THE
GADFLY
Literature and Humanity 03 SCI Forum on Music 04 Johnnies Occupy DC 0607 Math and the Program 10
!"#$%&'()!$*&++,-,$.$/0$*&++,-,$12,3$1((14&+5!3$67$89:09$.$&*"#$9;3$8099$.$2&+#$<<<555$.$5!!=,$0>
THE GADFLY
02
Meditation on the Quad Juniors Bar Lehman, Nima Eshragh, Tommy Bonn, Michael Fogleman, and Cinar Doruk meditated on Wednesday after classes. The student newspaper of St. John’s College. 60 College Avenue Annapolis, Maryland 21401 gadfly@sjca.edu editors in chief DANNY KRAFT GRACE TYSON Assistant Editors NATHAN GOLDMAN IAN TUTTLE Layout Editor HAYDEN PENDERGRASS business manager HONORE HODGSON Photographers HENLEY MOORE ANNIE GUO Contributors ALICIA STANLEY MIKE LACY BARBARA MCCLAY KATE HAVARD TOMMY BERRY JON BARONE PAINTER BOB CHARLES ZUG STEPHANIE CONNOLLY SARAH MEGGISON RYAN FLEMING Founded in 1980, The Gadfly is the student newspaper distributed to over 600 students, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus. Opinions expressed within are the sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish the most professional, informative, and thought-provoking newspaper which circumstances at St. John’s College permit. Articles submitted will be edited for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and length in most cases. The Gadfly is not obligated to publish all submissions except under special circumstances. The Gadfly meets every Sunday at 7 PM in the lower level of the Barr-Buchanan Center. Articles should be submitted by Friday at 11:59 PM to Gadfly@sjca.edu.
letter from
the editors W
e hope you didn’t miss !"#$%&'() too much over long weekend. To start, please note that we have included a list of your Delegate Council, Student Committee on Instruction, and Board of Visitors and Governors representatives on Page Eight of this week’s issue. We intended to put this list in our previous issue, but were unable to do so because of space limitations. For those of you who don’t know, the Delegate Council (DC) is the student government !"#$%&#'!()*+&#,(-#.-/.-+-)%0%12-+#0)3#!"45-.+#!"#%(-#67#8!.9#2-.:#(0.3#%!#-)+;.-#%(0%#!;.# community has clubs that are both active and diverse. They meet on Wednesdays at lunch in the private dining room, and on Sunday evenings at 8:15 in the Conversation Room. 6;.1)<#%(-+-#=--%1)<+>#%(-#67#?!%(#2-.14-+#%(0%#5@;?#0.5(!)+#(02-#%;.)-3#1)#%(-1.#0;31%+# and used funds appropriately, and assesses club’s budgets to make sure that they are in line with our polity’s constitution. Essentially, the DC handles the budgets and distributes the ";)3+#%(0%#0@@!8#+!#=0):#5@;?+>#1)5@;31)<#,(-#A03B:>#%!#";)5%1!)& The Student Committee on Instruction (SCI) serves as the liaison between students and the Instruction Committee on all matters related to the Program. Most recently, they held a forum on music in the Program (minutes from which are included on Page Four). If you have questions about or issues with the Program, these are the people to contact. The SCI also hosts the All College Seminars, and other extra seminars such as “Shakespeare in the Fall” and “Plato in the Springtime.” Finally, the Board of Visitors and Governors (BVG) representatives act as the link between the student body and the Board of St. John’s. The BVG itself approaches issues regarding the college in a very businesslike manner, discussing issues such as how the +5(!!@#/.-+-)%+#1%+-@"#%!#%(-#8!.@3>#%;1%1!)#"--+>#4)0)510@#013>#-%5&#,(-#CDA#.-/.-+-)%0%12-+# will attend the Board’s meetings on October 2729 and report to the DC about the issues discussed by the BVG.
THE GADFLY
? 03
What Would [YOUR SEMINAR CHARACTER] Do 1!"-%+,+%(*/.%)$5,8".%9!"."9-$.%+*%-*%.$&"H%*#$.%U*83% 1$$;$8+D
FRESHMAN
SOPHOMORE
JUNIOR
SENIOR
Socrates Socrates didn’t relax over the weekend. He went to the gym to work out in fear of being judged naked in the afterlife. !"V("8%A&$5,83
Dido Went camping; repeateddly attempted to throw herself on #$%"&'()*+%",$-.%"/%..-012"34" am a human s’more!” !">*55(%N$..(
Spinoza Observed Yom Kippur. Now: look forward to Christmas. W%>*55(%N$..(
Marx Gave back massages according #5"$-6"'7-.-#/2"'08"#559"#5'6#%+6" according to his need. !"=8*8(5*/)
Next week: Your seminar character is kegsitting at Oktoberfest when an under age student tries to get a beer. How does your seminar character respond?
On Literature and Humanity A Response to Christian Sabella’s “Becoming a Statistic” 4(%=&,9,"%:-"8&$(%=JST
I
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very human 9*57&$-$&(%+$28$+%4(%9$.-",8%")7$9-)%*6%!,)%&,6$0%B$% '!*%!"#$%8*%7.*4&$5)%"8+%"&'"()%5";$%'!"-%9$.-",8% being is a whole, '*/&+%"&)*%)$$%5$<%"8+%5"8(%*-!$.)%*8%-!,)%9"57/)<% 7$*7&$%5,3!-%9"&&%-!$%C.,3!-E%+$9,),*8)0%=%8*#$&%-!"-% ")%L/)-%)5*;$.)<%L/)-%+.,8;$.)<%L/)-%7$*7&$%'!*%C!**;% and every human /7%',-!%7$*7&$%P-!$(Q%+*8J-%$#$8%9".$%"4*/-%4$9"/)$% 9"..,$)%-!$%-./-!%*6%-!$%!/5"8%9*8+,-,*8%,)%8*-%"4*/-% 9!"."9-$.)%-!"-%!"#$%)!,8(<%!"77(%9*8#$.)"-,*8)%',-!% being is beautiful P-!$(Q%+*8J-%;8*'%!*'%-*%6$$&%-!"-%)"5$%4$&*83,83% -!$,.% 6*.5$.% )$&#$)% "4*/-% -!$,.% $H9$&&$8-% 5"..,"3$)% and has a story. -!"-%P-!$(Q%!"+%'!$8%P-!$(Q%&,#$+%"-%!*5$0E%B$%',&&% "8+% )/99$))6/&% 9".$$.)% ")% ")-.*8"/-)<% 4/-% -!*)$% -!"-% 9")-%*66%R-!$&&*%")%),57&(%4$,83%"%5"8%'!*%5/.+$.$+% ".$%)*5$!*'%9*../7-%"8+%G"'$+0 !,)%',6$<%"5*83%!*'$#$.%5"8(%*-!$.)0%B$%',&&%8$#$.% 1!$8%@%.$"+%I.0%:"4$&&"J)%".-,9&$<%@%4$3"8%-!,8;,83%*6%5()$&6<% read Lolita<%*.%Anna Karenina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
THE GADFLY
CAMPUS MAIL skeptic’s sonnet by Emma Gold A’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
A Season in Tune by Painter Bob E*+#F#75%#9'!"/#5#.&/4#5:&-"#"*/#:1-/$ G%6#<&-+#75%#45,/#5#;/'$/#&2#/;/'<# # .5!% H&'#!%#5#9&'6+#!"$#2/1"+#!%#9*5"#9/#1&$/ I*5"#%&#&%/#75%#'/;/'$/#"*/#2511!%)# # '5!% J/"#&%#9/#)&+#2&'#$"!11#+#9/#*/5'#&-'# # 4-$/ K*&#$*&9$#-$#511#1!2/$#L&<$>>>#!%#9*5"0$# # "&#)5!% G$#&%#5)5!%+#9/#65%7/>>>#K*/%#5-"-4%## # $!%)$ I&#$*&9#&22#511#"*/#*-/$#5#1!2/"!4/# # :'!%)$
Reason Sucks S/5'#Q'>#R5)/+ O1!..!%)#!%#"*/#4-6#&2#'/5$&% Q<#)&51$#5'/#1&$"+#4<#4!%6#!"#"//4$ F%#T-/$"!&%$#&2#"*/#9&'16#"*'&-)*## # # 9*!7*#9/#95%6/'3 E2#9&'"*#5%6#715$$#5%6#4/%#9/0;/### # *&%&'/6B E2#;!'"-/0$#9&'"*#5%6#6/5"*0$#!%7!$!&%D N-"#9*5"0$#"*/#-$/#&2#$-7*#5#T-/$"!&% K*/%#9*!$,/<#$!"$#-.&%#<&-'#6/$, G%6#511#<&-'#2'!/%6$#5'/#&%#"*/#T-5688 U/%7/+#4<#/$$5<#$!"$#7'-4.1/6#!%#5### # 956> O!%7/'/1<+ U-)*#V5$.#W./
04
THE STUDENT COMMITTEE ON INSTRUCTION:
G%#G77&-%"#&2#"*/#OPF#H&'-4#&%# Q-$!70$#F4.&'"5%7/#5%6#R-'.&$/#!%# "*/#R'&)'54 54)>/-5/-/)?%@'/4)ABCD)E)9@F)9,%-,(/-4
T
his past Thursday, October 15th, the important that an art be represented. SCI met to discuss the role of music The last part of the conversation was in the St. John’s curriculum. Tutors present dedicated to Freshman Chorus, in response included Ms. Seeger, Mr. Kalkavage, Mr. to one freshman’s concerns that he did not Stephenson, and Mr. May. We opened the feel very interested in the music while sing discussion by asking ourselves, “Why is ing in chorus, or—in his words—that he music an important part of the Program?” did not feel anything from the music. All of Concerns were raised by some freshmen the upperclassmen agreed that chorus was and sophomores that music was too dif an important part of their freshman year. ferent from other classes, such as seminar. It provided a common ground for music The subject matter was too opaque, too discussion and a great freshman bonding !"#$%&'() (*) &+!,-.(/+!0) 12,) 3/.('4) !"##,- experience, in addition to covering an in ent levels of competence between different teresting variety of music and inspiring a students within a given class made talking love of music. /5*&() 6&."%) ,.7,%"/''4) !"#$%&'(0) 8(2,-.) Some wondered if perhaps it might im wondered whether or not music integrated prove Freshman Chorus to add a discus well with the rest of the Program, or why sion component to the class, or at least music was included instead of a different .*6,) #*-6/') -,=,%("3,) *-) %-"("%/') /%("3"(40) $+,)/-(0)9*6,)#,'()(2/()(2,4):,-,)+,3,-);"3 This might help students who had trouble en a reason to care about studying music, developing a “feeling” for music by nudg particularly in regards to Freshman Chorus. ing them in the right direction. Others felt The majority of mem that this would be detrimen bers present felt that the The vastly different tal to freshman chorus over !"#$%&'(4) *#) !".%&.."+;) levels of competence all, arguing that the ability to music in a classroom full between different simply sing without being re of different skill levels did quired to discuss singing en students within a not need to be an issue, riched Freshman Chorus and but was rather a question given class made the music program overall, of classroom etiquette and talking about music even if some students were a student’s personal work !"#!$%&''()*%+,$-'./ thus unable to appreciate ethic. Some found the ex chorus until much later. perience of learning how Overall, there seemed to to listen to music differently a very impor be consensus that music was an important tant one in their college education. part of the Program, but that it did come Many of the tutors present felt that music :"(2) .7,%"/') !"#$%&'(",.) *#) "(.) *:+0) 9*6,) was essentially a sophomore lab class—not .(&!,+(.) #*&+!) (2/() (2,.,) !"#$%&'(",.) %*+ simply in replacing lab for that year, but tributed to the reasons to study music, while also in its essence. Instead of being a stand others felt they detracted from it. Whether in for the arts, as some students considered or not the College needs to take a more ac it, they argued that music, like lab, dealt tive role in guiding students through the with the study of phenomena, and was an process of learning how to hear music was indepth study of a structure that was ulti ultimately left unresolved. mately understandable for us, like the natu ral world. MN3#I*/#OPF#6&/$#%&"#,//.#"'56!"!&%51#4!%8 Those students who did consider music -"/$>#I*!$#!$#!%$"/56#5#"*/45"!7#'/%6/'!%)#&2# /).(/+!<"+)#*-)(2,)$+,)/-(.)(2*&;2()(2/()7,- "*/#7&%;/'$5"!&%+#9*!7*#6!6#%&"#%/7/$$5'!1<# haps it was a better choice than visual arts *5../%#!%#"*!$#&'6/'#&'#!%#"*/$/#9&'6$>#F"#!$# because music has its own language which %&"#5#7&4.'/*/%$!;/#577&-%"#&2#9*5"#95$# we can learn to understand. It also seemed $5!6>
THE GADFLY
05
!"##"$%&'()$&)"#*&+,-&!#./*.$0($
“These are hard questions, especially those asking me to choose favorites. A book or a class (or even a student) can charm me one day and annoy me another. Is Hegel (or the student) needlessly obscure or profoundly clever? (Answer: sometimes both!) So my prefer ences will probably change next year. I’ll try to say what has stayed with me longest, what I keep coming back to.” How did you come to be a tutor at St. John’s? My advent at St. John’s was ex tremely conventional: I sent a few hundred job search letters from graduate school and received half a dozen replies, among them one from the dean of St. John’s (John Kieffer at that time). I had little idea of what the school meant until I vis ited some classes, but, as soon as I did I was caught. Hard to say ex actly why, but certainly a major at traction was my glimpse of a place in which I could spend a lifetime learning in the company of others, sharing and debating ideas and in sights, helping and being helped to indulge in all the historical and liter !"#$!%&$'()*%+),($!%&$-.)/0'0-.)(!/$ curiosity I had thought I would have to abandon after graduation once the need to earn a living demanded my full attention. What was the biggest adventure you’ve ever had? That’s really a hard one. Living a few years in Austria, with ex cursions into Italy and France, was certainly an adventure linguis tically and culturally. To conduct an orchestra or compose music often seems to me equivalent to exploring a foreign land; likewise reading a good book. Sailing, swimming, rock climbing, skiing: all adventures on a small scale. But if you forced me to single out a single occasion involving travel, I suppose I would point to a trip to +.*$1!(),($(0!'+$0"$!$&")2*$3-$+.*$4+5$6!7"*%(*$'*!7!#$0"$!$("3)'*$ in the North Sea and the Baltic... or a search through Beethoven’s original sketchbooks in the Viennese library now situated above +.*$(0%(*"+$.!//$7.*"*$8!%#$09$.)'$70":'$7*"*$,"'+$-*"90"8*&$0"555$ What is the single most important piece of advice you would like to give to freshmen (or upperclassmen)? This is heretical, I suppose, but I would say, “Don’t believe any of the authors we read.” They’re just there to make you stronger if you wrestle with them and argue with them, and even if you end up in agreement, it will be your agreement and your understanding that persuades you, not their authority. What is your favorite seminar book and why? Montaigne, of course! (At least this year.) And something al
ways draws me back to the “Iliad” every other year. What is your least favorite semi nar book and why? It’s hard not to become impatient with Descartes when he begins to preach and preach philosophy in particular, even though one can’t help admiring his mathematical in genuity and insight. In his defense, however, I would have to admit that without Descartes I don’t see how Kant would ever have been born. What is your favorite nonpro gram book and why? A few of the moderns keep beck oning me, especially when they shed new light on music or on the ,%*$ !"+'5$ ;<8$ +.)%:)%=$ 09$ -.)/0'0 phers like MerleauPonty and Su zanne Langer. But I have to insist that Schopenhauer, for all his pessimism, explained the crucial importance of the arts—and especially music—long before the moderns. He has been too much neglected in this respect. What is your biggest pet peeve (that students do) in class? Apologizing. If a student misses a class or an assignment it does maybe do some harm to the class as a whole, but that student suf fers more than the rest of us. An absence is rarely blameworthy, or so I hope and believe; failure to prepare for a class, on the other hand, can hardly ever be excused. What is your favorite St. John’s tradition and why? There are probably few tutors left who remember the “sophistry contest” that used to launch Reality Weekend. It was an occasion when tutors could join in the fun without entirely ruining their rep utation. But that was in the Golden Age, when one tutor could tell a joke [that] would take ten [tutors] to mount nowadays. What is your favorite class to be a tutor for and why? The Dean and Instruction Committee try to make it possible for tutors to teach what they want to teach each year, so my favorite class is usually the one I’m teaching right now. But a lot depends 0%$+.*$'+3&*%+'5$>%$!(+)2*$!%&$*%+.3')!'+)($(/!''$0%$!$&)9,(3/+$?00:$ or topic is much more rewarding than a dutiful but pedestrian class on a nominally more exciting subject.
OCCUPY
Occupy Madrid protesters in Madrid, Spain. Photo Courtesy of Occupy London
!"#$%&'#(%)%*+#,-./
I
t is naptime at the revolution. When I get to Macpherson “Not who you think they are,” he replies. square on Friday afternoon, I see only a small cluster I have discovered the thorn among the roses, the lonely of people standing on the corner, with signs. The rest of Libertarian, a young man who has spent his morning pro them are stretched out on the ground, dozing, sprawling, testing alone in front of the Federal Reserve. and smoking. To be an occupier, it seems all you have to NestofVipers thinks that the protesters have the right do is take up space. idea but the wrong enemy. “Big corporations thrive be I meet one of the occupiers. His name is Banjo, and he cause they’re in bed with Big Government,” he tells me. is a “traveling hobo.” He is young and suspiciously clean, !"# %'# 0%''.(%'*"0# 8%(4# (4"# 7)$0# 5".7(%)/# 4"B'# ;)(("/# 35)1# with a southern accent. the crowd. “I don’t have the time to give these people a Once the revolution’s over, he says, people will just do lesson in economics and history,” he sighs. This is not his what they want to do: “See, I like to play my music for peo revolution. ple, make ‘em smile, so I’d do my thing. And some people Now it’s time for the General Assembly. The organizer, like to make food, some like to grow it, some like to build StarHawk, has assembled the group to discuss the events of things. See that guy over there? That’s Bear. the day, the “pros and deltas” of their activities. !"#$%&"'#()#*+#,"),$"#-,#./0#1.&"#2"1#3""$# “But I wasn’t After their brief march on the IMF building has right. He’s our doctor.” ever going back. been declared a success, a controversy arises. Bear is a great mountain of a man with yel It was like I woke Some of the occupiers (Nestofvipers?) want to lowed nails and gnarled beard. He sits cross keep on marching to the Fed. legged by his grocery cart, staring vacantly up that day and I That is not okay, Starhawk says, it was NOT was awake for the in the game plan. In the future they will READ into a tree. “That’s what this whole thing is about,” !"#$%$&'(%)*%'+% the agreedupon game plan before the march so Banjo continues, “Everyone sharing, taking life.” !"#$%&' everyone knows, and no one acts on their own. care of each other.” This is about consensus. So, who’s in charge? The assembly continues to check up on the “You need to talk to the Gecko,” he says. everburgeoning OccupyDC bureaucracy. Like true Wash The Gecko is not in charge, of course, because no one ingtonians, they love their committees. We hear from so is, but he is an Organizer, and that carries some authority. many, I feel like I am in a smalltown New England town The occupiers do not use bullhorns. All 45 of us could hall. It’s straight out of Tocqueville. 4".5# (4"# 6"7&)# */"# 8%(4)-(# )/"9# :-(# 4%'# 1"(4)0# ;%<"'# .# So far, OccupyDC is not a lot like the ones in New York. nice impression of the hivemind mentality at work. This is a kinder, gentler, occupation. Even the guy with a Mike Check! sign that said “When there is nothing left, all we’ll have to MIKE CHECK do is kill and eat the rich” was a selfdescribed “peace ac If anybody! tivist.” Nobody is pooping on a cop car. There are frequent IF ANYBODY “mike checks” about respecting others’ personal space. Has a solution! I found a posterboard marked “goals.” Here’s a sample: HAS A SOLUTION education reform! safer hitchhiking! full employment! end For the ashtray problem! the death penalty! death penalty to corporate criminals! FOR THE ASHTRAY PROBLEM stop confusing freedom with oppression! Come up by the food station! Their hope is that if enough people join with the occupi COME UP BY THE FOOD STATION ers, the 1 percent will be forced to give in and behave (or Thank you! perhaps disappear altogether). There was no talk of rewrit THANK YOU ing laws or ignoring the government altogether and spend When the protests started, the Gecko told his boss he had ing more time helping out others, of effecting change of .#'()1.74#=->##?@-(#A#8.'/B(#"<"5#;)%/;#:.7&9C#4"#'.D'9#?A(# any kind—just talk about how great that change would be 8.'#$%&"#A#8)&"#-,#(4.(#0.D9#./0#A#8.'#.8.&"#3)5#(4"#*5'(# when it came. There was no consensus on what that change time in my life.” would look like. I notice a masked man in a dark suit. His sign says “You OccupyDC is full of nice people with fuzzy thoughts, are a nest of vipers and I will root you out.” taking up space, waiting for the world to change around “Who are the nest of vipers?” I ask. them.
Occupy Wall Street protesters at Times Square in protest of greed and corruption. Photo Courtesy of Occupy Wall Street
!"#$%&'#()*"#+,-.
!
"#$%&'()*+,(-*,./0*1(,2(3454(67,8(9*:;+<(+2=(2>(?7@8*;)<(A)*7:<( 8;/<(WB>(12.(D2,,*(8*C;(I7S);(+,.01(2/(68*,;C;/<(,8*,V+(G=;(67,8(:;4(9.+,( because I wished to see how the protesters would conduct their don’t be judging me for not doing it.’” demonstrations. The “#Occupy Wall Street” demonstration, which We scoffed together at the hypocrisy that so often occasions those began in midSeptember in New York City, has spawned dozens of who preach nonjudgment. splinter cells of disgruntled Proles, now occupying nearly seventy U.S. “There’s something that religion gets at, though,” said Pat, speaking cities (supposedly). I was skeptical about these demonstrations against with thoughts that sounded fresh, “and you can see it when people treat corporate centralization of capital and power in this country. others well without thinking about it. The point is not to say, ‘Oh, well 9*:;+(*=0(B(>2.=0(2./+;)C;+(*@@70;=,*))1(:*/@87=D(>/2:(A/;;02:( he’s a good guy.’ It just makes you sensitive to that good foundation Plaza to the steps of the Air and Space Museum. I began talking to a that everyone has, if they can just let it come forth. And then you let :*=(=*:;0(E*,4(F;(7+(*(G>,1H+2:;,87=D(+@822)(,;*@8;/(>/2:(I;,8;+0*<( that be the foundation of your politics, your activism, your marriage...” *( ,87/,1H1;*/( ?*/J7+,( *@,7C7+,<( *=0( 2=;( 2>( ,8;( );*0;/+( 2>( ,8;(K;,;/*=+( I couldn’t let him go on with this nonsense, since it so obviously Activist group which initially obtained the permit for this protest. Pat @2=,/*07@,;0( ,8;( ?*/J7+,( =2,72=( 2>( ?*,;/7*)( 37*);@,7@( 2C;/( F;D;)7*=( asked me why I was there. Dialectic of Consciousness. I’m not going to be won over by someone “Well,” I said, “after four years of liberating my mind with books who has contradictory notions of himself! “Yeah,” he admitted, “that and scales, a protest like this makes me pretty nervous. I think that seems true, and at one point I would have never admitted it. I used the average person can’t rule themselves, and I don’t see how this to only believe in violent activism—violently changing the world in country can function if power is more equally distributed. It doesn’t order to change the way people think and behave. The Arab Spring has seem like Reason, and therefore Virtue, is equally distributed, so why taught me a lot, though, but I was already starting to learn this stuff, should power be any different?” Pat listened attentively, nodding and I guess. There’s a lot to be said about letting the change come as it encouraging me with his eyes. should and not forcing it”—he glanced at me—“or trying to stop it.” “Democracy,” I said with the knowing tone of one who knows the We spoke until we reached the steps of the Air and Space Museum. roots of words, “has never actually been intended for the masses. “I’m not sure why we’re here,” said Pat. “I think we should be at the Democracies in practice have always, or at least should Fed.” I asked him why he didn’t take charge since he was always”—his eyebrow raised then, as if enquiring into the “They’ll be liberated so knowledgeable about activism. “I will if I should,” source of my should—“be in the hands of the few—the only when their lives he said. He spoke with an oddly religious tone for being best. There should actually be an Aristocracy in charge, !"#$#%!&'(#)*+$,$ violently Atheistic, and it made me reconsider if that though secretly of course, because this would outrage tone is really religious in the way that I think about it. He -!')$.!/0.#!"1#)/2*$ people to know that they are not really in control.” told me earlier that activism gave his life a “purpose,” Pat took a moment to collect his thoughts. “What’s &!3'(4$&#$0##/$/'3#$ and he said it with this very profound glint in his eyes. ,.7,72=( @2+,( *,( 12./( @2));D;LM( B( /;N)7;0( ,8*,( 7,( 7+( G>,1H “We’re disorganized right now, everyone has different !($'&561#(1$6/)$ ,82.+*=0( 02))*/+( *( 1;*/4( OP8*,( Q7=0( 2>( G=*=@7*)( philosopher. complaints and no solutions, but look at the unity you N/;/;R.7+7,;(;JN)*7=+(,8*,(:;=,*)7,1(N/;,,1(6;))<M(8;(+*70( have with such confusion. Do the tourists that are usually with a chuckle, but also with a piercing glance. There on these steps ever connect this well? Did you see all was a lot in that look. He had obviously heard my argument before, and the people who left the sidewalk to join us? This ain’t the Gay Pride it had once bothered him to hear human beings be dismissed so lightly. Parade or the Puerto Rican Pride Parade. This is the LiberatedHuman But now a glow of compassion came from his eyes, the kind you get Pride Parade.” from good tutors. The glow said, “Well, even if this rich kid thinks this “Well, I don’t know if they’re liberated quite yet.” now, making him feel bad for being wrong isn’t the solution.” I assured “No,” said Pat, “the means of production still alienate them. As Fidel him that they were my thoughts, not my school’s. Castro said, Socialism or Death.” I could see Pat’s latent passion for B(@2=G0;0(,2(E*,(,8*,(;C;/12=;(*,(:1(+@822)(+;;:+(,2(S)7=0)1(,/.+,( benevolent destruction, like the Goddess Kali who destroys illusion, Democracy, or else they seem to trust people in general. “If there are come to his eyes. Then it retreated with some other kind of patient, yet people who distrust human nature as much as me, they must be keeping active, passion. quiet about it, because everyone lets everyone think what they need OP8;1V))( S;( )7S;/*,;0( 2=)1( 68;=( ,8;7/( )7C;+( */;( ;J*:7=;0<M( B( +*70( to think. Tutors let kids leave class with totally wrong ideas about, halfheartedly, making me feel like an impotent old philosopher. say, Machiavelli, and they act like everything will sort itself out, as if B(+,220(=;J,(,2(E*,(2=(,8;(-:7,8+2=7*=(+,;N+<()22Q7=D(*,(,8;(X*,72=*)( T20MUB(+*70(,8;(DH62/0(07+0*7=>.))1<(Q=267=D(*(?*/J7+,(62.)0=V,(S;( Mall, looking and the masses all around us. After only a dozen blocks offended by this—“as if God will sort us out and teach us what we need beside these people, they were no longer just a bunch of disorganized to know. Like how he ‘feeds the birds,’ or whatever.” 99%ers to me. I still wondered if I could trust them with their own “Yeah, I’ll tell you what,” said Pat, “you won’t get me into a church lives, not to mention my own. unless it’s a wedding or a funeral. I don’t think people are inherently “There’s a reason we met,” said Pat. “Nothing happens by accident.” D220<(;C7)<(2/(68*,;C;/4(BV:(0*,7=D(*(S)*@Q(62:*=(682V+(9;67+8(/7D8,( I clung to my reason and thought: “If he doesn’t believe in God, but now, but I used to date a black woman who was Baptist. I used to tell he believes in providence and people, he must be insane.”
THE GADFLY
ON POETS AND POETRY
by Stephanie Conolly A’12
A
few years ago, the New York Times published an article by David Borr about greatness in poetry. The article was mainly concerned with what might qualify a poet as great, but it also dealt with what makes great poetry. It’s a question that applies to any art, certainly. Yet, as Borr writes, poetry is not just any art, but “re mains the place one goes for the highest of High Art.” Understanding poetry as art, however, !"#$#% #"&$% '()*+,-./0% % 12$% &$'(,&% (3% which we encounter poetry, language, can rarely be pure aesthetic; it often always remains attached to information, to the conveyance of thought and meaning. But this medium also has within it two separate forms: the written and spoken. Poetry read passively, silently, may often fail to evoke a sense of the aesthetic, and seems instead to be a contrived form of prose. But spo ken poetry often reveals nuances and reso nances missed in silent reading: elements such as rhythm, meter, and internal rhyme, which distinguish poetry from our ordinary speech. Indeed, the most helpful way I’ve learned to think of poetry as an art is its resemblance to song. Why read or simply speak a song when it is meant to be sung? The modern poet A. E. Stallings captures perfectly this resemblance between poetry and song in her own poems about music. In “Prelude,” Stallings writes about the mo ment when, listening to music, “Something in my throat/ Constricts and tears are star tled to my eyes”. This effect of the music does not come from “Truth and Art”, “Not
#"&$.2(34% &5'$6% 7/% "3+$895:&% *34$:#;% nothing painted, played.” No, the cause of this violent reaction stems from the cre ative potential of the music itself: The vertigo of possibility— The pictures I don’t see. The open strings, the perfect intervals. If music has such a vast creative possibil ity, then I believe that the possibility of language must be still greater. Music may evoke passions within us, but we are un deniably intimate with our language ; we cannot divorce ourselves from it in the same way that we may attempt to divorce ourselves from the sensual world. How, then, does language transform itself into poetry? In “Blackbird Etude,” Stallings describes a bird who “sings at/ the frontier of his music.” In approaching the natural limits of his song, the blackbird transcends ordinary music, his “melismatic runs sur/ passing earthbound skills.” Like the bird, who goes beyond the boundaries of his na tive language to create something new, the poet must surpass the known limits of his language in order to transform it into art. “It sounds like ardor/ it sounds like joy. We are glad...” Stalling writes, to witness this transcendence from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Language becomes poetry, and the blackbird’s native song becomes: Song as survival— a kind of pure music which we cannot rival.
Jocks of the Week
08 Introducing Your Representatives: Delegate Council !"#$%&' President: Saul Leiken ‘13 Secretary: Virginia Early ‘13 Treasurer: Marin Skokandic ‘12 Polity Attorney: Honore Hodgson ‘12 Freshman Delegates David Bruce Samuel Collins Ryan Fleming Robert Malka Sophomore Delegates Catherine Moon Hayden Pendergrass Vincent Reese Zeke Schumacher Junior Delegates Tommy Berry Christopher Moore Andrew Moran Maca Pallares Senior Delegates Jacob Baldwin Emma Gold Tessa Nelson Joseph Wood
Student Committee on Instruction CoChairs Erin Shadowens ‘12 Maura McClusky ‘13 Secretary Barbara McClay ‘12 Sophomore Representatives Ethan Goddard Nathan Goldman Junior Representatives Michael Fogleman Cameron Sharp Senior Representatives Katherine Havard Sarah MacGregor
Board of Visitors & Governors Representatives Emily Ezell ‘13 Grace Tyson ‘13 Ms. Swiecicki
The Guardians
THE GADFLY
09
On Shelley in the Autumn
Berry Good Advice with Tommy Berry
by Charles “Zug Lyfe” Zug A’15
Y
Send your maladies, predica ments, or conundrums to: thomas_berry@earthlink.net
Dear Tommy, I recently quit my job as a delivery boy, and now I’m looking for bigger and better things. Do you have any suggestions for new employment that’ll take my !"#$%&'$()*+""+(,-(,."('"/,(%"0"%1( Sincerely, Johnnie on the Market 2 Dear Johnnie, Speaking most broadly, jobs fall into two large categories: Jobs in which I am paid to act upon other objects, such as a gardener or furniture mover, and jobs in which I am paid to allow other objects to act upon my body, such as a dunk tank occupant or medical test subject. Generally, as I move between jobs, I like to switch back and forth between these two categories, to allow my body to recover from the particular sorts of ravages which each entails. In your )*3"4(.*0&'$(563,(%"7,(*(5-8(7+-9(,."(:+3,( category, I would therefore recommend you look for opportunities in the second category. Luckily, such jobs are in great supply, since somebody’s always making some new pill that somebody '""#3(,-(8"(,."(:+3,(,-(3;*%%-;<(=-,(-'%>( does this type of work pay well, it often leads to repeat employment. I myself have often been paid to test a certain new pill, and then subsequently paid to test another new pill, which was developed 3?")&:)*%%>( ,-( ,+"*,( ,."( 8&@*++"( 9*%*#>( ;.&).(.*#(:+3,(*??"*+"#(&'(.69*'3(*3(*( 3&#"A"77"),(-7(,."(:+3,(?&%%(B(,--C<( Dear Tommy, I am sending this through campus mail because I am in the mailroom every day, and that is in fact my problem. You see, every day people get letters and packages, hundreds of them. But I don’t. I think the injustice of this is very clear, not to mention the depression this causes, knowing that nobody loves me. Sometimes I think drastic thoughts. How can you help me, or rather, what techniques can you teach me to guilt
-,."+3(&',-(3"'#&'$(9"(3,6771 Sincerely, A Very Morbid Mail Clerk 2 Dear Morbid, Don’t assume that receiving a letter is always a good thing. Looking back through my life, I can think of lots of mail ,.*,(B(;&3.(BD#('"0"+(+")"&0"#(&'(,."(:+3,( ?%*)"<( E-+( "/*9?%"4( ,.&3( %",,"+( >-6( 563,( sent me. It creeped the s*** out of me. I would have far preferred to have looked ,.+-6$.(*'("9?,>(8-/(,.*'(,-(.*0"(7-6'#( this little piece of highfructose rage syrup sticking to its walls. In fact, I’m *%;*>3(:%%"#(;&,.(*(?+-7-6'#(+"%&"7(;."'( B( 3""( *'( "9?,>( 9*&%8-/4( 3&')"( ,."( 0*3,( majority of letters I receive are either a) another wretched plea from some lost soul who has no recourse but to turn to Berry Good Advice, which means I’m going to end up losing 1520 minutes of 9>(#*>(&'(-+#"+(,-(:/(.&3(8+-C"'(%&7"4(-+ b) a stern reminder that I owe a lot of bad people money. Considering this, it is quite possible that I would simply not check my mail at all, were it not for my one solace, the correspondence I have with my F"'"@6"%*'( ?"'A?*%( G*'6"%4( ;.-9( B( consider my one true friend. Sadly, the letters I receive from him have become few and far between, leaving me to wonder whether the backbreaking work of the hacienda has taken a greater toll than he has allowed in his letters. Manuel, if you are reading this (and somehow, I know that you are) I urge you with all my heart: Your dream of building a guitar and starting a new life as a wandering trovador is not “just another foolish daydream.” On the contrary, your dream is what makes you beautiful, Manuel. Maybe you can’t believe that right now, so I’m just going to believe it for you. I don’t really care what you believe, just 3-(%-'$(*3(;."'(B(:'*%%>(0&3&,(>-6(H*'#( I promise that someday I will) you’re ready to play a song for me.
ou should read Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” to observe how a truly great romantic grapples with autumn’s melancholy. Recently I, having returned from a walk amidst a boreal wind and a pristine October evening, read this poem *$*&'(7-+(,."(:+3,(,&9"(I(;&,.(3"'3"3(*;*C "'"#<(B(J6-,"(,;-(3,*'@*3(."+"K Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, !"##$%$&'()&%*+%,-.+#,,/%0#%$&'(1%!2*3*$%4#35#1 My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! (5762)
How wonderful it is to know that the greats too were shaken by autumn’s dark *??+-*).L(B'(,."(:+3,(%&'"4(,."(3?"*C"+(#" sires to be an instrument of the west wind I(&'(,."(3*9"(;*>(*(7-+"3,(&3<(M-;(&3(,.&3( ?-33&8%"1(M-;()*'(*(9*'(?-33&8%>(7""%(,."( ;&'#(&'(,."(3*9"($+*'#(9*''"+(*3(*(7-+"3,1( Certainly, replies the speaker, by abandon ing his leaves! What does it mean to aban #-'( -'"D3( %"*0"31( N-( %",( 7*%%( ,.-3"( ,.&'$3( ;.&).4( ,.-6$.( '")"33*+>( #6+&'$( ,."( ;*/ ing of spring and summertime, prove now to be dried up and worthless, mere weights that no longer serve their purpose. It is through this cathartic abandonment that the speaker begets his creation: a song whose sweetness is also its sadness. In the last two lines, we feel the speaker lash out against his own meekness; indeed, he com mands his own spirit to become one with ,."( OP?&+&,( :"+)"QL(R3( ,.-6$.( ,."( &#"*( -7( abandoning his leaves, and singing a for est’s mighty harmonies, might prove too #&7:)6%,(*().*%%"'$"< When I myself feel the autumnal frost of melancholy creeping about me, I am drawn ,-;*+#( P."%%">( *'#( ,."( +-9*',&)3<( B( :'#( warmth radiating from their willingness to embrace the profoundest agonies in life. Shelley sings out against the cold wind of *6,69'4( 86,( '-,( *$*&'3,( ,.*,( ;&'#D3( "/&3 tence. Like any great pessimist (or roman ,&)S4(."(C'-;3(,.*,(76%:%%9"',($+-;3(7+-9( 3677"+&'$<(M"(&3(*8%"(,-()*3,(.&3($*@"(&';*+#( I(9*>8"(."(7""%3(,."(;&',"+(-7(9"%*').-%>( *'#(#"3,+6),&-'($+-;&'$(;&,.&'(.&9(I(*'#( from there he is able to form a poetic pic ture of the world around him.
THE GADFLY
Reflections on Math and the Program by Jon Barone A’13
W
hat is the dynamic in our math tutorials? In my experience, this dynamic is something distinct from all other classes. I’m not sure whether it’s inherent in the way the tutorial is set up, or the way we approach it. But it’s present in force. I think we see this most clearly when we pres ent propositions. Prevailingly, it seems that instead of the class working together, one person is placed at the forefront, explaining and explicating. Now, I don’t think this is detrimental per se. In fact, I think !"#$%&'()%*'+',-!./%01(%$12'1+'%"1%/'.3%.+%!+45!()%1(% demonstration having looked at the topic in depth. However, I think this dynamic shift can lead to prob lematic situations and tendencies. In this system, it’s obvious that not everyone can go up to the board and present every day. However, this often turns into an excuse for laziness; doing a proposition at the board one day gives one “insur ance” against going up to the board for a few classes. This inevitably means that some people are more fa miliar with the proposition than others and this af fects the class’ discussion. This laziness leads to unpreparedness, lack of general understanding of the propositions, and weaker demonstrations at the board. This is where the dynamic is most starkly represented: one person set against the class. It’s a confrontation, not a work ing together. A division, not a communion. But the math tutorial doesn’t have to be antago nistic. I think part of this problem stems from a fear of being wrong. We don’t see this fear as manifestly in seminar, where one can give an interpretation or posit ideas to be discussed. In the math tutorial, however, we distinctly know when a proposition is being presented wrongly. There being a right and wrong answer distinguishes the math tutorial from a great deal of what we do here at St. John’s. Here’s the thrust of it, though: The math tutorial !$%('.//)%3!0,-5/"6%%7"%".8'$%.%/1"%10%"!2'6%%91('%"!2'% ":.+%;'%<!&'%!"6%%91('%"!2'%":.+%;'#('%.*/'%"1%<!&'% it. So a fear of being wrong or the fear of not un derstanding the propositions is only going to cripple us as a whole. We have to be able to move past the 0'.(%.+3%*'%-1+,3'+"%.+3%.$$5('3%!+%;:."%;'%31+#"% understand. It’s by doing this that we can destroy the antagonistic and divided dynamic that damages our discussion. If we’re willing to go up to the board and work through the problems we have with the proposition, we can move together as a class. Then the propositions become more than something to be memorized. Because let’s face it: the reason we learn these propositions is not so we can remember them well enough to draw them on a chalkboard ten years from now.
10
!"#$%&'()"(*"+$,"-'./(0.
!"#"$%&'(()*+,%#'-'-.'#*%/$'%/'"0$'#% !"#$%&'()*%(+%&,-#*."/&"%-&/#&0/1&2#"(3$ *)%?.(.:%9'<<!$1+%G#IJ
I
had this moment in seminar a get to know him better as a person, couple of weeks ago where I felt not just as my teacher. In that semi the gravity of reality slap me in the nar I mentioned earlier, I suddenly face. I had learned a few days earlier realized that I would never get to go that my favorite and most respected back to my high school and tell him "'.-:'(%0(12%:!<:%$-:11/=%9(6%>5+ all about St. John’s like I thought I stan, had died. I knew he had been would. Lately, I’ve been struggling sick, but I was never expecting this. to keep up with my work and have And while the death of someone felt like I’m doing it just to get it you look up to is hard for anyone, done and not getting much out of it. I can tell you that there is no way I 7%$"!//%,+3%!"%.%*!"%$-.()%"1%$H'.8%5H% ;15/3%*'%."%?"6%@1:+#$%;!":15"%9(6% in tutorials or seminar sometimes. >5+$".+6 7#&'%*''+%0''/!+<%/!8'%7#2%+1"%45!"'% I had him all throughout high surrendering myself to the Program, school for geography, history, and ;:!-:%0'/"%/!8'%/'""!+<%9(6%>5+$".+% public speaking. Perhaps most sig down. But I can’t let that happen. I +!,-.+"/)=%":15<:=%!$%":'%:52.+!"!'$% know I have it in me to do my best elective class I took with him my :'('6%7%*'/!'&'%9(6%>5+$".+%$.;%":!$% 9th grade year. It was here that I potential in me, and if I can’t actu began to appreciate thinking about ally tell him about what I’m doing and discussing things like phi here, the best I can do is use the losophy, religion, and things I learned from politics. I also began I am more con him to take full ad to think about why I vantage of the truly in believed what I did, vinced than ever credible opportunities and realized that it was that there’s a I have here. Anything okay for these things to reason I am here less would be a disser change. It was here that at St. John’s. vice to him. 9(6% >5+$".+% -.$5.//)% 9(6% >5+$".+% ;.$% mentioned St. John’s such a classic experi and its Great Books Program one ence in my high school, and I can’t day. Initially, I didn’t think much imagine what it will be like without 10% !"% A7% $;'.(% 2)% ,($"% ":15<:"% ;.$% him. I’ll miss his Fox News habit $12'":!+<% /!8'% BC;=% 9.()/.+3DE=% and how he began classes with, “Al but over the next couple of years I right, alright, alright.” I am beyond began to read about the school and grateful to have known him, and I $5*$'45'+"/)%0'//%!+%/1&'%;!":%!"6%F'% know my life would be completely also wrote one of my recommenda different without him. I am more tion letters, so he’s the man to blame convinced than ever that there’s a if you don’t want me here. reason I am here at St. John’s. This G"%":'%'+3%10%2)%$'+!1(%)'.(=%9(6% school is helping me to continue >5+$".+% $'+"% /'""'($% "1% 2'% .+3% ":'% ;:."% 7% $".("'3% !+% 9(6% >5+$".+#$% other kids in his advisory group. I classes. Further, this whole thing stapled mine into my yearbook, and has reminded me that I had this now it means even more to me. I idea of becoming a teacher when had intended to write back to him to I graduate. I want to help kids ap thank him for all he’s done for me, preciate and enjoy learning the way but I never got around to it. Terrible 9(6% >5+$".+% 3!3% 01(% :!$% $"53'+"$=% excuse, I know, and I will always 2)$'/0%!+-/53'36%?1%":.+8%)15=%9(6% deeply regret this. I will always re >5+$".+=%.+3%7%H(12!$'%7%;1+#"%3!$ gret that I never got the chance to appoint you.
THE GADFLY
11
Bursting the Johnnie Bubble )*$+",-$.##/0-$,*-+1223#*+$4&$",-$(4253*6$)1*$!5++2#$7,-(5--#-$+"#$894+#-+$ 34:#3#*+$+"1+$,-$-.##8,*;$+"#$*1+,4*6$(122,*;$,+$<-,22,*#--$=#>4*7$9#(/4*,*;?@$ A"1+$74$>45$+",*/$4&$%((58>$A122$B+9##+C$D4$>45$1;9##$49$7,-1;9##$.,+"$E9?$ !5++2#0-$48,*,4*-C$B#*7$>459$9#-84*-#-$+4$E2/a1i!S42>#/'>&
91&72*&R',,$#&=INd
F
or a generation raised on !"#$%&'(#, the Scream movies, and :,0##,&+2,&42,!&8)'$/&/)&,"#50&(20,6&2$$&8)'$/&9#&8#$$> !"#$%#!&'()*&!"#$%#!&)+&()!,-()!,-.)/#0*-"1(#0-.#,2-34,5)*6& 7,I!&2&4).(#$$5*E&*2002,5%#T&5,I!&#2!1&,)&,20E#,&.)*)$5,"54&V#8& those currently chanting in Lower Manhattan as part of the “Oc W)0O&X5,1&4).(2*5#!&2*/&,"#50&$#2/#0!6&8")&$5%#&5*&!#%#*-3E'0#& cupy Wall Street” protests seem to have no understanding of irony. ").#!&2*/&%242,5)*&5*&b20,"2I!&c5*#120/>&&Q',&5,&5!&2&+2$!#&244' 7&2.&*),&,"#&30!,6&2*/&85$$&4#0,25*$1&*),&9#&,"#&$2!,6&,)&()5*,&)',&")8& !2,5)*6&2*/&2*1)*#&$))O5*E&2,&,"#&*'.9#0!&O*)8!&5,>&&["5$#&(0) 50)*54&5,&82!&,"2,&:,#%#&;)9!<+)'*/#0&)+&=(($#6&7*4>6&)*#&)+&,"#& ,#!,)0!&8"5*#&+)0&,"#&054"&,)&(21&.)0#&,2@#!6&,"#1&5E*)0#&,"2,&,"#& .)!,&%2$'29$#&4).(2*5#!&5*&,"#&?>:>6&8)0,"&2((0)@5.2,#$1&ABCD& ,)(&NP&)+&#20*#0!&2$0#2/1&(21&dDP&)+&,"#&*2,5)*I!&,2@#!6&2*/&,"5!& 95$$5)*</5#/6&2+,#0&2&!#%#*-1#20&!,0'EE$#&85,"&(2*40#2,54&42*4#06& !"20#&#@4##/!&,"#&!"20#&(25/&91&,"#&9),,).&\CP&)+&,2@(21#0!&4). in the middle of a protest movement decrying “corporate greed,” 95*#/>& &W#,& ,"#& 8#2$,"5#!,& 20#& 4)*,5*'2$$1& #@")0,#/& ,)& F(21& ,"#50& F#4)*).54& 5*#G'2$5,16H& 2*/& ,"#& '*905/$#/& 2%2054#& )+& F,"#& )*#& fare share.” (#04#*,6H&,"#&,)(&(#04#*,&)+&=.#0542*&#20*#0!>&&;)9!I&*#,&8)0,"J&& R"2,&,"#&(0),#!,)0!&"2%#&,2O#*&'(&,"#&.2*,$#&)+&F,2@&,"#&054"H& AK>B&95$$5)*6&244)0/5*E&,)&L)09#!I&MDNN&02*O5*E&)+&,"#&8#2$,"5#!,& 5!&*),&*#8>&&R"5!&"2!&9##*&,"#&5*4#!!2*,&42$$&)+&,"#&4'00#*,&2/.5* =.#0542*!<(',,5*E&"5.&*),&!5.($1&5*&,"#&,)(&NP6&9',&5*&,"#&,)(& 5!,02,5)*&!5*4#&;2*'201&MDD\&e)*$1&,"5!&!'..#0&,"#&["5,#&f)'!#& >DDDDNP>&&Q',&(0),#!,)0!&.)'0*#/&"5!&(2!!5*E6&.2*1&2+,#0&$#20*5*E& 82!& 42$$5*E& +)0& 2& ,2@& 025!#& )*& F4)0()02,#& S#,-)8*#0!Hg6& 2*/& *)8& of it via their iPhones. ,"#&3*E#0-()5*,5*E&5.('$!#&"2!&9##*&2!!'.#/&91&2&85/#&!82,"&)+& 7,& 5!& '*4$#20& #@24,$1& 8"2,& ,"#& (0),#!,)0!& 82*,>& &R"#1& 82*,& $# ,"#&()('$24#>&&`[:&"2!&9#4).#&,"#&$2,#!,&9'$$")0*&+)0&,"#&.1,"& E2$&.205S'2*2T&,"#1&82*,&2*&#*/&,)&820>&&R"#1&82*,&F5..#/52,#& ,"2,&F(0)!(#05,1&5!&2&h#0)-!'.&E2.#>H&&Q',&5,I!&*),>&&R"#&9#2',1&)+& 240)!!-,"#-9)20/& /#9,& +)0E5%#*#!!& +)0& 2$$HT& ,"#1& 82*,& 4)$$#E#& ,' .20O#,-/05%#*&8#2$,"&5!&,"2,&2&$),&)+&(#)($#&42*&"2%#&2&$),&)+&5,>&& 5,5)*&(25/&+)0>&&Q052*&U"5$$5(!6&5*&4"20E#&)+&4)..'*542,5)*!&+)0&,"#& =*/&,"#0#&5!&2$821!&0)).&+)0&.)0#>&& VWX&Y#*#02$&=!!#.9$16&,"#&.25*&E0)'(&"#2/5*E& ^)8#0& b2*"2,,2*& "2!& 9##*& !,)0.#/& 91& !#%#02$& Lower Manhattan thousand people who never learned to confront re the protests, wants “to overthrow the government.” has been stormed =*/&8"5$#&"#&5!&4#0,25*$1&2,&,"#&#@,0#.#&#*/6&U"5$ ality. Rather than accepting that these economic $5(!I&E)2$!&2((20#*,$1&3,&5*,)&8"2,#%#0&(2,4"8)0O& by several thousand circumstances are the result of failed government .)%#.#*,&,"#&(0),#!,)0!&")(#&85$$&205!#>&&R"#0#&5!& people who never ()$545#!& ,"2,& "2%#& ,2@#/& S)9-.2O#0!& 5*,)& )9$5%5)*& no declaration of grievances, no manifesto, and no learned to confront and eliminated any incentives for entrepreneurs to (0)()!2$!&+)0&0#+)0.!>&&R"#1&2$$&S'!,&82*,&4"2*E#>&& try startups and venture capitalists to fund them, the reality. =*/& S'!,54#>& & Q',& 8"2,& ,"2,& #*,25$!& 2*/& ")8& ,"#1& (0),#!,)0!&"2%#&!'9!4059#/&,)6&2,&9#!,6&9025*-82!"#/& are going to get there is, apparently, still in the air. recrimination and, at worst, an enormous conspiracy =,&,"#&"#20,&)+&,"#&(0),#!,!&!##.!&,)&9#&2&0#24,5)*&2E25*!,&F4)0 ,"#)01&5*&8"54"&2&4292$&)+&054"6&4)**#4,#/&#$5,#!&"2!&!4"#.#/&,)& ()02,#&E0##/H&2*/&F#4)*).54&5*S'!,54#6H&8"54"&,"#&(0),#!,)0!&#@ 0)9&*#20$1&,"#&8")$#&)+&,"#&=.#0542*&45,5h#*01&)+&2*1&4"2*4#&)+& ($25*&85,"&,"#&$2,#!,&!$)E2*&)+&4$2!!&820+20#Z&F[#&20#&,"#&\\P>H&& #4)*).54&!,295$5,1> R"2,& 5!6& ,"#1& 20#& ,"#& \\& (#04#*,& )+&=.#0542*!& "2%5*E& 2& /5+34'$,& 7,I!&!5$$5*#!!&9#1)*/&0#4O)*5*E>&&7+&,"#&(0),#!,)0!&,0'$1&82*,&,)& ,5.#&F.2O5*E&5,6H&!,0'EE$5*E&,)&FE#,&916H&)',&)+&8)0O&2*/&85,")',& facilitate an environment of economic prosperity, they would peti (0)!(#4,!6&!,025*5*E&'*/#0&.2!!5%#&4)$$#E#&$)2*!&2*/&,"#&9'0/#*!& ,5)*&,"#50&4)*E0#!!.#*&,)&$)8#0&=.#0542I!&4)0()02,#&,2@&02,#&e,"#& )+& 2& /5!"#20,#*5*E& #4)*).54& )',$))O>& &=*/& ,"#1& 20#& 05E",>& & ]4) "5E"#!,&5*&,"#&8)0$/g6&,)&G'5,&!(#*/5*E&.5$$5)*!&)+&/)$$20!&!'9!5/5h nomic times are hard. Recent college graduates are unemployed 5*E&+25$5*E&4).(2*5#!&e#>E>&:)$1*/02g6&2*/&,)&8)0O&,)820/&E#*'5*#& 5*&.2!!5%#&*'.9#0!6&2*/&,"#&!,)05#!&)+&7%1&^#2E'#&E02/'2,#!&8)0O #*,5,$#.#*,&0#+)0.&e!)&,"2,&,)/21I!&8)0O#0!&85$$&9#&29$#&,)&/028& 5*E& ,#.(& S)9!& ,)& (21& 0#*,& 20#& 5*40#2!5*E$1& 4)..)*>& & :)& 20#& ,"#& )*&:)452$&:#4'05,1&2*/&b#/5420#&8"#*&,"#1&0#,50#&/#42/#!&"#*4#g> !,)05#!&)+&(20#*,!&!")4O5*E$1&$25/&)++&+0).&!,29$#&)+34#&S)9!>&&R"#& :).#& )+& ,"#& (0),#!,)0!6& ,)& ,"#50& 40#/5,6& "2%#& 8)O#*& '(>& & R"#& !,0'EE$#!& 20#& 0#2$6& 2*/& #%#01)*#& O*)8!& 5,>& & Q',& ,)& 2!!'2E#& ,"#50& F")(#H& ,"#1& %),#/& +)0& ,"0##& 1#20!& 2E)& "2!& 15#$/#/& *)& +0'5,!<5*& woes the protestors have turned for inspiration not to the Greatest +24,6&,"#&#4)*).1&"2!&)*$1&9#4).#&.)0#&0),,#*>&&=*/&*)8&,"#1&20#& Y#*#02,5)*&9',&,)&,"#&L0#*4"&_#%)$',5)*6&!42(#E)2,5*E&,"#&8#2$," 0#4)E*5h5*E&,"2,&E)%#0*.#*,&()$545#!&20#&*),&,"#&!)$',5)*T&,"#1I0#& 5#!,&=.#0542*!&2*/&9$2.5*E&,"#.&+)0&,"#&*2,5)*I!&#4)*).54&8)#!>&& ,"#&(0)9$#.>&&Q',&,"#&0#!,&4)*,5*'#&,)&%5$5+1&4)0()02,5)*!&2*/&,"#50& R"#1&"2%#&9#4).#&,"#&$2,#!,&(#//$#0!&)+&2&*2002,5%#&5*&8"54"&,"#& $#2/#0!6&9#$5#%5*E&,"2,&)*$1&E)%#0*.#*,-!()*!)0#/&,"5#%#01&)+&,"#& highest earners and the largest corporations are oppressing the vast 054"& 85$$& !)$%#&=.#0542I!& ,0)'9$#!>& &=*/& !)& ,"#1& .204"& )*&[2$$& .2S)05,1& )+&=.#0542*!& 5*& )0/#0& ,)& #@(2*/& (0)3,& .20E5*!6& 244'! :,0##,&5*&,"#50&f)$$5!,#0&!"50,!&2*/&V5O#&!")#!&2*/&()!,&,"#&("),)!& 5*E&X]`!&2*/&902*/-*2.#&9'!5*#!!#!&)+&/05%5*E&,"#&*2,5)*I!&'* )*&L24#9))O&%52&Q$24O9#005#!> #.($)1.#*,6&02(5/&5*a2,5)*6&2*/&40'!"5*E&/#9,>&&7+&)*$1&,"#&[2$$& 7,I!&,0'$1&,"#2,0#&)+&,"#&29!'0/>
THE GADFLY
12
UPCOMING !"#$%&%'"()*%+,-.$% EVENTS !"/)%&%0($%&)%12%3--4 Tuesday 10/18 SJC Orchestra Rehearsal Great Hall, 45:30 PM Kunai Soccer Back Campus, 46 PM Open Mic Night Chasement, 8 PM Wednesday 10/19 Athenian ReasonBall H v W, 4 PM Eric Fricke Bach Concert Great Hall, 6 PM St. John’s Chorus Great Hall, 7 PM Friday 10/21 Kunai Soccer Back Campus, 46 PM Parker String Quartet Concert FSK Auditorium, 8:15 PM Saturday 10/22 Mental Health Support Group BBC Room 109, 10:30 AM Athenian ReasonBall D v W, 2 PM G v S, 3:30 PM Sunday 10/23 Athenian ReasonBall H v G, 1:30 PM S v W, 3:30 PM Mabel the Swimming Wonder Monkey will be holding a four part Batman marathon in the Spector Media Room, on Friday and Saturday at 6:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 and 8:00 PM If you would like to see your event on the weekly schedule, !"#$%#&#'$("&)$*+,-%./$0#*1
by Ryan Fleming A’15
T
his is what I think about when I sit in think about why I still call my classmates my room. “kids.” I think about whether I ever grew I think about whether submitting to The up. I think about whether I’m thinking !"#$%&would be cool. I think about wheth about the Program books the way I should er people will make fun of me for this, and be thinking about them. I think about the plethora of other things they could pick the grades I have that don’t actually ex upon. ist. I think about whether I exist. I think I I think about how I should spend my time shouldn’t be a sophist. I think that’s a cruel most productively. I think about whether fate. this article is redundant. I think about who I think that I don’t read newspapers will want to read this article. enough. I think I’m not worldly enough. I think about how music makes me want I think I’m neglecting my Greek work. I to write sometimes. I think about whether think Greek is scary. I think I don’t appre the papers I write are any good. I think ciate it enough. I think I’m not appreciat about how I have a paper due Monday. I ing enough things as much as I should be. I think I should think more about that paper. think about how many kids actually appre I think I like writing. I think a lot. I think ciate everything this school offers. I think I will write these thoughts down. I think I about how this is my world now. I think will speak these thoughts one day. I think about how many kids appreciate the world. if you are reading this, then it has been ac I think about the world. cepted and printed by '()&!"#$%. I think about how my home used to be I think about what other kids are doing. my world. I think about when I go home I think about how I study a now on the occasional I think about how we weekend, it doesn’t feel lot. I think about how I wish more people supported the !"#$"%&'()"*+")%,$!% like home. I think about Hustlers. I think about how -.%-/0)%"+"$%1&))-2*"% how when I come back to 23'& 45(64& 75& 895%%:7& 75 /&%!"#$"%)&3"/4-$5% St. John’s and lie in my bed morrow. I think about start it doesn’t feel like home. "+"$%64"$%7&'%,("% ing my own club. I think I think about what home /4,/%/4-$58 about everything that club is. I think about Odysseus. could be. I think about how I don’t I think about what I can do to make St. want to go home and have to kill suitors. I John’s a better place. I think about being a think I don’t want to kill anything. I think good student. I think about being involved that’s a good quality about me. I think in the community. I think about being a about me. I think about what it is to beat friend to the polity. I think about telling workstayingmyself. I think about how we other people what I think. I think about *#:6#&519%#"?#%&$6*&(@&(73%&#?#6&!5%%(="#&75& how important others’ thoughts are. I think *#:6#&%5'#7;(64&>;#6&,51&$9#&7;$7&7;(640& more people should write to '()&!"#$%. I think too much. I think too hard. I think I think about how I know nothing about that thinking is a good thing to do. I think .5196$"(%'0&2&7;(6<&$=517&;5>&2&<65>&657; about how we’re all thinking. I think about ing about politics. I think about how I know how we don’t always think about the same nothing about foreign affairs. I think about things, but there’s a rare phenomenon when how I never “prospied.” I think about how that does occur. I think about how this writ I don’t use big words like other kids. I think ing doesn’t even encompass everything about how others are thinking about what I that I thought about when I was typing this think. I think I thought about that line too article. I think about how I picked what much. I think my head hurts when I think sentences to write. I think this overwhelms about that. me. I think I might write too much. I think I think about being on time to class. I I might stop. I think. This is what I think think about why other kids miss class. I about when I sit in my room, I think.