The Miscellany News | Dec. 10

The Miscellany News December 10, 2009

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Volume CXLIII | Issue 11

FLLAC to close for eight months Working Group Carrie Hojnicki Arts Editor

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t was announced in a campus-wide email on Dec. 7 that the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (FLLAC) would be closing to the public from May 2010 to January 2011 for necessary roof repairs.

“When there is a leak on top of art, that’s not something you mess around with,” explained Nicole M. Roylance, the Coordinator of Public Education and Information at the FLLAC.

The building itself is a 1993 design by Cesar Pelli and has the unfortunate feature of a flat roof in a Northeastern climate. Although the roof has always been a predicament for the FLLAC, it was only recently that the inevitability of more drastic measures became apparent.

“The roof was designed to last 20 years, but has begun to show signs of fatigue after 15 years. There are various locations where the roofing material has started to fail and sporadic slight leaking

has been detected in various locations for the past year,” explained James Mundy, the Anne Hendricks Bass Director of the FLLAC, in an e-mailed statement.

“While these locations were repaired and the leaks stopped, they would soon start elsewhere. Thus, a consultant was called it to make a comprehensive survey and recommended that we replace the flat roof over the main galleries.”

The FLLAC has wasted no time in acSee FLLAC on page 15

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (FLLAC) will undergo roof renovations from May 2010 to January 2011, announced James Mundy, the Anne Hendricks Bass Director of the FLLAC, in an all-campus e-mail sent on Dec. 7.

variations appear across campuses Emma Carmichael Features Editor

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ollege and university campuses across the country are coping with a certain climate of panic and mounting dissent about the best ways to confront budget cuts, layoffs and structural changes to their institutions.

There is, of course, the University of California crisis; the California Board of Regents announced on Nov. 19 that it would increase tuition by 32 percent at all schools in the UC system, which set off protests and demonstrations throughout the Golden State.

But the University of California is an extreme case—the Board has eliminated nearly 2,000 jobs in the past year and there are still 2,000 more to be cut.

But even in less extreme cases, college students are joining together with faculty and staff to challenge administrative decisions regarding layoffs and contract negotiations. Most of these efforts have followed a rudimentary model, with coalitions of faculty, staff and students with a focus on demonstrations and teach-ins. They follow a structure similar to that of

Vassar’s Campus Solidarity Working Group, which was formed in early October in response to the administration’s handling of budget cuts and its effects on the community. Although the Working Group has been called “radical” and “self-righteous” on online message boards and in public forums on campus, its efforts do not significantly differ from those seen at other schools.

There are a few exceptions. Amherst College, for example, has not had a significant student protests and demonstrations in response to its financial situation (the Amherst endowment lost 25 percent of its value in the 2009 fiscal year). Last spring, however, 92 percent of student respondents in an Association of Amherst Students survey voted to donate $70,000 of the Association’s reserve funds back to the College. The students chose to allocate $50,000 of that amount for financial aid and the remaining $20,000 went directly to the College’s lowest-paid employees to preserve their salaries. But what of the groups at colleges that, See ACTIVISTS on page 6

Class of ’10 reveals gift

criticized for “going back on” the VSA’s prior endorsement of the Nov. 22 letter. The memorandum refutes some points of inaccuracy within the letter, but the memorandum’s language also raised concerns about the implications of the letter’s assertions, such as in the discussion of faculty retirements. Here, some points of the Nov. 22 letter and the VSA’s memorandum are compared and contrasted, and the points of the two documents are clarified.

Seniors to fundraise for first-ever class gift of scholarship endowment

Jillian Scharr News Editor

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hroughout this semester, different groups on campus have been debating how best to address the College’s need for internal change in light of the recent economic downturn. Most recently, select members of the faculty collaboratively drafted a letter to the Board of Trustees that offered sharp criticism of the administration’s recent actions concerning curricular changes. Several student members of the Campus Solidarity Working Group introduced this letter to the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council on Nov. 22. After more than three hours of discussion, the Council voted to endorse this letter. On Nov. 29, to clarify its reasons for voting on the letter and to elaborate on some reservations that it still held about it, the VSA Council voted to endorse a memorandum drafted by the VSA Academics Committee.

The Nov. 22 letter, brought to Council by the Campus Solidarity Working Group, was criticized at Council for containing some inaccurate and occasionally misleading information. On the other hand, the Nov. 29 memorandum has been

Course reductions During the Council meeting, the reduction in the number of sections offered across the curriculum was a point of confusion and concern.

While the Nov. 22 letter operated under the assumption that the curriculum would be reduced by 30 to 40 sections, in comparison to current offerings, members of the Executive Board were able to announce that the curriculum would only be reduced by 10 sections (see “Ten, not 30 sections to be dropped,” 12.3.09).

The Nov. 22 letter states that, “Last year the College reduced course offerings by 60 sections. This year Vassar students are noting the ways

Inside this issue

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NEWS

Molly Turpin/The Miscellany News

Letter, memorandum highlight complexity

Deer population to be culled over Winter Break

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Members of the Campus Solidarity Working Group, pictured above at a demonstration outside Main on Oct. 14, supported a letter drafted by members of the Faculty and endorsed by the VSA Council on Nov. 22. the cuts are making admission into courses needed for majors much more difficult.”

While this year’s curriculum was reduced by about 60 sections from last year’s offerings, Dean of the Faculty Jonathan Chenette responded that the number of students getting into all of their pre-registered classes has actually gone up in the past three years. In 2008, 58 percent of students got into all four to five of their pre-registered classes, in 2009

FEATURES

Alternative energy options explored by the College

it was 55 percent and for the spring semester of 2010 it was 62 percent.

The curriculum’s size fluctuates from year to year—both as a whole and within departments­­—due to professors’ rotating commitments to other departments or programs and to sabbaticals or other forms of leave.

“Cuts to the curriculum have been overstated,” said Dean of the College Christopher Roellke. “I think the word that’s being thrown around a See LETTER on page 3

15 ARTS

Eliza Hartley

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Managing Editor

he Senior Gift Committee announced at the 99 Nights party last Saturday evening that the Class of 2010’s gift will be an endowment fund used to supplement scholarships in the name of 2010. The announcement was met with rousing support.

“We literally brought three bags of giving envelopes back to campus last night from the Alumnae House,” said co-Chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee and Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President for Operations Brian Farkas ’10. “More than 300 seniors attended the event, and I have heard so much positive feedback about the gift. People are so enthusiastic to support this important cause,” he added.

99 Nights is traditionally held 99 days before the end of the academic See GIFT continued on page 5

A Cappella groups make New Year’s resolutions

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The Miscellany News

December 10, 2009

Editor in Chief Ruby Cramer Senior Editor Molly Turpin

Contributing Editors Caitlin Halasz Chloe McConnell Elizabeth Pacheco

Madeline Zappala/The Miscellany News

Photo of the Week: The Skinner Greenhouse is home to the plants of the Buildings and Grounds Department. The College uses the greenhouse to grow annuals for the flower beds across campus.

Staff Editorial | Working Group and others are creating polarized dialogue, community T

he College’s reaction to its current economic situation has elicited a variety of responses from groups and organizations on campus. Recently, however, the tone surrounding these responses has gained a toxic quality. While members of the College debate layoffs, cuts and budgetary redistribution, their interactions with each other have devolved into polarizing practices, leading to disrespect on the part of almost all parties involved.

At The Miscellany News, we believe that this polarization is a result of rampant oversimplification of the complex issues that have consumed our campus. Debate is a part of any healthy college campus, but we believe that campus members—especially the Campus Solidarity Working Group the College’s administration, and the Vassar Student Association (VSA)—need to actively acknowledge the intricacies of the situation while remaining respectful of all parties involved in discussions.

One of the most vocal groups on campus during this crisis has been the Campus Solidarity Working Group. The Working Group has recently made public a letter endorsed by the VSA calling for the cancellation and cessation of all job cuts. Although we at The Miscellany News are glad to see involvement of students, faculty and staff, we were disappointed by the inaccuracies and oversimplification of information included in the letter. We believe that these shortcomings have served to discredit the Working Group and their intended message. In addition, by relying on oversimplifications of complex financial issues, the Working Group has encouraged polarization within the Vassar community by creating an environment in which students must choose to stand with them or against them.

However, the administration and their decision-making process are not without their own problems.

While the College’s administration has helped facilitate the dissemination of financial information through venues such as open forums and the economy website, they have failed to adequately encourage their constituents to look at financial decisions critically. Furthermore, when community members ask questions about financial figures, layoffs and administrative decisions, administrators should not shy away from presenting the complexities of the College’s situation. By glossing over these intricacies, the administration presents the appearance of underestimating the community’s ability to understand such information. This has perpetuated feelings of mistrust among members of the Vassar community and the administration. We also believe that the administration needs to inform community members when and how decision-making processes are occurring rather than simply reporting the products of such processes. Although campus-wide e-mails (such as the one sent regarding campus layoffs) provide a general overview of finan-

cial decisions, they do not invite the community to involve themselves in the process; instead, they invite the majority of campus to feel alienated and polarized.

In another arena of the College, the role of the VSA is to facilitate communication between students and the administration. Because the VSA Executive Board is especially privy to the information the administration has, they have a greater responsibility towards the student body to explain and distribute this information. However, they have not been able to bridge the gap between the administration and their own constituents. When Council members and students approach the Executive Board with questions and concerns, the Board must make sure that they explain the situation as fully as they can, understanding that not all students can access the same amounts of information about the College as they can. Failure to do this only fosters a hostile and disrespectful environment. The entire Council, under the guidance of the Executive Board, should see it as their responsibility to make sure students not only receive, but also understand information regarding administrative processes, especially those as important as the financial decisions currently being made. The editors also believe that the VSA has a special responsibility to be respectful of students’ opinions both in their responses and body language. Representatives must respect their constituents and encourage involvement through a mutually responsible relationship.

Community members need to cultivate an environment in which healthy debate can occur. As it stands, the campus is locked in a series of divisive, stagnant arguments that seek to assign blame rather than offer practical solutions to complex issues. By alienating and disrespecting each other, community members bring us further from resolutions we pressingly need. Each person belonging to the Vassar community needs to take the time to educate him or herself in order to engage productively and respectfully in the debates that consume our campus. Only then can we stand strong together as a community dedicated to each other and our College.

EDITOR’S NOTE Our Dec. 10 issue will be the last in the first term of the 143rd Volume of the Miscellany. The editors and reporters on the staff will resume regular publication with our 12th issue of the year, on Thursday, Jan. 28, after students return from Winter Break. Please continue checking miscellanynews.com throughout the break for updates on breaking campus news and events. The editors would like to thank the community for its readership this semester and wish everyone a restful break.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

News Matthew Brock Jillian Scharr Opinions Angela Aiuto Kelly Shortridge Features Emma Carmichael Kelly Stout Arts Carrie Hojnicki Erik Lorenzsonn Sports Lillian Reuman Design Eric Estes Online Elizabeth Jordan Copy Katie Cornish Lila Teeters Photography Kathleen Mehocic Managing Eliza Hartley Assistant News Assistant Opinions Assistant Online Assistant Copy Assistant Photo Crossword Editor Reporters

Columnists

Photographers

Rose Hendricks Joshua Rosen Kara Voght Katharine Austin Sarah Marco Juliana Halpert Jonathan Garfinkel Thea Ballard Rachael Borné Caitlin Clevenger Esther Clowney Daniel Combs Mitchell Gilburne Wally Fisher Rose Hendricks David Lopez Andy Marmer Christie Musket Danielle Nedivi Alexandra Sarrigorgiou Martin Bergman Steve Keller Nate Silver Nik Trkulja Jared Saunders

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.

December 10, 2009

NEWS

Page 3

Semester in Review:

24th VSA Council’s first semester yields Athletics proposal, MMiP Matthew Brock News Editor

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Accuracy of letter contested LETTER continued from page 1 lot is ‘transparency’…for the 10 years I’ve been at Vassar I don’t think the College has ever been as transparent.” He cited the economy website and the various town hall meetings as examples. Roellke continued, “I feel comfortable that we’ve been both transparent and engaging.”

Computer Science Perhaps the most discussed department is that of computer science. The Nov. 22 letter states that, “Though student interest in computer science has jumped because of availability of employment in the tech sector, Vassar cut staffing by one-third last year. Cutting of release time, failure to replace faculty and cutting of staff make it impossible to supervise student projects, adequately staff computer laboratory sessions, and administer the complex equipment and staffing of the program adequately. Majors are having trouble completing requirements for this major.”

This section of the letter was drafted in part

by Professor of Computer Science Nancy Ide, who established the Department and formerly served as its chair. In fact, it was not Computer Science staffing that was cut, but course sections. “We were the most-cut department in the College,” observed Ide. Computer Science was, in fact, one of the most cut departments for this academic year, facing a reduction of two courses, or seven course sections. It was particularly hard-hit given that it was already a small department. These cuts came after Associate Professor of Computer Science Thomas Ellman became Director of the Media Studies Program, after which the

Department was not approved to hire an adjunct faculty member to make up for the lost teaching load. The Department, along with the letter, questioned the use of low enrollments in previous years as a justification of cuts, citing growing course enrollments this year and last year, along with fluctuating national trends.

However, this semester’s enrollments, which show an aggregate enrollment in excess of last year’s numbers, has been used to make an opposite change for next year. The Department gained two new contracts for adjunct faculty members for the next academic year as a result of a grant that the Department has received.

While the Computer Science Department may still not be able to offer all of the courses it has in previous years, these new faculty will relieve enrollment pressures by allowing the department to offer a greater number of course sections. The justification for using enrollments in curricular decisions is at best an egalitarian means of decision-making­—students vote for courses based on what they take. However, the Computer Science Department’s difficulties as a result of cuts also highlight the complications that arise from a process that reacts to fluctuations in enrollments; therefore, decisions reflect past numbers, occasionally at the expense of future projections.

A tenure-track Islamicist One major point of contention in the Nov. 22 letter was the letter’s claim that Vassar was the only top 25 liberal arts college without a tenure-track Islamicist. Members of the VSA See ISLAMACIST on page 5

Ruby Cramer/The Miscellany News

assar faces significant financial constraints, but the VSA leadership sees the unique opportunity to act as innovators for change,” wrote Vassar Student Association (VSA) President Caitlin Ly ’10 in an e-mailed statement at the start of the semester. Armed with a new web site, the VSA Council has since tried to work to increase transparency and serve as mediators between the student body and the administration during these trying economic times, but has met with limited success.

The VSA began the year on a positive note, awarding $5,000 at its first meeting on Sept. 6 to the Community Shuttle program to allow it to keep operating. The following week, Council passed a new room-entry policy, specifying exactly when a Security officer or administrator can and cannot enter a student’s room uninvited. This policy was the result of two years of debate about the relationship between students and the Security Department on campus, and was designed to help increase transparency.

“Security protocol often varies from officer to officer, which can leave students feeling confused and unsure of their own rights,” said Ly. “The room entry policy was designed to clarify the protocol to students and ensure that there are set procedures which everyone, including Security, Residential Life and the Dean of the College are comfortable with and are following on a regular basis.”

The new policy, however, could still be improved, says Ly. “The proposed addition to the Student Handbook on the Room Entry policy that Council passed earlier this semester can still could be improved. Some members of [the Committee on College Life (CCL)] have raised some valid concerns that are worth addressing before the final document is passed,” she said.

In an effort to continue moving along these lines of increasing transparency, the VSA Executive Board introduced a security points system that would assign point values to specific offenses and would dole out punishments based on the number of points a specific student accrues. Although the Council did not vote on a formal plan, they agreed that

it would be worth working to construct a revised version of the plan that would be acceptable to everyone.

As of Dec. 8, the future of this points policy is unclear, but CCL will soon decide whether or not the VSA should pursue this policy into the next semester.

The VSA’s largest success of the year, according to Ly, was Meet Me In Poughkeepsie on Oct. 10, which proved bested last year with regard to both events and participants. “Our biggest success of the semester was Meet Me in Poughkeepsie. The celebration seemed to lift people’s spirits during a time when morale seemed low.”

“There was a also a lot of work on the academic side of things that hasn’t been attributed to the VSA,” said Ly. “The Dean of the Faculty took action this fall to reduce course releases, and the VSA has been strong advocates for this change ever since the curriculum first came under threat last year.”

Despite making some proactive steps in terms of increasing transparency, the VSA has also been embroiled in its fair share of controversy this semester. On Sept. 13, VSA Vice President for Activities Aaron Grober ’11 introduced a new policy that would require VSA organizations traveling off campus to receive approval from the VSA four weeks in advance.

The policy was introduced in response to complaints received regarding the Vassar ultimate frisbee team’s conduct at a tournament last March.

This proposal faced severe opposition from many organizations that regularly travel off of campus such as the ski team as well as from individuals who felt that it was wrong to enact a policy affecting everyone just to punish a single organization. The proposal passed only after the removal of the four-week notice policy.

Shortly afterward, frisbee caused another stir when the Council was later forced to fine the team for giving alcohol to minors during a practice.

The VSA has also been “frustrated by the lack of progress with [course evaluation questionnaires (CEQ)] moving online,” said Ly. The VSA had hoped to run a pilot program for these evaluations this semester, but there has been an effort on behalf of some faculty to See VSA on page 5

Members of the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Executive Board, Aaron Grober ’11, Brian Farkas ’10, Caitlin Ly ’10, Elizabeth Anderson ’11, Stephanie Damon-Moore ’11 and Scott Pascal ’10 meet on Dec. 8 in the VSA Office Conference Room in the College Center.

Vassar to cull deer population Meant to remedy “how our influence is changing all the creatures in the forest,” says Begemann.

Caitlin Clevenger

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Reporter

his week, the Vassar Farm and Ecological Preserve Oversight Committee announced that they will be holding a sharpshooting session in the preserve over Winter Break to lower the deer population.

The Committee has been dealing with deer overpopulation for years and has been considering reducing the deer population since 2004, when a flyover using infrared cameras determined that there were 223 deer on campus, according to the Committee’s report. Another flyover in January 2009 showed that the deer population was still high, at a density of 125 per square mile. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation recommends that deer densities be below 15 per square mile to sustain a stable ecosystem.

At its current population, Vassar’s deer herd is “overwhelming the ecosystem,” said Keri VanCamp, the manager of the Farm and Ecological Preserve. The deer affect the growth of forest plants, which in turn affect all the other animals in the preserve. High deer density can also be harmful to humans at Vassar, increasing the risk of Lyme disease and collision with cars.

President of the Vassar Greens Vanessa Raditz ’12 noted in an e-mail that, “The Farm is meant as a research space for Vassar students, and so the deer not only end up harming the natural balance of this ecosystem, but they can also confound student experiments in these areas.”

“Deer undermine the growth and survival of native herb, shrub and tree species, causing changes in the composition of forests,” wrote the Committee in its e-mail to the student body. “Moreover…these changes not only lead to a variety of harmful, cascading effects on native insects, birds and mammals, but…may be irreversible.”

“Reducing the number of deer would improve the health of the forest community, decrease the incidence of tick-borne diseases, reduce deer/car collisions, reduce the economic losses associated with deer browse on landscaping and help adjoining landowners who are struggling with these issues,” explained the e-mail.

Associate Dean of the Faculty and coChair of the Farm and Ecological Preserve Oversight Committee Marianne Begemann agrees, stating that culling the deer is an effort to remedy “how our influence is changing all the creatures in the forest.” Since the deer’s natural predators have been driven

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

away and the deer’s natural habitat has been broken up by human actions, only human actions can control the deer’s population.”

The Committee chose to hire White Buffalo, Inc., a non-profit wildlife management organization that will send two or three sharpshooters into the preserve. The sharpshooters will stay in a clearing away from the boundaries and remove 50 to 70 deer.

All this will take place at night and over Winter Break when the preserve is closed to minimize the impact the culling will have on the Vassar community. All the venison collected by the sharpshooters will be donated to local soup kitchens and shelters through Hunters for the Hungry. White Buffalo, Inc. has so far successfully removed over 9,000 deer in other operations and donated over 200,000 pounds of venison to shelters. White Buffalo, Inc.’s services were chosen in favor of the many other options explored by the Committee, which were not feasible for various reasons. Contraception, either surgical or medical, could be used on the deer to prevent them from reproducing any further but is not yet a state-approved method for wildlife management. Another method researched, fencing in the preserve to keep deer out, would create a barrier that inhibited the movement of other animals and would require constant maintenance.

Hiring wildlife management professionals rather than allowing local bow or rifle hunters to hunt in the preserve ensures a safe and humane hunt while allowing the culling to take place over break, out of deerhunting season, so that as few people will be around the preserve as possible.

Since the Committee announced their plans, feedback from the Vassar community has been largely positive. “I believe that from an environmental perspective, introducing hunters to the area—in a very controlled and closely monitored fashion— would replace the traditional role of the deer’s natural predators, thus bringing the deer population down to the level at which it can live harmoniously with its natural environment on the farm, and the farm can live harmoniously with the deer,” said Raditz.

“I’ve been impressed by how the community has responded”, said VanCamp. She attributes Vassar’s acceptance of the culling to education about the issue, including public forums about the deer overpopulation last spring. The Committee continues to make their report and the results of their investigations available and welcomes questions sent to deermanagement.vassar.edu.

NEWS Davison residents give feedback to renovation company visitors Page 4

Rose Hendricks

Assistant News Editor

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Patricia Cruz/The Miscellany News

epresentatives from the SLAM Collaborative, the company responsible for the renovation of Davison House, visited a Study Break for the dorm on Dec. 2 to hear feedback on the renovation.

Prior to their visit, the company sent Davison residents a survey, looking for comments regarding almost every aspect of the building. Although only six percent of the residents had responded to the survey prior to the Study Break–roughly 11 students–the representatives had enough feedback to lead a discussion.

Member of the American Institute of Architects Paul Rammelsberg said that Davison, the first of the quad dorms to be renovated, was taken apart “down to the bricks and studs” during its yearlong renovation process.

Unfortunately, he explained, the budget for the project was too small, which proved an obstacle for certain projects. They were hoping to tear down the walls that separate the multi-purpose room from the small rooms off of it, thus making it one large room. The architects also would have liked to put up walls in the basement to make the space more “usable,” according to Rammelsberg, but the budget restricted both of these ideas.

One topic the architects brought up was the corridor doors that lead to students’ rooms. Student Fellow Becca Mountain ’12 commented that she loves the electric magnets that hold the doors open.

She said, “They were a little alarming during the first fire drill” because all the doors automatically closed. But she commented that they help build a community because “doors are always open.”

Although the survey found that 13.9 percent of residents claim that their magnets do not work properly, 90 percent say that they make use of the magnets, or would if they worked.

Many residents were complimentary of the lack of doors splitting up the floors, but students pointed out that the first floor is still very divided by large doors in the corridor. Although the architects explained that the idea behind this was to reduce noise on the first floor, students still felt the first floor would be more community-like without the doors.

A number of students also expressed their distaste in the painted-white, first-floor corridor. The architects explained that it was painted that way, instead of stained wood like the other floors, to match the more formal parlor and multi-purpose

room. House Fellow Kathy Anderson added that the white paint gets dirty easily, and it is very difficult to clean.

The architects also wanted to gauge student opinion on closet doors. Doubles in Davison have closet doors to create a space for residents to store private possessions, Rammelsberg explained.

Closets in singles do not have doors. Student opinion on this matter was varied according to both the survey and the group at the Study Break.

In the survey, 18 percent said that closet doors were not necessary for any rooms, 60 percent thought that all closets should have doors and 20 percent said that it makes sense for only doubles to have closet doors.

Some students who have singles explained that they like the lack of doors because the closet space can be turned into more room space, and the area is much brighter than the dark, cavernous closets they have experienced in the past. On the other hand, Davison House President Louise Conner ’11 said, “It’d be nice to be able to put my stuff away when people come to keep some stuff private.”

Students have few complaints about the study rooms on each floor, but Conner mentioned that it is hard to open the windows because they are set off by a ledge. The contractors explained that the windows weren’t meant to be opened because there are vents in the studies to circulate the air.

Students explained, however, that these mustn’t be working because the studies are often too warm.

The students present also voiced frustration in the seemingly thin ceilings because when people walk around, the floors creak and the downstairs neighbor hears the noise. The students explained that sounds are often magnified; for example, one step may sound like a thud.

Another common criticism of the dorm was the elevator’s slow speed. The contractors explained that the elevator was never meant to be used as a primary means of transportation among floors. They explained that they thought about making it available only for those who needed it through a swipe system, but many students shared that they were glad to be able to use the elevator, despite its speed.

The architects also brought up Davison’s prerenovation reputation as the “family dorm,” wondering if the renovation affected the reputation.

Despite the small criticisms of the house that were discussed during the Study Break, Student Fellow Patrick Ellis ’12 said with a smile, “I think we’ve kept the family dorm feel.”

December 10, 2009

Representatives from the SLAM Collaborative, the company contracted by the College to renovate Davison House, visited the dorm on Dec. 2 to hear feedback from residents.

News Briefs Very rude awakening

Pushing my buttons

On Dec. 5 at 3:35 a.m., a fire alarm box was pulled in Cushing House. At 3:47 a.m. the fire alarm was pulled in Strong House, and at 4:15 a.m. the fire alarm was again pulled in Cushing. According to Associate Director of Security Kim Squillace, false alarms waste the community’s resources “because the [Arlington] Fire Department has to come every time. Students need to realize the bad message they are sending to the community by using the resources.”

—Rose Hendricks, Assistant News Editor

On Dec. 6, a carbon monoxide detector in a Town House was set off because intoxicated students pushed the button repeatedly. This also did damage to the detector.

—R.H.

Bombs away!

On Dec. 5, a smoke bomb was found in Main Building in the center of the third floor for the second time within one month.

—R.H.

Abandoned bottles

On Dec. 4, there were opened beer bottles outside a room on the second floor of Davison House. When questioned, students present claimed not to know anything about the bottles, and they were confiscated.

—R.H.

Crashing the party On Dec. 5, Security broke up an unregistered party in a Town House where there was drinking.

—R.H.

Rooftop rascals On Dec. 5, Security spotted two students on the College Center roof. The students had climbed out the bathroom window of the third floor of Main. When Security explained the danger of the situation, the students complied and came down.

—R.H.

Snowball fight On Dec. 6, a student threw snowballs at a Vassar shuttle, which the driver reported because of the risk to the shuttle and the driver’s visibility.

—R.H.

Committee concludes year-long audit of Vassar culture Matthew Brock

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News Editor

s the Committee on Inclusion and Excellence’s (CIE) third comes to a close, the co-chairs of the committee, Associate Professor of Art Lisa Collins and Associate Professor of Political Science Katherine Hite, presented the preliminary results of the committee’s year-long cultural audit of the student body to the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council on Dec. 6. According to members of the 22-member joint committee, the findings of the audit—a survey posed to approximately 100 Vassar students—proved to be a notable surprise.

“Students felt a strong sense of alienation,” said Raymond House President Syed Samin Shehab ’11, who sits on the committee, on the survey’s results. Students thought “that they weren’t asked to be a part of this community, that they weren’t asked about issues they felt strongly about, that they weren’t asked to participate, and that led to the sense of being completely separate, and Vassar was just a tool to finish your undergraduate degree.”

CIE’s cultural audit began in January of this calendar year and was based on the question: “What would it take for you to succeed at Vassar?”

Prior to holding focus groups on this question, the committee sent flyers to students’ mailboxes. Students were first asked to identify with one or more categories, from which respondents were assigned to one of 12 different groups based on categories like gender

ous to everyone where you go, so that’s one and race. Students participated in 90-minute strong feeling seemingly shared across the focus groups made up of four to nine people. vast range of students groups that was quite Despite the success of this audit, however, interesting,” she continued.

Hite and Collins are faced with the fact that Hite and Collins invited the Council to the Committee’s purpose is largely unknown share their personal feelings on the issue, to the Vassar community. “It’s a mandateand it appears that CIE’s results seemed to driven, ad hoc task force that’s been in exhave hit the mark. “I istence since Janureally do think you ary 2007, and our bring up a very immandate is to study portant point,” said and propose and Class of 2010 Presito work to impledent Selina Strasment policies and burger. “We’ve been practices that work talking about havto create a campus ing difficulties getwhere all students ting feedback from can be and feel students and part successful and satSamin Shehab ’11 of that is that Vasisfied,” explained sar doesn’t ask that Collins. As such, Raymond House President, member of the students commit to the results of the Committee on Inclusion and Excellence the community that focus groups, which they’re supposed produced over 20 to be a part of.” “I hours of recorded want to say that I also have felt a little bit conversations, raised issues for the Commitlost,” said Noyes House President Hannah tee. “Something that seemed to come up is Groch-Begley ’12. “I’m only a sophomore, but this notion that we take a lot of pride at Vasthere are things that I feel that I have sort of sar about freedom and autonomy, and one of missed the boat on,” she continued, indicatthe great appeals at Vassar is you’re going to ing that there is a sentiment that if students figure it out,” said Hite. didn’t sign up for a club or activity during “But what we’re hearing is that there’s a orientation, they feel like they cannot join potential real downside to feeling lost after later in their Vassar careers. the first couple weeks after you’ve had preOthers on the Council felt that this form major advising, done orientation and now of discussion needs to happen more often. you’re out there, and it’s not always obvi-

“Students felt a strong sense of alienation ... [that] Vassar was just a tool to finish an undergraduate degree.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

“We need to talk more about communication and on campus; there was a lot of hurt and outrage about issues on campus, and nobody could ever talk about it unless it was reactionary,” said Terrace Apartments President Misho Ishikawa ’10. “A lot of people felt that the discussion group for Language of Ladies was very constructive, and why don’t we have these discussions before something actually happens?” she continued.

Fortunately for Ishikawa, these focus groups were only the beginning, and once the results are finalized by the start of next semester, CIE plans to take the conversation to the student body as a whole.

According to Shehab, CIE will work with House Fellows to bring a single issue from the survey to each of the residence halls and lead small discussions, and then by February, CIE will present the data to the community as a whole, perhaps using a town hall format.

“This theme about belonging is again very broad and this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg for our findings; there’s a lot, and the reason we’re not sharing it right now is because we haven’t come to a conclusion on what exactly it is that we’ve got,” said Shehab. “Once the student body has had a chance to discuss it, there can be policy implementation and this will be the first policy initiated directly by students.”

CIE is coming up for renewal, and if it becomes a permanent committee, Hite and Collins hope to be able to increase the voice of students and faculty within CIE.

December 10, 2009

NEWS

Page 5

Seniors to support financial aid Evidence applied differently GIFT continued from page 1 year and will be again this year. According to Selina Strasburger ’10, however, this year an event was added 99 nights into the academic year to mark the end of the first semester and help seniors to look forward to their future as alumnae/i of the College. “This gift is so significant and important that it was important for the event at which it was announced to be on the same level,” said Strasburger. The Class Council hopes that future classes will maintain this tradition.

The Class of 2010 hopes to raise $15,000, more than any class’s gift to date, to be invested in an endowment fund. The gift will be the first endowment fund set up by a class and required special permission from the Vassar Development Office because in comparison to other endowed funds, this will be a very small sum. Usually, a minimum of $250,000 is required to endow a fund in order to ensure that the returns on the endowment are sustainable and substantial enough to make a difference. They were granted permission to set up the endowment because the members of the Class of 2010 plan to continue donating to it as alumnae/i, eventually reaching the $250,000 mark.

They hope that the money earned by this fund will be used to supplement the scholarships of various students on financial aid. As stated in the Gift Committee’s pamphlet titled “Expanding Access: The 2010 Senior Gift,” which describes the purpose and significance of the gift, “While directing our class gift toward the expendable financial aid fund would support only the 2010-2011 academic year, our 2010 Endowment Scholarship Fund will literally support Vassar’s educational accessibility forever.”

Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid David Borus wrote in an e-mailed statement, “The Class of 2010’s decision to devote their class gift to financial aid is a wonderful and meaningful effort.” The class hopes to create ongoing support through the fund for the education of those deserving to go to Vassar—as the pamphlet states, “any exceptional mind should have access to a Vassar education.”

Despite the present financial situation, Vassar has demonstrated a fervent commitment to maintaining need-blind admissions over the past three years, even with increasing numbers of students demonstrating need: from 45.8 percent of the Class of 2010, to 60 percent of the Class of 2013. “As the recession has impacted the financial well-being of the families of our students, many students have found that their demonstrated need has increased, and the College has allotted additional funds to meet that need for all of our students who need additional help,” wrote Borus. The Class of 2010 gives their gift in support of this commitment.

“I think that given the current economic cli-

mate, the status of the budget at Vassar in particular, as well as the recent transition to need-blind admission, calls for a gift like this,” said Gift Committee member Vendela Fehrm ’10 in an e-mailed statement.

“We will not only be helping the College maintain their goals, but we’re also helping current and future students. We will leave a mark that’s responsible, equitable and which contributes to aiding Vassar and hopefully also its reputation of being a school with great financial aid,” she continued.

The Committee started the process of determining their gift in September with a survey to the class. Of the 350 responses they received, an overwhelming majority had to do with financial aid and increasing access to a Vassar education, according to Farkas. Because the money raised will be invested with the rest of that which is allocated to financial aid annually, the funds will be distributed among various scholarships each year rather than lumped together in a single, annual scholarship.

The Committee has been working with the Senior Class Council to drum up enthusiasm for the gift. They have also been working with the Development Office, which is responsible for managing the College’s gifts. An element of the project that the Committee is particularly excited about is a website that tracks the class’s progress toward their $15,000 goal, according to co-Gift Committee Chair Rachel Gilmer ’10. Farkas added that the site is updated every weekday morning at 3 a.m.

“We hope that seeing our progress toward our goal will energize people to give,” he said. “The Matt-o-Meter, as we are affectionately calling our online giving thermometer, shows students how their gift is crucial to achieving our larger goal.”

The Matt-o-Meter takes its name from Vassar’s founder Matthew Vassar.

Gilmer said, “A lot of gifts in the past affect people who seek them out to use. This affects everyone. Everyone is touched by financial aid, whether you know someone on it, or you are [on it] yourself.”

“It’s a good idea considering how expensive college is, the current economy and everything,” Jennifer Richards ’10 said. “I like how it’s not just a one-time thing. It’s really cool that it’s not going to have to be replaced [like card-swipes and bikes].

It’s for education and that’s why we’re here.”

“I’m really proud of it,” said Strasburger. “It’s more than a one-time gift,” she added, joking, “It’s a gift that keeps on giving.”

The Committee has raised more than $4,300 as of Dec. 8, including that which was donated Saturday. To find out more about the Gift and how you can contribute, go to development.vassar.edu/ seniorgift.

ISLAMACIST continued on page 3 refuted this as a fact and questioned the terminology of the claim. An “Islamicist” refers specifically to a scholar in religion, though topics in Islam may be referenced by and integral to many disciplines.

According to the Nov. 22 letter, “Despite the current world situation, the Religion Department is being asked to reduce the position of its only Islamicist to part-time.”

However, VSA Vice President for Operations Brian Farkas ’10 challenged this assertion. Citing U.S. News and World Report, Farkas stated that “10 of the 25 [top liberal arts schools in the United States] do not employ tenure track Islamicists (including Vassar). These include: Grinnell College, Harvey Mudd College, Washington & Lee University, Wellesley College, Oberlin College, Carleton College, Bates College, the U.S. Naval Academy and Hamilton College.

Some of these schools (like us) employ non-tenured teachers to lead courses on Islam,” he wrote in an e-mailed statement.

“No one here believes that Islam is unimportant. No one believes that Vassar College shouldn’t teach it. Interest in Islam in American academia has only recently increased, and tenure lines have not yet caught up. But to claim that we are some kind of dramatic outlier among our peer colleges in this regard is simply untrue,” he continued.

Ferry House Representative Briana Markoff ’11 investigated the question after it became an issue at VSA meetings. “The contested fact,” she explained, “…is really just [a] different definition of ‘Islamicist.’”

According to Associate Professor of Religion Michael Walsh, continued Markoff, “All of our peer institutions have some tenure-track faculty teaching a course on Islam, but not all of them are specialized Islamicists.” This means that not all of these professors are religion scholars. “Some teach medieval Arab literature and contemporary Arab music, or are a professor of history and teaching Islam,” said Markoff.

At the Council meeting, Farkas offered a similar analysis of the situation. While Vassar was not alone in its lack of a full-time Islamicist, it could offer studies in Islam through other intellectual pursuits, such as history. In this point, the Nov. 22 letter proved the complexity of curricular preferences and pressures. While the authors of the letter see a strict Islamicist as an academic necessity, the ability to study Islam in other venues is acceptable to others.

Languages

VSA reviews letter endorsement VSA continued from page 3 prevent this change from occurring due to the fact that female and minority professors are statistically shown to receive worse reviews when the CEQs are online instead of on paper. That said, the VSA still plans to go forward with this program due to the amount of money that it would save the College.

Recently, the VSA has been at the center of the campus’ attention for endorsing a letter written

by Adjunct Associate Professor of English Judith Nichols, presented to them by student representatives from the Campus Solidarity Working Group, which demanded the immediate cessation of all staff cuts.

The letter passed despite several inaccuracies in the letter, such as the claim that the administration is forcing members of the faculty to retire, in part because the Working Group gave them a three-day deadline.

Class and House Presidents, however, received a slew of e-mails from their constituents berating them for not consulting the student body before endorsing the letter.

What’s more, it was discovered that the deadline presented by the Working Group was actually incorrect, so the VSA passed a memorandum critiquing the letter and further specifying the VSA’s position on the issue of faculty cuts, although some members of Council felt that this went against the VSA’s original endorsement of the letter.

“I think the VSA’s greatest failing this semester was not consulting constituents before endorsing Judy Nichols’ letter,” wrote Class of 2012

President Eli Berns-Zieve in an e-mailed statement. Ly agreed, saying that, “at times council can be swayed by emotion.”

Conversly, “The VSA’s greatest success stems from this same incident—that is, the in-Council work done on crafting the accompanying memorandum,” continued Berns-Zieve.

“As far as improvements for next semester go, fostering a stronger sense of campus community—something that has come under scrutiny in recent weeks—is atop the list. I have already talked with constituents and some administrators concerning this issue,” he said.

Class of 2012 President Tanay Tatum agrees with Berns-Zieve’s sentiment. “My goal is to increase student familiarity and conformability with the VSA. Our responsibility is to be advocates for students, but it’s hard to do this when there’s so little communication. It’s especially hard for me since I represent a class of 600+ students and I am not in contact with most of my class on a day-to-day basis. I’ve learned, however, that e-mails and town halls are an ineffective means of communication. Next semester, I plan on developing new ways to engage with those I represent.”

The VSA’s goals for the next semester include reworking their special-purpose funds, refining the social consciousness requirement, working to create a peer advising database, trying to increase the amount of credit received for labs, implementing a meal-equivalency program in Arlington and continuing to support need-blind financial aid, among other projects.

According to the Nov. 22 letter, “There is increasing pressure on language departments to provide elementary language courses at the expense of advanced literary and cultural study.”

The VSA-drafted memorandum responded that, “Students at the 100-level deserve and benefit from contact with our tenured scholars, and our tenure-line faculty benefit from regular engagement with the challenges and rewards of teaching at that level. We disagree with the letter’s implication that this trend is negative.” This view echoes Chenette’s personal conviction that students learning at all levels should benefit from the College’s top faculty members.

Chair of the Russian Studies Majors’ Committee Emilia Firtich ’10 called this view “misinformed.” According to her, “If the senior faculty have to take on [100-level courses], they can’t take on more wideranging 200 or 300 level courses. Those are the courses that attract students.”

“If we can’t offer those courses,” she postulates, “we have to teach less...[and] become less competitive,” thereby attracting fewer majors. These positions reflect differences in educational philosophies at the College, which have been part of the complex conversations regarding staffing plans that came through the Office of the Dean of the Faculty earlier this semester.

The Nov. 22 letter argues one side of this discussion, which does not make it inaccurate. However, the reason behind suggesting that senior language professors teach at introductory levels may stem from more than just financial constraints.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Retirement pressures, perceptions “It is troubling to us that the current administration seeks to save money…through pressuring faculty toward retirement,” reads the Nov. 22 letter.

This language was found to be particularly problematic by some members of the VSA Council because it implies that the College may be engaged in forcing retirements illegally, a claim that members of the Executive Board refuted outright.

The VSA memorandum responds to the letter, “We take issue with the letter’s baseless accusation that the administration has illegally forced faculty members to retire.

While the College’s financial situation has no-doubt resulted in some retirement-age faculty feeling pressure to leave the institution, we have no reason to believe that the administration is the source of that pressure.”

That such pressure exists no one seems to contest. “I do know some faculty feel concerned about their departments...[they] may very well want to retire, but because we’re not going to replace every tenure line they worry about the future of their department should they retire,” says Roellke.

“Faculty feeling pressure to retire is a personal communication from individuals that they ought for the good of the institution to retire,” said President of the Vassar Chapter of the American Association of University Professors and Visiting Associate Professor of English Karen Robertson.

She said that she has been hearing this concern from faculty, “Now that does not mean that they’ve been taken to the chair’s office and bullied, [but] these are people who serve the institution and feel they ought to go for the good of the institution…this is not what individuals at the culmination of their careers, institutional service and scholarship should feel.” Here, the discussion revolved around the difference between a possible perception or feeling among faculty that there has been pressure to retire and the technical actions of the College.

Though no one in Council could claim that administrators were engaging in illegal retirement pressures, some argued that the mere perception of retirement pressures and a community that would foster them is significant.

Conclusion “I don’t think that deception is the purpose of information but the problem is that the administration delivers snapshots of information that describe the curriculum at particular moments, and that information needs to be placed in a larger context,” wrote Robertson in an e-mailed statement.

“For example, while it may be true that only 10 sections have been lost so far (which is reassuring), the English Department dismissals haven’t been decided on and so the fate of the writing program is still up in the air. That would disturb students but it is not mentioned. Just for example. The information seems transparent, but it is not as reassuring as it may seem.”

Roellke observes, “I feel deep in my heart that the College has gone through this in a thoughtful way...we could have done this in a corporate way...[but] we chose to do as much as we could through voluntary attrition. I’m proud of the way the College has gone about this...Other [colleges] did it much more quickly than we did, and the result is that they’re not scrambling about how to get the work done. We’ve been more slow and methodical about it, which is not easy...so I am proud.”

The endorsement of the Nov. 22 letter by the VSA and the following memorandum serve to highlight the complexities of the discussions taking place. While the Nov. 22 letter included inaccuracies, many members of Council felt that the “sentiment” of the letter was worth supporting. Sentiment, however, is more than simply supporting the faculty and a rich curriculum. In discussions about various curriculum changes, this sentiment is defended in different ways by different constituencies. Often the facts used by all voices in a debate are similar, but the conclusions drawn are the result of different values and perspectives.

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December 10, 2009

Sustainable Vassar: unknown methods of energy conservation Mandana Nakhai

T

Guest Reporter

Eric Estes/The Miscellany News

he contemporary environmental movement, both globally and at Vassar, often focuses on “going back to the source.” On our campus, we know that Campus Dining uses fresh local ingredients in their dishes, that our food and much of our dishware is compostable, and that dual-flush toilets have recently been installed in dorms and buildings. Some ways that Vassar has chosen environmentally sustainable practices are less visible, but they have nonetheless yielded exciting results and demonstrated ways for our community to continue to improve.

What could be more elemental than energy?

It is almost impossible to appreciate how dependent we are on fossil fuels, but this very fact requires us to engage in processes of energy production and how they are implicated in our lives. Most of the big decisions and changes regarding energy use at Vassar happen behind the scenes, so it’s easy to feel disconnected from this essential commodity.

One’s overall carbon emissions are likely to be lower just by being a member of the Vassar community or living in the Hudson Valley because the electrical energy mix available happens to include more renewable and cleaner sources. According to Environmental Disclosure from Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, the electricity grid that Vassar is connected to is one of the cleanest in the country—employing 19 percent coal-based energy; 16 percent gas; eight percent hydro (falling water from rivers or dams); 53 percent nuclear; four percent oil; and less than one percent biomass, solar, solid waste and wind.

Each of these methods of harvesting energy has positive and negative byproducts. John Maserjian, Director of Media Relations at Central Hudson, explained to The Miscellany News, “We advocate for balance and diversity in the energy mix that would include renewable, nuclear and newer, more efficient fossilfuel generators. Becoming overdependent on any one technology places the electric system

at risk, and can create pricing escalations and volatility.”

Vassar buys electricity from Central Hudson, which, due to deregulation laws, purchases its energy from independently-owned generators.

According to Maserjian, “The market does not indicate the source [of the electricity], which, along with price, varies from day to day.” So, while the individual consumer cannot choose the source of the electrons that they actually consume each day, they can choose an alternative power supplier (like a wind farm) which increases the overall percentage of renewable energy within the grid. According to Assistant Vice President for Budget and Planning David English, the College has invested in wind power before, but the price became prohibitively expensive.

Electricity use comprises 40 percent of Vassar’s carbon emissions and is the only energy purchased as a utility at Vassar, rather than being generated on-site. About 50 percent of emissions are a result of burning fuel oil or natural gas in the on-site heating plant, and the final 10 percent are not generated by onsite demand, but are associated with the College, including student and faculty travel.

Efforts to reduce fossil-fuel emissions at Vassar have been ongoing and have recently been very successful. In the past four years, Vassar’s on-site fuel consumption has gone down by 25 percent, though consumption of electricity remains the same. According to Director of Facility Operations and Grounds Kiki Williams, this success is largely due to Buildings and Grounds’ implementation of technologies that increase infrastructure efficiency.

Buildings and Grounds has also implemented efficiency projects such as lighting controls in the Library, Athletic and Fitness Center, and Walker Field House. Vassar’s central steam plant, which provides heating, operates at a high level of thermal efficiency, and the new Terrace Apartments and Town Houses utilize deep-well geothermal energy and groundsource heat pumps. Other improvements include the use of steam-eye technology to iden-

Funded by the Class of 2007, the solar panels installed on the roof of the College Center provide energy for the College. Director of Facility Operations and Grounds Kiki Williams is drafting a proposal for a solar panel system to be installed on the Athletic and Fitness Center. tify leaks in the steam trap and an aggressive, multi-year steam-line technology replacement project. The photovoltaic system on the College Center, a gift from the Class of 2007, generates 17 kilowatts of energy.

In a meeting on Dec. 4, Williams also discussed a very current proposal for a fivekilowatt solar panel system that would be installed on the Athletic and Fitness Center. She is working with Just Energy, an independent energy supplier that secures price-protected contracts, to obtain rebates from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Williams cited the need for additional funding as the major obstacle to getting the panels approved and running.

Professor of Earth Science and Sustainability Coordinator Jeff Walker is optimistic about reducing Vassar’s carbon footprint. “I think we’re almost more effective by making lots of small changes,” he offered. Instead of trying

to focus on monumental investments, Walker suggested, “We can [change] things that we’re doing and [get] more and more people to understand that their actions do matter.”

Walker, along with the College Committee on Sustainability, has been drafting a longterm sustainability plan for the College. An important step has been working with the consulting firm Sightlines to assess the College’s carbon-emission levels on a regular basis.

Sightlines will also help the College analyze past energy-use data to establish a year that can serve as a benchmark for future carbonreduction goals.

The relationship between the process of decreasing emissions and securing the financial backing to do so is always in flux.

Budgetary realities can often prevent new technology from being implemented, but sustainability and good financing can also See ENERGY on page 8

Students, workers organize against cuts nationwide ACTIVISTS continued from page 1 like the Working Group, are organizing and protesting against their institution’s authority?

Taking on the boss-man: Union contract renegotiations at Brown At Brown University, students and staff organized together in support of the Brown Dining Services workers, whose union-negotiated contract expired on Monday, Oct. 12. The administration had proposed a new contract that, according to campus organizers, would scale back workers’ pensions and health care plans, and would not offer the retirement benefits in place to new hires. More specifically, according to The Brown Daily Herald, the University revised the stipulation that Dining Services workers pay for six percent of their health care premiums, proposing instead that they be subjected to a “sliding scale” in which higher-paid workers were responsible for a higher proportion of their health care costs.

In turn, Brown campus workers and representatives from the Service Employees International Union asked the Student Labor Alliance and a number of other activist groups to participate in a series of demonstrations to show support for the workers. In a Daily Herald online video of one of their rallies in late September, a student spoke to the crowd, saying, “What we keep hearing from Brown, right, is that, ‘Oh, we lost all this money from our endowment.’

So, who lost the money from the endowment?

It probably had something to do with the people managing the money, not the people that they’re now trying to make pay for the money that was lost!”

In the fiscal year 2009, Brown lost an estimated 23.1 percent of its endowment, or about $740 million, as compared to Vassar’s loss of 18.1 percent of its market value. The Building Brown website, a guide to the University’s “robust program of facilities renovation and new construction,” lists at least six significant construction projects that have undetermined

completion dates. The organizers at Brown clearly took offense at the University’s apparent judgment of the more important budgetary allocations. At a rally on Thursday, Oct. 8, five demonstrators carried an oversized “boss-man” puppet with wads of bills stuffed in his hands; students and staff approached the figure, demanding answers. “Why are you still building while you want to take away your employees’ health care?” asked one student.

The Student Labor Alliance also organized a number of public street theater performances meant to parody what one Brown student referred to as the University’s “patronizing attitude” toward “worker sacrifice in hard times.”

The Oct. 8 rally included close to 200 participants and culminated with the Alliance delivering a petition with 1,155 signatures against the health care adjustments directly to Brown University President Ruth J. Simmons.

After nearly a week of negotiating and a 48hour extension to the contract expiration, the school and the workers reached an agreement at 2 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15. The new contract allowed for a seven percent payment towards premiums for all workers as opposed to the sliding scale, approved a two percent increase to all wages for all three years in the contract and secured retirement benefits for new hires.

Cutting jobs at a hospital and building an $80 million library at the University of Chicago At the University of Chicago, the student group Students Organized and United with Labor (SOUL) has held a series of demonstrations and protests similar to the efforts of the Working Group here at Vassar. Last January, the University’s Medical Center announced its plans to trim about seven percent of their budget—$100 million—and eliminated nearly 450 positions in February. Nathan Wilmers, a senior at Chicago who is a leading organizer for SOUL, explained to The Miscellany News that the majority of those cuts affected “clerical, service and mainte-

nance, and engineering workers at the hospital.”

“SOUL has been around for almost 10 years,” Wilmers wrote in an e-mailed statement. “[We hold] student-staff lunches, meetings, and [run] campaigns with workers and their unions. All of this has contributed to strong bonds between concerned students and staff.”

The organization’s website says that its members believe that “as students at a wealthy university, we are in a crucial position of power to support on-campus worker struggles to make a decent living and win respect and dignity in their workplace.” When the hospital announced its layoffs in February, SOUL, along with other University, student-activism groups, collaborated with the Teamsters Local 743 Union and protested the layoffs. Wilmers said that SOUL had also helped organize “several rallies, a teach-in, two mass meetings and a national call-in day” in response to cuts. Over the summer, for example, the University administration drastically reduced the Teamsters Local 743 workweek from 40 to 35 hours, which constituted a eight percent pay cut for all employees in the Residential Halls & Commons management division.

As with student organizers and workers at Brown, SOUL cried foul as the University continued to go forward with its construction and renovation projects, such as repaving the main quad and expanding the faculty. The University is also continuing construction on a new stateof-the-art, glass-domed library, which will cost the school nearly $80 million—a cost somewhat moderated by a $25 million alumni gift.

SOUL, along with student organizations including Graduate Students United, has been working closely with Teamsters representatives this fall and has held regular open meetings designed to educate the community about the issues at hand and how workers are being affected. In late October, SOUL sent a letter to the University administration (President Robert Zimmer, University Chief Financial Officer Nim Chinniah and Vice President for Campus Life Kim Goff-Crews) criticizing the hourly

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

workweek reductions. The trio responded that the change, along with four related layoffs, was made to retain staff. The Chicago Maroon reported the letter’s content, which said the cut was necessary to “keep as many people as possible employed with full-time benefits.”

Wilmer explained that SOUL had met with administrators last Wednesday, Dec. 2 “to demand an end to cuts that target the lowest-paid workers on campus. So far, however, the University has refused to reverse any of its lay-offs or cutbacks.” He also added that, in his experience, the administration will “rarely respond with real actions to address student concerns,” such as campus worker layoffs.

In a Nov. 17 letter to the editor, Duff Morton, a graduate student in the Anthropology and School of Social Service Administration, calculated that the “19 top-paid administrators brought home a combined total of $9,772,226” in the last fiscal year. He continued, “By my very rough calculations, an eight percent cut in these administrators’ pay would have been enough to prevent 208 workers in [Residential Halls and Commons] from losing their five hours a week.”

“Get Well Soon” cards for Harvard Harvard University, which has long had one of the top endowments of any private institution in the country, was scoffed at in the press this year when it announced in dramatic fashion that it would discontinue free breakfast in the dormitories and free cookies for its faculty. Be that as it may, the Harvard administration has made its fair share of controversial decisions in the past year, and students and workers have responded.

In late June, Harvard, the second-largest private employer in the greater Boston area, announced that it would eliminate 275 jobs in administrative and professional positions as well as clerical and technical jobs—all to be carried out within seven days after the initial warning.

About 500 employees also left through a volunSee JOBS on page 8

FEATURES

December 10, 2009

Page 7

Hometown indulgence brings New England to your kitchen Nate Silver

I

Columnist

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

have a confession to make: I’m a New Englander. I haven’t always found it easy here in New York, surrounded by Yankees and Giants fans and Long Island accents, but I’ve done my best.

Provided that no one invades my space sporting a navy blue “18-1” t-shirt, life’s just peachy and I easily keep my Rhode Island cool. However, when I do have a moment of panic, when a taxi almost kills me or I have an abrasive run-in on a Manhattan street corner, when I feel like nothing is going right for me in the Empire State, I find solace in one thing: the sheer superiority of my homeland’s clam chowder to the tomato-based counterpart of New York. You can keep your World Series rings, your Eli Manning, your big island city, your around-the-clock lifestyle. So long as I have my chowder, I have everything I need.

I knew that I wanted to include a seafood recipe this week because I have yet to do so, and though I had originally thought of playing with a nice fillet of salmon or sea bass, given our first snowfall on Saturday I decided to do a heartwarming soup. New England clam chowder has always been a favorite of mine—a seaside comfort food that is really difficult to get right. Until this morning, I had only made chowder once before, so after some serious studying of some two dozen chowder recipes, I decided to create my own, focusing on simplicity and, of course, serious flavor. When my housemate (a fellow New Englander) saw the chowder simmering on the stove this afternoon and tried a spoonful, her eyes lit up and a subtle smirk came across her face. Success.

Going back to my first point about the regional differences in chowder, New England clam chowder is flavored with salt pork and thickened with a bit of flour and cream, while Manhattan clam chowder is a much brothier soup, with tomato.

It’s certainly a lighter soup than the New England version, but a taste test makes it abundantly clear the tomato knockoff pales in comparison.

New England chowder is also very adaptable and works well with most other types of seafood or the purely vegetarian version (if you leave out the salt pork, that is), corn chowder. You’ll also find a quick recipe below for the crispy shallots that I garnished the chowder with. I strongly recommend trying them—they go great in salads or on potatoes—and you should reserve the leftover shallot oil to use in place of olive oil in salad dressings or for sautéeing.

Chowder is a fantastic stand-alone dish, but I wanted to enhance the whole experience by pairing it with something crusty and something light. I decided on beer bread because it’s a really great quick bread—meaning bread that contains no yeast and is thus “quick” to make—and it’s also unique and delicious. If you’ve ever had Irish Soda Bread, it sort of tastes like that, but I find it to be a bit richer, and I added just a touch of cheese, which keeps the inside very moist. It does require a bottle of beer, so I hereby accept no responsibility for underage consumption—I suppose it’s really an aged-21-or-older recipe. The salad I selected is simple, with the candied pecans working well against the salty soup. There’s also goat cheese, because, why not? I made my favorite dressing of lemon, whole grain mustard and olive oil, but you should feel completely free to dress it however you fancy.

Knowing that this week’s snowfall is only the beginning of winter, I feel confident saying that there are many chowder days in our future. Be sure to make yourself a big ol’ crock sometime this break to enjoy with your family and friends.

And given that this is my last column before we return in January, I wish you the happiest of holidays and the most delicious of eating.

New England Clam Chowder »» 4 oz. salt pork, diced (or 6 slices of bacon, diced, if you cannot find salt pork) »» 2 T butter »» 1 clove garlic, chopped »» 1 large onion, chopped »» 1 large stalk celery, chopped »» 3 T flour »» 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, diced »» 2 10 oz. cans of whole baby clams »» 3 c. clam juice (you can usually find this jarred or canned near the clams) »» 3 c. 1/2 and 1/2 »» Salt and black pepper »» Chopped parsley, for garnish »» Crispy shallots, for garnish, recipe follows 1. In a large soup pot, cook the salt pork over medium-high heat until it is crispy.

Remove the pork bits from the pot, leav-

ing the rendered fat.

2. Turn the heat to medium and add the butter. Add the garlic, onions and celery, and sauté until translucent—about 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, drain the cans of clams, reserving the juice. Chop the clams finely.

4. Add the flour to the pot and mix into the vegetables, until the butter absorbs all of the flour (this will function as the thickener for the soup).

5. Add the canned clams and sauté for one minute more.

6. Add the reserved clam juice, along with the 3 c. of clam juice.

7. Add the diced potatoes and bring to a boil.

8. Add the half-and-half, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.

Salad with Candied Pecans, Goat Cheese and Endive »» 1 belgian endive, washed and sliced thinly »» 2 c. baby arugula »» 1/4 c. crumbled goat cheese »» 3/4 c. whole pecans »» 2 t. honey »» 1 t. canola oil »» 1/2 t. hot sauce »» Salt and pepper »» 1 T mustard »» Juice from one lemon »» 3 T olive oil 1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, oil, hot sauce and a pinch of salt.

3. Add the pecans and toss to coat.

4. Pour the pecans onto a baking sheet and toast for 5-7 minutes, keeping an eye on them because they will burn quickly 5. Remove from the oven and let cool.

6. In a large bowl, combine the endive, arugula, goat cheese and candied pecans.

7. In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard and lemon juice. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into this mixture, while whisking.

8. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss lightly.

Quick Beer Bread »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

3 c. flour 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 t. salt 1/4 c. grated white cheddar cheese 1/4 t. garlic powder 1/4 t. dried basil 1 12 oz. bottle beer—I prefer an amber or nut brown ale, but you should use your favorite

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the beer and stir to combine.

The mixture should still be sticky, like a very thick waffle batter.

3. Pour into a buttered loaf pan and bake for 40-50 minutes at 375 degrees.

4. Remove from the pan and let cool on a rack for a few minutes before slicing.

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MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

9. This is the time to taste the chowder and adjust the seasoning; because both the salt pork and clam juice are relatively salty, be wary of adding too much salt, though some additional salt will likely be necessary. I like adding a lot of black pepper to my chowder.

10. If you aren’t happy with the consistency of the chowder you can either, a) pour some of the chowder into a blender, puree it and add it back to the pot, or b) melt an additional 2 T of butter with 2 T of flour (creating a roux) and add it back to the pot. If you make a roux, be sure to let the chowder return to a boil, so that it will adequately thicken.

11. Ladle some chowder in a bowl, top with some chopped parsley and crispy shallots, and enjoy.

Crispy Shallots »» 3 peeled shallots, very thinly sliced 1. In a small saucepot, cover the sliced shallots with olive oil.

2. Place the saucepot on a burner on medium low heat and cook until the shallots turn golden brown and crispy—usually 10-15 minutes. They burn quickly, so keep an eye on them.

3. Using a slotted spoon, remove the shallots and drain on some paper towels. Salt them lightly.

4. Once the oil cools, set it aside for future use.

Grocery List Clam Juice Half and Half Potatoes Arugula Onion Shallots Goat Cheese Clams Pecans Parsley Endive Salt Pork Total

$1.99 $1.99 $1.08 $2.99 $0.66 $0.42 $2.10 $3.98 $0.91 $0.99 $0.70 $1.69 $19.57

FEATURES

Page 8

December 10, 2009

Pinnavaia presides over the Skinner Greenhouse Matthew Bock

H

Guest Reporter

Madeline Zappala/The Miscellany News

ead Gardener Marty Pinnavaia, like many of the individuals hard at work on this campus, fulfills a pivotally important yet quiet place here at Vassar. As the head gardener, Pinnavaia selects and grows the various plants that decorate campus buildings—the New England Building, the ALANA Center, the president’s house and The Powerhouse Theater, to name a few— and selects the flower arrangements for Main Circle and the Shakespeare garden. He even selects the herbs used in various dishes served on campus—ever wonder where the fresh basil on your Retreat pizza came from?

He grows “his props”—what he calls the plants that he uses—in the Skinner greenhouses located above the Skinner Hall of Music, which is the closest thing on the Vassar campus to a tropical paradise. They house everything from amarillos to oversized lemons. And there are parrots there, too.

Many students have not heard of the Skinner greenhouses­—not to be confused with the Biology greenhouse next to Olmstead Hall, which serves the purposes of the Biology Department, although the two greenhouses often communicate with one another and “do a lot of swapping,” according to Pinnavaia.

“Up until six or seven years ago, both greenhouses were surrounded by woods at the tail end of campus,” Pinnavaia explained during a recent interview. “In fact, I was having a conversation with an alumnus, and she was saying that it was like the forbidden part of campus because it was all wooded. A lot of other people never even knew about it here and had no reason to come here.”

Before Pinnavaia was Head Gardener, the Skinner greenhouses served a very limited purpose, and it was only under his watch that they become so important to the aesthetics and functioning of the Vassar campus. “In the ’20s the greenhouses used to grow cut flowers for the tables [in] the dining hall,” Pinnavaia remarked.

“When I came here, things had already started

changing with the economy, but cut flowers... was like a total extravagance—we’re heating these big greenhouses just to make the desks look pretty?” So Pinnavaia successfully set out to “revamp the real purposes of the greenhouses to better serve the community.”

Having worked at Vassar for 25 years, Pinnavaia is a Vassar establishment in and of himself. He joked that when he started working here he was “younger than the freshmen’s parents,” and now he’s “as old as their grandparents.” He has observed and participated in the evolution of the College from the days of former President of the College Virginia Smith—and he has a lot to say about his time here.

“When [former President of the College Francis] Ferguson came—who was an art historian— it was, ‘Let’s get the ivies off the building because it’s ruining the mortar. Let’s start clearing out the underbrush and make it safer for students.’ Also, the Shakespeare garden was in tremendous disarray, and I decided to ask [alumnae/i] and contributors to spend their money for brick work to create brick walls around the beds instead of buying memorial trees, so that everything is bricked in now, which is an English-garden type look.

And that’s why every bed’s got a plaque on it. ” Pinnavaia has also observed changes in Vassar’s student body. “One specific change I can think of is that the students seem much more appreciative. They’re much more appreciative of the school, the grounds, the gardens and the workers. People spend a lot of time doing a lot of things, and the students now recognize that.” He also recalled, “I was here when it was all punk and leather.”

In the future, Pinnavaia explained, the College plans to build a big greenhouse—combining “the usefulness of the plants of the Skinner greenhouse with the purposes of the [Biology] greenhouse.” Whatever the College does, one can only hope this creative soul will be behind the project. Oh, and the myth about the flowers in Main Circle costing a million dollars is false.

Marty explained: “It’s nowhere near that much money. It just comes right out of my budget.”

Head Gardener Marty Pinnavaia works in the Skinner Greenhouse. Employed by the College for the past 25 years, he is responsible for herb and annual selections around campus.

Organizations align under umbrella group JOBS continued from page 6 tary retirement program, and 40 employees had their hours reduced or were constricted to an academic-year work schedule.

The layoffs represented about 2.4 percent of the University’s non-faculty workforce. When the Harvard administration announced plans for downsizing personnel, a student organization called the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) held rallies against the layoffs using the slogan “Greed is the New Crimson”—a play on the University’s sustainable campus efforts, which used the phrase, “Green is the New Crimson.”

SLAM has had a significant presence on the Harvard campus since early last spring. The group has aligned itself with the worker unions to demand fair treatment and has written letters demanding “that Harvard treat its workers with dignity and respect.” The students also compiled a list of “concrete financial steps Harvard can take to prevent layoffs” and distributed the flyers around campus and throughout the Cambridge neighborhood. SLAM also delivered a sheet directly to Harvard University President Drew G. Faust.

The flyer laid out a carefully compiled, threestep plan for an alternative approach to the financial crisis, which SLAM estimated would save Harvard about $79 million per year. The first suggestion was for a graduated pay cut: Employees paid in the $100,000 to $200,000 range would take a five percent cut, those in the $200,000 to $300,000 a 10 percent cut, and anyone earning $300,000 to $1 million or more a 15 percent cut. With an average of an 8.5 percent decrease in pay, SLAM estimated that Harvard would save $50 million. They also proposed a “slight reduction in retirement benefits for employees making more than $100,000,” a $2 million saving and a reduction in paid vacation days for that same group—a $27 million saving.

In an open letter dated April 14 and addressed to President Faust and members of the Harvard Corporation (in a package that included a “Greed is the New Crimson” T-shirt),

SLAM also made demands for the University to “[suspend] layoffs and [recall] all workers, full-time and part-time, who have been fired since October 2008” and requested a “meeting with the President, the Corporation, University administrators, members of [SLAM] and other relevant groups” no later than April 30, 2009.

On May 6, 21 days later, Director of Labor and Employee Relations Bill Murphy, who had no say in determining layoffs, made the first public response to the letter. President Faust has never followed suit.

In September, union activists and students marched through campus and delivered a “gift bag” to President Faust at his office in Massachusetts Hall. The pouch, labeled “Get Well Harvard,” was filled to the brim with “recommendations for a healthy Harvard”—namely, how to avoid additional layoffs and reductions in hours to its janitorial staff. Afterwards, about 50 protesters gathered outside of Holyoke Hall with picket signs chanting, in Spanish, “Harvard, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” (Harvard, listen, we are in a fight) and “No justice, no peace!” This past week, SLAM and a group of Harvard security guards protested a sudden spike in their health care premiums in Harvard Square.

A national movement Student organizations such as the University of Chicago’s SOUL have begun to share resources through the nationwide grassroots organization United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and its subcommittee, the Campus Community Solidarity Campaign (CCSC). Georgetown University recently hosted a CCSC retreat for campus labor organizers representing a number of colleges and universities undergoing similar budget cuts and layoffs.

Jamie Stevenson ’10, a student member and lead organizer in Vassar’s Working Group, said that she had exchanged e-mails with Wilmer, of SOUL, and had sent inquiries to the USAS. “I was interested in finding out about the themes [USAS] sees emerging among similar

campus movements and what they think could be achieved by organizing on a national level rather than a local level,” explained Stevenson, who said that the e-mail was sent from her own perspective and was not representative of the Working Group’s intentions. “I’ve organized against the war and against more abstract things that don’t organize people as immediately as this. I’ve never been so involved in something so integral to the community before, and there are lots of challenges going into it. I was hoping I could learn from their experiences,” she continued.

According to the USAS website, the CCSC mission is to form “viable and strategic coalitions to win union-organizing drives and improved contracts, fight against furloughs and layoffs, and to demand that our schools prioritize quality education over increased profits.”

Its hope is to attract and centralize the efforts of more college organizations across the country, such as Vassar’s Working Group and Harvard’s SLAM. On a national scale, the road ahead is certainly daunting—the campaign likely has a few items on its agenda before it takes on reinstating free hot breakfast—but, in concert, these campus organizations could make more significant demands of their administrations and perhaps, as Amherst chose to do, of their student bodies.

Stevenson said that when she spoke about the USAS efforts at a Working Group meeting, members expressed concern that aligning with a national organization might undermine their localized concerns. At the time of printing, she had not yet heard back from USAS leaders.

“On my own, I thought it seemed like a really beneficial thing,” Stevenson said. “But something that never occurred to me was that it could also be detrimental—that making our local grievances national grievances might affect our ability to achieve our own goals here, or might even alter our goals, period. Still, I wanted to know their recommendations for strategy, as they are what amounts to a national authority.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Vassar finances sustainability ENERGY continued from page 6 go hand-in-hand. “Both from a sustainability point of view and a budget point of view, the less fossil fuel you need, the better it is for the footprint of the College and the budget,” explained English.

English offered a highly pragmatic approach to financing sustainability projects. Environmentalism is so steeped in ideals that realizing the actuality of budgetary constraints can seem like utter defeat. English explained that certain investments, like retrofitting windows in old buildings such as Main, would never give worthwhile financial returns. Though they would prevent some energy loss, windows are expensive; the College simply can’t afford some of these measures, particularly in light of the current recession. “It’s hard to fund all the good ideas,” he admitted, speaking to the plethora of innovative yet expensive carbon-reduction options available.

The inherent difficulty in reducing emissions through expensive technological investments speaks to the essential need for the reduction of consumption at the level of the individual.

Williams spoke of a pilot project within the Buildings and Grounds building where all appliances were unplugged over Winter Break, saving 30 percent more energy. These are the types of individual actions Walker referenced when he advocated for education and awareness as the most effective way to reduce consumption.

December 10, 2009

OPINIONS

Page 9

Student activists should question authority and their own methods

We have responsibility to engage in discussion about recent layoffs

“Our critical faculties should be tempered by a desire to know why. We ask, ‘Why must these people be fired?’”

“Faculty have long institutional memories and the letter reflected some of our sense of what is being lost or damaged.”

Royce Drake and Robyn Smigel

T

Guest Columnists

he question often arises: Why bother?

Why bother engaging in any activism at this point in our lives? Why think that we can create any sort of change? Why not keep our collective head down? Sometimes the question comes under the guise of questioning scale: Why are you worried about this tiny, insignificant issue? What is one staff member here or a faculty cut there—there are bigger problems for us to deal with: saving whales, global warming, global poverty and so on and so forth. The list of problems in our world is nearly infinite.

Of course, this wasn’t the mess we made. It has taken centuries of fuck ups for us to arrive at the point where we have this near infinite list. As we see it, each individual is left with only three options: try to clean up the mess we’ve inherited; agree that there are problems and try not to contribute to them while hoping someone else will clean up; or huddle in our slightly-cleaner corner while trying to keep our cuffs clean by throwing our own mess onto the other piles.

Nobody really enjoys cleaning up someone else’s mess, but sometimes you must, or else come to really enjoy filth. But, as we know, the world isn’t as simple as a cluttered room. We often turn to experts so that we can determine what exactly should be done. We have been told all of our lives that the ones with such expertise are those with more education and more experience than ourselves. Obviously, people with more education and experience have things to teach us. Why else would we be in college? But should we not become worried when we begin to take the word of authority as natural law?

It is very easy for us to do something we may not theoretically, physically or emotionally agree with when there is an authority figure telling us that it is alright. We are reminded of the psychology experiments performed in the middle of the last century when everyone was trying to determine how fascism happened.

We can shock another human being, as long as a white lab coat tells us, “It is absolutely

essential that you continue.” We hope that it is apparent that we are not speaking of some abstract adolescent rebelliousness. We do not advocate a refusal to listen to our elders for the sake of refusing. What good could come of that? We’re simply proposing an unmasking of experience as Walter Benjamin frames it in his essay, “Experience.” Benjamin says, “The adult has already experienced everything... Often we feel intimidated or embittered. Perhaps he is right. What can our retort be?” Our retort would be, in all of its childishness, a resounding “Why?” Like children, we aim to be critical of everything. Our world should remain shifting and unstable, forcing us to question everything.

And our critical faculties should be tempered by a childish desire to know why. We ask ourselves, “Why must these people be fired?”

We follow up with a chain of more questions: “Why isn’t there enough money?” “Why does this person say there isn’t enough money?”

“Why are some people valued less?” Each answer prompts another slew of questions. At the present, we wonder why we frown on asking for explanations. Is it rude to ask an expert why? Is it mature to not rock the boat? Our experts and authorities aren’t gods (and usually aren’t our parents). We should not allow them to answer with, “Because I said so.”

This process of constant questioning has led inevitably to the questioning of our own methods of enacting change. Is it really the case that large numbers are a requirement for effectiveness? Do our actions have to conform to some authority figure’s definition of what is respectful? Do our words have to follow a narrow path of acceptability?

After much consideration, we have discovered that our answer is no. We recognize that the “small problems” facing our college are manifestations of those same “big problems” we are constantly being told to focus on. We refuse to allow the problems closest to us to fall in a blind spot.

—Royce Drake ’10 and Robyn Smigel ’12 have started the blog, “Uppity!” at uppityvassar. blogspot.com.

Judith Nichols

Guest Columnist

L

ast week the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Executive Board agreed with other members of the VSA to endorse a faculty letter on curriculum, which the Miscellany mistakenly attributed to me. This collaborative letter, circulated to members of the Vassar community, was intended for the Vassar Trustees. Over 700 people signed it, and the letter was sent on Thursday, Dec. 3. Our letter attempted to give a glimpse of what many faculty members see as specific damage to the curriculum at Vassar during this period of restructuring. Many faculty members have long institutional memories and the letter reflected some of our sense of what is being lost or damaged.

The VSA voted to endorse the faculty letter on curriculum, and then the VSA Executive Board seemed to rescind this vote in the public memorandum that claimed inaccuracy and hyperbole as patterns in the faculty letter. The VSA Executive Board sent the memorandum to the whole student body and all the senior officers. Unfortunately, this happened before there was dialogue with many of the faculty members who contributed their description of changes in the curriculum to the letter.

If community leaders try to take shortcuts in order to avoid engaging in difficult dialogue, discourse begins to break down. I’m not simply talking about the VSA anymore.

A new dynamic has begun emerging this year at Vassar. One place this dynamic is evident is in the way senior administrators are setting up obstacles and controlling official channels of discourse. A whole long article in itself could be devoted to this change. The kind of managerial practices we see emerging at Vassar probably emerge out of fear of engaging at a very deep level during times of change. It seems natural that VSA student leaders would pick up on patterns of attempting to contain messages by jumping out ahead of a faculty critique of the eroding curriculum.

I want to write about concerns many of us

have about the loss of a different part of Vassar’s curriculum, one that underpins the institution. Vassar’s hidden curriculum, the way we have treated employees with some dignity for decades, has been under attack since last October. Layoffs and erosions of contracts have been undertaken in ways that clash with the social justice mission of the College and begin to unravel what we see as our core values. Recent personnel decisions damage the integrity of our institution and suggest a cold, shortsighted approach. Requiring 5 a.m. start times for custodial staff, for example, even though this new scheduling compromises health, safety and family life for many, suggests a harsh obliviousness or indifference in our treatment of employees. Erosion of our intellectual life and curriculum at the College begins with the way we conduct ourselves in the work practices we enact.

Clearly this discussion of academic curriculum needs to be ongoing as well because the harsh choices seem opportunistic and without purpose—except a narrow, shortsighted economic one. Many of us believe we are seriously damaging the vital and flexible curriculum in ways that compromise the institution’s short and long-term standing.

I’m grateful to the Miscellany for asking me to write this follow-up editorial because it gives me the opportunity to speak to what has become a crisis in vision at Vassar. We see some of the most modestly paid employees at Vassar being sacrificed and cut loose at a time when jobs are scarce. Are we helpless to change what seems like a corporate purge?

For two examples, are we going to let the College send Brian Denu and Josh Ciangiola, two carpenters to be laid-off in a couple weeks, out into the winter without jobs? For other examples, are we going to watch while the College erodes or terminates the contracts of long time contributing professors who are on non-tenure-track lines? We need the faculty, students, the VSA, the Miscellany staff, the Campus Solidarity Working Group, administrators, staff and alumnae/i all engaging in dialogue about how to move beyond demoralSee COMMUNITY on page 12

Campus Solidarity Working Group paternalistic and ineffectual Kelly Shortridge Opinions Editor

T

he Campus Solidarity Working Group is another group in a series of many “activist” student groups (see: Killer Coke) that attempt to encourage progressive reforms within the Vassar community, but instead manage to draw criticism from all sides and make their cause seem less than legitimate.

No one will disagree that people losing their jobs is not only a concern but, on a polemical level, negative; however, this concern as well as empathy must be checked with logic. In the case of the Working Group, this logic seems to be born out of a desire for its members to be seen as passionate protesters than to understand the nature of job cuts.

I have no doubt that some, if not many, members of the Working Group legitimately care about the plight and futures of the newly unemployed workers; however, the message the Working Group sends through its words and actions undermines any serious efforts to have the Vassar community rally behind their cause.

The nearly 50 comments back-and-forth on the article is a sample size that demonstrates

the polarizing effect the Working Group and the Vassar Student Association’s (VSA) initial endorsement of the letter has had on the student body. While workers’ rights is a cause that the majority of Vassar students would easily support, given the unabashedly liberal political climate of the campus, the Working Group has demanded too much and provides too few practical proposals to maintain merit and popularity.

The Working Group, in its unquenchable desire to preserve the jobs of the workers in question, inherently comes from a position of arrogance; that is to say that because they feel the necessity to “protect” these workers, they assume that the workers cannot protect themselves. Since I doubt Vassar is violating child labor laws, I assume these workers are all adults and therefore are quite competent in living, and, in turn, finding a new job.

To demand that students—with very little real-world experience or possession of managerial skills—should attack Vassar administration on behalf of the workers implies a superiority to the workers. Unions are perfectly capable of striking or protesting on their own; in this partnership with the Working Group, the unions,

I am sure, are quite pleased that they can sit back and let overly eager activist students do all the work.

The unions have also led to a huge discrepancy between wages of union workers and student workers. A unionized worker at Vassar can make more than $20 an hour; the highest 10 percent of equivalently-skilled workers in the United States earned more than $10.00 to $11.00 an hour, meaning that our workers earn an astronomically higher wage than average.

Even if we are to assume that this discrepancy is because of a better product of labor, the high price tag for these workers makes them a rational place to start when cutting jobs. And it’s not just these jobs that are being cut—there are cuts in almost every sector of Vassar life, and everyone is making sacrifices. The spirit of community is bonding together in a time of sacrifice and working with the constraints now in place. This spirit is being completely tarnished by the Working Group’s efforts, and only breeds a greater sense of entitlement and self-importance in affairs that the vast majority of students have little understanding of. As alumnus Aaron Biberstein ’06 said in his comment on the article, “For a sophomore to imply

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

that you have a better solution to a global recession than the PhD College President? That’s quite a bit of hubris.”

The group’s title, as well, has been proven false. Campus “solidarity” has been anything but improved by the group’s existence. In fact, I would argue that it has driven an even larger and more tense divide between students, the VSA and administration. A commenter on the article named “VC12” said, “Last time I checked, the campus wasn’t in chaos. There’s an administrative debate going on that is being disrupted by a small group of activists in whatever way possible. The [Working Group] is creating whatever “chaos,” if any, exists on campus by itself.” Cuts in many forms are a necessary and expected part of budgeting during economic hardship, and the fact that we are still discussing whether or not the cuts are “fair” leads me to believe that other students need to get out of the theories proposed in their classes and start tuning into the real world.

“Fairness” is a form of judgment, entirely subjective based on the position of the judge and the standard by which they are judging.

The Working Group needs to stop thinking See CSWG on page 11

OPINIONS December 10, 2009 Campus dining should address New economics professor necessary true roots of stealing problems Page 10

Nina Nguyen and Vendela Fehrm

Aashim Usgaonkar

T

Guest Columnist

he recent Miscellany News article “Campus dining reports record number of thefts” (12.03.09) has spawned, for the most part, fervid opinions from students and staff alike. These opinions, which are strongly professed on the newspaper’s web site and around campus, seem to counter the apparent truism, “stealing makes you a thief.” Campus dining should temper their indignation by attempting to understand the reasoning behind students who decide to indulge in, as the editors describe, “nabbing a Nilda’s.”

Before moving on, however, note the difference between “reasoning” and acceptable justification. The former is the students’ rationale behind their thievery. The latter will by no means be agreed upon, because Dining Services will never invite students to take food from them without paying, no matter how sound students think their reasoning is; this thought process is understandable as well, but isn’t the focus of this article.

The core argument offered by those who, I dare say, support food theft can be explained best through a commonly cited analogy making the rounds on campus. Assume you were to go to Babycakes and order a cup of soup. The price of the soup is $4.50 and you make the payment by placing a 10-dollar bill in the hands of the cashier. You would expect $5.50 back. Now assume that Babycakes refuses to give you the change. Wait, that would never happen—it’s illegal. Some Vassar students say that this is the exact shortchanging they experience while eating at the All Campus Dining Center (ACDC).

The main reason for this is the policy that meal points don’t carry over to coming semesters. So, although students would have paid for 151 meals (Standard meal plan), they may just end up using 100 meal points for a semester. It is easy to understand why students feel that the balance 51 meals are owed to them the next semester, while, in reality and in accordance with policy, they have lapsed. So students think that by entering the ACDC without swiping their Vassar College ID Card, they are, in their own way, redeeming what they feel is owed to them.

Personally, I would err on the side of the stu-

dents. This isn’t to say I support taking meals away from dining without paying for them; rather, I support my fellow students in their frustration and helplessness. It seems to me that stealing is simply a symptom of a larger problem. That campus dining is publicizing students’ stealing, and not the cause thereof, is unfair. Just because students have been stealing food does not delegitimize other concerns that they might harbor. Yes, in terms of blackand-white or “right or wrong,” there is no way that anyone can say that those who steal are in the right, but that doesn’t mean that the entire blame for this state of affairs should lie with the students. Dining services should, now that their point has been well made, determine the causal factors and fix them so as to thwart this stealing in the years to come.

A proposed solution to this problem of theft was to make it compulsory for the students from Senior Housing to subscribe to a meal plan. In the face of the strong opposition, the College may find it hard to implement such a policy. The cost of dining in Senior Housing is significantly lower than that of eating at on campus dining facilities, and so it follows that when presented with the option, students tend to choose to be off the meal plan. Additionally, the ACDC is located such that it is inconvenient While proposing a solution to this impasse, Dean of the College Christopher Roellke commented that it would be beneficial to “be able to find a middle ground in which all students benefit.” A possible “middle ground” solution may be to go back to the ACDC Points system for seniors, thus giving them the option to choose between on- and off-campus dining without the fear of their benefits lapsing. Another solution may be to introduce the rolling over of “meals” from one semester to the next, and to allow seniors to utilized unused meals from the spring semester of their junior year.

No, stealing isn’t ethical. But if the goal of Dining Services and other administrative bodies is to stop these thefts from occurring in the future, just admonishing students for their actions is not the proper way to proceed. Getting to, and fixing, the reasoning behind these thefts is the primary concern.

VC community should reevaluate financial situation, student gov’t.

Ruth Sawyer and Dorien Ediger-Seto Guest Columnists

O

ver the past few weeks, majors committees have been encouraged to play a part in making decisions about curricular cuts at Vassar College. Therefore, as the Geography Majors Committee, we write this open letter to the community in an effort to communicate our perspective on the cuts. Our views do not reflect those of every geography major at Vassar, but we all agree that the discussion needs broadening.

Why are we applying an intellectual frame of analysis to such a practical problem? So far, the discourse has been framed as a non-academic issue; one that requires “practicality,” not “idealism.” Our education tells us that the “real” and the “theoretical” are not so far from each other. This letter doesn’t offer a comprehensive plan for how Vassar should be reformed. We don’t have access to the necessary information, nor is it our place to do so. We have nevertheless included some preliminary ideas for what substantive change might look like.

Reframing “the problem:” We’ve been told that “the problem” is that Vassar’s endowment simply isn’t doing well enough to sustain our spending. This is probably true. Vassar does have a huge budget, and the financial crisis has significantly affected the College’s resources. We disagree however, with the conclusion that a depletion of the endowment means that cuts to staff and faculty are inevitable or necessary. We disagree with the idea that staff cuts must be pitted against needblind admissions. Furthermore, we disagree with the secrecy with which financial decisions

have been made. How can we understand this crisis in a way that allows us to think of creative solutions? In any given equation, defining the equation in certain ways will always result in certain types of solutions. This is why we contest the administration’s claims to objective neutrality. Our education has imbued us with a strong sense of the importance of social and economic justice, but in this case these values seem to have been disregarded. We wholeheartedly agree with the College’s mission of “working toward a more just, diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive college community.” In our equation, therefore, all efforts are made to preserve the continuity of this community, and community members have access and power within our decision-making system.

Second, what do we mean by “access and power within our decision-making system?”

We’ve been told numerous times that students do have power in our decision-making system. After all, our representatives offer us office hours and their email addresses so that we might have a voice. This system doesn’t work.

Too often, we find out about decisions after they have been made, or discover that the issues we want to talk about are not being discussed.

The Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council, for example, did not discuss budget cuts until late November, though these cuts have been on students’ minds since the beginning of the year.

Moreover, the Council’s discussion has been confined to a letter regarding the cuts—not about the cuts in general nor the VSA’s role in campus-wide discourse. While the situation is always changing, problems remain: How can we See PROBLEM on page 11

S

Guest Columnists

ome of you may have heard rumors that the Economics Department is searching for an additional faculty member. Given the budget constraints, complications and the changes occurring at the College in other departments and on campus in general, this may not sound “fair” at all.

Why should the Economics Department be allowed to hire someone new? Why should the Economics Department expand while others are cutting back? These may be the questions you are asking yourself or others. The Economics Department, however, is faced with a combination of unusual circumstances that have been further compounded by department-wide budget cuts. Hiring new faculty is a matter of utmost necessity, given the urgent demand to make economics courses accessible to students. We let the facts speak for themselves.

Starting from 2000, the number of economics majors has stood at approximately 40 students. As such, economics is one of the most popular majors at Vassar. In the past five years, however, this number has gradually increased to the low 50s. Last year, 60 majors graduated, making the Class of 2009 the biggest class of economics majors since 1981. There are, however, only 38 economics majors in the Class of 2010, partially due to problematic staffing choices dating back four years ago when current seniors, who were then freshmen, first started taking college-level economics classes. At the heart of this most recent plunge in the number of economics majors lies the essential need to staff introductory-level courses with experienced, engaging and knowledgeable faculty. Should a student be introduced to the field of economics by an inexperienced professor, it is likely that they will be driven away from further study in the Department.

Apart from this aberration, the spike in Vassar’s number of economics majors coincides with the ongoing national trend that has seen more undergraduate students doing economics coursework. At Vassar, introductory economics classes are among some of the most highly-enrolled courses, with more than 30 students in each class; the pressure is on every professor teaching

introductory-level classes to ensure that every student receives adequate attention and can further develop their interest in the realm of economic studies.

While certainly not unique, these changes in the distribution of majors across different departments have had the effect of bringing to the fore staffing shortages in the Economics Department. Last year, there were four visiting professors offering a wide range of courses, including some that have never been offered at Vassar before. This year, the professors are all gone. In addition, many people still regret greatly the departure of Associate Professor of Economics Alan Marco and, more recently, Assistant Professor of Economics Sean Flynn. With four professors going on sabbatical leave in the academic year of 2010-2011, there will remain only 11 tenured professors teaching the economics curriculum, resulting in one of the highest student-to-faculty ratios at Vassar.

Some of you might have experienced some competition registering for your 200- or 300-level economics classes recently. You might have even noticed that the number of elective courses has been reduced significantly. The fact is that the Economics Department is working very hard to accomplish its two following goals. However, staff shortages are making these goals harder to achieve.

Please keep in mind that, even with new hires for the next academic year, the Department will not be able to offer some courses that have traditionally been on the class schedule during both semesters.

In fact, the acquisition of a professor for the 2010-2011 academic year should not be seen as an expansion, but as a necessary replacement for those away or leaving.

As part of the Economics Majors’ Committee here at Vassar, our goal, like that of any other majors’ committee, is to communicate changes in the Department to our majors. What is happening in the Economics Department has arisen out of real necessity, and any new faculty hires are to serve as a replacement for the loss of our much-valued faculty members.

—Nina Nguyen ’11 and Vendela Fehrm ’10 are members of the Economics Majors Committee.

Obama’s performance so far consistent with his promises T

here’s an uproar among the far left that, for once, is drowning out the anger coming out of Red America towards President of the United States Barack Obama.

For once, President Obama has been on the receiving end of a lot of negativity from the left, and from my discussions with people on this campus, the reaction ranges from disenchantment to outright hostility.

When President Obama was elected back in November 2008, I remember the elation on this campus. I participated in an impromptu mob celebration on the quad, which included dancing around a cardboard cutout of then-President-Elect Barack Obama and singing the Star-Spangled Banner in God knows what key. There was a genuine sense of excitement that the Bush era was over and that we would finally have a leftist president that believed in the principles of Marx and Lenin—for once people at Vassar thought Obama stood in the same place as Glenn Beck and the teabaggers think.

But as I look back on that night and compare it to people’s reactions to President Obama today, I begin to wonder if people

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

actually knew for whom they were voting.

Many who support former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin do so because they like her character, think she’s “real” or connect with her story, without even knowing her policy positions. It’s upsetting to me that so many pulled the lever for Barack Obama for similar reasons, and irritating that they are then so disenchanted with the results of their vote.

Were I President Obama, I would give myself a pat on the back. I’d have reached a measure of fame and power that I could be compared to former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin—and all on the same day.

It’s disturbing that people are so ideologically polarized in this country that all they can do is point at the President and call him the worst thing that they can think of at the time, all the while saying, “This isn’t the change you promised!” Folks, it is the change we were promised. Almost exactly. I voted for President Obama because I viewed him to be moderately liberal on social and economic issues and slightly See OBAMA on page 11

OPINIONS

December 10, 2009

Page 11

Alternate vision should be considered PROBLEM continued from page 10 approach our representatives without knowing what decisions they are considering? Even if we know this information, what should we do when the discussion is not wide enough to consider our perspectives? Students need to be actively involved in defining the terms of the discussion.

An alternative vision: In the first sections, we’ve articulated a number of problems with our current system. Below, we suggest alternative structures. They are less “solutions” than a vision that we hope will inspire discussion.

In regard to financial decision-making: • It is not difficult to imagine different ways that Vassar might cut its budget—we all recognize that we spend money on things we could do without. We call on the school’s decision-makers to include our perspectives by asking us to look at spending for programs we are involved in. The Office of International Programs, for example, could collectively sit down and look at how it might save money by changing around its programs. Does Vassar pay membership fees for Junior Year Abroad programs that no one has been to in four years? Could we find programs that cost less than Vassar tuition so that the College doesn’t have to pay the difference? Many offices might find ways to save money under this

scheme, meaning that layoffs might be avoided. If they could not, it would significantly alter our perception of the situation if every office vouched for the fact that it could not find any way to cut funds. While the economy website is a step in the right direction, true transparency comes when all members of the community have access to educated decisionmaking. Like the pretext of office hours, the economy website only offers us a narrow way to comment on egregious overspending.

• We have been told that the College cannot cut from certain areas due to restricted gifts. The oft-cited flowers in Main Circle, for example, are part of an endowed gift that cannot be used for any other purpose. We ask that the College approach these gift-givers and respectfully ask if, given the financial situation, they might consider temporarily diverting those funds. We also ask that the College proactively inform us of the spending patterns that cannot be changed so that we can make educated suggestions.

• We ask that the College start a capital campaign focused specifically on social justice. We believe that our community cares deeply about the values Vassar represents, and is grateful for the ways in which Vassar has shaped their own values. A capital campaign based on the premise that donations would be allocated towards preventing layoffs would therefore, in our estimation, be wildly suc-

cessful. In regard to student representation: • We ask that we use the system of referendums (which would enable the entire student body to vote on certain issues) more frequently. Last year’s Kick Coke controversy and this year’s curriculum letter endorsement received criticism because they did not adequately solicit student opinion. While neither could have become a referendum for logistical reasons, such controversial decisions are ideal for the referendum system.

• We also propose that the VSA be abolished. We ask that two bodies take its place: one that deals with financial decisions related to student life, and another that looks at policy. Currently, the VSA spends a lot of time allocating funds to organizations. It is good at this, and the structure need not change much.

Its policy decisions, however, are funneled through Vassar’s complex committee structures, meaning that even members of the VSA have very little idea what happens to policy decisions once they have been made. Acknowledging the importance of its monetary function, the policy side of the VSA must be more open, horizontal, and discussion-based.

Below, we suggest two means towards making the VSA more transparent: • All committee meetings should be open to the community—meaning that their existence, function, membership, meeting times See MEETINGS on page 12

What is your favorite finals week vice?

“Beer pong”

Jasper Boyle ’12

“Death by coffee”

Voters attached own agendas to Obama OBAMA continued from page 10 more right-wing on foreign policy. I wanted a President who was going to talk to our enemies, but also not be afraid to use force if necessary. I agreed with candidate Obama’s assessment that Iraq was the wrong war, and that we had to have a shift in focus to Afghanistan—a position that he, for example, reiterated on July 20, 2008.

And on that day, candidate Obama, visiting Iraq, said he believed such a new would require more troops—many more troops.

Now, it is only the failure of the democratic process in Afghanistan that makes me worry about an increased troop commitment in the region—not pacifist tendencies in myself that I had hoped President Obama would also possess. I knew he was a moderate on foreign policy. Does no one remember when President Obama said that he would be willing to bomb targets in Pakistan if we had actionable intelligence that we could stop a terrorist attack in the United States? He is pragmatic, practical—a defender of our freedoms, but also someone who wouldn’t be indiscriminate and unilateral in the application of force. That’s the candidate I voted for, not the bland, formless progressive ideal that many on the far-left had hoped for; President Obama to them would be someone who applied ideology before reality without looking at the facts on the ground.

Am I skeptical of the President’s plan to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan? Sure, I am. But given the successful center-

CSWG puts forward no solutions, just demands

left course this country has taken since the Bush Era, I’m going to hold my tongue and not compare him to the 43rd president. Just like I don’t have a knee-jerk reaction of “Socialism!” when I see government intervention in the economy, I don’t see boots on the ground in a foreign country and immediately assume our commander-in-chief is Hitler.

My bigger concern is more that the far left is withdrawing its support for the President because they believed he would be someone he wasn’t. Barack Obama is doing exactly what he said he would do as President. For once, we’ve gotten a President who’s actually living up to the majority of his campaign promises. He’s a liberal President in the model of Franklin Roosevelt—strong on defense, strong on social programs. Barack Obama was the candidate of hope and change; he wasn’t the candidate of radical change. Anyone who thought that wasn’t paying attention and should have voted for Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. The truth is, my liberal friends, what you’re getting with Barack Obama is far, far better than what you’d get with former presidential candidate Senator John McCain of Arizona and his running mate, Sarah Palin. Work against Obama, and you’re no better than the teabaggers.

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

Henry Behel ’10

“Smoking”

Nick Inzucchi ’11

“Watching videos on YouTube and Hulu”

ADVERTISEMENT Katy Hwang ’12

CSWG continued from page 9 about how things should be and instead focus on what they can propose that could actually work to improve workers’ rights on campus, and increase the feeling of community among all of Vassar’s faculty, students and staff. Arguments based on “should’s” and “fairness” can only divide, especially when presented with an astounding lack of understanding of private management and the realities of budgeting.

While my political views lead me to question unions and hubristic cries for “fairness” for workers, I would have most certainly been open to any argument the Working Group put forth, had it been based on logical premises and not come from a position of “knowing what’s best” for the “uneducated”—as if higher education is the only way a person can garner education—workers. However, given the meager 26-hour hunger strike, the factually incorrect letter, the manipulative tactics shown before the VSA, and the arrogance and hypocrisy of their radical, impractical propositions, I have no choice, with the interests of Vassar’s community and true solidarity at the forefront, but to plead that the Working Group either disband or find tactics that can actually bring about productive, healthy and financially-sound change, and stop dividing our community.

“Naps”

Carlos Leos ’12

“Walking around campus at 2:30 a.m.”

Michelle Fischer ’12

—Kelly Shortridge ’12 is the Opinions Editor. This year, she and Opinions Editor Angela Aiuto ’11 are maintaining an alternating column in which they engage one another in conversation.

—Kelly Shortridge, Opinions Editor Joshua Rosen, Assistant Opinions Editor

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

OPINIONS

Page 12

Letter: Joint collaboration on P&P invaluable to committee I

very much appreciated the nuanced discussion in last week’s article, “Amidst Controversy: VSA Endorses Memorandum About Nichol’s Letter” (12.3.09). I would, however, like to clarify one point. At the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council Meeting on Sunday, Dec. 2, a Council member asked me about the level of substantive student input into financial decision-making. As members of the Priorities and Planning Committee (P&P), Brian Farkas ’10, VSA Vice President for Operations, and I influence policy at the highest levels of the College. Brian and I are the only two student representatives on P&P, Vassar’s highest governance committee, which advises the Senior Officers on a sweeping range of long-term planning decisions.

Last week’s article quoted me during the Council meeting as saying, “If [Farkas] and I weren’t on [P&P], faculty members would easily trounce need-blind and other issues students care about.”

This comment was taken out of context. I want to reassure the community that I value and respect the many administrators and faculty members who are fighting for needblind admissions, robust financial aid and other student initiatives around campus.

All members of P&P have been struggling to improve the access to and affordability of a Vassar education, while simultaneously devising collective and creative responses to the global financial crisis. That quote creates a false distinction between the interests of the students and the faculty, when in fact both constituencies of the College are working closely together to promote accessibility.

The incredible work that faculty members, students and administrators do in collaboration on P&P is necessary and vital to the health of the College—more so this year than ever before. We will continue to look for ways to move forward together in these difficult times.

Finally, I also congratulate The Miscellany News on its incredible work this semester. The weekly print edition and constantly updated online content has provided students and faculty with invaluable information during a semester when that clarity is particularly important. The Miscellany is to be commended for an outstanding first semester of its 143rd volume.

December 10, 2009

VC should embrace collectivity MEETINGS continued from page 11 and agendas be public. Private sessions could be held to discuss legally-sensitive information. We further suggest that the VSA create a social justice position for the Exec Board. This new position would ensure that there is always someone to give voice to logic that is not financially based. Finally, we ask that the VSA be more proactive in soliciting student input—and not just through email or office hours. Elected officials might, for example, hold their office hours at a table in the College Center and actively ask students to stop and discuss certain issues or host issue-based meetings where members of the student body are invited to an open discussion.

How might a horizontal system that examines school policy look? What is today the VSA could become a separately elected group of students that sits on major committees at Vassar.

Each of these students would be responsible for the solicitation of student input—through Town Hall meetings or Campus Life Resource Group-style dinner discussions.

Elected students could facilitate Town Hall meetings (which might discuss, for example, problematic alcohol use on campus) and ensure that their content was accurately conveyed to their respective committees. To increase the

accountability of this system, we could have mid-year referendums confirming our support for these officials. Dinner dialogues could help elected officials come up with more substantive policy suggestions. Finally, we believe that an ideal representative system would bring students, staff, faculty, administrators, and other members of the community together to make big decisions. In this spirit, we suggest a biannual community meeting which is designed to ask community members what concerns they have for the coming semester. We hope that these meetings will bring about more substantive collaborations between the many voices in our College community.

These suggestions are by no means comprehensive, and we do not pretend that they fully flesh out our vision. We hope, however, that they offer an alternative framework for thinking about the meanings of words like “transparency,” “accountability,” and “community.” Perhaps the financial crisis can allow Vassar to grow into a truly remarkable model of a community based on the principles of social justice.

—Ruth Sawyer ’10 and Dorien Ediger-Seto ’10 are members of the Geography Majors Committee, the other members of which also endorsed this letter.

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—Caitlin Ly ’10, President of the Vassar Student Association.

Community must move toward shared vision of Vassar College COMMUNITY continued from page 9 ization toward a shared vision of a Vassar we will be proud to claim and expand. Democracy, when it works, has never been limited to the official or formal channels of representation. How many truly great leaders of suffrage or civil rights movements brought about important social change through narrowly defined channels? Community mem-

bers do not abdicate their responsibilities as citizens simply because they are not in the upper echelons of representation. As the economic crisis ends, the decisions we each make will determine the kind of college Vassar will be.

—Judith Nichols, Adjunct Associate Professor of English.

Crossword by Jonathan Garfinkel ACROSS 1. Render inoperative 8. Holey material 12. One counting beans (abbr.)

15. Mythical son of Sparta and Lacedaemon 16. The ozone layer’s home, briefly 18. Certain pilgrimage (var.)

19. *The world’s thirdlargest corporation 20. Atlanta fast-food indulgence, perhaps 22. “Green” prefix 23. Until now 24. Add on

25. Procedure resulting in Octomom (abbr.)

28. Twin municipalities in KS and MO 30. Ms., to Pablo 32. Train unit 33. Bruins of the NCAA 35. Truthful bit of Shakira’s anatomy 37. Omelet necessity 39. Proposes 41. Nab 43. Camera type, briefly 44. Whom Uncle Sam wants 46. For, to Juan 47. Dirt 49. Online ending

Answers to last week’s puzzle

50. Years and years 52. Many a prosecutor, briefly 53. Smokin’, say 54. Was introduced 55. “T”, to airmen 57. Release 62. Baller Ming 63. Dr. Dre output 64. “It’s a ____!!” -- Admiral Ackbar 65. President #32, or a NYC traffic SNAFU 68. Mt. Rushmore locale, briefly 71. Bill at a watering hole 73. Peter, Paul, and others 74. Trounce 76. Party in power, briefly 77. Edinburgh denial 79. “Trapped in the Closet”, for one 81. *Where one might salivate over plasma screens 85. Hullabaloo 86. Boot camp negative 87. Mimic 88. Snitch 89. Plus 90. Oral roofs DOWN 1. Crow relative, briefly

2. “___ Slave 4 U” 3. Bit of a word (abbr.)

4. A Company that Makes Everything 5. With 40-Down, big day for any of the answers to the starred clues 6. Hoffman-_______ (The people who brought you Tamiflu) 7. “Is” to Quintus 8. *Herald Square fixture 9. Old-school anesthetic 10. Enamored of 11. Ad-___ 12. Porcelain 13. Pastier 14. Achaean hero of the Iliad 17. Precursor to reggae 21. Glenn Beck’s home, briefly 25. Cause for celebration in Super Mario Bros.

26. Bit of old A/V equipment 27. Dentist’s recommendation 29. Knight’s honorific 31. Slackjawed 34. On the water 36. Crazy 38. Preens

40. See 5-Down 41. Ft. ______ (Site of the first shots of the Civil War) 42. Bert’s pal, on his birth certificate?

45. Certain tic-tac-toe win 48. Phil Spector victim Clarkson, and others 51. Mixes

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

56. Venus or Hera 58. Yoga surface 59. Rio hot spot 60. Cereal bit 61. Some medical assistants (abbr.)

65. Painter Kahlo 66. Big railway station, perhaps 67. Bit of a cheer 69. Eagle’s nest

70. *19-Across competitor 72. Common herb 74. Burn 75. Smiling Lisa 78. Jazzy James 80. Location (abbr.)

81. Notable Marcel Marceau character 82. Baseball club 83. Utah native tribe 84. Affirmative

HUMOR & SATIRE

December 10, 2009

Page 13

OPINIONS

miscellanynews.com: an ode to free speech Kelly Stout

THIS COMMENT. I AM SO MAD.

assar Eliminates More Jobs this Week says Administration, Darth Vader:” by Matthew Vassar, Best Founder Ever (15 Comments)

Condescending Alum: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (11:30 a.m.)

“V

Molly Turpin/The Miscellany News

Founder’s ghost visits Vassar before exams, suprisingly speaks in rhyme Michael Mestitz

He gave a stern look, that made our knees weak and old Matthew Vassar then started to speak:

Guest Columnist

‘T

was the night before finals, and all through the school Not a student was sleeping, using coffee for fuel.

“Where did Study Week go?” they all asked in frustration; “It was lost to late nights, and to procrastination.”

The lights were all blazing with a sweet golden glow Casting long, shining shadows out onto the snow.

As the flakes floated down students, sitting inside, Looked on out to the quad and resignedly sighed.

When on the library lawn there arose such a clatter, Students sprang from their desks to see what was the matter.

We all poured down the steps as a glow lit the air With a twinkle and flash, old Matt Vassar was there!

Our phantasmal founder surveyed me and my peers, Looking sharp, though he’d been dead one-thirty-one years.

With his cane in his hand and his winter coat flowing, He could have been living...but, translucent and glowing.

He swept off his hat and proclaimed spry and fast, “I am the ghost of our College’s past!

Every year I’m amazed by the head-games you play, Come exam time you’re wrecks! In complete disarray!”

“Now physics! now, orgo! now, endless term writing!

On econ, on English, and drama reciting!

The exams and the papers and rewrites and edits!

That’ll teach you to overload six-point-five credits!”

“But this isn’t just grumbling; I’m here for a reason!

I’m a Dickensian rip-off for the holiday season!

In the story, however, the ghosts number three; Due to cutbacks, the only ghost coming is me.”

He spun in a spiral, floating high from the ground Adjusting his glasses and looking around.

“As I mentioned,” he told us, unrolling a list, “I’m the ghost of the past; and I’m just a bit pissed.

Professors and students moaning how Vassar has fallen, You all think Cappy Hill is the next Josef Stalin!”

“Times have been worse, and we’ve survived them before This whole school got started after the Civil War. These days, women vote—you’ve got rights, you’re employed!

Way back when, you’d have corsets, hoop skirts and typhoid.”

“Of course, there were no men here back in my day Though I can’t say much changed, since these days they’re all gay.

‘Wild parties’ at school meant good tea and tradition; It was a time when ‘jägerbomb’ meant a German munition.”

“And students of color? It was a time of adversity; This was a place for rich WASPs, not racial diversity.”

He looked out at the crowd and made a pained face; “I guess we’re still working. But need-blind’s now in place!”

And then Matthew laughed as we stood there confused, His sides gaily shaking and his pale face amused.

“Just a little droll humor to lighten your week; In truth, I’m not cross—but you all looked so bleak!”

“Every year I observe as you work yourselves silly So I thought I’d pop up and remind you that, really, Not all learning takes place in a book or an essay These four years should be more than a good GPA.” Was he serious or joking? We hardly knew what to think.

“But go finish your finals!” he said with a wink, And waved his grey hand in a dismissive gesture “Then get the fuck off my campus...I’ll see you all next semester!”

Features Editor

My name: Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009 (11:91 p.m.)

If the leaders of the Campus Solidarity Working group don’t shut up, I’m transferring.

Solidarity: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (1:26 a.m.)

3 p.m. Tea. An open letter to the hunters who will cull (kill?) all the deer over break: Rose Parlor.

7 p.m. Enjoying Gay Sex Safely Lecture. For fun, finalsrelated safe-word suggestions go to oed.com. Rocky 210.

8 p.m. AirCapella Concert. Follow the advice of the seven dwarfs: bring some flashcards and whistle while you work! Rocky 300.

FRIDAY, 12/11

3 p.m. Tea. I have several questions, most of which are technical in nature. Rose Parlor.

5:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. On the first night of Hanukkah VC gave to me a thesis due this week. The Bayit.

7 p.m. Night Owls Concert. It doesn’t count as patronage of the arts if you only go to hear their version of “No Scrubs.”

That’s not culture. Rocky 200.

9 p.m. Vassar Devils Concert. Featuring special guest, Jesus! (Food for thought: which would be more awk, Rihanna feat. Chris Brown, or Jesus feat. the Devils?) Blodgett Auditorium.

2012: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (1:13 p.m.)

Please, “My name,” be my guest.

Condescending Alum, that comment didn’t make sense. What do you even do?

Beyonce: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (10:00 a.m.)

Kanye West: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 (1:13 p.m.)

All my adjunct ladies: If the departments had wanted to keep their faculty then they shoulda put tenure on it.

—Hey, “2012,” I’ll let you finish your comment, but Beyonce had one of the best comments of ALL TIME.

2012: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (10:46 a.m.)

2010: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 (2:11 p.m.)

Beyonce, what troubles me most about your comment is that that type of argument accepts, rather than critiques, a hierarchy in place at colleges nationwide that leaves some employees vulnerable and some invincible.

Now, it’s true that Vassar probably cannot eliminate or alter the tenure system in any way, but using a system that is so flawed to help the College save money—and by this I mean cutting the jobs of adjunct faculty—is downright unethical. Furthermore, it seems as we’ve all accepted that a certain number of cuts have to be made; as if there is no discussion to be had about whether we have to cut 10 percent or eight percent from the operating budget. The focus of debate has been either: to cut or not to cut? Or, in a more nuanced argument: What should we cut? I propose we start asking how financially viable it would be to simply cut fewer dollars from our operating budget? Would the College still be healthy in 2050 if we cut less?

I think it would. That said, I thought “Upgrade U” was musical genius.

Hi “My name,” the Working Group doesn’t have leaders. Can everyone just accept that we’re a utopian group that functions on equal parts love, rousing debate and understanding??? Gawd.

Your name: Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 (1:05 p.m.)

2011, I hate to call you out, but it doesn’t really feel like you’re contributing to discussion in a meaningful way.

HEY 2012 WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN SAY INTELLIGENT SHIT ABOUT THE ECONOMY YOU’RE ONLY A SOPHOMORE IN COLLEGE AND THE MISCELANY NEWS BETTER NOT DELETE

Weekly Calendar: 12/10 - 12/16 THURSDAY, 12/10

2012, I’m sorry you’re not a jaded asshole like me yet. Maybe after you get a lame job in three years and start reading The Economist you’ll realize that workers don’t matter. They work for the man, can’t you see that?

SATURDAY, 12/12

8 p.m. Indecent Exposure Winter Holiday Special. At least one really indecent winter holiday special springs to mind. Hint: it involves the word “snow.” Sanders Auditorium.

7:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. Two all-nighters and a thesis due this week. Davison House MPR. 8 p.m. Measure 4 Measure Concert. In case you haven’t heard enough “’90s favorites” yet. Ely Hall Aula.

SUNDAY, 12/13

4 p.m. Hip Hop 101 Toy and Food Drive Concert. Due to complaints from parents last year, this event is no longer cosponsored by Squirm. Family Partnership Center, Poughkeepsie.

7:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. Three bags of pretzels, two all-nighters and a thesis due this week. Main House 3rd Floor Parlor.

MONDAY, 12/14

3 p.m. Tea. For example, a rumor has been circulating that you’ll be wearing night-vision goggles. Is there any truth to this? Rose Parlor.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Jewett: Tuesday, 2009 (2:44 p.m.)

Dec.

8,

The Campus Solidarity Working Group is polarizing the campus. I’d like to investigate what their real motives are. Are they working for the unions? Because if so, it would be nice for them to be upfront about it and stop acting like their group is the only way to get involved on this campus.

2011: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 (4:19 p.m.)

Check this out. it’s mad sick: youtube. com/watch/tiger_battles_octopus

Cushing: Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 (11:03 p.m.)

I’m only leaving a comment because I have a research paper due in 57 minutes.

I love Vassar: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 (7:40 a.m.)

BAMF2011: Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009 (8:15 p.m.)

Thiz article is lame. Bring back the backpage!!!!

by Kelly Stout

7:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. Four cans of Red Bull, three bags of pretzels, two all-nighters, and a thesis due this week. Josselyn House Parlor.

TUESDAY, 12/15

3 p.m. Tea. And will you really be perched in wait in trees?

Because you know, we live on an arboretum, and that’s super creepy. Rose Parlor.

7:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. Five ugly sweaters, four cans of Red Bull, three bags of pretzels, two all-nighters, and a thesis due this week. Noyes House Jetson Lounge.

WEDNESDAY, 12/16

3 p.m. Tea. Also, it’s nice to hear that Bambi’s mom will finally be getting the treatment she deserves. Thank you, hunters. Love, Vassar College. Rose Parlor.

7:30 p.m. Hanukkah Candle Lighting. Six days of wintry mix, five ugly sweaters, four cans of Red Bull, three bags of pretzels, two all-nighters, and a thesis due this week. Cushing House Parlor.

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December 10, 2009

New Year’s resolutions from Vassar’s A Cappella groups Erik Lorenzsonn Arts Editor

T

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

he campus has become blanketed with a light snowfall, evergreen wreaths and holiday lights decorate dorm rooms and the harmonizing voices of a cappella singers perform end-of-the year concerts. Such is Vassar in wintertime.

Unfortunately, The Miscellany News couldn’t possibly cover all of the a cappella groups’ final concerts, so here’s something a little more interesting and a little more reflective off the holiday spirit: New Year’s resolutions! Read on as each organization (with the exception of the Accidentals, who were not available for comment) explains who they are, what they hope to achieve next semester and other fun tidbits.

Vastards (represented by President Sam Fleming ’10) What Vastards are all about: The Vastards mostly sing pop music from the ’80s, ’90s and after the millennium. Many of the songs we sing aren’t traditional a cappella choices, but we have fun singing and performing them.

New Year resolutions: We hope to do well in the [International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Regional Competition]! We have been focusing our efforts on working towards competition quality based on a set of criteria for the judges. We also would like to add a few more new songs and sing with some a cappella groups from other colleges.

Favorite Songs from your repertoire: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, “This is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan and our Britney Spears medley.

Concerts: We will be competing in the MidAtlantic Regionals, most likely in early February. Check out our website for postings with updates.

The Night Owls (represented by Soprano Amelia Couture ’12) The Night Owls are the oldest running all-female a cappella group in the country and the oldest group on Vassar campus. We mainly sing jazz, but also have songs such as TLC’s “No Scrubs” to switch things up a bit.

New Year’s resolutions: I would say that our biggest goals for next semester are probably to get more gigs in the community and to compose more songs. We tend to focus on the music more than anything, so this semester we

The Vassar Devils rehearse in the Rose Parlor in Main Building on Dec. 8. The Devils pride themselves on complex arrangements originally crafted by members of the group. have also spoken a lot about the performance aspects of our concerts and are hoping to up the energy levels.

Favorite songs from your repertoire: My personal favorites are “Helplessly Hoping,” “Case of You” and “Love Will Keep Us Together.”

Concerts: We will be having our final concert this Friday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 200.

The Vassar Devils (represented by President Julia Hanna ’12) What Vassar Devils are all about: The Devils really focus on having a cohesive group sound.

We really pride ourselves on having complex arrangements that let the background shine as well as the soloist.

New Year’s resolutions: We’re hoping to do more concerts off-campus next semester. Performances in Boston and Princeton are both possibilities that we are exploring.

Favorite songs from your repertoire: “Fly Me To the Moon,” “All For You” and “September” are all personal favorites of mine.

Concerts: Our final concert of the semester is this Friday, Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. in the Blodgett auditorium.

Broadway A Cappella (represented

by Director Kara Voght ’11)

nect with your childhood joys. We are also Vassar’s newest a cappella group, and we’re currently working on getting Vassar Student Association certification.

New Year’s resolutions: At the beginning of next semester, we plan to hold auditions in hopes of gaining up to four or five new members. We’ll be having a preview concert in January to advertise this. We’re already excitedly planning songs for next semester, and having a bigger group will allow us to perform songs that are tricky to do with just seven singers, such as “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan.

Favorite songs from your repertoire: Personally, I love hearing us sing “Beauty and the Beast,” because it was the first song I arranged for us, and I put a lot of work into it. “Under the Sea” is fun, and “Wish Upon a Star” is a sweet one we like to end with.

Concerts: We will be performing at Raymond House’s final study break of the semester next Sunday, Dec. 13 at 8 p.m., and all are welcome!

What is Broadway A Cappella all about: Our group is all about bringing showtunes—from TV, film or Broadway musicals—to life in an a cappella format. We’re the only group on campus dedicated solely to the arrangement and performance of these kinds of songs. It’s a fun combination of two of Vassar’s great traditions: a cappella and theater!

New Year’s resolutions: We’ve arranged a ton of new music for next semester, and we’re really excited to start learning it. With so many new members, we spent a lot of time getting them familiar with our repertoire, and we’re ready to start some new things. We also want to keep performing a lot, too!

Favorite songs from your repertoire: They rotate, depending upon what we’ve sung the most (ad nauseum), but our favorites right now are probably “He Lives in You” from “The Lion King” and “All That Jazz” from “Chicago.” (We really get into the choreography on that one.)

Concerts: We’re performing Thursday, Dec. 10 in Rockefeller Hall 200. That’s it for this semester!

AirCappella (represented by Director Sadie Burzan ’11)

Disney A Cappella (represented by Musical Director Isabella Batts ’12)

Measure 4 Measure (represented by Alumnae Coordinator Elsie Raymer ’12)

What Disney A Cappella is all about: We are Vassar’s only all-Disney a cappella group! Listening to us is guaranteed to make you recon-

What is AirCappella all about: AirCappella is arguably the most unique organization on campus. We are the only all-whistling a cappella group in the world (For real! A group used to exist at Brown but no longer does).

New Year’s resolutions: Our New Year’s resolution is to keep spreading happiness through the whistled song. We plan on whistling at NonCon as an opening act for a nerdcore rapper, as well as at other events on campus. We will continue to expand our repertoire and tone our whistling muscles. We’d also like to make some T-shirts.

Favorite songs from your repertoire: If you have seen the children’s classic Matilda, you will likely recognize “Little Bitty Pretty One,” a new song we have arranged this semester. Another favorite is “Like A Prayer,” by the one and only Madonna.

Concert: We have our final concert this Thursday, Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 300.

What Measure 4 Measure is all about: Measure See A CAPELLA on page 17

No Offense 21st birthday show void of alcohol, full of laughs Rachael Borné

I

Reporter

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

n America, the 21st birthday is a milestone.

It’s a monumental event and usually an occasion to drink copious amounts of alcohol. No Offense, Vassar’s first sketch comedy group, will be celebrating its 21st birthday with a show on Thursday, Dec. 10 and Friday, Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. in Matthew’s Mug. For this party, though, you won’t need any booze—No Offense will get you drunk with laughter.

The group celebrated its birth in 1988, when students saw the need for an outlet to do comedy and comedic performance on campus. At that time, the group was called Laughing Stock.

Andi Sharavsky ’11, current No Offense director, had the opportunity to speak with some members from years past. “They were a group of people who came together because they wanted to write funny stuff and perform it.

They had their first show in the Noyes ‘Jetson’ Lounge,” she said.

No Offense has come a long way since then.

The group performs several times a year, usually in Sanders Classroom’s Spitzer Auditorium. The upcoming 21st birthday show will make use of a different, yet very appropriate, venue—the Mug. Danny Galvin ’12, another member of No Offense, sees the Mug as the perfect place for a comedy performance. “It’s a more intimate space than people often think of for a Vassar comedy show, which will hopefully foster a closer rapport between the group and the audience,” he said.

Sharavsky adds that the cave-like atmosphere of the Mug will act in the group’s favor.

“Something important for comedy is that the

space be full and dark. Audiences are more afraid to laugh when there are fewer people and it’s light.”

To prepare for the show, No Offense has focused on their writing. The planning out, or “sketching,” of the sketches is very important.

“We map out everything before hand: We write lines, we edit lines, we rehearse them, and decide we don’t like them, and then edit them again,” said Sharavsky.

The group holds meetings to put ideas on the table and to get ready for shows. “Meetings are crazy, but fun,” Sharavsky said. “A lot of our inspiration comes from the experience of walking around campus or just bizarre thoughts or weird dreams,” she added.

Even with exam week quickly approaching, No Offense will give the birthday show all they’ve got. “We’ll spend this whole week rehearsing and collecting props and costumes,” explained Sharavsky. “Whatever the sketch necessitates we try to put together.” To celebrate 21, the group will even incorporate one or two larger, more complicated and ambitious props into the show, including a life-size Monopoly board piece.

Because No Offense is made up of such a varied group of people—four women and six men ranging from freshman to senior years— it’s hard to put a finger on the ensemble’s sense of humor. Galvin describes their jokes as very eclectic. “Every person in the group brings their own perspective to the sketches they write, which results in a comically diverse show that can make just about anyone laugh.”

Sharavsky has loved No Offense’s humor since freshman year, when she attended the preview show. Now a member, she can explain

Members of the sketch comedy group No Offense practice for their upcoming 21st birthday show, to be held in Matthew’s Mug on Thursday, Dec. 10, and Friday, Dec. 11, at 9 p.m. it firsthand. “What makes us different is that we’re pretty fearless in taking risks. We’re very serious about writing good comedy and creating a product we’re really happy with,” she said.

There’s no telling what to expect when it comes down to individual shows. “I feel like every show is different.,” said Sharavsky. “There are some shows that use character comedy and some that are more academic and plot oriented with intelligent references.”

“The writing for the shows is tailored to interesting concepts and interesting plots,” Sharavsky continued. Galvin was kind enough to divulge a few specific details about the birthday celebration. “Audiences should look forward

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

to some topical humor for Vassar (read: butt toucher), appearances from the Kool Aid Man, Hamlet, Mr. Monopoly and (for devoted fans) the return of a recurring No Offense character named Effie,” he said.

Galvin added, “We’ll definitely be focusing on the birthday, but we’ll be looking towards the holiday season as well. One of our sketches has a Christmas theme, but we’ll put a No Offense spin on it.”

No Offense hopes to interrupt the dreaded exam cram with laughter, a good time and a birthday bash. With a 21-year legacy under their belt, the No Offense comedy team is serious about being funny, and that is no joke.

December 10, 2009

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Page 15

Rebranded Shakespeare group to debut IE to present with new ‘Measure for Measure’ rendition winter holiday extravaganza Esther Clowney Reporter

I

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

Members of the theater group Merely Players rehearse for their upcoming performance of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, “Measure for Measure.” They will be performing the play in Taylor Hall, Room 102, on Thursday, Dec. 10, and Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m.

Thea Ballard

P

Reporter

reviously known as Pound of Flesh, the theater group Merely Players will be putting on “Measure for Measure” as its first production as a Vassar Student Associationcertified organization. The group puts on annual Shakespeare productions, focusing on a creative but basic approach to the bard’s work that is informal, but passionate.

“Our shows are not ornate and do not focus on sets,” stated “Measure for Measure” director Eric Schuman ’12 in an e-mailed statement.

“We are bare bones Shakespeare.”

“Measure for Measure” is one of Shakespeare’s comedies written in the early 1600s, renowned for having a complex plot and deep themes of mercy and justice. Said stage manager Ann-Marie Alcantara ’13, “It’s a play about a woman having to decide between giving up her body for her brother’s life, or to remain virtuous and see her brother die, but stand up for her right as a woman.”

Schuman added, “The play is about modes of governance and piety and sexuality and extremism.” The complexity of the work meant that Merely Players had some leeway in how they chose to interpret the play. Instead of emphasizing the drama of the play over the comedy or vice versa, a balance between the two elements was sought.

“We have some really dark scenes, and we play it off with some really light-hearted scenes, with comedy between the other main

characters in the play,” said Alcantara.

Merely Players takes a nontraditional approach that brings a further air of originality to the production. “Merely Players does not approach Shakespeare’s works as if they are on a gleaming pedestal,” stated Schuman. “This is not to say that other organizations here at Vassar do. It does not mean that we drastically change the text in any way. It means that we can add humor. It means that we can change some stage directions. It means that the text can speak to us as strongly today as it did to the Elizabethan public. It is our job and our goal to make it scream at the audience as if the words the plays contain are new and raw and just written.”

Some of this is the result of necessity; noted Alcantara, “We’re very low-budget.”

But in the case of this production, necessary decisions like getting costumes from the Salvation Army, created an innovative mode of creative communication. “For this play,” said Alcantara, “we chose the tackiest, off-color costumes. Our production is like, Angelo is trying to escape from this bland world where everyone is tacky and colorless.”

This decision also reflected themes intentionally highlighted by the group. “To make the play our own, we have chosen to place it in an indistinct time,” stated Schuman. “There are no flowing robes or poodle skirts or hipster jeans. It is not then or now.” There are also sexualized outfits with business attire to contrast the libido of civil society with the

hypocritical piety of the government.

If anything, the student-directed techniques and untraditional choices posed a challenge to the highly-qualified cast. Of the actors, Alcantara said, “A lot of the actors on their audition sheets had impressive plays they’d been in. One of our actors played Hamlet at Elsinor, a renowned theater space.” She continued, however, “Most of them are freshmen, so they’ve come from high school. You’re taught, ‘Shakespeare, this means that, this is what it will look like in a play.’ So the actors had to remove their traditional Shakespeare perspective in order to meet the director’s needs.”

But this break from tradition ensures an interesting experience for even the most Shakespeare-tired theater-goer. Schuman explained, “Our personal touch is in the moments that we have added—for example, having a New Jersey-esque prostitute played by an Indian man, an almost physical altercation that has rape undertones that is not in any of the stage directions, but that, I believe, is in between the text’s lines.” Alcantara, for one, finds this sort of direction exciting; she said, “I like how it’s been taken. Otherwise, it could be your traditional dark tragedy Shakespeare play, but we tried to make it fun at the same time. Be intrigued because it’s different. It’s not your usual Shakespeare tradition of ‘This is dark, this is sad, laugh a little bit…and then feel sad two seconds later.’”

“Measure for Measure” will be performed in Taylor 102 Dec. 10 to 12 at 7 p.m.

FLLAC renovations to not affect courses FLLAC continued from page 1 cepting the temporary setback and has already released plans they hope to undertake during their closing. “My first reaction [to the closing] was that I was sorry to see this happen since we have been riding such a positive wave of momentum in our programs of late. However, these are also good moments to take stock of the overall plan for the institution and consider things such as a complete revised installation of the permanent collection,” wrote Mundy.

Another relatively large-scale project the FLLAC hopes to undertake is reworking their current database system so that it becomes an accessible resource even for those not wellversed in the collection. “We can focus on some internal needs such as imaging more of the collection and converting to a more userfriendly collections database that can be used by everyone,” explained Mundy.

Other projects include the expansion of the

FLLAC’s outreach program and long-term exhibition planning.

The FLLAC is also working to devise a means of best accommodating the curricular needs of art students and professors during the repairs. “We are taking steps to make sure that all curricular needs involving the collection (used for classes such as Art 105 and those of other departments) will be met by installing the works in the [Prints and Drawings] Galleries as an extended Project Gallery concept,” explained Mundy. “Faculty and students will still be admitted to the building, but it will be closed to the general public.”

All in all, students and faculty are not too concerned about the closing. “It’s good that they can work it out so we only lose a semester,” said Professor of Art Susan Kuretsky.

María Laura Ribadeneira ’10, a representative from the Art Majors Committee, has similar faith that the FLLAC will have little

problem maintaining its status as a resource for students. “The Art Center has been a very important resource for almost all my art history classes,” Ribadeneira wrote in an e-mailed statement. “Being able to see the original works of art is not always possible in an art history class, and the collection at the Loeb made that possible. It is such a vast collection that every one of my classes could use its pieces as examples to see first hand.”

Efforts will also be taken to maintain the FLLAC’s highly popular “Late Night at the Lehman Loeb” evenings. The new event, cleverly titled “FLLAC in Exile” will be a less-frequent interpretation of these evenings, emphasizing alternative forms of art. “We’d like to explore the use of new media and performance art projects at other campus locations,” wrote Mundy. “I’m certainly hopeful next year that everything will go on in a way that is fruitful for everyone,” concluded Kuretsky.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

n the proud tradition of Festivus and Chrismukkah, the women of Indecent Exposure will be bringing the politically correct holiday spirit to students of Vassar College as they cram for finals. Their Non-denominational Winter Holiday Special will satirize the forced good cheer of the TV Christmas Special format, while serving a charitable purpose by collecting for the College’s Toys for Tots program. Also, expect some very bad dancing.

“I can’t sing or dance. But it doesn’t matter if you can’t sing or dance because the audience is supposed to be laughing at you,” said four-year Indecent Exposure member Catie Tombs ’10.

“That’s the best thing about comedy.”

Planning for the Christmas Special has put members of the group in a festive mood.

They’ve chosen to make this show their first attempt at a charity fundraiser and are encouraging audience members to bring unwrapped gifts or money for the College’s Holiday Toy Drive.

“We thought it would be good to combine Indecent Exposure’s first fundraiser with an event that was already happening at Vassar,” explained member Molly Cahen ’10.

“Each of us celebrates the holidays differently. It was interesting for us to see the different perspectives everyone was coming from. For Samantha Leonard ’11, the holidays are about ballets and shows. For me, they’re about cookies and desserts,” Tombs said.

Like The Rockettes, the Indecent Exposure show will begin with a Bob Fosse style dance number. Stand up acts will encapsulate individual experiences of the holiday season.

“We’ll use any excuse for a dance number,” said Cahen. “The audience is invited to sing along.”

While the Non-denominational Winter Holiday Special will parody the excessive sentimentality of live, holiday-themed TV shows, Indecent Exposure hopes to convey a real sense of the diversity and absurdity of the time period we generalize as “the holidays.” “Even though we’re calling attention to the absurd political correctness of the holiday season, we’re trying to be culturally sensitive,” said Cahen.

Although political correctness and diversity are issues the group will focus on for this performance, Indecent Exposure was at the center of a certain amount of controversy for different reasons earlier this year. A note was left in the margin of their audition sign up sheets in September criticizing the all-female group for not conforming to standards of gender-neutrality.

Despite the initial controversy, members of Indecent Exposure now look back on the incident with a laugh.

“Indecent Exposure: Enforcing gender binaries since 2004,” joked Tombs.

Lorraine DeGraffenreidt ’10 said that the graffiti was an isolated incident, and that the reaction to it has been extremely positive. “I’m almost glad that it happened, because it has shown how supportive people are of women in comedy,” she said.

Since the incident, members of the group have defended the need for an all-female comedy space. “I was in an improv troupe with dudes in high school,” said Lily Richard ’12.

“Guys tended to overpower the women. I don’t think it’s conscious, but I feel like they’ve always gotten the message that men are funny, which gives them more confidence than women.”

The group is aware that their event falls at a time during which many students will be busy studying for final exams. What will extract people from Vassar’s classic haunt, the library?

“Laughter has physiological benefits,” said Cahen. “When you’re stressed out with exams, it can help a lot. You can come straight from the library and go right back.” “I look sexier when I’m laughing,” added Tombs. “And, objectively speaking, Indecent Exposure always has the most attractive audiences.”

Indecent Exposure’s Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Special will take place in Sanders Classroom 212 on Friday, Dec. 11 and Saturday, Dec. 12; both shows will be at 8 p.m.

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December 10, 2009

McCoy sings his way through the College, New York Wally Fisher

F

Reporter

Kathleen Mehocic/The Miscellany News

or some people, singing can serve as a distraction. Others choose to establish music as the focus of their lives. For Alex McCoy ’11, it’s both: He has been singing since the fourth grade, yet he does not view the practice as any sort of existential experience—it’s a sort of joyful habit.

“I am majoring in music, so it’s always good to practice music. But I like to sing,” McCoy remarked. “There’s not special meaning, really.”

Despite his claims that his motivation for singing is simple, activities involving music dominate McCoy’s schedule. McCoy participates in the Vassar Devils, Vassar College Madrigal Singers, Vassar College Choir, voice lessons and Vassar Camerata. Thus, he experiences and performs a wide range of music including a cappella and Baroque stylings.

He values each of the groups for the amusement and the knowledge they provide him with. For example, he specifically cites voice lessons for helping him to improve his singing technique while acknowledging that the Devils provide a complementary source of camaraderie, “like another group of friends.”

These groups are just ones McCoy is active in on campus. In addition to these, he is a part of Voices of Gotham, a competitive a cappella chorus in New York City that combines barbershop quartet music with doo-wop. All in all, it presents a very active agenda for McCoy, and that is how he likes it.

“It’s definitely hard to balance other things like academics,” he explained. “I like to keep busy. I would hate to have tons of free time.

But that’s always been a problem—scheduling and rehearsals.”

One such busy weekend is coming up. McCoy will perform with the Vassar Devils on Friday, Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. in Blodgett Auditorium. Then the junior is off to New York City on Saturday for a holiday-themed concert by Voices of Gotham at 8 p.m.

With his little spare time, McCoy has been working on arranging barbershop music.

He modestly explained the process: “There’s a little manual you can get. Studying and being around the music, you pick up things and figure out how it works. To figure out how it all fits in is interesting.”

A specific style of a cappella harmony, barbershop consists of four parts: The lead sings the melody, bass sings the lowest notes, baritone the middle and tenor the highest.

“I know that people picture barbershop harmony as being four old guys wearing straw hats, but really it’s much more that,” McCoy described. He added, “new, young, dynamic quartets and choruses like mine are helping to make barbershop more approachable, along with innovative arrangements and fusing styles like jazz and contemporary a cappella to create a new ‘face’ of barbershop.”

Through his comments, McCoy reveals more than just a passion for singing, but rather a deep appreciation for the intricacies and inner-workings of a complex skill.

He understands that singing involves stylistic elements in addition to the physical, vocal performance. Thus, he displays maturity with the craft rather than a flippant attitude.

That is how he is creating a new face of singing as a whole.

Alex McCoy ’11 practices with the Vassar Devils. McCoy is involved with many choral groups on and off campus, such as the Madrigal Singers and NYC’s Voices of Gotham.

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Pounder reveals alum archaeologists David Lopez

U

Reporter

ncovering an artifact from the earth and reconstructing an ancient culture through examination and interpretation of the materials is just part of the job for an archaeologist. Every trace of what remains from a past society helps to build an understanding of how the society functions; every artifact is a piece in the larger societal puzzle. It is this enigmatic challenge that often finds archeologists whose own lives become engrained in their work.

Robert Pounder, Professor Emeritus of Classics, will give a lecture on this relation of life and work, covering the lives of two prominent American archaeological couples: Bert Hodge Hill and Ida Thallon Hill (Vassar class of 1897), and Carl Blegen and Elizabeth Pierce Blegen (Vassar class of 1910).

“This lecture will provide a biographical sketch of [these] four prominent American archaeologists of the first half of the 20th century and discussion of their intertwined personal and professional lives,” wrote Pounder in an e-mailed statement.

Pounder will discuss the personal lives and professional work of these four iconic archaeologists, and the way in which the two were intimately connected.

“It will also offer brief analysis of their work in Greece and its influence on archaeology as a science and social institution,” Pounder explained.

Pounder said that lectures by retired faculty members are a longstanding tradition in the Classics Department. “In the Vassar Classics Department there has long been a tradition of inclusion of retired professors in departmental activities, even though retirees have no formal duties,” he said.

Pounder’s lecture, entitled “Bert & Ida & Carl & Libbie: Four Lives in Archaeology,”

will focus on the lives of these four American archaeologists as well as covering the influence archaeology has had on the analytical study of ancient civilizations. “Archaeology is the study of ancient cultures through examination and interpretation of material remains, which may include artifacts, architecture, skeletal remains or flora and fauna,” explained Pounder.

Unlike other lectures that solely focus on the technical results of archaeology, Pounder’s lecture will flow in and out of the archeologists’ personal lives to navigate their lifetime careers in archaeology and their influence on the field’s development. “Lectures such as this attempt to place prominent scholars in a human context and to view their scholarly achievements in terms of their personal lives,” explained Pounder.

Pounder explained that, because of the lecture’s focus on the lives as well as the work of the four archaeologists, it will be interesting and accessible even to audiences who know nothing about classics or archaeology. “This lecture is really about human commitment and accommodation to circumstance and defiance of societal convention,” wrote Pounder. “As such, it may interest classicists and general audiences alike.”

The lecture should be interesting to a general audience at Vassar in particular, since both Elizabeth Pierce Blegen and Ida Thallon Hill were Vassar alumnae, and Ida Thallon Hill was also a Vassar professor.

Though he has retired as a professor, Pounder currently works for the College part-time as a Special Assistant to President Catharine Bond Hill. He explained that this job consists of “assisting President Hill and my colleagues in the fundraising efforts that are vital to institutional strength.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

December 10, 2009

ARTS

Transylmania college road humor at its worst Transylmania David and Scott Hillenbrand [Full Circle]

I

chuckled at a joke in Transylmania. This joke, and this joke alone, is what merited this movie one half of a star. What is this saving grace, this gaudy movie’s brief and wondrous bastion of humor? Let me tell you all about it: About a third of the way into the film, nondescript horny male college student A tries to give nondescript horny male college student B sex advice. “You know what you should look at?” student A asks. “The erotic comic books I’ve been writing alongside my memoirs.”

Yes, I chuckled at this joke in Transylmania, this not-altogether un-clever snippet of absurdity. It was not the kind of chuckle that would give a movie a star in its entirety, mind you. That would be a more wholesome expression of profound amusement, perhaps involving my hands clasped on my belly and my head thrown backwards. This was a decidedly half-hearted and half-star worthy guffaw—lackadaisical and somewhat forced.

It made me feel unclean afterwards. I actually took a shower later in a grungy Lathrop bathroom, softly crying to myself while rocking back and forth in the fetal position.

Great acting, clever writing, emotional engagement and competent design; all of this and more were likely enjoyed by the lucky ducks watching the film Brothers in the theater next to mine. Why did the seemingly

Oscar-contending powerhouse starring the likes of Jake Gyllenhal, Tobey Macguire and Natalie Portman have to start at one o’clock?

Why did the Leprechaun shuttle have to arrive 30 minutes too late for me to get a ticket?

Why was the National Lampoon wannabe I saw instead even in theaters, when by all rights it should have been a straight-to-DVD “special unrated edition” kinda deal? Why was the theater empty besides one other person, making me wish I were invisible whenever the oh-so-judgmental usher passed me by with his icy, jeering eyes? Why did the other attendee sit behind me and laugh way too loudly in between mouthfuls of popcorn every time there was a penis joke?

Of course it would be hypocritical of me not to remind you once again that, yes, I too chuckled at a joke in Transylmania. But I’m happy to say it at least wasn’t one of the penis jokes. Oh, the onslaught of penis jokes. And weed jokes and poop jokes and every shade of sex joke on the fourth-grade humor color wheel. I have nothing against these on principle—it’s just that none of them were good at all. I feel bad for all of the pubescent males who will sneak this thing into their rooms late at night for the female nudity, but will have to suffer through a film where stoners eat goat testicles and characters spend a straight minute vomiting into overflowing buckets. There are more dignified ways to see boobies, boys.

Please take heed.

But I digress. Transylmania, believe it or not, has a plot. Rusty (aka horny, male college student A) goes to spend a semester abroad in Romania with his friends in order to visit his girlfriend he found over the Internet. The

eclectic gang of nerds, stoners and bros party it up on a chaotic campus rife with sexy vampire babes, a hunchbacked nymphomaniac, an evil midget principal and a host of other eccentrics. Sounds like your typical college road trip movie, right? Wrong: It’s way worse.

My viewing experience was salvaged by the therapeutic retreat of my blue raspberry Icee. I wish that I had written my review about that in hindsight. There was so much more to say. It was so much more complex and engaging than any of the movie’s idiotic dialogue, sweeter than any of the botched attempts at romantic narrative, smoother than the choppy editing and almost as cold as the film’s reception has been with critics (can you say zero percent rating on rottentomatos.com?) And goodness gracious it was yummers. I made up a small game to pass the time: Every time something I saw onscreen that made me question my faith in humanity, I treated myself to a life-affirming sip of corn syrup deliciousness. So, I would just like to make something clear: The blue raspberry Icee sold to me at 1:46 p.m. by the short, freckled, male employee at Regal 16 Cinemas at the Poughkeepsie Galleria gets three and a half stars. Kudos!

I will be eternally grateful for the hope instilled within me thanks to that majestic Icee of the gods. But despite its profound effect on my Sunday afternoon, it will not be what will forever linger upon my conscious. You see, the fact of the matter is, I chuckled at a joke in Transylmania. It was a joke about erotic comic books. And I chuckled at it.

How can I carry on now?

Page 17

1

HALF-HANDED CLOUD

Cut Me Down & Count

a

My Rings

[Asthmatic Kitty]

2

GROOMS

Rejoicer

3

[Death by Audio]

CLARE & THE REASONS

Arrow

4

[Frogstand]

CANDY CLAWS

In The Dream Of

The Sea Life

[Indiecater]

5

I LOVE YOU

Bell Ord Forest

[Joyful Noise]

Listen live at wvkr.org

‘Rear Window’ recreates voyeuristic suspense Alexandra Sarrigeorgiou

A

Reporter

single spotlight illuminated the left side of the stage, where a man sat in a wheelchair, his leg in a cast, talking on the phone.

More lights popped up as he talked, calling the audience’s attention to different silent scenes set up around (and above) the performance space. A ballet dancer exercised, a woman drank alone in her room, an amorous couple shut their curtain and another couple yelled at one another in heated argument.

Soon it dawned on me that these scenes were representations of what was being viewed by the man through his neighbors’ windows. But through this innocent hobby, he involuntarily witnesses suspicious activities that he interprets as the makings of a terrible murder.

And so the thrills begin in Unbound’s production of “Rear Window” on opening night last Thursday.

The man in the wheelchair, a photographer named Mr. Jefferies (Max Fagin ’10), convinces his girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Arianna Gass ’13), his nurse Stella McGaffery (Siobhan Reddy-Best ’13) and his detective friend Tom Doyle (Daniel Lemke ’10) that his neighbor Lars Thorwald (Evan Kaplan ’10) murdered his wife. They all soon set out to investigate the murder, putting their own lives in danger

in the process. For those of you who are not familiar with Alfred Hitchcock’s work, his films are known for being masterful combinations of humor and suspense. It is the recreation of that suspense on stage that became the greatest challenge for the cast and crew of “Rear Window,” directed by Lizy Yagoda ’10 and performed in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater last weekend.

In a film, suspense is easier to build up.

The camera allows the audience to gain more knowledge about the dramatic situation than the protagonists. This makes the audience feel uneasy knowing that something bad is about to happen, but powerless to prevent it from happening. This kind of suspense was Hitchcock’s trademark technique, something that was recreated very successfully in the stage production of “Rear Window.” The clever stage by Caroline Picher ’13 and lighting design by Medha Sahi ’13 gave the audience a false sense of voyeurism. When the lights went on in Thornwald’s apartment, I followed his suspicious activity and hoped that Jefferies was looking through that window, too, to witness what was going on. But of course there were times when we could see that Jefferies was distracted and not looking out of his window while something suspicious was going on. And if this kind of situ-

ation didn’t increase the tension enough, the climactic ending sure did; I watched through the window alongside the panic-stricken Jefferies as Fremont hid in Thornwald’s apartment as the murderer himself entered his abode and then later followed Thornwald as he entered Jefferies’ apartment.

The excitement-filled world of Manhattan in 1954 came alive in this production through props and costumes (designed by Emily Leimkuhler ’10) reminiscent of the time. But suspense could not have been created without good acting. And while I think every actor did a wonderful job at bringing forth both the humorous and the thrilling aspects of the story, I couldn’t help but be enormously impressed by all the silent acting involved in the production. Throughout almost the entire play, we could only hear Jefferies, Fremont, McGaffery and Doyle converse with clever wit. Every other character, however, was silent, with the actors mouthing entire dialogues. This really added to the audience following the action from the point of view of Jefferies. Through his window, he could only see, never hear, what was going on, and so could we. The voyeuristic element of the play worked so well because it made the audience feel like they were in on a secret throughout the play.

A Capella groups harmonize on future goals A CAPELLA continued from page 15 strives to make sure that the audience has as much fun as we do! We are dedicated to every song we bring to the table so that it sounds great and has a lot of heart and energy in it.

New Year’s resolutions: Next semester we’re recording another CD! Favorite songs from your repertoire: “Fidelity,” by Regina Spektor and a Lady Gaga medley.

Concerts: Final concert with the Yale

Dukesmen is this Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. in the Aula!

Matthew’s Minstrels (represented

by Shelby Wardlaw ’10) New Year’s resolutions: One of our biggest goals for next semester is to take a trip to another college for an away-concert. We have been planning to do this for years but have never gotten it together. We hope that this next semester we will! We also want to have

an amazing final concert next semester and to continue to arrange and sing good music!

Favorite songs from your repertoire: My two favorites right now are our two new ones because they are so exciting: “Hey Eugene” by Pink Martini and “Cry Me a River”

by Justin Timberlake. I also always have a soft spot in my heart for “Midnight Train to Georgia.”

The Matthew’s Minstrels’ final concert was yesterday.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Bill Maher Ulster Performing Arts Center Friday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m. $55 In no unclear terms does Bill Maher make his famous concluding remarks in the 2008 documentary Religulous: “Religion must die for man to live.” For a movie with such weighty subject material, it might seem odd that Maher is a comedian. He hosted the popular show “Politically Incorrect,” on Comedy Central before moving on to HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.” And to further embellish his accomplishments, he dated Playboy supermodel Coco Johnsen. His performance will no doubt draw both from his recent success as a political pundit and as his humble beginnings on the New York stand-up comedy scene.

—Erik Lorenzsonn, Arts Editor

The Misfits The Chance Sunday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m. $20 at door As one of the originating members of the Horror Punk subgenre, the Misfits have garnered quite a name for themselves since their beginnings in the late 1970s. Describing their inception with the words “From hell they came,” the Misfits further characterize their music as “aggressive, confrontational and dangerous with violent lyrics seen through the eyes of a monster.” Despite this terror-inducing repertoire, The Misfits have accumulated a global fan base and continue to produce new music in their thirty-plus year of existence. They will perform alongside the Cro-mags, Soul for Sale, Buddha Heroes, Briarcliff and Downfire.

—E.L.

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December 10, 2009

SPORTS

Page 19

Michael Wood: father, coach and Vassar Security officer Lillian Reuman Sports Editor

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ou may have seen Vassar Security Officer Michael Wood patrolling the Moulin Rouge event this past weekend, but what you may not have known is that Wood is also the founder and coach of a community-wide basketball program, the Poughkeepsie Royals. For the past two years, the team has served as a youth organization by providing opportunities for the personal growth of young athletes while reinforcing self-confidence, self-esteem, and the ability to excel on and off the basketball court. Several years ago, support for the program—formerly known as HYPE (Helping Young People Excel)—and its collaborative partner the New Hope Community Center was dwindling, so Wood took it upon himself to revamp the not-for-profit organization.

The program hosts practices and games for kids aged 10 to 14 years in the Poughkeepsie area. The Poughkeepsie Royals also collaborates with local organizations and is currently working on a venture with the Children’s Media Project. “We’re trying to do some type of documentary that will allow the program to gain more exposure and encourage kids to get involved,” Wood said.

Wood has also introduced the Poughkeepsie Royals program to other community centers. In August, the program held a basketball tournament at the local Jewish Community

Center. The team invited over 70 players from New York City and Rockland County. The Children’s Home of Poughkeepsie was also involved. Wood continued to serve his mission by using athletics as a tool to boost children’s self-esteem.

Prior to landing a job at Vassar, Wood played basketball in high school in the Poughkeepsie area before moving to the southern United States where he continued to play ball. He also played for Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams and other travel teams. Upon returning to Poughkeepsie several years later, he found that there were not many local resources for kids since the local YMCA had closed. Wood also spent time working for the Poughkeepsie Police Department in the Youth Division.

From first hand exposure, he noticed that kids in his sons’ generation seemed as if “they had nothing to live for.” He then got the idea to get involved and work with young boys in the community. He also got involved for the benefit of his own young sons, Maxwell and Zachary. “When I was young, many things were offered to me that always kept me busy,” Wood said. “A lot of these kids have talents, but they don’t have the resources to practice.”

As a member of the Vassar community, Wood is a strong supporter of Vassar athletics.

He has served as a bridge between the Vassar Athletics Department and the greater Poughkeepsie community. “Vassar has done a great

deal for me,” Wood said. “It has opened up a lot of doors for me as well, and I commend Vassar for that.” Wood received funding from the Good Neighbors Partnership, run by Sam Speers, in order to fund the Poughkeepsie Royals program. “[Speers] has been very generous to us on three separate occasions,” Wood commented. “I take advantage of the perks that I am offered by working here, such as meeting new people and using the facilities.”

Wood has given back to the Vassar community and furthered community ties. The Poughkeepsie Royals recently registered a team in the Dunk for Darfur tournament and currently has an intramural team, boasting a record of 5-2, through Vassar’s intramural program. Last year, Wood and the Poughkeepsie Royals collaborated with the Vassar After School Tutoring (VAST) Plus Program by adding an additional component for students who want to play sports after school. Members of the Vassar men’s basketball team also helped out with the VAST program, and Wood hopes that the athletes will return after their season concludes next semester. “Being at Vassar enables me to bring the kids on campus and play ball,” Wood said.

Beyond inviting the Vassar athletes to join them in their successes, the Poughkeepsie Royals Program also has big plans in store. Wood is organizing a trip to a professional basketball game so that the players who are doing well in the classroom will have an incentive to keep up

their performance. The incentive? High-fives from the Cleveland Cavaliers!

Wood plans to provide recruiting exposure for the young athletes through the Poughkeepsie Royals Program. “We’re trying to broaden their horizons,” Wood said. “A lot of these kids have not even been out of Poughkeepsie.”

Wood hopes to bring team members to the nation’s premier open evaluation session, the Adidas Super 64.

“My goal someday is to have a vacant community center with a basketball court and classroom side by side to emphasize that learning can go hand in hand with athletics,” Wood said. Inspired by his sons and recent work in the community, Wood has high hopes for the growth of the AAU-affiliated Poughkeepsie Royals program. “It’s important for the young adults to be able to take advantage of everything that is around them without forcing them to choose between school and sports.” Wood hopes that the Poughkeepsie community will unite and provide resources for success to better the next generation.

For his own sons, Wood advises that they can use basketball “as a vehicle.” He adds that, “As long as they keep their grades up, they can get a great education, and that’s my sole purpose.”

For more information about Wood’s program, check out his two-part documentary “Baller Education” on YouTube or visit his website at poughkeepsieroyals.com.

Sullivan sets 1, 3 meter records Set standards on court, in class Mitchell Gilburne Reporter

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ho swims like a fish and sings like a bird? If you’re stumped, don’t kick yourself over it because there’s only one athlete who fits the bill. If you haven’t guessed already, the answer is Greg Sullivan ’12. It should come as no surprise to see Sullivan gracing the sports section as his continued accomplishments as a diver make him a valuable and buzz-worthy commodity. Sullivan just doesn’t stop! In fact, he shattered two school diving records for both the one- and threemeter dives as recently as Nov. 20 of this year.

Did I mention that he was the one who set the records in the first place? With jaw dropping scores of 290.32 and 323.84 on the one and three meters respectively, Sullivan re-establishes his position as Vassar’s diver to beat.

Diving since the tender age of six, Sullivan continued to hone his craft through his freshman year at the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ. However, high school introduced Sullivan to the harsh reality of tough decisions. The diving season was in the winter as was the school musical; so, Sullivan made a choice and hung his Speedo out to dry. Three years later, with the college process behind him, Sullivan was back on the board. He admits that his ability to both dive and act influenced his choice to attend Vassar. “[Vassar] lets me combine my two passions,” he says matter-offactly. Relying on gumption and muscle memory alone, Sullivan took to the water almost instantly; however, his reintegration into the sport was not without difficulties. Sullivan’s challenges were not all academic his freshman year, for the recently returned diver had only ever competed on the one-meter board, and now he found himself learning dives at three times that height. Sullivan attributes much of his success to the fact that he “had an amazing coach and trusted him.”

It didn’t take long to realize that trust is paramount in the sport of diving. Sullivan explained, “Diving is about honing your technique, but also it’s about learning new, harder dives. So, when you go up on the board to try a new dive, you’re trusting that your coach has prepared you to do that dive and that you won’t get hurt.” And, speaking of difficult dives, Sullivan dives with the grace and ferocity of a falcon with a degree of difficulty of 2.8 out of 4.0. Just for some context, a degree of difficulty of 3.0 is at

the Olympic level. Diving Coach Tom Albright adds, “The type of dive he does is as good as a lot of Division I programs, and I’ve been very impressed with the list that he’s put together over the last year and a half.”

Trust also functions on a personal level.

Each dive lasts no more than 1.5 seconds. It’s done almost before you can realize it began.

Diving is not a sport for the faint of heart. Every hour of every week of training is boiled down into one significant morsel of time, and you’re not judged on the weeks or the hours, but solely on those slim isolated seconds of airtime. Sullivan shares that, “The anticipation before a dive is intense, and that you take that anticipation and your coaching, and you put trust in your own body that it will do what you’ve trained it to do.”

Sullivan recognizes with an endearing sort of smug charm that his personal achievements in his sport have been great. However, he quickly maintains that the team element of diving is highly important even in such an individualized sport. Practices build comfort and create an environment in which the divers can experiment and push each other to succeed at harder and more exciting dives. And when somebody belly flops, at least there are friends nearby who are willing to help you laugh it off. “You’re so much more likely to try a new dive when everyone around you is pushing themselves and smacking themselves in the water,” Sullivan explains with a grin. As a captain, Sullivan is no stranger to stepping up and taking the lead, a trait which does not go unnoticed by his coach. “He shares his expertise with the other kids on the program,” said Albright. “He’s a big help, they really look to him for encouragement, and that’s what a captain’s supposed to do.” Swimming and diving is a single, team event, and individual scores are all that help propel Vassar up the rankings.

Sullivan looks back fondly on his time at last year’s New York State Swimming and Diving Championships. “It was really wonderful diving against people that really challenged me,” he says. There was something intangibly satisfying about knowing that all of the divers present were of the highest caliber. Diving calls for constant improvement, and as Sullivan continues his great swan dive through his time at Vassar, he only becomes better and stronger and a good deal more to reckon with.

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he NCAA recently published its 19th Annual Graduation Rate Report for Division I Athletics, which chronicles nationwide graduation rates by school, gender and sport for all schools competing at the highest level of collegiate athletics. The results, although generally positive in that the rates hit record highs, were nonetheless marred by some truly disconcerting facts.

For student-athletes who entered college between 1999 and 2002, the overall graduation success rate (GSR) was 79 percent according to the NCAA. At the top were the University of Notre Dame and Colgate University, which both stood out with a 99 percent GSR. These universities were followed closely by the United States Naval Academy, Wofford College and the University of New Hampshire. In terms of sports, on the men’s side, lacrosse stood out with an 88 percent national average GSR, followed by skiing with 87 percent and water polo with 86 percent. On the women’s side, skiing was on top with a 98 percent GSR, followed by gymnastics and lacrosse, both with 94 percent.

Interestingly, 10 women’s sports had a higher GSR than that of men’s lacrosse, with eight women’s teams boasting a GSR above 90 percent, compared to none on the men’s side with such high rates.

At the other end of the spectrum, though, the picture was not as rosy. Women’s cross country/track and basketball, two of the most popular women’s sports nationwide, ranked fourth and third lowest in terms of GSR with just 85 and 83 percent, respectively. The only lower rates than these were in riflery and bowling, which had GSRs of 82 and 74 percent, respectively. The situation was even worse on the men’s side, where the two most popular sports, basketball and football, easily had the lowest GSRs. Division 1-A football was third worst with a 67 percent GSR, followed by Division 1-AA football, with 64 percent, and basketball, with 62. Men’s basketball’s graduation rate is absolutely embarrassing and unacceptable, especially for a sport that is on television daily and hosts the largest NCAA event by far, March Madness.

While many have looked at the recent NCAA report positively, I for one believe that there is still a very long way to go. I find it almost inexcusable that at the Division I level, where full athletic scholarships are given en masse for a non-academic purpose, there still exist such low graduation rates, especially

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

for the biggest, most popular and well-funded sports. The statistics clearly indicate that there is some sort of problem that needs to be remedied. The fact that schools are patting each other on the back boasting how their sports have ranked in the latest report does nothing to solve that. Personally, I believe that in the same way that the NCAA regulates athletic requirements for students to be able to participate in athletics, so too should it regulate the school’s graduation quotas to qualify an NCAA sport for competition.

Schools need to be held accountable for their teams’ graduation rates because, after all, the schools are responsible for ensuring that the athletes receive the degree they expect to receive. That’s true across the board, but especially at the Division I level where each athlete constitutes a six-figure investment in the form of scholarships and expenses and also serves as a major revenue source for schools.

Thus, in my world, schools like Utah Valley University, which “boasts” a 28 percent GSR, and Chicago State University, with its 38 percent GSR, would be put on probation in terms of competing in NCAA Division I athletics, with fines applicable in the form of scholarship restrictions. For students who have failed to graduate and maintain an acceptable academic track record, I propose we deny them the rights to receive athletic scholarships and limit their allowed games, effectively penalizing both the students who need to study and the school that loses revenue stream and exposure.

However, I propose that the penalties apply not only to overall low statistics, but also to major inconsistencies present within individual teams. More specifically, I am referring to the fact that minority athletes graduate at an alarmingly lower rate than their white counterparts. A study done by the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport showed that across the 63 men’s basketball teams that competed in the NCAA tournament, 80 percent of white student-athletes graduated (over the same period as the recent NCAA report), compared with just 58 percent of black student-athletes.

Such a wide discrepancy is again illustrative of a more complex problem that needs a solution, and the only real way to gain results is for the NCAA to pressure schools with particularly large disparities, especially seeing as some had graduation rates for black student-athletes at below 25 percent.

SPORTS

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December 10, 2009

Vassar makes splash at Liberty League championships Lillian Reuman Sports Editor

ard work pays off. The new training regimen adopted by the women and men’s swimming and diving teams proved to be successful as the squads placed fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Liberty League Championships on Dec. 4 and 5 in Rochester, N.Y. The women’s team matched last season’s finish by landing in fourth place once again with 408 points. The Brewers came in behind top finishers University of Rochester, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union College, as Interim Head Coach Paul Kueterman predicted.

Although the team was without Head Coach Lisl Prater-Lee and several standout swimmers who had either graduated or were studying abroad, the Brewers garnered impressive feats all around. Kueterman noted that “it [will be] hard to replace [graduated seniors] Emily Love and Allison Koenker, but the team will need to step up.” For juniors Ilene Goodman, Samantha Jones and Melisa Brower, the League Championships served as the athletes’ final opportunity to showcase their progress before leaving to study abroad next semester. The team certainly answered the call and rose to the challenge.

Between the two days of championship racing, Caroline Shannon ’12 tallied four top-four individual finishes in addition to leading two relay

Courtesy of Sports Information

H

teams that each came in fourth place. Teammate Shannon Sara ’13 was the top seed in the 400 IM, 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle going in to the race on Friday. Sara finished fifth in the 500 Freestyle on the first day and added a sixth place finish in the 200 Breaststroke the following day.

Jones secured third and fourth place finishes in her individual races, as well.

Diver Amelia Couture ’12 placed 15th. This season, she was joined by two freshman newcomers Christie Musket and Carolyn McLean, who placed 11th and 14th, respectively. The men’s swimming and diving team closed out the fall portion of their season with a fifth place finish out of seven Liberty League teams. Jack Smart ’12 was seeded first in the 400 IM upon entering the race and managed to snag a second place finish in both the 400 IM and 200 Breaststroke on the final day of competition. Smart also placed fifth in the 100 Breaststroke. Classmate Greg Sullivan ’12 had an impressive showing on the diving board that landed him in second place for the one- and three-meter events. Swimmer Jeremy Shiman ’10 tallied three top-10 finishes in the final League Championship of his college career. Vassar freshmen Nicholas Veazie and Mathue Duhaney also had top-10 finishes in their League Championship debuts.

While Prater-Lee is on sabbatical, Kueterman has been able to take the reins and put his person-

Sophomore Jack Smart had two second-place finishes at the Liberty League Championships. al stamp on the swimming and diving programs.

Kueterman was thankful for the “great opportunity” that has “allowed [him] to grow” in conjunction with his fellow coaches, Erica Ellis and Tom Albright. In the week leading up to the Liberty League Championships, Kueterman put a new taper-rest, conditioning program in place for the teams. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday of the past week, the team had morning lifting sessions immediately followed by a pool workout. The athletes then returned for a second session in the afternoon. On Tuesday and Thursday, the team simply had afternoon practices. After speaking to the team at the end of last season, “it seemed

to resonate that they all wanted to get better,” Kueterman said. “There is no question that this program has helped us and led to good results.”

During winter break, the Brewers will get together in Plantation, Fla. for their annual training trip where they aim to improve upon their current standings. The team will be joined by teammate Marissa Mandel ’11 who is currently studying abroad in Israel. “It will be nice that she can join the team this year in some capacity,” Kueterman commented. With commitment from all swimmers, both on campus and abroad, the team hopes to triumph at the upcoming State Championships.

Emily Haeuser becomes 7th to score 1,000

SCOREBOARD

Despite the 54-48 loss to Brooklyn, the women’s basketball Dec. 5 game broke Vassar record books when Emily Haeuser ’10 reached a milestone 1,000 career points

DECEMBER 6 MEN’S SQUASH

Andy Marmer

A

Reporter

fter winning two of their first three games of the season, Vassar lost its third straight women’s basketball game last Saturday 54-48 to Brooklyn College in a back and forth affair. The loss dropped the Brewers to 2-4 in their final game of the fall season. Vassar was led by center Emily Haeuser ’10 with 14 points, while Brooklyn’s Frances Lyons led her team with 23 points.

In the first half, both teams had long stretches of individual domination. Vassar started off hot, jumping out to a 14-4 lead behind six points from Natalie Allen ’13, including the game’s first four. Brooklyn responded with a 14-point run of their own, effectively evening up the game.

By halftime, the two teams were tied at 21.

Although each of Haeuser’s 14 points was crucial for the Brewers, one stood out above the rest. When she made a free throw with 7:29 remaining in the contest to cut Brooklyn’s lead to 46-41, Haeuser became the seventh player in Vassar history to record her milestone 1,000th

career point. Following Haeuser’s 1,000th point, the game briefly stopped as Haeuser received a standing ovation from all those in attendance. Upon realizing what had occurred, her teammates immediately began jumping up and down in celebration of her achievement. Point guard Brittany Parks ’12 said, “It was exciting to see such a dedicated basketball player achieve this well-deserved milestone.”

Haeuser, who entered the game with 989 career points, also recorded 11 rebounds in the game. Initially, it seemed as though she might struggle to reach the milestone, scoring just five points in the first half. However, the senior captain showed her leadership skills at a crucial point, with Vassar trying to claw their way back into the game. Haeuser made three straight shots drawing fouls on each of them to record nine points in three trips down the floor.

The milestone came on the middle of the three, a hook shot in the paint on a free throw.

Behind Haeuser’s leadership, Vassar got back into the game, eventually tying it at 48-48

on a free throw by Carolyn Crampton ’11 with 3:31 left to play. Brooklyn retook the lead, 50-48, on a Lyons jumper on the next possession. Vassar could not equalize again, but the tenacious Vassar defense made Brooklyn fight to the very end, only taking a two-possession lead on an Ashley Allen three-pointer with 25 seconds left.

The game saw two double-doubles, with Haeuser recording 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Lyons recording 23 points and 11 boards.

Brooklyn’s Amber Gordon was close to becoming the third player on that list, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Despite the defeat, Head Coach Candice Brown did not read into this single game too much. “We played hard on the defensive end.

We did exactly what was necessary to win the game, we just didn’t make shots. We shot the worst field goal percentage thus far. We are continuously getting better, and despite three losses by four, seven and six points, we will experience success this year,” Brown said in an e-mailed statement.

Sports Briefs Men’s, women’s squash fall to Amherst College

Courtesy of Sports Information

Senior Captain Arjun Agarwala fell to Amherst’s Andrew Kriete ’11 in three games (11-5, 11-7, 11-1) on Dec. 16 at the Kenyon Courts. Agarwala occupies the team’s no. 3 spot.

In a home meet at the Kenyon Courts on Dec. 5, the men’s and women’s squash teams both fell to nationally ranked Amherst College. Although the women were only one match short of winning with a score of 5-4, the men’s team couldn’t capture a single match and fell to their competitor 9-0.

With the Brewers ranked at no. 18 nationally, the score of the women’s match versus Amherst, ranked no. 17, truly captured the close, competitive nature of the event. Losses in the first and second positions played by Emilie Kraft ’10 and Kristine Bell ’11, respectively, contributed to the team’s first loss of the season. Libby Pei ’13 in the no. 3 spot managed to capture a win in five games against her Amherst opponent and earned the title of Liberty League Performer of the Week.

Falling to 3-4 on the season, the men’s squash team could not post a win over any of the Amherst foes. All individual matches finished in three short rounds.

—Lillian Reuman, Sports Editor

Williams men’s basketball beats Vassar, 111-74 With points in the triple digits, the Williams College Ephs defeated the Vassar Brewers in Williamstown, Mass. on the evening of Dec. 5. With the loss, Vassar fell to 2-5 on the season. Midway through the first half, Williams had already established a lead of 16 points, which later increased to 36 points by halftime when the score stood at 59-23. Despite desperate efforts to cut the lead after halftime, the Brewers couldn’t manage to fight off Williams’ 12-point run. Although Vassar scored a season high 51 points in the second half, the team was not able to pull off the win. Vassar will face the College of William & Mary on Dec. 19.

—L. R.

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4

VANDERBILT

5

DECEMBER 6 WOMEN’S SQUASH VASSAR

VS

9

VANDERBILT

0

DECEMBER 6 MEN’S SQUASH VASSAR

VS

0

BATES

9

DECEMBER 8 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VASSAR

47

AT

WESTERN CONN.

73