the
THE 10 ANNIVERSARY ISSUE TH
December 1, 2011 | Issue #253
y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m editor-in-chief: Ri l ey Ken ny s mith layout editor: To m D au er writers: A dr i en Beh n A l ex a Dillen b eck D a n a Ellis E m i l y Far rell Sco tt G alin a Ró i sí n McCarty G l en Park er M a da me Q u er y B i l l Rees e To m my Roach print manager: To ny Pon tiu s cover photo by: D avi d Grimald i copy editor: To m my Roach artwork by: M a rg o t Allis on web design by: D a n i el l e Lemp p The Purchase Independent is a nonprofit 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 caseby-case 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.
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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.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR I’ve been the editor of The Indy for a year and a half, and have worked for The Indy since my freshman year. It’s been a huge part of my life at Purchase, as I know it was for those who came before me. As you’ll see from the former editors’ retrospectives in this 10th Anniversary Issue, I’ve had big shoes to fill. As Purchase changes The Indy must change too, but I think the original spirit of purpose remains the same: we are here to provide an independent publication to the campus, so that Purchase students can both publish and read the things they want to see. My time here is almost up and I can only hope that I have done justice to the legacy of this publication. Keep The Indy alive, keep it going for the sake of your campus and the students who will follow us in the future. The Indy is your paper, don’t let anyone ever take it away from you. I would like to thank each of the former editors: Glen Parker (issues 1-29), Clinton Love (issues 30-37), Kristin Charles (issues 31-37), Erica DeMott (issues 38-64), Bill Reese (issues 65-115), Steven Tartick (issues 66115), Emily Farrell (issues 116-140), Adam Tyrell (issues 141-166), Dana Ellis (issues 167-191) and Mariel Loveland (issues 191-214). Celebrating 10 years of publication and in honor of editors past, the logo this week is filled with old Indy covers from the beginning to the present.
in loving memory of
Michelle MacNaught 1990 – 2011
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THE INDY’S BEGINNING BY Glen Parker Writing this piece I am a ghost—an alum who hasn’t been to Purchase in years. Though Purchase has a special significance to me, and I am grateful to have been a part of such an incredibly rich community, it feels odd to occupy these pages which were meant to serve as a canvas for student expression. With that in mind, I offer a brief account of how this beast came to be. The Purchase Independent was a fluke. It emerged as an afterthought to the idea of starting a thrift store consignment shop on campus. I presented the idea for the store to the student government and the school. I was told that the student government was not allowed to make money and that I had to come up with an idea of what the profits from the store would be used for if I wanted the store to happen. My first thought was to have a greenhouse. After some discussion with the thrift store crew, we decided to start a student newspaper instead. At the time, the only source of news on campus was The Dispatch (is that still around?), a monthly publication of the journalism department. Though it served the students who worked on it by giving them the opportunity to work on an actual publication, The Dispatch was somewhat of a disappointment to the rest of the students as many issues that we had really cared about went under-reported, while in abundance were what seemed to be puff pieces for the administration. So we formed the IPPI,
the Independent Purchase / Purchase Independent. The former was to be the name of the thrift store until the crew voted to call it The Sellar (is that still around?). Our vision was to empower students to have some ownership over, and input in, the economy, culture and campus news cycle of the school. The first issue of The Purchase Independent came out in the fall semester of 2001. It was 4 pages, black and white, and had a picture of a mouse and a piece of cheese on the front page. It had a limerick and an entire page was dedicated to horoscopes. Another testament to this modest beginning was that it was a one-man show for the first four months of its operation. But slowly the staff grew and others took it over. With each new editor-in-chief the paper grew in size and in scope, until it quickly exceeded what I had initially imagined for it: 16-page issues, in color (sometimes in 3D), and a website. What I certainly didn’t imagine was that it would have continued this long. I am really proud to have started what has become an institution at Purchase, but I’m even prouder of those who have kept this voice of the students alive and vibrant.
Glen Parker ‘04 started The Purchase Independent in 2001 and served as its editor-in-chief until 2002. The following year he served a truncated term as president of the PSGA. He later applied what he learned at Purchase when developing the student newspaper at Cardozo School of Law. He is currently a mediator in New York City.
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F OR M ER EDI TO RS
THIS IS YOUR INDY To understand what The Purchase Independent’s 10th birthday means, you need to understand something about the culture of Purchase student groups. Throughout the history of Purchase College, most student groups start with a core of people who care deeply about the project. Their dedication inspires a second generation who take over the club after its founders graduate, but they lose focus and get caught up in senior projects and allow the club to flounder. The third generation—inspired by the haywire management of their predecessors—runs things nonchalantly to the point that the group folds without anyone on campus noticing. That said, lasting 10 years is practically unheard of on this campus. Not bad for a publication founded to legitimize the profits from a student-run thrift store. The Indy has been many things in the decade since Glen Parker printed Issue #1 on a single sheet of 11” x 17” paper. It’s been both black and white and full-color, both poignant and irrelevant, both passionate and blasé. It’s been a hard news publication and a yellow journalism rag. It has conducted memorable investigations, written scathing editorials that freaked out college presidents—yet most people only read the back page or the comics. What is The Independent’s legacy now at 10 years old? It’s the second-oldest student service on campus next to the Alternative Clinic. Next to The LOAD—which ran for nearly 20 years—The Indy is the longest-running modern era publication. It has outlasted contemporaries like The Record, the Journalism Department-run
BY BILL REESE
Dispatch, and I believe the 2005-2006 Independent years were the inspiration to the founders of The Brick, who succeeded where previous Indy editors failed in creating a web-publication that captured the essence of the printed edition. The legacy of The Indy is spelled out in its email address. It’s YOUR Indy, even if this is the first issue you’ve read. You (and your MSAF) pay for it. You own it. It works for you. You are its next columnist or photographer. You are its next graphic designer or proofreader. You can steer it in whatever direction you think it should go. All you have to do is join in. I’ve been an editor with Playbill for nearly five years, and I owe everything I have to my work at The Purchase Independent. But my legacy as a former Chief Editor is not the first Naked Issue, or the infamous George W. Bush “fuck.” issue. My real legacy is in the friendships I forged while working in the trenches to publish The Indy on time. It’s worth mentioning that former Indy editor Emily Farrell met her husband Robert StewartRogers at one of our general interest meetings. The history of this paper—like the history of any life—is measured by the connections we make. This is Indy issue #253, and I am probably the only living person who has read them all (with the exception of the most recent Naked Issues which—for good reason—are not published online). When I co-ran this paper with Steven Tartick, it was treated like our baby. I was proud of it then, but I’m prouder of it now that it continues to exist, continues to thrive and continues to be the voice of your most eclectic and colorful student body.
Bill Reese was co-Chief Editor of The Independent from August 2004–May 2006 along with Steven Tartick. Under their watch, The Indy converted to color printing, became a hard journalism publication, established a subscribers list of nearly 150, and published the first editions of The Naked Issue, The Photo Issue and—most regrettably—The Gay Issue. After graduating, he was Assistant Editor of the music magazine Good Times and has been an editor at Playbill since 2007. He lives in the shadow of the 59th Street Bridge in Long Island City, Queens.
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issue 1 (November 30, 2001) Glen Parker
issue 74 (November 4, 2004) Bill Reese & Steven Tartick
issue 130 (February 8, 2007) Emily Farrell
issue 176 (November 13, 2008) Dana Ellis
THE INDY AT TEN YEARS
BY EMILY FARRELL
I’m tempted to say something like, “I never would have believed, seven years ago when I started working for The Independent, that it would make it to its 10th anniversary.” But not only would that be fully cliché, it would also be false. The Indy was around when I started my freshman year, and even though it had only been going for three years, it already felt like a Purchase institution. I think I would have been shocked to hear that it wouldn’t make it to 10 years, just like now I would be surprised if it weren’t around in another 10. During my tenure at Purchase, I saw The Indy evolve from a dirty rag of a publication (as Bill Reese—Chief Editor, 2004–2005—would have affectionately put it) to a reliable, albeit quirky, source of news that students grew to anticipate and depend upon. And just as I think that Glen Parker, founder of The Indy in 2001, probably wouldn’t have recognized the Purchase Independent that I oversaw in 2007, I barely recognize the Indy of today as my own beloved student newspaper.
But you know what? That constant growth and change is what has kept The Indy alive for ten years, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Purchase continues to be a place full of the coolest kids I will ever meet, and I think The Indy has grown to represent that community beautifully. From reports on PSGA presidential impeachments (yes, plural), embarrassing racerelated controversies (sadly, also plural), breaking news on Starbucks in Fort Awesome, and of course the Naked Issues, The Indy remains entangled in my memories of Purchase. So I raise my glass of André sparkling wine to you, Purchase Indy, for as the proud recipient of a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing, André is still the very best that I can afford. Happy 10th anniversary, and here’s to many happy returns!
Emily Farrell was Chief Editor of The Purchase Independent for the 2006–2007 school year. During her editorial reign (of terror) she solidified The Indy’s reputation as a source of real news for the Purchase student body. She graduated from Purchase in 2008 and lives in Albuquerque, NM with her husband, Robert Stewart-Rogers (Indy staffer 2004–2008) and their two cats. She is applying to law school.
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FORMER ED ITORS
TWO-ISH YEARS LATER
BY DANA ELLIS
I currently live in the Greater Boston area, my life is very different from what it was some two-odd years ago when I graduated from SUNY Purchase. Despite this, I am constantly finding reminders about the time I spent there and the ways my time at Purchase and as the editor of The Independent has permanently impacted me. The other day, for example, I was walking around my grad school campus when I noticed a poster for upcoming musical performances in the Greater Boston area. I inspected it further and noticed that one of the headlining acts was Mal Blum. Mal Blum, now that name was familiar. A Purchase alum like myself, I recalled seeing shows at the Stood or the Co-Op where, once again, she was the headlining act. While sure, I only live a few hundred miles away from Purchase, the second or third closest big city, by my estimations, my life seemed so much further away than that and seeing that poster brought a rush of nostalgia with it. Nights writing papers for classes and articles for The Indy; deep meandering philosophical conversations with people far more profound and artistic than I’ll ever be; car rides exploring every inch of the greater Hudson Valley hoping to see something or feel something completely original; parties in the Olde that seemed dubious and, frankly, way too cool for me; happiness, sadness and every emotion in between; and finally experiencing and seeing creativity in every form and variety from dance to visual arts to theater. Yep, I’m pretty sure Purchase is just one of those places you can leave but never truly leave behind. Thinking back, I feel very much the
same way about the time and the work I put in as the editor of The Independent. The Independent is entirely student-run and autonomous from the campus administration. This fact seems all the more profound when you live in a time where students peacefully protesting on campus in solidarity with the Occupy movement at UC Davis can get violently pepper-sprayed. In an age where very little truly represents our voice as students and young people, The Independent, in its own little microcosm, was that voice and that representation of the students at Purchase College. For me it wasn’t just some campus newspaper. It was the very voice of the students themselves and always proliferated itself as such in my eyes. Often it felt almost too easy to report on just the basic campus goings-on. From what I learned the campus seemed to run like clockwork; the same things that happened ten years ago, happened again five years ago, happened again just last year. Things change, but then again, they never seem to. Oftentimes the minutia and the subtle pulse that radiated through the students, the dissidence, randomness, and creativity of the students, those were the things worth talking about, worth printing in The Indy. It was those subtleties that made Purchase culture and its students unique and it’s those subtleties that make reflecting on my time there, working directly for and on behalf of the student body, all the more profound in its own unique way.
Dana Ellis was the Editor-in-Chief of The Indy during the 2008–2009 school year. She ran the paper with an emphasis on expanding the Arts and Culture section and increasing the visibility of on-campus grassroots political activism. Additionally, there was an emphasis on maintaining and taking rad full page cover photos (which was still a relatively new thing for the Indy at the time!).
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LOOKING FOR AN INTERNSHIP? THE INDY NEEDS INTERNS! THE INDY OFFERS THE FOLLOWING 2 CREDIT INTERNSHIPS FOR NEXT SEMESTER: WRITING INTERNS:
EDITING INTERNS:
suggested majors: journalism, creative writing, literature
suggested majors: journalism, creative writing, literature
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attend weekly Monday night staff meetings to discuss new stories and get assignments write at least one 500–1000-word story per issue, due at the end of the week expand their portfolios by writing on diverse topics—we want you to know how to do anything a future employer could ask earn 2 credits for a full-semester internship
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attend weekly Monday night staff meetings to discuss new stories edit all stories, due every Monday night must have a basic knowledge of AP Style must hate the Oxford comma earn 2 credits for a full-semester internship
ART INTERNS: suggested majors: visual arts
GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERNS:
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suggested majors: graphic design
• • • •
attend weekly Monday night staff meetings to discuss new stories design the Back Page each week (Tuesdays) assist layout editor with other projects, such as advertisements and photo editing earn 2 credits for a full-semester internship
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attend weekly Monday night staff meetings to discuss new stories and get assignments provide an illustration for the back page each week, corner doodles and the occasional piece for feature stories earn 2 credits for a full-semester internship
PRINT MANAGING INTERNS: suggested majors: any major at all!
PHOTOGRAPHY INTERNS:
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suggested majors: photography, journalism, new media
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attend weekly Monday night staff meetings to discuss new stories and get assignments take photos for stories and the cover earn 2 credits for a full-semester internship
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must be able to commit to being the Print Manager for the 2012-2013 school year learn the technical side of printing The Indy must be available Wednesday afternoons and evenings and willing/able to stay for the 5–10 hours it takes to print a full run
IF INTERESTED, EMAIL RESUME AND 3–5 SAMPLES OF RELEVANT WORK TO: y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m
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H O L I D AY S
‘TIS THE SEASON Let’s get this out of the way before I say anything else. I am horrifyingly in love with Christmas.
There is not one thing I dislike about this season. I love the smells. The decorations. The togetherness. The traditional “wearing of the Santa hats.” Above all, I love the music. Oh deer Lord the music. I’m not talking about that traditional Bing Crosby or Bruce Springsteen tune. I’m talking about modern-day pop, punk and pop-punk Christmas songs. It’s absolutely an obsession. Normally, I can keep this love in check. I somehow find self-control each and every year. Unless, for some strange reason, it snows early. Which is exactly what happened this year. Remember that? In October? Since that fateful Saturday when I walked across a snow-covered quad hearing someone play “White Christmas,” I’ve been craving holiday music like I crave social acceptance of my horrifying adoration of the Christmas season. The cravings became more frequent when I found out Starbucks now sells Peppermint Mochas in early November. Seriously, have you tried those things? It’s literally liquid festivities that you can buy with your meal plan. The worst of it is upon us now that it’s December, as the beginning of the month is absolutely when it’s okay to start feeling festive. This is a month-long holiday season, people. I have downloaded, at this time, almost 200 non-traditional Christmas songs. And most of these songs are originals. I love them all. I hum
BY TOMMY ROACH
them to myself all year round. And now they sit in my iTunes, staring at me. It’s almost as though the mp3 files themselves are mocking me. Dammit. In all seriousness, it’s actually really hard for Christmas lovers like me to figure out when it’s okay to start listening to the music. If you follow the commercial industry, it’s apparently okay to start being festive the day after Halloween. If you still like the radio, then 10 pm on Thanksgiving night is a good time. If you ask my friends, they’ll most likely tell you, “Just don’t listen to it around Tommy.” I picked December 1st because I have yet to hear anyone come up with one good reason why that day is too early. So it’s December now. For the rest of the semester, you’ll be able to find me running around campus bobbing my head left and right so that the white pom-pom on my Santa hat flops back and forth to the beat of the music. Have I mentioned yet that I’m in love with Christmas?
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WHAT PURCHASE MEANS BY RÓISÍN MCCARTY “I don’t intend to die, so no,”
said Ross Daly, professor of journalism at Purchase, when I asked him if he had a “Purchase bucket list.” “I want to fuck on the roof of Outback,” Derek Gaskill, a cinema studies transfer sophomore answered. I sat down with him and four other students to ask them about their opinions of Purchase and if they have their own bucket list. I personally chose Purchase because I grew up passing the exit for it while going back and forth to my grandmother’s for holidays, and it was perfectly between my hometown and Manhattan. I fell in love with Purchase the first time I visited, and since then I’m trying to find the balance between being seduced by it and wanting to vomit because of it, though it tends to lean toward the former. My bucket list has been pretty boring thus far, but after some answers I heard, it might get a little more exciting. D i l l o n To r c h i a , p o l i t i c a l s c i e n c e What made you choose Purchase?
junior
My mom and I made the decision that even if I stayed close to home, I could live at school, so it’s a nice middleground where I can live at school and also go home whenever I need to. What was your first impression?
This place looks like jail. How has your perception changed?
I grew to love it. Even though the buildings could still use some work, you meet great people and it makes the lack of scenic beauty okay. What’s on your Purchase bucket list?
Become President of the PSGA. Derek Gaskill, cinema studies sophomore What made you choose Purchase?
I didn’t get into NYU. What was your first impression?
I came for Zombie Prom, so it was pretty bloody. How has your perception changed?
It’s a lot less dead. It’s pretty much everything I’ve expected.
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Madeleine Bergman, liberal arts What made you choose Purchase?
sophomore
It was the only school I applied to, and I got in early and it had a really great art program, was close to the city and was far away from [my hometown] Buffalo. What was your first impression?
Open-minded. I liked how the campus wasn’t huge, and I liked the amount of woods and nature to explore. How has your perception changed?
I still think it’s pretty open-minded, and I’m a fan of the woods, but I don’t like how so many people are pretentious. You meet someone and hang out with them and have a long conversation, but they’re so into themselves that you see them later and they don’t even remember you. What’s on your Purchase bucket list?
I want to learn to make cotton candy. Maybe that’s just on my actual bucketlist, but I’d like to do it at Purchase.
CAMPUS Patrick Edelman, art histor y senior What made you choose Purchase?
I heard it was artsy and its proximity to New York, and the dreadful brick-laden campus. What was your first impression?
I thought it was really diverse and open minded and just like party time. How has your perception changed?
I think the school has changed, also. I guess I don’t think its as diverse as I thought it was and even though there’s a lot of different points of view people can be closed-minded, and there’s a lot less parties than four years ago. It’s a lot cliquier. What’s on your Purchase bucket list?
I’ve pretty much had sex everywhere on campus. I think I’ve accomplished pretty much everything I wanted to accomplish. Sleeping with a professor would be nice. Rachel Margolin, literature freshman What made you choose Purchase?
It was not only the most creative place for me to go, but it was also the perfect distance and it offered more than what I wanted to do. What was your first impression?
That there were a lot of hidden opportunities and that it was very flat. I was very happy about that. How has your perception changed?
It’s not as difficult to interact with people as I thought it would be and I’m a lot more comfortable than I was, at least at orientation. What’s on your Purchase bucket list?
I want to create a secret store for food between 2–6am. Like an outdoor ice cream stand—all very sleepy people invited.
select bucket list items From various Purchase students • • • • • • • • • • • • •
be able to steal food from D-Hall grapple into D-Hall a box in ResLife for complaints and requests smoke weed with King Chartwells have a toga kegger on the roof of Outback D-Hall food fight have sex in every classroom in Humanities stay in the library all night, after it’s closed have a threesome in the cages fuck my advisor streak across the baseball field reenact scenes from Black Swan in the PAC have a threesome with Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis in the dance building
• learn to bootypop • make a graph indicating all of those who • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
were “gay by May”
enhance my gaydar actually get cured by Health Services ride the loop all day and narrate the journey steal a golf cart have a hidden private vegetable garden have sex in the Elephant Tree perform in Fall Ball go to a lingerie party in a floor-length ball gown start a lingerie football league that plays on the great lawn for all genders do the Naked Issue get stoned with Javon sing a duet with Andrew Fonseca figure out the gym’s hours, and maybe go walk across campus without any of the construction getting in the way
• be on the cover of The Indy
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Friday, December 2nd
Purchase Jazz Orchestra Thursday, December 1st the Stood at 3:30pm
Hooping for a Natural High Thursday, December 1st Southside at 6pm
Jam If You Can ( presented by NYPIRG ) nonperishable food drive Thursday, December 1st Southside at 8pm
Purchase General Assembly Thursday, December 1st
the Stood Cinema at 8:30pm
C yber I dentities presented by Trans Action & FORTH
Thursday, December 1st Red Room at 10pm
a discussion on cyberspace, technology, identity and gender
WPSR Coffee House
Thursday, December 1st Co-Op at 10pm
S.A.D. Workshop
Friday, December 2nd
the Stood at 8pm
• • • •
Touché Amoré • Seahaven Pianos Become the Teeth Code Orange Kids LVL UP • Heavy Breath
Friday, December 2nd the Stood at 8pm
• PRAXIS • Thermal Detonator • Mutual Assured Destruction • J.C.D. • Onderrock
House Our Queer Youth
a benefit for the Ali Forney Center
Saturday, December 3rd the Stood at 12:30pm
• • • • • • • •
YACHT (early set) • MEN Parenthetical Girls (early set) DJ/Rupture • Tearist • Hilly Eye Advance Base • Sam Mickens Keith Freund • Runny • Idiot Glee Bee Mask • Total Babes • YOU. Hello Shark • Uncle Joel’s Comb Kingsley Davis • The Whores
$5 suggested donation for students $7 tickets for registered guests $15 tickets for unregistered non-students
Saturday, December 3rd Wellness Center at 3pm
Hatha Yoga for a Natural High
Student Services at 1:30pm Complexuallity presents:
Tropical Christmas ( presented by LU ) Friday, December 2nd Southside at 8pm
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Defense Workshop
Saturday, December 3rd the gym at 3pm
EVENTS Thursday, November 10th
A Piece of My Heart presented by the Purchase Rep Theatre at the Performing Arts Center
• • • •
Saturday, December 3rd @ 8pm Sunday, December 4th @ 2pm Friday, December 9th @ 8pm Saturday, December 10th @ 2pm
Complexuality Open Mic Tuesday, December 6th the Stood at 9:30pm
On-Campus Internship Fair Wednesday, December 7th Student Services at noon
Wednesday, December 7th Stood Cinema at 7pm
Speak Out on Higher Education
Lit Society Open Mic
Wednesday, December 7th Southside at 8pm
PA N C A K E MADNESS
Thursday, December 8th Dining Hall at 10pm
Fusion: CCN 0014B at 7pm Film: Humanities Theatre at 7pm RPGA: Hub Basement at 8pm Chess Club: comm. lounge at 8pm Cheese Club: Co-Op at 10pm OAPIA: Hub Basement at 10pm Trans*Action: LGBTQU at 10pm
Monday, November 14th MSA Club: Sparks at 5pm FORTH meeting: Southside at 8pm Bible Talk: Starbucks at 9pm The Indy: CCN 1011 at 9:30pm Brick Meeting: Red Room at 10pm
Tuesday, November 15th Public Art Committee: Co-op at 4:30pm CoCOaS: the Stood at 5:30pm Green Team: Co-Op at 6pm Alternative Clinic: CCS from 6–9pm DDR Club: the Stood at 7pm Public Relations: Co-Op at 8pm PUSH: Hub basement at 9pm SAC: Stood at 9:30pm General Events: Stood at 9:30pm Complexuality: LGBTQU Lounge at 10pm LU: Hub basement at 10pm
Wednesday, November 16th Hillel: Hub basement at noon Psych Club: NatSci1030 at noon Senate: Southside at 12:30pm Sociology: SPARC room at 1pm CBLA: commuter lounge at 7pm Anime: commuter lounge at 8pm SOCA: Hub basement at 8pm The Submission: CCN 1011 at 8pm Hip Hop: Hub basement at 10pm LGBTQU: Red Room at 10pm
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COVER SHOW MADNESS BY Alexa dillenbeck Who would have thought that one of the biggest shows on campus would be seeing your friends covering one of your favorite bands? The Cover Show is something that started as a more major event, where organized bands would cover another band for an entire show, similar to Bomb the Music Industry covering Weezer at last year’s Culture Shock. Now, it has turned into an event where anyone who wants to can participate, whether to try out covering music that they think would be funny, heart-warming, or just plain weird. “It’s a really fun activity, especially if you listen to a certain band regularly,” said Justin Jurgens, an arts management senior who has played in the Weezer, Bear vs. Shark and The Descendants cover bands. One of the most unique characteristics of the Cover Show is that it lets people listen to songs that they might never hear live, and it’s on campus for free.
“So many bands break up before you get to see them live, so it’s almost like seeing the bands you love,” said Jurgens. The Cover Show also gives people an opportunity to listen to music they may not even know exists. “I wasn’t a huge Unicorns fan, but in the process of learning their tracks, I fell in love with them,” said Raymond Chalmé, an arts management sophomore who has played in the Joy Division and The Unicorns cover bands. It also gives students the opportunity to feel like they are in one of their favorite bands. “We tried to look like the actual band,” said David Grimaldi, a journalism sophomore
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who was in The Unicorns cover band. “We were in our ‘uni-forms’—pun intended.” This year, there were some freshmen that got involved even though they hadn’t seen any of the previous Cover Shows. “If you find a band that you love and everyone else loves, and you can do it, you should,” said Chris Postlewaite, a photography freshman who was in the Fugazi cover band. “It’s really rewarding, especially being a freshman.” If a cover band is playing music you may already know, it could be an awesome experience. If you’re in the band, you may find that it’s like no other feeling. “People go crazy, especially if they love the band,” said Andrew Sacher, an arts management junior who played in The Strokes and The Stooges cover bands. “People were thanking me for playing The Strokes because it was one of their favorite bands.” The Cover Show is something that students now look forward to each semester, and it could be because of the high-energy atmosphere that fills the Stood. “At the end of the day, it’s a group of people who are getting together to just have fun,” said Giovanni Cruz, a liberal arts senior who was in the Jonas Brothers, Green Day, and Covers of Covers cover bands. “Everyone is paying homage to a band. It’s almost like giving a gift to the other fans of your favorite band.”
CAMPUS
RESPECT THE LIBRARY BY SCOTT GALINA Please don’t talk in the library. Everyone hates you for it. And if that’s not bad enough for you, I hate you for it. When you talk in the library—or listen to your music too loud through your headphones, or leave your cell phone on high volume while carrying on a text conversation—you’re essentially saying to me, “I know the rules and I’m above them, and you are the idiot for following them.” Well, no one is above the rules, not in the library. And I’m not an idiot. The rules are in place for a reason. The rules are in place because when someone is sexiled by their roommate and has a huge paper due the next day, they’re going to the library to do it. They’re in place because some people can’t do work in the same room they live in, so they go to the library to do it. They’re in place because some people have Macs and need to do their work on PCs, or visa versa, so they go to the library to do their work. The rules aren’t in place so that you and your friends can scroll endlessly through Tumblr and narrate and comment on every picture you see. They’re not in place so that you can stalk people on Facebook and point out every bad profile picture and meaningless status update (this is often problematic for you because usually, with your luck, one of their friends is nearby and reports back everything you’ve said—library karma). They’re not in place for you to watch videos on YouTube that you think are so quiet that no one can hear them, because in truth, the library is silent except for you, and everyone hears every word of “David After
Dentist.” And everyone’s seen it already, so where have you been? Besides showing that you think you’re above the rules, when you talk in the library you lack what I believe is one of the most important and valuable traits a person can have: compassion. When I’m sitting at a library slaving over a Word document or PowerPoint presentation and you and your friends come sit next to me to “study,” but end up chatting away about meaningless drivel, you’re taking my head and rubbing it in your butt. You’re saying, “I know you have work to do, and you can’t be happy to have to be doing it, and I’m sure you’d rather be watching any of the Real Housewives on Bravo, but I don’t really care because I’m here to do whatever I want.” For whatever it’s worth to you, Loud Library-Goer, the Dalai Lama has this to say about compassion:
“Compassion is not religious business, it is human business. It is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.” That’s some heavy stuff, huh? So the next time you’re even considering the thought of making the trek to the library to fool around or wreak havoc while other poor students are slaving away on files that will count toward their final grades, think about my plea: have some compassion and shut the fuck up. Please, don’t talk in the library.
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WHAT IS MY MSAF
AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?
BY ADRIEN BEHN
Hello Purchase Community! This article comes at least once a semester to discuss what exactly your mandatory student activities fee (aka PFBYMSAF) is, why you should care that it exists and how to use it to your full advantage. So, did you know that you are automatically part of the PSGA (Purchase Student Government Association) by paying for your mandatory student activities fee? Wait! How the hell did I get roped into this whole PSGA stuff?! And what exactly is this Mandatory Student Activities Fee? I see it on all the posters around campus.
The Mandatory Student Activities Fee is a $100 fee that is part of everyone’s tuition. It is pooled from every student on campus (resulting in $700,000 big ones!) and then distributed within the PSGA. This funds Culture Shock, The Alternative Clinic, Hip-Hop Club, Senate, The Submission Gala, et cetera… basically it funds all the good stuff on campus, for students to enjoy for free! (Or rather, pre-paid.) The PSGA is there to decide what happens will all that cash, but its main purpose is to listen to the students and see where they want the money to go toward. That is why it is important, if not we would have to charge you for the cheap Hub food that is typically filling the stomachs of students who have run out of meals and want to enjoy a film or lecture put on by their favorite club or as a weekly event. We would have charge you for Fall Fest, The Indy, LU parties, whatever, but you get to enjoy these things without the hassle of scraping up some extra change to enter.
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Yeah, but who is directly in charge of all the cash? And how can I say what I want it to be spent on?
The actual system of the PSGA that handles money is broken down into a few sections: a. The Executive Board (6 positions) b. The Senate (determined by population of housing and majors) c. Clubs, Organizations and Services d. General Programing Coordinators and Main Events Coordinators These positions are elected or hired in different areas that help nurture ideas, create initiatives, approve requests for funds and promote events to make this campus way more awesome than it already is. But again: why do I care?!
Because we want to know how to spend it! If you have an idea, want to start a club, book a show or get a giant windmill in the middle of the Great Lawn, and want to know how to get it funded, advertised and promoted, come on down to Campus Center North room 1012 to find out how to get involved. Or contact us at psga.executives@purchase.edu at any time! Remember, your Mandatory Student Activities Fee is the monetary equivalent of bumming two cigs a day. Make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
Q your.indy@gm &A ai l.com
O L U L N T V Y E J D Q K T R U I M T A
W S I F F B H S S P R C G I V B N A H G
K L T P V D E E P R I B L M E N O R E E
K K L B P E D Y I T B E R R S T I I B R
S G X E R I O D R N Y Q I P I H S E A Y
H O Z L R U A A L K D C E G L E S L C N
U V L U R R T D E N A E K O L L I L K R
J I F I I N A N A D S V P C E O M O P W
ADAM TYRELL BILL REESE CLINTON LOVE DANA ELLIS EMILY FARRELL ERICA DEMOTT GLEN PARKER IPPI KRISTIN CHARLES
B K N N E D N F E M Q H E E A A B V A T
K D K V M Y G M Y S T Y E A N D U E G J
Y B E W S G O B Y L R Y B S A D S L E L
N T S M Y T D L G M I A R H D V E A L P
S U I W T S L L F A R M E E X V H N Q N
E T W J X J F U X I V Y E Y L H T D T D
H O B G L E N P A R K E R W N L V Y B A
K R I S T I N C H A R L E S A E F L A J
E V O L N O T N I L C H A Y W V T B Y V
G L O F F C Q V W E J B K C I R B E H T
X O C R M O J A V U C G U I H C G A U U
U N F U D E M D Q L F J Z G Q Q X D N U
MARIEL LOVELAND STEVEN TARTICK TEN YEARS THE BACK PAGE THE BRICK THE INDEPENDENT THE LOAD THE SUBMISSION YOUR INDY
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MADAME QUERY
HAS YOUR REMEDY
Madame, my roommate was cleaning our
Madame, I want to plan an anniversary
room and threw out a favorite necklace of
dinner for my man, but I’m not exactly
mine because it was on the floor. The next
sure when that is. We never really had a
day, I saw someone who I believe to be
set day, it just happened. Should we go
a dumpster diver wearing the necklace.
by the day we met? The day we started
How do I get my necklace back?
liking each other?
Madame is very sorry for your loss, but also happy for you because you may have a chance to be reunited with your necklace! First off, if Madame were you, she would tell her roommate thanks for picking up the room, but not everything on the floor is meant to be thrown away. It isn’t fair that your roommate started this whole mess because she thought your jewelry was trash. That doesn’t even make sense; why would you throw away something that is probably important? Roomie needs to be a little more aware. However, don’t make too big of a deal with it. You don’t want to start a fight, especially so close to finals. Definitely not the way to end the semester. Now as for the “dumpster diver,” go up to them and just kindly ask. Don’t be accusatory and claim that it is definitely your necklace. Just be a little sly and say “Hey, I really like that necklace. Where did you get it?” If they tell you they got it out of a dumpster, there’s your chance to explain what happened. Hopefully they understand and will hand it over. Maybe even throw in that your dead grandmother gave it to you. (How will they know she’s actually alive?) If it happens that the person actually got it somewhere other than a dumpster, remember one thing: it was only a material object. Unless it was sterling silver from Tiffany’s, because then you absolutely have to cause an end-of-semester fight with your roommate.
Ahh, yes, I have heard of this predicament quite a few times. In this day and age, ‘pinning’ your partner refers to hot sex instead of the gift to officiate a relationship. Madame does not know what your relationship journey has been like. It is possible that you two started as really good friends, in this case I would not put the anniversary date at the day you met. There had to be a time though when you just knew that there was something more. Your best bet is to go by the time you first kissed. Unless it was a lame kiss in a game of truth or dare. Your first real kiss with him should be the anniversary day, but hey, that is only Madame’s opinion. You’re in a relationship so try a little communication. Ask him what he considers it to be before you make dinner reservations somewhere really swank.
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SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS
TO MADAME QUERY http://www.formspring.me/madamequery
AD Q &VAI C E Dear Madame, I borrowed my friend’s
Madame Query, I have a crush on a
bicycle and the bell won’t work. I was
certain political figure at Purchase. I tried
pretty drunk when I clipped the lock and
running for Senate last year and again
rode it around Alumni, but who is to say I
this year, in hopes of getting close to her.
broke it if I can’t remember? Should I still
However, I have yet to be elected and I
buy a new bell?
fear the leading lady of Purchase will look down on me. Are my chances ruined?
You took your friend’s bike out for a spin when you were messed up, obviously without them knowing. You didn’t really borrow the bike, you stole it. Even if the bike is back in your friend’s possession and you may have told them that you found it outside with a busted bell and clipped lock, you know you did it. Maybe the bell was always busted, but you know for certain you clipped that lock. So you have to at least buy your friend a new bike lock. Additionally, since you went behind your friend’s back and didn’t ask to take it for a ride, make amends and buy a new and improved harmonized bell. Explain that you don’t remember what happened, but you want to make it up to them because you feel so bad.
Madame happens to know the President, as she does with most historical Purchase figures, and Ms. President is simply not that kind of person. Like Barack Obama, Ms. Mayes is a president of the people. She loves dogs, movies and walks on the beach. In other words, she is not all about the politics, she enjoys the simple things in life like you and I. I’m sure there are other ways you can meet her, but don’t feel like you can’t be a part of our student government. You can still go to the weekly meetings they hold. Get involved with the school whether or not you’re a senator and I’m sure she will have plenty of respect for such a noble person such as yourself.
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SUBMIT BACK PAGE QUOTES VIA THE BOX OUTSIDE CCN 1011 OR ON THE WEB AT: HTTP://FORMSPRING.ME/INDYBACKPAGE
*some quotes have been rewritten for legibility or to preserve the anonymity of the submitter