The Miscellany News
miscellanynews.org
Vassar College’s student newspaper of record since 1866
April 6, 2023
Volume 159 | Issue 8
VSA brings bike program Speaker generates discourse Jyotsna Naidu Reporter
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he Vassar Student Association (VSA) plans to launch the Dynamic Bikes bike share program on campus in the Fall 2023 semester. Students will be able to check out a VSA-branded bike for a few hours and return it to one of eight magnetic bike docks across campus, at no charge, through the Vassar app. The idea initially came from a budget surplus of $423,774.96, a result of conservative budgeting and miscommunication between the VSA and the College. “[The Executive Board] agreed we needed something that was visible and actually really benefited students and we had the money,” VSA Vice President Joe Mangan ’23 said. “It should be, as a first start, a pretty encompassing bike program and they’ll always be free to students.” The Bike Share program’s total cost amounts to $50,000. The program is the culmination of the VSA’s Annual Comprehensive Survey taken in Summer 2022, in which 48.7 percent of respondents said they would use a temporary bike rental service. From the student opinions gathered, the VSA created advocacy goals for the academic year in its annual Priorities and Initiatives proposal. Initiative 5.6, “Expand bike program access to students,” pushes for a bike-share program
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Madi Donat Humor Editor
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that increases bike access and parking. “The main imperative was that we had surveyed students and there was interest. It's also a reflection of a general awareness that, while we're a small school, we have a pretty large campus, and it would be nice to be able to move around a little bit quicker,” Mangan said. He continued, “The survey helped a lot to put on the table an idea that was popular.” The proposed program will be not only accessible, but convenient. “The bike racks are magnetically docked. You can use the [Vassar] app [to check a bike], the bike comes unlocked and it's yours. The bikes also have a lock of their own so you can take it somewhere, lock it up, hang out for a while and take it back to a rack,” Mangan said. The eight rack locations include the Farm, the three apartment areas, the Deece, Main House, New England Building and Kenyon Hall. 57 bike slots will be available for the 27 short term rental bikes. He added, “You'd have to put in a credit card when you sign up for it, just in case the bike gets lost or damaged significantly” in which case students would be billed. Throughout the school year, Mangan met with various stakeholders to plan and implement the bike share program. The Dynamic Bicycles company’s bike fleet was chosen for its smaller size, specialization See Bikes on page 3
assar’s own campus band fowlmouth released its debut EP “Safety Last!” on Sunday, Feb. 26. The group, consisting of members Julia Maisel-Berick ’24, Rachel Ostrowski ’24 and Lauren Pacheco ’24, hosted an intimate release listening party on the day, complete with cake and handmade merch. The record itself is a fantastic slice of indie folk, with incredible production and beautiful songwriting to boot. The band adeptly combines singable melodies with hard-hitting lyrics and skilled instrumentation, which are especially clear on songs like the title track and closer “Ghosts on a Line.” All three members contribute their instrumental and vocal skills to the record, and their harmonies create a fantastic cohesion on the EP. I was fortunate enough to be able to talk with the band members about their songwriting and production process, and what is next for them. This first EP was many years in the making—the bandmates said the first recording was in Maisel-Berick’s Raymond single during the 2020-2021 school year, when Pacheco and Maisel-Berick were podmates as the pandemic was in full swing. “We recorded with probably the worst mic money can buy, and a sock over the microphone,” Maisel-Berick said. “We didn’t re-record any of the vocals,” Ostrowski, fowlmouth’s main producer, stated,
Olivia Selby
Guest Reporter
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his year, the President’s Office selected Dr. Margaret “Peggy” Hamburg to address the Class of 2023 for the 159th Commencement. However, members of the Vassar Student Association (VSA), as well as other seniors, have voiced concerns about the choice of Hamburg as speaker. Commencement—the moment when Vassar students cross the threshold between the shelter of the “Vassar Bubble” and the real world—can be filled with excitement, dread, anticipation, nostalgia or a jumbled mixture of all four. Each year, the Commencement speaker has the crucial role of harnessing these emotions and funneling them into feelings of inspiration, empowerment and hope. When asked how the President’s Office chooses the Commencement speaker each year, President Bradley commented, “We look for speakers we think can inspire students—who can be inspiring based on their accomplishments and have insights to offer.” Bradley explained why Hamburg was chosen: “[She] has had an exceptionally impactful career after decades of leadership in public health, most notably as the Commissioner of the FDA; she also has a special place in her heart at Vassar as her
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mother is a graduate, and in fact the first person who was accepted as an African American applicant to Vassar.” Rose Sosnowski ’23 and Sammy Solomon ’23 were concerned that just a quick Google search reveals Hamburg’s involvement in a 2016 lawsuit in which it is alleged that, during her time as FDA commissioner, she concealed safety information related to the drug Levaquin. Though the case was dismissed in 2017, Sosnowski remarked, “Having a Commencement speaker with a ‘legal issues’ section on their Wikipedia page doesn’t reflect Vassar in the best light.” In addition, these seniors were concerned that Hamburg, who has dedicated her life to a career in public health, may largely focus her speech on how the Senior Class has persevered through the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. They felt that this might bring seniors back to a particularly dark period in their lives on a day that is supposed to be filled with hope and joy. Sosnowski commented, “Myself, and the other students I’ve talked to, are concerned that Dr. Hamburg is going to focus on COVID, and how our class was impacted by the pandemic. It's something my class knows too well, and it’s definitely something we don’t need to be reminded of. The way the college handled COVID regulaSee Commencement on page 3
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“Which meant that we did some gymnastics to make it all fit.” Ostrowski’s production, then, is wizardry—the music cuts clear and firm sometimes, and echoes and swirls others, all of which is done with remarkable capability. The original harmonies for the title track are also incredible for being sung on a dorm room floor, at once intimate and open. During the Summer of 2021, the band members recorded over email and Zoom, then moved to the recording studio in the basement of Chicago Hall for their sophomore year. “It took way too long,” Pacheco states. As for the production, it took place in three dorm rooms, two countries (the US and Hungary) and 12 states, with Ostrowski mixing while studying abroad and while on a roadtrip across the country. The band also spoke about its songwriting process. “For most of the songs on this EP in particular, Julia has come in with lyrics, and we’ve built the instrumentals around that,” Pacheco said. “Julia’s been our main creative force.” Pacheco shed some light on the meanings behind the songs, as well—“I feel like the first three songs [on the EP: “Safety Last!,” “Fairgrounds” and “Good Girl”] are about navigating uncertainty, and the last song [“Ghosts on a Line”] is a fantasy of complete certainty or contentment in someone,” they said. That theme of uncertainty seemed to echo for the other bandmates, as well; as Maisel-Berick elaborated, the title track deals with the See FOWLMOUTH on page 5
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Image courtesy of Bank Street Books.
Inside this issue
9
Freed from restrictive uniforms, columnist pens FEATURES a love letter to Vassar fashion.
10
HUMOR
O-fish-ial dating advice for all of the floundering romantics out there.
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15 SPORTS
The Vassar baseball team is having its best season since 2003.