Misc Welcome Issue 2019

Page 1

The Miscellany News

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Volume CLII | Issue 1

August 29, 2019

Welcome to campus, Class of 2023! Vassar’s newest students join campus community for Orientation Mack Liderman/The Miscellany News

Looking back: stories from the first year F

ter, a friend and I had just moved into Noyes. We were just two of a handful of people who had moved in early. After we both finished unpacking, aware of our growling stomachs and a tragically closed Deece, we decided to grab dinner at Nelly’s. When we arrived, the woman at the counter recognized us from past excursions. When my After being turned away by Ulster County, “Confederate Railroad” was welcomed by Chance owner friend couldn’t find 50 more cents Frank Pallett with open arms. The country band’s logo features a steam engine flying the Confederate flag. in her pocket, the women treated us like valued guests, and said it was okay. The food was warm and delicious. Snow began to fall while we were eating, hinting at the fullAbby Tarwater location of “50 Nights,” Vassar’s year- invite country band Confederate Railblown blizzard that would greet us ARTS EDITOR ly celebration of seniors’ waning time road—a group whose logo features a on the way home. That night, as we assar’s raucous, sold-out bi- on campus, now finds itself in the mid- steam engine flying the Confederate reached Noyes and shook off the annual parties at The Chance dle of a national controversy. flag—to perform at the venue on Sept. cold, Vassar’s status as a true “home Theater, Poughkeepsie’s punky music The Chance Theater’s owner, Frank 20. Aena Khan, Assistant News away from home” was solidified in venue, are a long-running staple of the Pallett, has come under fire from HudConfederate Railroad was once an Editor my heart. school’s social scene. But the beloved son Valley residents for his decision to acclaimed band within the country During the last week of January, First-years, the people you meet See CHANCE on page 3 at the start of the spring semesSee REFLECTIONS on page 4

Confederate band to play at Chance V

irst-years, welcome to this moment: You sit on the precipice of a transformative time in your life. From here, your path could lead untold directions, weaving between lulls and leaps on your journey through the next four years. Not so long ago the Class of 2022 joined us on campus and began their meandering paths through the enlightenment and, often, bewilderment of liberal arts education. As we begin this academic year, we at The Miscellany News welcome the Class of 2023 by first pausing for reflection. One year after their own Orientation, three of our sophomore Assistant Editors reminisce on their first-year experiences.

An open letter to first- Where did all the womp-womps go? generation students Duncan Aronson FEATURES EDIOTR

Tiana Headley Reporter

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very journey toward the elusive, impossible American dream is different. For my family, it was my mother enduring the cycle of violence at the hands of my father in Brompton, Jamaica. She believed he planned to bring her to America so they could work to buy a house for our family. His true plan was isolation.

Through the Violence Against Women Act and police reports, my mother’s mutilation is the cross upon which our permanent residency was born. As working-class immigrants now entirely dependent on a domestic worker’s salary, our traumas weren’t solved by mere residency. You don’t forget squeezing under an umbrella at the bus stop as a storm rages. MemoSee LETTER on page 4

Aena Khan and Olivia Watson ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS

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tump speeches for the 2020 Democratic primary already include some ambitious economic goals for the next presidency: free public university, medicare for all, complete student loan forgiveness, and maybe even a no-strings-attached $1,000 check every month for every American. With several

of these proposed policies requiring trillions (yes, with a “T”) of dollars, the candidates must generate revenue to bring these plans to fruition. So what impact would each proposal have on the broader economy? To explore this question, The Miscellany News contacted four of Vassar’s Professors of Economics for an expert look at where the canSee WEALTH TAX on page 3

assar is evicting its spiritual mascot. The Vassar College Store is lined with merchandise sporting the embroidered letters of “Vassar” or “Brewers,” alongside racks of standard VC monograms or emblems of the goddess Athena surrounded by the finer symbols of learning. Yet, Vassarites identify with another symbol altogether. We informally celebrate a cute underground mascot: wompwomps, known to the outside world as groundhogs, a type of marmot. Sadly, Vassar policy ensures there will be fewer furry friends on campus womp-womping their round rears around. The groundhogs’ plight first garnered attention from a petition (Change.org, “Leave the Womp Womps Alone!” 06.24.2019) started by marmot enthusiast Dean Rosenthal ’20, who was quick to take initiative through light-hearted humor inundated with a burning passion for the critters. Womp-womp trap sightings this summer piqued his curiosity. Rosenthal dug around a little, and discovered that Vassar has been clamping down on the groundhogs’ numbers by humanely trapping and relocating them off campus, in order to prevent their hazardous and damaging burrowing. “It feels like the administration cares

silliness of profoundly probing such mundane things as flowers and groundhogs. On another level, it cuts straight to Vassar’s principles. A seemingly trivial decision is like an individual pixel on a monitor. In isolation, it is meaningless, but in context, it contributes to a bigger picture or, in this case, an overarching philosophy. Simply stated, a Vassar without womp-womps would be a gloomier one. As Rosenthal put it, “They make people smile, waddling around with all their fur and blubber.” Speaking over the phone, recent alumna Jennifer Novak ’19 compared womp-womps to celebrities: “Their burrows are like little landSee WOMP WOMP on page 4

Courtesy of Ben Gregory

Economics professors weigh in on wealth tax

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more about their flowers than the womp womps,” Rosenthal quipped over the phone, laughing. “So I want [the petition] to raise womp-womp awareness.” During our conversation, he couldn’t help but discuss American and Indian species of marmots, recommend an online UCLA resource dedicated to marmots (UCLA, “The Marmot Burrow,” 07.29.2009) and lamented his loss of ability to imitate marmot alarm calls. “If I had the choice between drinking beer and hanging out with marmots, it’d be a clear decision for me,” Rosenthal joked (I think). Rosenthal’s comment about the administration’s priorities is a double-deckered one. On one level, it points out the

The womp-womp, known to the layman as a “groundhog,” is an endearing symbol of Vassar culture. But after forced relocations this summer, they may become an increasingly elusive presence on campus.

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