The Miscellany News September 23, 2021
miscellanynews.org
Volume 156 | Issue 4
First-year reading intrigues
Attempted TH burglary rattles campus Annabelle Wang, Lucy Brewster News Editors
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t seemed like a typical Friday evening for Townhouse (TH) resident Alysa Chen ’23. She was in her room doing her homework when she suddenly received a crime alert notification from Safety and Security Investigator Joseph Chorba on her phone. At around midnight, on Friday, Sept. 17, Vassar Safety and Security dispatched an email alerting students about an attempted burglary that had occurred at the THs around 11:05 p.m. Though the incident rattled some students, Safety and Security is taking action to quell their concerns. “We received a call from a third party not present at the TH that a possible attempted burglary might have occurred,” explained Director of Safety & Security Arlene Sabo. “We responded both to the TH and the general area. We confirmed that no one was injured, no burglar was in the TH but that there had, indeed, been an attempted burglary,” she added. Sabo explained that a witness had seen a person near a broken window, but the witness could not provide a description of the person. The inhabitants of the targeted TH declined to comment due to privacy concerns. Students expressed that receiving this notification was scary. Right after receivSee Burglary on page 3
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Henryk Kessel Guest reporter
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Olivia Watson/The Miscellany News.
t the end of July, Vassar’s incoming class of first-year students was busy preparing for college. This included shopping for dorm necessities, filling out medical forms, pre-registering for classes and continuing a modern Vassar tradition: the required firstyear reading. This year, the selected book was “Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion” by Jia Tolentino. Admittedly, I resented the assignment. Like many other students, it felt like an unnecessary task on my growing to-do list. Despite this, I got my copy from the public library and started reading. The collection of nine essays explores societal intricacies through a millennial lens, offering a thorough introduction to pop culture, politics and media for anyone who’s never had access to the internet. Loosely connected by the concept of “self-delusion”, each essay blends a personal anecdote with social commenSee Reading on page 8
Coalition addresses mass incarceration in Dutchess County Alex Wilson
Asst. News Reporter
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ike the rest of the United States, New York State has seen a ballooning prison population since the early days of the War on Drugs and Reagan-era tough-on-crime policies. As of February, NYS held about 43,500 people behind bars—with nearly 340,000 living New Yorkers having faced incarceration at some point in their lives (Brennan Center 2021). Three-quarters of this population is Black or Latino, and between 1983 and 2015 there was a 64 percent increase in the state’s incarcerated popula-
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Jackie Molloy Sports Editor
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or many people around the world, this past year and a half has brought a flurry of new hobbies, interests and tastes. The same applied to me, particularly when it came time for binge-watching. I quickly checked off movie after movie, tv shows, documentaries––it was the most productive I had been in years. So, when I finally arrived at the end of my “to watch later” list this summer, endless scrolling through Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime commenced. Nothing caught my eye until my best friend mentioned that all the
tion (Vera 2019). In recent years, campaigns for decarceration have become increasingly mainstream, and this past year, Decarcerate the Hudson Valley, a new coalition of local advocacy organizations, has joined the fight. Formed in 2020 by a number of groups including For the Many (formerly Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson), Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center, Black Lives Matter Hudson Valley and Dutchess County Progressive Action Alliance (DCPAA), Decarcerate works to lobby for state-level pieces of legislation that will help to reduce the Hudson Valley’s jail and prison population.
Netflix
“Decarcerate the Hudson Valley is a coalition that brings together activists, community members, and impacted people in order to organize to address these inequities in our communities,” elaborated Political Coordinator at For the Many Brahvan Ranga. “We’re working with our partner organizations to lower incarceration rates, hold law enforcement accountable, and shift the focus of our criminal legal system from punishment to rehabilitation.” According to Director of the Queer Justice Committee at the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center Alisha Kohn, Decarcerate was inspired by the Justice Roadmap, a slate of
show,
30-something dads at her internship were obsessed with a show about Formula One. I knew a few basics of F1––Lewis Hamilton, car racing, Monaco Grand Prix. But hey, I grew up watching all the “Fast and Furious” movies and love watching anything with competition, so I thought I would give it a try. Fast forward a few months later and my Twitter feed is now filled with Lando Norris fan accounts, I have an early Sunday morning alarm set to watch the next Grand Prix and according to my friends and family, I seemingly never shut up about Formula One and the Netflix show that pulled me into this global phenomenon.
F1
legislation developed by numerous statewide organizations with the goal of ending mass incarceration. It was coordinated by the NYC and Syracuse-based Center for Community Alternatives due to the unique political environment of the Hudson Valley. Kohn explained that the frequency of partisan flips in the region, combined with the tendency of local Democratic legislators to sometimes lean conservative, makes Decarcerate’s regionalized advocacy even more important. Kohn clarified that Decarcerate limits their advocacy work to collaborating with See Coalition on page 4
revs
In March 2018, Netflix and Formula One announced Netflix's plans to create a docuseries following F1 teams for the 2018 championship season, providing the streaming service with unprecedented access to teams, their principals and drivers. Titled “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” the first season, composed of 10 episodes, was released in March 2019 and subsequently renewed for a second and third season, which premiered February 2020 and March 2021, respectively (Deadline 2018). The decision to allow Netflix access into the paddocks and lives of F1’s stars was no doubt motivated by the desire of Ameri-
up
can-based Liberty Media, the current owners of the Formula One Group, to expand auto racing’s fan base, particularly in the United States. The decision has proven to be a brilliant one, as the sport looks to add a second U.S. Grand Prix in Miami starting in 2022 and expects 20,000 additional fans at the 2021 U.S. Grand Prix in Austin (The New York Times 2021). Although Netflix has not fully revealed the streaming numbers for the series, ESPN reported an average of 928,000 viewers per race in the U.S. for 2021 so far, way up from the 547,000 average in 2018 (The New York Times 2021). See Sports on page 14
Inside this issue
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ARTS
Get ready for the Misc Music Fest! Check out this guide to all of the bands that will be performing.
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Do you have a green thumb? Read this article to find out how FEATURES other students take care of their dorm plants.
14 SPORTS
fans
Sports Editor Doug Cobb talks with "super senior" athletes who are competing in their final athletic seasons.