptian predecessor, personifying joy, feminine love, and motherhood.

Pink becomes Vassar and its student body.

Pink is distinct, whereas multitudes of colleges sport red/rose/maroon colors. Pink is unique just as every Vassar student is. Remember that admissions brochure with the cover, “Vassar is not unique. Every Vassar student is.” How could you forget?

Yes, Pink becomes our exquisite campus which Vassar would not forsake, rebuffing Yale’s marriage proposal to go co-ed and relocate to New Haven.

Then when coeducation arrived separately for both schools, Yale’s true blue and white school colors were not compromised. But Vassar was stripped of its pink.

As Pink’s plaintiff, I ask for restitution. Let’s have Class Notes banners reflect each class’s colors in the Quarterly. That would be pink and gray for the Class of 1974. And pink and gray in full force in the college store. Not just the tokenism we have now.

It is also time for Vassar to have an annual “Pink Week”, a commemoration and celebration of Pink. A time for today’s students to reunite in color with their predecessors.

It’s time for nighttime pink flood lights to ethereally lift Thompson Library. At class reunions.

On weekends. Whenever.

Think pink.

In sports, bring back the Big Pink. The name of Vassar’s first men’s sports teams. The name of Vassar men’s first sports teams. The name of Vassar’s first men’s athletic teams.

Think pink.

For when it comes to Vassar, my soul bleeds Pink and Gray.

—Robert Rothman is a member of the Legendary Class of 1974, Vassar’s first coed freshman class and was a sportswriter for The Miscellany News. He lives and works in New York City.

his semester, I audited Professor Stillman’s class, “Market Freedom (or Neoliberalism) and Its Critics.” One of my disagreements with reader comments on the National Review website’s recent article “What’s the matter with Vassar?” is the myth that liberal professors cannot teach right-wing ideas without bias. Prof. Stillman is doing a fine job from what I can tell. While fixes are still needed in Rockefeller Hall, balanced political classes confirm that Vassar’s liberal arts education is alive. While Rockefeller Hall’s vices should be redressed, its virtues should be recognized. I’d encourage concerned professors to try out more courses on “neoliberalism,” also known as nineteenth-century liberalism, without worrying about getting it “right” to keep up the exchange of ideas. According to the Slate article “Why Is There No Liberal Ayn Rand?” by Yale historian Beverly Gage, “one of the [conservative] movement’s most lasting successes has been in developing a common intellectual heritage. Any self-respecting young conservative knows the names you’re supposed to spout: Hayek, Rand, Ludwig von Mises, Albert Jay Nock.”

Like the Yale undergraduate seminar on conservatism and liberalism, Prof. Stillman’s class is a good starting point into the philosophy of the right and the left’s manifesto. Courses like these put everyone’s ideas to the test.

As a student of the right, I felt marginalized until Market Freedom. I thought my favorite writers and thinkers were being ignored, but liberals don’t see it that way. Gage tells us, “Liberals [are] abandoning the idea that ideas can be powerful political tools. This may seem like a strange statement at a moment when American universities are widely understood to be bastions of liberalism…but there is a difference between policy smarts honed in college classrooms and the kind of intellectual conversation that keeps a movement together.” One major reason for the unrecognized bias in Rockefeller Hall is that right-wing intellectual culture is foreign to

liberals, who deconstruct authorship and the text. Also, this is why two moderate liberal former MICA members opposed big ideas in favor of policy tweaks in “Former MICA Leaders Oppose VLFF drive” (Miscellany News 03.27.2013). What’s the matter with Vassar is anti-intellectual liberalism more than institutional illiberalism.

While some have thought that starting a debate on fundamental ideas would hurt our alliance, MICA has emerged stronger because we embraced the ideas that unite the modern American Right outside Vassar. “What conservatives have developed is what the left used to describe as a ‘movement culture’: a shared set of ideas and texts that bind activists together in common cause. Liberals, take note,” writes Gage. Without a political canon, liberal activists are dividing the campus and hurting their cause, which hurts conservatives, too. “At its best, a canon helps people put the pieces together, offering long-term goals and visions that sustain movements through periods of trial and defeat. Without those visions, liberals have no coherent way of explaining where we’re headed, or of measuring how far we’ve come.” In other words, we should stop firing cannonballs and hit the books for a canon.

Astonishingly, the Vassar newspaper archives show few right-wing lectures since the 1980s. There’s a 1988 Vassar Spectator article, “Buckley Speaks at Vassar—400 Hundred Protest,” the 2003 Alex Krieger ‘95 Memorial Lecture with Christopher Buckley (postponed by blizzard), the Miscellany News piece reporting: “Congressman Lazio returns to alma mater” (2005). But Vassar’s problem is intellectual, not political. In that case, there’s “Professor Kelley Speaks on Political Individualism” in 1983 and a listing in 1998: “The Revolution is scheduled here: Plan accordingly.” If that’s mostly it, please schedule more lectures in Rockefeller Hall soon and plan accordingly, VC. At the MICA lecture Q&A, one well-intentioned Vassar Greens supporter unforgettably tried to recruit energy free marketeer Alex

Epstein to guide the environmentalist movement’s future. A Huffington Post response to Slate, “A Liberal Ayn Rand?” posed a similarly radical question: “why don’t liberals make Rand part of a new canon? Why let conservatives monopolize her? Rand herself, I suspect, would have welcomed this. In a talk in Boston in 1961, she lamented the fact that both liberals and conservatives were ideologically bankrupt…she was seeking to address, she said, “the ‘non-totalitarian liberals’ and the ‘non-traditional conservatives’” in the audience.” At VC, signs of need and frustration for a new liberal canon can be seen everywhere.

We know about Rockefeller Hall and its critics, but Gage shows how classes like “Market Freedom and Its Critics” can strengthen both Vassar’s left-wing culture and right-wing culture while “attempting to win political success without a political canon” leaves a stalemate. Yet there remains Lenin’s question, “What is to be done?” Do some of the same— continue teaching “non-traditional” conservatism, “non-totalitarian” liberalism and criticism in our hallowed halls. These are not just MICA’s thinkers and critics. These are Rockefeller Hall’s thinkers and critics as well.

While fixes are still needed in Rockefeller Hall, balanced political classes confirm Vassar’s liberal arts education is alive. While Rockefeller Hall’s vices should be redressed, its virtues should be recognized. I’d encourage concerned professors to try out more courses on “neoliberalism,” also known as nineteenth-century liberalism, without worrying about getting it “right” to keep up the exchange of ideas.

To answer Gage’s question, we can once more consult the Huffington Post: “Any liberal-leaning person today who seeks long-term goals and a new vision, but will not touch the political right because of conservatives’ anti-evolution, anti-immigration, anti-abortion platforms, would do well to remember nineteenth-century liberalism.”

—Julian Hassan ‘14 is a Cognitive Science major.

START research unbiased for CCL vote Devin Griffin

Guest Columnist

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began to hear the phrase “smoking ban” thrown around as early as last September when I joined the VSA Student Life Committee. Like most things administrative, the idea of a ban seemed distant and hardly of concern, especially to a graduating senior.

Soon, however, these conversations became a proposal, drafted without anything resembling widespread solicitation of student input. With the VSA council finally up in arms about this proposed legislation and its lack of student voice, we chartered a subcommittee known as the Smoking and Tobacco Action Research Team (START).

As START began to reach out to students, some perceived us as a propagandizing effort on one side of the debate or another. However, our goal has only ever been one of inquiry. Our mission statement says that we “shall engage community voices and gather qualitative and quantitative data about community feedback and ideas,” putting aside our own personal views and agendas in the pursuit of creating a comprehensive view of student opinion, concerns, and ideas. We collected data to make a decision, not to support one already made.

We started out throwing three town hall meetings. The thing about town halls is that you only get a small sample size of people willing to discuss an issue, despite the free pizza. There are also very few neutral or undecided viewpoints as students with strong opinions are the ones that make the effort to come out. Here we discovered the exact arguments students were making both for and against a smoke free campus. People’s rights (both to smoke and to breathe clean air), social divisions, health issues, safety, and frustration at the current policies all came to the fore. Talking with all these people, START began to see this as something much more than a “yes or no” issue.

Keeping all of these points in mind, START then created the all-campus survey. Of course, surveys are great because the generate lots of data, but they also can create contention because not everybody agrees with what is being asked or how so. All I can say is that START spent weeks writing and rewriting the questions, as well as asking faculty and administrators for assistance in minimizing the bias within them.

With 940 respondents, the results came back pretty clear: students were 55% against transitioning to a smoke free campus, 45% in support of it.

Interestingly though, even more students indicated that they felt a smoking ban would be impractical. An impressive 89% of students saw this transition as difficult to enforce, while a solid 57% did not even think it would reduce the negative health effects of smoking on campus.

Additionally, only 13% of students identified as anything more than a “rare” smoker while 33% indicated having smoked at least once in the past twelve months. Compared to the 55% of students against the transition, this means that a significant percentage of anti-ban students are absolute non-smokers.

Based on this alone, it became clear that this issue does not boil down to smokers versus non-smokers, but must in fact involve a number of social and cultural factors that go beyond a particular person’s ability to smoke.

However, in the spirit both of limited partiality and the 45% of people who responded positively towards the smoke free transition, I want to address the legitimacy of their concerns.

The negative health effects of smoking and being around smoke are very real, though many collegiate twenty-somethings openly ignore the physical harm they are doing to themselves and to others. We claim to be educated about the risks, and to an extent we honestly must be, but there seems to be

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

a distinct cultural dismissal of these dangers.

I think that a more honest and factually supported discussion about how smoking affects people is necessary if we want to avoid exacerbated social divisions in the years ahead. I am not trying to shame anyone or any particular opinion, but I think honesty is important when we try to discuss a sensitive and personal issue like this one.

In that manner of thinking, I concluded START’s recommendations by asking that respect be valued in the process of deciding on a ban and, if it were the case, in enforcing it. As I state in the document, people smoke for a variety of reasons, be it social or cultural background, stress relief, sociability, or addiction.

Others also abhor smoking, often for the sake of their own bodies. As the START team came to see, and consequently communicate in its findings, the multiplicity of personal, social, and legal factors renders this issue anything but simple. People come at it from all sides and communicate concerns that both complement and conflict with one another.

Ultimately, the Committee on College Life voted to pass the proposal to move towards a smoke and tobacco free campus. Although this decision goes against START’s recommendation, there are other factors that admittedly went into the decision. In particular, there is the possibility of a state mandated ban in the future.

Regardless, it is now up to the students to determine how they want to proceed during this transition. Hopefully there is a chance for the community to move forward in a way that respects every individual involved and can avoid the pitfalls of an anonymous SayAnything debate.

—Devin Griffin ‘13 is an Urban Studies major. He is President of the Terrace Apartments and Chair of the Smoking and Tobacco Action Research Team.

April 18, 2013

OPINIONS

Social Media an outlet for news and support in wake of Boston bombing Joshua Sherman opinions editoR

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irst and foremost, my thoughts go out to all those affected by the events that took place this past Tuesday at the Boston Marathon, especially to our students, faculty, and administrators from the Boston area. What has happened is a tragedy and it reminds us not only of how fragile life is, but also how strongly we come together in times like these. In the wake of what happened, it’s absolutely remarkable to see how social media websites come together to not only report the events as they develop, but also create a space for people to offer help, give support, and show what humanity can do to respond to tragedy.

As the news came in of the events that took place just this Monday, it is impressive how quickly the internet erupted with a response to show the events as they took place from their viewpoint. Between Twitter, Vine, YouTube, and a myriad of other social media websites, wide array of content came pouring in, all tagged with respect to the Boston bombing, and offering a powerful outlet through which people could learn about the events instantly and uncensored.

On Reddit, users took up the task of curating and organizing content for consumption, putting up a number of threads following events, handing off to other users as the day grew into night. Users would post by the minute updates of news from major outlets, press conferences from government officials, and play by play coverage of events that would rush to the front page, offering everyone comprehensive coverage at no cost, and without commercials. More and more people capable of receiving very in

depth looks into events instantly, as they happen, and it’s an impressive show of human capability.

What’s also interesting is how the media and law enforcement agencies have responded to the crowd-sourced news and utilized it as an asset. While typically the media usually sources its own photographs and content for broadcast and publication, what’s becoming even more apparent is the media serving as a curator for content to be published, rather than using its own photographs and content. Since folks posting on Twitter don’t leave watermarks for rival media groups, this gives them a powerful asset to publish content through, getting the best shots while not promoting rivals, all in return for modest attribution. This has been the trend in the past few years, and the fact videos and photos instantly arrive on Twitter gives media a powerful conduit to source content through. But now even the media agencies aren’t the only ones doing it. Law enforcement agencies ranging from local police in Boston to the FBI have requested people to send all their photos and videos, as well as sourcing raw footage from Vine and YouTube to reconstruct the events that took place, citing no piece of evidence as “too small”.

As the news developed, with it came an outpouring of support from all over the world for people affected by the events that took place in Boston. While what has happened is nothing less than horrible, it’s absolutely remarkable to see the support from random individuals from the public at large looking to do what they can to step in to help, even if they had never set foot in Boston ever in their lives. People who lived in the Boston area were quick to offer

up a place to sleep, a warm meal, or someone to talk to as friends and family dealt with the tragedy as best they could. People were even offering up their frequent flyer miles to mere strangers to help out as best they could.

Even corporations are jumping in to offer their support, using the internet and social media as a vehicle to accomplish this. Numerous airlines, including JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, offered free arrangements to move dates and accommodate the needs of those affected by what happened in Boston. Google also set up an emergency person finder so that people could find out if their loved ones were affected and how to get in touch with them, as phone services clogged in the hours following the bombing. It’s cases like these that are remarkable in showing how everyone coming together in times like these, willing to give up precious things to total strangers, from giant corporations to just average people on the internet.

We cannot change the events that took place this past Monday. We cannot unfortunately bring back the lives of those who died from this attack in the heart of Boston. We cannot undo the damage, but we can mourn, and admire the remarkable response to this tragedy, despite having never set foot in Boston. It’s amazing to see how social media is offering a space for this unconditional human caring to take place.

Hopefully we will continue to see this take place in the years to come, and as social media continues to be an asset in our lives, it will continue to allow great things to happen, even when we have to face terrible things like this.

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H

osted every April by environmentally-minded student organizations like The Vassar Greens, Vassar Animal Rights Coalition (VARC), and Slow Food, Earth Week devotes seven days to educating students about environmental issues and how to lead a more sustainable life. Along with movie screenings, panel discussions, and feed-ins, VARC’s Veg Pledge has played a major role in the Earth Week festivities for the past few years, garnering hundreds of pledges.

Between April 17 and 24, Earth Week organizers will once again encourage students to replace most or all of the animal foods in their diets with plant foods.

By adopting a meat-free diet for even just one week, students can greatly reduce their environmental footprint as well as the demand for animal foods, which the United Nations recognizes as “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every scale from global to local.” Making this dietary shift away from animal foods serves as an effective way to lessen one’s personal impact on the earth—an easy one, too, considering the bounty of vegan and vegetarian options available in both the Deece and the Retreat.

While all agriculture requires manipulating the earth to some degree, modern animal agriculture has stretched the environment to its breaking point with vast amounts of air and water pollution, as well as inefficient use of land and water. Indeed, speakers at the 6th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition, held this February at California’s Loma Linda University, recognize the urgent need for a drastic shift in current agricultural practices. They insist that if we have any hope of feeding the expected global population of 9 billion people by 2050, we will all have to eat a predominantly vegetarian diet. Seeing as animal agriculture accounts for 70 percent of global freshwater consumption, 38 percent of total land use, and 19 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, one can easily ascertain why these academics would urge the widespread adoption of vegetarianism and veganism—diets that generate 30 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions

than those of meat-eaters.

Livestock grazing accounts for several forms of virtually irreversible land damage: deforestation, desertification, and erosion. According to David Pimentel, Professor of Entomology at Cornell University, animal agriculture accounts for over 80 percent of annual global deforestation, stripping the soil of necessary nutrients and thus decreasing the amount of the earth’s arable land. However, animals raised for food not only require land for pasture, but also for the production of their feed—a process that currently uses 33 percent of global arable land.

Every meat-eater requires 3¼ acres of land to feed themselves for a year, while a vegan only requires one-sixth of an acre—20 times less than the meat-eater. The world’s livestock consume approximately 72 percent of global cereal grains, 80 percent of the global soybean crop, and over half of the global corn crop, statistics not difficult to fathom when one considers that the production of one pound of beef requires 10 to 16 pounds of grain. Not only does the inordinate amount of crops devoted to feeding animals to then feed to people take up land, it could also easily feed the world’s mounting population if fed directly to people. Today, 80 percent of the world’s hungry children live in countries with grain surpluses fed to animals for consumption by the affluent.

Clearly, it’s high time that prosperous nations stop prioritizing their enjoyment of cheeseburgers over the global food crisis.In addition to animal agriculture’s overuse of land, its water consumption also directs valuable resources away from people and to livestock.

Farmed animals use more than half of the water consumed in the United States—unsurprising seeing as the production of a pound of steak requires 2,500 gallons of water, as opposed to 219 gallons required to produce a pound of tofu. Not only does animal agriculture use this water, it also pollutes it. The ten billion animals slaughtered for food each year in the U.S. produce nearly two billion tons of antibiotic-and-chemical-ridden waste annually, which runs off into bodies of water surrounding farms as well as into the fields of neighboring farms.

Recently, the EPA stated that cattle excrement has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and has contaminated groundwater in 17 states.

Word

on the street

What would you ban on campus?

“Jewett fire alarms” -Stephanie Goldberg ‘14

“Those shoes with the toes”- Meropi Papastergiou ‘15

—Joshua Sherman ‘16 is an English major. He is Opinions Editor of The Miscellany News

Earth Week 2013 begins with your diet Alessandra Seiter

Page 11

Farming that takes place in the water also produces environmental consequences. The harvesting of wild fish contributes to the extreme damage of both coral reefs and the ocean floor, while injuring biodiversity by harming diminishing species, like sea turtles and dolphins.

While proponents of sustainable seafood often advocate for fish farming, this process also requires huge amounts of environmentally degrading antibiotics to feed the up-to-50,000 fish per cage, who generate a proportionately similar amount of waste to that of land animals used for food. If one hopes to live in a more environmentally friendly manner, she/he must consider the detrimental impacts of seafood production alongside that of livestock.

While it is difficult to believe that an individual’s eating habits could truly effect positive environmental change, a vegetarian diet saves an average of 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide per year and 3,500 gallons of water per day. Additionally, by not consuming the 96.4 pounds of beef eaten by the average American each year, one can reduce one’s personal greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount as required to drive from New York City to Los Angeles and back, and then one-way from NYC to Miami.

As Earth Week approaches, VARC and the rest of the event’s organizers hope to raise awareness about the inherent inefficiencies of raising animals for food and would encourage Vassar students to go meat-free, or to simply cut down on their meat consumption, at least for one week. To kick off the Veg Pledge, join us at the ACDC on Monday, April 22 for a dinner of vegan options crafted especially for Earth Week. As thoughtful, socially conscious, up-and-coming leaders of our generation, we should set a responsible example by concerning ourselves with the profoundly negative impacts that meat consumption effects on the environment, as well as on the treatment of animals. Taking the Veg Pledge can increase your participation in Earth Week from that of an idle supporter to that of a more sustainable, compassionate individual.

—Alessandra Seiter ‘16 is a student at Vassar College. She is Online Editor of The Miscellany News.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“Deece omelet line” - Olivia Hoch ‘16

“Unethical surveys with leading questions” -Danielle Sloan ‘13

“The ban on smoking” -Celeste LucianoCarson, ‘13

“Ambiguous eye contact”-Sam Brucker, ‘14

Jean-Luc Bouchard, Humor & Satire Editor Cassady Bergevin, Photo Editor

OPINIONS

Page 12

April 18, 2013

Obama Administration needs clearer drone policy Stacy Nieves

Guest Columnist

T

he CIA operators peered at the distant man on the screen, a video feed from a drone hovering above North Waziristan, Pakistan. Many of the mourners greeted the man, and he’d been seen supervising a viewing of the body. That, and his presence at the funeral in the first place, was enough evidence for the CIA to convict the man to death. After he left the funeral, the operators pressed a button in the United States and the man’s car exploded. But it wasn’t the man they were targeting, Badruddin Haqqani, a high-placed official in the Haqqani network. It was his brother.

You might wonder whether this kind of mishap is typical of the Obama administration’s drone program. According to classified intelligence reports recently obtained by McClatchy Newspapers, the answer could be yes.

The reports, which span a period of intense drone use between 2010 and 2011, reveal that of the 482 people deliberately killed, at least 265 were merely “assessed” as possible Pakistani, Afghan, or unidentified extremists, described only as “foreign fighters” or “other militants.”

Only six high-ranking Al-Qaida officials were killed, probably because 43 of the 95 drone strikes weren’t even targeting Al-Qaida. Instead, they targeted groups like the Pakistani Taliban and the Haqqani network, groups that have never pulled off an attack on US soil.

The revelations blatantly undercut official explanations of the drone program. The Obama administration claims that it uses drone strikes only against Al-Qaida officials, or their associates, who pose an imminent threat to the United States. “It has to be a threat that is serious and not speculative,” Obama said in a 2012 interview with CNN. “It has to be a situation in which we can’t capture the individual before they move forward on some sort of operational plot against the United States.”

Let’s examine how far the administration’s actions differ from its words. First of all, ad-

ministration officials, including director of the CIA John O. Brennan, have stressed that the strikes mainly target Al-Qaida operatives. The reports clearly disprove this. Instead, many strikes targeted groups with parochial goals focused in Pakistan, or without the capacity to attack the United States. A recent article in the New York Times offers a possible explanation for these targets. The article, “A Secret Deal on Drones, Sealed in Blood” by Marl Mazzetti, reveals that the very first drone strike in Pakistan targeted not a high-ranking Al-Qaida operative likely responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks, but a member of the Pakistani Taliban who had led a tribal rebellion and was marked

by Pakistan as an enemy of the state.

Mazzetti suggests that the killing was carried out as a kind of favor for the Pakistani government, rather like a toll paid in exchange for use of the state’s airspace. Given the fact that a UN investigation into the drone warfare declared that the strikes constitute an infringement on Pakistan’s state sovereignty, maybe the CIA has been performing even more favors to keep in the government’s good graces, or at least keep them quiet.

Secondly, it’s obvious that these Pakistan- or Afghanistan-focused groups had no “operational plot” against the United States. It’s especially unlikely that the CIA harbored serious suspicions backed by firm proof that the anonymous men, later termed “foreign fighters” in intelligence reports, posed an “imminent threat” to the United States. These men were likely killed by “signature strikes,” in which the CIA determines that someone is a terrorist by observing certain signature behaviors, such as carrying a weapon or meeting with certain people. The administration doesn’t acknowledge that such strikes take place, but many of the strikes covered by the newly leaked reports seem to fit the bill. Even when the administration targets actual Al-Qaida operatives, we have to question whether or not it could prove that they posed an “imminent threat.” Perhaps they did, but

the Obama administration clearly selects such fuzzy qualifications to ensure that no one asks for proof, and it can continue its campaign of risk-free assassinations.

Much of the administration’s legal justification for its drone program appears to rest on Congress’s 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which gave then-president Bush clearance to “use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.”

The current administration has stretched this narrow authorization to its limits, claiming that it justifies targeted killing of “associates” of Al-Qaida, a weak excuse for how far the CIA has drifted from targeting anyone directly responsible for the 9/11 attacks. With such nebulous language and far-reaching justification to defend it, the drone program could go on forever, costing even more than the 2,0003,000 lives independent groups estimate have already been ended.

Issues with the targeted killing program extend beyond its questionable justification. If they didn’t, Congress could just release a new Authorization of the Use of Military Force, this time allowing the president to kill whoever he wanted, as long as there was the slightest suspicion that that person might one day attempt to attack the United States. But the leaked documents reveal a serious problem with drone warfare: you don’t always know who you’re killing.

I’m aware of the benefits of drone use over ground invasion: the drone option is much more palatable for Pakistan, and, more importantly, it’s much safer for Americans. But what about Pakistanis? The reports recognize exactly one civilian casualty of the targeted killings, a laughable under-representation, but one that might at least get CIA officials to stop bragging about how “precise” drone strikes are.

And even for those who are deliberately killed

The Miscellany Crossword

by Jack Mullan, Crossword Editor

ACROSS 1 Cops in the Bay Area 5 1990 #1 rap hit 15 Ring foe of Manolete 16 Late−hour channel for re−runs of “Kenan & Kel” 17 Sandpaper surface 18 Hit−or−miss social arrangements 19 Suffix with morph− 20 Severity 21 Int’l security network: Abbr.

22 Arizona product 24 Anderson who directed “Fantastic Mr. Fox” 26 Word with human or Mother 27 Word with mo 29 CBS forensic drama 30 Enlighten 34 Terrier in “The Thin Man”

37 Hindu soul 39 “Vive le ___!”

40 Food and shelter 42 Splinter group 43 Entered via a keyboard 45 Aussie air travel, for short 46 Mauna ___ 48 “Goodness gracious!”

50 Advanced degree?

52 It can really bite 53 Explorer’s aid 56 Children’s outdoor clothes brand 58 Dashboard meas.

59 Founder’s Day locale 62 Open Archival Info.

System: Abbr.

64 “Channel Orange” artist 65 Chicago public radio station 66 Epithet coined for the 2002 State of the Union address

Answers to last week’s puzzle

67 Skin allergy Abbr.

DOWN 1 Brit. money 2 Predicts the weather 3 Important TV time slot 4 Vassar’s website ender 5 Not go outside the family 6 Eyelashes 7 Vaporized tobacco−inhaler 8 “No need to tell me” 9 Inner circles 10 Outgoing flight stat 11 Sons of, in Hebrew 12 River islands 13 Bingo call 14 Affirmative response 22 Victim of Pizarro 23 Battle site of December 26, 1776 25 Defamation 28 Sweet ending?

31 NYC’s first subway line 32 Sainte−___, Que. 33 Small bark 35 Rip to shreds 36 Scot who had faith in the “invisible hand” 38 Frequently injured knee part: Abbr.

41 Appear to be 44 Writer LeShan 47 Lots and lots 49 “Three’s ___” (2 wds.)

51 Turkish TV name 52 Six−Day War setting

53 Karl with a manifesto 54 Jai ___

60 Punchout, for short 61 Blowup: Abbr.

63 F.I.C.A. funds it

55 Ophelia’s father 57 Ukranian capital 59 Designer’s deg.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

by drone strikes, the process is hardly morally sound, especially given the dubious practice of “signature strikes.” Why should the CIA get to decide when an extrajudicial death sentence is appropriate, whether for a US citizen (here’s looking at you, Anwar Al-Awlaki) or a Pakistani or Yemeni one?

It’s also important to note that the administration might be undermining its own goals.

Every dead civilian, every bomb rained from heaven bolsters terrorist arguments that the United States is a corrupt, swollen power. Each terrorist we kill might be getting replaced just as quickly. This form of unilateral US military action, just like those that came before it, is likely driving up recruitment at terrorist organizations.

Just as it’s difficult to say how many Pakistani civilians have been killed by drone strikes, it’s impossible to know how many US civilians have been saved by them. Perhaps the drone program has put an end to a few serious terrorist plots. But, if it did, it was probably by killing those six top Al-Qaida officials, not the other 476 people, and that’s not even counting the civilian deaths that went unacknowledged in the reports.

The Obama administration needs to get serious about only targeting those who actually do pose an imminent threat to the United States.

It needs to acknowledge the practice of signature strikes and lay bare its rationale for when such strikes are sufficiently justified. For starters, it could respond to the reports released by McClatchy and the serious concerns raised by them, perhaps by promising to take a long, critical look at its drone program. I’m guessing that the reason the drone program is so shrouded in secrecy is that the administration knows it has something to hide. Enough with the secrecy, enough with the fuzzy terminology. Publicly acknowledge the issues of the drone program, Obama. Then fix them.

—Stacey Nieves ‘15 is an English major.

April 18, 2013

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 13

OPINIONS

Breaking News From the desk of Jean-Luc Bouchard, Humor & Satire Editor To celebrate his life-long love of Italian cuisine, Director of Security Don Marsala changes his first name to Chicken Keep it up, sleepy-head: how Hot off the teleprompter: vote to spend more time in bed Jill for generic VSA position!

Lily Doyle

Humor & satire Editor

F

inals are coming. Are they coming? I don’t know, I’m in Italy. I don’t know anything except for how to fit as much cured ham into my mouth at one time as possible. Which, honestly, is very impressive and I am thinking of turning it into a piece of performance art. Okay, I just checked the Vassar academic calendar, and finals are only kind of coming. You guys have some time and I am sorry to be acting as a fear monger.

This is beside the point. The point is that no matter what time in the academic year it is, you probably want to maximize your time in bed, versus your time spent “in class.” I, expert at lounging in bed for hours on end as if I were a puppy dog with zero existing concerns about the state of the economy of the European Union, am here to help you with my multi-step program.

The art of maximizing lounge time is a finely-tuned one. It has taken me years of naps, a low quality YouTube video that sounds vaguely like the ocean, many little cups of sweet potato fries, and the password to my parent’s Netflix account to perfect. The first step is acceptance and understanding. You are committing yourself to a serious human-bed relationship, one that is even more deep and legitimate than the one that you started in the Mug last night. You have to understand that in order to be really, seriously relaxed, all the time, you are going to miss out on some things. For example, those classes that you are paying around the price of a huge, working light-saber for? You’re going to have to miss some, because you can’t be in class and be in bed.

Yet. Scientists are working on it. You also need to accept that your brain function will probably go down to that of a freshman who has just taken four shots of Crystal Palace in a row and is now being asked to find a classroom in the basement of Blodgett. Actually, your muscles will probably experience similar degeneration, if you’re doing it right and really commiting. If you look like a plate of mashed potatoes after a few days, that’s ideal.

The second thing you need to do is find friends who are going to enable the heck out of you. For example, it’s difficult to stay in bed for over 24 hours at a time without food. You think sports practice makes you hungry? Try watching an entire season of Cake Boss in one afternoon.

You need to prepare yourself for how hungry doing absolutely nothing will make you—by the end of a long, relaxing day, you will be ready to eat all of the brownies, a burger, your roommate’s hamster, leaves off of the tree that float into your

room because closing the window would involve standing, and the population of Raymond House.

If you relax hard enough, even the walk to the Deece from Noyes is going to be too much work, especially for the reward. You know, opportunity cost, and other concepts. Therefore, the more enabling your friends are, the more easily you will be able to achieve your lounging goals. For example, a friend who is at the Retreat that you can text and ask to bring you a sandwich=good. A friend who peeks into your room, sees you “asleep”, and goes downstairs to hand-craft an elaborate and preferably multi-cultural feast in the dorm’s kitchen=much better.

The third, and final, thing you will need to do is to find a serious task that you can commit yourself to while in bed. This way, when people ask you to go to “meetings” or “practice” or “class”, you can tell them about your incredibly important work that can only be done from bed.

For example, hypothetically, not like I’ve ever thought about this in the slightest, you could say you are doing a comparative study of Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, in which you categorize the different races of Middle Earth into their corresponding present day country. If you were wondering, Hobbits are like England and Dwarves are like their drunken cousins, also known as Scotland and Ireland. Hypothetically.

Obviously, in order to provide a satisfactory result to this research, you will need to watch all four movies multiple times, with and without subtitles, and doing this means that you need to lounge aggressively in bed. To convince people of your commitment to the project, start yelling loudly from your room. Phrases such as “SHOOT FOR THE STARS,” “THIS PROJECT IS GOING MILDLY ACCEPTABLY,” and “ELVES ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT WELL REPRESENTED BY CANADA, YOU IDIOT” are all ideal. Find a volume that rests neatly between intensely engaged in research and unbelievably calm and relaxed.

From now on, your voice should sound exactly like President Obama’s. The man has it down.

The rewards you will reap from your extreme relaxing will be immediate, and grand in scale.

You will become more fun at parties because of your encyclopedic knowledge of viral videos, you will stop falling asleep in class, and you will have the pale and milky complexion that Victorian-era women only dreamed of. Of course, in order to reap these benefits you are going to violate the steps on my program. Actually, just reading this article is a little more brain-activity than I like to see. Go take a very heavy nap, and think about what you’ve done.

Jill Levine Columnist

T

he VSA election season fills me with bitter regret. I always wish I ran for a position in my four years here because...power. I never actually ran for anything for two reasons: I am still scarred from my colossal loss of the fifth grade class election and... I’m lazy. So unimaginably lazy. In the end, I always end up voting for the person with the most awesome name (like Casper!), or sometimes for the person that like, actually wrote a statement (show-off). I will vote for it extra hard if it equals or outshoots the length of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”. In any case, I would be an awesome candidate because I have big ideas, a lot of heart, and could totally get my fourth cousin Beyoncé to play our spring concert (holidays with the extended family, always awkward without a little wine amirite?). Anyways, I am officially running for all the open positions as of...uh, right now! Candidate statement, let’s go, double-time!

I will continue to expand the whole divestment thing: Guys, fossil fuels is child’s play. Blah blah blah environmental protection global warming giant fireballs blah. Seriously, our grandkids and their grandkids are already totally screwed.

Have you met actual children these days? All children do is play on their smart phones and eat XXXTRA FLAMIN’ HOT Cheetos Cheese Flavored Snacks (TM). They don’t really need, like, trees and stuff. They will easily adapt to fiery wastelands of doom as long as they have iPads and hit cartoon movies like Finding Nemo’s Uncle’s Friend.

On a more serious note, have you looked into Vassar’s actual investment portfolio? We are deeply invested in some really horrible companies. Just look at our investments in Deer Culling which is backed by the Koch Foundation which is backed by Voldemort. Way worse than some old dinosaur bones. We are so focused on fossil fuels that we don’t realize we are invested up to our eyeballs in good ol’ fashioned pure evil. Even investments that seem safe are actually evil as well.

Vassar has some large investments in the familiar Taco Bell corporation which is owned by Pepsi which is owned by Coke which is owned by Kim Jong Un. Crunch Wrap Supreme for the Supreme Leader? Did no one else really ever put that one together? Seriously, where do you think the big NK got their cash money from? Would you like some extra mild salsa with that totalitarian taco?

As an elected VSA official, I would divest from all the evil and invest in Kony 2012 (just kidding, it would be a calculated combination of invest-

ments in windmill farms, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and vinyl records that play dubstep remixes of Stevie Wonder. It’s cool Goldman Sachs, I gotchu buddy).

I will construct a TA Bridge with my two bare hands: Seriously though, it just takes some hard work and a little wood and...nails, I’m guessing?

How hard can building a bridge be? Earlier I cooked popcorn in my kitchen without burning (most of) it, and honestly I am 99% sure that is more difficult. Side note: I applied for a job at Home Depot the other day (post-grad life looks bright and promising) and said I was an expert at building things (because I am, obviously). So, building an entire bridge would look awesome on my resume. Short on materials? This seems like the ideal moment in Vassar history to come up with a creative building solution using basic items you can find on the street or in your roommate’s personal belongings, like mattress frames (floor beds are so hip), to-go boxes, and goat cheese empanadas. Instant and delicious new bridge!

I will create a safe space for people with allergies: In the plethora of Vassar clubs and orgs, there is one thing clearly missing—clubs for people with lots of allergies! Seriously, allergies are real life. Every day, many people suffer tremendously because they can’t eat ice cream, or bread, or bees! These restraints make ordering a sandwich at the Retreat nearly impossible. As a VSA elected official I will push for the creation of two important organizations: The Association for Lactose Intolerance Tolerance and The Gluten Free Market which will fill this important and unfortunate gap in VSA programming.

So yes, please vote for me for all of the available positions and I promise to lead with passion and with above average effort. Levine 2013: Where There’s a Jill There’s a Way. Sorry that was horrible, puns are the worst (JK read any other thing I’ve ever written). But seriously, if you think of a better clever campaign slogan that uses my name I will buy you a sandwich. The sandwich may or may not be of the peanut butter and jelly variety and may or may not be made in my kitchen. I will buy (make) you that sandwich despite the fact that after writing for the Humor Section for one solid and wonderful year I’ve effectively killed all my chances at public office, on any level, ever, in the future. Anyways, I hope everyone made informed decisions at the actual VSA election earlier this week, learned a lot about the voting process and in the end voted by clicking randomly with their eyes closed, because everyone needs a little danger in their life.

The Misc’s bedside astrologer

by Jean-Luc Bouchard, Humor & Satire Editor

Aries (March 21-April 19): We all hear you passive-aggressively sighing over there, Aries.

All that sighing won’t bring Macklemore here any faster. You know what will, though? Angry, hurtful, possibly psychotic SayAnything posts. The less factual, the better.

attract, Cancer. So in your case, keep your eyes open for a nice, good-looking, literate person who may find you attractive somehow.

mance, I mean watching Maid in Manhattan for the 3rd time this week alone in your room while cry-eating Fig Newtons.

Leo (July 23-August 22): No, Leo, Spectrana is not the name of a 50s sci-fi movie villain.

Scorpio (October 23-November 21): Stop painting with all the colors of the wind and go colonize some people.

Taurus (April 20-May 20): You remind me of one of the characters from my X-rated Smurfs fan fiction. That’s not a compliment.

Virgo (August 23-September 22): Virgo, you have a brilliant mind. Why are you wasting it on a liberal arts education? You could do anything you want; you should be going where they pay the big bucks. I’m referring, of course, to the cassette tape, Polaroid camera, and floppy disk industries.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): There are bright horizons on the future, Gemini! The new episodes of Arrested Development come out AFTER Finals Week! You may get that B-!

Cancer (June 21-July 22): Today, opposites will

Libra (September 23-October 22): Today is a great day for romance, Libra. And by ro-

Sagittarius (November 22-December 21): You don’t get a horoscope this week, Sagittarius.

Capricorn (December 22-January 19): With today’s planetary energies, Capricorn, you can expect a lot of interesting things to happen.

First on the list is being viscously slapped in the face with a bunch of bananas again and again. Then, your wallet and phone will be

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

ripped from your pockets and juggled just out of your reach. Finally, you’ll be tossed through a ring of fire and be forced to evade flaming whips from all directions. What I telling you, Capricorn, is today you join the Barefoot Monkeys.

Aquarius (January 20-February 18): Aquarius, someone told me that the Spring Concert is on 4/20. What a hilarious joke! I mean, they would never be so foolish as to...wait, what?

Pisces (February 19-March 20): Dude, I can hear you playing Pokemon Yellow in your room every night until 4am. I’m not bothered by the noise, but I can hear you being a sucky trainer. Stop. Just raise an Aerodactyl.

ARTS

Page 14

April 18, 2013

Thespian Reddy-Best powered by coffee and determination Jack Owen aRts editoR

S

Jonah Bleckner/The Miscellany News

iobhan Reddy-Best ’13 just might be one of the busiest students at Vassar. “I don’t sleep.

I wish that was a joke,” she said with a laugh.

Reddy-Best, a Victorian Studies major, has been heavily involved with student theater since her freshman year. She is the Vice President of the Philaletheis board, a member of Britomartis and is in Shakespeare Troupe.

“Since I’ve been here I’ve done no less than two shows a semester at Vassar which has been incredible,” she said. “I wanted to go somewhere where I could do a lot of student theater. That’s why I picked Vassar.”

Reddy-Best has found being involved with production boards to really elucidate the theater process for her. “It’s so exciting having people come and propose stuff to us, like I want to write my own script or I want to do a whole play without speaking, or a play where we blindfold the audience,” she said. “There’s a sense that you can make anything happen.”

Reddy-Best developed her love for acting when she was in fifth grade, and has not stopped since. Her classmate put on The Sherwood Diaries, and she had a role in the play. “I started taking classes at the Trinity Repertory Theater in Providence, which runs after school programs for kids and teenagers. But my mom has been taking me to plays forever,” she explained. “I just have been addicted. I can’t not do it.”

As a high school student, Reddy-Best had always envisioned herself at a conservatory pursuing a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Drama. But her mother, Chair of the English Department at Rhode Island College, encouraged her to attend a liberal arts school.

“That was one of three times my mother told me no flat out,” she said. “She told me I couldn’t do Irish step dancing, go to boarding school and do a BFA. I agree with her now. I didn’t when I was seventeen, but now I do,” she added.

Reddy-Best has found that she can refine her acting skills at Vassar while at the same time obtaining a classic liberal arts education. In fact, her Victorian Studies major has in many ways helped her better her art. “Because Victorian studies is multidisciplinary—it’s really one story from the whole 19th century—I’m looking at the same story through different ways of telling it, like history, literature or philosophy. That’s really helpful when looking at a play. We can look at a play from this method or this method to get from point A to point B,” she added.

She is in three different productions this semester, including Britomartis’ A Totally Real True to Life Play from April 18-20 in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater, Philaletheis’ TempODYSSEY which runs from April 25-27 in the Susan Shiva Theater as well, and Shakespeare Troupe’s production of Twelfth Night from May 10-11, performed outside in the Academic Quad.

To memorize all of her lines and keep track of her different characters, Reddy-Best has a few tricks up her sleeve. “Once a director told us to listen to a song or sound that resonates with you while you’re going through a script, so I like to do that. That sounds cheesy but it really works for me” she explained.

“Sound really helps me memorize lines, so if I can find an album or soundtrack that I feel really speaks to the play that helps. I have to know my lines. Having a script in my hand makes me really nervous and bad at what I do,” she said.

Though Reddy-Best has also been involved with the production side of theater-making, she is first and foremost an actress. “I did a directing workshop and it gave me ulcers—not actually, but I was so stressed out the whole time,” she said with a laugh.

“It was very big picture, and I’m just not a big picture person. I like doing close readings and interpretations, but I do assistant directing at a theater during the summer, and that gives me an opportunity try it but with less pres-

Siobhan Reddy-Best ’13 began her lifelong love affair with acting back in fifth grade—and now splits her time among three theater production. Reddy-Best has maintained this hectic schedule since the beginning of her Vassar career. sure,” she added.

Reddy-Best is particularly drawn to plays that allow for a lot of experimentation, and plays that explore atypical situations. “I like plays with a lot of playfulness, excuse the pun.

But I really like a play where there’s a lot of room to be silly and just have fun,” she said.

“I really enjoy more heightened language or heightened circumstances. Anything that’s really outside of the norm of everyday life.”

Philaletheis’ upcoming production, TempODYSSEY, in which Reddy-Best plays Jenny, a temp worker who accidentally kills people and thinks she may be a black hole, does just that.

“It’s bizarre. I’m obsessed with it,” she gushed.

“It places mythology in the middle of corporate American, and it’s about feeling temporary and

like you want to leave a mark but don’t know how.”

After graduation, Reddy-Best plans to take a year or two off to try professional acting, and then pursue a Master’s in Fine Arts in Drama at a conservatory. She already has a professional audition lined up in Providence the day after TempODYSSEY closes. “Ideally I’ll get cast, and then I’ll stay in Providence for a year,” she said. In the meantime, Reddy-Best is powering through all of her responsibilities at Vassar.

“There’s no time to be tired. It’s just all the coffee in the world—caffeine and powering through,” she said. “I’ll be writing my thesis in the back during rehearsal while people are working on other stuff. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Bolotin bares soul in self-penned one-woman production Jack Owen aRts editoR

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ould you ever stand before a live audience and share some of your most intimate stories about masturbation, identity and sex? Probably not, but that is exactly what Ruthie Bolotin ’13 will be doing for her senior project in Drama, The Vagina Narrative.

Inspired by Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monolgues, Bolotin, a Psychology and Drama major, wrote the mostly autobiographical script from her own experiences and journal entries in college and high school. She will also star in the one woman show.

“I really do appreciate The Vagina Monologues as a text and feminist piece of theater, but there are problems with it and one of the problems I have is that it is fragments and sections of women’s experiences,” Bolotin explained. “When I read it in high school, I

thought I could write a whole book on my experiences and I think a lot of women would feel the same way, from the confusion to the violation and to the pleasure. I think every woman has experiences that run the gamut, so I wanted to put that on stage.”

Also distinct from Ensler’s text is the structure of The Vagina Narrative. Rather than compose the play as a series of monologues, Bolotin has included various forms of expression.

“It’s essentially five modes of story-telling— spoken word, pretty much verbatim entries from my journals, an impersonation of characters in my life, so donning costumes and becoming my mother for example,” she said with a laugh. “And the 5th mode of storytelling is puppetry, so there are some very child-like, nostalgic looking puppets that we crafted,” she added.

Bolotin is principally the writer and star of

Cassady BergevinThe Miscellany News

Ruthie Bolotin ’13 penned a one-woman, autobiographical show inspired by Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, entitled The Vagina Narrative,. She will perform it at the Streep Studio this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.

the show, but the project is very tightly collaborative among Director Angela Dumlao ’13, Set Designer Sam Garcia ’13, and Light Designer Case Stewart ’13.

Boloton has been involved with drama at Vassar since her freshman year, performing in Hamlet: The First Quarto, Our Hearts Were Young and Gay, and Doublefalsehood, to name a few. However, she has most been involved as a Program Coordinator with Hip Hop Theater, a program through Real Skills at the Poughkeepsie Family Partnership Center. Hip Hop Theater organizes collaborative theater among Poughkeepsie elementary, middle, and high school students with Vassar students.

Of Bolotin, Dumlao said in an emailed statement: “Ruthie is a force to be reckoned with. I am constantly in awe of the work she does both in writing the show and in performing it.”

Despite putting out her intimate stories for an audience to hear, Bolotin asserted that she is more excited for the show than nervous. That said, there are some aspects of that she is a little more anxious about sharing, and her parents were a bit apprehensive about the show as well.

“My mom keeps asking me ‘are you sure you want to do this?’ Isn’t this is a little intimate?’

And my parents and my aunt are coming – they wanted to read it beforehand so they could sort of mentally prepare themselves,” she said with a laugh. “ What’s nerve wracking for me isn’t so much the stories. Now I’m comfortable enough telling them. First writing them out was more difficult, but now it’s just something that I want to share with people,” she added.

In particular, Bolotin said that she is nervous about sharing stories about her current girlfriend. “I had a lot of anxieties about that because I think it’s hard with something so current to step away from it,” she explained.

“And those are the stories that have the most to do with orgasms, and it’s always awkward to be like ‘hey my girlfriend and I, we are having sex, and guess what—she ’s here in the audience today!’”

Bolotin said that of the various mediums

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that she is utilizing, her favorite is perhaps the spoken word poetry. “This is the first time I’ve really delved into spoken word poetry and I think it’s a really beautiful medium,” she said.

“I feel that vulnerability mixed with a theatrical, rhythmic performativity is a nice combination.”

Bolotin feels that the Vassar community and beyond can gain insight from seeing a show that honestly expresses themes dealing with female identity and sexuality, and that it is important that these truths are no longer swept under the rug or dismissed as shameful; they must be brought out into the open.

“American society can benefit from seeing more women tell their truths holistically,” explained Bolotin. “And at any liberal institution like Vassar you have a tendency to think that issues we need to address as a society happen outside of these walls, whereas when you bring something in and you address that we don’t really talk about these taboos here, let’s talk about them; and I think people will respond to that.”

Another unique aspect of the show to Vassar is that it is original student work, whereas the majority of productions at the College are from other texts and scripts. Dumlao asserted that she is very excited to be working on original student work as her final involvement in theater at Vassar, and that the piece’s originality has allowed for a strong sense of camaraderie among the crew.

“I love collaborating on new work and I hope to do more of it in the future,” she said. “There is a great energy in the room, and we’ve all become very close very quickly.”

In turn, Bolotin has found working with Dumlao very beneficial. Bolotin has found collaborating with Dumlao helpful because it widens the scope of the play beyond just her perspective and stories. “It’s great to have her be that outside pair of eyes,” said Bolotin. “If I were acting and directing there would be no other perspective.”

The Vagina Narrative will be performed this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Streep Studio.

April 18, 2013

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Weldon ’05 to perform songs on queer experience, romance Emma Daniels

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the Vassar music scene.”

And her inspiration is similar to those of her influences. In Weldon’s song “Marian,” she follows their reflective lead yet abandons potentially heteronormative narrative arcs.

Her lyrics about two strangers colliding are profound: “And Marian looks gorgeous but I guess I’ll call a car/She says I love you, but where do you belong?/And I tell her/Darling I’m in between, I’m in between right and wrong.”

When asked about her inspirations in her InsideNewYork.com interview, she answered:

courtesy of SF Station

umerous acclaimed contemporary musicians got their start at Vassar: Victoria Legrand ‘03, members of The Bravery ‘99,members of Genghis Tron ’05 and ‘06, and Julia Weldon ‘05. Weldon, a prolific New York City-based guitarist, songwriter and composer, will be returning to her home turf this Friday to perform a one-hour set in the Aula at 7:00 p.m. Sam Plotkin ‘15 and Ariel Bridges ‘15, two singer-songwriters who regularly perform at student showcases and open mic nights, will open for her.

Weldon’s performance is sponsored by the Queer Coalition of Vassar College (QCVC).

Weldon self-identifies as queer and communicated with QCVC about performing at the College. QCVC exists to help various projects by and for Vassar’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and allied students.

“Weldon expressed interest and excitement in wanting to perform at her alma mater,” said Tyler Fultz ’15, Vice-President of QCVC, “She forgoed her normal booking process just for the opportunity to perform here at Vassar.”

Weldon’s budding musical career began at Vassar. In an InsideNewYork.com interview, the Philosophy major said, “I started performing [my music] at Vassar and then took a huge break after college to find out what life is. I started writing a lot for about nine months after and it took another year to start playing out. Someone booked a show for me to open and I was like a typical artist, ‘Okay, I’ll do it if I have to,’” (“INY Music: Julia Weldon”, 10.24.2011).

Nevertheless, Weldon’s unhurried start has not translated to a lack of success. She has now toured up and down the East Coast and

performed at many large venues, such as The Knitting Factory and Mercury Lounge. After performing at Vassar, she will continue her tour on April 20 at Bard College and April 26 at State University of New York at Purchase.

Weldon has released one self-titled album and is currently in the process of creating a full-length 12-track album, “Light Is A Ghost.”

Although Weldon is known as a singer-songwriter, her music also can be categorized as catchy indie-folk-pop. Fultz noted, “Her musical influences include Bon Iver, Bob Dylan, KT Tunstall, and Iron & Wine, a perfect match for

Julia Weldon ’05 writes and performs song on her experience as a queer woman and, especially, relationships. Weldon was eager to return to her alma mater—and now will in the QCVC-sponsored show to come.

“Relationships,”(“INY Music: Julia Weldon”, 10.24.2011).“It’s natural for any artist to be inspired by relationships and people. I can be in a very particular emotional state and I don’t even know what I’m going to express but it just comes out in me. The best songs come retrospectively about relationships. When you’re in one, it’s pretty hard to be objective and it’s hard if you have a partner to be like ‘Hey, this is how I feel.’ I write a bunch of good songs at the beginning and the end of relationships,”(“INY Music: Julia Weldon”, 10.24.2011).

Before Weldon performs, Vassar musicians Plotkin and Bridges will perform original pieces. Plotkin will perform for the first time at Vassar new songs from an album he plans to release this summer. Like Weldon, he is known for story-telling through music. “Most of my songs try to tell some kind of story or narrative, with varying degrees of specificity. I’ve actually written a sequel song to a narrative one I wrote last semester, so I’m thinking about playing both of those at the event,” he said.

Bridges added: “I’m singing 3 songs from my EP A Flightless Bird which comes out May 7 on iTunes; I’m also doing a couple cover songs that are fan favorites—‘You and I’ by Ingrid Michaelson, ‘In Your Arms’ by Kina Grannis; [and] I’ll also be premiering a new song I just wrote which I’m really excited about!”

Pairing current Vassar musicians with Weldon will create an inspiring atmosphere for the Vassar community, a group that includes seasoned musicians and tone-deaf students alike.Fultz emphasized, “Weldon absolutely loves this campus, so we highly encourage everyone to come out and support this fantastic and super talented alum.”

New handmade Bible part Alumnus Mundy positions of old Middle Ages tradition art over business at FLLAC BIBLE continued from page 1

ing Jackson to be the 2013 Curtis lecturer. Patkus teaches courses at both the 200- and 300-level that relate to the Bible as a book, and noted that Vassar has a long history of acquiring handmade Bibles, among which the Heritage Edition of the St. John’s Bible will be the most recent addition. William Bancroft Hill, the first professor to teach in what was then called Vassar’s Bible Studies department in 1899, managed to obtain several of these Bibles from the Middle Ages.

He created what Patkus considers now to be a laboratory for his students.

As the first hand-made Bible in over 500 years, this is a historic work. Beginning with the invention of the printing press in 1450, it became increasingly rare for Bibles to be made by hand. “It’s a long book, so to actually commit to writing the Bible by hand would be a real commitment, and so the invention of printing made it faster,” Patkus explained.

Considering the grand scale of the project, it is notable that Jackson was willing to take it on. “This is a lifetime’s dream for me. I went to art school when I was 13. I’ve always been interested in calligraphy and illumination. I draw, I paint, I do all these things, but the one thing I’ve always wanted to do was the Bible,” Jackson explained in a video promoting the St John’s Bible. Hailing from Wales, Jackson is one of the premier calligraphers in the world, working for important clients that include the Queen of England.

For Jackson, calligraphy and illumination is an art form. “You’re reaching into something in people that they didn’t know was there until they see this thing so that when they open a page of a Bible like this, they take in their breath not because they’re being impressed by the cleverness, or the detail, or even the shining gold, but because of something there that they already know,” he said. “So it’s like meeting somebody that they’ve met before,” he explained. Jackson sees his quill as an extension of himself. He describes it as sensitive and capable of producing an expressive array of strokes that allow him to express what he calls the music inside of him.

Jackson’s dream of creating a hand-made

Bible aligned with the desire of St. John’s Abbey to celebrate its sesquicentennial and the Milennium by producing a gift for the world in the tradition of its Benedictine heritage. While it uses many techniques the monks from the Middle Ages would have used to create Bibles, its artistic goals place it in the 21st century. “We call this a Bible for the 21st century because the illuminations speak to and reflect today’s world.

Donald Jackson worked with a team of scholars at Saint John’s to decide which verses of the Bible to illuminate and the goal was to make sure it resonates with our world today,” explained Jim Triggs, executive director for the Heritage Edition.

Themes in the Bible include hospitality, transformation and justice for God’s people.

Jackson has combined his personal artistic vision with modern motifs to enhance these themes. “Gold, silver and platinum represent the presence of the Divine. Images inspired by photos of deep space by the Hubble telescope depict God’s grandeur. Care for the poor, social justice, the dignity of women and the celebration of artistic traditions from other cultures are also found in the illuminations,” Triggs said.

In addition, Jesus is represented through a variety of means, from the concrete to the more abstract, and God’s presence is projected by use of symbols, including that of the rainbow and a gold leaf.

The version of the Bible that Vassar will receive is the Heritage Edition. This edition is adapted from the original by a team of printers and binders and given out to various educational and religious institutions around the world.

Various means are taken to ensure accuracy, and techniques are used to imitate effects from the original.

For example, in order to create the illusion of the translucency of the vellum used in the original, a light watermark is inserted onto the cotton pages.

Jackson’s lecture and the acquisition of the Heritage Edition of the St. John’s Bible fit in well with Vassar’s commitment to encourage individuals to lead purposeful lives. Because of this, Triggs explained, “We are honored that these volumes have found a home on your campus.”

Charlacia Dent RepoRteR

D

irector of the Francis Lehman Loeb Art Center James Mundy ’74 loves art. And with his extensive museum knowledge and passion for artwork, he is seen by many students as a valuable resource at Vassar.

Mundy, an Art History major himself, graduated with the first class of matriculated men at Vassar at a time when new ideas and practices were surfacing at the College. He developed a personal relationship with Vassar that has profoundly influenced his own research and career.

This relationship has helped him to bring a distinct presence to the Loeb. “I feel a personal attachment and responsibility about the place.

It was a blank canvas for me to run, arrange, and set up many of the programs. It’s not quite like a member of my family, but I do take pride in everything we’ve managed to do here,” Mundy shared.

When he is not overseeing the ins-and-outs of life at the museum, such as a leak in the roof or a personal request for time off, he is invested in his own sector of research and art history. At Vassar, he wrote his dissertation on Northern European artists of the late 15th century, and has taught classes in European Renaissance art, Italian Renaissance art and the history of photography. His area of expertise is Italian drawings, and for many years his research focused on the lives of two Italian brothers who traveled throughout Rome and Florence producing over a thousand paintings of palaces and churches.

Mundy has spent 21 years working at The Lehman Loeb Art Center. After graduating and working as an Art History professor for a few years at Mount Holyoke College, Mundy returned to Vassar in 1991 where he helped the Loeb develop into what it is today. His critical perspective as an art director is influenced by his experience as both a faculty member and an alumnnus.

“The Vassar education gave me a terrific foundation in appreciating the history of works of art, and that is important because the temptation today when you are running a museum is to think of it as a business, and to have all of these business and administrative fundraising

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

concerns consume your every waking hour,” Mundy explained.

“If you’re well trained in the history of art you realize that it is all about the art. It’s not about whether we have state of the art graphics on our website or a marketing plan; it’s about the art. If you’re well prepared in art, you never lose that,” he added.

In the classroom, Mundy has a similar sentiment regarding the appreciation and study of works of art. Before this year, which acquitted the director of teaching an art seminar, Mundy specialized in teaching the forensics of works of art at Vassar.

“I teach the things that are factual that you could enter into a court of law. So it’s all about hands-on experience in observing works of art and studying them for the facts that you can gain from them. It’s only at that point, once you understand what the works are themselves, that you can begin to use them to interpret aspects of cultural life and different times,” Mundy explained.

Mundy also teaches his students how to recognize fraudulence and forgery. For example, if a student were to write a term paper on a 17th century work of art and discover that it actually belongs to the 20th century, he or she could use the skills that Mundy teaches to unravel the mystery.

“It’s important to know that what you’re looking at is what you think you’re looking at, and that’s what we can do here because we have such a big collection of works of art, over 18,000, and we’ve been collecting all these works since 1861 when the College was founded. It allows us to take our students to the real thing, to the source, and teach them from what we know to be real, and if not we can show them those things which are fraudulent,” Mundy explained.

The Loeb is currently in a good position to bring in more exhibitions and further support Vassar’s various departments. “It’s not just about art history. It’s about using works of art in the languages, in the sciences and in the social sciences. It’s great for me to see painting and sculpture looked at in many different fields,” Mundy shared.

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Hudson Valley

Arts

Bard College Through April 20 30 Campus Road, Annandale, NY Make the trip to Bard to see works by kids from the Bard Community Children Center and the Abigail Lundquist Botstein Nursery School.

Hours: daily 8a.m.-8p.m.

Union Arts & Learning Center Through May 19 68 Mountain Rest Road, New Paltz, NY 12561 See works by Dandelyon Holmes, Megan Porpeglia, and Carmen Lizardo in the “Embodiment” exhibit.

Garrison Art Center Through May 5 23 Garrison’s Landing, Garrison, Riverside Galleries Interested in German art? Check out “Romanticism,” an exhibit featuring works by German artists Andrea Hanak and Frank Hutter.

Hours: Tues.-Sun., 10a.m.-5p.m.

Tivoli Artists Gallery Through April 28 60 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583 A variety of media displayed, including sculpture, printmaking, drawings, paintings, photography, and more.

Hours: Fri., 5-9 p.m.; Sat., 1-9 p.m.; Sun., 1-5 p.m.

April 18, 2013

BioShock Infinite delivers riveting narrative Max Rook Columnist

BioShock Infinite Ken Levine Irrational Games

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ioShock Infinite is a video game with a legacy to live up to. The original BioShock, released in 2007, was immediately crowned a modern classic by critics, primarily on the strength of its shocking plot twist. I won’t spoil it for anyone who still hasn’t played it, but suffice to say, BioShock was a video game that attempted to comment on how we play games.

So how did developer Irrational Games follow up such a beloved game? By indulging that urge for meta-commentary even farther and creating a wholly satisfying experience, a first-person shooter that fits firmly within its genre while encouraging the player to consider how narratives in games function.

One of the keys to Infinite’s success is the way it allows you to discover its mysteries, so I won’t give away specific details beyond the initial premise. The game is set in an alternate history of America in 1912. You play as Booker DeWitt, a man given instructions to enter the floating city of Columbia, a gleaming beacon of American exceptionalism. Columbia is a fascinating setting, full of beautiful sights. The game actively engages with American history, something few games are interested in. Historical events like the Boxer Rebellion and the Battle of Wounded Knee play into the city’s backstory, and while most of that historical context is placed in the background, interested players are given a wealth of information and connections to discover.

Mechanically, Infinite is a refinement of the systems of the first BioShock. In fact, the gameplay is the least daring aspect of the game. That isn’t to say it plays poorly, but it is a standard

shooter. You cycle through all of the guns you expect to find in such a game, and your other main options come in the form of vigors, which are basically just magic powers, like the plasmids from the first game. The vigors give the combat a little more variety, including a fireball power that acts as a grenade replacement, and a possession ability that allows you to force enemies to fight for you. The combat is at its best in the game’s larger arena rooms, which act as bloody, chaotic interludes within the narrative, and allow you to fully take advantage of all of your abilities.

Make no mistake, this is a brutal game. The first moment of violence is particularly gruesome, and some critics have argued that violence is excessive, that it works against the game’s narrative aims. Personally, the violence reminded me of a Quentin Tarantino film. Yes, it is certainly graphic, and there are some people who will be uninterested in anything that depicts such explicit violence, but it is stylized violence, violence that supports the larger themes of the game. This would be problematic if the game was unaware of its brutality, but it isn’t.

The first time your companion character sees the game’s combat, she has an appropriately horrified reaction.

That moment also illustrates one of Infinite’s greatest strengths, the way it uses smaller, personal moments to support and enhance its narrative. It has its big setpieces, its heavy dramatic moments, but it is also full of more subtle forms of storytelling, many of which can be found just off the main path, encouraging you to explore.

For example, over the course of the game you find a large number of voxaphones, audio recordings made by other characters which fill in the backstory of Columbia and its inhabitants.

Similarly, the game makes fantastic use of music to hint at some of its mysteries. The cumulative amount of information the developers manage to pack into those side paths is quite impressive.

If you ignore all that exploration and just stick

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to the main path, you will miss out on some significant details which help to fill out the plot.

But I can’t imagine someone playing this game and wanting to ignore all of that, because the game expertly coaxes you towards its optional content.

I’ve been cagey about discussing what the game’s story is actually about because the process of discovery is essential to the narrative.

It isn’t so much that there is a single shocking twist. In fact, it would be difficult to boil down the surprises to a few sentences which could spoil the game. Rather, the story is constantly shifting, never settling down on any one particular area long enough for you to get comfortable.

It’s a thrilling ride, one that ends up in a place that would seem unimaginable at the beginning of the game. The ending is fitting capper to that experience, as it offers explanations without spelling out exactly what occurs. In a way, it’s reminiscent of the ending of the film Inception, in that it forces the audience to interpret it. The moment the credits began to roll, I immediately wanted to talk to someone about what I had just seen.

At a time when there is so much anxiety among video game fans about the future of the industry, BioShock Infinite is a reminder of how enjoyable and even thought-provoking a traditional, single-player experience can be. And yes, there is an argument to be made that most games rely too much on violent conflict, but that should not prevent games like Infinite from being praised, games that use the violence that has become cliché in games for a deeper purpose.

I’m looking forward to playing the game again when I get the chance, partly because I want to see how it foreshadows some of its reveals, but also because I want to relive my first experience with the game, when I barely even knew what it was about. I can’t wait to see what other developers learn from Infinite because it is a stellar example of how to tell a fascinating story in a game.

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April 18, 2013

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Williamstown an unexpected art haven Excuse me, Zoe Dostal Columnist

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illiamstown, Connecticut: Land of wheat fields, chickens, and investment-bankers-to-be. On a visit to answer the question, “Could we go to grad school in the middle of nowhere for two years?” my friend Alec and I found a strange world of extreme athleticism, extensive farmland, and extraordinary art that left us feeling…confused. Williams College is completely isolated from any obvious form of civilization, and yet it has developed into a microcosm of cultured urbanity unto itself. Within five minutes of one another (driving, of course) there are two exceptional museums with wide-ranging collections, the Williams College Museum of Art and the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. (To say nothing of Mass MoCA, just six miles away).

Driving into Williamstown I expected to see, well, a town. Maybe I imagined something like Raymond Avenue and then a small, liberal arts campus. Instead, we drove through rural fields and wooded glades and then emerged on to the center of the campus.

The most surprising aspect of the college was the size of the campus– nothing was really within walking distance—and yet the Williams student population is about 500 students fewer than Vassar. This anomaly left us befuddled, but we decided to soldier on to the museums, the ultimate purpose of our visit.

The Art History Department and the galleries are housed in the same building at the Williams Museum. This fluidity between classroom and object instills a sense of ownership in the students that is both admirable and bizarre. While on the one hand most of the exhibits (if not all) were student curated, on the other in nearly every gallery we found students lounging around on the floor and benches, some sketching, but most napping or playing games on their iPhones.

It was awkward and unnerving to step over a heap of coats (turns out there was a human under those) to look closer at a Church painting of Niagara Falls. But I guess they are calling into question the sacred nature of art, and bringing it back down to a human level?

Campus Canvas

But focusing on the positives, I really enjoyed the exhibit “Painting Between the Lines”, in which fourteen contemporary artists were commissioned to create original works from the descriptions of fictional paintings in historical and contemporary literature. Choices included Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Plath and Samuel Beckett. The exhibit design was clean and playful, using colorful lines to outline the relevant passages from the books and resulting artworks. Although the space was sparse, it felt full and the focus was appropriately put on the works themselves.

Just across town (seriously, five minutes), The Clark is known for an exceptional collection of European and American works, especially of the 19th century. Unfortunately, their primary building is currently under extensive renovation and much of their collection is on tour. But a selection of their permanent collection and a series of temporary exhibits currently inhabit the Manton Research Center, providing more than enough to see during an afternoon.

However, the research center really isn’t conducive to art exhibits, and much of the hanging and design was questionable. Alec was particularly bothered by two red chalk drawings that were hung on a red wall with matching red gallery labels. This both drowned out the artwork and made it very difficult to read the provided information.

In the exhibit “Electric Paris” a truly electric blue covered the rooms, a color that certainly captured the spirit of the theme but should have been used sparingly on accent walls rather than across the board.

I took issue with the “salon style” exhibit, which used the 19th century French way of hanging paintings en masse, stacked on top of each other. The chosen room had unfortunately low ceilings that did not effectively accommodate this particular method, which succeeds best in spaces with lofty ceilings.

Rather than feeling joyfully overwhelmed, it felt crushing and claustrophobic. Of course, this feeling was only enhanced by the stifling heat and humidity that made me picture the paint melting from the canvases.

Fortunately, the new building will be open

in 2014. A small gallery explains this process with diagrams and video, and from the projected images it seems as though all of the problems I just mentioned will be solved.

The walls will be a neutral tone and there will be more light and height to the galleries, with plenty of space for each object to breathe.

Now, beyond the incredible artwork in these museums collections, the most positive aspect is how much both Williams and the Clark work with students and the public to curate exhibits. The Clark has a program called “Clark Remix” in which visitors use “uCurate”, essentially a fancy computer program, where you can design your own exhibit using the current objects of the collection on display—including decorative arts. The curatorial team considers submitted designs and the lucky winners have their creations installed as exhibits.

Involving students at a curatorial level is a practice that I have long desired to experience at the Loeb. I am aware that every few semesters a senior seminar will involve researching and curating an exhibit, but I think that the opportunities for student participation must become exponentially greater. At both Williamstown museums there were a myriad of opportunities for students to work as a class, a small group, or as individuals to pull objects from the collection and arrange them in shows large and small. And while the final product was not always awe-inspiring— or even comprehensible—it is the experiential learning that is valuable and commendable.

So what was the result of Alec’s and my little voyage? Well, the Graduate Program in the History of Art may be extraordinary, the collections of both museums may be breathtaking, and the opportunities for student involvement may be inspiring, but the isolated location is simply untenable. Returning to Vassar was a breath of fresh air, and I will never ever again complain about the “bubble”.

Luckily, Williamstown is just close enough for a pleasant afternoon jaunt, and you can make it there and back again just in time for supper.

A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

If you could be in any reality T.V. series, what would it be?

“Dog Whisperer” - Sarah Slichter ‘15

“Amish Mafia” - Moises Rivera ‘13

“The Life of a Social Justice Activist, All the Bullshit Behind Closed Doors” - Angelica Guitierrez ‘13

submit to misc@vassar.edu

“Total Blackout” - Brendan Blendell ‘15

I made this painting in response to an assignment for Laura Newman’s Painting I class, which I am taking this Spring. She told us simply: “Make a big head!” She presented various images to us for inspiration, some incorporating repeated figures, some wearing hats or other accessories, some imagined, some abstract and some highly realistic and meticulously rendered. Before this assignment I had been in a major slump, as all of my work was beginning to look the same and I found myself feeling increasingly frustrated each time I went to the studio. So, I decided to approach the white canvas with as much freedom as possible. I went straight for that deep, rich, vibrant blue without planning or sketching and simply began laying down marks. I assumed an appropriately angsty and melodramatic expression (given my recent frustration) and tried to draw with the paint as much as I could. Figuring out the color was the most challenging part, because I wanted to select hues that were strong and vibrant enough to speak and give dimensionality to the form, yet not overpower the raw directness and energy of the blue paint-sketch. I am happy with the finished project; it references Alice Neel, and yet I feel like it is uniquely my own. While it doesn’t necessarily look very much like me (I hope) it certainly captures the comic, tragic mood I was in that day––oscillating between self-loathing, silliness and ironic jubilance.

-Sofia Macht ’14

“Big Brother” - Gina Greco Guytho ‘15

“House Hunters International” Cyndi Bonacum ‘16

Steven Williams, Arts Editor Jack Owen, Arts Editor Cassady Bergevin, Photo Editor MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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April 18, 2013

Attacks on historic race violate sanctity of sports world Luka Laden Columnist

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was as stunned as anyone when I heard about the bombings that reared their ugly head in the heart of my beloved Boston. Whether you found out from someone else, read about them on your Twitter feed, or caught a glimpse of a CNN broadcast, the reaction could only be one and the same. A mix of abject horror and sheer disbelief. No words. A tragedy like that should only bring out the warmest of sympathies from bystanders everywhere. Prayers and condolences must be sent in large numbers.

The bombings that unfortunately accompanied the historic Boston Marathon – no doubt one of the most exciting days of the year in Eastern Massachusetts – hit rather close to home in my case, since I live only a short care ride away from downtown and my mother works only a handful of minutes away from the scenes of terror and chaos that we all struggled with on Monday afternoon. This wasn’t like September 11th, 2001 for me because my whole thought process back then was the naïve–and, looking back, downright foolish–“that would never happen in my city, close to my friends and my family.” That was some faraway place.

My city would never be targeted like that. That just wouldn’t happen.

Well, it just happened.

What if my mother had decided to take that quick afternoon break from the monotonies of office work, and take in the scenes of excitement and heartwarming ecstasy that met onlookers at the finish line? Fortunately, that

never happened. But, there’s not a whole lot scarier than the thought of “what if.”

“This wasn’t like September 11th 2001 for me because my whole thought process back then was naive.”

Luka ladan ‘15 Horrifying stuff.

What’s more, something as horrific as that wasn’t supposed to permeate the world of sports. Athletic competition and everything else leading up to it – the training repetitions, the discipline during the offseason, and the desire to outperform your opponent – carries with it a sort of innocent charm that can’t be found in many other places. The sight of people using their sturdy legs to endure, overtake, and overcome has a sort of charming triviality about it. When you really think about it, the Boston Marathon is just a showcase for some of the best long-distance runners around to prove themselves and, in the end, they’re just a bunch of people running from one line to the other. We marvel at their grace and their stamina and their commitment to finishing the race, but it’s ultimately just a

bunch of fatigued limbs pushing from Point A to Point B. The Boston Marathon didn’t represent some controversial political ideology predicated upon repression and injustice. It’s not a figurehead of the Third Reich, or some provocative symbol of economic superiority that’s just asking to be made into a vicious example by terrorist organizations. Undoubtedly New England’s most popular sporting event, the Boston Marathon is just a collection of runners being watched by a collection of spectators being watched by the news helicopters in the sky above. The Boston Marathon is just the Boston Marathon.

And then this happened.

Monday, April 15th will forever represent the day when the youthful innocence of sports was stripped right before our eyes. When does it stop?

Innocent Bostonians can’t even gather in Copley Square anymore without witnessing the very darkest evils of humanity – the flight of severed limbs and mishmash of broken bodies gained a sickening stranglehold on a place of shopping, eating, and people-watching. It not only touched the world of sports; this was an act of brutal desecration, proving once more the fragility of human life and confirming the far-reaching arm of terror.

Something like this could happen in the realm of foreign policy debates or political protests or urban uprisings. These are all asking for tension and conflict, whether religious or racial or economically based. This could have

happened during the Arab Spring. But, come on, this wasn’t supposed to happen in sports.

The LeBrons, Ronaldos, and Bolts of the world allow us to marvel, to appreciate the highest of peaks in athletic performance. And I always thought of them as sort of removed from everything else going on in the world.

They run with the best of the them and dominate their competition, sure, but they’re isolated from the more somber aspects of today’s world – they represent a reliable safety valve for all kinds of people, who can just step away from the struggles of daily life for a few moments and take in an athletic display unlike any other.

Explosions at a crowded event and competitive sports just shouldn’t go together.

The Boston Marathon is a blameless and unassuming event designed to draw people together in a less-than-serious setting. Until – as we watched in horror and disbelief – things become very, very serious very, very quickly.

How did a sporting event as historic and popular as this one come apart like this? Athletic competition is supposed to be a break from all the bad in this world and then some because of its ability to inspire in the simplest, most innocent of ways. But 4/15/13 changed all of that. The Boston Marathon isn’t just the Boston Marathon anymore. The world of sports doesn’t quite come across as impregnable anymore, like some looming fortress in the Scottish countryside.

Nothing – and nobody – is entirely safe anymore. Look no further than this past Monday.

Vassar hosts alternative Bryant’s illustrious career World Cup for Northeast jeopardized by ankle injury WORLD CUP continued from page 1

The team is well known for playing the first ever world cup against Middlebury in 2007.

Since then, the program has grown exponentially, both within Vassar as well as nationwide. Outgoing co-captain and sophomore Maddy Vogel described how serious quidditch is in an emailed statement. “Quidditch is one of those things that seems like total silliness and fun until you actually play,” wrote Vogel. “It’s always fun, but it’s only sometimes silly. It’s a full contact sport and though Vassar does try to avoid playing too rough, we know how to give and take a hit.”

Freshman incoming co-captain Rebecca Weirfurther defended the authenticity of the game “I think that it takes more dignity and confidence to compete with this intensity while staying on your broom than it does to do it all minus the broom,” explained Weir in an emailed staement.

Since the creation of the IQA, The World Cup championship is held annually. However, this year Vassar did not attend The World Cup for various reasons. Sophomore outgoing co-captain Gabby Scher laid out the issues with this year’s World Cup. “Our team was angry with the way IQA has been running things lately, especially with their decision to not only host the World Cup in Florida, making it extremely expensive for teams to go, but also making it so that you had to qualify for the world cup,” Scher wrote. “We ended up not qualifying, but were never planning on attending, and were planning instead on hosting our own world cup as a sort of ‘Screw you’ to the IQA. We were originally thinking of calling it the ‘Vassar World Cup’ but we felt that might be a little too much, so we came up with ‘The Cup That Shall Not Be Named.’”

The goal of this past tournament was to just play down to earth quidditch in response to the IQA’s drastic changes to the program, as described by Vogel. “This tournament was an amazing experience--we wanted to bring quidditch back to its original roots of fun, fair play, and sportsmanship and I think we managed to do exactly that,” Vogel stated. “It lasted from 10 am till about 5 pm on Saturday, though some teams had arrived the night before since they were from far away.

The teams that came were an RPI/Skidmore/ high school mercenary team, University of

Vermont, Smith, Ithaca, Chestnut Hill, and (of course) Middlebury!”

The tournament ended within the day, with the winning team being the combined mercenary team of RPI, Skidmore, and high school students, and Vassar coming in fourth place overall. “It was really fun to host a tournament!” exclaimed Scher. “Everyone ended up having a great time and we didn’t have any serious injuries, which is always a good thing.”

Weir added, talking about the honor that came with the weekend. “Hosting tournaments means a lot to us. Ever since Vassar and Middlebury played the first ever world cup, we’ve been known as a leader in the sport. Other teams know how Vassar plays on and off the pitch-fairly, passionately, and respectfully.”

Although the team could not attend the World Cup in Florida, hosting The Cup That Shall Not Be Named was appropriate, according to Vogel. “The World Cup has always been held in the North East, and so having a huge tournament that weekend just seemed necessary. We really wanted Middlebury to attend, just for the nostalgia of the first intercollegiate games being Vassar vs Middlebury at the World Cup.” Although not considered an official sport by some, members of quidditch are very passionate about the team that they love. “Quidditch is the greatest org on campus because we love what we do, we work hard, but we also play hard,” expressed Vogel. “We realize we are playing a sport that originated in a book, and so we try to never take ourselves too seriously. There’s a lot of whimsy and fun on our team, while we work hard to improve our game. I think not having an established season, having free membership, and having open practice 3 times a week are what make our org different from others--and what makes us so special.”

After the tournament, Vogel expressed mixed emotions about the historic event.

“This tournament was my life for a long time, and now that it’s over, I feel both proud and very sad,” explained Vogel. “I think the four captains pulled off something amazing and something that Vassar has never seen, but I also put a lot of energy into this tournament so it feels so weird to be done now.”

Eli J Vargas I Columnist

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he Los Angeles Lakers have been hit again with another bout of bad luck during Friday’s win over the Golden State Warriors. After acquiring Steve Nash and Dwight Howard in the offseason, some experts assumed the Lakers would roll through the competition on way to their 17th NBA Championship as a franchise.

But Kobe Bryant’s recent injury will affect both his own career and the Lakers’ posteason.

Then Steve Nash broke his leg on the second game of the season, which was bad luck considering the season had barely started. But nobody could have predicted the debilitating bad luck that would follow the Lakers throughout the season. After Nash was injured, key Lakers players started dropping like flies. Steve Blake, the backup point guard who was filling in for an injured Steve Nash, had to get abdominal surgery.

Then went Jordan Hill, one of the few bench players who could add some energy to the game.

With the Lakers floundering into an unimpressive 18 and 25 record, the purple and gold’s season in no way resembled their pre-season championship projections. To stifle any further hope that the Lakers may have held onto in this abnormally unsuccessful season, Dwight Howard suffered a partially torn labrum, while still struggling with a surgically repaired back.

It did not seem that anything worse could go wrong for this supposed dream team, but while Howard was playing through injuries, the Lakers’ other towering front court force, Pau Gasol, injured his foot and was out for more than a month.

Once the injury plague subsided about a month ago, the Lakers found themselves having a measurable amount of success, and dare I say it in a familiar place: a playoff spot. However once the Lakers became a bit comfortable playing with one another, the Lakers’ staunch defender, Metta World Peace, suffered a knee injury which required surgery. However, only twelve days after going under the knife, Metta World Peace found himself back on the court, and everything seemed to be going right for once.

Recently the Lakers have held their fate in their own hands for once. In a thrilling game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, the Lakers were on a roll and headed to the playoffs it seemed, but with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter, the injury bug was resurrected. On a routine

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

move driving left, Kobe Bryant crumpled to the ground and began to stare at his achilles as if it had done some strange act. To Kobe it had done exactly that, and for the first time in his life, he suffered a debilitating injury that not even he, the Black Mamba, could play through. After the game, despite winning a crucial game against a tough opponent, the atmosphere in the Lakers locker room was as if they had just gotten eliminated from the playoffs altogether. And they might as well have been, because when the news came that Kobe would be out for 6-9 months from a torn achilles, everybody knew that even if they got to the playoffs, in no way did they stand a fighting chance.

But to put it in perspective, the way the floundering Lakers have played this season they did not stand a chance against the top-seed Oklahoma City Thunder. What is most important is the fact that a 34 year-old Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest players of our generation, has suffered an injury that has ended the careers of the likes of Isiah Thomas, who was only 32 at the time of his injury. It is uncertain if Kobe will even be able to play any longer, much less dominate the way he has at his age.

So what does this mean to Kobe’s legacy?

If he decides to call it quits right now, Kobe will have ended his playing career with 5 NBA Championships, 2 Finals MVPs, 1 NBA MVP, and 2 scoring titles. In his seventeen seasons, playing at an elite level, Kobe would average more than 25 points per game and be fourth on the all-time scoring list, less than a thousand behind Michael Jordan. If there was any time that was ideal for Kobe to retire on top, it would be now, especially having one of the greatest seasons ever considering his age.

Kobe’s greatest desire is to win another NBA Championship ring, to reach that number six and thus be considered among the greats with Michael Jordan, but as of right now the future seems very bleak for that goal. Kobe may not even play a majority of the season next year coming off of a major surgery.

I hope with all of my heart as a lifelong Lakers fan and Los Angeles native, but more importantly a basketball fan, that this is not the end for Kobe Bryant.

But if it is, I just consider myself lucky to have witnessed one of the greatest careers, by one of the fiercest competitors to have every played the game.

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April 18, 2013

Page 19

Teams produce mixed results in Liberty League play Chris Brown and Meaghan Hughes spoRts editoRs

Men’s Lacrosse

Women’s Lacrosse

Women’s Rugby On Sunday, April 14, Vassar women’s rugby hosted Drew University and ended up beating them 54-5. Drew found itself at a disadvantage early, down 0-20 by the end of the first half. Vassar did not let up however. Tries were achieved by sophomore Tamesha Persuad, senior Nichelle Jackson, senior Shanaye Williams, junior Hannah Fink, and many other teammates. The teams next match will be on April 20 at The Beast of the East Tournament in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

In a tough match against fifth ranked Rochester Institute of Technology, the Brewers fell 25-3. Freshman midfielder Shane Flattery scored Vassar’s first goal at 8:40, to which RIT responded with nine goals of their own. Sophomore midfielder Sean Brazier broke the streak with a goal in the second quarter. The final Brewers goal of the game came from freshman attack Noah Parson, who also had an assist and picked up four ground balls. RIT outshot Vassar 63-22 and caused 10 turnovers to Vassar’s 23. With the loss the Brewers drop 3-8 in the season and RIT remains undefeated in League play. The men’s next game will be against Drew University on Saturday, April 20.

before the end of the first half. Davis and Goldstein each scored one goal, and sophomore defender Evie Toland picked up a team-high three ground balls. After this weekend Vassar’s record is 8-3 overall and 3-3 in League play. The Brewers will host William Smith College this Friday for Friends of Jaclyn Day.

Men’s Rugby

This weekend women’s lacrosse had mixed results in both away games. Friday, April 12 the Brewers defeated host Skidmore College 19-9. Within the first three minutes of play, freshman midfielder Isabelle Goldstein, sophomore attack Dara Davis and senior midfielder Marissa Reilly all scored, giving Vassar a lead they would never lose. Davis won five draws and scored five goals, tying her season record.

Sophomore goalie Katharine Pula made six saves, helping to keep the Brewers ahead. Her replacement, sophomore Hilary McDonnell, kept Skidmore scoreless. Goldstein picked up four ground balls and junior defender Phoebe Tzannes scored a career high four goals.

For the third time this year, Vassar suffered a close loss to Marist, 31-28. For the first twenty minutes, Marist drove runners upfield and scored their first two tries to put the score at 12-0. Junior flyhalf responded by sliding under the posts to make it 12-7, but Marist was able to score again, ending the first half 19-7. Several successful scoring efforts in the second half of the match by Joe Karpman and senior wing Jerry Dieudonne were not enough to give the Brewers the win.

The next day Vassar faced 19th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where the Brewers ended their three-game winning streak with a 15-4 loss. Early on it appeared to be a close game, as both teams were tied in the first eight minutes. But RPI managed to score seven goals

This past weekend, Vassar women’s golf team hosted the Vassar College Women’s Golf Invitational. The team ended up doing fairly well during the tournament, coming in sixth place out of eleven teams overall and coming in second out of seven Liberty League teams.

Women’s Golf

�Last weekend the Vassar Women’s golf team hosted the Vassar College Women’s Golf Invitational. Paloma Jimenez ’14, pictured above, putted the best score during Sunday’s tournament play.

On day one, Senior Nicole Bronson and freshman Aimee Dubois tied for the Vassar team low with 13 over par rounds of 85 on Saturday.

They were closely followed by senior Celynne Balatbat with an 86 and freshman Angela Mentel with an 87 to round out the four counting scores. Junior Paloma Jimenez shot a 90, as did sophomore Caitlin Bell competing as an individual. Bronson and Dubois are tied for 21st in the 56-golfer field. On Sunday, Junior, Jimenez led the Brewers on the day with a 10 over par 82; she finished 28 over par for the tourney to join Balatbat, Bronson, and Mentel on the All-Liberty League Second Team. The next tournament will be the Jack Leahman Invitational in Amherst, MA.

Rundown of NBA playoff match-ups at season’s end Zach Rippe Columnist

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he 2012-2013 NBA regular season was certainly a surprising one. The Knicks managed to live up to the hype and wound up the second seed in the East. The Miami Heat pulled off an incredible run of 27 straight victories and again secured the top East seed. As for the Lakers, that was interesting. Despite having an All-Star at every position, they managed to barely secure the eighth seed.

The league saw a slight power shift continue to happen as the Celtics keep getting older, the Thunder keep getting better, and new young teams like the Warriors and Rockets have asserted themselves as formidable foes.

Now, however, is when teams must stand out above the rest. The playoffs begin this Saturday, April 20. While the Eastern Conference is extremely top-heavy, the West seems to have many intriguing matchups.

Perhaps one of the sure bets of these 2013 playoffs is that the defending champion Miami Heat will match up against and defeat the Milwaukee Bucks. Maybe the Bucks will grab a game, but anything more than that is highly doubtful. Perhaps a more intriguing matchup is that of the second-seeded Knicks against the Celtics. Boston will not go down without a fight as they are clinging to any former glory they once had in the past age of their “big three”. This leaves the four middle of the road teams in the East who are all seem to have a peaking potential in the second round of the playoffs. The Pacers have deservedly earned the third seed, however they have faltered a bit as of late. With Paul George’s offensive production dropping off and a somewhat untested core, the Pacers do not seem as playoff ready as their top tier counterparts.

The Bulls also seemed to max out in the second round. Their biggest question this year was how they would fair without Derrick Rose. They were able to secure a de-

cent seed in the East with hard workers like Joakim Noah, all-stars like Luol Deng, and spunky little Nate Robinson. However, they lack a true leader on the court. The Nets would be the team with the most potential to make it past the second round. Still, they have been wildly inconsistent this year, with the majority of their wins coming against sub .500 teams. The Knicks will be the team most likely to face off against the champs, and even they will pose little challenge.

The Western Conference is where things get interesting. While some may have believed that Kobe was the one holding the Lakers back this year, the reality is that they are without the man who has defined their franchise for the past several years. The Thunder should take the Lakers down in five or six games. Perhaps a more intriguing matchup is that of the Clippers and Grizzlies.

The Clippers have built upon their success of last season and have easily captured their division. The Grizzlies boast one of the best centers in basketball in Marc Gasol and a scorer in Zach Randolph, however, I believe the Clippers will pull this one out. The Rockets have been a pleasant surprise this year.

However, the Nuggets have been on a tear this season and are more of a well-oiled machine at this point. This leaves the Warriors and Spurs. The Warriors have been a pleasant surprise this season and Stephen Curry has been nothing short of fantastic. However, the Spurs are still the Spurs. They may be old, but this is not their last year of supremacy in the Western Conference. They will most likely go on to battle the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.

In a rematch of last year’s finals, I sadly believe that the Heat will again reign supreme.

Their 27 game winning streak was more than convincing and the additions of stars like Ray Allen and role players like Chris “Birdman” Anderson are more than enough to bolster their efforts. Congratulations LeBron…

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Men’s Rowing The Vassar Men’s & Women’s Rowing Team kicked off their Spring Season at the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Rowing Association Spring Championship, held at Orchard Beach Lagoon this past Saturday. The Brewers had an extremely strong showing, taking 4th place overall points for the Championship. The varsity men narrowly missed finals in their four, but took an overall 3rd place finish in the pair event. The varsity women were awarded 3rd place points in their event, with the novice women taking home 2nd place medals in both the novice four and eight events. The next race for the team is going to be a dual against SUNY Albany in Albany, NY.

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April 18, 2013

Volleyball ends season with win against rival NYU Meaghan Hughes spoRts editoR

M

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

ost teams entering the championship games at the end of the season have quite a lot to win as well as to lose. This weekend Vassar’s men’s volleyball ended their winning season with a bit of revenge as they faced tough competition at the UVC Championships.

Vassar, seeded fifth in the conference and ranked eleventh nationally, went against other top teams in the country. Junior outside hitter Joe Pyne remarked that despite all the pressure, the Championships were also a great opportunity for the team. “The UVC championships were something that we had been looking forward to this entire season,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “It was a chance to prove ourselves against some of the toughest volleyball teams in the nation.”

The Quarterfinals presented the Brewers with a rematch against New York University, to whom they had lost only four days prior. This match was extremely close, with the NYU Violets winning by less than a five point margin in each of the three sets. Also adding to the excitement of the quarterfinal game was NYU’s placement just barely ahead of Vassar: seeded fourth and ranked tenth nationally.

Though there was a lot on the line, Pyne noted that the Brewers were ready to take on their rivals. “The first match we had was against NYU, a team that had beaten us this year twice before, so we were pretty excited to come into the weekend for a little bit of revenge,” he wrote.

Head Coach Robert Wolter echoed this sentiment. “I would say we were calm but very excited. With returning seniors in the starting lineup who have all been here before really helps and keeps everyone level headed.”

As one might expect, the match was tightly contested and both teams went back and forth throughout the competition. Vassar appeared to have an early lead, winning the first two sets 25-23 each. However NYU managed to ral-

ly after the losses and took the third set. The fourth set began with a strong Brewers lead until a service error gave the Violets the chance to come back for the win. Once Vassar gained the lead in the fifth set they managed to stay ahead for the duration of the match, and with a 15-11 victory, they took the quarterfinal.Senior outside hitter Charlie Caldwell had ten kills and nine digs, while fellow senior setter John Konow had 46 assists and ten digs.

Wolter was very excited about the outcome of the match. “It was a great feeling!” he wrote.

“NYU has always been a rival and we look forward to playing them every year. We always knew or felt we were the better team and it was just a matter of putting it together when it counted. This also marked the first time that the senior class won their opening round match to advance to the semi finals and that made the victory even better.” With the win the Brewers had a 20-win season, their first in five years and the second highest win total in the program’s history. But the Championships were not over, and Vassar still had to face the second-ranked Nazareth College in the semi-finals. Though the match was extremely important, the team was prepared to play tough.

“After the quarters, we knew that we’d be taking on Nazareth, the defending champs,” Pyne noted. “They have always shown up and played their best volleyball, so we were prepared to fight for every point.”

As expected the semi-final game was demanding, and ultimately resulted in a loss to Nazareth. However the Brewers lost the last set by only three points, and senior middle hitter Matt Elgin hit a perfect 1.00 and had six kills.

The outcome may not have been desired, but it was only one part of the entire season. “Ultimately, we had expectations to win the whole thing,” Coach Wolter explained. “But our mindset was to take one match at a time. We knew each that each opponent we faced would be a nationally ranked team and we could not take anything for granted.”

Reno Kriz ’16, above, leaps to spike a ball during a United Volleyball Conference Championship match last weekend. The tournament marked the end of a successful season for the men’s volleyball team.

Overall the volleyball team had a successful season, meeting some of its goals and working their way toward others. The 20 wins were what the team had hoped to accomplish, as was an appearance in the Championships. “The quarterfinals were also important to us because we would be fighting for our 20th win this season,” Pyne explained, adding that the team experienced “Vassar’s first playoff win since being a part of the relatively-new UVC.” Wolter added that the aims of the team go beyond athletics. “We set a goal of earning the AVCA Team Academic Award,” he stated. “To achieve this goal, we must maintain a 3.33 team GPA. I believe we are on track to receive this award once again.”

In addition to the results of the Championships, men’s volleyball earned recognition

on an individual level. Elgin is second on the team with kills (257) and leads the team with 101 blocks and hitting percentage (.459), which makes him fourth in national rankings. This season he was named to the First Team AllUVC for the second consecutive year. Fellow senior Christian La Du is third on the team with 57 assists, has played in a team-high 105 sets and leads the Brewers with 258 digs. In 2012 he was named UVC Libero/Defensive Specialist of the year and UVC Honorable Mention, and this season picked up UVC Second Team honors.

With another year of volleyball finished, Pyne reflected on his time with the Brewers.

“I’m proud to be a part of a team that is able to have so much fun together and play consistently at such a high level.”

Baseball hopes to make postseason with old, new talent Amreen Bhasin RepoRteR

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about is team’s chances is because he feels they’re still continuing to get better and better with each practice.

“What’s exciting is that our offense and our pitching has carried us [during separate games] but we have yet to have both of them ‘on’ at the same time. When...as a team both offense and pitching [are] on the same page, we can be a very dangerous team,” he said.

Though the team has had some uneven games with a divide between pitching and offense, they’ve done remarkably well.

They’ve managed to pull out some big wins against tough teams like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and St. Lawrence University, and do well in close games. One such game was against Clarkson, whom the Brewers defeated 2-1 in Mrlik’s favorite game of the year. “[Senior] Dave Robbins hit the game winning walk-off single for a 2-1 win. It was a really

exciting game,” Mrlik wrote, recalling his fond memory of the game.

Another strong moment for the team came from Captain Perrone.

Mrlik was more excited than ever when Perrone stole home in a game against RPI. “My favorite moment of the year was when Mike Perrone stole home,” he stated.

“It really showed his incredible athleticism and it was just really exciting to watch,” he continued.

With more and more big momentws like that the Brewers will hopefully continue to win.

Mrlik has this advice for his team in the race for the playoffs.

“It’s all about pulling through and winning the close games which we’ve had trouble with in the past. It’s about mental fortitude if you’re going to make the playoffs. And I really think that this is the year,” he concluded.

courtesy of Vassar Athletics

he Vassar College Brewers Men’s Baseball team has started off their season this year hard and fast.

As of now, they’ve already had over 20 games and currently stand with a record of 10-11-1 overall and 6-8-0 in Liberty League play.

But this year’s team, with a strong crop of freshman talent and lead by a series of strong underclassmen as well as upperclassmen, has incredible potential.

Senior Captain Zander Mrlik believes that this year’s team is the strongest he’s seen and is confident that their athleticism will be able to propel the team forward as the season progresses.

“This is the best baseball team in the past four years. We have the ability to compete with anyone in our league and have yet to reach our full potential. We’re in a solid place to make the playoffs and to become a force to be reckoned with,” he said.

Mrlik, along with fellow Senior Captain Mike Perrone, Lawrence Flicker, Sean Morash, Max Frankel, and A.J. Kim round out this year’s strong Senior class.

Mrlik has been pleased with they way in which his team’s been interacting with one another, particularly how the seniors have really taken to their new positions on the team.

“It’s impressive how certain players have stepped up and taken leadership roles,” he wrote.

“Sean Morash, Mike Perrone, and Brett Zaziski have been key performers for us and have helped carry our offensive load. Joe Lovizio and Johnny Mrlik have been two of our best pitchers and have really helped lead our pitching staff. Sean and Mike in particular have really proved themselves as leaders as well this year,” he continued.

Not only are the upperclassmen and the other returners impact players this year, but in fact, this year has arguably brought in one of the strongest crop of Freshman recruits the Brewers have ever had.

Mrlik has been ecstatic with their play so far and feels that they have the potential to really transform the team and the program.

“Our underclassmen are extremely talented and have the potential to make this program special for the next few years.”

“It’s a tough transition from high school to college but they continue to get better and they’ve already had impact roles on the team and more guys will continue to positively contribute to the team,” he continued, noting the difficulties some freshman experience when joining a collegiate team.

One of the team’s strengths is their ability to function as a unit off the field. Mrilk cites team dynamic as one of the most successful aspect of the Brewers’ program.

“We’re all very good friends. It really helps the team in general. We’ve had some senior really step up into leadership roles as well as other members of the team which has been good for us and we’re really starting to gel as a team in the middle of a playoffs race right now,” Melik wrote.

As is typical of the end of a season, those playoff races against Liberty League opponents are forefront in the team’s mind.

Playing in the Liberty League, the Brewers face a tough conference schedule all season long.

Despite this, the team is looking to hopefully making the postseason. That remains their main goal for the year.

“We want to make playoffs,” Mrlik wrote.

“We never have and in my last collegiate season that would be my only goal: to help us make the playoffs,” he continued.

Despite a tough conference as well as overall schedule, Mrilk is still optimistic about the Brewers chances this year.

“We have great coaches and we’re hoping with this talent we can somehow gel as a group and win the close games which will carry us through the playoffs. I really think this is the year we get over that hump and make the playoffs,” he said.

A large part of why Mrlik is so optimistic

Mike Perrone ’13, above, is a Senior Captain of the men’s baseball team. Deep into season play, the team hopes upperclassmen leaders and a strong underclassmen crop will propel the team towards victory.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE