The Miscellany News Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com
April 19, 2012
Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
Volume CXLV | Issue 21
Key campus issues come to the fore Council moves to pass as candidates eye leadership roles Constitution revisions Leighton Suen News editoR
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Katie De Heras for The Miscellany News
Both Jewett House President Clayton Masterman ’13 (left) and Vassar Student Association (VSA) Vice President for Finance Jason Rubin ’13 (right) are contending for the coveted position of VSA president. Voting begins on April 21. Dave Rosenkranz editoR iN CHieF
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s the Vassar Student Association (VSA) spring election campaign period approaches its April 21 conclusion, candidates for Executive Board, Council and House Team Positions are redoubling their efforts to promote
many VSA candidates share these priorities, and, often, candidates running in contested races express similar concerns and propose similar solutions. Current Jewett House Freshmen Representative and aspiring Jewett House President Jake See CANDIDATES on page 4
themselves and thier platforms. In the April 12 issue of The Miscellany News, an article titled “Council Elections Underway” outlined some of the issues that students and graduating VSA Council members perceive to be superlative, including the social atmosphere and campus communication. Naturally,
t its most recent meeting on Sunday, April 15, the members of the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council unanimously voted to adopt an amended Constitution and Bylaws. The Sunday prior, the VSA Operations Committee had presented a series of 55 minor amendments that aimed to address inconsistencies, ambiguities and errors in the VSA’s governing documents (“‘Constitutia-thon’ presages VSA documents clean-up,” 4.12.12). “This has been the product of a
year’s worth of work by the Operations Committee,” said Vice President for Operations Jenna Konstantine ’13 proudly. “The amount of focus and dedication that they put into this project has been remarkable. This is something that the VSA has been trying to accomplish for years…It was very much a group effort.” “Since I decided that I was going to be VP of Operations,” continued Konstantine, “one of the things [I decided to do] was to make the VSA more accessible and make things more easy See CONSTITUTION on page 4
Orgs raise awareness about sexual assault Marie Solis RepoRteR
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hite ribbons, purple bandanas and temporary tattoos may be small gestures individually, but collectively they indicate Sexual Assault Awareness Week (SAAW), a national event with far more significance than the objects taken individually. The event is aimed at making the Vassar community conscious of the reality of personal violations as they pertain to Vassar’s campus and society in general. All of the events during the week were co-sponsored by CARES and the
Feminist Alliance, two organizations that have missions directly related to issues surrounding sexual violence. CARES, a confidential and nonjudgmental listening center that offers support to anyone affected by issues of personal violation, is the traditional sponsor of the week. “It always takes place sometime in April, which is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month,” said CARES member Zoe Levenson ’12. In regards to the importance of hosting this event, Levenson explained, “Sexual Assault Awareness See SAAW on page 8
Women’s tennis wins Nathan brings VC laughs Saturday Seven Sister’s title B Jack Owen
assistaNt aRts editoR
Andy Marmer spoRts editoR
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ith a dramatic come-frombehind victory over Wellesley College in the final match of the annual Seven Sisters Championship, the Vassar College women’s tennis team earned its 10th Seven Sisters title in program history this past Sunday. The round robin tournament featured teams from Wellesley, Smith College, Bryn Mawr College and host Mount Holyoke College. Each match consisted of three singles contests
and two doubles bouts. A win in any of the five matches earned the team one point, with the winner being determined by total points. Entering the final match of the two-day tournament, both Vassar and Wellesley had gone 15-0 with 5-0 victories over the other three teams. The Wellesley match started ominously for the Brewers with Ava Sadeghi ’15 falling 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 singles. Vassar, though, leveled the score at one when Captain Joy Backer ’12 and See TENNIS on page 19
Inside this issue
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Star gazers rejoice about benefits of FeaTures observatory
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Future Waitstaff of America puts new spin on fairy tale
Courtesy of indianamericanstory.wordpress.com
Courtesy of Hobart William Smith Athletics
Above, members of the women’s tennis team pose with their championship trophy. The Brewers’ April 15 victory marks the program’s 10th Seven Sisters title.
ack in 1997, Vijai Nathan dropped her dream journalism job at The Baltimore Sun, broke up with her fiancé, and pursued a career as a stand-up comedian. Naturally, her parents were shocked and worried by her abrupt career transition, but Nathan has become the leading Indian-American female comedian, travelling both nationally and internationally to bring audiences stand-up hilarity. Sponsored by Vassar’s South Asian Students Alliance (SASA), Nathan will be performing on April 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 300. Nathan herself had not expected her career path to take such a surprising turn. “I think people think comedians are always the class clown or people who did theater in school but I was never that person. If you went to my school back then and asked anyone who was mostly likely to be a comedian, I would not have hit the top one hundred,” she explained. Nathan earned her Bachelors of Arts in Literature from McGill University. Her only involvement in student theater was in elementary school, and she found it unfulfilling. “I always ended up with a really crappy role,” she said. “I decided that performance wasn’t for me, and found that because I’m Indian I always got stuck with the same sort of roles.” Nathan joked her big roles were tooth decay, and Martin Luther
The South Asian Students Allience will host international stand-up comedian Vijai Nathan, pictured above, for a performance on April 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. King, Jr. But after taking an online comedy class through First Class while working as a journalist for the Baltimore Sun, she discovered a whole new realm of performance. “I found this thing that fulfilled me and that I enjoyed,” she said. “It was so different than the acting I had previously done because in those situations I was told who to be, but in stand-up I got to be entirely myself.” Nathan’s classmates also encouraged her to pursue comedy. “At the
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graduation showcase everyone was like, ‘You’re so funny you’re going to be the next Margaret Chang.’ I was like, that’s Margaret Cho but thank you,” she said with a laugh. Nathan started working in a café during the day, and did stand up in bars and other venues at night. Shortly after, she totaled her car, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it forced her to move to New York where she developed even more as a comedian. See NATHAN on page 16
Broooers capture the snitch at Butterbeer Classic