the
Q&A
October 7, 2010 | Issue #220
y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
editor-in-chief: Ri l ey Kenny s m ith
We’ve run into some technical difficulties this week, but as promised, we’re getting an issue to you no matter what. I’m especially thankful for the internet this week, because even when we’re unable to print issues on time, we can still upload to purchaseindy.com for you! Convenient and ecologically savvy, not too shabby. I feel like I have nothing to say this week, but that’s only because I’m holding in a huge secret! The Indy staff is planning something big, something that’s going to take months and lots of collaboration from the campus, and it’s all I’ve been able to think about since it popped into my head last weekend. And when I say this secret is huge, I mean this project is huge beyond anything we’ve ever done before. It’s something to make us all proud of our campus and make this campus a place to be proud of—we’re going down in the annals of Purchase history and we’re taking you with us, and you’re gonna like it. I can’t really give away any more hints, but I think it’s good to prepare all of you with this anticipatory letter. Sharpen your pencils, clear your camera’s memory card and clean up your canvases, because soon enough we’re going to call on you to be part of something big and we need you to be ready.
layout editor: Tar a C o nnel l y writers: Hi l l ar y A nd er s on Adam B reid b a r t Van es sa C ava na g h Ros e C ros by Madam e Q u er y copy editors: Er i c a B a s co Alex Pros cia print manager: Robyn Wil k ins cover photo by: Kel l yann Petr y artwork by: Tony Wa s hing to n web editor: D ani ell e Lem p p
The Purchase Independent is a non-profit news magazine, paid for by the Mandatory Student Activity fee. We welcome and encourage submissions from readers. The Indy is a forum for campus issues and events, to give students the voice they deserve. Letters, articles, comics, ads, event photography and event listings are welcomed. The deadline for submissions is every Friday before midnight, and accepted pieces will be published the following Thursday. Publication of submissions is not guaranteed, but subject to the discretion of the editors. No anonymous submissions will be considered, but we will accept use of pseudonyms on a case-bycase basis. Send all submissions and inquiries to your.indy@gmail.com. Send questions to Madame Query at formspring.me/madamequery. Back page quotes can be submitted to formspring.me/indybackpage or put in the Back Page Box that hangs on the office door. Our office is located on the first floor of Campus Center North, room 1011. Staff meetings are held in the office every Monday night at 9:30; anyone is welcome to join.
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MUSIC
MOVING MOUNTAINS
BY HILLARY ANDERSON
Hillary Anderson: Who plays what? Are you guys all Purchase students? What do you study?
Greg: I play guitar and sing. I’m a Studio Production student and still in progress. Nick: I play the drums, and I’m currently studying Graphic Design. As far as degrees go, we’re all relatively close to graduating so whether we take off another semester or two or not, we’ll definitely be back to finish it up. Frank: I play guitar and study Literature. Mitch: I play bass. I already graduated from SUNY Geneseo and have a B.S. in Biology. HA: What is it about Triple Crown that made you decide to choose them over another record label?
G: A number of reasons. After looking over the deals that were presented, Triple Crown was more willing and capable of negotiating terms with us. Being from NYC, their location made it easy for us to be in contact. Fred, the owner, is a good guy. Getting to know him during the negotiation process helped us feel more comfortable with the label than with others label we were talking to. M: Triple Crown seemed like a great fit, especially since we’ve played a handful of shows with As Tall As Lions and The Dear Hunter. HA: How did you decide to make your recording process public?
G: We thought it would be cool to keep people involved in everything we do. It’s not the first time a band has done something like this. But
since we’ll be recording the record ourselves again, we thought it’d be cool to stream it online so people could log in and see the progress and development. The internet is good for that. F: We’re always thinking about what we’d like to see our favorite bands do, and that idea came up. HA: What does Triple Crown think of that decision?
N: Not really sure, to be honest. From the start though, Triple Crown has seemed pretty open to our ideas and letting us do (for the most part) what we want. F: Yeah, and that freedom is rare nowadays. It’s a great attribute of Triple Crown. HA: Is there any particular sound you’re trying to move toward with your new album?
G: Focus and balance between ambience and rock. It’s hard to share anything about it now, as we haven’t begun tracking yet. N: Yeah, focus and trimming the fat. Our songs tend to be longer and drawn out on past records, but now we’re starting to question what parts really need to be there, how long they need to be. F: We’ve also been progressively concentrating on having songs that will work well live. One of the reasons we don’t play too many Pneuma songs is that Moving Mountains wasn’t really a live band at the time. M: Probably every band believes their new stuff is “better” than their old stuff, but I really think this record is going to be pretty solid. We’ve all
(continued on page 4)
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(continued from page 3) grown and become better musicians over the past few years. I feel like we recorded Foreword ages ago. HA: So you guys are going on an international tour. That’s exciting. Will it be the first time you’ve gone abroad?
F: Yes. Going overseas has been something we’ve been meaning to do for a while now. We’re all excited as it’s a brand new territory for us to play. M: We played Canada once. Even though it isn’t all that radically different from the U.S., it was still pretty fun and exciting. Especially crossing the border and being paranoid of getting stripsearched by Customs agents. HA: How will you pick your setlist for upcoming shows?
N: Once the new record comes out, we will certainly be playing a lot of new stuff, but of course keep some older songs in the set. We’ve been playing songs off Pneuma and Foreword for many years, so to have new songs in the set will be quite refreshing. We never make up a setlist the night of the show. Before a tour we’ll pick out the order of the songs we want to play, and practice that set a few weeks beforehand. Then we’ll have one or two more songs that we cycle in and out, if we have enough time and the crowd is into it. HA: How was your tour this summer?
N: Tour this summer was awesome. All the bands on the bill were great, and we’ve been long time fans of Polar Bear Club especially, so it was an honor for them to take us out. Everywhere we go is exciting in its own way, because it’s all different (or the same, depending on how you look at
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it). Cities like Chicago and Dallas are always exciting because we do well there. New York also, just because it’s home. F: All our tours have been very different so far. It really changes depending on who you’re out with. We’ve made lots of great friends on the road both from musicians we’ve toured with and people we’ve met from playing the same cities. Every place we’ve played has had its ups and downs. It’s great being able to travel and have new experiences while doing what we love. M: Tour is absolutely great. The only thing that sucks is that your food options are often seriously limited. You can’t cook anything fresh for yourself. You either get bar food (which is delicious but really unhealthy) or Taco Bell at 2 a.m. after a show. That’s about it. Sometimes we get lucky and get a fresh home-cooked meal at a friend or relative’s house. HA: Do you get any gifts from fans?
N: Sure, mostly food though. Sometimes we get homemade baked goods brought to the show, which is always nice. M: One fan that we became friends with on tour, Elise from Portland, OR, made us vegan cupcakes in chocolate and vanilla. Those were the best vegan cupcakes I’ve ever had in my life. And none of us are vegan. HA: Are you still going to play shows at Purchase after you’re rich and famous?
N: If they want us, surely! HA: Anything else you want to say?
N: Thanks for reading this interview, and be sure to come say hi next time we play in the area. Our new album will be out early 2011.
HER CAMPUS
ROAD TRIP
CIDER MILLS RULE
Really though, who doesn’t like road trips? Life on a budget doesn’t mean you have to leave your car in the parking lot. So buckle up, adventures aren’t completely off limits. In an effort to bulk up my ‘bucket list’ of sorts, I journeyed beyond the offerings of Purchase and its five hundred acres of campus. We ended up about two hours away in Old Mystic/Mystic Connecticut. Old Mystic and Mystic are small New England coastal towns, which I love. My first mission was to figure out if Old Mystic was worth the drive. Meaning, what free stuff is there to do other than window-shopping at antique stores? My search led me to a number of things including museums and interestingly, B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill. Done. We left early on Saturday. ‘We’ as in my boyfriend and me. (He’s my trusted navigator and the elected historian of the trip.) Our drive went smoothly… all ninety exits of it. When we finally started to see signs for “Old Mystic (x) miles away,” boyfriend tried hopelessly to capture a picture, but obviously at 70 mph it was pretty impossible. But an essential piece of the road trip pie is the photographic proof, and after multiple attempts, he finally succeeded just as we arrived. The Mill was only a few minutes away, but once we turned from Main Street to North Stonington Road it went from city to somewhere off the beaten path. The Mill is tucked away among trees just beginning to fade into their autumn blush. The low down: B.F. Clyde’s Cider Mill is the only surviving steam powered cider mill in
BY ROSE CROSBY
the U.S., family owned and operated since 1881. I know, it sounds like a drag, why go there? But I promise it is fun. Oh, and did I mention, free? Choosing to go to the Mill could have meant two things: 1. We could have been the only people there. 2. We could have been the only college kids there amongst crowds of families and whiny kids. Luckily, neither was the case. We arrived just in time for one of the cider making demonstrations. Literally hundreds of apples are chopped and then pressed by the steam-powered machinery, and while the workers seem completely unaffected by the audience, I was like a kid in a candy store. The Mill is decked out with vintage equipment: jugs, signs/posters, and paraphernalia, but not as tacky and overwhelming as Applebee’s. If that doesn’t entertain you, watching the apple pressing process will. After the demonstration was over, boyfriend and I walked around the rest of the Clyde’s property. In addition to making sweet cider, Clyde’s produces apple butter, apple jellies and a slew of hard ciders and apple wines. So for those of us that are legal, it is quite an experience—sorry kiddies, but they are adamant about checking IDs. Of course our first stop was over to the (free!) hard cider tasting. And forget whatever notion of hard cider you have (it’s nothing like Woodchuck, which is sweet and bubbly). Clyde’s ciders are not carbonated, and tend to be more tart. We purchased a half-gallon of the Lucky Lion cider, made from Russet apples, for just under $12 with tax.
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BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING BY VANESSA CAVANAGH Two weeks ago, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad strutted his finelysuited self into the United Nations and managed to piss off a lot of people. He claimed that the 9/11 attacks were ‘a big lie’ and went on to explain how the assaults on U.S. soil “intended to serve as a pretext for fighting terrorism and setting the grounds for sending troops to Afghanistan.” His words didn’t come as a surprise to many. In fact, in the past few years, it’s been difficult not to come across at least a handful who believe in 9/11 conspiracy theories that the entire thing was an inside job. If conspiracy theories have proven anything, it’s that it must be human nature to latch on to complicated answers to major events. One man, with one rifle, shot one president? Hell no, it must be deeper than that! 40 years later, there are still people who believe JFK’s assassination must be more complex. Conspiracy theories have the wonderful ability to capture our imaginations in a chokehold. We’re all conspiracy theorists at heart; we may not always believe as we are told, but we can’t resist listening anyway. The conspiracy theorist, as a rule, seizes upon any apparent inconsistency and from that germ of truth the story is built up. The 9/11 documentary Loose Change captured the hearts of teenagers and twenty-somethings everywhere. The most popular theory is that the WTC Towers couldn’t have fallen the way they did from structural weakening due to fire; it had to
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be a controlled demolition. Another common theory is that the Pentagon was not actually hit by a plane, but by a U.S missile. It’s quite easy to eat this shit up, it’s natural (and justified) for our generation to question those in charge. But there were a lot of sloppy inconsistencies in Loose Change, and the creator of the documentary even came out and said so. He admitted that a lot of the facts were unverified and exaggerated. The real test would be to see if the people watching would take what they saw as truth, or go research and fact check for themselves. The 9/11 Truth Movement is a more legitamite group who criticised many of the claims made in the video. The problem with people who believe everything they see on YouTube or read on message boards is that in general, conspiracy theories tend to be short on definitive, “smoking-gun” evidence. Many are impossible to disprove, yet the absence of hard evidence can be interpreted as support for the theory, so it’s sort of like an endless cycle. One of the most popular underground theories is the fervent belief in Reptilians, spanning thousands of years of Earth history. Maybe you’ve heard of them. Maybe you know one of them. Typically, Reptilians are described as 6 to 8 feet tall, having scaly green skin, and smell. David Icke, a British author, travels around the world and speaks to crowds of thousands about the impending doom of the Reptilian race and the mind control they have over us all. He wrote that they are capable of shape-shifting, and since the recent emergence
your.indy@gm ai l.com
of YouTube and the expansion of this theory, many figures in the media have been pegged as Reptilians. The list includes George W. Bush, writers and personalities on Fox News, hundreds of congressmen, The Queen of England and hundreds of others. One of the more plausible theories out there is about the Montauk Project, a series of time travel and invisibility experiments conducted in Montauk, Long Island. Dozens of books have been written about the alleged contact with extraterrestrial life, the enhancement of psychic abilities for those involved, and the consequent creation of the ‘Men in Black.’ There are hundreds upon thousands of theories like these. Some have been proven over the years, and others loom over us for decades. For example, thousands of Americans believe the conspiracies surrounding the creation of certain diseases and the withholding of their cures in order to keep the cancer/AIDS industries alive. Some believe that John Lennon was killed by the CIA because he had too much influence, or that the Apollo moon landings were staged. Some even believe that the marketing scheme by Coca Cola in the 80’s was just a plot to take away a product people loved and replace it with one they knew people would hate, just to make consumers squirm while they withheld it in order to increase profits with its re-release. For those of you who enjoy staying up late prowling the web, some fascinating
theories to look into include but are not limited to: The Fluoride Conspiracy (allegedly the greatest case of scientific fraud in this century), The Illuminati & Freemasonry (duh!), the Vril Society Conspiracy, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (the hoax that started the Vietnam War) and the conspiracies surrounding the Columbine shootings. But don’t stop there, keep reading, keep looking. Just don’t believe everything you read, even if it does make your imagination want to fly away and nest comfortably wherever it lands.
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ALEX STARK
COORDINATOR OF FINANCES BY ADAM BREIDBART
Adam Breidbart: Would you say you handle your money as well as Tony Stark?
Alex Stark: I work more than just this job so it’s easy for me to lose track of my finances when it’s flying at me from every direction, but the PSGA money I find is very easy to handle because everything is so procedural. I don’t want to say it’s easy, but you’re never confused about what to do because there’s always somewhere to look that will tell you exactly what to do. AB: What is your role in the PSGA as the Coordinator of Finance?
AS: My job is to handle and train the treasurers for all the clubs, organizations and services and make sure they know how to spend their money. Then when they have questions about spending their budget, they come to me. In the spring semester, I make sure all budget proposals have meetings set up and that they get proper allotments of money. I’m also in charge of writing the entire budget, which doesn’t just include clubs, orgs and services, but also things like intramural sports and the gym grant, which is a couple thousand dollars; things like that. AB: What are your financial goals this year for the PSGA?
AS: Last year there were a lot of issues with clubs’ treasurers and presidents not knowing how to spend their money, not understanding the procedures of spending PSGA money. My goal is to make sure there are no hiccups or issues, especially with new clubs. It’s exciting that the PSGA is growing and it’s a great thing
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because it’s one more place for students to go and be involved. I think if you don’t get involved in things at Purchase, you won’t have a good experience. I would also like to write an amazing budget next semester that makes everyone happy. AB: Where did your interest in this position come from?
AS: Last year I was the senator of Alumni Village. My interest in the PSGA came from Russell Zambito because he was one of my good friends; he was chair of Senate and he introduced me to the PSGA. When it was time for him to leave I took over as lead gay in the PSGA. I sat on finance as a senator and I saw what Nico did, and I got really interested; after asking him a billion questions I realized this is completely within my realm of interest. AB: Does your major tie into the position?
AS: Yeah, I started off at Queens College as a finance major. When I came to Purchase there was no finance major so I switched to economics. I wouldn’t so much call it an economics program because there is so much involved in it, it’s more like a business program. They incorporate elements of every single aspect of money and banking where it is really relevant to a position like mine. AB: What’s the biggest pain about the job?
AS: I don’t think anything is a real pain. I got this position expecting to do a lot of work and I do work normally 40-50 hours a week, but I spread out my time well enough that nothing seems like a hassle.
CAMPUS AB: What has been your role in handling the aftermath of the flood in CCN?
AS: None of the executives have been involved in handling it, the school (mostly the Office of Student Life) has been handling that whole situation. The school is paying for the damage so none of it is coming from the PSGA budget. The only thing really being renovated is a new carpet and new ceiling tile, and it should be fixed within the next two weeks, which is really nice. AB: How are all of the salaries for student service employees figured out into the budget?
AS: It’s mostly based on past precedence. When I do my budget I don’t alter anyone’s salary; I’ve seen the drama that has come from it in the past. The PSGA stipend positions have to remember, we’re a non-profit organization and none of us really get paid more than the other. If you do your job really well and care about working for the school, the money is secondary. I don’t do this for the money; I do it because I love the job. You get a little compensation and it’s also something great for your resume. We try to spread the pay as fairly as possible. AB: When you graduate from Purchase do you want a future in finance?
AS: Right now I am preparing for the LSAT and plan on going to law school. In some ways I’ll be involved in finance, but I want to practice law. AB: What was the inspiration for your Toy Story tattoo? (Alex has the face of the 3-eyed alien on his arm.)
(Road Trip: continued from page 5) From there, we went to their on-site market filled with jams, jellies, syrups, and other goodies. Not to mention their famous sweet cider and homemade donuts! We each had a cup of cider and a donut totaling $3! The market has a $10 minimum charge for credit/debit purchases, so bring your loose change. We enjoyed our afternoon snack outside next to the homemade popcorn station, and listened to a country music cover band. Not necessarily my cup of cider, but it totally fit the setting. After torturing boyfriend by taking countless pictures of us by the corn stalks and pseudo pumpkin patch, we went over to the (free!) apple wine tasting. Apple wine is a funny thing; I had no idea what to expect, but it was delicious. My recommendation is the spiced apple wine, which is best consumed warm. Yes, hot wine. The taste was similar to apple tea. Basically, deliciousness. All in all, other than the bee with a personal vendetta against my cup of cider (and the port-a-potty) it was a great afternoon. The road trip cost about $25 in purchases (food, cider and parking when we stopped afterward for further adventures in downtown Mystic) and $20 in gas to get there and back. Overall, Mystic is an awesome place to visit, far enough to be considered a road trip but close enough to go for just the day, even if you’re on a budget! Happy Ventures! This article is published courtesy of Her Campus. http://hercampus.com/purchase
AS: It’s actually a really horrible story—I woke up one morning and said, “I really want a Toy Story tattoo,” and then went out and got it. The design was on the back of a notebook I bought at Wal-Mart, and I took it to the tattoo artist. Now I have it and I love it.
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MADAME QUERY
HAS YOUR REMEDY
Any suggestions for the virgins out there? Yes, we do exist on this campus. I want to swipe my v-card soon-ish, but I still want to respect myself in the morning. Help!
Just get it done with. Get blackout drunk. Get penetrated or penetrate. Respect yourself by having an orgasm. Actually, really respecting yourself is the following: think about what you want. Think about what you can live with after your v-card is gone. If you just go and lose it to some random person who lives down the hall from you and won’t care afterward, do it. If you’re going to be super lame and cry about how you lost it to someone you didn’t care about, don’t waste your friends’ time and worry yourself by doing it like that. If you just want to get it done with, then be safe, find your willing participant and pop a squat on them. Here is what I will say to you no matter what decision you make: after you lose it, don’t be reckless and loosey-goosey. It isn’t a pretty sight to see someone go down that road. You’ll look like a complete twat if you do that. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have sex to fulfill some needs. You know, like every once in a while, not enough to make you (and your STD record) look like whore. There is such a thing as masturbation after all. And if you want to share the love, just keep it safe and a secret. Don’t fuck within the same social circles, or you won’t have social circles to fuck within. But I guess you need to lose it first before that happens.
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I don’t have the courage to tell this girl I like her—my past failures and rejections keep coming back to haunt me. I feel like such an idiot. Any advice?
This question reminds Madame of a quote from one of her favorite movie-musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof. The poor tailor, Motel, is dying to marry Tevve’s eldest daughter Tzeitel. Tevve refuses at first, but Tzeitel encourages Motel and says, “Even a poor tailor is entitled to some happiness!” You, my friend, are entitled to some happiness. Don’t think that you are the first to be rejected and humiliated by your crushes. We’ve all been there, and if a reader out there hasn’t then they’re the asshole humiliating and rejecting all the innocent suitors. But even they’ll have a time when their love is not reciprocated. Yes, even Madame has been rejected. In person, over the phone, through text message and sadly even facebook chat. It sucks, it hurts. It makes you stronger and a much better lover. I want you to stop feeling like an idiot, take a good look in the mirror and scream “I am hot shit!” ...it always works for Madame. (If you share a dormitory bathroom I suggest you whisper or think it to yourself, or else you may look like an idiot.)
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
TO MADAME QUERY http://www.formspring.me/madamequery
A DV I C E So one time last semester, I got a little shwasted and ended up going home and getting naked with a random dude. He’s nice and all, but a little too bro-y for my tastes. We haven’t really talked much since. Now we have two classes together. Help!
Did he not make you “banana pancakes” in the morning? Okay maybe that was a bad Jack Johnson reference. All I have to say is even if he is bro-y, don’t make anything awkward. You can do almost anything if you act like nothing is phasing you. Fake it until you make it. If you act strange or are obviously trying to avoid him, then that already-too-big elephant in the room will just keep growing. Madame understands that it is hard to not appear uncomfortable, because that’s how we automatically feel when that situation occurs. Just last week she ran into a former fling, tried to be polite and say hello and then got treated with The Big Ignore. It burns when you try to be nice to someone you don’t even really care about and they act like an asshole. Regardless, there was also a positive side: I wasn’t the asshole. I was the innocent one trying to make things right and he was the coward who just so conveniently turned his head right as I walked into the room. Don’t pretend he isn’t there. You both know who is in your class. You don’t have to go out of your way to talk to him, but if you catch each other’s eye, give a noble wave. A wave or a simple hello does not signal that you’re willing to give this guy another night of pleasure. If he’s just as mature as I hope you are, he’ll know you’re just saying hi and nothing else.
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A response to last week’s Pakistan article:
Thank you for looking at Pakistan and trying to tackle a large international issue in the Indy. It’s nice to see the Indy even trying to look like a real newspaper after recent years. Although Ms. Cavanagh raised some great points, she missed two large reasons for the lack of media attention on the Pakistani floods as compared to the coverage on Haiti. The first is that Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Journalists are not allowed in many parts of the country, so travel there is nearly impossible. The other point I want to bring up is that Pakistan’s government, as corrupt and inept as it has been, still stands and governs with varying degrees of success. The Haitian government was completely in tatters, unable to aid its own people. Neither of these are excuses for the lack of media coverage or donations to the victims of the flood, only partial explanations. Also, concerning this same article, please don’t write in a highly sarcastic manner to your readers. They don’t want to be educated through derision and guilt. And if anything, please never NEVER punctuate gruesome facts with “yum.” I appreciate the writer’s attempt at humor, but it just came out petty and literally revolting. If you’re going to try to write about a serious subject, at least try to be serious. Again, congrats to the Indy, and keep up the good work! -AR
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*some quotes have been rewritten for legibility or to preserve the anonymity of the submitter
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