The Miscellany News | March 25

The Miscellany News Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

March 25, 2010

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Volume CXLIII | Issue 17

CSWG to consider fundraiser Solidarity Working Group suggests that orgs give remaining funds back to College, but discovers technical obstacles Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News

Jillian Scharr News Editor

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n Sunday, Feb. 21, the Campus Solidarity Working Group approached the Vassar Student Association (VSA) at their open Council meeting to discuss continued opportunities for students to help the College during the current economic crisis and the resulting changes to the Vassar community.

At the meeting, the Working Group posited the idea that VSA organizations donate their excess funds at the end of the semester to the College’s endowment.

Members of the Working Group and the VSA met to discuss ways to realize this mission on Monday, March 22. After the Working Group met separately on March 23, they decided not to pursue this particular idea because of the complexities of moving funds within the College due to tax laws. “We’re currently stalling our actions on this,” explained Working Group member Nathan Orians ’10. “We’re moving forward carefully because we don’t want to do something that doesn’t See Working Group on page 5

A representative from the Office of Admissions addresses prospective students and their families during an informational session on Tuesday, March 23. During their last meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the final budget for 2010-2011 and voted to increase the College’s financial aid budget by 11.1 percent to $51 million.

Trustees set budget for 2010-11 Financial aid budget to rise by millions; tuition to see 3.5 percent increase includes a $5.1 million increase in funding for financial aid, as well as a tuition increase of $1,800. The rise in tuition will constitute a 3.5 percent increase across the entire comprehensive student fee, which includes “tuition, the standard residence hall

Ruby Cramer

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Editor in Chief

uring the last weekend before Spring Break, the Vassar College Board of Trustees convened on campus to set the final budget for 2010-2011. The financial plan

Inside Adderall use at Vassar Matthew Bock Reporter

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t’s no secret that Vassar students use Adderall. But how much, why and with what frequency remains more elusive. In recent years, Adderall has attracted media attention for its usage as a non-prescription stimulant in workplaces and on college campuses. Several colleges and universities—among them Bates and

Bowdoin Colleges and Brown University—have recently addressed the topic in their respective newspapers, and it seems every time midterms roll around at Vassar, murmurs of Adderall use are everywhere.

Adderall is a prescription pill whose clinical use is for the treatment of individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The pill—which belongs to the category

of drugs known as amphetamines or, by its street name, speed—enhances these individuals’ ability to focus and work efficiently.

It has been difficult for campus administrators to determine the extent of non-prescription Adderall use here at Vassar. Associate Director of Residential Life Richard Horowitz remarked in an e-mailed statement, “I See ADDERALL on page 6

fee, standard meal plan, the health fee and the student activities fee,” noted Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier.

Setting tuition and fees for the coming year is “one of the most important decisions the Board has

“There are always things you want to see changed,” said Ingerman,“But [cell phone providers] want to build this tower just as much as we want them to.”

—Bret Ingerman Vice President for Computing and Information Services

College to install cell tower in smokestack Matthew Brock

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flickr.com

Adderall, pictured above, is pill given by doctors to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but is frequently misused by individuals who are not diagnosed with ADHD. Adderall is an amphetamine known for its ability to enhance focus.

Inside this issue

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FEATURES

For first time, Vassar is invited to participate in COFHE survey

15 ARTS

Palmer Gallery exhibit features artwork from local children

to make each year,” said Eismeier, who explained that although it is the largest revenue source for the College, the Board is always concerned about holding down the growth rate of tuition and fees. “There’s major See BUDGET on page 5

News Editor

potty cell phone reception on campus may cease to be an issue at Vassar according to Vice President for Computing and Information Services (CIS) Bret Ingerman, who is leading the effort alongside Buildings and Grounds, Verizon and AT&T to build a cell tower on campus.

The tower will be installed in the smokestack behind the Carol and James Kautz Admissions building, said Ingerman. “The top part of the smokestack needs repairs to the masonry,” said Ingerman, and as part of these repairs, the school will take down the top 40 feet of the tower, which provides the College with the opportunity to install a 20 foot cell tower.

The College is working with Stealth Network Technologies, a firm that, according to its website,

20 SPORTS

“designs, engineers and fabricates antenna concealment screening systems for the entire wireless industry.” Stealth Technologies will install faux bricks around the tower so that it looks like the old chimney, although it will be 20 feet shorter. In addition, the buildings that have to go at the base of the cell tower, which are usually concrete bunkers, will be given brick facades so as to blend in with the surrounding architecture. At present, the College is reviewing contracts from Verizon and AT&T, and hopes for the tower to carry signals from both providers. The decision to use these two providers was based on a survey of the student body that evaluated which were the most used cell providers as well as which providers would be interested in installing the tower.

If Vassar were to try to solicit See TOWER on page 4

Baseball looks to succeed with returning players

The Miscellany News

Page 2

March 25, 2010

Editor in Chief Ruby Cramer Senior Editor Molly Turpin

Contributing Editors Caitlin Halasz Chloe McConnell Elizabeth Pacheco

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

Photo of the Week: Children and adults alike admire the large-scale puzzle created by students of the Wimpfheimer & Infant Toddler Center kindergarten class. The puzzle is on display at the Iyoya exhibition of children’s artwork in the Palmer Gallery, which will be up until March 26.

Miscellany News Staff Editorial

Budget shows commitment to College’s core values T

he Miscellany News would like to recognize the College and the Vassar Board of Trustees for their work on setting a 2010-2011 budget that maintains an impassioned commitment to financial aid and the need-blind admissions policy which has come to define our community since its onset in 2007. Next year, the overall budget for financial aid will increase from $45.9 million to an all-time high of $51.1 million. We recognize that to make such a strong pecuniary commitment to aid, other sectors of the Colleges expenses will need to be tightened as a result. We believe, however, that this financial plan for Vassar—which also exhibits efforts to curtail our heavy draw on endowment—shows dedication to the College’s core value of educating students regardless of financial need and socio-economic background. As with our peers, the campus community is still feeling the enormous effects of the recession, and thus we appreciate the Board’s adherence to our need-blind admissions policy, which recognizes the increased need of students and their families in the current financial climate. We urge the Board to maintain needblind admissions in the years to come, and to continue to put first in the budget our commitment to generous aid packages.

Maintaining a need-blind policy is all the more laudable because the number of students requiring financial aid has grown each year since the adoption of the policy, and thus the financial aid budget has had to grow in kind. The College’s commitment to financial aid has already yielded results in the diverse make-up of the student body. Since the current need-blind policy was first applied to the Class of 2011, the diversity and socioeconomic diversity of students has grown with each incoming class. Twenty-eight percent of the incoming Class of 2012 were students of color, and the Class of 2013 topped that statistic with 33 percent of its class identifying as students of color.

Overall, 53 percent of Vassar students are on financial aid, according to the College’s economy website, and the Class of 2013

brought in an unprecedented level of socioeconomic diversity with 60 percent of its students on financial aid. Though the College expects this figure to go down gradually as the economy improves, 60 percent of the Class of 2014 is also expected to need financial aid. We are glad that the College is not losing sight of its commitment to students and their increasing needs even as Vassar struggles with budget constraints in all sectors of the College.

The recent budget proposed by the Office of Finance and Administration and approved by the Board of Trustees also mirrors the

“It is not only in the interest of the campus community to remain committed to financial aid, but it is our responsibility and duty as a tax-exempt institution.” commitment students have shown to financial aid through fundraising, for example, for the Class of 2010’s Endowed Scholarship Fund, which recently brought the school together for the first Faculty-Student Basketball Game in Vassar’s history. This fund— which will be the Class of 2010’s senior class gift—has already grown to over $12,000 given from students of all class years as well as other members of the Vassar community.

The spirit of giving back to the College for the sake of maintaining what we as students feel is most important seems to have enveloped the campus. For example, the Campus Solidarity Working Group has recently expressed interest in starting an effort among student organizations to give back to the College, especially to the compensation budget, to express their dedication to faculty. The Miscellany supports giving back

to the College as an expression of priorities, and the trustees’ decision to continue strong aid packages demonstrates a consideration for student priorities in the creation of the budget.

The decision to continue need-blind status sends a message about the College’s dedication to the education of talented students.

This decision, however, does not guarantee the inclusion of need-blind in future budgets, and we encourage the Board to maintain it for coming class years. Though the Board of Trustees is responsible for deciding the budget, students are also responsible for demonstrating their own priorities at Vassar.

Keeping the need-blind policy in place is a significant step and a demonstration of the College’s commitment to socioeconomic diversity. Though we understand that the College cannot afford to extend its need-blind policy to international, transfer and waitlisted students in the current financial climate, we hope that Vassar will keep these groups of students in mind and reconsider a universal need-blind policy in the future.

As Vassar Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Eismeier said to The Miscellany News in a recent interview (“Trustees set budget for 2010-2011,” 3.25.10), Vassar is a non-profit institution that’s been “given a privilege in this society to accept donations, and the public expects us to serve a public interest. And for us,” she said, “we translate that into the need to offer a Vassar education to students from all family backgrounds.” It is therefore not only in the interest of the wider campus community to remain committed to financial aid, but it is our responsibility and duty as a tax-exempt institution of higher education to deliver the highest quality educational experience to qualified students, regardless of their families’ ability to pay.

—The Staff Editorial reflects the opinion of at least two-thirds of the 21-member Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

News Matthew Brock Jillian Scharr Opinions Angela Aiuto Kelly Shortridge Features Kelly Stout Arts Carrie Hojnicki Erik Lorenzsonn Sports Andy Marmer Design Eric Estes Online Elizabeth Jordan Copy Katie Cornish Lila Teeters Photography Kathleen Mehocic Managing Eliza Hartley Assistant News Assistant Opinions Assistant Sports Assistant Online Assistant Copy

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

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

The Editorial Board holds weekly meetings every Sunday at 9 p.m. in the Rose Parlor. All members of the Vassar community interested in joining the newspaper’s staff or in a critique of the current issue are welcome. The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented in the Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board. The Miscellany News is published weekly by the students of Vassar College. The Miscellany News office is located in College Center Room 303, Vassar College.

March 25, 2010

NEWS

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CIS to remove room phones SASA seeks to refocus during three-day event

Aashim Usgaonkar Reporter

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William Crane Guest Reporter

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Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

ice President for Computing and Information Services (CIS) Bret Ingerman announced at the Vassar Student Association Council on Feb. 21 that starting next year, all dorm telephone lines would be removed from individual rooms of the residence halls.

This proposed change was decided on because of the growing disuse of the landlines among students; there are “very, very few students that actually use the Vassar-provided phone service in their room, and most Vassar students choose to use their own cell phones,” wrote Ingerman in an e-mailed statement.

In light of the economic downturn, this conversion is timely; cutting out dorm phone lines would save the College $500,000 a year in the long run, reports Ingerman. The savings from these changes will be both long and short-term in nature. “Eliminating the service will save some money now, but will save a significant amount of money when we need to replace our telephone switch in a few years,” explained Ingerman. He continued, “[These] savings will be substantial, as the price of a telephone switch is determined by the number of connections to the switch.”

Although the phone lines in the individual rooms will be removed, new phones will be installed in the hallways. “The new phones are more ‘heavy duty’ than the ones that have been used in the past and are designed to be used in a shared environment,” wrote Ingerman, explaining that public phones need to be more durable than private lines.

Because spending on these phones in capital spending, it is a “one-time expense that will last for many years.”

“CIS will also be maintaining phone service in each of the Terrace Apartments, Town Houses and the South Commons to provide a single central phone that can be shared by the residents of these houses,” wrote Ingerman, because not having access to a telephone can prove detrimental to students’ health and safety.

Phones in the dormitory hallways, such as the one pictured above, will soon be replaced with newer models. Additionally, phone lines for individual dorm rooms will be removed completely.

his weekend, Vassar’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) is holding a three-day conference focused on armed conflicts in South Asia over the past decade.

The conference, entitled Contours of Conflict: Remembering a Decade of Conflict in South Asia, will begin on Thursday, March 25 and end on Saturday, March 27. It will address a variety of conflicts in the region, including the recent guerrilla war in the north of Sri Lanka, the civil war in Nepal and the rise of Islamic militancy in Bangladesh.

The purpose of the conference, according to SASA co-President Adhira Mangalagiri ’11, is “to create a space on campus in which to raise a consciousness about the ongoing conflicts in South Asia, many of which have been overlooked by the Vassar community.” She said that SASA hopes to “add a new dimension to the existing consciousness on South Asian conflict.”

The conference is a different type of event from the SASA events that have been most popular in the past, which “tended to be an aestheticization of South Asia, which is something we are attempting to move away from,” said Mangalagiri.

“Celebrating South Asian culture is important to us, [but] this year we also wanted to add a more academic consideration into the events we planned.”

The first speaker after Thursday’s opening remarks will be Nimmi Gowrinathan, the director of South

VSA bylaw amendments simplify campaign protocol Caitlin Clevenger

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Assistant News Editor

he Vassar Student Association (VSA) passed reforms to the VSA bylaws concerning elections and campaigning during Sunday’s Council meeting on March 21. Most significant among the changes was the ban of paper flyering as a campaigning tool and the permission of the previously prohibited use of Internet media.

The reforms were spearheaded by VSA Vice President for Operations Brian Farkas ’10 and Noyes House President Hannah GrochBegley ’12 as part of a year-long effort to simplify all of the VSA’s governing documents.

According to Farkas, Article VII of the VSA bylaws, which relates to VSA elections, was “the perfect example of convoluted language and regulation that no one pays attention to,” so it was a prime candidate for revision.

The previous campaigning rules banned any use of the Internet beyond reminders to vote that did not mention a particular candidate. Farkas thought that such a rule was “ridiculous in the 21st century,” where almost all candidates for public office use the Internet as a major campaign tool.

The recently passed bylaws allow the use of social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, the creation of a blog or the recording of YouTube videos. However, the bylaws do not allow candidates to send mass unsolicited e-mails promoting their campaign.

Other electronic messages, such as Facebook messages or tweets, are permitted on the basis that recipients have consented to receive communication from the candidate.

All the rules that govern campaign materials will also apply to Internet campaigning, so anything posted during the campaigning

period must be deleted when voting starts, just as physical posters must be removed.

Though the bylaws open a new area for campaigning, they close another. The old rules allowed candidates in VSA elections to print up to 500 flyers and distribute them around campus. Even with the 500-page limit, there was no practical way of enforcing such a rule, and the result was a cluttered campus.

According to Farkas, “The dorms were covered with paper…they would slide them under dorm room doors, they would post them, they would put them in the microwave and throw them everywhere.” Under the new bylaws candidates may not use any printed materials except posters. The change is intended to help make Vassar more sustainable by reducing paper waste.

Some other changes address redundancies in the document, such as in Section 5, Parts B and C, which both stated that no VSA member could use an elected or appointed position to endorse a candidate. The revisions also remove confusing language in the bylaws; for instance, an archaic law that stated, “no membership lists may be placed side out on a student’s door or hallway.”

They additionally discussed lifting the ban on campaigning during the voting period, but decided to leave it in place in order to give students time consider the options.

The passed cuts bring the bylaws, once 34 pages long, closer to Farkas’s goal of 20 pages. Farkas is also confident that the revised Article VII “is simpler than ever before and candidates will understand it a lot better”.

The new bylaws will be in effect for this spring’s student elections, for which filing starts on April 14.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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Asia programs at the international relief agency Operation USA. In her talk, “Militarization, Displacement, and Resistance: Understandings of Gender and Conflict in Sri Lanka,” Gowrinathan will speak on the role of women in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Thursday night will also feature a screening of Portrait of Jihad, a documentary on militant Islamist organizations in Bangladesh and their involvement in government.

On Friday, the conference will continue with a reading by Professor of English Amitava Kumar and a screening of the documentary Returned: Child Soldiers of Nepal’s Maoist Army, followed by a question and answer session by filmmaker Robert Koenig. Later, Assistant Professor of Film Sophia Harvey will give a talk entitled “Visualizing Trauma, Memory and History in Indian Cinema,” which will examine films dealing with the violence of the 1947 partition of India as well as the ongoing conflict in Kashmir.

Saturday, the last day of the conference, will feature a screening of the documentary Sri Lanka: Notes from a War on Terror. A final lecture

by Swadesh Rana, a senior fellow of the World Policy Institute, will be the capstone of the conference.

The conference will end with a vigil and reflection at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday. According to Mangalagiri, “the vigil will just be a time for us to reflect on conflict, to share experiences of conflict or of the event, to spend time with each other and to think about how we can be affected by conflict in South Asia while at Vassar, halfway around the world.”

NEWS

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March 25, 2010

Speaker to address realities of ADD/ADHD Chloe McConnell

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Contributing Editor

dward Hallowell, M.D. will give the ninth annual Steven Hirsch ’71 and Susan Hirsch Awareness Lecture on Thursday, March 25 on the second floor of the Students’ Building. Entitled “Finding the Buried Treasure in ADD/ADHD,” the lecture will explore the reality of learning disabilities and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADD and ADHD).

By discussing relevant brain science principles and their implications for the classroom and home, Hallowell will discuss ADHD positively, positing it as a gift rather than a disorder. “In my opinion, ADHD is a terrible term,” Hallowell writes on his website. “As I see it, ADHD is neither a disorder, nor is there a deficit of attention. I see ADHD as a trait, not a disability. When it is managed properly, it can become a huge asset in one’s life.”

Hallowell’s perspective runs parallel with the Office of Disability Services’ approach to ADHD. “One of the ways that I would like for every student and faculty member on this campus to think about accommodations for students who have learning disabilities is that it’s not just about the academic accommodation,” said Associate Dean and Director of Equal Opportunity at Vassar Belinda Guthrie.

“It’s truly about affording equal access to Vassar College’s educational environment.”

“These students are bright and talented, and they got into Vassar based on their own achievements, merits and cognitive aptitude,” she continued.

The Office of Disability Services was established in 1996 in response to The American Disabilities Act of 1990. The act forced colleges and universities across the United States to recognize and be accountable for their disabled population of students. Vassar eventually felt the need to build an office to

comprehensively administer to the needs of students with learning differences and other types of disabilities.

When services started, around 86 students registered with the Office and about 40 percent of them had learning disabilities or ADHD. The Office currently works with 225 to 230 students, with the same percentage of students having learning disabilities, with more students identifying as having learning differences over the years.

Hallowell, a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane Medical School, is considered one of the foremost experts on ADHD. He also founded the Hallowell Centers in Massachusetts and New York and taught at the Harvard Medical School from 1983 to 2004.

He currently devotes his attention to his clinical practice, lectures, and books. Hallowell has penned fourteen books on various psychological topics, which include attention deficit disorder, the human connection, forgiving others, stress management and excessive work.

Despite Vassar’s accepting community, not all students consider learning disabilities in terms of Hallowell’s positive context. “If society could start thinking about the inclusion of people with disabilities in terms of equal opportunity and as a matter of social just and not just as accommodating people with disabilities then you begin to start removing that stigma that comes with the label of a “disability,” Guthrie explained.

“That stigma often prevents students from self-disclosing to their friends, their college or to their professors about their diagnosis and need for accommodations,” she continued. “In absence of such disclosure, students with learning differences are not able to receive necessary support and accommodations, and most likely, they will not have the opportunity to have a dialogue with their teachers about what really makes a difference

College to court AT&T, Verizon for cell service TOWER continued from page 1 a contract from a third provider, such as T-Mobile—which has notoriously bad service on campus, according to Ingerman—the tower would have to be made taller and would therefore be more expensive to maintain, said Ingerman. So, CIS capped the number at two.

In return for providing space for a tower, Verizon and AT&T will pay the College some rent, but the money will go into a fund that will be used to maintain the tower. The College’s overall revenue will therefore not be affected by this decision.

Many have expressed health concerns over having a cell tower on campus, most notably the Office of Admissions, which is located directly below the tower.

According to Ingerman, concerns that cell towers cause brain cancer “have to do with fear rather than science.”

According to the American Cancer Society’s report on cell phone towers, studies have been conducted on animals where they were exposed to enough radio waves to raise their tissue temperature without the development of cancer. In addition, cell towers broadcast waves horizontally, meaning that they are not targeted towards people on the ground. In fact, using cellular telephones has been shown to be more dangerous than living near a cell tower.

Also, the signal sent from this particular tower will be especially weak because it is being built

for the exclusive use of the Vassar community. This exclusive service will benefit providers by freeing up space on their other towers in the area.

CIS is currently reviewing contracts from the two providers, and, although “there are always things you want to see changed,” said Ingerman, the College is close to making a deal. “They want to build this tower just as much as we want them to,” he said.

After signing the contracts with the two companies, the Town of Poughkeepsie will have to approve the construction, and Buildings and Grounds hopes to begin taking down the smokestack over the summer. “There is a lot to be done!” wrote Director of Faculty Housing and Special Projects Jeff Horst, who is overseeing the project, in an e-mailed statement.

“We are working with the Town Building Department and have a demolition permit on file since we decided to take the smokestack down after realizing it would be too expensive to restore. We will need to go to the Town Planning Board to have the cell tower installation approved since it involves site work (support buildings, landscape and utility installations),” he wrote.

Regardless of whether or not Vassar can get approval for building the cell tower, Buildings and Grounds plans on demolishing the top 40 feet of the tower. “Tentative plans call for a construction timeline from early June to late August,” wrote Horst.

for them to be able to access the curriculum in terms of their learning style and needs” Adam Newman ’11 plans to form a group to establish a safe environment for students with disabilities to self-disclose their disabilities to one another. “The purpose is twofold,” he explained, “to promote awareness of issues and provide a safer space for those who choose to self-identify as students with disabilities. This community will allow bonding and sharing, it will give people the opportunity to see others with disabilities on campus and a moment to say really what you want to say.”

Guthrie also noted the importance of building a community on campus. “I think for some students, the construction of their learning difference as a part of their identity may only relate to the accommodation process,” she said. “So, their entry into self-identifying as having been diagnosed with a learning disability or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is limited. As a result, they may not have an opportunity or see the need to connect with other students with learning differences to discuss their shared experiences.

The accommodation process is not the same thing as building a community for students with disabilities.”

The group’s first general interest meeting will occur on Wed. March 31. at 7pm in the Gold Parlor. The group will focus on sharing sentiments and learning tips. “Because of the way society’s structured,” Newman said, “you’re taught to hide it, or nor make a big deal about it. Therefore, it gets harder to make it a big issue to talk about.”

Hallowell’s lecture will provide a scientific forum to start the discussion ADHD on campus. “The Hirsch lecture always brings really engaged speakers to campus,” Newman said.

“I think Dr. Hallowell will have that same presence in his lecture.”

News Briefs Noyes still noisy On March 8, Security responded to a noise complaint on the third floor of Noyes House. The 16 occupants of the room dispersed without incident.

—Caitlin Clevenger, Assistant News Editor

The fiendish four Four non-students loitering behind Cushing House on March 12 were harassing students as they walked past. The four individuals were given trespass warnings and escorted off campus.

—C.C.

Early Independence Day A student in the Town Houses on March 14 was lighting fireworks without a permit. A Security officer found the student and confiscated the fireworks.

—C.C.

It’s a wrap Wrapsody Grill and Market, which moved to its current location on the corner of Fulton and Raymond Avenues last August closed this February. Wrapsody moved to its current location at the behest of Vassar College, the landlord, whose storefront property had been empty since 2008, when the previous occupant, Del Forno’s Deli, went out of business . Vassar invited Wrapsody to Arlington in order to meet students’ demand for a grocery store near campus. Prior to coming to Poughkeepsie, Wrapsody sold its wraps to the students from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

—Matthew Brock, News Editor

This Week in Higher Ed

by Ruby Cramer, Editor in Chief Cornell witnesses three student suicides in the course of a single month On Friday, March 12, third-year engineering student Matthew Zika was reported to have died after dropping from the suspension bridge over Cornell University’s Fall Creek Gorge. Though Zika’s body was not recovered until Sunday, Ithaca Police first responded to a 3:45 p.m. call on Friday from a motorist who reported spotting a person drop from the suspension bridge.

Though the apparent suicide is still being investigated by the Ithaca and Cornell University Police Departments, Zika’s death is believed to be the third Gorge suicide in one month at the University and the sixth suicide in six months. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, Friday’s incident “immediately prompted a series of mass e-mails from the University and an aggressive mental-health campaign throughout the [following] weekend.” That week, the University stationed staff at bridges, heavily advertised its counseling services and sent staff to knock on the door of every dorm room on campus. “Student leaders also announced plans for events aimed at combating the somber mood on campus,” reports the Sun.

Hamilton adopts a need-blind admissions policy, despite financial crisis Admission to Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. will become “need-blind” starting this fall with the Class of 2014, announced the chairman of the College’s Board of Trustees on March 8. The policy—which mandates that the College make admission decisions without considering an applicant’s ability to pay—is one already in effect at other liberal arts schools; Amherst, Williams and Swarthmore Colleges all follow the policy, and President Catharine Bond Hill announced Vassar’s move to need-blind in May 2007. Hamilton’s choice to adopt this new system, however, comes at a strange time. Following last year’s financial crisis, schools across the country were dealt a serious blow, and, as a result, many have put their need-blind policy on the chopping block. On Feb. 16, Williams College announced that it would no longer extend its policy to international applicants. Of Hamilton’s decision to go need-blind, Hamilton Dean of Admission and Financial Aid Monica Inzer said in

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

a New York Times interview, “It might be a little risky right now. It’s not always easy to do the right thing.”

Drew University student arrested for stealing and selling valuable historic letters Drew University freshman William John Scott was arrested on Sunday, March 14 for allegedly pilfering from University archives of famous and expensive letters written by 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln, founder of the United Methodist Church John Wesley and former first lady of the Republic of China Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. The New York Times reports that Scott—a political science major and defender on the Drew lacrosse team—worked part-time at the University’s Archive Center, giving him access to the letters. According to prosecutors involved in the FBI case, Scott sold several of the letters for thousands of dollars, leaving others in a pile inside his dresser drawer. On Sunday, Scott was returning on a bus with his lacrosse team from Spring Break and was arrested as soon as the vehicle pulled into the Madison, N.J. campus. “He looked utterly surprised, like we were,” said one of Scott’s teammates to the Times. The next day, Drew’s Chief Communications Officer Dave Muha told The Drew Acorn that the University was “very greatful to the FBI for their swift action.”

Faculty vote ‘no confidence’ in president of Texas community college The Dallas Morning News reported that on Tuesday, March 16, the faculty association at Mountain View College issued a 47-9 vote of “no confidence” with the school’s president, Felix A. Zamora. To receive a vote of no confidence is rare at institutions of higher education and, when issued, is a symbolic message to a president to either review his or her leadership methods and policies, or, often, to resign. Faculty members cited several reasons for the vote, the primary ones being Zamora’s fostering of “a climate of fear and mistrust and his lack of respect for faculty by cutting positions while enrollment increased,” reported the Morning News. In addition, Zamora has been accused of financial mismanagement, as well as making decisions without appropriate faculty consent.

March 25, 2010

NEWS

Page 5

Next year’s budget to cut back on endowment draw BUDGET continued from page 1 concern at the Board level about the comprehensive student fee, especially for those students whose families may not be eligible for any financial aid. Inflation is low in the economy now, and so people are expecting a low percentage increase—and in fact this was the lowest [tuition increase] we’ve had in a decade,” said Eismeier of the 3.5 percent increase. With the $1,800 hike in tuition, the cost of tuition will be $42,560, and the comprehensive fee for a typical underclassman will be $54,204.

Included in this comprehensive cost is the student activities fee, which, according to Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Caitlin Ly ’10, will be one sector of student charges that will not be increasing. “As part of our commitment to take a shared sacrifice during these difficult economic times,” said Ly, “the VSA elected to hold the student activities fee flat for 20102011.”

Vassar was not alone in its decision to raise tuition this year. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the average tuition increase for private universities in 2009 was 4.3 percent—the lowest in decades, they reported. Wesleyan University, for example, recently announced a five percent tuition hike; Dartmouth College raised its tuition by four percent; and both Georgetown and George Washington Universities raised their respective costs by three percent.

Eismeier explained that aside from setting tuition, the annual approval of Vassar’s budget—especially this year, with stilllingering concerns about fundraising and endowment returns—is a careful process of weighing the College’s expenses and incomes, and identifying the “core commitments” that are central to the mission of the institution.

“The whole budget development process is really iterative,” noted Eismeier. “We go through it looking at our expense categories and our income categories, and we develop a relative balance between the two on the basis of cash flows. Especially in this environment, we’ve been in a process of trying to control the growth of our expenses and to actually reduce them as much as possible so that we’re less reliant on endowment income as we were when we entered the recession. That’s really been the main objective in this entire process.”

While this year the College set a budget for $153 million, the entire budget for the 2010-2011 year will be $146 million. “So in absolute dollars,” said Eismeier, “the operating costs of the College are going down, and that’s a pretty significant change. We’ve been able to achieve that by controlling all types of expenditures but also by reducing employment. All these things contribute to holding the costs down.” Eismeier explained that it will be in next year’s budget that the College will “start to see the changes made in employment last semester with retirement incentives and unfilled vacancies, as well as a limited number of layoffs,” she said.

Next year’s lower budget comes as a multi-year effort to decrease the College’s reliance on its endowment for operating funds. While many colleges consider an acceptable endowment draw rate to lie somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5 percent, Vassar’s was 7.6 this year in order to compensate for losses suffered from the financial crisis. In order to work towards a lower spending rate, the 2010-2011 budget plans for a lower draw; given a normal investment return this year, the draw on financial assets will be about 6.3 percent. “That’s still way too high as a sustainable rate,” said Eismeier. “Our goal is to get it down below 5.5 percent of beginning market value, but this budget is the step downward in expense cost because we really need to cut our current expenses to bring out reliance on endowment down from a high level.”

While the compensation budget for next year will drop by 2.9 percent in an effort to

cut down on these expenses, other sectors of the budget will actually be increasing.

Modest examples of these areas of expense are food services (up by 0.5 percent) and library acquisitions (up by 2.7 percent).

The main expense that will be growing from this year to next, however, will be financial aid. “We expect financial aid to be up about 11 percent next year from this year,” noted Eismeier. “As with the Class of 2013, we’re estimating that 60 percent of the Class of 2014 will be requiring financial aid.

We believe that when the economy begins improving that figure will go down.”

The increased budget for financial aid comes out of a core commitment to the College’s need-blind financial aid policy, which pledges that Vassar make admission decisions without considering an applicant’s ability to pay. “I think it’s the kind of decision—and the kind of expenditure—that everyone wants to continue,” said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid David Borus. “Everybody, both philosophically and educationally, is in favor of needblind admissions policy. Obviously, too, the question that needs to be addressed with this spending—as with all spending—is, ‘Can we afford it?’ And the Board approved the budget that allows us to do it going forward, so we’re pleased.”

The approval of the $51 million financial aid budget guarantees that the College’s need-blind policy will be extended to the Class of 2014. However, explains Borus, “since we are now in contact with current high school juniors and sharing information with them about the College—including about our aid policies—we are proceeding on the assumption that baring any bug shifts in demand for aid over the next year, we will again be able to be need-blind for the Class of 2015.”

Borus noted that while Vassar will be need-blind for its regular round of admissions, the College would remain needsensitive for international students and the wait list. “Given the fact that the population of our applicants has been growing more and more socio-economically diverse,” said Borus, “there is obviously more and more demand on financial aid resources, so typically I think that it’s going to be the case that by the time we get to the wait list, we pretty much will have spent what we have in the budget for financial aid.” Borus added that although the College did consider financial need as one criterion in wait-list decisions for the Class of 2013, of the 48 students admitted from the wait list, 12 did in fact receive aid.

Although it’s agreed amongst the trustees and senior officers that need-blind is the desirable way to make admissions decisions at Vassar, it would be unrealistic not to wonder if the College can in fact maintain this high level of spending on financial aid in coming years.

“The fact of the matter is,” said Borus, “we keep spending more and more money on aid. The Board is supportive, but they’re concerned—they’re concerned about the budget, they’re concerned about the endowment, they’re concerned about how long we can maintain that level of spending. And that’s a legitimate question to ask, but I think they’re very supportive of their stance of being need-blind.”

Eismeier, however, added that extensive financial aid is undeniably core to the mission of the College and would always be protected and prioritized within Vassar’s budget.

“For that reason,” Eismeier continued, “we feel very strongly that our core commitment has to be financial aid. We’ve prioritized it above all else, and we’ve decided that we’re going to take our belt-tightening and our pain elsewhere. It’s a hard tradeoff, but our Board and our president have been committed to this, and I think many members of the community have a sense of pride about our financial aid policy. We see it as a core commitment, and we’re doing everything that we can to protect it.”

Working Group considers fundraising options Working Group continued from page 1 end up working.” The Working Group plans to orchestrate a means for students to “speed up the return to financial equilibrium” before the end of the semester, but a concrete idea has not been decided upon as of now.

VSA Vice President for Finance Scott Pascal ’10 explained that, although VSA organizations can transfer money without restriction between themselves, the Working Group is not a certified VSA organization. However, the VSA could set up a temporary fund into which organizations could donate money. Another possible complication for the Working Group is a stipulation for charitable donations made by student organizations. Regardless of whether the money would go towards the College or to an outside organization, the donations cannot be made with money allocated from the student activities fee. Rather, organizations have to prove that they fundraised the money themselves before giving it away.

However, for tax code reasons, that money could not be put back into the College, either into the Annual Fund or directly into the endowment.

Money to finance the VSA and its organiza-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

tions comes from the student activities fee that is part of the overall cost of attending the College, but is separate from other tuition costs.

In the past, money that originally came to the College through the activities fee has gone towards projects such as the solar panels on top of Main Building and the compost bins in the Retreat, which was funded by the VSA’s Great Works Fund, said Pascal. However, the student activities fee is usually reserved for budgeting for VSA organizations and other student events.

“We wanted to approach the VSA [with] maybe not this particular project, but something towards the goal of collective student sacrifice,” explained Working Group member Dorien Ediger-Seto ’10 at the Feb. 21 VSA meeting. “I personally think it’s a sacrifice to lose your professors.”

Rather than donate to a pre-existing fund or student effort, such as the 2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund, the Working Group members who attended the meeting were adamant that they wished to give money towards the retention of professors, though they expressed sincere support for the Scholarship Fund and the values it encompasses.

FEATURES

Page 6

March 25, 2010

Vassar to have one-time opportunity Survey says to participate in COFHE senior survey ten percent use Adderall T Ruby Cramer

Editor in Chief

omorrow, on March 26, Vassar will release its annual senior survey, which, according to Director of Institutional Research David Davis-Van Atta, is kind of like “a rite of passage” for students leaving the College.

“It’s an omnibus survey because it doesn’t drill down deep into any one topic, but it covers every aspect of the undergraduate experience, from your academics to your social life,” said Davis-Van Atta.

This year’s survey, however, is different. For the first time in its history, Vassar has been invited to participate in the senior survey administered by the Consortium on Financing Higher Education (COFHE, pronounced coh-fee), an organization of 31 private universities and liberal arts colleges that conduct periodical studies on higher education and share the otherwise confidential results of these studies with one another.

The COFHE senior survey is one of these studies, and because Vassar is not a COFHE member, data from this survey has never been privy to anyone on campus. When the consortium was first formed in 1974, the founders invited a large pool of selective American colleges and universities to participate in the survey. Vassar was one of the schools to receive this invitation, but the College—led at the time by its seventh president, Alan Simpson—did not opt to join the group. “We really closed the door on ourselves,” said Davis-Van Atta. “Haverford, Middlebury, Bowdoin and Grinnell Colleges were also all invited, so we weren’t the only school to say no, but I don’t think that initially schools really appreciated what an important group COFHE would become.”

This year, however, COFHE institutions— which are primarily comprised of the Ivy League universities, Ivy-like universities (such as Stanford and Duke Universities) and other top liberal arts colleges—had the opportunity to invite non-COFHE schools

that they felt were their peers to participate in their senior survey. “I have a lot of buddies through COFHE, so Vassar got invited from all over the place,” said Davis-Van Atta, who was formerly the Director of Institutional Research at Carleton College, a COFHE school.

Vassar has not been invited to join the Consortium permanently; Vassar will participate this year only. “This is really a one-time thing and an amazing opportunity for Vassar,” said Davis-Van Atta, who is hoping for a high response rate from seniors. “Even though we’ve done senior surveys [since 2001], they weren’t the COFHE senior survey. Now we’ll be able to use that instrument as part of a group and—for the first time ever—Vassar will have comparative data for real peers.”

To encourage seniors to take the survey— which will likely take 20 to 30 minutes to complete—President of the College Catha-

rine Bond Hill has agreed to devote $2,500 towards extra funding for senior week as an incentive for participation. “The higher the response rate,” explained Davis-Van Atta, “the greater will be the award toward a $2,500 maximum.” If the class response rate is over 50 percent, Hill will give $1,000; if above 60 percent, Hill will give $1,500; if above 65 percent, Hill will give $2,000; and if above 70 percent, Hill will give the maximum $2,500.

According to Davis-Van Atta, last year’s senior survey garnered a response rate of approximately 70 percent.

In addition to Vassar, nine other nonCOFHE schools will participate in the 2010 survey: six universities (California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Emory University, University of Notre Dame, Tufts University and Vanderbilt University) See COFHE on page 8

Not quite local: Miami’s Calle Ocho Daniel Combs Reporter

“I

t’s all about Miami! It’s all about my people! It’s all about Calle Ocho!” shouted Pitbull to the thousands of screaming fans that lined the streets. With that, the Miami rapper from Little Havana launched into a blisteringly hot set that was matched only by the intensity of the scorching midday sun and the aroma-infused smoke wafting from street carts in every direction.

It was, of course, the latter that had brought me to Calle Ocho, an annual street festival in the neighborhood of Miami known as Little Havana. The massive block party is a celebration of Latin music, food and culture in the heart of the city’s most concentrated Hispanic neighborhood. This was the festival’s 32nd year in operation, and the organizers know how to get people to keep coming back.

Setting foot onto Eighth Street (or Calle Ocho in Spanish), the first thing that may pass through your head, as it did mine, is, “Damn, I wish I had actually gone to Spanish class in high school.” What you lack in linguistic skills can more than be made up for with a well-trained snout. As Gandalf says, “When in doubt, follow your nose.” This is normally how I find my way when it comes to street food. If it smells good, it probably tastes good, and the beautiful thing about Calle Ocho is that everything smells good; the not-so-gentle caress of the smoke and steam filling the street benevolently overpowers the funk given off by thousands of your newest, closest, perspiring friends.

Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Dominican, Haitian, Colombian, Brazilian, Peruvian, Argentinean—literally every possible Latin cuisine is represented at one of the dozens of street vendors. If you classify yourself as

a manic gastronomic explorer, you may be crazy enough to try and taste a little bit of everything. Now, I’m not saying this is a bad idea, but from experience, I’d say that you might first want to invest in some Tums and some extra toilet paper. This is not meant to be frightening. At Calle Ocho, and in most places around the world, food you buy on the street will hardly ever make you legitimately ill. There is no way a street vendor could stay in business if he was poisoning all his neighbors. And judging by how many neighbors were buying arepas from the Colombian cook at the corner of Eighth and 22nd, I decided to start there.

I started with an arepa: the two thick discs of cornmeal were delicately caramelized and far sweeter than I had imagined, and the overflowing pillow of white cheese squashed between them provided the perfect twanging elasticity to match their whispering, soft, crunchy crumble.

This being technically my first meal of the day (somewhere around 2:30 p.m.), I figured that the arepa could count as a light breakfast but that some protein was needed if my day was to start off right. Ocean fare is one of my favorite ways to start the day, and so I turned my nose in the (pungent) direction of fish and seafood. I passed up the first seafood stall I found—an absolutely tiny man stirring a five-foot wide vat of paella whose fumes seemed to render everyone within eyesight completely incapacitated.

Instead, I found a Panamanian woman slinging ceviche, easily one of the most refreshing Latin dishes and one of my favorite ways to eat fish. The diced raw white sea bass felt almost effervescent thanks to the combined tanginess of the sour lime juice, chopped onion and grainy sea salt. The bowl

could have used a sprinkling of tortilla chips to add some traditional crunchy texture, but the freshness of the fish and the rejuvenating qualities of a cold dish on such a hot day more than made up for this minor lack.

Other delicious treats I enjoyed included a series of amazing tacos with hand pressed blue corn tortillas, filled with any meat you could think (beef tongue for yours truly). As with all street food, the real gems are often hidden, and at a tiny Mexican cart, I bought by far the largest tamale I’ve ever seen. The husk was loaded with big, juicy hunks of pork that still contained the bone marrow, which resulted in a gregarious display of bone sucking and finger licking. Everywhere I looked I saw people slinging deep-fried, sugary goodness in the form of churros, so I figured that this was a necessary dessert.

As you can imagine, by this point I was walking around with quite the food baby. But the golden rule is that the culinary adventure only really stops when it gets hard to breathe, so I forced myself to taste a bit of steak from an Argentinean wood-burning grill that completely floored me with its complexity. The steak wasn’t bad, but it paled in comparison to the freakishly refreshing piña colada that was carved out of a pineapple and cost a mere $5. It’s true sustainability when you can eat the dish you drink out of; I may start making mimosas inside of carved out oranges.

Calle Ocho wasn’t officially over until sundown, but since I had to navigate back seven blocks with a friend on crutches and a digestive system threatening to work in reverse, I decided to call it quits. I feel like I only scratched the surface of an incredibly deep food celebration and cannot wait to visit again. If you are ever in Miami in March, make it a point to at least stop by and taste a bit.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

ADDERALL continued from page 1 can’t say that I know Adderall use to be a serious problem at Vassar… We just don’t know.

[Compared to] the use of many other drugs it is simply much easier to hide…it takes a second to pop a pill and—even if witnessed—the observer doesn’t know what the pill was. It can easily be done quietly, privately and quickly.”

The Drug and Alcohol Education Committee conducted a survey in the spring of 2008 that suggests that the vast majority of Vassar students are not using the pill illegally; the study indicated that 10 percent of participating Vassar students admitted to having used non-prescription Adderall in the past. This 10 percent was made up of two groups: Three percent claimed to have taken non-prescription Adderall seven or more times per year, and seven percent admitted to taking the drug fewer than seven times per year.

Chair of the Drug and Alcohol Education Committee Renee Pabst wrote in an e-mailed statement that the Committee has “seen three different [versions of] Adderall misuse/abuse: [students who are using the drug] around exam time as a study aid, students who are using it as a stimulant to lose weight and those who use it recreationally. All present great risks, but the users have different motivations for using.”

On the night of Wednesday, March 3 during the stressful season of midterms, The Miscellany News went to the Thompson Memorial Library to talk to students about their relationships, or lack thereof, with non-prescription Adderall.

Reactions were mixed, and all students interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Information from the visit suggested that Vassar students who use the drug without a prescription tend to do so habiutually: One group of students confessed to being on the drug at the time they were interviewed. Other students said that they sometimes took it, yet others had heard about it but had not once taken it, nor did they think any of their friends had.

Responses varied when students were asked if they thought non-prescription Adderall use actually improved their focus and productivity.

One student proudly remarked that Adderall had changed her life, while another said that Adderall enhanced her ability to complete simple tasks, but was useless for more conceptual work.

Pabst addressed this issue from a medical perspective in her correspondence: “The students who use it as a study aid are operating under the myth that it will improve their concentration and ability to study,” she said. “Adderall is a stimulant, and when not prescribed to a student, it does not promote better cognitive ability, but it will keep them up longer. A common myth is that Adderall will improve concentration—that is only true for students who have ADD [attention deficit disorder]/ADHD.” To further complicate the question of the drug’s presence on campus, there are students who are misusing their own prescriptions. One sophomore who asked to remain anonymous explained that she uses her prescribed Adderall when she goes out on the weekends: “It depends what you mean by recreationally. I am prescribed Adderall, but I take it pretty much every time I drink.”

Pabst noted that mixing Adderall with alcohol “promotes cross-tolerance, which may lead to dependency on both drugs.”

Whatever the reason for use, the dangers of non-prescription Adderall seem to be misunderstood among students. For this reason, Pabst underscored the following: “Whether a student is using this drug a few times a year for studying or recreationally, it is vital for them to understand the risks. For students who are not prescribed this drug, it can result in an irregular heartbeat, dangerously high body temperatures, and/or the potential for cardiovascular failure or seizures.

Taking it over a short period of time can lead to hostility or feelings of paranoia.”

If you are concerned about your or a friend’s misuse or abuse of Adderall, the following campus organizations can be of help: Office of Health Education, Metcalf House Solarium: 437-7769 healtheducation@vassar.edu; Counseling Services-Metcalf House: 437-5700; Heath Services-Baldwin: 437-5800.

FEATURES

March 25, 2010

Page 7

Bring friends together for carne asada taco night Nate Silver

I

Columnist

Follow this recipe in a photoessay on

Exposure blogs.miscellanynews.com/exposure

Grocery List Limes Radishes Jalapeno Tomatoes Queso Fresco Long grain rice Lemon Corn Tortillas Avocado Black beans Skirt Steak Cilantro Red onion Garlic Red Pepper Total

$1.00 $1.09 $0.22 $3.50 $2.49 $1.39 $0.49 $0.99 $1.00 $1.09 $4.31 $0.89 $0.66 $0.30 $0.22 $19.64

Products purchased at:

Casa Latina 651 Main Street Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 (845) 473-4096

Pico de Gallo »» 1 red onion, finely chopped »» 6 plum tomatoes, seeded and cored, finely chopped »» 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped »» 2 T minced fresh cilantro »» 2 limes, juiced »» Salt, to taste Kelley Van Dilla/The Miscellany News

f there’s one thing a good meal can do— besides nourish and sustain us—it’s to take us somewhere. Food allows us to travel, to bring us back to our childhood, send us to our favorite vacation destination, give us a taste of a place we’ve never been, remind us of home. I was sitting outside with a good friend of mine a few weeks ago, the temperature below freezing and snow piled high on the ground, when he sighed, “What I would give for a carne asada taco right now…” His home is San Diego.

I called him that Sunday and invited him over to help me prepare the meal for this weekly column. Earlier that day, I had made a trip to Casa Latina on Main Street, an absolute haven for exciting, inexpensive Latin American ingredients. The store is certainly worth a trip if you’ve never been (and it’s accessible via the Community Shuttle to boot!).

When he walked in my front door, the skirt steak had been marinating in the mojo for hours, the rest of the ingredients were laid out along the countertop, and we were ready to get cooking. A couple of other friends joined us and our time in the kitchen was as much about preparing a meal as it was about traveling, talking about our homes, our favorite foods and our favorite places.

As Seth warmed tortillas, Luke chopped some onions for the pico de gallo and Kelley captured the evening through photos, we all realized the importance of cooking not solely as a life skill or fun time, but as an activity that truly brings people closer together. When we constructed our own carne asada masterpieces—piled high with pico de gallo, avocado, radishes and queso fresco—we were taking part in the creation of a memory, and taking a short vacation to San Diego, just north of the Mexican border, where the cuisine is vibrant and spicy, and heavily influenced by its southern neighbor.

Heavy reminiscing aside, creating a little taco bar or buffet is a great way to stretch a small budget into an exciting, delicious and filling meal. In addition to the items we used, you could have some shredded lettuce or cabbage, chopped tomatoes, guacamole, tomatillo salsa—the list is endless. I also recommend reserving some of the marinade (before adding the meat to it) and spooning some on top of your taco. The protein in this is also quite flexible—you could replace the steak with chicken or fish and use the same marinade, or go completely vegetarian and sauté some vegetables or use some beans. Because I was on such a tight budget, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to purchase too much meat and would have to round out this meal with a satisfying side dish. The rice and beans were incredibly simple and were a fitting accompaniment to this Mexican-influenced meal.

Putting the finishing touches on this column and checking the weather forecast, I’m optimistic that taking a trip to warmer climates won’t be necessary in the coming weeks.

Springtime in New York is upon us, meaning that future columns will feature the bounty of the emerging green and will take advantage of all the Hudson Valley has to offer.

Black Beans and Rice

Carne Asada Tacos »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

1. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside.

Note: to seed and core the tomatoes, begin by slicing them in half, down through the top. With a paring knife remove the brown core from the top of each half and gently squeeze out all of the seeds and juice, leaving just the tomato flesh. Using seeded tomatoes will keep the pico de gallo looking fresher and less watery.

15 6-inch corn tortillas 1 lb. skirt steak 4 cloves garlic, chopped 4 limes 1 lemon 2 T vinegar 1/2 jalapeno, finely chopped 1/4 c. + 2 T olive oil Salt and pepper 1/4t c. minced fresh cilantro Pico de gallo (recipe follows) 1 bunch radishes, grated 1 sliced avocado 1 c. crumbled queso fresco Lime wedges, to garnish Cilantro leaves, to garnish

1. In a large bowl, combine the chopped garlic, juice from the four limes, juice from the lemon, vinegar, chopped jalepeno, 1/4 c. olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the skirt steak and let mari-

nade for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

2. Once the meat has marinated, heat the 2 T olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the skirt steak to the pan and – depending on the thickness of the meat – cook for 1-3 minutes per side for medium doneness. Remove the steak and set aside to rest. Meanwhile, heat the corn tortillas by placing them in a dry skillet over medium heat and cooking 20-30 seconds per side. Place them in a warm oven to maintain their temperature.

3. When the meat has rested for about five minutes, slice it thinly into long strips.

To assemble the tacos, place a few slices of meat in a corn tortilla, top with a spoonful of pico de gallo, some grated radishes, a couple slices of avocado, some queso fresco and some cilantro.

Serve with extra lime wedges.

ADVERTISEMENT

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

»» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

2 T olive oil 1 red onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 red pepper, diced 2 c. long grain rice 3 c. water 1 T ground cumin 1/2 t. ground cayenne pepper 1 14-oz. can black beans 2 plum tomatoes, seeded and cored, diced Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the red onion and garlic and sauté 5-7 minutes. Add the red pepper and sauté 5 minutes more. Add the rice, cumin and cayenne to the pan and stir.

Add the water and black beans—including their juice—and let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is cooked. A few minutes before it’s done add the diced tomatoes and taste to adjust the seasoning.

FEATURES

Page 8

March 25, 2010

Poughkeepsie Community Profile

Denise dedicated to motivating Poughkeepsie Erica Licht

Guest Columnist

“B

egin with the end,” founding director of Black Butterfly Inspirational Seminars and Consulting Simply Denise always reminds me. After moving from New York City in 2006, Denise made her start in Poughkeepsie. Since then she has become a powerful force of social change in the community.

As the creator of Poughkeepsie’s Communication and Leadership Builder program, Denise helps local teens develop leadership skills and teaches goal-setting techniques to help them finish high school with flying colors. Every participant in Denise’s program leaves with a finished cover letter and resume in hand as well as the skills to guide them through their first job interview. From the ground up, she has created youth development programming based around her growing perceptions of what the community needs and what it has to offer.

Not a native to Poughkeepsie, Denise’s understanding of this community is impressive for the number of contacts she has gained and change she has affected after being here only four years. Transitioning from sprawling New York City to smaller Poughkeepsie was an adjustment at first, but one that she says kept life in perspective.

It seems there’s no end to Denise’s own resume or passions. As a motivational speaker and trainer, Denise also provides seminars for adult organizations and groups, as well as runs pilot programs for City of Poughkeepsie youth organizations including the R.E.A.L. Skills Network and Protect the Dream which help bridge the gap between work and community involvement in Poughkeepsie.

I had the exceptional experience of working with Denise on the Girls Wilderness Empowerment Workshop that we co-designed

and co-implemented in partnership with Vassar students, among many others. We took 12 girls from various youth programs in the City of Poughkeepsie on a day of outdoor adventure and female empowerment.

With the participants, we embarked on a nature hike at Dennings Point in Beacon, N.Y. with a local natural historian then led the female participants in various exercises in team building, group communication and female self-empowerment. Some of these activities included your average tug of war, but extended to discussions of being a woman in Poughkeepsie, how to advocate for yourself as a young woman and how to work as a team.

Denise started working as a caseworker with the New York City Housing Authority Social Services Department at age 22. In her position, she was “going into various housing developments and seeing how desperate these families were and seeing how discouraged many of these individuals were.” She recalls, “I knew that it was important for me that I leave them something that was going to help them along the way. That’s where the passion comes from: How do I get these people to develop these skills to move forward?” It was this passion that Denise brought with her to Poughkeepsie.

At first the transition to working in Poughkeepsie was difficult: “I came from New York City where the youth programming is about networking, and every effort involves working with each organization on board.” Denise became frustrated with the shortage of youth programs in Poughkeepsie and exasperated by a lack of communication between those that did exist. In her view, New York City was able to utilize its available resources in the community to serve its members more effectively than Poughkeepsie was. She found that in Poughkeepsie many program leaders were reluctant

to share resources, or even to make viable and permanent partnerships. One of her first goals was a big one: to find a way to get community groups to work together.

Denise maintains strong links to the international public speaking school, Toastmasters International, which she calls “one of the highlights of my life.” She says Toastmasters has guided her through much of her own communication development for the last four years. Denise maintains, “Toastmasters plays a big role in the person that I am today and the person that I am developing myself to be.” She currently holds the position of Vice President for Public Relations in the local Poughkeepsie chapter, working to network with other community organizations to build strong community leaders.

Denise believes that the strongest source for change in the community is youth: “The youth are saying, ‘This is not available to me, and if you can’t help me with this, who can I go to?’

[We] have a new cluster of teenagers who are going to become future leaders with the awareness that they have the ability to make change happen.” In each of her youth programs Denise teaches practical skills for youth to better advocate for what they will do in academia and later as professionals. She emphasizes, “If you don’t have the appropriate leadership and communication skills then you’re not able to navigate the system. I think that it’s so important at an early age that kids begin to think about: What is communication? And what is leadership? And how do I combine these two to make myself successful?”

It’s been a long journey, and Denise knows she is nowhere near its end, but she feels positively about the change that she has seen in Poughkeepsie in the last four years. She is proud that Mayor John C. Tkazyik is now try-

Survey to give College comparative peer data COFHE continued from page 6 and three liberal arts colleges (Colby, Haverford and Middlebury Colleges).

Gilda Koutsiouroumbas, Assistant Director of Institutional Research at Haverford, shared Davis-Van Atta’s excitement for the opportunity to participate in the COFHE survey. She explained that since 2000, Haverford has used senior survey instruments from the Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium and the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). “Although the information gathered from these surveys has been useful for longitudinal analysis,” said Koutsiouroumbas, “over the years fewer and fewer comparison institutions have participated [in these surveys].”

“Since most of Haverford’s peer institutions are members of COFHE and they will be participating in the COFHE senior survey,” continued Koutsiouroumbas, “we are really hopefully that the resulting peer data will assist us with truly benchmarking analyses.”

According to Davis-Van Atta, questions on the COFHE senior survey can range from “How satisfied are you with your major advising,” to “How satisfied are you with diversity on campus,” to “How would you rate dining services at your college.” “The survey touches on every aspect of the school and how satisfied you are with your overall range of things,” said Davis-Van Atta.

Leroy Graham, Director of Institutional Research at Middlebury College, explained that what’s unique about the COFHE survey is that it is able to touch on such a “wide array of topics and to compare those experiences with students at other schools,” said Graham.

“Every school,” added Davis-Van Atta, “will of course have some things that they’re high on and some that they’re low on. Largely, things like food services and advising are at the low end of the spectrum at most schools.”

Davis-Van Atta explained that although seniors can consistently give low ratings to

these aspects of college life, classes from year to year are actually not “cookie-cutters” of one another: “Every class has got its own unique twist. Some of the range of satisfaction with serious aspects of campus life comes from what’s happening in the world at the time of the survey. For example, when Rodney King [was subject to police brutality in 1991], that caused such distress on campuses coast to coast, and the senior survey that year really showed that students were affected deeply by that event. Ratings for diversity, for interacting with people different from your original background—these kinds of things changed.”

“I fully expect the economic crisis to somehow show up on this year’s survey,” continued Davis-Van Atta, “but I don’t know how yet. This is a great opportunity to gather information about just how that affected college students.”

When asked what the practical value of participating in the COFHE exam would be, Davis-Van Atta explained that when a collective senior class takes an in-depth survey like the COFHE one, the results and comparative results of that survey have the power to give the College a “wake-up call:” “If Vassar comes in last in a certain category, that’s going to be a surprise for someone. We could have a situation like that—where there’s some aspect of Vassar that we don’t realize is as poorly rated as it is in comparison to these other schools.

Before doing a survey like this, you can’t really guess what this type of thing could be.”

“If something’s rating is seriously low, then we’ve got to rethink that aspect of Vassar life,” said Davis-Van Atta. “I don’t know what that would mean, but the senior survey has the power to wake people up, and I think Vassar is earnestly interested in taking some of these survey findings to heart. The typical reaction to the senior survey is ‘Wow, we didn’t know that.’”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

ing to work closely with many organizations and with youth in the community. During her stay, the mayor has developed a youth panel to work directly with him to address some of the issues that Poughkeepsie youth face.

“The upside is that the mayor can take input from youth for new programming, but the downside is [that the community may not be] receptive to this new kind of change,” Denise cautions.

Reluctance to change isn’t the only challenge Denise faces, and she sees her struggles in Poughkeepsie as indicative of a larger program facing young women in the community.

At most of the meetings that Denise attends in Poughkeepsie she is the only woman in the room. Significant to her work with youth is empowerment for young women. She says, “There are not a lot of programs geared towards young women who want to be leaders or even women who are in leadership positions in the city.

When current programs are [dominated by men], young women are put on the sideline.”

Many of Denise’s efforts, particularly the Girls Empowerment Wilderness Workshop, focus on the power of young women for social change.

“If you can teach a female, you can teach a community,” Denise firmly believes.

Through her many hours of hard work, many of which take place behind the scenes, Denise stays positive and believes in the power of utilizing community assets.

Every day, with every population she works with, she continues to maintain her first and foremost goal, “To ignite people to believe that change is possible and that they can become change agents.”

If you are interested in contacts or opportunities in the Poughkeepsie community such as this please contact Erica Licht, Community Action Coordinator, at erlicht@@vassar.edu.

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March 25, 2010

OPINIONS

Commentary on Vassar’s decision to consider a campus smoking ban. For more information on this issue please see “Vassar considers smoking ban” in the Feb. 25 issue of The Miscellany News.

Smoking a personal choice, not one for Vassar to make Michael Reback

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Guest Columnist

smoke about a pack of cigarettes every day.

You probably don’t like it. In fact, if the numerous comments left on the online publication of “Vassar considers smoking ban” (2.25.2010) are any indication, you probably think I’m trashy, inconsiderate, moronic and, worst of all, an embarrassment to this fine institution. By God, college students smoking on campus—what will people think? Unfortunately, your opinions regarding me and my habits pretty much carry no weight in my mind. I find smoking to be pleasurable and aesthetically pleasing. You don’t have to agree with me or even appreciate my logic, but it’s my prerogative as a living being to do with my body what I will. The catch is that my smoking doesn’t only affect me, but those around me.

I don’t necessarily buy the secondhand smoke argument because if walking through a cloud of smoke a few times a day could kill you, the majority of New York City would have been long dead. Thus, I suspect the driving force of the proposed smoking ban is simple: Some people just don’t like smoking. But I do like it, so where do we go from here?

An analogy: I’m a vegetarian. The smell of bacon in the morning makes me want to vomit—a feeling that is only amplified by the sight of greasy strips of fatty, dead pig. I could list hundreds of reasons why you should join my cause: There’s a significant body of evidence that suggests meat is bad for you. Further, every time you indulge in a juicy burger from All Campus Dining Center (ACDC), you are supporting an industry that is exploitative, cruel to animals and environmentally unfriendly. So your decision to eat meat not only affects you, but countless others, myself included. Granted, vegetarians have safe havens on campus, such as Ferry House and the vegan station at ACDC— but if we venture outside these areas, we do so at our own risk. Imagine my horror when I got mashed potatoes at the home cooking station and discovered the little red flecks I assumed to be potato skins were actually little pieces of ham.

How would you react if I suggested we ban meat from campus? I would argue that it’s fundamentally analogous to a ban on smoking; the major difference between the two is that meat eaters comprise the majority, while smokers are

the minority. It does conceivably make sense to more strictly enforce the current smoking regulations on campus, and to perhaps designate more areas as “non-smoking”—the same way that certain areas of campus are essentially “non-meat.” While I concede this point, the idea of fining smokers in violation of these rules is ridiculous. Fines would turn smoking into a class privilege because for some, a fine would just be another charge home.

The second phase of the three-part ban would relegate smokers to particular areas. I feel ambiguous about this—the proposal suggests that these smoking areas would take the form of gazebos, paid for by the fines I don’t support. A community college in my hometown has a similar system: There is one allocated “smoking” gazebo, while the rest of the campus is smoke-free.

Such a model perhaps makes sense for a commuter college, but Vassar is residential—Vassar is our home. If I want to smoke a cigarette enroute to class, I probably won’t have time to stop by a smoking gazebo. Even if I’m in my dorm on a cold, rainy day, I probably won’t want to go to a smoking gazebo.

The final phase, an outright smoking ban, presents numerous problems. Logistically, forcing the Security Department to enforce such a regulation is a bit unreasonable, and I’d imagine staff and faculty members would be rather offended by such a system. But since you’re mostly concerned about yourselves, let me assure you that making Vassar smoke-free will not dissuade smokers from smoking. I suspect that smokers, rather than going off-campus every time they want a cigarette, will continue their habit in private—that is to say, in their dorm rooms. Smoking indoors does present legitimate problems with secondhand smoke, not to mention fire hazards.

If you are in support of the ban, you may be inclined to call me selfish after what I just said. But please keep in mind that it’s selfish for you to try to dictate what I can and can’t do based on your personal preferences. A final word: Remember that you aren’t powerless. If someone is smoking in a doorway or too close to your window, you can ask the person to move. There’s a lot of animosity between smokers and non-smokers, but perhaps if you actually took some personal initiative, you’d find that not all of us are trashy, inconsiderate and moronic.

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Campus smoking ban would be useless and ineffective Alia Heintz

Guest Columnist

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n the Feb. 25 issue of The Miscellany News, an article entitled “Vassar considers smoking ban” discussed the Drug and Alcohol Education Committee’s (DEC) recent suggestions to phase out smoking on campus, the ultimate phase of this plan being “the establishment of Vassar as a smoke-free campus.”

Many students may not be aware that they can be written up for not abiding by these rules, as these regulations are not heavily enforced.

Even a visitor to campus recognizes that many students smoke wherever they wish.

Several years ago, Vassar took action to reduce the incentive to smoke by ceasing to sell cigarettes in the Vassar College Bookstore; when students would purchase cigarettes from the Bookstore prior to the change, it would show up as a “sundries” charge on the bill, leaving parents unaware that they were paying for their children’s cigarettes. The move to stop selling cigarettes on campus relieved Vassar of the liability of parents complaining that the school was providing easy access to an unhealthy substance. However, as we can see by walking around campus, the lack of availability of cigarettes on campus and regulations against smoking has not greatly affected the amount of smoking among students.

So, that leads to the question: Will banning smoking actually reduce the rate of smoking among students, and is the College justified in eliminating it?

Just because something is prohibited from campus does not stop people from doing it.

The easiest example that many have most likely considered is the easy access to alcohol on campus (and on any typical college campus). On a typical Friday or Saturday night, anyone looking to find alcohol can find it. A large percentage of those drinking on the weekends are under 21 years old, and, therefore, students are not defying just the College; they are breaking the law. However, this really does not seem to deter many students from still drinking.

So, why would campus regulations against smoking stop students from smoking on the grounds? If anything, it would push smoking inside to where students could just open their windows and smoke. Even though there are smoke detectors installed in each room, there are still ways to get around them, and people do take advantage of this fact. Certain hallways are homes to clouds of smoke and the suffocating smell of cigarettes. By banning smoking on campus, stu-

dents will just continue to move their habit indoors and attempt to be as stealthy about it as they are with underage drinking. Do we really want to encourage smoking indoors? Many will argue that implementing a ban will discourage smoking and not push it indoors, but realistically, if we look at it from the frame-of-mind of a college student, while smoking may seem like it has ceased, it will only, in fact, become a more hidden part of campus culture.

Yes, smoking is unhealthy. It leads to unhealthy consequences years down the road; this tends to be one of the hallmarks of every health education class we have ever taken. However, many other habits that college students have are equally as unhealthy and may have even worse potential consequences. But people tend to do things that are not healthy for them, and it is the individual’s choice to do it. Everyone is aware of the dangers of smoking—we are reminded of them on a regular basis. Vassar should trust that students are old and responsible enough to take into account the potential outcomes of their current choices. By now, everyone is well informed, and even though college students are notorious for subscribing to the notion of “it won’t happen to me,” it should still be the individual’s choice to make, not Vassar’s. If students can purchase cigarettes legally, why should they not be allowed to smoke?

Students are not the only ones who smoke; there are members of the faculty and administration who also smoke. At the end of the day, they can go home and smoke if they wish—but where are students supposed to go? For the majority of students, Vassar is their home. The College should not force students to leave campus every time they wish to smoke. Smoking is a habit for some, and a habit that they may not want to break. Perhaps a ban will reduce the amount of social smoking, but it does not serve as an effective means for eliminating smoking completely because it will still happen, no matter the rules or the strength and vigorousness of their implementation.

While I applaud the College for moving smoking outdoors and providing receptacles for discarding of cigarettes, it is not right that the College implement a ban. If all the public service announcements have not already deterred students from smoking, a ban certainly will not either. The regulations placed by the College are a compromise of a complete ban and allowing people to smoke anywhere he or she pleases.

Deer Cull on Vassar Farm

Letter: Ronsheim’s column leaves unanswered questions I

appreciate the hard work of Associate Professor of Biology Margaret Ronsheim (“Deer culling a thought out and collaborative decision,” 2.25.10), directed in part at answering the questions I raised in my Feb. 11 Miscellany piece (“Anthony DeNicola and the (White) Buffaloing of Vassar”). I assume that Professor Ronsheim, probably the most active member of the Farm Oversight Committee, is speaking in her column on behalf of the Committee, so I will therefore address my responses to that organization in what I say below. Unfortunately, the column leaves most of my questions unanswered, and some new mysteries have now arisen.

The first item can be dispensed with quickly.

The column claims that in deciding upon sharpshooting as the only feasible way of controlling the deer, the Committee consulted with more sources than just Anthony DeNicola and his White Buffalo company, who ended up being paid $10,000 for killing 64 deer over two nights. Unanswered, however, is the essence of the question I posed. If these other, financially disinterested sources actually played an important role in Vassar’s decision to kill the deer, then why weren’t they important enough to include in more than one of the supporting citations appearing in the relevant section of the Committee’s Memorandum? The remaining six citations all apply to DeNicola or White Buffa-

lo, who definitely lacked this financial disinterest.

I pointed out previously that the Memorandum and another of the documents posted by the Committee on its website contain discrepant estimates of the immediate pre-slaughter deer population on the Vassar College Ecological Preserve.

The Committee, after first using the term “alleged discrepancy” to refer to the conflicting estimates, then proceeds to explain why there was in fact a discrepancy. Two different tabulation methods are said to have been attempted. The first, apparently based upon the January 2009 infrared flyover of the Farm and Preserve described in the Memorandum (page three), generated an estimate of 100 deer on the Preserve alone. The second, based upon alternative methodology left undefined in both the document entitled “Whitetailed deer overabundance in the Northeastern US,” as well as in the column, led to a very different estimate of 70 deer per square mile, meaning only about 46 deer on the 416 acre Preserve.

And which estimate was used to determine the targeted number of deer for White Buffalo to kill?

The column abruptly skirts this question, changing the subject instead to a discussion of how deer impact will be assessed in the future. But the answer to the question can easily be found on page two of the Memorandum under the heading of “Principal Recommendations”: “Reduce

deer population from current 100 animals on the Preserve to 15 deer.” So the decision was made to embrace de maximis, resulting in the shooting of many more deer. Perhaps the Committee can explain why this was done, given that its column contains no indication whether one estimate was thought to be more accurate than the other.

The lower estimate should be a matter of grave concern to all community members who have treasured the presence of deer on campus, for the 64 deer slaughtered in January mean that if this estimate were closer to reality, virtually no deer remain on the Preserve or surrounding 114 acre Farm. Perhaps this puts into perspective the cryptic, but potentially revealing comments made by White Buffalo immediately following the second and final night of the kill on January 13. Despite Vassar’s receipt of permits from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to kill up to 85 total deer, and rampant local media speculation that this was what actually would be done, a front page Poughkeepsie Journal article from Jan. 15 reported that White Buffalo had advised the College that “it ‘made the most sense’ to end it with 64 animals taken,” and that “they felt little more would be accomplished right now.” Is the proper interpretation of this that in the best judgment of the sharpshooter, there essentially were no more deer to be killed?

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

The Committee’s final response directed at specific questions I raised refers to the strange case of the fall forum that never was. To recapitulate: In its June 12, 2009 memorandum, the Committee stated that a final forum would be held in the fall of 2009 to discuss its then-finalized plan to kill the deer. As opposed to two earlier forums that simply discussed the reputed deer problem and a range of possible corrective measures, the promised fall forum by its very nature would have been contentious, given that the recommendation to slaughter the deer had now been made.

The Committee acknowledges that no forum was held with the statement, “Unfortunately, constraints were placed on us from outside the College.” I confess being unable to understand this claim despite multiple re-readings. Outside constraints? Preventing Vassar from having its own internal discussion of the Committee’s recommendation? No discussion that could have been squeezed into September? Or October? Or November? Perhaps the Committee’s statement was influenced by the recent death of former Nixon Chief of Staff Alexander Haig, who famously blamed a “sinister force” for the 18.5 minute gap in one of the most important Watergate tapes.

But no need to worry, argues the Committee, because the functional equivalent of a forum See DEER on page 13

OPINIONS

Page 10

March 25, 2010

Shortridge cannot rationalize illegal downloading Angela Aiuto

Opinions Editor

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n her latest column, my co-editor, Kelly Shortridge ’12, argued that illegal file sharing is not, as I previously asserted, morally objectionable. (“Downloading punishment not College’s duty,” 2.25.10) Perhaps the most striking argument that Shortridge makes is that illegal downloading does not qualify as actual stealing. She argues: “If I had the opportunity to own a copy of some Louboutin platforms, I would snatch them up immediately; would I steal them, though? Absolutely not. But the music isn’t being stolen, just like taking a cell phone picture of a Rothko at the Museum of Modern Art is not stealing.

The cell picture is not nearly as good as the real thing, just as an illegally downloaded song is nowhere near as incredible as hearing the song live in concert.”

Ignoring the fact that recorded songs and live performances are not simply two different versions of the same thing, but rather two entirely different products, I am confused by Shortridge’s logic. She argues that file sharing isn’t stealing since one is merely making a copy of a product, rather than snatching the physical

product from the store shelves. And true, while the actions are different, the intent is the same: getting something that isn’t ours without paying for it. Just because one method is easier than another doesn’t mean the moral consequences aren’t the same.

Even if this logic played out, I have to wonder: What would actually happen if one could just make a copy of a friend’s Louboutin shoes?

Wouldn’t everyone rather make copies of shoes than pay $800 for the real thing? Sure, discussion of this issue is always accompanied by the reminder to “vote with your dollar”—download all you like, but pay for the artists you actually want to support. But how many of Louboutin’s fans are so devoted that they would buy the $800 shoes simply to support him and his work, when they know they could easily find a free copy? Let’s face it: We all talk about “voting with our dollars,” but it’s hard to deny that most consumers are simply looking for the best deal.

Moreover, if every product could be effortlessly copied by the average person, there would be no incentive for producers to produce anything. Would Louboutin, equipped with the knowledge that his shoes could easily be ob-

tained for free, even bother to continue designing shoes? If he did, would he put such care, effort and originality into his designs? What would his personal benefit be from doing so?

Of course, Louboutin shoes are probably massively overpriced. Shortridge makes a similar argument about music, framing illegal downloading as a form of social protest: “Not paying for CDs is therefore voting against high prices, against mass-produced crap that barely has a melody.”

But were CDs really overpriced in the first place? Or is it simply that the price of music has dropped since technology has advanced? It is easy to see how the digitization of music has lowered the value we place on music—songs are far cheaper when purchased on iTunes, for example, than when bought in actual CD format.

But with the proliferation of file sharing, how far do prices need to drop for consumers to consider them “fair,” for this social protest to end?

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, 95 percent of all music downloads are illegal. Are we to assume, then, that the socially fair price is next to nothing? I’m not sure that many businesses will be able to compete at that price.

Arguments for athletic credit flawed Ann-Marie Alcántara

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Guest Columnist

s a former athlete in high school, I understand the athlete’s plight here at Vassar. The hours spent in training, practice, games and so on are very time consuming and do present a burden on the athlete. However, as a person who has always also done other extracurricular activities—which are also very time consuming—I reject the proposal that athletes receive academic credit for being on a team of which a large amount of time is expended on it. The basis of the athletics proposal is to consider giving varsity sports credit since they are the only faculty-led activity that doesn’t offer credit and in which athletes actually learn things by playing a sport. If this does pass, the credit will be optional and be limited, just as are the physical education credits. The proposal also brings about an argument by the athletes that our peer schools give athletes academic credit, whereas Vassar does not and should begin to. There are a number of things wrong with these reasons being the basis for the passing of this proposal.

First of all, if Vassar does indeed pass this proposal because athletes spend so much extra time outside of academics on the sport, then why not give other organizations the same ability to do so? There are countless other organizations, such as The Miscellany News, Philaletheis, a-capella groups and so on who spend large amounts of time in putting something together for the school and the community. By the reasoning underlying the atheltics proposal, they should also get academic credit.

This would just begin an endless chain of all groups on campus demanding academic credit, on the basis of the amount of time spent working for a group. The purpose of joining a sport—especially here at Vassar, a Division III school—is that it is a complement, an extracurricular, and an addition to one’s academic study here at Vassar. I do not participate in other organizations here at Vassar because it is very time consuming or because I might receive academic credit out of it; I do because I enjoy it, and I like the ability to balance my extracurricular with my academics. As high school students before coming to Vassar, all these athletes, especially those who were recruited, knew that Vassar was not a big sports school, thus sports would not be that big here, such as it is at Wesleyan University or elsewhere. Just as it is in many other high schools in the country, athletics is a complement to one’s academics, and Vassar simply maintained this way in the college atmosphere.

Secondly, Vassar rewards half a credit to gym classes in which a student can learn a sport in a controlled supervised environment. Students may only receive a total of two credits for physical education classes during their academic career. That varsity athletes should also receive credit because Vassar can reward credits for sports at a non-varsity level is a mistaken notion. The major issue with this argument is that under the athletics proposal, athletes would receive academic credit for playing in a varsity sport, and the credit they receive would be capped at two for the entire time the student is here. This would completely change what academics mean at Vassar. Academics at Vassar have long been con-

sidered of high regard, hence why we do not go along with the credit-hour system, as many other institutions do. Each class, whether it is a 100-level introductory class or a 300-level seminar, is just as important and thus receives one credit. Allowing athletes to receive academic credit, which will permit them to replace two other classes they might take with athletics, completely changes the atmosphere at Vassar. More students might take up a sport in order to not fulfill their credits with actual academic classes, and it changes what an education at Vassar entails. This would also bring about a new group of students applying to Vassar who will believe that since they can now take athletics as an academic credit, they will do so and still be able to receive a Vassar degree.

The Vassar degree is all about a high education, in which the students take classes that are mentally stimulating and thus, receive one credit per each class. Replacing athletics, which has long been considered an extracurricular activity, with an academic class for academic credit is possibly one of the worst moves that Vassar could ever make. Alumnae/i, trustees and others should be consulted in order for this proposal to be even considered passed, for their voices matter as well.

Lastly, athletes here at Vassar cite another reason to receive academic credit is because our peer institutions do the same.

This comparison is only applicable to Oberlin College, which does not include physical education classes as part of their educational experience. Our other peer schools also give credit for varsity athletics, but let’s take in regard the history, students and atmospheres at these other schools. Some of these other institutions are known for recruiting students who perhaps do not meet the academic requirements to be a student at that school, but do meet the athletic requirement and can help the institution out in terms of athletics. These same institutions are also known to be big varsity sports schools, in which the term community is associated with “going to the game.” Here, at Vassar, we define our community and school spirit by other means, such as through the arts or other forms.

Though this is not cited in the proposal, many athletes complain that the Vassar community does not attend their games, but then again, where are these athletes that complain about this, at the plays, comedy shows and so on? The building of a Vassar community goes both ways, from the athlete to the arts student and right down to the student who participates in neither. Complaining of people never going to your games and then not going to the comedy shows, plays and concerts only adds to the problem of forming a better community at Vassar. Pointing fingers and not attending college events acts as a determent to having a concrete community of happy people at Vassar who enjoy their time attending all sorts of school events. Every athletic student knew before coming to Vassar what type of community to expect, specifically a more arts-oriented student body. If these students are so unhappy with how athletics are treated here at Vassar, they could have done more research before applying here or they could transfer now. The rest of the student body should not be penalized for their unhappiness by changing how academic credit is rewarded here at Vassar.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

But, Shortridge argues, our stealing isn’t actually hurting anyone, anyway: “Artists are still making money—obscene amounts of money, in fact.” Of course she’s right: Artists generate substantial revenue from tours, advertising deals, special appearances and so forth. But are artists the only ones who depend, at least in part, upon CD sales? No, I’m not talking about record executives. I’m talking about producers, technicians, and even people who aren’t directly involved in the creative process, like the custodians and receptionists working in that industry. We can try to make ourselves feel better by saying we’re only hurting rich people, but our actions definitely have larger consequences.

Rationalize illegal downloading all you want.

No matter how many arbitrary distinctions your mind may conjure up, at its core it is no different than stealing.

—Angela Aiuto ’11 is the Opinions Editor. This year, she and Opinions Editor Kelly Shortridge ’12 are maintaining an alternating column called “Point, Counterpoint,” in which they engage one another in conversation. Aiuto is majoring in political science.

Disabled students need social and non-medical spaces Adam Newman Guest Columnist

V

assar College prides itself on being a place where no one is excluded, alienated or even merely tolerated, and where all students and all people are accepted regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic or racial identity, or class.

But there is one very large group of people at Vassar, of which I am a member, that often feels at worst completely ignored and begrudgingly tolerated at best. That group of people is students with disabilities.

Consider the oddity that Vassar College should have so many student groups and institutional structures dedicated to providing safe spaces for groups of students with under-represented and often marginalized identities—from the ALANA Center to the LGBQT Center—and yet no comparable place for students with disabilities. The closest thing we have is the Office of Disability and Support Services (ODSS). But their primary duty is not to create a safe space for discussions of disability at Vassar but rather to provide academic and housing accommodations as per the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thanks to legal issues like disclosure, ODSS is an individualized place where one goes in and out alone and only rarely sees another person with a disability.

And it is not as though there are only a handful of students with disabilities either. According to my knowledge, culled from service on the Committee of Disability Issues, more than eight percent of Vassar students are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services for one or more disabilities. In all likelihood, there are even more students with disabilities than this figure shows. However, they are probably hesitant to register due to the perceived stigma or the stringent medical documentation necessary to do so. Perhaps even more importantly is the fact that, to my knowledge, the number of students registered with disabilities is growing every year.

How much longer can this disparate group of students continue to grow in size before their unique experiences and identities are recognized by the wider community, and before a space is set aside for them so that they might form a true community? At the moment, being a student with a disability at Vassar College means being an individual with a problem, without an outlet through which to connect with other students with disabilities. And yet, I feel as though people with disabilities need a community and a home on this campus more desperately than almost anyone. From personal experience, I can testify to just how hard and isolating it can be to live in a place surrounded by able-bodied people when you yourself must struggle to keep See DISABILITY on page 13

March 25, 2010

OPINIONS

Page 11

Critique of ‘hipsters’ mired in stereotypes GOP shouldn’t Meghan Feldmeier

S

Columnist

alon.com recently released a news article titled “Hipsters on food stamps,” which explored the emergence of 20-somethings in creative industries who are either unemployed or underemployed, and who therefore qualify for food stamps. Its byline reads: “They’re young, they’re broke, and they pay for organic salmon with government subsidies. Got a problem with that?” These “hipsters” are—gasp—using their food stamps, funded by taxpayers, to buy such indulgences as rabbit meat, flax seed and organic rutabaga at local co-ops. They’re using our money to buy that liberal-elite-cooperative-organic-natural-local-vegetarian crap!

How dare these “hipsters” waste their precious food stamps?

I’m going to say it. We have to celebrate and defend these “hipsters’” decisions. (I’ll stop using quotes around hipsters now; despite the rage this article fired up in me, I’m tickled that Salon would use the word “hipster” to define any 20-something interested in healthy food and in the creative industries.) Buying this kind of food is a kind of proactive health care that these young people can actually afford.

Our government has just passed a desiccated but still necessary version of a national health care bill while conservatives warn us that our economy is bankrupt and that we are unable to pay for it. Until the benefits from this legislation kick in, food stamp recipients will need to make food choices that support good health.

Hospitals are required to provide emergency care regardless of an inidividual’s insurance status; if an admitted person cannot pay, the bill—typically an exorbitant sum—goes to the taxpayers. Those making healthy food choices are less likely to end up in the emergency room with a sugar crash from diabetes or a heart attack. That saves—you got it—taxpayers’ dollars.

It’s more than just personally beneficial to make healthy food choices, it’s economically wise.

Furthermore, the article notes that their organic salmon and rabbit meat and radishes and unsalted peanut butter are being bought at local food markets, which make the purchases locally and environmentally conscious.

It’s a three-for-one deal, which I’m quite sure is the intention: health plus environment plus local economy equals a small investment in the future. Why would we “have a problem with that?” Organic-natural-local food isn’t indulgent, but I think the Right’s fear of it, the reason the article was titled “Hipsters on food stamps,” stems from a fear that today’s liberal arts educated, creative-minded young liberals are making their decisions based on constructing a liberal identity. I think they fear that Vassar, Brown, Swarthmore and other schools are producing a bunch of Marxist-feministhippies/hipsters who are going to bring on the apocalypse (read: more taxes). I don’t care if the hipsters are buying the food to seem more in touch with a liberal identity; their choice is smartly political and they’re modeling purchasing behavior for the rest of America. Way

to go, hipsters.

The article, however, touches on one more accusation. These young people are intelligent, they went to prestigious (and expensive) colleges, it argues. Given that, do they even deserve food stamps? It’s impossible to read this article without knowing that these people are attempting, and currently failing, to work in creative industries; they are artists, bloggers, museum workers and so forth. The assumption seems to be that the hipsters chose their paths—after all, they come from “educated families”—and thus their failure is their own responsibility, not the government’s. In other words, these young people had enough gall to think that they could succeed in creative (liberal!) fields, and now taxpayers have to pay.

It seems to me that young liberals cannot make any choice without it being indicative of their “liberal elitism.” Hence the writer’s social label: These are hipsters on food stamps.

This label is particularly dangerous; if it’s taken for granted that it’s the pompousness of the liberal young that causes their failure in the industry, and we harshly condemn their current underemployment rather than assist them, then we are going to be stepping on the face of blooming creative thought. The creative industries challenge us, art is in a constant state of redefining and rethinking, and creativity is therefore important to foster. The question is if art and creativity is itself merely “self-indulgent,” or if we value it as a society and will continue to support it.

Education reform requires shared responsibility Juan Thompson Guest Columnist

L

ose, losing and happiness. Those three words were on the spelling list of a student I mentor Mondays and Wednesdays. Those words would not be such a big deal if the student were not a seventh grader. During my time mentoring and tutoring in the Poughkeepsie School District, I’ve noticed, in the schoolwork of the students, this unbelievable pattern of low expectations. Former President of the United States George W. Bush correctly called it the soft bigotry of low expectations. It is this belief found in school districts that certain students cannot be challenged intellectually so they are often taught the easiest portions of the curriculum and given the most facile homework tasks. It is true that low-income students are often academically behind their wealthier and whiter counterparts; but that does not excuse administrators and teachers who accept the system as it is, instead of seeking to change it.

This has to be one of the biggest complaints about the state of America’s education system: that a lot of people seem pleasantly content with the status quo. There are, however, a few exceptions of people rocking the proverbial boat that I wish to highlight. The first example comes from Rhode Island, where the Central Falls School District fired all 93 teachers and staffers as a result of routine underperformance, including last year where only seven percent of the high school’s juniors passed a state math test. It is a poor district that sits in an area of Rhode Island that has a large immigrant population. The district’s superintendent announced the firings in February after negotiations broke down with the teacher’s union because the teachers wanted extra pay as a result of 25 minutes being added on to the school day. I applaud this action because it is radical and different. In our country’s edu-

cation system, we continue with doing the same thing and expecting different results. At least Central Falls is holding the teachers and staffers accountable for their performance by this bold act. A bold act supported by President of the United States Barack Obama, which leads me to my second example.

The reason that Central Falls added 25 minutes to its school day was because of policies implemented by the Obama administration. The administration recently announced that school districts that seek to change and improve— extending the school day being one example— will be eligible for more federal money. Obama, who had the widespread support of the teachers unions, angered many of them when he supported the Central Falls decision. Many of the unions and teachers made it about themselves and how the President had stabbed them in the back. These attacks illustrate the arrogance of the unions and many teachers, who assume that this is all about them. When in reality it’s about 93 percent of the juniors at Central Falls High who failed the state math test, and it’s about the student I mentor at the middle school who is being treated like a second grader instead of a seventh grader, even though he effortlessly spelled those ridiculously easy vocabulary words.

The President, admirably, has broken with this stagnant nonsense. First he supported the Central Falls district, and now he has put forth some changes he wants to see to No Child Left Behind. One change would be not focusing on the performance of students as a group, but instead focusing on individual students and how they are progressing year to year. Another change would be in penalties. Under the existing law, there are clear cut sanctions for underperforming schools. Obama will instead offer competitive grants to failing schools that alter

and change their structures, thus hoping to spur innovation and more of an effort. And lastly, the Obama reforms would encourage school districts to form regional, and possibly, national academic and curriculum standards.

The third example I’d like to highlight comes from Vassar itself in Leslie Williams. Mr. Williams is Vassar’s education outreach coordinator.

In this capacity, he runs two programs that cater to the needs of Poughkeepsie school district students. Williams works incredibly long hours, the weekend included, because of his commitment to the students of Poughkeepsie, where only half of the high school’s seniors graduate.

He has revamped and reorganized Vassar After School Tutoring (VAST), the after school mentoring program, so that it may meet the needs of its students while at the same time challenging them; and offering the great resources of Vassar to help in their academic improvement.

Williams once told me a story of how he was in a meeting with Poughkeepsie teachers and one teacher said that not all students are meant to attend college. Williams then asked the teacher if he thinks that way about his children, or tells his own kids that, and the teacher said no. Williams responded by asking the teacher why then would he think in such a fashion about poor blacks and Latinos.

That story exemplifies only part of the problem; but in order to alter the current situation we need sweeping change. That includes: getting rid of comfortable administrators and teachers, and rewarding those who are absolutely vital to any success. It calls for forcing parents to take responsibility, challenging the students, not giving up on them, and giving them the modern resources they need to excel. Those ideas will go a long way towards remaking our education system so that it works for all, and not just some.

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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

tap Tea Party energy in 2012 David Keith

P

Guest Columnist

oliticians are parasites. They notice an energy that embodies large numbers of citizens and work to make that group their host. Former President of the United States William J. Clinton did it in the 1992 general election with the “it’s the economy, stupid” campaign, former President George Bush did it in 2000 and 2004 with the “Soccer Moms for Security” campaign, current President Barack Obama used “change we can believe in” to win the nomination, and now potential Republican presidential candidates hope to live off the energy of “the American Tea Party.” For politicians seeking the presidency, 2010 is old news. To these folks, it is now time to make a run for the 2012 nomination—only it appears that many are doing it the wrong way.

When attempting to find that new group of energized citizens, it is just as important to identify the strength of the enemy. Clinton’s team new that “it’s the economy, stupid” would not encounter a fierce opponent from the right; Karl Rove knew that soccer moms would not energize an anti-war left, simply because they were already energized to capacity with the candidacy of Howard Dean; and Obama knew that “change we can believe in” would not face a strong conservative opponent, simply because there were few conservatives who could energize voters after the low approval ratings of the departing Bush administration. If the 2012 Republican nominee is one who spoke at Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), or one who fills his or her campaign with the divisive rhetoric of the Tea Party movement, he or she will loose to the current president, assuming that he does not defy history, and retains the nomination of his party.

Many will dispute this, claiming that this new anti-government Reaganite rebirth is exactly what the GOP needs to ride into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The fact is, if the Obama left of 2008 re-energizes due to a divisive Tea Party Campaign, the Republicans will find themselves back at 302 First Street, the home of the Republican National Committee.

I make this argument not by assuming that the Obama left will re-enter the political fold by their own will, but rather, I am not naïve as to the power of the Chicago political machine when it comes to voter turnout mechanisms, such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Lets say for instance the GOP nominates Tim Pawlenty for president. On the surface, one may say this a good idea being that very few on the left would automatically identify him as a divisive right-wing politician. It will take ACORN the seemingly miniscule task of running a 527-ad on TV screens in lower income homes throughout urban areas and college campuses that incorporates Tim Pawlenty speaking to a crowd of cheering supporters at CPAC alongside Dick Cheney, calling President Obama a “one termer,” or “bearer of the socialist ideals” to recreate a seen from the 2008 presidential campaign.

It would give Obama credibility to become a rock star campaigner again, speaking to millions at a football stadium, preaching to rid Washington of the Republican naysayers that Tim Pawlenty represents. He would then go on to hold on to states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, where his urban, firsttime voter advantage puts him over the top.

The GOP must seek a “third way” approach to winning 2012. This has been used before on both sides of the aisle—by former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, for example—and it works. They must nominate a somewhat centrist candidate who is not a major name in left-wing media.

Therefore, Pawlenty, Palin, Huckabee and Romney are out. It is essential to nominate a candidate who can offer a message of morality that not only wins social conservatives, See GOP on page 13

OPINIONS

Page 12

When you were on Spring Break, what did you miss most about Vassar?

“The DC”

David Lopez ’13

“Plaid”

Matthew Kramer ’13

“Friends”

Mara Connor-Hirsch ’13

“Davison”

Coniglio mischaracterizes criticisms of Palin R

ecently I was the topic of a Letter to the Editor in which my good friend Joe Coniglio claimed that my intense focus on Sarah Palin had something to do with opposition to her values, and a reaction to the backfiring of Obama’s allegedly unpopular liberal plans for this country. Some comments on The Miscellany News site appeared to agree with him. Any liberal would know this is patently false, but I want to explain it to Joe and any conservatives who might be reading.

Our distaste for Sarah Palin has nothing to do with the fact that she’s a mother. It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that she’s a successful woman. It doesn’t have anything to do with our dislike of her “backward family values,” to use your words, an example of such being that “her young daughter has a child despite the legality of abortion.”

You said it—now own it. No one wants to see people have to get abortions. That’s why liberals support things like welfare, child services, paid maternity leave and children’s healthcare—things that incentivize women not to get abortions. In fact, maternity care can cost thousands of dollars. What could be more pro-life and “family values” than making it easier for an underprivileged mother to affordably give birth and raise her children?

Do conservatives want it to be expensive to give birth?

Palin embodies the image of a gun-toting, work-at-home, folksy mother. She’s “one of us;” however, I understand that all politicians have an image. It’s how mass media democracy works. But Palin is different. While most other politicians have at least a basic understanding of the issues, Palin has none. She believed that since Alaska was near Russia and Putin often “reared his ugly head,” somehow that gave her foreign policy credentials.

“I didn’t miss communal showers.”

Alex Danzer ’12

“Fix-gear bike culture”

Nicholas Korody ’13 —Angela Aiuto and Kelly Shortridge Opinions Editors

She couldn’t name a Supreme Court decision she didn’t agree with other than Roe v. Wade.

When asked what newspapers she read, she panicked and claimed, “All of them.” She couldn’t explain the Bush Doctrine on preemptive warfare. She believed there was a Department of Law. Want further proof of her ignorance? Remember the writing on her hand? At the same conference where she attacked Obama for using a teleprompter—something all politicians do—she read notes off of her hand.

I wouldn’t care if she needed to jot down a couple of statistics or hard numbers to remember. But she wrote, “energy,” “tax cuts” and “lift Americans [sic] spirits.” They’re the core platform of the Republican Party. If she doesn’t have enough space in her brain to remember those incredibly simple concepts, what is she keeping up there? I don’t want a President that’s going to have to write down “diplomacy,” “nuclear weapons” and “not commies anymore” when talking to Putin because all the space in her brain is taken up by the latest line of clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Without intellectual curiosity, all she has is her folksy image.

Here are some more reasons we dislike her. She lies and fear mongers. She lied about Obama’s healthcare bill containing death panels. She lied about Bill Ayers having a connection to Barack Obama. She claimed that she said “Thanks, but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere when in all actuality, she helped build the damn thing. Furthermore, she’s duplicitous. She harangued Obama on his lack of experience, when she herself is a half-term Governor of one of the smallest states in the country. She uses her family as political props to gain support for her

reactionary policies. She claims, like many Republicans do, that the health care bill will increase the deficit and decrease competition when it will actually do the reverse. And while she peddles this nonsense and these lies, she implores the media to “stop making things up.”

But Coniglio claims that Democrats attack Sarah Palin because she represents an alternate ideal of progress. Coniglio claims that Democrats are now seeing their governing philosophy turn out to be flawed and not necessarily progress, and that the American people are opposing them for this reason.

Do you know why a lot of people don’t approve of the Democrats? Because they’re bowing to the Republicans and the insurance companies, and because they’re not liberal enough. The Democrats will always be opposed by the right; no matter what they do, they’ll still be called socialist. But when the Democrats try to gut health care reform to appeal to the right and center, their base becomes disillusioned.

Obama’s still above water with his approval ratings, and according to Gallup, most Americans are happy that the health care bill was passed. Why might that be?

My bet—people are actually hearing what’s in the health care bill. And they like it. It’s an interesting thing: When people are exposed to reality, they tend to support the president. We oppose Palin because she appeals to people’s worst sensibilities—fear of the other, fear of knowledge and fear of positive change. That reason alone is why she’s dangerous. And that, Joe, is why Palin and her movement need to be taken down.

—Steve Keller ’11 is a political science major editorializing on American politics this semester.

Letter: ‘Targeted terrorists killings’ an ineffective and unsettling measure I

Eric Geisse ’13

March 25, 2010

n a column printed in the Feb. 25 issue of The Miscellany News, Assistant Opinions Editor Joshua Rosen ’13 contends that targeted terrorists killings are both justifiable and effective, an option that must remain in the “arsenal of the clandestine services of the free nations of the world.” He cites the recent assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, allegedly killed by the Israeli Intelligence Service, as both a just and effective example of such targeting.

It is my position, however, that Rosen’s contention is simply wrong. First, Rosen argues that the assassinations—a term for which “targeted killing” is simply a euphemism­—of terrorists are justifiable regardless of legality. The first flaw in Rosen’s argument is the belief that assassinations and free nations can coexist. A state cannot claim to be free and just when it acts outside the rule of law and behind closed curtains. To target and assassinate requires a premeditated decision to kill a person, independent of outside input, without trial. For the United States, it is to deny the validity of the Sixth Amendment of the Bill of Rights; for the international community, it is to deny the 10th article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—both of which claim, among other rights, the right to a fair and public trial with an impartial jury. Assassinations act outside the fabric of rights nations seek to protect by making irreversible, unilateral and non-public decisions.

The question Rosen must ask is why assassination as opposed to apprehension is justified? Indeed, why was the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh justified when he could have been apprehended had his assassinators informed state authorities of his whereabouts? For free nations, acting out-

side of human rights and the rule of law can never be justified if it risks infringing upon individual liberty. To make an exception for “terrorists” is to unravel an entire legal system aimed at protecting individual liberty, an exception that allows for small cohorts of people to make profound and potentially terrible decisions.

Indeed, a free nation ought not have to hide behind the secrecy of assassination if its actions are justifiable. There are reasons that many seem to agree with the establishment of prisons instead of death camps; reasons, that is, for not automatically sentencing criminals and murderers to death. Are the differences between crime or murder and terrorism that profound to deny those reasons? If nations claim to be free, they must rise above the mistakes of other, non-free nations in order to protect the freedom they profess.

Rosen’s second mistake, even if one embraces the utilitarian framework implicit in his justification of assassination, is in stating that targeted terrorist killing is an effective counterterrorism tool. While assassination may be easier than apprehending an individual terrorist, the cost-benefit analysis proves the additional difficulty worthwhile.

First, the secrecy implicit in assassination sends a hypocritical message to those groups who may be inclined to engage in terrorism, only further fueling terrorism. We must ask ourselves what people in “free nations” mean when they say, terrorists “hate our freedom.” Is it the ideology of individual liberty terrorists hate, or our warped definition of freedom? Is there not something disturbing in this double-speak of assassination? When we say terrorists ought not terrorize while

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

engaging in our own system of terrorization through assassination (which can happen without warning at any time), do we not fuel hatred? It seems clear that a strategy of winning the hearts and minds of groups and other nations cannot include assassination within its “arsenal,” as Rosen may have you believe.

Second, assassinations destroy international relations, relations critical to working to stop global, multi-faceted terrorist groups and other global projects. To make a unilateral decision regarding the fate of an individual wanted by not just one nation or group is to deny that other group or nation’s right to justice, retribution and answers. Far more troubling is that assassinations may require covert operations that undermine the laws of other countries. In the case of al-Mabhouh, Rosen fails to mention that the assassinators not only killed in a foreign country but illegally entered Dubai with fake British passports, an obvious security breach. In order to bring down global terrorist networks, free nations must work together, sharing intelligence and other resources.

Third, assassinations are just antithetical to counterterrorism. What Rosen may not realize is that killing one individual terrorist will do very little to bring down a large terrorist organization. Indeed, killing one terrorist will both embolden terrorism and negate the possibility of ever gaining valuable intelligence about global terrorist organizations from the never-questioned terrorist. Rosen’s case may be emotionally persuasive, but when one considers the implications of “targeted terrorist killing,” assassinations are just not a good idea.

—Paul Weinger ’13

OPINIONS

March 25, 2010

Page 13

E-mail, tabling cannot replace forum about deer cull DEER continued from page 9 was realized via the Dec. 4, 2009 campus-wide e-mail announcing the upcoming kill, along with the College Center tabling on Dec. 7 and 8 that was mentioned in the e-mail. Well, perhaps I have hopelessly anachronistic views, but a forum to me has always meant unfettered discussion in a group setting with vigorous, sometimes clashing exchanges of opinion. Forgive yet another Republican administration reference, but attributing forum-like properties to the e-mail notification seems akin to the Reagan administration’s 1981 attempt to reclassify ketchup as a vegetable in order to reduce the costs of subsidized meals for poor school children. But what of tabling as a quasi-forum event? Let me describe my personal experience on Dec. 8. There on the table, next to two Committee representatives, were handouts entitled “Frequently Asked Questions about Vassar’s Deer Management Plan for the Farm and Ecological Preserve,” which more than casually resembled the “Frequently Asked Ques-

tions” document posted by Swarthmore College to justify its own deer killing plan (swarthmore. edu/deerfaq.xml). The two representatives while I was there were basically reciting to another visitor points made in the Vassar FAQ sheet. In addition, a sheet of lined paper was available allowing visitors to write their name, e-mail address and a comment­—assuming, that is, that the comment fit within the three or so inches allocated on the line for this purpose. So I cheated a bit and went outside the line to write two polite sentences expressing opposition to the pending kill. As I write these words, it is now March 22 and I am still awaiting my e-mail reply. So much for the tabling-cum-forum pretense.

Put yourself in the shoes, however, of nearby Poughkeepsie residents opposed to the slaughter who, as non-recipients of the Dec. 4 e-mail notification, did not even have the opportunity to register their three inches worth of dissent.

Some of these people have told me the amalgam of anger, pain and betrayal they felt as a result of

Vassar’s action, and how outspoken they would have been in expressing these feelings had a publicized fall forum been held. Now they are members of the Save Our Deer organization, acting out on behalf of their feelings in a very different venue.

It remains unclear whether the College, after carrying out the initial slaughter of 64 deer, now feels it has a mandate to automatically carry out the periodical future kills that, according to the Memorandum, will be necessary (assuming, of course, there still are deer left to kill). I urge those who are disturbed by Vassar’s past behavior to call upon the College, before any further action is taken, to display real openness and inclusiveness this time around in the form of a legitimate forum, where dissenting points of view from the audience and from guest speakers have a chance to be voiced. Many mysteries, above and beyond those I have already outlined, need to be cleared up; for example, if such a serious problem existed with collisions between Vassar

Disabled students face unseen struggles DISABILITY continued from page 10 self must struggle to keep up. What do you say when someone asks you to go out to a party but you have chronic fatigue and don’t have the energy to go? Do you tell them and risk them avoiding you due to the stigma of disability? Do you push yourself to go? Or make up an excuse—a lie—to avoid the issue entirely? In almost every situation, you end up isolated, at least the part of your identity as a student and person with a disability, and there is nowhere to share those experiences and confront those issues.

In the last semester and a half, however, some things have begun to change for the better. In addition to the Office of Disability and Support Services, the Counseling Service has for the first time offered a group for students called Managing a Chronic Health Condition. As a member of this group, I will attest to how good it has felt to merely see that there are other people on campus with health issues and that I am not alone, let alone share some of my deepest feelings and experiences with others who can truly understand and empathize.

But even this group is not enough, for by its very location in Metcalf House—a medical space—any community formed

through it would run the risk of alienating students with disabilities by implicitly re-associating their experiences with the world of medicalized stigma. Rather, I think that what students with disabilities need is a a non-medical, social space—something like the ALANA center or the LGBQT center—in which students with disabilities might interact with, confront, and maybe even embrace their experiences and identities with their peers. Furthermore, this group, in order to fulfill its mission and justify its existence to the uninformed masses, must promote awareness of disability itself, in the hope of enlightening more students to this otherwise ignored social identity.

At the moment, a few students, including myself, are trying to form such a group, but we can use all the help we can get. If you are interested in thinking about some of the issues I have raised here, or even would just like to see that there are other people who know what it is like to be a Vassar student with disabilities, please join us for our very first general interest meeting next Wednesday, March 31 in the Gold Parlor at 7 p.m.

Maybe, one day, with a little hard work and help, my dream of a more inclusive and accessible Vassar will come true.

deer and local motorists, why were no warning signs posted on any of the four roads bordering the Farm and Preserve? Or, based upon the infrared flyovers of December 2004 and January 2009, how could the estimated deer population have dropped by 48 percent over this period without a “deer management” program being in place? Or maybe, how did the Committee come to the conclusion that the eating of baby birds by deer was an important reason for alleged bird attrition on the Preserve? (Yes, this remarkable claim appears in the Miscellany’s “Deer culling elicits local controversy,” 1.28.10.) For the College in the future merely to repeat past perfunctory gestures under the guise of openness, like simply informing Vassar community members via e-mail of a second-round kill that already has been authorized, would be no less insulting than before.

Unless, of course, you believe that ketchup is a vegetable.

—Richard Born is a Professor of Political Science.

Republicans can win by appealing to moderates GOP continued from page 11 but “main-street,” anti-bailout Americans as well. The strategy cannot be the Tea Party’s anti-socialism act, but rather a more moderate and universal message of freedom. Save the death panel idea for right-wing television. It is essential to make sure that the national GOP is seen as a party that protects its constituents’ economic and social freedoms, not one that merely attacks its opponents for political merit.

The Republican Party can win in 2012 if they play it carefully. The Obama administration has given them an open door to step right into, as long as they don’t take advantage of that privilege. It is necessary to remember that Barack Obama is not former President Jimmy Carter, even though his numbers may express that he is. Carter had no support from first time voters, nor did he have the ability to register voters the way ACORN or similar community organizers are able to. The GOP has to look to the center. The party must understand that while Obama’s energetic support is dormant, it is not dead.

With the help of a Tea Party nominee, that sleeping giant will awake.

Crossword by Jonathan Garfinkel ACROSS 1. Cowboy accessory 5. Bruin great Bobby ___ 8. Banned pesticide, briefly 11. Froth 15. Actress Hatcher 16. Inverness denial 17. ___ Speedwagon 18. Certain nefarious Shakespearean 19. Mail order clothier 21. Content of some shots 23. 21-across “marked” with 85-across 25. Agcy. mailing some benefit checks 27. Valuable rock 28. Some bottoms 31. The darkest 35. 21-across, lots of 85-across, and a little 11-across 38. Certain Hindu mark 39. Great ball of fire?

40. Europe-asia boundary mountains 41. Safe 42. An outfit’s low point, perhaps 43. Some body art, slangily 44. Panacea

45. Structure at 59th or Houston street 48. Ending with span or corn 50. Low-fat 54. Ancient landmass 57. Dispatched 59. Sphere starter 60. Nominal denizens of Los Angeles 61. 35-across+chocolate 63. Ones with 21- across, a little 11- across, and a little 85-across 65. Company with “moments” 67. Some greetings 68. Glowing 69. 21-across + hot water 72. Average joe...on steroids 76. Pain 81. Bucket 82. Battery terminal, briefly 83. AOL, for one 84. Take on 85. For this puzzle, consider it steamed 86. Precursor of the Weathermen, briefly 87. Chem. indexer 88. Neuron part

DOWN 1. The Cards, perhaps 2. One in a pod 3. Certain vessel 4. Purge 5. Quality, say 6. Vitriol 7. Aid group 8. 3 on the Rhine 9. Un terremoto, perhaps 10. ____ bottom 11. 18-across exclamation 12. Grp. for Argentina and Canada 13. Top gov. lawyers 14. Sound of a burgerto-be 20. A dollar, slangily 22. Word after “spring” or “egg” 24. Open land 25. Part of a startup routine 26. All fouled up 29. Evian, par exemple 30. Rigid 31. Consumer protection agcy.

32. Copacabana locale, briefly 33. ____ Krishna 34. ___ Paulo 36. Make leather 37. Big member of the

deer family 45. Upstate NY music festival venue 46. Revolutionary Villa, and others 47. Prefix with “gram” 48. Frequent religion ending 49. ___-mo 50. Wait on 51. Basque separatist group 52. “Both” (prefix) 53. Difficult, say 55. “Don’t bring me down” grp.

56. Ninny 58. TV’s “Doctor ___” 62. Westernmost municipality in the United States 64. Patriotic cheer 66. “Here,here’s” 70. Partner of rules, briefly 71. Nibbles 72. Tempo, briefly 73. My ___ (massacre site) 74. Require care 75. Certain Benz 77. Eureka!

78. Veto 79. ___-Magnon 80. Poetic twilight

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

When arranged correctly, the circled letters will spell out this puzzle’s title.

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 13

March 25, 2010

OPINIONS

Being Jew-ish: a dubious entrance into adulthood Alanna Okun

Guest Columnist

J

ews don’t have Hell. This is ironic because two weeks ago I was living in it, thanks to the impending disaster that was my brother’s bar mitzvah. The event was the first Saturday of Spring Break, when the rest of you were probably lying on beaches or quietly getting drunk at family dinners. I had to learn a Torah portion to read at the service, which was somewhat difficult in that I had not entered a temple, let alone read a word of Hebrew, since my sister’s bat mitzvah four years ago. Oops.

Matthew, the 12-year-old too-cool-forschool musical genius that he is, does not feel very committed to the Jewish faith. To him, Judaism means spending seven hours a week crammed into a tiny classroom, being forcefed the Hebrew alphabet and having to wear a yarmulke that belonged to someone who may have once had lice. The religious aspect seems to basically be an afterthought. At least he has friends in his Hebrew school class; when I was his age, Jeremy Goldblum and Ben Cohen used to make up alternate lyrics to prayers in order to better make fun of my glasses. Because of cruel and unusual “include everyone marmarmar” temple legislation, I was nevertheless forced to invite them to my bat mitzvah.

Thanks a heap, God. Even those of you who have never set foot inside a synagogue should already know that seventh grade is the worst possible time to present yourself before a congregation of people. At the time of my bat mitzvah, I was the proud owner of a spectacular new set of braces, with a majestic unibrow to match. The boy whom I split the service with was just shy of five feet tall (read: at eye level with my training-bra-ensconced rack) and his voice had not yet changed. We should have been kept in solitary confinement for the next two years, not thrust on a stage in front of everyone we had ever met. And the sheer awkwardness doesn’t stop once the service is over; the real draw of any bar mitzvah is the blowout party that follows. The boys slick back their hair and go nuts with the Axe, the girls totter around in three-inch heels, and everyone does the cha-cha slide. These parties turn perfectly reasonable 13-year-olds into rabid little attention horas.

So why do we go through with the humiliation? Sure, our parents and grandparents and

1

rabbis and great-aunt-Goldie-from-Floridawho-we’ve-never-met would be disappointed if we didn’t. Sure, there’s that whole communing with God thing. But if we’re going to be honest, the real incentive for going through with a bar or bat mitzvah is the money. All those long-lost relatives pouring out of Montana or Westchester to kiss you sloppily on the cheek are just desperate to give you obscenely large checks. I think, technically, my greatgrandma Mimi paid for my Crystal Palace last weekend. Bat mitzvahnomics at its finest.

At least as far as my hometown is concerned, b’nai mitzvot are now less about becoming an adult and more about becoming a celebrity for one night. The events often devolve into competitions over which family can spend the most money—if Sammy Shapiro had a chocolate fountain one week, you can bet your sweet menorah that Dana Silverberg’s parents would procure a chocolate kiddie pool the next. Eventually the actual communal purpose of the bar mitzvah is phased out altogether in favor of glitz, glamour and gelt. It seems that the dereligionification (shut up, it’s a word if I say it is) of bar mitzvahs has a lot to do with America’s obsession with celebrity and excess.

It’s like My Super Sweet Sixteen with a dash of Hebrew and a heaping side dish of guilt.

I think my brother did it up right; instead of throwing a giant party for people he barely knows, he invited his 20 nearest and dearest to the Muse concert that came to town the night of his bar mitzvah. Matthew claims not to believe in God, but when he found out that his favorite band of all time would be playing in Boston only on that particular night, he had to give the big guy upstairs some props.

Of course, going to a rock concert isn’t much better than throwing a country club soirée in terms of preserving the roots of the bar mitzvah tradition; something tells me that Moses was not so much a Flaming Lips fan. That said, I respect that Matthew and my parents avoided the usual pissing contest and focused on music, an aspect of his life he’s actually devoted to. Being trapped in a Skybox with 20 seventh-grade boys wasn’t my ideal way to spend a Saturday night (and it was a rousing victory for Team Don’t-Put-the-Seat-Down), but I liked being there to celebrate my brother’s dubious transition into adulthood. It made spluttering through that damn Torah portion totally worth it.

Campus Solidarity Working Group demands academic credit I

n an exclusive interview with The Miscellany News, members of the Campus Solidarity Working Group revealed that their next project will involve trying to obtain academic credit for all of those involved in what they are calling “community-building efforts.” Said Nate Orians ’10, who insisted that his comment not be construed as a representation of the entire group: “It’s obvious that we need to broaden our perspective on what constitutes ‘academic credit’ at Vassar College.

We demand to be treated with the same amount of respect as any other extracurricular activity.”

When a Miscellany reporter noted that only extracurriculars with faculty supervision are granted academic credit, the Working Group responded by noting, “We don’t believe in authority, so that issue is irrelevant to us.” They added: “Furthermore, deconstructing hierarchies and understanding how they are tied to the corporate structure of the College is far more academic than kicking a ball on a field will ever be.” The conversation then turned to the group’s “academic worth scale,” which they hope will clarify any confusion relating to who deserves academic credit at the College. The scale, which has six sliding axes (please see miscellanynews.com for an extra-exclusive interactive feature of the working model), was developed specifically with “the interests of the community” at heart, said a Working Group representative. Time commitment is one

obvious factor in determining credit, but the Group insists that the real beauty of its scale is that it takes into account less obvious factors like “Respect” and “Justice.” Dorien Ediger-Seto ’10 explained, “We, like students of the natural sciences, feel that we are not respected on this campus. Credit can compensate for this lack of respect.” And as for the “Justice” scale?

The group acknowledged the subjectivity of terms like “Justice,” but insisted that, through the process of consensus, they had agreed upon an “acceptably representative definition.” Said Ruth Sawyer ’10: “We considered two main factors when we created the ‘Justice’ portion of our scale.

First, how is the activity contributing to the health of the community? And second, how many of the College’s resources are already devoted to its promotion?” In practice, said the Group, this portion of the scale would help students understand why community-building groups deserve academic credit. Said Sawyer: “Obviously we [the Working Group] are off the charts on the ‘community-building’ part of the scale. And since we also don’t receive any financial support from the College [in contrast to athletics and science classes], I believe that we deserve credit on the basis of Justice.” The Campus Solidarity Working Group will bring its proposal to the Vassar Student Association this weekend.

—Ruth Sawyer ’10, Silvana Rueda ’10 and Dorien Ediger-Seto ’10.

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B’nai mitzvot is the plural for bar/bat mitzvah. You can have that for free.

Weekly Calendar: 3/25 - 3/31

by Kelly Stout, Features Editor

THURSDAY, 3/25

SATURDAY, 3/27

12 p.m. Annual John Iyoya Children’s Art Show. This is a

2:30 p.m. Film Screening: Thieves Like Us. “You stole our

significant upgrade from last year’s location: your Nana’s refrigerator door. Palmer Gallery

idea,” said the creators of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.

Vogelstein Center Rosenwald Screening Room.

3 p.m. Tea. Tea presents: A market economy analysis from

8 p.m. Vassar Women’s Chorus Concert. Someone has to do Lil Wayne’s songs while he’s in jail. Skinner Hall Martel Recital Hall.

Weezy. Rose Parlor.

FRIDAY, 3/26

friend, and your pot-smoking little brother all summer.

Rocky 300.

6 p.m. Passover Seder. A perfect excuse to Passover your blackboard post due at midnight. College Center MPR.

TUESDAY, 3/30 3 p.m. Tea. Don’t you ever leave the side of me. Indefinitely,

not probably. Rose Parlor.

3 p.m. Tea. I’m fighting for this girl on a battlefield of love.

SUNDAY, 3/28

Rose Parlor.

10 a.m. Irish Step Dancing. Dance moves not up to snuff this Saint Patrick’s Day? If you start your training now, these moves will make you the hit of the rowdy bar full of drunk dudes named Sean and Seamus next year! Villard Room.

10 p.m. Jazz Night. I literally cannot think of a more fun activity than hanging out with underclassmen hipsters in jeggings and pretending to know what I’m listening to. The Mug.

7 p.m. Feminist Alliance Film Screening: “Girls Rock.” Apparently the Spice Girls didn’t cover this topic adequately.

Rocky 300.

WEDNESDAY, 3/31

9 p.m. 50 Nights Party. Only 50 nights until graduation! That means only 50 more lonely nights until you’ll get seduced by a cougar and then—spoiler alert!—run away to Berkeley to marry her daughter. See, good things are in store for us, 2010! ACDC West Side.

10:30 p.m. Miami ViCE Party. Themes also considered: Dallas, Dynasty, and whatever else your parents watched on TV while they were pregnant with you. UpCDC.

MONDAY, 3/29 3 p.m. Tea. Don’t it look like baby Cupid sent his arrow

from above? Rose Parlor.

11:15 p.m. “Free Weezy” Mug Night. For those interested in

reform of the justice system who just want to get down like the economy. The Mug.

3:30 p.m. Jumpstart Your Internship Search. Or, how to

avoid hanging out with Mom, Dad, your high school boy-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

3 p.m. Tea. And honestly, I’m down like the economy. Rose

Parlor.

6 p.m. Film Screening: “Inside North Korea.” This event has been alternatively titled “the fun you’re missing out on when you’re voting and surfing the internet.” UpCDC.

March 25, 2010

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Vassar graduates premiere short film at SXSW Erik Lorenzsonn Arts Editor

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Image courtesy of Shoot the Sky Productions

aking an appearance at this year’s South

by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas was probably not a huge deal for the likes of Quentin Tarantino or Ryan Philippe, but for many independent filmmakers, it is a momentous occasion. Such was the case for Seth Cuddeback ’08, Aaron Naar ’08 and Woodrow Travers ’09, three Vassar alumni who are also the directors of the independent film company Shoot the Sky Productions (STSP). Their seven minute short film Kelp made its premiere at the prestigious festival on Sunday, March 14 with a well-received morning screening.

“It’s done really well here,” said Naar on the film’s run. “People really liked it. We played at the end of this program of heavy-hitting dramas about the Iraq War, so people enjoyed a little bit of levity I think.”

Levity is one word that could describe Kelp.

The bizarre film tells the story of a man who has a near-drowning experience in the ocean, but is saved by a bed of kelp. He literally falls in love with the kelp and brings it into his home, prompting his wife to leave him.

“It was shot in two-and-a-half days,” said Cuddeback, who co-directed and co-wrote the film along with STSP partner and filmmaker Benjamin Dohrmann. “It was pretty chaotic. We didn’t pay anybody; that was kind of the coolest part about it. Everybody [on the crew] just really liked the concept, so they worked for free. All we paid for was our equipment.”

The film’s premiere has garnered the small company some major attention from industry professionals at the festival. STSP has been offered such services as a pro bono lawyer, film distribution and agency representation.

“Since coming to South by Southwest, we’ve gotten a lot of interest from production companies that are offering co-production services and financing,” said Naar. “So we’re really excited about that.”

STSP is making a name for itself in the industry today, but its more humble origins date back to the trio’s early years at Vassar College. Naar, Cuddeback and Travers began working on films beginning in spring of 2006, when they co-produced a movie for a 48-hour film festival in New York City that won the audience award. They went on to produce a number of films at Vassar,

Kelp is produced by Shoot the Sky Productions, which was founded by Vassar alumni Seth Cuddeback ’08, Aaron Naar ’08 and Woodrow Travers ’09. The film was featured at this year’s SXSW festival. including a documentary called Los Hombres del Lago about an endangered village in Bolivia. The film was accepted to the HotDocs Canadian International Film Festival, one of the largest documentary festivals in North America. In addition to his work with Naar and Cuddeback, Travers also notably co-founded the Vassar Filmmakers and interned for director Ron Howard during the filming of the 2009 blockbuster Angels and Demons.

Since the creation of STSP in 2008, the three

filmmakers have continued to produce documentaries and short films. Some of their more notable productions have included Fades with Age, a drama about the loneliness of aging, and Death Ranch, a bloody psychological western. Both films have had successful runs at festivals across the country. For these and the rest of the films that STSP has produced, Vassar students have been invited to help on the set and get hands-on film production experience.

Said Naar, “We’re trying to proactively get stu-

dents involved because I think it’s a rare opportunity when someone says, ‘Come work on a professional production. There are no requirements except enthusiasm.’”

The company hopes to expand on the involvement of Vassar students with the creation of an internship program through the College. The idea came about when Travers visited Vassar for a series of lectures on assistant film direction and getting jobs in the film industry.

“About a hundred people in total came, and there were a lot of people who expressed interest [in internships],” said Travers. “They said, ‘I just want to find an internship. I want to do something in film during my summer. Is there any way to get involved?’”

The three filmmakers hope to extend the same opportunities they had to Vassar students through such an internships program. STSP was given extensive support from various professionals during its first two years, something the company wants to reciprocate for other industry hopefuls.

“A lot of people out there are receptive and understand where you’re coming from,” said Naar.

“Maybe they started out doing free work, or something like we’re doing, so they’ll say, ‘Yeah, I’ll help you out!’ That’s what we’re trying to do as well.”

Besides their success at South by Southwest, there have also been other encouraging developments for STSP. Naar and Cuddeback have set up shop in Los Angeles and Travers was recently accepted into the Director’s Guild of America New York Assistant Director Training Program in New York City. This development has divided the company between two coasts, giving it greater access to resources. With this in mind, the company has a long-term goal of becoming a fullfledged, self-sustaining production company.

“Right now, we’re just working for ourselves,” said Cuddeback. “We have to supplement Shoot the Sky work with other work.”

STSP also has the long-term goal of creating feature-length narrative films. Currently they have two films in development: David and the Kingdom, a documentary on a former hunter who has since devoted his life to healing animals, and Mateo, a feature-length documentary on a white mariachi singer in Los Angeles.

“Each of our projects keep on escalating,” said Naar. “We keep getting bigger and better.”

Iyoya exhibition an opportunity to learn from children’s art Danielle Nedivi

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Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

A Celebration of Children’s Art, which is part of the annual Iyoya exhibit, showcases the artwork by children from 10 local elementary and preschools. The exhibit runs from March 22 through March 26.

Reporter

hen counting to three or taking a deep breath doesn’t work, grab a handful of crayons, hold tight, press hard and scribble!”

Wimpfheimer Kindergarten teacher Heidi Parks’ advice for releasing emotion is applicable not just to children, but adults as well. Those now past their youth will be able to study children’s artistic methods directly at the 25th annual Iyoya exhibit. This year’s show, A Celebration of Children’s Art, will run from Monday, March 22 through Friday, March 26 at the College Center’s Palmer Gallery. The art show, which Parks is helping to organize, features artwork by children from 10 different elementary and preschools from the Mid-Hudson Valley area.

The Iyoya exhibition takes its name from John Iyoya, a former Vassar student who passed away in his senior year. He was known for loving children dearly and volunteering regularly to help them. His class, the Class of 1983, accordingly memorialized him with the yearly Never Grow Up Day, including the weeklong children’s gallery exhibit.

“John was there the night we invented I Won’t Grow Up Day.” recalled Wimpfheimer Nursery School Director Julie Riess. “He was a year younger than I, and was an incredibly kind, funny and creative human being. He could always make you smile. John had a child-like quality that was very special, wonderful in every way.”

Parks decided the theme for her class’s contribution to this year’s exhibit: What a Wonderful World. She explained, “The idea came about as a result of the kindergarteners’ excitement over recent curriculum themes including imagination and illustration, our earth, space and the Vancouver Olympics.” The children got together in

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

groups, and their teachers assigned them to discuss what they thought made the world beautiful. They then drew what they came up with on large puzzle pieces, either with partners or on their own. When they were finished, the result was a full representation of the world’s beauty.

“Assembling the puzzle once all the pieces were completed really helped illustrate how each of us is an important, beautiful, unique individual and together how wonderful our world really becomes,” Parks explained.

Drawings displayed on the fridge by parents certainly lend some pride to kids, but now that the children will see their artwork at a college gallery, they will experience something quite different. Parks believes that there are many important benefits to hanging up children’s artwork so prominently. She elaborated, “By displaying the artwork of the children I hope to build self-esteem, embrace diversity, encourage imagination and reinforce that each child is an interesting and valued member of our classroom community.”

“One of the pitfalls in early childhood art is the focus on product versus the process of expression,” elaborated Riess. “Children get shut down from creating art when they are evaluated for the end product.”

For college students, this exhibit can bring up feelings of childhood nostalgia at an age when we are approaching scary adulthood. But is there something we can actually learn from kids’s drawings? Parks answered with a confident yes: “There are many things adults can learn from the artwork of children: appreciation for the process, seeing the world from the eyes of a child and opportunities to appreciate the simple beauty all around us if we take the time to notice.”

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March 25, 2010

Spring break ’10 lives on with Miami ViCE party Carrie Hojnicki Arts Editor

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flickr.com

hether your Spring Break was spent catching rays on a tropical beach or catching up on cable’s latest gem, Kardashians in Miami, don’t think it’s over yet. This Friday, Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) promises us all another night of spring break bliss with its yachtinspired Miami ViCE party, cabanas included.

More than just a continuation of Spring Break, Friday night also marks the Class of 2010’s final 50 nights at Vassar and to celebrate, ViCE and the Senior Class Council have some tricks up their sleeves. Not to mention two all-star guest performers, the outrageous Gil Mantera’s Party Dream and rap sensation Amanda Blank.

For seniors, the night will begin at 9 p.m. in the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) with free pizza and beer exclusively for the Class of 2010. For the rest of us, the night begins at 10:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Students’ Building with two student DJs: DJ DJ (Axel Yung ’13) and DJ Sharkattackz (Alejandro Calcaño ’11 and Sarah Morrison ’11).

As DJ-ing becomes more popular as an extracurricular trade on campus, ViCE seeks to reward these talented students with opportunities to perform side-by-side with professional party acts such as Ninjasonik earlier this year, as well as Gil Mantera’s Party Dream and Amanda Blank this Friday.

“One of the opportunities that working on ViCE affords is planning professional-level events,” explained Director of ViCE Peter Denny ’10. “We like having student DJs along with professional DJs for the same reason.”

ViCE chose the best of the best for this opportunity through its first ever DJ auditions.

“We actually did an audition process for this party, which we’ve never done before,” explained ViCE Special Events Committee Chair Allie St. Jules ’11. “We had DJs submit their tracks and two committees voted on them anonymously and it came out to [DJ DJ and DJ Sharkattackz].”

After these two spin their top-40 mash-ups, the electro synth-pop duo Gil Mantera’s Party Dream will take the platform. Don’t know the group? YouTube them. Let’s just say there’s concert footage of Gil himself digging a sand-

wich out of his spandex pants. And you thought there was nothing worse than ACDC’s threecheese panini. Regardless of Gil’s sandwichstorage choices, expect a wildly fun performance teeming with audience participation.

Following Gil’s antics will be the Philadelphia-born rapper and singer Amanda Blank.

Known for her catchy, sexualized tracks (Lyric: “I might like you better if we slept together”), Blank has exploded onto the party scene while managing to catch the eye of MTV and The New York Times.

“There’s definitely going to be a lot of craziness, high energy and audience interaction. And a lot of spandex and neon from both the students and the performers,” explained St. Jules.

“You don’t really know what to expect. Which is kind of exciting. But also a little scary.”

The night is designed to climax with Blank’s performance, but ViCE was sure to saturate every moment of the evening to its fullest, hoping to attract students of all interests.

“It’s great to have these DJs who also function as live performers,” explained Denny.

“There might be students who wouldn’t want to go to a party, but would go to a concert. It’s a good mix, not too overpowering either way.”

The extravagance of these performers will not outshine the second floor of the Students’ Building’s potential as a party locale. ViCE has grand plans for its nautical conversion; the balcony will be a senior-exclusive lido deck, complete with first-class food and beverage service.

While dancing your way around a giant marlin fish, imagining yourself yachting in Miami, ViCE also hopes that you’ll think of those less fortunate. Keeping with the charitable precedent set during the searchlight party and Grizzly Bear concert earlier this year, ViCE will be accepting donated school supplies for the Family Partnership Center in downtown Poughkeepsie.

“At the beginning of the year when ViCE Exec met, we thought of the idea of entertainment, what it means to us, what it means to the community,” explained Denny of ViCE’s charitable intentions. “Entertainment can be more than crazy mindless fun, it can also be a tool to build community and give back.”

Amanda Mallory, also known as Amanda Blank, performs above. The emcee and rapper has gained notoriety in the New York City party circuit. She will be performing on Friday, March 26 at Miami ViCE.

English Prof. Kumar is not a foreigner to ‘Outsiderhood’ Rachael Borné

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Reporter

ept. 11 ushered in a lot of changes for the American landscape: to name a few, it heightened paranoia and patriotism, caused countless political scandals, increased our deficit astronomically and made way for a surge of stereotypes. English Professor Amitava Kumar’s new book, A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm A Tiny Bomb, offers a unique take on the War on Terror based on the stories of two suspects convicted of terrorist activities.

His book will be released in July of this year.

“It records a shift in how we, as Americans, look at others,” explained Professor Kumar.

As part of the South Asian Student Alliance’s (SASA) upcoming event, Contours of Conflict: Remembering a Decade of Conflict in South Asia, Kumar will give a reading from his book tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Sanders Classroom’s Spitzer Auditorium.

“The aim of this event series is to create a space on campus to raise consciousness about the ongoing conflicts in South Asia, many of which have been overlooked by the Vassar community,” explained Annapurna Karra ’10, the co-president of SASA. The event will also feature screenings from two documentaries a lecture presented by the New York-based all-women’s non-profit group Adhikaar, an interpretive dance performed by Karra, and a vigil and reflection.

Because of his experience as both a journalist and a foreigner, Kumar offers a unique perspective on the War. “I try to make my prejudices and private biases a part of my narrative in an effort to be more honest,” he explained. “I see myself, happily or unhappily, located in the somewhat cheaper realestate of outsiderhood.”

The title of Kumar’s book echoes a work

by Edmond Jabès called A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Book. Jabès was Jewish poet who fled Egypt and settled in Paris to become one of the best known literary figures to write in French after World War II. The reference reflects the changing

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

status of foreigners in America.

“The idea of the foreigner as simply a man living in exile has been changed. He has become someone altogether more threatening,” Kumar explained. Today, rather than toting literature, foreigners are assumed to be armed and dangerous.

A Foreigner is not Kumar’s first book, nor is it his first to garner recognition. Husband of a Fanatic was an Editor’s Choice book at The New York Times, Bombay-London-New York was on the list of “Books of the Year” in The New Statesman, and Passport Photos won an “Outstanding Book of the Year” award from the Myers Program for the Study of Bigotry and Human rights in North America.

Although Kumar’s books don’t all deal with the War on Terror, they do share some common themes. “All my writing deals with migration, with movement and identities in a globalized world,” he explained. “I think some of our most productive, critical questions can be asked from the margins as opposed to the center.”

A Foreigner, however, specifically confronts the War: “I’m interested in how most of the celebrated terror arrests made in this country were conspiracies hatched with the help of an informant,” Kumar explained.

“The plots are fascinating and also absurd.

As a writer, I have explored the drama that leads to a successful conviction,” he added.

Kumar’s book doesn’t necessarily offer solutions to faults in the War, but instead it strives to first recognize the problems. “I’m pointing out to the reader the mistakes involved in making incorrect assumptions. My interest is in gesturing toward what I think is the reality of conflict, where no easy solutions apply, where no cliché will work,” he said.

If nothing else, Kumar hopes his reading will inspire his audiences creatively. “What students might learn most from is how artists and writers have used the tools of the surveillance state to produce art or literature that mimics or comments upon what has happened to us since the attacks of 9/11.”

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March 25, 2010

Page 17

Vondermuhll pursues lifelong dream Connor O’Neill

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Thea Ballard

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Guest Reporter

Courtesy of Isabella Vondermuhll

ttending Vassar can offer an incredible number of new opportunities to incoming students. Others are able to use resources available to them to develop skills they have already honed. For senior Isabel Vondermuhll, the latter is true. Her four years at Vassar have seen the continued pursuit of her passion for ballet that began when she was very young. “I began dancing when I was three [years old],” says Vondermuhll, and after entering the School of American Ballet at the New York City Ballet at only nine years old, the Manhattan native has been rigorously training ever since.

Capping off her college career as a member of the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT), Vondermuhll performed two student pieces, one by Stephen Xue ’11 and another by Joey Army ’10, at the annual Gala performance at the Bardavon Theater in Poughkeepsie on Feb. 28 and 29. Isabel is also performing in the All Parents Weekend performance, which will take place on Monday, May 3.

Working closely with VRDT Director and Professor of Dance John Meehan, Vondermuhll is planning a challenging selection of ballet pieces for the spring show. These principle roles include an excerpt from “La Sylphide” and “Aurora” from “Sleeping Beauty.” Both pose a significant challenge.

Vondermuhll explained, “Usually only the best dancers in professional companies perform those roles,” as they require strength, stamina, technique and artistry. Yet the senior remains focused: “It will be pretty intimidating,” she says. “But I want to do it.”

These final performances will be the crowning achievement to a college tenure plagued by injury and struggle but marked by growth and desire. Losing a full year of dancing to a serious back injury, Vondermuhll found the path to graduation to be a tough one. She admits that “coming back was really difficult, both physically and emotionally” after being unsure about her future with dance.

“When I came here, I had convinced myself that I never wanted to dance professionally again,” said Vondermuhll. Her decision to attend college instead of directly pursuing a career as a professional dancer was a pivotal move in her life which lead to a period of reevaluation and maturation.

“I definitely think it was a good idea for me to come here,” claims Vondermuhll. She describes her relationship with ballet when entering college as one of love and hate, taking months off from dancing at a time to refocus. Kathy Wildberger, another VRDT in-

One-woman play celebrates life of political activist

Isabel Vondermuhll ’10 performs in George Balanchine’s “Valse-Fantasie.” Vondermuhll, who has danced since she was three years old, plans to join a professional dance company after graduation. structor and Lecturer in Dance has helped Vondermuhll throughout the process. “She really took me under her wing. I don’t know if I would even have gotten through college without her,” said Vondermuhll.

Having emerged on the other side of her time at Vassar as a stronger and more mature dancer, Vondermuhll is glad she made the choice to attend college. “I was not mentally ready to join a company at that time. I’ve grown up so much since I’ve been here.” Having persevered, Vondermuhll is now looking forward to a promising career as a professional dancer.

Returning to such a high level is not something that every college dancer is able to do. In a meeting with John Meehan at the outset of this school year, Vondermuhll made the commitment to really get her act together. “Hardly anyone ever joins a company after college because it is so difficult to get to that high level again,” said Vondermuhll. But with the encouragement and mentoring of Meehan and the Department of Dance, Vondermuhll has been able to do so. “If he thought I could do it, then I did too. He has been there for me every step of the way. I am so privileged to have been able

to work with him,” Vondermuhll said.

In discussing her plans for life after Vassar, Vondermuhll says that she “definitely will be dancing, but I won’t know where until May.” The Los Angeles Ballet has already offered the dancer a contract, but she is still waiting to hear from the San Francisco Ballet, the Boston Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet. “They are all really good companies,” she says. “I’d be happy at any of them.”

The opportunity to dance with a professional company has been a dream of Vondermuhll’s since she was a girl. When performing Balanchine’s ballet “Mozartina” as a 12-year-old, Vondermuhll knew at that moment, immersed in the music and the movement of the dance, that this is what she wanted to do. “It was very spiritual. I remember being on stage and having this inexplicable feeling that I had reached the sublime.” On the verge of realizing her childhood ambition, Vondermuhll is thrilled. “Really, what could be better than constantly feeling like you have some sort of portal to the sublime, and that you could just do that for your job?” she said. It is a testament to Vondermuhll’s perseverance that she is able to do so.

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Reporter

bout a month shy of her 24th birthday in March 2003, activist and Evergreen State student Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer while protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes in the Gaza strip. Her controversial death may be what made her famous, but it is her life that is the subject of the one-woman play “My Name is Rachel Corrie.”

Showing this Friday at 8 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 200, this production of “Rachel Corrie” is a traveling show, featuring actress Courtney Day Nassar. The Grassroots Alliance for Alternative Politics, a student organization, joined forces with local groups Middle East Crisis Response (MECR) and the Dutchess Peace Coalition to host the play.

The MECR, a group described on its website as “joined in support of human rights for Palestinians and an end to the U.S.’s aggressive policies in the Middle East,” has been working on staging a version of this play for some time. Wrote MECR member Paul Rehm in an emailed statement, “After returning from a visit to Israel/Palestine as members of a delegation from Every Church a Peace Church…my wife and I had the good fortune to see the play during its initial run in London and were deeply moved by it.”

He continued: “Along with other members of Middle East Crisis Response, we’ve been working for the day when people in the Hudson Valley might also be able to see this remarkable one-woman play and through it, to learn about Rachel Corrie,” wrote MECR member Paul Rehm in an e-mailed statement.

Written by Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner, the play uses Corrie’s own e-mails, letters and journal entries as sources of material. Given the nature of Corrie’s death, there is something inherently political about the play, but it nevertheless focuses more on Corrie as a human character. MECR member Fred Nagel feels that the focus on the apolitical is an important part of the play. “I think that art brings us to a level of understanding that facts on the ground cannot,” wrote Nagel in an e-mailed statement. “This Friday, we will experience the truths as Rachel Corrie saw them. And the play will help us celebrate what is best in the human experience.”

The play has prompted some controversy in its brief history. A cancelled 2006 run of the show at the New York Theater Workshop caused a stir, raising claims of censorship. There have even been some bumps along the way for this particular production.

MECR’s initial attempts to find Albany-to-Hudson area theatre companies interested in performing the play were met with discouraging results: “Honest theatre can be hard for some to handle,” said Rehm.

Once the MECR discovered Courtney Day Nassar’s performance, the search for a venue led the group to Vassar, where they got in touch with the Grassroots Alliance.

Peter Satin ’10, of the Grassroots Alliance, recognized the potential for controversy, but didn’t believe that it would present a significant issue. “I do know that there are a lot of Israeli sympathizers on campus,” he said. “But we hosted something in a similar vein about Israeli military conscious objectors earlier this year, and that went really well.”

Addressing the political nature of the play, he continued, “I guess the structure of the show is not so much agenda’d as it is bringing to light human rights abuses in general—it’s not politically charged. Hopefully the student body will see through the politics involved to look at the greater message.”

Rehm has a distinct vision of what this “greater message” entails: “We live in a society that tends to put on a pedestal those among us who pick up a gun, turning to violence to protect or promote the things we believe in,” he wrote. “Rachel’s life embodied the spirit, the ideal, the belief that there is another way and that defending the lives or homes of others nonviolently requires just as much courage and may also call for the ultimate sacrifice.”

Satin continued, “That Vassar students might hear—above the din of voices calling for violent answers in conflict situations—one young woman’s voice rising in support of non-violent responses and from her life know something of the strength those responses require, is worth the efforts of all who care about the justice that accompanies real peace.”

He added, “I hope the student body can approach it with open minds, and I think it’s an important message that regardless of your political stance towards the Middle East, conflict can speak to anyone.”

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Artist: Ruby Suns

Album: Fight Softly

Artist: Dinosaur Feathers Album: Fantasy Memorial

Label: Self-Released

Artist: Xiu Xiu

Album: Dear God, I Hate Myself

Label: Kill Rock Stars

Artist: Best Coast

Album: When I’m With You [Single]

Label: Black Iris

Artist: Midlake

Album: The Courage Of Others

Scorsese thriller exudes creepiness Shutter Island Martin Scorsese [Paramount]

Label: Sub Pop

Label: Bella Union

Listen live at wvkr.org

March 25, 2010

M

artin Scorsese’s opus Shutter Island can be summed up in two words: gothic noir. The “noir” comes from the rugged investigators in trench coats, the whodunnit mystery and a melodramatic score reminiscent of the days of Bogart and Bergman.

The “gothic” comes from the insane asylum housed on a shadowy island, dank labyrinthine corridors draped in shadows and the ominous rumble of storm clouds brewing over the horizon. With building blocks like these, it’s a guarantee that a movie will boil down to another two words: pure awesomeness.

On principle, you have to like this movie.

It’s The Big Sleep meets Dracula meets Chinatown meets Psycho, borrowing instantly familiar conventions from both mystery and horror and melding them into a delicious generic hybrid. You also have to like this movie because it’s by Martin freakin’ Scorsese and stars Leonardo freakin’ DiCaprio. It’s not like they’ve collaborated on any great movies recently. Oh wait, except for a couple of award-winning and celebrated films like The Departed, Gangs of New York and The Aviator. And when the likes of Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow and Emily Mortimer pop up in the credits too, it just screams D-list cast, am I right?

Granted, it’s possible for a movie’s whole to not equal the sum of its parts, but that’s not in the cards for Shutter Island. Everything adds up sublimely, from the trench

coats to the storm clouds on the horizon to Leonardo freakin’ DiCaprio. All the pieces of the puzzle fuse together to spin a phenomenal yarn, masterfully adapted from the Dennis Lehane novel of the same name.

The audience is put in the shoes of young Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), who is sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a mental asylum for the criminally insane. When he and his partner (Mark Ruffalo) step off of the ferry onto the titular island, they enter a thoroughly unsettling world. It is populated by a sinister asylum director (Kingsley), a shady collection of doctors and staff members, patients who seem scared out of their wits and, in general, secrets and shadows lurking around every corner. Equally as mysterious as the case at hand is Teddy’s backstory; this dude certainly has skeletons lurking in his closets, as we learn through flashbacks and dream sequences. As the protagonist’s past and the investigation at the asylum intertwine, it becomes more than apparent that there is something very fishy going on at Shutter Island…something very fishy indeed.

Shutter Island tells a compelling story, but what really drives the movie is a palpable atmosphere of terror. The film’s aesthetic is jaw-dropping. This baby is all about the visceral quality of the environments, each one more chill-inducing than the last. There is the ominous lighthouse towering over the island’s shores and silhouetted against gray skies and underscored by the ever-present howl of the harsh sea winds. There are the dark hallways of Ward C, which we are told contain the most damaged patients. There, the flickering lamp bulbs that feebly light the musty corridors are complemented by

the whispers and moans of emaciated shadows behind cell doors. The director’s plush fire-lit home looks like it came straight out of Russel Baker’s Masterpiece Theater or an Agatha Christie novel, the flames from the hearth casting an insidious glow on the lavish décor. Everything just exudes creepiness.

Despite the spookiness, this is less of a horror movie per se than a psychological thriller. The “psychological” aspect works for the most part: our glimpses into the protagonist’s psyche via flashbacks and dream sequences are beautifully shot, and are rife with metaphor and subtext. But the movie also goes for some of the more unfortunate sucker-punch twists psychological thrillers are prone to do. It would be great to elaborate on that, but it would be quite damnable of me to give out spoilers. Let’s suffice it to say that it’s ironic that a movie uses genre conventions so successfully, yet it is undone by them at the same time.

Shutter Island has been in theaters for over a month, making it weird that this review is being published now. But, actually, that I’m still comfortable with writing this five weeks too late is a testament to this flick’s quality. Okay, so actually I wasn’t thrilled by the idea of going to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid or The Bounty Hunter this weekend. And, let’s be real, I was too busy picnicking on the quad on Sunday to be bothered to take a trip to the mall. Bottom line: if you haven’t seen Shutter Island yet, do it ASAP. The beautiful spring weather will still be here when you’re done!

—Erik Lorenzsonn ’12 is writing a bi-weekly column on movies and their meanings. He is the Arts Editor.

Exhibit appraises value of technology in art Esther Clowney Reporter

David Sedaris Ulster Performing Arts Center Friday, April 9, 8 p.m. $45 If you have read anything by David Sedaris, you probably know more about the humorist, writer and radio contributor’s personal life than you do about your own. You’ll know of his family’s brown towel trouble or his “D’accord” drama in France. Sedaris spares no one, not even himself, in his sardonic delivery of unabashedly personal tales. If you love Sedaris on paper, Sedaris live might change your life. Much to the benefit of the Hudson Valley, Sedaris will be speaking at the Ulster Performing Arts Center on Friday, April 9 at 8 p.m.

—Carrie Hojnicki Arts Editor

Los Lobos Bardavon Opera House Sunday, March 28, 7 p.m. $50 Not one, not two, but three. That’s how many Grammys American Chicano rock band Los Lobos have won since their start in the late 1970s. Beyond this critical acclaim, the band has also appeared on the soundtracks of notable films and television shows including Nacho Libre and The Sopranos. If you’re in the mood for some south of the boarder sound, head down to the Bardavon Opera House this Sunday, March 28 at 7 p.m. to get your fill.

—C.H.

R

hys Bambrick ’11, Joseph RedwoodMartinez ’11, Charlie Warren ’10 and Russell Webner ’11 are four men with four separate visions, yet their works are aligned by common experiences within a shared epoch. Computer technology, the new leviathan, was clearly articulated as the subject of many of the pieces on display in This the Range and Recent, which was on display from Feb. 25 through March 4 in the Palmer Gallery.

The show’s name comes from an all-text art piece by Redwood-Martinez. It’s hard to say what’s different between an all-text art piece and poetry or literature, but in this case the designation changes the way observers look at his words. Redwood-Martinez uses a very specific type of language: the language of the art show press release. The project was conceived when Redwood-Martinez subscribed to an online feed in September that sent him press releases about random art shows several times a day. The exhibitions advertised were taking place all over the world, in places where he would never set foot. Rather than writing them off as pointless, Redwood-Martinez set about searching for meaning in the blurbs—a task approximate in difficulty to searching for meaning in the ’burbs.

“Upon receiving a notice in my e-mail, I would pick out important phrases and words, rearranging them and deleting what I couldn’t use,” said Redwood-Martinez. “Certain words emerged as things that could stand in as a representation of the project they were describing.”

Using words dredged from the uncharted expanses of the Internet, Redwood-Martinez took the limitlessness of information and narrowed its scope, creating a commentary on the usefulness of the infinite in general.

Bambrick displayed three series of prints for the exhibit, showcasing a medium which is more physically demanding than most. He

estimates that he spends 35 to 40 hours making several editions of one print, a process that adds depth and meaning to his work.

“You start off with an ideal image in your head, but as you put time and energy into it, the piece morphs,” Bambrick explained. The linocut reduction method Bambrick employs uses only one sheet of linoleum. “As you progress with the work, you’re actually destroying the piece of linoleum and, with it, your ability to make any more editions of the piece,” he said.

Wanting to create an image that was in some way particular to the medium of printmaking, Bambrick chose to print a self-portrait of his mid-section, prominently featuring his own hands. He used reddish tones to convey the perennially flushed color of his skin, but the color also makes the hands look rough and weathered, the way they do after spending a day in the printmaking studio. Six of the seven editions were displayed side by side in the Palmer Gallery, showing the variations in tone and technique that happen during each printing.

Two paintings by Webner that were on display use oils to portray digital media and computers in their valiant attempt to simulate war. Webner’s oil painting of the Battle of Normandy, based on a scene from Medal of Honor, is unsettling even for those familiar with war or first-person shooter video games.

The painting is constructed like a screen shot from the game, with the viewer looking down the barrel of a gun that extends forward into the picture plane. The scene is gristly, but the colors are strangely bright and the symbols along the bottom of the painting are scores, reminding the viewer that this is, after all, a game. “These games are incredibly casual about war,” said Webner. “The fact that I can invade Normandy through a video game is cool, but also fucked up.”

Charlie Warren’s best piece in the exhibit, called “Jeremiah Johnson’s Comforter Coat,” consists of a simple metal mannequin dressed in a coat that Warren made from a comfort-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

er with a convex mirror pinned to the lapel.

“This one is sort of about losing your mind,” Warren said. The arms of the coat are twisted about like a straight jacket, and the puffy light blue fabric has a sort of institutional feeling.

Behind the sculpture is a sheet of butcher paper covered in scrawled phrases such as, “the measurements of captivity” and “*very small bears.” They are Warren’s scribblings to himself, not initially constructed for an audience, and are quite interesting to peruse. Many were written in reference to Sydney Pollack’s 1972 film, Jeremiah Johnson, which was playing on a TV during the opening.

The coat stand contains an element of selfportrait in that it was constructed to Warren’s specifications. He admires tailors. “I’m interested in how human proportions come out in measurements,” he said. While the mannequin doesn’t have a head, the convex mirror reflects the viewer’s gaze back towards you, making it feel like the comforter coat is examining you, rather than the other way around.

While I found similar themes in these four students’ work, and while I thought that each person’s work was remarkably good, it all felt a bit disjointed. The reason why this show took place is something of a mystery.

Redwood-Martinez, whom I admire greatly for his ability to organize other people’s energy, asked the others to participate with him, and everything fell into place. But it reminds me of an old boys network, especially since the majority of the students in the Art Department at Vassar is made up of women, as one attendee observed.

That said, I have a hard time believing Redwood-Martinez does anything randomly, and I feel he may have been leaving me clues I wasn’t wily enough to pick up. Maybe the answer lies in the depths of those press release poems. Or perhaps it’s like what Charlie jotted down on the piece of paper taped to his wall: “Clearly, if it was that easy, I would just tell you.”

March 25, 2010

SPORTS

Page 19

Lacrosse looks for emerging stars The Rumble in the Valley W Mitchell Gilburne

Assistant Sports Editor

Upcoming boxing match to highlight local talent, born and bred in Poughkeepsie Kelly Capehart Guest Columnist

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Image courtesy of Sports Information

hile you were busy lounging at the beach or lazing about in bed, the Brewers of the women’s lacrosse team were busy establishing the first note for their season in sunny West Palm Beach, Fla. The two weeks of spring break saw the Brewers build a three-game winning streak only to have it snapped by State University of New York at Oneonta. With the Brewers sitting at 3-2, the season is an open book, and considering the exceptional intellect and talent boasted by our women’s lacrosse team, it is safe to assume that the Brewers are in for their most exciting and challenging season yet.

The onset of any season of a college sport is always a bittersweet affair. The loss of graduated seniors, although alleviated by the exciting arrival of doe-eyed freshmen, can take its toll on a team. The Brewers graduated six seniors from last year’s team, including significant offensive and defensive contributors. This leaves Vassar with a formidable midfield but a need to revise and refine areas of former strength. Expert attacker Moe Byrne ‘11 has an entirely positive take on her current team. “This year’s team has a lot of depth,” she says, “anyone off the bench can come in for anyone else, and when you go out you know you can trust the person going in for you.” This laudable display of team unity is echoed by freshman Marissa Reilly who admits that she’s glad that Byrne is playing for the Brewers.

“Moe is a nasty player.” says Reilly. Head Coach Judy Finerghty explains, “We are always playing with our chemistry.” And it is just this malleability that allowed the Brewers to amass a three game winning streak in the early moments of the season.

Finerghty illuminates just how impressive the Brewers’ performance has been: “Our scrimmage was snowed out, so our first time playing as a team was during the first real game of the season.” And although “it took the first half to shake out the kinks,” the Brewers, although ultimately defeated, were able to raise the score to a commendable 14-13 against Bridgewater State College. “This was a real turn around,” says Finerghty. “It gave us a glimpse of what we could achieve.”

And achieve they did, as they went on to

Sarah Warner ’11, pictured above, is a key player in the women’s lacrosse team this season.

The Brewers currently sit at a 3-2 season record after competing in Florida over Spring Break. reverse their previous losing score in a 1413 game against Drew University. This, coupled with a devastating victory over Simmons College (18-9) and what Finerghty describes as a fast game against Eastern Connecticut State University (13-11), rounded out their springtime winning streak.

The ever tactically-minded Finerghty describes the deflating loss against Oneonta as a boon in disguise. “It is a blessing,” she said, “to have a game that so clearly shows your weaknesses.” The determination and dedication to her team’s victory is apparent in her voice as Finerghty continues to clarify that her excitement for this season lies in every game. Although, the team admits that they would like to see the Engineers of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute bite the

dust. Sophomore midfielder Morgan Namian adds, “We’re looking forward to avenging our loses,” with a wry smile.

The Brewers hope to make it to the evercompetitive Liberty League Playoffs this year. According to Finerghty, this will require developing a few prominent scorers, as it is common to see fierce defense at this level. This goal is echoed by the enthusiasm of the team. “I think we’re all really excited to start playing league games,” offers star midfielder Sarah Warner ’11, “The matches are looking really competitive, but we’re all pretty evenly matched this year, so it’s going to be a battle.” Despite the challenges ahead, with Coach Finerghty at the helm, Vassar is certainly destined for a memorable season.

Renewed passion for March Madness L

ess than a week into March Madness and I can honestly say I will never be the same again. This year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has truly deeply and profoundly changed me in a number of ways.

For instance, I now know not to predict the outcome of any basketball game ever again.

Gone are the days of submitting my completed bracket confidently, knowing that only I had predicted that 12-5 upset and that only I had the correct Final Four picks and eventual champion, not to mention the total final score. Not even in my worst bracket nightmare could I have foreseen the University of Northern Iowa beating Kansas University, and Cornell University making the Sweet 16, but alas they have, and along with my bracket my confidence has gone asunder.

In the aftermath, I have been left a shell of my former self, confused and lost in a sea of basketball coverage. Do I cheer for the Cinderella that just did something incredible? Or do I cry because it destroyed all my hopes of winning my March Madness bracket pool?

The confusion has only intensified now that I know that I can be both incredibly interested and incredibly bored at the same time. While sitting at the edge of my seat

watching Purdue University vs. Texas A&M University go into overtime a couple of nights ago, I suddenly realized just how tired I had become of CBS and its B-list line-up of sportscasters. While many may love Greg Gumbel and his troupe of halftime report “stars,” like perennial NBA back-up pointguard Greg Anthony, I actually prefer some kind of valuable insight into what is going on instead of a generic drone. Amidst truly earth shattering explanations of the “physicality” of the game on display and how the team that wanted it more would win, I was overcome with a profound sense of purpose.

That deep and meaningful purpose was to switch the sound off on the television and enjoy what remained of an otherwise very interesting game.

But what really takes the cake is just how fake most of March Madness actually is. After all, it doesn’t actually matter whether or not you followed any of the games of any of these teams throughout the year, but rather it only matters that you pretend like you care now. It’s incredible to see all the new bracketologists emerge from the woodwork, each knowing exactly which teams will win even though they don’t even know the names of

some of the schools they picked. Even better are the diehard fans who cry after their school has lost or party deep into the night following a win, even though they just watched their first game of the year.

Quite simply, the entire affair is bonkers.

March Madness makes no sense—entire seasons riding on the outcomes of single games, incredible displays complemented by terrible reporting and unbelievable yet somehow gut-wrenching results that just leave you speechless. March Madness is, well, quite simply mad, and really our fascination with it is at least a little odd.

But when March Madness is on, we all care, no matter the setting or our age, because others are watching and with the whole nation eager to see who is crowned victor, no one can bear being the only one looking away.

In the meantime, however, we are all swept away on one weird and yet somehow wonderful adventure.

—Nik Trkulja ’11 is an economics and political science double major. This semester he will be editorializing on social issues surrounding sports outside of the Vassar athletics realm.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

aturday night’s local boxing match The Rumble in the Valley is about more than just the guys fighting in the ring. It’s about promoting boxing throughout the Hudson Valley.

Event promoter Brian Burke, himself a lifelong Poughkeepsie local and long-time boxer, is spearheading the event with his Final Rounds Promotions outfit. Putting on the Saturday night fight is no small undertaking, but it was a challenge Burke was willing to tackle.

“Ticket sales are doing okay,” Burke said. “In boxing, you take a whole lot of money to make a little bit of money.”

But any uncertain financial reward is secondary—perhaps more an afterthought, even, to a goal.

“I’ve told my [business] partners that I can promise a great show, to use local talent and to give it our best shot,” said Burke. “Are we going to get rich? No way. We just want to have a base for our local guys.”

And that’s the crux of this entire undertaking: to promote local boxing talent.

The ticket is packed with fighters from the region, many of whom have proven their mettle elsewhere and are looking forward to putting on a show for the home crowd. Jay Krupp, advertised as “Catskill’s own,” who features a 14-3 record with seven knockouts, will meet “The Hudson Valley Kid” Daniel Sostre (10-3, four knockouts)for Sostre’s New York state welterweight title. This bout will be the evening’s main event.

Also on the ticket is three-time Golden Gloves champ Luis Del Valle of Newburgh (8-0, six knockouts). Joining Del Valle on the undercard is 2008 Olympic alternate Kimdo Bethel of nearby Albany who will square off with fellow heavyweight Benjamin Lee. Several of the fighters on the card have been trained by New Paltz’s Tracy Patterson, son of boxing great Floyd Patterson (who made his home in New Paltz) and regular trainer at Vassar’s boxing classes.

The area has a strong boxing legacy—greats like Melio Bettina made their names here in the 1940s, and the likes of two-time world champion Tracy Patterson, Delvin Rodriguez (who competed for a world title last year) and Carlos Quintana all proved their mettle early in their careers in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.

“The champs we have coming out of here are incredible,” said Burke. “We have a great tradition here, in all walks of life.” Despite the staggering crop of talent, organizers are left scrambling for resources that the region struggles to provide. “Space is an issue. We don’t have the buildings. We don’t have the gyms,” said Burke.

Orchestrating financial support is tricky, particularly when maintaining the ethos of boxing as a priority. “It’s historically a sport where the poor rise up,” explained Burke. “This could be a haven for these kids.” Burke himself understands all too well that boxing isn’t only about building strong bodies, but strong spirits. He took up the sport when his father, a World War II veteran and a boxer, died when Burke was 13 years old. “I started boxing after that,” Burke remembers. “It kept me on the right path.”

But how to make running a needed boxing gym a financially feasible reality? The challenge is daunting. “You can’t charge in the inner city,” Burke asserts. “You can’t charge the kids.”

Burke has been hosting boxing classes at Vassar for several years, since a faculty member reached out to him in the early ’90s. “Vassar has been tremendous. They’ve given us the space.”

Of course, a boxing room at a local college can’t replace a gym system in the city of Poughkeepsie.

Burke has faith in the tenacity of the sport, noting that, “Boxing survives. It will survive past us. It’s the red-light district of sports.”

Hopefully, the sport will reawaken among young fighters in the area, whose personal endurance— both physical and spiritual—will be met and challenged by the demands and rewards of boxing. And with any luck, the reawakening will begin this Saturday night. “We’ve been doing [this kind of thing] in our backyards,” said Burke. “If we get the fans behind us, it’ll be even better.”

SPORTS

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March 25, 2010

Men’s lacrosse begins with high expectations Ethan Shanley Guest Reporter

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pring is in the air, and with it the begins the start of a new sports season. Coming off of its best year in school history, the Vassar men’s lacrosse team is looking forward to the season with great anticipation.

Fifth-year Head Coach Joe Proud’s squad is extremely determined. “We’re on a mission this year, and we’ve got really good chemistry,” says Proud. “We’re already at this point playing the best the program has ever played.” Proud’s enthusiasm is echoed by his players. Recent Liberty League Defensive Player of the Week, goalie and Captain Alex Tice ’11 says, “I think that we can beat any team that we play, and I think a lot of our guys have that confidence.”

This year Vassar looks to finish the season with a winning record and to record its first Liberty League win ever. As a young program in one of the toughest leagues in the country, winning games in conference is no easy task.

The Liberty League features nationally ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Skidmore College, as well as perennial powerhouse St. Lawrence University. The Brewers, who have achieved a better record each year under Proud’s guidance, feel this is the year they could break through. “Although we know we won’t beat all of the teams we play, I think that we can definitely get our first Liberty League win this season,” said Tice. The Brewers bring back many key members from last year and have added some depth with the freshman class. “We have gotten significantly better from last year—although we actually have less guys on the roster,” Tice added. Vassar has 19 players on its team compared with upwards of 40 on the average roster for other schools.

For the Brewers, the road to success starts on defense. “We’ve got a really strong defense in general,” says Proud. “They really picked it up last year, and we return most of them this year.” Led by Tice and two-year Captain Paul Danaher ’10, scoring goals against the Brewers is going to be tough. The defense also features standout Zach Beauchamp ’11. Beauchamp was an absolute beast last year as a sophomore.

He was named Second Team All Conference, the highest individual honor ever received by a Vassar men’s lacrosse player, while finishing second in the league in groundballs. “He has the ability to change the game and strike fear in the opponent with his menacing style

Midfielder Nick Cardillo ’10 controls the ball against the Christopher Newport University Wildcats on Sunday, March 14. The Brewers lost in overtime 9-8. Vassar faces Richard Stockton College on March 27. of play,” says fellow defenseman Danaher. Also on defense, Rob Rooney ’11 is ferocious. “He’s a little tiny defenseman that plays like he’s 7 feet tall, and he’s like 5 feet 5 inches,” says Proud. As the team’s All-Heart player, Rob Rooney wears number 11 in honor of the late Robb Rolfing, Class of 1999, who was a soccer and lacrosse standout at Vassar and died in Iraq in 2007.

The Brewers’ defense will look to sophomore Jeremy Gottlieb and freshmen Tyler Glover to learn from the upperclassmen and bring enthusiasm, energy and brawn off the bench.

The midfield will feature Captain Nick Cardillo ’10, who returns to the Brewers after a strong junior season. Danaher speaks very highly of his teammate. “Cardillo has already proven himself as the heart of our team. He’s a midfielder that also plays attack and will come back and play defense too. Even if he’s not scoring goals, his play fires up the rest of the team and helps spark the offense.” The team will need Sam Seymour ’11 to play a big role, both on the attack and the defense. “He plays all over the field,” says Coach Proud. “The kid is an athlete.” Seymour wears the number 1 on his jersey for being a player who always puts

the team ahead of himself. His teammate Matt Pearce ’12 is a key asset as a two-way mid and faceoff man. Also highlighted in the midfield will be sophomore sensations Jeff Lee and Stephen Kozey. Both captains on the same high school team, offensive-minded Lee and defensive stalwart Kozey bring to the table a tandem that will be vital in the years to come.

The Brewers return a solid midfield and defense, but in order to have a successful season, they will need the players on attack to step up.

The team’s leading scorer from last year, Sam Thypin-Bermeo ’11, is studying at Oxford University for the year and has left some big shoes to fill. Sean Murray ’10 appears up to the task.

As the team’s biggest offensive threat, he will need to be a force up front if the Brewers are to be successful. Jack Gross ’12 is coming off of a great freshman year. “Jack is really coming into his own,” says Proud. Ryan McCarthy ’13 also needs to step up on attack if the Brewers are to be successful.

So far, the Brewers have started the season on the right track. On March 3, they defeated Keane University, a team that beat them 14-5 last year, in what Proud calls “the biggest win

in our program’s history.” Murray and Lee each netted a hat-trick in the victory. Up and coming Christopher Toffoli ’12 also added two goals, and Cardillo tallied a goal and a couple of assists.

On March 8, the Brewers took their momentum into Purchase, N.Y. to face a tough Manhattanville College team who beat them 4-3 last year. The Brewers fought valiantly but lost the game 10-9 in overtime. Gross had three goals in the loss and was helped out with two goals from both Lee and Murray. Murray scored the goal that sent the game into overtime with 2:14 left in regulation. Beauchamp had 14 groundballs in the loss.

In their next contest, on March 10, the Brewers looked to rebound from their heartbreaking loss to Manhattanville, facing Medaille College during their spring break trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Brewers preformed marvelously, destroying the Medaille Mavericks 14-5. Everybody got a piece of the action for the Brewers, with Toffoli, Gross, Murray and Cardillo all scoring goals. Senior Dave Bryant and junior Ryan Hart also scored as well as freshman Ryan McCarthy, who scored his first collegiate goal.

The team took their 2-1 record to Alfred University on March 12, dropping the contest 9-6 to even their record up at 2-2. On March 14, the team lost to Christopher Newport University, losing 9-8 on a goal that came with seven seconds left in double overtime. After four straight games away from home, the Brewers returned to Poughkeepsie on March 17, demolishing Castleton State College by a score of 14-5.

The team is now 3-3, and undefeated (2-0) at home, but has lost those three games by a combined total of five goals. With a couple of favorable bounces, the team could just as easily be 5-1 or 6-0. The Brewers have tasted some success and are hungry for more. In its first six games, the team has showed incredible heart, determination, talent and chemistry. They opened Liberty League play against RPI on Wednesday, and, judging from their performance thus far, there is no reason that they can’t come away from that game victorious. “We’ve been knocking on the door,” says Proud. “Our biggest goal this year is our seniors don’t want to leave without that Liberty League win. We obviously don’t want to just shoot for one—we want to shoot for playoffs…but we have got to get that first win. We know we have to do it, and we can do it with this group. We’re pretty determined.

I think we’re going to get it.”

Baseball looks to cash in on returning, new talent Andy Marmer

A

Sports Editor

last year, and infielder Liam Lee ’12, who hit .301.

Of course, the incoming freshmen will also be asked to make a splash. Two in particular have impressed in just their first week. On the team’s spring break trip, shortstop Michael Perrone went 11-18 at the plate, while also playing excellent defense at one of the toughest positions on the field. Classmate Conor Gallagher has also cemented himself a position in the Brewers’ early season lineup. While both players are adept offensively, they also bring a lot to the field, nailing down the left side defensively. Said Ringold, “Mike Perrone and Conor Gallagher in the infield should help defensively this year at positions we had problems with in the field last year.”

While this year’s baseball team may be one of the most talented in recent memory, they will face several challenging opponents in the Liberty League. Perhaps their most daunting opponent is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), who is currently ranked no. 8 in Division III. The RPI Engineers will visit Vassar on April 25 for a doubleheader. While this game may not be for another month, the Brewers will not have to wait long to see how they measure up. This weekend the Brewers will face archrival Skidmore College in four contests, with Vassar hosting the first part of the doubleheader Saturday and then traveling to Saratoga Springs the next day for two more games.

With added experience for returning players and key newcomers Vassar Baseball will field a very able team. Noted Head Coach Jon Martin on the Vassar Athletics website (“Behind Experience and Talent, Baseball Poised to Make Strides in 2010,” 3.13.10, vassarath-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

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fter graduating just four seniors from a roster of 21, Vassar’s baseball team looks to benefit from another year of experience in returning players. This year’s squad will also rely significantly on their underclassmen: sophomores who got their first taste of the College game last year and freshmen who are making their collegiate debut. These two groups, combined with experienced leadership, will look to lead Vassar to the promised land: a first ever Liberty League playoff appearance.

Three distinct components make up this year’s baseball squad: returning veterans, sophomores and newcomers. The team is relatively young, featuring just two seniors, both of whom will serve as co-captains. Key to the Brewers’ effort will be infielder/outfielder Ari Glantz ’10. Glantz, who was recognized as an All-Liberty League Honorable Mention selection each of the past two seasons, led the Brewers in slugging percentage (.496), on base percentage (.429), runs (27), triples (4), walks (17) and steals (92). His fellow captain, Adam Murphy ’10, is known throughout the Liberty League for his defensive prowess. While Murphy may be regarded for his talent as a centerfielder, he is also a skilled hitter, having finished last year with a .274 batting average. Both seniors will be looked to for both their talent and experience.

With just two seniors on the team, the junior class will be asked to provide additional leadership. The class features one returning pitcher, Daniel Berkowitz, and five hitters, all of whom logged significant playing time last year. First basemen Joe Bubar started all 35 games for the Brewers

last spring, committing just two errors, for a .993 fielding percentage. Infielder Joe Castilla started all 34 games in which he played, hitting .276. Outfielder Devon Luongo and catcher/third baseman David Ringold both started over 20 games, and catcher/first baseman Mike Plude rounds out the class after starting 12 games last season.

While many of the Brewers’ bats come from the upper classes, a majority of the arms are underclassmen. The Brewers’ pitching staff will be anchored by John MacGregor ’12. MacGregor had a team best 6.35 earned run average, while also completing two of his eight starts last year. In addition to MacGregor, Vassar will turn to several of his classmates to shut the opposition down.

In particular, sophomores Scott Allen, Zachary Prudoff, Dennis Tario and Race Bottini will be asked along with Berkowitz to serve as the returning pitchers. Bottini has already started this year off with a bang with his first career win in the team’s 13-9 victory over Salem State College.

If the Brewers are to have a successful season, the sophomore pitchers will be relied on heavily. “We were a young team as a whole last year, and most of our pitching was in our freshman class,” said Ringold. “We hope those freshmen will improve with one year now under their belt.”

The Class of 2012 also features one of the team’s most prolific hitters. Joining Glantz ’10 as an All-Liberty League Honorable Mention last year was catcher/outfielder Sal Costanzo ’12. Costanzo, who started all 35 of the Brewers’ games last season, led the team in batting average (.347), hits (42), RBIs (27) and total bases (57).

Joining Costanzo as key returning offensive players are outfielder Joe Coniglio ’12, who hit .303

Devon Luongo ’11 is up to bat at a recent game against Gallaudet University on March 18. letics.com), “I think this year’s team is obviously more talented than we have been. We’re deeper at every position. We need to play to our strengths and work on our weaknesses.”

Glantz expressed similar sentiments, “You never really know what to expect. We just have to play our game and good things will happen.

Murphy and I just want to go after it as hard as we have been the past three years and hopefully go out with a bang.”