Disaster In Context Hurricanes batter American coastal regions every year, but few hit as hard as Katrina did. “Once a natural event is called a ‘disaster,’ it indicates a shift,” says Daniel Karpowitz, visiting assistant professor of political studies. “The event becomes a social phenomenon. Hurricane Katrina is perceived to have been catastrophic in terms of what it revealed about American social life.” More than a year after the initial devastation, political, economic, and structural problems continue to challenge recovery. Driven by student demand and sponsored through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, Bard’s Human Rights Program is offering New Orleans after the Disaster, a course that lays out the complexity of issues in post-Katrina New Orleans. Karpowitz and
Stephen Tremaine ’07, a Trustee Leader Scholar from New Orleans, mobilized more than 130 Bard volunteers for post-Katrina rebuilding efforts last January. This past summer he spearheaded two projects: a Geographical Information Systems map of the Broadmoor district, and teaching at McDonogh 35, one of the first public high schools to reopen.
guest professor Kristina Ford, New Orleans’s director of city planning from 1992 to 2000, coteach the workshop, which includes a two-week practicum in New Orleans during January intersession. Guest speakers and authors will also visit the class. The innovative course provides an academic context for Bardians to examine the issues and theories at stake in the city they have already demonstrated a commitment to helping. Last winter one-tenth of the Bard student body traveled to New Orleans and became involved in relief efforts. Several students returned in the summer of 2006 to teach in one of the few reopened public high schools. Bard volunteers also generated a comprehensive Geographic Information Systems map of the Broadmoor District in New Orleans—a contribution that significantly helped shape the city’s rebuilding plans.
Resolved: Bard Debate Team Heats Up
Club Sports at Bard
The Bard Debate Team started off the 2006–2007 season with a bang. Recruiting eight new first-year members and an additional assistant coach, Sherin Varghese, the team looks forward to another successful and dynamic year. Annually, the Cross Examination Debate Association formulates the intercollegiate debate topic that will be used in tournament competition throughout the nation. This year’s topic addresses four United States Supreme Court rulings. Thus far, Bard’s team has run a case that calls on the United States Supreme Court to overrule Planned Parenthood v. Casey on the grounds that the parental consent clause is unconstitutional, ageist, and patriarchal. The Bardians’ versatility— experimenting with styles ranging from highly performative (using music, poetry, and art) to more traditional (focusing on quantity and quality of specific research to refute their opponents’ points)—keeps other teams on their toes and makes Bard a very difficult team to beat. Going 6–0 in preliminary rounds and winning their three elimination rounds, Cassie Cornell ’09 and Julian Letton ’10 won the junior varsity division of this season’s first tournament, held at Cornell University. Letton was named first speaker; Cornell was named fifth speaker; and Travis Rubury ’09 was named 17th speaker in the junior varsity division. In the novice division, two of Bard’s first-year teams made it to elimination rounds. Frank Brancely ’10 and Max Stahl ’10 formed one team; Maia Fleming ’10 and Beverley Annan ’10 formed the other. Annan was named the 17th speaker in the novice division.
Tall, brawny, and broad-shouldered, William Ardito ’07 avidly participated in varsity sports in high school and even considered going to a large state school to play football. Now he’s the captain of the Bard men’s rugby team and feels “a more personal commitment to the game.” Rugby is one of several club sports that are becoming more popular among the Bard student body. Club sports are student run, and as such they enable Bardians to employ their leadership skills. They tend to be less competitive than varsity sports and attract students who genuinely want to foster common interests and promote them within the Bard community. The Bard Athletics and Recreation Department is increasingly supportive of students who express interest in starting new clubs. Jennifer Watson, director of club sports, and Andrea Connor, director of student activities, have created a manual (available online at www.bard.edu/athletics/club/) that thoroughly outlines how the process works. “I really want club sports at Bard to keep growing as they have over the past year,” says Watson, adding that she created the manual to “educate students and encourage them.” A list of existing and emerging club sports includes men’s rugby, women’s rugby, fencing, equestrian, ultimate Frisbee, swimming, cycling, baseball, and ice hockey. —Matthew Garklavs ’07
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