The Miscellany News | Oct. 28, 2010

The Miscellany News Since 1866 | miscellanynews.com

October 28, 2010

Volume CXLIV | Issue 6

SUNY cuts incite debates

Revision of Vassar Governance begins Molly Turpin

Editor in Chief

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Program cuts cause educators to reflect on values Mitchell Gilburne Features Editor

Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News

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The proposal endorsed by the VSA Council at its Oct. 24 meeting would transfer control of the Mug from Aramark to the Campus Activities Office.

VSA endorses proposal to remove Mug alcohol Joseph Rearick Guest Reporter

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ampus hot-spot Matthew’s Mug may see changes that will end the Mug’s 35-year run of selling alcohol.

On Sunday, Oct. 24, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) unanimously approved a proposal to terminate the control that Aramark, Vassar’s food service provider, exercises over the space, which would end the sale of liquor in the Mug. The VSA Activities Committee originated the proposal with the hope that the Mug will no

he College has begun the process of reviewing and revising the Governance, the document that defines structure of College operations, from the roles of trustees, administrators, faculty and students to hiring processes and committee charges. The review stems from a strong recommendation made by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education’s review as part of the College’s reaccreditation process in 2008-2009.

The Board of Trustees created the Governance Revision Steering Committee, which will ultimately make recommendations to the Board after finishing the revision process. The committee is led by Chair of the Board of Trustees William Plapinger ’74 and includes three other members of the Board, two student representatives, four faculty members who also sit on the

Faculty Policy and Conference Committee (FPCC), President of the College Catharine Bond Hill and Assistant to the President John Feroe, who serves as committee secretary. Though the group has some overarching goals, the committee is still in the very early stages of the process.

The Steering Committee met for the first time in the week preceding October Break. The meeting was very preliminary— described by Vassar Student Association Vice President for Operations Ruby Cramer ’12 “talking about talking about” the document.

Though the committee has not yet recommended any revisions and, in fact, likely will not reach that stage of the of the process until next year, there are several issues identified by the Middle States review and the committee members that review process will address. These include the overwhelming scope See GOVERNANCE on page 4

Women’s soccer bound for playoffs

longer be open for student use solely during the hours that Aramark chooses to operate it.

The debate about the sale of alcohol at the Mug has its roots in the College’s ongoing negotiations with Aramark about operating the space. Since the spring of 2008, when Aramark’s contract with the College was renewed, the Mug has been a legal hindrance to contract proceedings, primarily because of the risk involved in possessing a liquor license on a campus full See MUG on page 4

Madeline Zappala/The Miscellany News

tate University of New York (SUNY) Albany’s decision to cut their Italian, French, Russian, classics and theater programs has ignited scholarly discourse and has forced educators to question the global state of education.

Proficiency in a foreign language, particularly Latin and French, has long been a symbol of educated status. Now, however, these languages among other disciplines find themselves unrepresented at SUNY Albany, a public institution.

Now, the scholarly community at large is plagued by the implications of what many be seen as an affront to higher learning.

Vassar College’s Italian Department Chair Eugenio Giusti identifies what he feels to be the true mark of an education as, “growth of the individual, which needs to be a complete affirmation of the individual.” Giusti is firm in his conviction that an education, particularly when concerning foreign language, is an exchange; one that cannot be characterized by picking and choosing suitable components, but rather one that is fully and irreversibly experienced.

It is exactly this experience that much of Vassar’s faculty insists is integral to a complete See ALBANY on page 7

ViCE reveals Yeasayer for fall concert Erik Lorenzsonn Arts Editor

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Courtesy of blogs.villagevoice.com

Yeasayer, a Brooklyn-based experimental band, will be headlining ViCE’s annual fall concert on Nov. 12 in the Vassar Chapel. The opening acts have yet to be chosen.

Inside this issue

13 HUMOR

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Need a costume?

Our suggestions have you covered.

14 ARTS

xactly one week ago, Yeasayer joined the ranks of Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix as one of the few bands to grace the stage of the legendary Roundhouse performance venue in London, England. In a little over two weeks, the Brooklyn-based experimental band will follow up their biggest headline event with a concert on a smaller scale, but at a venue much more immediate to the Hudson Valley community: the Vassar Chapel.

Yeasayer will headline Vassar College Entertainment’s (ViCE) annual fall concert, which will take place in the Chapel on Friday, Nov. 12. The Classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014 are collaborating on the event, which will kick off at 8 p.m.

The fall concert will not mark the first time that Yeasayer has come to Vassar.

In February of 2007, the band performed with the pop-punk duo Matt and Kim for See BAND on page 16

The stage is set for first play of the Phil season

On Sunday, Oct. 24, the Vassar women’s soccer team qualified for the Liberty League playoffs for the first time in program history.

Andy Marmer Sports Editor

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or the first time in program history, the Vassar women’s soccer team has qualified for the Liberty League playoffs.

The Brewers concluded conference play this past Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010, with a 5-2 record in the Liberty League. Vassar’s five conference wins earned the team the no. 2 seed in the League playoffs.

While qualifying for the playoffs is an accomplishment for any team, for the women’s soccer squad it holds particular

19 SPORTS

value. Senior co-Captain Carolyn Demougeot wrote in an emailed statement, “In the world of soccer, going to the playoffs means everything to me. It’s been our goal for the last four years and we’ve never managed to clinch it. But today, we are a new team, and I’m excited to see how far we can go.”

At the start of the weekend, Vassar was tied with Union College for fourth place, with each team sporting a 3-2 record; Skidmore College sat just ahead of both squads at 3-1-1.

See SOCCER on page 18

Players to watch in the World Series

The Miscellany News

Page 2

October 28, 2010

Editor in Chief Molly Turpin Senior Editors Angela Aiuto Matthew Brock

Contributing Editor Lillian Reuman Lila Teeters

Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News

Photo of the Week: Summery weather meets fall foliage, when students spend time outside and play in the leaves piled in the residential quad.

Miscellany News Staff Editorial

In Congress, Representative Hall’s votes show commitment to students, education J

ohn Hall, the current representative from New York’s 19th congressional district, which includes the greater Arlington area and Vassar’s campus, is engaged in a re-election battle with first-time Republican candidate and former doctor, Nan Hayworth. Elected for the first time in 2006, Hall earned 51 percent of the vote in his initial victory and 59 percent of the vote in 2008. While in office, Hall has consistently supported policies that benefit students as well as educational institutions, such as Vassar. Due to his outstanding commitment to the important educational policies and to students, the Editorial Board of The Miscellany News endorses John Hall in the upcoming congressional election.

Earlier this year, Hall voted in favor of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. The bill, which has since been signed into law by President Barack Obama, served to expand the dollar value and number of Pell Grants, need-based grants to low-income post-secondary students. The bill also functioned to better relieve the debt students by capping the repayment level of loans at 10 percent of income above basic living requirements, down from 15 percent. The new law also forgives students’ federal loan debt after 20 years, down from former policy of 25 years.

The increase in Pell Grants and the augmentation of debt relief, is a strong step in the direction of increasing educational access, one of Vassar’s core values.

In addition, Hall co-sponsored and voted in favor of a bill to provide $26 billion in federal aid to school districts and states to

prevent large-scale layoffs; in particular, the bill targeted funding to public-school educators. While this bill was not predominately focused on higher education, the effects on postsecondary education are nevertheless clear: With increased staffing, schools are better able to prepare students for the academic rigors of higher education, in turn producing a more intellectually stimulated student body at colleges and universities nationwide.

While in Congress, Hall also voted in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as the health care reform bill. Many disagreed on the merits of such a bill, but critically for students, it allowed children to remain on their parents’ health insurance policy until the age of 26. While Vassar mandated that each student have health insurance prior to this legislation (either through their parents or through the school) in the present day’s troubling job market, this policy provides a safety net for those under 26 who graduate without employment.

Throughout his tenure in office, Hall has been a strong advocate for increased access to high quality education. Hayworth does not share similar sentiments. On the issues page of her official campaign website, Hayworth refrains from discussing education, focusing instead on issues such as immigration, energy policy, health care and taxes. While we acknowledge the importance of these issues in shaping national policy over the next two years, Hayworth’s lack of publicized opinions on the importance of

education and access thereof concerns us.

This lack of opinions on the subject may result from her agreement with Hall on the issues, or simply not seeing the importance of addressing it in her campaign. In either case, we find it troubling that she chooses to remain silent on a subject as important as education.

According to recent polls, the race between Hall and Hayworth is in a dead heat.

Heading into the election cycle, Republicans need to win an additional 39 seats to control the House of Representatives and 10 seats to acquire a majority in the Senate.

With a tight race between candidates from each party, the 19th Congressional District of New York represents a key battleground, where the future of the lower chamber may be determined. In addition to this election, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, squares off against numerous candidates, including Republican nominee Carl Paladino. There are numerous options available to Vassar students to voice their opinions on the national, statewide, and local levels. With the future of the House of Representatives and Senate in the balance in the 2010 elections, we at The Miscellany News encourage all registered voters to cast their ballot.

—The Staff Editorial reflects the opinion of at least two-thirds of the 18-member Miscellany News Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

News Caitlin Clevenger Aashim Usgaonkar Features Mitchell Gilburne Opinions Joshua Rosen Juan Thompson Humor & Satire Alanna Okun Arts Erik Lorenzsonn Sports Andy Marmer Design Eric Estes Copy Gretchen Maslin Photography Juliana Halpert Online Carrie Hojnicki Social Media Marie Dugo Assistant Features Matthew Bock Danielle Gensburg Assistant Arts Thea Ballard Rachael Borné Assistant Copy Sammy Creath Assistant Photo Madeline Zappala Crossword Editor Jonathan Garfinkel Reporters Vee Benard Daniel Bukowski Corey Cohn Shruti Manian Connor O’Neill Columnists Michael Mestitz Andy Sussman Nik Trkulja Photographers Katie de Heras Carlos Hernandez 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.

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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.

October 28, 2010

NEWS

Page 3

Hall and Hayworth tied for 19th district Angela Aiuto Senior Editor

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ess than a few days remain until Americans take to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 1 to vote in the midterm elections. Incumbent Democratic congressmen from around the country have been facing strong competition from conservative opponents, and New York’s 19th district, which sees Democratic incumbent John Hall square off against retired ophthalmologist and Republican newcomer Nan Hayworth, is no different in that respect.

Hall has been representing the 19th district since 2006, when he defeated Republican incumbent Sue Kelly, who had held the seat since 1995. Hall has largely toed the party line since his last reelection in 2008, voting with a majority of his fellow Democrats 98.2 percent of the time during the current Congress, according to the Washington Post.

“I suppose health care is where [Hayworth] has gotten her main thrust [against Hall],” suggested Professor of Political Science Richard Born. “Health care is on the national level not popular with the public.”

Hall voted for the Democrats’ health care reform bill earlier this year, though he now indicates that he would like to make changes to the legislation, including the elimination of the health insurance industry’s anti-trust exemption. Meanwhile, Hayworth is pressing for full repeal of the new legislation, arguing instead that access to health savings accounts should be facilitated.

Hayworth is also launching strong attacks against Hall for his support of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s leadership and agenda, charging in a press release that Hall has voted with Pelosi 98 percent of the time, and noting on her campaign’s Facebook page that John Hall supports returning Pelosi to the leadership.

“Pelosi is being demonized across the country in a fashion that’s very similar to the way in which the Democrats tried to demonize

Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker [of the House] in the 1996 elections,” explained Born.

He noted, however, that Hayworth’s attacks on Hall’s voting record “are actually a little bit misleading because the Speaker of the House infrequently votes.”

However, Born feels that Hall’s biggest weakness is ultimately his party affiliation.

“The more important fact is [that] Democrats are discredited. This is an anti-democratic year and Hall is a Democrat.” Indeed, pollsters have been predicting huge losses for the Democrats next week. For example, respected forecaster Charlie Cook recently predicted that the Democrats will lose between 48 and 60 House seats, well over the 39 seats Republicans need to gain to take control of the House.

Hayworth has touted her experience as an ophthalmologist and small business owner throughout her campaign, suggesting that her experiences give her a unique perspective on related political issues such as health care reform and taxation; however, Hayworth’s outsider status might also be interpreted as her greatest weakness. “Her political experience has been extremely limited and she isn’t very well known, so I see those as being aggressive weaknesses,” said Born. “If she had some kind of political background, if she had held some kind of a local office, at least, you’d maybe see her as a more serious [candidate.]”

With regard to Hayworth’s political positions, Born said, “If you take everything into account, she’s one of the more moderate Republicans.” This is perhaps best exemplified by her pro-choice stance on abortion, although her support of mainstream Republican economic policies—she plans to institute tax cuts and lower government spending—makes her seem tame in comparison to some of this election cycle’s more infamous Republican candidates.

Despite her generally moderate political

views, Born pointed to three aspects of Hayworth’s platform that could hurt her in the election: her support of private social security accounts, or, in other words, the partial privatization of social security; her desire to extend the Bush tax cuts and her wish to repeal the capital gains tax.

“All of these are very conservative positions to take,” Born argued. “There’s something [for Hall] to work with there [for] hammering home this message, trying to portray her as being really a conservative in moderate’s clothing.”

Hall and Hayworth are tied in the polls, prompting many analysts to conclude that the outcome of the election will be a toss-up.

Born, however, suggests that the tie could be a sign of a victory for Hayworth.

“There is a school of thought that says that people who are undecided going in the last days of the campaign are going to vote for the challenger to the incumbent,” Born said. “I think that’s correct, so the fact that the polls are neck and neck, in reality…these undecided [voters] might well break this election for Hayworth at the end.”

He points to Hayworth’s narrow lead in some polls as another sign that she may take control of the district. “The fact that she is not terribly well known, and that she has a lead of any kind against an incumbent, that’s really dangerous for Hall.”

Hall himself seems unfazed by the relative uncertainty of the election’s outcome, having recently told the Poughkeepsie Journal, “If I listened to the polls in 2006, I never would have run. I wasn’t favored to win the primary, let alone the general election.”

Born suggests that Hall’s optimism might not be completely unfounded, pointing to the fact that polling results have not changed over the past several weeks. “I’ve yet to see any survey indication that Hayworth is breaking out [in the lead]…and that has to be construed as at least a slight bit of good news for Hall.”

News Briefs The Big Bang Theory At 3:04 a.m. on Oct. 25, loud banging noises were heard near Dean’s Lane by the Alumnae House. When officers arrived on scene, it was discovered that the noises were coming from construction work being carried out on nearby rooftops.

—Aashim Usgaonkar, News Editor

My Super Sweet Sixteen A Safety and Security officer caught an underage student carrying 16 cans of beer between Davison House and Raymond House on Oct. 21 at 8:15 p.m. The alcohol has been confiscated.­­ —A.U.

Extreme Makeover: Dorm Edition On Oct. 24, officers on rounds noticed that someone had ripped out the spindles off of the safety rails outside of Davison House. Buildings and Grounds has been informed of the problem, and they will soon repair the damage.

—A.U.

Cheers A beer-pong party in Lathrop House took place on Oct. 21. Officers arrived at the scene at 12:06 a.m. to stop the event.

—A.U.

Iron Chef On Wednesday, Oct. 20, a stove in a Town House caused a fire alarm to be set off.

Consequently, Safety and Security officers were deployed at 12:50 p.m. to Brewer’s Lane to address the issue. Then, at 8:25 p.m., officers were deployed to the same location again for a stove-related fire alarm.

—A.U.

Wheels of Misfortune Jewett House was the site of bicycle larceny on the afternoon of Oct. 24. Officers were informed of the theft at 3:19 p.m., and officers will be on a look out for the missing vehicle.

—A.U.

Lipstadt lecture to focus on VSA plans audit of freshman Holocaust denial, libel suit experience, Vassar transition Caitlin Clevenger News Editor

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ven 65 years after the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945, debates about the reality of the Holocaust still take place. Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University Deborah Lipstadt will deliver a lecture entitled “Holocaust Denial in the 21st Century: A Clear and Present Danger or the Equivalent of Flat Earth Theory?” on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 5:30 p.m. in the Spitzer Auditorium in Sander’s Classroom. Lipstadt will discuss modernday Holocaust denial—claims that the genocide of Jews during World War II either did not occur, or did not occur on the scale that it is generally recognized and taught, as expressed by figures such as President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Lipstadt, who earned a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, is active in raising awareness about Holocaust denial within the United States as well as internationally. She has also served as a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and a member of both the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and the United States State Department Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad. Lipstadt represented former President of the United States George W. Bush as a member of the official American delegation to the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. In 2005, she was named winner of the Al Chernin Award, given by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to the person who best exemplifies protection of the First Amendment.

Lipstadt is notable for her 2007 coining of the term “soft-core denial” of the Holocaust, a phrase she uses to describe people or institutions who recognize the Holocaust but omit it from relevant discussions or texts or attempt to downplay the monstrosity of the event, including by comparing modern-day

people to Nazis. Another type of “soft-core denial” Lipstadt has pointed out is the claim that the Allies had equivalent war crimes to the crimes committed by the Axis of Evil.

She has accused former President of the United States Jimmy Carter’s book on the Palestine-Israeli conflict, the Muslim Council of Britain, German historian Ernste Nolte and Brazilian Catholic Archbishop Dadeus Grings of “soft-core denial” in her speeches and on her blog.

The presentation will also include discussion of Lipstadt’s legal battle with British historical author David Irving. In Lipstadt’s 1993 book Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, she accuses Irving of obfuscating evidence to justify denying the Holocaust, writing that he “he bends [evidence] until it conforms with his ideological leanings and political agenda.”

Irving filed suit against Lipstadt and the book’s publisher, Penguin Books, for libel in 1996. The suit spent four years in the English legal system—where the burden of proof in a libel case lies upon the defenders rather than the prosecutors—before going to trial in 2000. The judge ruled in favor of Lipstadt and Penguin, saying that Irving had “for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence.” Irving was later arrested and imprisoned for a year in Austria under the charge of Holocaust denial. In 2005, Lipstadt published a book on the legal battle entitled History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving. As a supporter of free speech, Lipstadt does not believe in silencing Holocaust deniers through censorship or imprisonment, but through facts and the creation of a society where Holocaust denial is not illegal, but outrageous and socially unforgivable.

The event is presented by the Vassar College Jewish Studies Program with support from the Fishman Seminar Fund.

Chelsea Peterson-Salahuddin Guest Reporter

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assar Student Association (VSA) President Mathew Leonard ’11 and Class of 2014 President Michael Moore ’14 are working together to create a survey that will audit the academic and student life aspects of the Vassar freshman experience. The initial idea for the implementation of this survey, according to Leonard, came while he was in the process of constructing a survey to be administered to the student body at the beginning of the year. In the process of constructing the questionnaire, Leonard realized he had created a survey entirely aimed at gaining information from freshmen. VSA Executive Board then decided to create a separate survey—in addition to their annual audit of student life—that would focus specifically on the Vassar freshman experience.

To aid him in the creation of this survey, Leonard contacted Moore shortly after his election. Moore and Leonard plan to meet sometime this week to discuss the specifics of the survey, much of which is yet to be determined. “We are in the planning for planning and talking about talking stage,” Leonard wrote in an e-mailed statement.

“Our charge, between [Moore] and myself, is to decide what the question is that we are trying to answer and how exactly we want to go about doing that.”

Currently there are many aspects of the freshman experience that Moore and Leonard are interested in exploring, including academics, student life and campus culture. In particular, Leonard and Moore are exploring those facets of student life, such as the alcohol and drug culture, that have recently been prevalent topics of discussion on campus.

“One could look at how this alcohol culture arises and how it affects students’ social experiences on campus,” Leonard suggested.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

According to Leonard, there are many channels through which this information can be ascertained, writing, “It can be done through mass survey, through interview [or] through a combination of the two. We could also just approach freshmen, student fellow groups, student fellows or even seniors in relation to freshmen.”

The survey could potentially become a fullyear project, as there are many points during the freshman year which could be singled out for examination; the audit could look at student life during the entire freshman year, or, alternatively, focus on the first six weeks of school and the transition into college life.

In the creation of this survey, Leonard and Moore are also considering what data already exists on the subject of students’ freshman year. Through looking at data collected on the Vassar freshman experience by the Offices of Admissions and Institutional Research, Leonard and Moore hope to find an area where data has not yet been collected and to focus on that for the purposes of their audit. They are also identifying whether there is anything in the previously collected data off of which they can build their study. Leonard stressed the fact that he is open to suggestions by the students as to areas they may think would be of importance to examine in regards to the Vassar freshman experience.

“There may be something [Moore] and I see as important, but the larger student body may not. We want to find an issue that is relevant to the students,” wrote Leonard. He hopes that the data and information gained through this audit can be put towards implementing changes within the school community, ideally as soon as next semester. However, depending on the length of the project takes, the data may ultimately be put to use by future VSA Executive Boards to suggest changes to the freshman experience.

NEWS

Page 4

Proposal to shift control

from Aramark

Civil rights activists honor 50 years of SNCC Angela Aiuto and Matthew Brock

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Senior Editors

ormer United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Georgia State Director for Rural Development Shirley Sherrod and her husband, civil rights leader and historian Charles Sherrod, will be taking part in a panel discussion on Wednesday, November 3 entitled, “Reflections on the Civil Rights Movement in a Changing American Society.” The discussion, which will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Sanders Classroom’s Spitzer Auditorium, is part of a series of events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

The panel discussion will focus on Mr. and Mrs. Sherrods’ endeavors to combat segregation in southwestern Georgia and to fight against discrimination in United States agencies, such as the USDA, on the basis of race and gender. Assistant Professor of Political Science Sarita McCoy Gregory and Associate Professor of Art Lisa Collins will serve as moderators.

Mrs. Sherrod began her fight against racial discrimination after her father was murdered when she was 17 years old. The murderer, a white man, was not prosecuted by the Georgia courts. She joined SNCC while attending college in the 1960s, where she met her husband.

Together, they went on to found New Communities, Inc. in Georgia, a land trust held with a number of other African-American families.

At the time, this 6000 acre tract of land was the largest black-owned property in the United States. Un-

Courtesy of the Office of Media Relations

MUG continued from page 1 of under-age students. While the College still holds a liquor license to serve in the Mug, the administration has asked that the license, and the accompanying risk and expense, be transferred to Aramark as part of the company’s duties on campus. While Aramark has agreed to operate the Mug, sale of alcohol has halted while the negotiations about the license continue.

“The College asked Aramark to transfer the College’s liquor license to operate Matthew’s Mug to Aramark. That process has been underway for quite some time and is still being processed,” wrote Senior Director of Dining at Vassar Maureen King in an e-mailed statement. “Alcohol is not being served in Matthew’s Mug because there is not a license in place.”

Aramark currently operates the Mug from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Monday through Saturday nights. The VSA proposal takes no ethical issue with the sale of alcohol in the Mug; rather, it addresses the way Aramark’s operation of the space limits the times that the Mug is available for student use.

“The culture of the Mug has totally changed,” said Tanay Tatum ’12, VSA Vice President for Activities, who worked to draft the proposal. “Now all we really have there are Mug nights and dance parties.”

She cited other Mug activities from years past, including trivia nights and student theater performances, as missing in 2010. Tatum attributes this change to the limited hours Aramark staffs the Mug. Because Aramark is contractually bound to operate the space, students no longer dictate the times when the Mug is open. “You used to be able to use the space anytime,” said Tatum.

But Aramark’s involvement is necessary only because of the liquor license issue, an issue that would not exist if the Mug did not sell alcohol. According to Tatum, the VSA proposal to end the sale of liquor was conceived as an attempt to reclaim student control of the space. If Dean of the College Christopher Roellke approves the proposal, Aramark would cease to control the space, and the Mug would return to direct Vassar oversight.

According to Tatum, Aramark would have little reason to oppose this change. As the ongoing legal bargaining with the College suggests, Aramark’s representatives working with Vassar have agreed to this responsibility only reluctantly and in a theoretical sense. Also, as the proposal makes clear, the bar sales at the Mug averaged only $23 a night last year, far less than the cost of a working bartender.

At the VSA meeting on Oct. 24, several representatives wondered why the administration insisted that Aramark sell alcohol in the Mug at all, especially when sales were so small.

In answer, Tatum described the administration as unwilling to cease providing a student privilege without the express consent of the student body. “The administration doesn’t want to push anything on students they don’t want,” she said, noting that the administration did not wish to appear to be moving towards enforcing a dry campus.

But now that students have introduced the initiative, Tatum anticipates little resistance, especially given the legal complications and possible expense involving the liquor license. “I have a really good sense that this will go really well,” she said.

Absent from the dialogue was the issue of alcohol abuse on campus, which has been a source of dialogue on campus over the past weeks. For Tatum and many others involved in the process, this is an entirely separate issue that coincidentally involves the sale of liquor.

“It’s important for people to understand this isn’t about alcohol,” said Tatum. “It’s about being flexible with student activity space.”

October 28, 2010

Shirley Sherrod, along with her husband, is a former member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and life-long civil rights activist. fortunately, this organization failed during the 1970s due to opposition from white segregationists in the state government as well as a draught which destroyed the harvest. However, Mrs. Sherrod later worked with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and the Rural Development Leadership Network, which aim to help AfricanAmerican farmers keep their land.

Mrs. Sherrod was thrown into the national spotlight this past July, when she was forced to resign from

her position with the USDA for allegedly making racist comments during an address she had given to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in March of 2010. A video clip posted by blogger Andrew Breitbard featured Sherrod reminiscing on how she once considered not helping a farmer in need of her organization’s assistance because he was white.

As in the ACORN video, Sherrod’s comments were heavily ed-

ited and taken out of context; in the full speech, she admits that she was wrong and has since learned from her mistakes. However, the truth was not uncovered until after Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack forced Sherrod to resign from her position at the USDA. Mr. and Mrs. Sherrod were invited to campus by Professor of Religion and Africana Studies Lawrence Mamiya, who knows both of them personally through their shared work in the civil rights movement. “[Mr. Sherrod] convinced 25 of us to do civil rights work in southwest Georiga. We did voter registration, we also did community organizing, [and] we also participated in protests and demonstrations… Last year we had a reunion of the 25 of us who went down [to Georgia]. That’s where we renewed our friendship and acquaintances again.”

Mimiya proposed this event to the Africana Studies department after attending the official SNCC 50th anniversary conference in April. “It was an amazing celebration. And this is why I suggested to [the Africana Studies Department] that we do something to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of SNCC. That was such a significant event in the history of the civil rights movement.”

The event is sponsored by the Dean of the Faculty Lecture Committee, the Africana Studies Program, the Department of Religion’s Wood Lecture Fund, the Department of History’s C. Mildred Thompson Lecture Fund, the Political Science, English, and Sociology departments, as well as the Women’s Studies Program.

Revision process in preliminary stages GOVERNANCE continued from page 1 and depth of the document and an unwieldy, inefficient committee structure.

In the language of the Middle States review, the Governance provides, “a wealth of detail at risk of obscuring any clear path for getting from one point to the other, for getting any given task accomplished.”

According to Associate Professor of English Zoltan Markus, who sits on the committee, “It includes too many things that are not necessarily important for what you would call, perhaps, a constitution of the College.”

Currently, the document is broken into several large sections including “Bylaws of the Board of Trustees;” “Principles Underlying Relations of the Trustees, Faculty and Students;” and “Educational Organization of the College,” which in itself includes the administration, the faculty, as well as its bylaws, and the committee structure of the College. The Middle States review calls the depth of each section, especially the bylaws of the faculty, into question.

“Actually that is one of the bigger questions we’ve been asking ourselves: ‘What is the Governance?’” said Vassar Student Association President Mathew Leonard ’11. “And the direction we’ve sort of been heading with that is a bare-bones constitution-esque document that rarely changes…and then beneath that there would be an additional two documents.”

The committee is already considering is the creation of three different documents that would split and clarify the kinds of information that are now all included in the Governance. “We called it constitution, policies and procedures and regulations. The policies and procedures will be the College manual for faculty, and the regulations document will be the legal document between the faculty and the College,” said Cramer. The purpose of these two documents would be similar to that of both the Faculty Bylaws in the Governance and portions of the Faculty Handbook. “The problem is that right now we all agree that these are the three documents that we ideologically want, but practically separating out different clauses into those

three different clauses will be a challenge.”

As for students’ place in the Governance, both Cramer and Leonard agreed that the description of students’ role in shared governance is already fairly clear. “Their documents are cleaner than the faculty documents,” said Professor of Psychology and Chair of FPCC Janet Gray, referring to sections pertinent to students, administration and trustees. “The Governance is a mess, and the Faculty Handbook is an even bigger mess.”

While the committee has agreed that the creation of three concise documents with clear purposes would be ideal, achieving the goal will be a complicated process. Any choice of one clause over another or revision of language implies an interpretation and is therefore akin to a change in College policy.

Gray noted that faculty representatives on the committee have a responsibility to take policy changes back to their colleagues. “I think one of the things we’re trying to be careful about is dissociating changes that may happen in format and structure from any policy changes that may arise in course,” she said. “Ultimately the parts that are clearly the educational policy, the organization of the college, the bylaws of the faculty all

by Governance go to the faculty for approval.”

Communication with constituents is key in maintaining a level of comfort with the revision process because the Governance document outlines each constituency’s role in Vassar’s shared governance structure. “It is difficult because the faculty on the one hand is worried the outcome of this revision process is going to be an erosion of power,” said Markus. “On the other hand when we hear the voices of faculty members that this is problematic, we also hear and see that less and less faculty members are willing to serve on these committees, and not because they don’t want to serve the College, but because they see that these committees are not efficient enough.”

Gray added that the process should be beneficial. “I really hope that it turns inot a real positive experience for the community,” said Gray. She described the process as

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

a “re-commitment” to shared governance.

Middle States deemed the shared governance process, most specifically the committees, almost too inclusive to be effective: “The quantity of committees…and the process required to bring so many people up to speed on so many issues seems to have fostered a frustrating environment in which people spend a great deal of energy pursuing parallel conversations and checking on each other’s work,” the reviewers reported.

The goal then, for the committee, is for the shared governance to be stronger through the editing process. “I would like everyone to feel that the shared governance process is working more effectively because I think there has been frustration about that,” said Hill. “There’s an example that the Campus Master Planning Committee got reorganized over the last two years making it smaller, and it seems to be working better because everybody can make it to the meetings. The people who are on it feel invested, and so I just think it works better.”

The desire for an efficient committee strcuture is pertinent to the student voice as well.

“What we want to have a hand in is the discussion about how our committee structure looks,” said Cramer. “As far as joint committees go, students know just as well as the faculty who are at the table what committees run well and what committees don’t, and where there’s overlap and where there’s not.”

In the next meeting of the Governance Revision Steering Committee in December, Gray will lead the committee through a detailed reading of the document, a process that she said will be similar to “a seminar, where we’re going to the source.” The process of revision relies heavily on not only shared government, but on a shared understanding of the document by the committee. As part of the exercise, Gray and the committee will attempt to label areas of the Governance as appropriate for a Constitution, for the policies and procedures and for regulations. Through this process, the group will prepare for more substantial review of the document in the future.

October 28, 2010

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College prepared to prevent suicide Jillian Scharr

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Guest Reporter

o one likes to talk about it, and yet statistically speaking, one in 10 students has thought about it. Suicide is an ever-present concern on college campuses.

For Assistant Dean of Residential Life Luis Inoa, who worked at New York University (NYU) when six students committed suicide over the 2003-2004 school year, “[suicide] is something that’s always been on our consciousness” Such concerns have been compounded by a rise in college suicides. During the last academic year, six students committed suicide at Cornell in six months. This academic year, Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi became a household name after his suicide sparked a rush of media coverage, celebrity attention and the proposal of stronger anti-cyber harassment legislation.

Indeed, college suicides have tripled since the 1950s, and suicide currently stands as the second most common cause of death among college students. But what does this inflation mean for the individuals responsible for campus health? “In some ways that doesn’t matter; what we need to focus on is alerting the entire campus on how to prevent a suicide, and learning to identify signs or even express concern,” said Associate Dean and Director of Psychiatric Counseling Sylvia Balderrama, “And that’s well worth it no matter if the trend is up or down.”

At Vassar, administrators strive to support students and prevent suicide via a Student Concern Group, a committee which includes the Dean of Students, Dean of Dtudies, Dean of Freshmen, the Directors of Health Counseling and Health Education, the assistant dean of Residential Life and the Director of Disability Services.

This committee discusses individual students who have “come on the radar” in any of the departments represented at the committee. “Basically what we’re trying to do is find the best way of helping students and providing the kind of support they need to have, rather than five different offices worrying independently about the same student,” said Dean of Students

David “D.B.” Brown. At their meetings, the committee discusses a group strategy for reaching out to the student. “When students set up a red flag—because of our size here as an institution, even a yellow flag or an orange flag: student missed a couple of classes, student hasn’t left their room, someone has been referred over to Drug and Alcohol Edu—it’s that group’s responsibility to say, ‘here’s something going on in that particular student’s life and we want to make sure we develop a strategy to support that student,’” said Inoa.

Despite the enormous impact that a suicide can have on a campus, and due to the furtive nature of the development of suicidal tendencies, it is nearly impossibly to quantify just how prepared Vassar can be at any time to cope with such tragedy. “I don’t know how you measure something like that [Vassar’s preparedness],” said Brown. “What I will say is when we know there’s someone at risk, we respond pretty quickly.”

“We [at Vassar] are generally plugged into one another: organizations, academics, houses, student fellows, administrative offices, [such] that we get a lot of information about students,” said Inoa. “For me that is one of the things that’s different here than at a place like NYU—that I can count on students being plugged in, and that collectivity.”

Clementi’s death has raised the issue of LGBTQ suicides in particular. A range of statistics have been proffered, but most analysts agree that LGBTQ students commit suicide at higher rates than their heterosexual peers.

Inoa, expresses hope that students, and LGBTQ students in particular, feel comfortable and accepted at Vassar, “If…a student couldn’t be open [about his or her sexuality], and they come to an institution like Vassar, I have to imagine that that’s liberating psychologically. ‘I’ve got a lot of other stuff I have to deal with here but this is not one of them. I can unpack being gay or lesbian here very freely.’”

But Vassar’s tolerant reputation could be a double-edged sword if it leads to the assumption that all students are happy

and accepted. “The overriding ethos is that those kinds of things couldn’t happen here,” said Balderrama, “I don’t believe that. I believe that it could happen here… and then I worry that someone might not seek help if that’s the ethos that [he or she] is feeling on campus.”

The College plans to launch a suicide prevention program called Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), intended to reference CPR, in which students can receive training on how to reach out to their peers.

While Vassar’s support network continues to grow and adapt to students’ needs, some concerns remain. “There is high stress [here],” said Brown in reference to a concerning aspect of Vassar culture “It can come from the system, it can come from families. Students are here because they’re good students; you don’t come here because you just want to coast. So there’s a lot riding on doing well.” But Inoa suggested that the competition and emphasis on individual success present in other highranking institutions is less prevalent at Vassar. “Here, students are certainly highachieving, but I don’t get the same notion of competitiveness [compared to other colleges]. My sense is that [Vassar] students try to support one another through their academic experience.” Balderrama’s chief concern is “letting things become complacent. Suicide is…not something any of us want to experience…but we can’t really ignore it as if it weren’t a possibility, and that’s what I worry about at Vassar.”

“I think students need to know that there are so many resources on campus that are available to them, and it almost doesn’t matter how someone gets help: through Residential Life, student fellows, house advisors, faculty, the Dean of Students, Health Services—all of us work together so that Someone will be guided to the appropriate resource,” concludes Inoa And that, in effect, is the essence of the Student Concern Group. “Students may not know about other people who are having similar problems,” said Balderrama, “but we see a lot of students for a lot of different reasons, so no issue is too small, and it’s certainly not too big.”

In Cushing, Vassar prioritized comfort Vee Benard Reporter

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Jared Saunders/The Miscellany News

uilt in 1927 in response to a desperate need for on-campus housing, Cushing House, Vassar’s second-youngest dormitory, is known for its “Old English” style and its unique community born from its relatively isolated position on campus. Named in honor of Florence Cushing, valedictorian of Vassar’s Class of 1874, Cushing is nestled on to one of the points of the triangle created by the dorm, the Maria Mitchell Observatory and Blodgett Hall, and accommodates nearly 200 students, approximately half of whom are freshmen.

Aside from the birth of Cushing House, the beginning of the 20th century marked a turning point in Vassar’s history. With the evolution of women’s roles in society, significant advances in academics and technology and a rapidly growing student population, Vassar was subjected to both curricular and aesthetic changes in order to keep up with the changing outside world. which included the construction of academic spaces and a new gymnasium.

Under the leadership of its fifth president, Henry Noble MacCracken (19151946), Vassar entered into a wave of new construction that was ideologically rooted in the concept of euthenics. Developed by Ellen Swallow Richards, Class of 1870, the principle of euthenics refers to an enhanced human well-being through the improvement of living conditions that emphasized educating women via activities. Between the years of 1900 and 1925, nearly one-third of Vassar’s freshman population was forced to find off-campus housing. Dissatisfied with this situation, Vassar’s Board of Trust-

Cushing House, Vassar’s second youngest dormitory, is often said to resemble the fictional Hogwarts Castle, with its gargoyles, slate roof and European chateau architecture. ees decided in 1925 that it was time to move all students back on campus. In response to the problem of overcrowded dormitories, the board proposed the construction of a new residence hall, now known as Cushing.

President MacCracken, a proponent of euthenics, envisioned a residence hall built according to the principles of the ideology.

MacCracken suggested that the new dormitory be constructed as a cluster of eight small buildings enclosed within a brick wall, resulting in a cooperative living environment that would architecturally evoke

the quintessential “village enclosure in the Old English style.”

Though President MacCracken’s original plans for Cushing never came to fruition, the philosophy behind his vision was maintained in the cnstruction of the dorm.

The fact that both Vassar’s president and its Board of Trustees pushed for Cushing’s construction despite financial concerns and the open status of several other MacCracken-era building projects demonstrates the importance the College placed See CUSHING on page 6

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Program places alcohol safety in student hands Ruth Bolster

Guest Reporter

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lthough Vassar is not a renowned “party school,” last month’s announcement of an increase in alcohol-related Vassar College Emergency Medical Service (VCEMS) calls has proven that no campus is immune to the effects of toxic drinking. Moreover, with Halloween and its ensuing mayhem only days away, it must be asked what measures are in place to prevent both excessive drinking and life-threatening alcohol related emergencies on campus.

With the opening weeks of the fall semester marred by enough alcohol-related EMS calls to prompt a campus-wide e-mail from the Dean of Students David “D.B.” Brown urging moderation. Some are concerned that this year’s Halloween will be marked by a higher level of dangerous drinking than in years past. In anticipation of any hint of an alcohol related emergency, EMS teams will be ready to respond with an increased number of EMTs. “Since Halloween is historically a high-volume call night, VCEMS runs extra crews on that evening,” noted VCEMS Captain Sam Black in an e-mailed statement.

“On a typical weekday or weekend VCEMS runs one crew composed of up to three EMTs. On Halloween, VCEMS runs up to three crews (up to nine EMTs), based on the number of volunteers. This year it looks like we have enough volunteers for four crews (up to twelve EMTs).

Aside from concerns related to Halloween, the increased need for emergency response servicing in the Fall 2010 semester has caused the nature of the relationship between drinking and college culture t0 be called into question. In its latest bulletin, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that students are more likely to binge drink while in college than in high school, concluding that this is a direct result of the college environment.

Living in a setting in which there is a propensity for risky drinking behaviors, naturally results in a higher consumption of alcohol. This leads to a greater number of alcohol-related emergencies, which could result in serious injury or death. And with little impetus to leave campus to find alcoholic entertainment, students are all the more likely to feel secure in their choices of consumption.

It is also important to note that dangerous alcohol consumption is not the norm among college-age students. According to the Office of Health Education, the average Vassar student consumes zero to four standard drinks when attending a function where alcohol is being served. For most people, this is considered a moderate amount, verifying that campus culture and excessive alcohol consumption are not necessarily linked.

In a bid to decrease the number of injuries related to toxic drinking, Vassar has turned to grassroot movements such as the Red Watchband Campaign. Based out of Stony Brook University, the Red Watchband Campaign was launched after a faculty member lost her college-age son due to an alcohol overdose in 2008. Premised in the notion of students looking out for each other’s well being, the movement has since gone national. Its goals are not only to educate people about safer drinking practices, but also to teach college students how to handle alcohol emergencies and summon professional help when their peers need it most.

On Oct. 2, Vassar hosted representatives from Marist and Bard Colleges in Red Watchband training. Organized by Office of Health Education, the program consisted of 2.5 hours of CPR training as well as 1.5 hours of alcohol emergency training, which featured round table discussions and scenario-based role-playing.

In an e-mailed statement, Director of the Office of Health Education Renee Pabst notes, “The program itself is to make sure students are empowered to intervene in high risk situations and make healthy decisions for themselves. The program promotes students’ abilities and skills to help [others], as well as their knowledge about the risk of toxic drinking.”

Pabst explains that the inevitablility of the adoption of the Red Watch Band Campaign is not directly related to the current campus climate “Having the Red Watch Band Campaign was not in response to the increased intoxes on campus this semester, this was something already planned to address the toxic levels of drinking that have been occurring at Vassar.”

Such movements prove that college students are responsible and willing to promote moderation and safer drinking practices among their peers.

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October 28, 2010

After BlackCatholics find community in secular Vassar board, responsT es to Moodle Danielle Bukowski Reporter

Matthew Bock

Assistant Features Editor

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Juliana Halpert/The Miscellany News

he Fall 2010 semester marks the full adoption of Moodle as Vassar College’s primary means through which the classroom is integrated into the ever-expanding sphere of the technological. This final break from the Blackboard system of old whose name itself even harkens to a darker and dustier time has been met with reactions ranging from agitation to apathy to excitement. There is no doubt that technology provides a toolbox inside of which are the instruments necessary to enhance or at least modify the landscape of education, however the selection is immense, and it remains to be seen if Vassar has chosen the proper tools to fulfill its oh-so-important mission.

Vassar’s Moodle is maintained behind the scenes by the Moodle Support Team, four members of the Computer and Information Services’ (CIS) Academic Computing Services group, comprised of Steve Taylor, Cristián Opazo, Baynard Bailey, and Matthew Slaats. This Moodle support team moderates the website and deals with complaints and requests, the majority of which come a month or so before the start of each semester from professors who are preparing for their courses. It was this exact same group that managed Blackboard and was primarily responsible for the decision to make the switch, although a number of individuals were involved.

Taylor explained the decision making process in an emailed statement. “In 2007, after seven years of Blackboard use at Vassar, I decided that we should explore alternatives, just to see if there might be anything we liked better. I formed a task force composed mostly of faculty members and we looked at a number of different systems. We narrowed the choices down to either staying with Blackboard or switching to Moodle. About a dozen instructors made a trial use of Moodle in the Fall 2008 semester and all recommended making the switch. The task force recommended the switch to the Committee on Computing and Educational Technology, which shared its endorsement with the full faculty and made the recommendation to CIS. We began making it available to all instructors in Fall 2009 and made Blackboard unavailable in Fall 2010,” a move which would ultimately save the College close to $50,000 annually.

According to Jeffrey Schneider, Associate Professor of German studies and former chair of the Committee on Computing and Educational Technology—now known as the Committee for Academic Technology—there were a number of different reasons that the faculty were drawn to Moodle. “A sizable majority of them were dissatisfied with Blackboard—it seemed really limited and didn’t offer the same kind of metaphor for learning,” he explained. “It was very teacher directed, and felt fake and artificial. Moodle is a much more attractive, flexible interface. [Another reason was] cost. Blackboard was essentially charging [$50,000] a year and we expected that number to keep increasing.”

Technologically speaking, Moodle is easier to maintain than Blackboard because it is an opensource software—a program whose code is accessible to those running the site. “This means that if there’s a little bug, or if we want a function to behave differently or if someone has created a great new function, we can modify the program.

We’ve made lots of modifications and while that has called for some work on our part, it’s resulted in a system that better meets the users’ needs,” Taylor noted.

According to both Taylor and Schneider, Moodle has been well-received by the Vassar community at large. “A lot of faculty members have told us that they like it a lot better than Blackboard,” Taylor said. Schneider—who creates elaborate designs as covers for his Moodle pages—explained, “I enjoy that the site is much more personalized and much more flexible. I use the survey tools, for example, to gather feedback, and the questionnaires to generate information.”

Others feel less enthusiastic about the transition. Associate Professor of Greek and Roman studies Rachel Friedman, who uses the interface for her classes, offered a different perspective. “In edit mode, the visual experience of Moodle can be See MOODLE on page 7

hough members of the Western world are apt to lump the multiple denominations of christianity into a generalized majority, one need not look too far back into history to find a time when Catholics were a detested minority. A life goal of Linda Tuttle, Affiliate Advisor to the Vassar Catholic Community (VCC), is “trying to get out of Princeton’s Least Religious list.” Vassar College repeatedly ranks among the top five least religious schools in the annual list produced by the Princeton Review. Tuttle hopes that the efforts of the VCC will help to change Vassar’s reputation from apathetic to involved.

In an e-mailed statement, VCC Treasurer Alaric Chinn ’13 said; “The dominant view on campus is a liberal, secular one, which, while it leaves space for Catholicism, doesn’t mean it endorses it.” Vassar is “not necessarily that welcoming to religious life on campus,” said VCC President Marie Dugo ’11. [Disclosure: Dugo is the Social Media Editor of The Miscellany News.] Neither, however, was able to cite any specific cases of animosity towards the students, the group, or its actions or practices.Furthermore, Dugo spoke about the great relationship the VCC has with other groups within the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (RSL).

It can be difficult to stay religious in such an apathetic environment, so joining a religious organization is a way to stay connected with one’s faith. RSL is a great help to any student with questions about faith; it is supportive of all of their groups. The various students involved with the RSL are “there for each other and are very supportive of the individual’s and community’s faith journey,” Tuttle explained in an e-mailed statement.

When students were asked about their reasons for getting involved with the VCC, they stated a need for community, service opportunities and an open space to share their religious beliefs. For Dugo, “[Getting involved in the VCC] was a way for me to stay centered during a time of incredible change, and to find other students who shared the same morals, values and religious practices as me. I became involved because I needed to make sure that the VCC would remain an option for students who, like me, wanted to stay connected to their faith while at a nondenominational college.”

There are many students attending Vassar who identify as Catholic yet do not attend mass regularly. For those interested in a place to worship, the VCC sponsors Sunday Mass at the Vassar Chapel every week at 5 p.m. Most

Members of the Vassar Catholic Community (VCC) consult with their priest on Sunday before Mass. The VCC holds Mass every Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Vassar Chapel.

Catholics on campus have attended Mass at least once a month, and many are there every week. Tuttle noted that both strict Catholics, and more casual practitioners with a penchant for structure attend services. The VCC also holds a meeting every Thursday in the Jade Parlor called “Catholics and Conversation.”

According to Tuttle, the meeting used to be called “Pizza and Prayer,” but the VCC changed the name so students would know that the meeting is not focused solely on prayer. “[The meeting is] a safe place to ask questions,” said Tuttle. The meeting is open to all students of all denominations, and there is pizza for everyone. On Oct. 14, a priest who worked in Peru for 27 years and ran workshops throughout South America came to the meeting as a guest speaker.

Like other religious organizations, the Vassar Catholic Community runs numerous community service opportunities. E-mails for members of the VCC announce the week’s service opportunities. There have been food drives, volunteering for various off-campus organizations and dinners to raise money.

Proceeds from these events go toward local church groups and people in need in Duchess County and beyond. Catholic students at

Vassar can be found collaborating with such organizations as Hunger Action and Operation Donation.

The VCC is one of the smaller religious groups on campus, so they host events with other Catholic groups at colleges nearby, like Marist or West Point. There are also spiritual programs, like the Intercollegiate Day of Discussion, which involve Catholic groups in the area. Vassar does not actually have its own priest; the Marist chaplain conducts Sunday mass. The VCC, whether hosting community service projects or connecting with other Catholics, is very much involved in the world outside Vassar’s gate.

Religion is a solace for some during times of change, and college is certainly a turbulent time. For those who want structure and a sense of community with those who share their faith, they can drop by the Thursday meetings or attend Sunday Mass. Some Catholic students stated they were more interested in community service opportunities than attending meetings, and some said they had trouble attending Mass regularly due to activities. But the VCC and its events are there for those who want them, and the group is accepting to all.

Cushing influenced by euthenics curriculum CUSHING continued from page 5 on the connection between adequate living conditions and the physical and mental wellbeing of students.

Described in 1928 by Vassar’s General Manager Keene Richards as a “utilitarian” structure, Cushing, like all the dormitories on campus, manages to strike a balance between functional qualities and aesthetic charm.

Designed by architects Francis Allen and Allen Collins, whose other contributions to Vassar’s campus include Blodgett Hall, Skinner Hall, Josselyn House, Taylor Hall and the Wimpfheimer Nursery School, Cushing is stylistically consistent with its neighboring buildings while maintaining its own distinctive architectural personality. With its brick exterior, slate roof and old world charm, it is hardly a surprise that Cushing is frequently compared to J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts.

Cushing’s U-shaped structure causes the building to turn in towards itself, creating a three-sided courtyard between its two wings.

Allen and Collins designed the building so that its interior is split in half to form the “East” and “West” wings of the building, the two of which are connected on every floor by a “Trans” hallway. In order to accommodate as many students as possible, Allen and Collins organized Cushing so that dorm rooms line every hallway except One Trans, the build-

ing’s lobby, which was reserved for a common area. The architects tucked Cushing’s kitchen and pantry into a nook off the common area, and above it installed an additional wing that originally housed college servants.

Today, however, the old servants quarters operate as dorm rooms. The addition of overstuffed furniture and period chandeliers to Allen and Collins’ original Jacobean-style furnishings, plaster ceilings, wooden wall paneling and traceried windows gives Cushing’s lobby a Neo-Gothic aesthetic, and that sensibility makes it an ideal spot for students to spend free time. The long wooden tables that line the walls of what used to be Cushing’s dining hall are now used for study groups and informal get-togethers, the two secluded parlor areas function as meeting places for student-run groups, with Cushing’s main parlor, which holds the dorm’s Steinway Baby Grand Piano, a frequent haunt of musicians.

The rooms in Cushing vary in size, from small singles to large two-room doubles and triples.

Because Cushing is the farthest from the center of campus, it is considered to be a place where students can retreat from the bustle of everyday life. The relative isolation has sometimes been misconstrued as a disadvantage, however, those who live there appreciate the opportunity to forge new bonds as part of an active, diverse and mature population. Ac-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

cording to Cushing’s House President Olivia Tousignant-Pienkos ’13, Cushing’s residents have always “integrated themselves into the campus really effectively.”

“It’s really nice to see that Cushing residents are, perhaps subconsciously, taking it upon themselves to overcome our reputation,” she wrote in an e-mailed statement challenging the notions of isolation surrounding Cushing residents. “While Cushlings stay composed, they’re also very very outgoing!”

Cushlings, known for being “drama-free,” are also characterized by their dorm pride.

“Cushing students are generally classy and respectful,” Tousignant-Pienkos wrote. “This may have to do with the fact that the dorm is noticeably well-kept, so students use that as incentive to maintain it.”

In collaboration with Josselyn House, Cushing will be hosting its first all-campus event of the year, Harvest Ball, on Nov. 13. The event’s theme will be “Vassquerade.” Students are encouraged to begin the brainstorming process for their formal attire and mask decorations. With a fresh academic year, a new batch of freshmen and a rich history, Cushing is maintaining its position alongside the rest of Vassar’s dormitories as a unique facet of the school’s personality, and a haven for personal betterment as achieved through comforting surroundings.

October 28, 2010

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Palace Diner shines against competition with local diners Mitchell Gilburne

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Features Editor

Madeline Zappala/The Miscellany News

ood food, friendly service and fair prices have characterized casual eateries for as long as mouths have needed feeding. Diners, in particular, hold a special place in the hearts of college students everywhere. Long hours and the crowd-pleasing milkshake reign supreme in students’ stressed out stomachs. Whether popping out for a quick bite, satisfying late night cravings or washing down the weekend, The Palace Diner, located at 194 Washington Street, maintains the modest image of a diner while remaining head and shoulders above the competition.

Vassar students typically turn to two dinners of vastly polarized quality in their pursuit of easy eating. First, there’s the Acropolis Diner, or “Acrop.” This diner of desperation is likely to have been started by a deposed All Campus Dining Center (ACDC) chef. Either way, the Acrop boasts bad food, good prices, a cast of colorful characters and it’s within walking distance from Vassar. Plus, they’re open 24/7 which means that they’re open during that fateful period between Bacio shutting its door the ACDC opening its own.

Students seeking the “true” diner experience make the pilgrimage to Hyde Park to feast on the overrated novelty of the Eveready Diner.

This, however, is where they are wrong. While the Eveready certainly offers a superior experience to that of the Acrop, it is hardly an A-class diner on its own merits, and is located so inconveniently that one may as well pursue the costs of haute cuisine that can be found in surrounding Hyde Park.

While the Eveready makes big claims with bright lights and life-size replications of everyone’s favorite 50s icons, the purist diner experience is much closer than most Vassar students

The Palace Diner provides a superior alternative to both the Acropolis and the Eveready, thanks to its good food and convinient location. Students should be warned that the portions can very large. realize.

The Palace Diner lives up to its promises and delivers an eating experience that will leave you fat and happy.

No more than a 10-minute drive off of campus, the Palace Diner is a gleaming beacon of silver and neon against the drab Poughkeepsie cityscape. Once inside, the palace offers a clean and modestly-decorated slice of Americana. With individual jukeboxes affixed to the wall within each booth, and a counter full of the typical desserts, the Palace Diner is neither

boastful nor bashful, and it is, if nothing else, welcoming and warm.

In a word, the Palace is downright comfortable. Sure, the chairs are nice, but the true comfort stems from an ever-smiling staff that goes above and beyond in order to make sure that you feel at home.

Logistically, the Palace Diner is an excellent choice for Vassar students. The prices are fair, they can accommodate large parties with finesse, and they boast a varied menu that ranges from traditional fare to surprisingly sensational

offerings from south of the border.

An average trip to the Palace Diner will cost somewhere between $8-15 depending on what and how much you order and if you decide to dabble in dessert, but best of all separate checks are the norm! In fact, on my last trip to the Palace Diner our waitress was able to split the check for a party of five within 30 seconds; eat that up, Babycakes!

As for the food, it is by far the best diner cuisine that one could hope to find in the area.

An October break tryst to the Palace with four close friends confirmed the variety, reliability, and overall quality of the Palace Diner. Our table went in for quesadillas, an Asiago roast beef Panini, a home style chicken dinner, blueberry pancakes, matzo ball soup, a vanilla milkshake, and big ol’ pile of French fries. (bear in mind there were five of us!) Before we could dig in to our personal orders, we had a surprisingly wellstocked breadbasket to contend with. Challah, Foccacia topped with tomatoes, and sweet yellow corn bread were the perfect precursor to a satisfying meal.

Our meals were exactly what one would expect out of what was ordered, however the standout in terms of value and taste was the roasted half of a chicken that our most distinguished guest could hardly make a dent in.

The only thing that the Palace Diner might not have going for it is a slightly limited and less than tantalizing dessert menu, but by the time we had eaten our fill of our main courses dessert was hardly an option anyway. The Palace Diner doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it does replicate the cozy, satisfying diner experience with aplomb, and this writer couldn’t imagine a better walk home from the South Lot than one characterized by single handedly picking a left-over roasted chicken clean to the bone.

SUNY Albany’s actions speak louder than words Professors ALBANY continued from page 1 education. “Is it enough to study a language only to be able to order a coffee when we travel?” asks Vassar’s Dean of Studies Joanne Long. Long’s question challenges the notion of language as a purely utilitarian tool. Long continues, “There is a tendency to find what is consonant with your own worldview rather than be pushed to see difference. Language widens your imagination of possibilities.” Long is adamant that the defense of language, and the humanities in general, must avoid the vagaries that often plague the defense of education as an insular entity. She presents the value of studying language by linking it inseparably with mastery of one’s native tongue, “The study of languages takes things further, looks at things in more detail, makes conclusions that are more nuanced.

The power of analysis is part of what the liberal arts is doing. You can’t understand your own language until you understand another.” Giusti fears that globalization combats the sanctity of bilingual ambitions. He notes, “Under the general view of globalization only a few sectors are viewed as valid, that is, commercially valid, and things are only pursued in that direction.” Long echoes these concerns by calling SUNY Albany’s thriving Arabic and Chinese Departments into question. Though she is by no means critical of their success, she wonders if the equity that the University sees in these departments is derived from the ease with which proficiency in such languages translates into a tangible career path. Dean of the School of Education at SUNY Albany Robert Bangert-Drownes confirms these suspicions in his partial explanation of the University’s methodology. “There may be an indirect relationship,” he admits. “Students may be more heavily enrolling in Arabic and East Asian studies because they have the anticipation that they’ll be doing more business with those cultures. But there was no decision at the administrative level to suspend programs on that basis,” he clarifies. Regardless of this assurance, Giusti finds Bangert-Drownes’ explanation as support for the notion that, “The knowledge of a language is not viewed as an enriching process but instead as a market tool.”

It is just this vision of the future that leaves Chair of Greek and Roman Studies at Vassar

College Rachel Friedman deeply uncomfortable. She explains, “This is part of a trend of commodification of education by which only what can be quantified is valued, and there is a growing sense that education has to be utilitarian and functional.” Long continues this thought offering an image of a “Crisis of the Humanities.” She says, “There is some movement, worldwide I would say, to understand education as a tool for economic development and even national and cultural posturing.” Friedman describes this trend as “a xenophobic narrowing of American education.” As a classicist, Friedman is well aware of the value of the past to inform the present, and is wary of endorsing a policy that disregards the history of the institution it is playing god with.

Administrators at SUNY Albany approach the suspensions within the humanities in a pragmatic light characterized by fiscal concerns and quantifiable evidence. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at SUNY Albany Heidi Andrade explains, “Our budget has been cut 30 percent… it’s amazing that we’re offering education to anyone at this point!” However, challenges to the University’s decisions do not stem from the necessity of cuts, but rather from the narrow range of this gutting. Andrade explains the determining factor behind the cuts, “These decisions were based on enrollment, and productivity of the faculty. If people are not enrolling in the classes then those are the classes that get put up to be suspended.”

Though Andrade asserts that “The humanities are alive and well at SUNY Albany,” the sentiment is tempered by her remark that “languages are notoriously trendy,” and her original e-mailed statement professing, “I cannot claim to have any particular expertise nor even passion for the issues you raise but, like any good academic, I will say something anyway.”

Friedman, however, is frightened to see the fate of unquantifiable skills be determined by numbers, noting, “that’s a blunt instrument for an institution of higher learning to be using.” BangertDrownes is acutely of this, “We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” he says, “I remember leaving meetings feeling nauseated because of the dire financial situation the University finds ourselves in and the lack of options.” Torn between ideals and reality, Bangert-Drownes admits, “I

don’t think this represents anyone’s definition of what makes a good education; I don’t think that any decision to downsize is a good one.” he concludes. Though Bangert-Drownes is sympathetic to the fates of the recently departed disciplines at SUNY Albany, Long is suspicious of sinister possibilities. “One fact to keep in mind, in looking at Albany,” she laments, “is that the only way that you can get rid of tenured faculty is by getting rid of a department.”

In response to the developments at SUNY Albany in light of the current economy Friedman asserts, “You could argue that state schools are more enrolled and have a greater responsibility.”

Bangert-Drownes, however, is reassured by his University’s response to an increased interest in public education. “We could open the gates and allow students to enroll and make money off of them and make poor quality classes, and I think this University did not want to do that.

It did not want to capitalize on enrollments,” he finishes, “I actually think this University is making a courageous move.”

Is SUNY Albany a trendsetter or an outlier?

Giusti sees the cuts at Albany as the next step in cerebral commoditization. “That tells you a lot about a public school, because you see them producing not people who think, but people who produce with their brains, you make them into a business.”

Bangert-Drownes agrees that the position SUNY Albany has found itself in is a reflection of a need for education reform. “My sense is that the state is schizophrenic about its higher education program,” he says, “We want a large and expansive and successful public education system in the state, but we don’t want to pay for it. I really see the story here as a story about financial support for public higher education.”

Despite the difficulties of financial pressure, Vassar professors are chafed by the fact that a large, and historically important sector of knowledge is being withheld from future attendees of SUNY Albany. Friedman concludes that SUNY Albany’s actions may carry as much meaning as the languages they have suspended proclaiming, “I think liberal arts colleges have to take a stand and convey a commitment to education on its own terms, and sometimes the choices we make have to be seen as significant for what they communicate about our values.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

vary in view of Moodle

MOODLE continued from page 6 a bit overwhelming. There are a huge number of options, and I don’t find the icons or options especially clear. For example, if I want to add an assignment on any given week, I have to click ‘insert label.’ This doesn’t make obvious sense to me—I don’t understand what it means by ‘label.’ And I myself have confused the option for adding something like an instant message with the option for creating a discussion board.

Blackboard was clearer, neater and more intuitive.”

Friedman did not hesitate to point out, however, Moodle’s distinct advantages. The automatic layout of the semester week-byweek, for example, allows for an “interactive” syllabus—not a frozen document, but something that evolves in response to what is actually happening in the classroom. That is, according to Friedman, “really helpful.”

The process of receiving and commenting on papers is also “more streamlined” than it was on Blackboard. “I love the way that it automatically e-mails a student back once I have submitted my comments; this was something that I had to do manually with Blackboard,” she concluded. Students, who are not required to organize and update their own Moodle pages, seem to feel neutrally, if not positively, about the transition.

“I like Moodle better than Blackboard,” said Pulani Mpofu ’12. “It’s very easy to use and I really like the idea of having a calendar, you can use it to check it to see what’s due, unlike Blackboard, where everything was scattered everywhere.”

Ruthie Bolotin ’13 remarked, “I honestly don’t feel like there’s any difference between Moodle and Blackboard, although I think Moodle is a really useful tool, and super easy to use. It’s great that things are so accessible.”

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October 28, 2010

French studies integral SUNY’s cuts to language to a liberal arts education programs a major faux pas Susan Hiner and Vinay Swamy

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Guest Columnists

egend has it that King Louis XV of France (or, more likely, his famous mistress Madame de Pompadour) coined the expression, “Après moi le déluge,” meaning, literally, “after me, the flood,” which was understood, with the French Revolution in the rear view mirror, as having unwittingly forecast the cataclysmic social and political changes to come.

The expression has come to mean something more like “consequences be damned,” reflecting an carefree negligence for what may come, as long as the subject in the here-andnow may continue to eat cake and dress in silk brocade.

This phrase came to mind recently after we learned that George Philip, the president of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany, our large state university neighbor up the road, announced on Oct. 1, 2010 that because of the condition of the state budget, several curricular programs were, in his words, to be “deactivated.” In an open letter to the SUNY Albany campus community, he wrote: “As a first step in this more difficult phase of reallocation planning, I have issued a directive today to suspend all new admissions to five program areas: classics, French, Italian, Russian, and theater.” From what we understand, no new students will be admitted to these programs, and faculty and staff affiliated with these programs will be gradually phased out.

In his letter, the president acknowledged that he was “mindful that the identification of these specific programs makes it appear that the College of Arts and Sciences is bearing a disproportionate reduction,” but he added that these programs would be first to the guillotine because “there are comparatively fewer students enrolled in these degree programs”.

However, far from simply “appearing” to be disproportionate, we fear that we may all bear the inevitable material consequences of this shortsighted “deactivation” decision.

In the weeks that have followed the proposal, impassioned pleas for the salvation of the humanities have filled blogs, petition letters have gone viral, faculty from diverse disciplines have registered their outrage, The New York Times and the Washington Post have published articles, and students at SUNY Albany have protested. It is unclear whether any of this will have an impact on the final decision on this proposal, which is scheduled to be reached by the University Senate by Nov. 19, 2010.

How should we in the Vassar community respond to this? What view should we take? It may be tempting for us, who are fortunate to

be in a teaching and learning environment like ours that places a high value on a liberal arts education, to respond with the indifference born of privilege “that it would never happen here.” But we believe it is our responsibility as critical thinkers to recognize what is happening “out there” and uncover the insidious assumptions that underlie, and structural processes at work in such a decision, whether or not it could happen to us. The fallacy of privileging immediately apparent vocational skills as the foundation of education at the expense of life skills (and the ignorant arrogance of those who believe that foreign language study is unnecessary because “everyone speaks English”) is indeed not lost on all of us in the Vassar community.

It is deeply troubling that the study of certain subjects, because they are less visibly translated into an immediate vocation, or because they are less popular, could be eliminated, thus allowing market forces to determine the quality of our culture. Why should we care whether or not people study French (or Russian, Italian, classics, theater)?

Putting self-interest aside for a moment, to give students access to humanities in these and other forms is to teach them to use a variety of analytical tools that will give them a consciousness of their own cultural particularity. It is also to encourage them to question their assumptions, to consider cultures other than their own with curiosity and respect, to understand that culture itself is not a naturally-occurring phenomenon, but one that is constructed through layers of intersecting histories, languages and literatures.

To learn about one’s own culture, so that one can begin to occupy it, contribute to it and critically reflect upon it in a responsible way, one must first be able to view it as worthy of study—and one of the most useful and stimulating pathways to that degree of self-consciousness is through the study of other cultures. Useful because it provides a practical skill set for communication with immigrant communities in our midst and with other nations with whom we have economic, social and political relations. Stimulating because, by traveling with our minds and bodies, we can see the world with fresh eyes. Philip might have indeed unleashed a flood. But as Arthur Rimbaud in his prose poem, “Après le Déluge,” reminds us, in a brilliant transformative riff on the dead king’s turn of phrase, it is up to us to recognize and bring “the gemstones out of hiding.” Indeed, why would we want to let our own treasures drown?

—Susan Hiner and Vinay Swamy are associate and assistant professors, respectively, of French and Francophone Studies.

Annie Massa

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Guest Columnist

his month, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany announced devastating budget cuts that have put its language departments—if you’ll pardon my French—completely in the merde. We’re not talking about slightly fewer course offerings or the dismissal of a couple professors, but rather the total loss of the University’s French, Russian and Italian Departments. As summarized on Oct. 4 by the journal Inside Higher Ed, this startling announcement has added a trace of irony to SUNY Albany’s slogan: “the world within reach.”

University President George M. Philip declared the deactivation of these three language programs, along with programs in classics and theater, at a town hall meeting of faculty, students and staff on Oct. 1. Students currently pursuing majors or minors in any of the terminated departments will be given until May 2012 to finish their degrees. Though no pink slips have been distributed yet, 10 tenured faculty members and 20 adjuncts were given notice that they’ll be asked to leave after these students have completed their programs.

Naturally, an internationally-recognized research university wouldn’t blow three of its foreign language departments off the map all at once for no reason. The administration isn’t comprised of malicious language buriers. SUNY Albany has struggled with a precipitous decline in state funding recently, suffering a loss of $33.5 million in state aid in the past three years, a 30 percent decline.

In the wake of this staggering loss of funds, Philip said, “it is critically important for the University to rethink, rebalance, and reallocate resources to support its core academic and research mission.” What might really merit some rethinking on the University’s part, though, is why those freshly-terminated programs existed in the first place—and why, say, a French Department is a critical part of a competitive liberal arts curriculum.

According to the University’s administration, these five particular departments are being cut because of comparatively low student enrollment in their degree programs. But at the end of the day, it can hardly be considered fair, or even strategic, for a university to slash subjects as vibrant and inherently useful as languages from its offerings.

A liberal arts education, ideally, is meant to offer a sort of cheese sampling of the academic disciplines; students are encouraged to try absolutely anything that looks good. Languages are especially conducive to being “tasted” in this way, because it’s easy to be enriched by the study of a language without necessarily getting a degree in it. Think of an art history major partic-

ularly captivated by the French Impressionists, who wants to be able to unflinchingly pronounce their last names. Or an international studies major may want to dabble in as many languages as possible. Even a physics major might want to go to France to study the country’s use of nuclear power. As students, we’re supposed to maintain a healthy level of curiosity about the world. We can’t pursue a degree in every subject that interests us, but does that mean our schools should stop offering the subjects we’re not pursuing degrees in? And isn’t the entire raison d’être of liberal arts institutions to produce students that are more than their majors?

Then there is the problem of reconciling these cuts with campus diversity. No college viewbook or website forgets to mention the diversity of its student population. The Student Life category of the SUNY Albany website has a section devoted to diversity that proclaims, “diversity is a source of our strength. On this campus, you will encounter new ideas and different ways of looking at the world—a great way to expand your own vision and prepare for an increasingly global community.”

Combining students from different backgrounds promotes communication across cultures, and the dispersion of ideas and different perspectives. Colleges and universities know this and cultivate diversity because of it.

A diverse student body and a diverse, globally minded body of course offerings go hand in hand; studying a foreign language is one of the most accessible ways to enhance worldview. If SUNY Albany is really committed to expanding the global vision of its students, it is certainly not advancing its goal by completely devaluing three languages prominent in the global community.

The elimination of French language programs at any level is a personal bête noir of mine. But SUNY Albany’s debilitating blow to three of its language departments begs an important, more far-reaching question: Are foreign languages an expendable, for-fun piece of the college experience? Are they there in the course catalogue just for show? Or are they a vital part of a liberal arts education, whether studied for a semester or pursued as a major?

Doing away with language programs may seem like a shrewd money-saving measure to SUNY Albany at the moment, but it is an unaffordable expense to the quality and coherence of the education the university offers. By cutting French language (and Italian and Russian and theater and classics) from its offerings, SUNY Albany is undermining its own liberal arts agenda and the culture and diversity it professes.

That’s what I’d call a serious faux pas.

—Annie Massa ’13 is a French major and a member of the French Club.

SUNY Albany undervalues academic exploration Sybil Johnson

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Guest Columnist

t would not be drastic to fear for the future of the humanities in colleges and universities throughout our country. It seems that the relevance of foreign language and arts departments has been thoroughly questioned and outright ignored in some cases. In light of the economic crisis, many colleges and universities have been forced to make some tough decisions: Where do they make the cuts? Unfortunately, in many cases it has been to the humanities. Faced with nearly $32 million in budget cuts, the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany has made the decision to cut outright a variety of different departments, all under the humanities umbrella. For future students at SUNY Albany, majors in Russian, French, Italian, classics or theater will no longer be available. But why?

After evaluating the allocations of funds, the president and high administration have found that the number of students enrolled in these departments is too small to justify even a reduction in faculty, and the threat to the future of the humanities is clear. Once upon a time, an education in classics and the other humanities was viewed as a hallmark of the educated

and productive members of society. So how did we get to where we are now, where humanities are so readily cut? The “American university” is no longer viewed on the whole as a means for exploration or a well-rounded education, but rather a means for making careers. In a country and world where the economic climate is constantly shifting, the need for a secure financial future has become inescapable. We are taught that that the only way to truly succeed is to pursue the course of study that will lead to a lucrative career.

It is true that the world is changing, and people have to be “sensible” and do what is “practical,” but it is an insult to the foundation of our culture to deem an education in languages or the arts as irrelevant. In the bustling world in which we now find ourselves, teeming with plugged-in executives and technical aficionados, communication with those across the ocean or even across the world is more important than ever. Certainly human language— an education in foreign languages or communications—is an essential part of participation in the global economy? To lean on the crutch of English-speakers is an easy answer to this problem, but an inherently lazy one indeed.

How do we meet, let alone compete, with our international counterparts who are versed in one, two, three, maybe even four languages if we have not the drive, brain-power, or attention to become a well-rounded “citizen of the world?” And for those who question the importance of ancient languages, deemed “dead” by those who have not bothered to take a closer look, it would be prudent to consider that not only is our own language derived largely from the ancient languages of Italy and Greece, but the languages of the medical, legal and religious worlds as well. And these fields are some of the most profitable.

It would be a great and tragic mistake to ignore our roots and diminish the importance of humanitarian disciplines in this country; if anything, they serve to enhance our understanding of our society, culture and greater humanity. Without an understanding of where we have come from, how can we expect to know where we’re going? We cannot become machines without animation, driven towards an end of financial ambition, for that is to deny an essential part of our humanity: the part that questions, searches and yearns for a higher understanding of this crazy world. By cutting

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

departments in the humanities, universities not only deny some students the opportunity to fully explore and devote themselves to their passion, but also deny others who have a curiosity to explore all areas of education.

The purpose of undergraduate education has been forgotten: it is to acquire a full and well-rounded education. There is a reason that most colleges and universities do not advertise themselves as trade schools. To be denied this possibility for exploration is to deny students access to a survey course in the best of what mankind has accomplished, the best of what mankind has thought, and even the worst. The presence of humanitarian disciplines does not and should not need to be justified financially, but intellectually, as they represent traditions of arts and culture that have been in place, and valued, for hundreds, even thousands of years.

It is not simply an argument to never forget the accomplishments of mankind, make no mistake about that, but rather to better understand how we have come to be here and what exactly it is that we do next.

—Sybil F. Johnson ’11 is the chair of the Greek and Roman studies major committee.

October 28, 2010

OPINIONS

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Homophobic attacks show lack of progress in LGBTQ rights Steve Lavoie

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Guest Columnist

ver the past couple of weeks, I have found myself being asked to give my opinion on the recent LGBTQ suicides and the parallel acts of violence against “gays” in Chelsea, at Stonewall, and in the Bronx—reasonable questions for sure. Yet, upon reflection, I think: What can I say? What am I expected to say?

Why even am I being asked? Of course the answers are clear, and we need not necessarily expand on them here. After all, is it not a forgone conclusion that I condemn, have condemned, those acts as monstrous? What else can I add?

Am I supposed to have an answer? But again, what answer? What answer could I provide that might do justice to the lives in question? Doubtless, these lives are very much in question. Not only are they in question such that these lives are existentially in question, but also, that these lives are, and have been for sometime, in the form of a question. They are questionable, which is, I think, what we ought to be asking about. That is, which lives can be questioned?

I am often struck by the way, and by the when, in which questions are asked. That is, what occasions us not only to ask, but more importantly, to stop asking? To rephrase what I said above, the question would be then, not “Why am I being asked now?”, but rather, “Why did I ever stop being asked?” If for example people are, according to the New York City Anti-Violence Project, as susceptible to antigay violence now

as they were a decade ago, why did the asking stop? Note that I did not ask, why did the questioning stop? It never did. If it had, I would not have been asked to write this, and we would not be referring to the individuals in question (or rather, in asking) as victims and survivors.

There is a particular kind of asking with respect to LGBTQ issues that troubles me. It can be found across the media spectrum, and has been very much so ever since the Rutgers incident, in which a Rutgers University freshman committed suicide after finding that a video of him engaging in homosexual acts was exposed by his roommate, “made headlines” nearly a month ago. While the news stories and outlets vary, the kind of asking remains the same, an asking in which the questions presuppose a have-gotten-better.

The article by Margaret Talbot in last week’s The New Yorker confirms much of what I would like to put forward to you here, especially the presupposition of the notion that things have gotten better for, as she says, “gays and lesbians” (The reader should note the immensity of the borders she erects). Indeed the article presupposes that proposition: “Americans are becoming more accepting of gays and lesbians and their rights to equal citizenship.”

Now before you chide me for discounting the progress of the gay rights movements, let me say that I would agree with what her statement says. But the catch is, what exactly does it say? Who are these “gays and lesbians,” and

what of these “rights” she mentions? It seems to me that they go together.

Why do we say that things have gotten better? They have—the position held by many students here at Vassar is at least anecdotal evidence of that. But better for whom? The New Yorker (and they are not alone here) would have us think that it has gotten better for “gays and lesbians.” And again, for some of us it has.

But do why we think it has? By what barometer do we measure this? (And make no doubt that we are very much a society that likes to take measurements, particularly juridical ones.)

In the case of the New Yorker article the measurement is based on the shift toward acceptance of same-sex marriage and opposition to the United States military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. The story goes that these developments are an indication that things are getting better, that “Americans are becoming more accepting.” Really? I think the gentlemen whose lives were in question in the Bronx a few weeks ago would perhaps say otherwise—so too at least would the untold number of people who are asked to live their life in question everyday.

Why do we think that mainstream opinion on such matters as same-sex marriage or DADT is an indication of the way in which, or degree to which, lives are held in question? Perhaps this is the moment when I should give you my opinion.

We want to believe that things have gotten better, and toward that end we have witnessed an ideological shift that will make that possi-

ble, a shift that involves a degree of epistemic violence, an ideological foreclosure that forces its intended result. The move that we have witnessed over the past two decades, in which acceptance is conflated with gay marriage and DADT, has circumscribed the very condition of possibility of any getting-better, such that it was almost a forgone conclusion that things would get better. “But wait,” you say, “this is ridiculous talk; things have gotten better. You even said so yourself.” This is true, but I also asked, better for whom? Ideology has so very much to do with what we believe to be true, and the shift about which I am here asking is indisscociable with a kind of discursive genocide.

We believe that things have gotten better, and continue to do so in the face of much recent violence, because the values upon which we base the questionability of life do not allow us to see it otherwise. As I said earlier, this has been decided in advance. Things are of course getting better when the criterion of measurement is based upon the most mainstream of values. Violent acts such as those recently making headlines are not a new phenomenon.

The acts only surprise us as such because the people have gone ignored for so long.

So in answering, I ask us to question, to hold in question, the premises upon which we do our asking.

— Steve Lavoie ’08 is assistant director for campus life LGBTQ programs.

Secret donors, unlimited Political gaffes dominate campaign cash dangerous this year’s election season Rachel Anspach Guest Columnist

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s we all know the upcoming elections are going to be tough on the Democrats. Most people think that this is due to public frustrations regarding President Barack Obama’s socalled ineffective policies and the continuing recession. That may be true but there is another huge factor at play: This will be the first election since the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission last January. The court ruled that, under the Constitution, corporations have the same rights of free speech as individual Americans.

This means that, according to the majority opinion, “while corporations or unions may not give money directly to campaigns, they may seek to persuade the voting public through other means.” Due to the Court’s decision, outside money is playing a larger and murkier role in this election than previous elections because the amount of money in campaigns is increasing and those donating the money is unknown.

According to The New York Times, right-wing organizations, dedicated to electing far right Republicans, have spent over $150 million on campaign efforts thus far, money that would not have been permissible to spend prior to the ruling.

Though independent groups still cannot directly contribute to a campaign, they can fund media campaigns directly supporting candidates. While there is a statutory limit of donations by an individual to a federal candidate’s campaign of $2,400, there is no such constraint to how much a non–campaign-related organization can spend on ads, which has resulted in a “new political era marked by rampant and anonymous donations,” as The Washington Post recently labeled it. This election has seen numerous conservative groups flood the public airwaves with millions of dollars. A few of these groups are American Crossroads, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Citizens United and the American Action Network. They are spending millions on campaigns, but it is difficult to find out who the big movers behind the scenes are due to the fact that while groups still have to disclose their group name when aiding campaigns, they do not have to release the names of the group’s donors. Though there have been shady political contributions in the past, the new campaign finance laws have made it far easier for organizations to launch huge campaigns with unknown financiers. We as the public have no idea who is pouring money into

the ads we watch on television. And according to The New York Times, less than a third of independent organizations have disclosed their donors this year. The Court’s decision making corporations and other groups equivalent to people has given those entities a tremendous upper hand and more political power than average individual American can only dream of.

One of the greatest examples of the behindthe-scenes financing for politics is within the Tea Party. It’s often portrayed as an organic movement, but as presidential advisor David Axelrod explained, “What they don’t say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens’ movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires.”

These billionaires are David and Charles Koch, the owners of Koch Industries, the second largest private company in the United States, according to Forbes. The brothers hold extremely right wing views and have spent millions of dollars furthering their hardcore libertarian, anti-Obama, global warming denying ideals.

David Koch founded the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which was behind some of the first Tea Party gatherings in February 2009. And since January 2010 Americans for Prosperity has been buying loads of television ads to affect elections across the nation. It is difficult to ascertain just how much the Kochs have spent, since they give through so many different venues—both personal and corporate donations—to campaigns and organizations, not to mention founding several right-wing organizations and two libertarian think tanks (Cato and Mercatus). And the only reason we know of the Koch brothers’ role is because of an extensive media investigation. The media, however, does not have the manpower to investigate all the shady groups sprouting up. And the idea that two right wing billionaires have so much influence over our elections, with their money, should give the nation pause.

The evidence of a spike in outside conservative donations can be seen on the local scale as well. Here in New York, in six congressional races, independent groups have spent more than the actual congressional campaign committees within the past month. These groups, including Karl Rove’s American Crossroads, are supporting Republican candidates throughout the state. These competitive districts include the 19th, in which Vassar is located, the 20th, the 23rd, 24th, 25th, and first. American Crossroads recently received a donation of $7 million from Bob Perry, a wealthy Texan, who See DONORS on page 12

Matthew Brock Senior Editor

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his election season, America has witnessed the death of the political gaffe. Remember back to January 2004. Howard Dean had just lost the Iowa caucus, and at the end of a rousing speech he let out a high-pitched shriek that horrified audiences across the country and cost Dean the election. Then, Virginia senatorial candidate George Allan called S.R. Sidarth, an individual of Indian descent, a “macaca”—a racial slur used in Europe. Allan went on to lose the race.

Then, in 2008, America was introduced to the queen of the gaffe: Sarah Palin. It might be a stretch to say that her insinuations that Russia was about to invade the United States or her buying a $150,000 wardrobe lost her the election, but they certainly didn’t help. These faux pas had the power to decimate these candidates’ chances at winning their elections. My question, then, is what happened to that power?

In 2010, American voters have been inundated with gaffes, the likes of which have never been seen. Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul, when asked about the 1964 Civil Rights Act, claimed that it violated small business owners’ right to discriminate on the basis of race. “Most defenders of the First Amendment will believe in abhorrent groups standing up and saying awful things. It’s the same way with other behaviors. In a free society we tolerate boorish people with abhorrent behaviors.”

More recently, Nevada senatorial candidate Sharon Angle told a high school’s Hispanic Student Union “I don’t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me.” Going back to 1999, current Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O’Donnell admitted to practicing witchcraft. Describing a date she once had with a fellow witch, she said “We went to a movie and then had a little picnic on a satanic altar.”

Despite the embarrassment or offense caused by these three candidates’ gaffes, two of them are currently in the lead. Rasmussen reports that Angle is leading her opponent, Senate Majority Leader Harry Read, 50 to 47 percent.

Paul, meanwhile, leads opponent Jack Conway 47 to 42 percent, while O’Donnell, thankfully, is losing to Chris Coons 51 to 40 percent.

The fact that two of these three candidates are winning despite their public missteps is horrifying, but it raises the question: What’s special about O’Donnell that makes her gaffes cost her the race? She could just be an all-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

around worse candidate who would be losing, gaffes or not. However, the issue seems systemic to the Republican party, which is attempting to craft itself as the party of rich whites and Christian morals. Angle offended Latin-Americans, but her anti-immigration stance had already ensured that they would not vote for her.

Meanwhile, her white supporters, on the other hand, clearly don’t care whether or not she’s a racist. The same is true for Paul. In his comments on the Civil Rights Act, he claimed that white business owners, one of his primary constituencies, should be able to do whatever they want even if it means discriminating against minorities. In a sick way, these comments could have helped him secure more of this vote. In contrast, O’Donnell’s picnic on a satanic altar runs in direct contrast with the Republican Party’s increasingly Christian sentiments Here in New York, we are witnessing this trend first hand. Republican candidate Carl Paladino and his main opponent in the primary, Rick Lazio ’80, engaged in a race to the bottom to see who could secure the far-right wing vote. Lazio made a valiant effort, focusing his campaign exclusively on his opposition to the Park51 Community Center in lower Manhattan.

Paladino, however proved to be too formidable of a candidate. In addition to vehemently opposing Park51, he also sent out a slew of racist and sexist e-mails to his friends, which were then made public.

Clearly, Republican voters in New York were impressed by Paladino’s outrageous behavior, because he won the election. Thankfully, Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo is currently leading Paladino in the polls, 51 to 37 percent, which shows that the political gaffe still holds sway over New York voters. Hopefully, once the conservative outrage over the election of a socialist-NaziKenyan president dies down, politics will return to business as usual and Paul, Angle, O’Donnell and their ilk will return to obscurity.

In the meantime, go out and vote. These, farright candidates are, on average, only winning by a small margin, so individual votes will matter. While America as a whole may be willing to ignore these blunders and flat-out offensive statements, I hope that you all will be able to see them for what they are—petty attempts at rousing support from the far right—and vote for the candidates that you want to see representing your state.

—Matthew Brock ’11 is a senior editor for The Miscellany News.

OPINIONS

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October 28, 2010

Anti-Muslim speech in Political correctness not media dangerous to society the core of Williams’ firing Juan Thompson

N

Opinions Editor

ational Public Radio (NPR) analyst and Fox News contributor Juan Williams was fired by NPR last week after making the following remark on Bill O’Reilly’s cable news show: “I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” I’m not sure if Williams should have been fired. At the very least, he should have been publicly rebuked and forced to apologize. His comments, however, are indicative of a nefarious problem that has arisen, which is the recent spate of bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric.

The fear of Muslims expressed by Williams is just the latest such incident. Two weeks ago O’Reilly himself was on ABC’s The View where he accused Muslims of killing Americans. The statement on its face is true; Muslims were behind the attacks of Sept. 11. His comments, nonetheless, were outrageous because he went onto say that since “Muslims killed us on Sept.

11,” the Muslims attempting to build the Park51 Community Center should not do so because doing so would just inflame Americans “It would be wise to say ‘We respect that sentiment, we may not agree with it, but we’ll move it away.” His gross generalization caused two of the show’s hosts to storm off the set in anger.

O’Reilly’s Fox News colleague Brian Kilmeade provoked a firestorm himself when he asserted that “all terrorists are Muslims.” These attacks on Muslims aren’t just coming from the conservative Fox News Channel. The New Republic’s Martin Peretz also got in on the anti-Muslim campaign when he said “But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. So, yes, I wonder whether I need to honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment, which I have in my gut sense that they will abuse.” The fact that a reporter for a prominent, purportedly liberal, American magazine can wonder aloud whether Muslim–American citizens should have their First Amendment rights protected is unbelievable. (More so, Peretz should know that the First Amendment is not a privilege, but a right, which is why it’s a part of the “Bill of Rights.”)

But what’s most remarkable is that Peretz was not even reprimanded by superiors for his constitutional musings. Indeed, unlike other groups, Muslims can be singled out. Imagine the uproar that would have followed if Peretz had questioned the validity of First Amendment protections for blacks or Latinos. Or imagine if

Williams had questioned his safety if he had been surrounded by a group of young black, or Latino males. Those situations would have caused a deeper and more lasting backlash, but since Muslims are the targets, these episodes quickly pass.

The fear mongering of these individuals illustrates how out of touch they are as well. When Williams and O’Reilly were discussing terrorism in that now infamous segment, O’Reilly actually claimed that Muslim terrorism was the biggest threat facing the globe. My jaw dropped to the floor when I heard it. O’Reilly presents himself as a representative of the “folks”—his words, not mine—but I know of no folks who obsess about Muslim terrorism. They are worried about more relevant, existential problems like being able to put food on the table, keeping their homes from been foreclosed on by the callous banks, fixing the broken down van in the driveway or ensuring that their children get the best possible education. The past few years have seen a decline in the number of terrorist attacks, but an increase in the number of human beings without access to food and water and people who have seen their dreams of economic stability deferred. So when I hear elitist blowhards like O’Reilly argue that Muslim terrorism is the biggest threat to humanity, I have to ask myself what world they live in. What “folks” do they truly know?

Muslim fear mongering has dangerous consequences aside from polluting the public discourse. Earlier this month, for example, a Muslim-American man from Staten Island finally revealed the abuse he had previously kept to himself. The perpetrators spat on him, kicked and punched him and called him a terrorist during a four-month span. The attackers, fortunately, were recently arrested and charged with hate crimes. Are O’Reilly and his ilk directly responsible for the heinous acts by a gang of Neanderthals on Staten Island? No. But when public personalities use their platforms to routinely voice anti-Muslim sentiments, they divide this nation and feed into the bigotry that is often bubbling beneath the surface.

Attacks on Muslims create a divisive culture of irrational fear. And the disheartening thing is that we’ve been down this road before with black Americans, Native Americans, Japanese Americans and women, to mention a few.

Among the many consequences of history is that it teaches us about the past in an effort to help us learn from it. Unfortunately, it seems as if we are repeating the same bigoted mistakes from the darker periods of our republic’s history.

—Juan Thompson ’13 is Opinions editor of The Miscellany News.

Joshua Rosen

Opinions Editor

I

can unabashedly say that I love public radio—National Public Radio (NPR) and American Public Media, in particular. I love the mellifluous voices of commentators, the heartwarming stories of Lake Woebegon on A Prairie Home Companion, and the seemingly quirky pronunciation of Michele Norris’s name.

When I saw that Juan Williams, an NPR news analyst, had been fired on Oct. 20 as a result of comments he had made on the Fox News program The O’Reilly Factor, I was surprised. When I read the comments, though, the decision made by NPR seems quite reasonable, even considering that the United States is at war with militant Islam.

Williams had claimed that he perceives anybody in traditional Muslim garb on an airplane as a potential security threat and that by wearing such clothing, they are “identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims.” That sort of bigotry really has no place in the national media.

Williams’ comments constitute wrongheaded defamation of an entire religious group on the basis of the actions of a limited number of persons of that group. While Williams has the right to espouse his opinions, it is most certainly not befitting his position as a news analyst.

A news analyst should act in an objective manner, and by stating that he is prejudiced against Muslims, Williams taints his credibility as an objective correspondent. In this way, NPR is right. NPR was correct to state that William’s comments on Bill O’Reilly’s show “undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR,” as a press release issued

by NPR opined, according to The New York Times.

The reaction of the political right to this firing has been, quite frankly, personally embarrassing. The statements of the right are perhaps exemplified best—or, more accurately, worst—by House Minority Leader, Rep. John Boehner, a Republican representative from Ohio, who bombastically claimed that the firing confirms that NPR is a “leftwing network,” as he was quoted saying in comments to The National Review, one of the finer conservative publications. Boehner also opined that NPR should be de-funded by the federal government—even though it receives a pittance from the government, only about $3 million, according to NPR’s audited 2009 IRS filings.

I would venture to say that Boehner and others who seem to think that NPR is a left-

leaning news outlet are incorrect. But even if NPR is left leaning, this does not mean it is necessarily inaccurate, and, thus, worthy of being de-funded. Rather, every news outlet has some biases: those of the people who work there. If these biases tend to lean one way or another, it does not necessarily follow that the entire source is somehow tainted or not factually accurate. It merely means that an educated consumer of information should take information with the proverbial grain of salt.

At the crux of the recent interest in NPR is the Williams firing, namely the nature of his comments. Perhaps more important than how Williams’ comments indicate a lack of objectivity on his part—and outright bigotry—Williams also made a profound statement on the lack of understanding of religious minority groups in the United States on the part of religious majority groups.

It is not a question of being politically incorrect in saying that Muslims who wear traditional Muslim garb are “identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims.”

Rather, it is an issue of factual inaccuracy and irrationality on Williams’ part.

Political correctness be damned, Williams is wrong. He generalized too greatly: He seems to think that American Muslims who wear religious garb are somehow less American and more Muslim by doing so. If this reaches its logical conclusion, then anybody who wears religious garb of any sort would be presumed to bear more allegiance to their co-religionists than to their country. And this statement does not really bear in mind the security threats we face: No rational terrorist would wear characteristic garb—that’s just going to attract the kind of attention that Williams gives.

As a country, it behooves us to focus on objectivity in our news sources and avoid generalizations. Bigotry is not a question of political correctness, but of American values—religious freedom and freedom of expression are enshrined in the Constitution, and while freedom of speech is also constitutionally protected, Williams was not fired for speaking freely. He was fired for compromising his journalistic integrity and objectivity, which means that he is not capable of performing the tasks for which NPR hired him. Thus, he was fired for a valid reason, and any news source would be justified to rid itself of a commentator, analyst, or reporter who compromises their credibility in such a manner.

—Joshua Rosen ’13 is Opinions editor of The Miscellany News.

Israel’s loyalty oath undemocratic, oppressive to minorities Emil Ostrovski

O

Guest Columnist

n Oct. 10, 2010, the Israeli Cabinet—all the ministers, led by the Prime Minister— voted in favor of a loyalty oath that, if passed by the Parliament, would put into law an additional citizenship requirement for new nonJewish citizens. According to The Guardian, a “loyalty oath will be required of non-Jews seeking to become Israeli citizens, mainly affecting Palestinians from the West Bank who marry Palestinian citizens of Israel,” and that this oath entails swearing allegiance to Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic state.”

Now, before criticizing or defending the Cabinet, it is important to ask a question: What has led Israel to the point at which it seeks to adopt such a measure? Moreover, is it natural for Israel to adopt such a measure? Early Zionist movements were based around the goal of establishing a Jewish homeland. And the great tide of Jewish migration to Israel came as a result of the Holocaust. It’s an obvious point, but I overlooked its significance until it was recently pointed out to me.

The modern state of Israel is, in large part, a response to Adolf Hitler’s failed campaign of extermination, and every day that Israel’s flag waves can be taken as a promise of, “Never again.” From this point of view, we can see

why this requirement makes a certain degree of sense—the only way to guarantee that an atrocity like the Holocaust will never again befall the Jewish people is to have, in existence, a Jewish state.

The problem, however, is two-fold. First, the loyalty oath, in and of itself, is hypocritical. You cannot have democracy, true democracy, if your system legally privileges one group over another. Yes, this is a sweeping criticism, not just of Israel, but of a broad range of supposedly democratic regimes, from an America in which women could not vote to a slave-owning Athens. But I think it is a fair claim to make.

Democracy literally means that the people share the power of government. All the people, not some, not a few, not even most.

All or none. And at the point in which the distribution of power to all the people within the system is compromised, democracy turns into hypocrisy, and rule of the many turns into oppression of the few.

We might even say true democracy is an ideal which we will never reach, but should try to strive toward. And the irony is that Israel, whose existence can be taken—in large part—as a response to the oppression of Jewish minorities throughout history, is itself, on the cusp of enacting oppressive legislation

that seems to me a clear case of a tyranny of the majority. Now, if Israel decided that holding to democratic principles are not in its actual interest, and simply had all wouldbe citizens pledge allegiance to a Jewish (but not democratic) state, that would solve the problem of hypocrisy. But that wouldn’t make giving up the pursuit of democratic principles morally right, even if we are sympathetic to why the temptation to give it up exists.

Here is where some people will get frustrated with me. They will point to all the Muslim countries, for instance, who are very clearly devoted to being Muslim, and do not in any way pursue democratic principles. But that’s not the point. The point is, that in my opinion, in passing this legislation, the Israeli Parliament would be committing a moral wrong, and a moral wrong is a moral wrong, regardless of how many others have committed it. The best thing, then, that we could say about the loyalty oath is that it is a necessary evil.

But here we need to proceed very carefully, because almost anything can be justified by calling it a necessary evil. Since we’ve already established that the oath would be a moral wrong, an “evil,” the question becomes, is it really necessary? Here’s where I give voice to what’s probably been on everyone’s minds

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

from the start. Yes, the passing of the oath would mostly be a symbolic gesture. Israeli Cabinet members and Parliament members all know that pledging allegiance aloud is not the same as pledging allegiance in one’s heart. So what is the point, then?

The point of passing this legislation is to reaffirm Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.

Is this reaffirmation necessary? But that’s not getting at the heart of the matter. Here’s what we really want to ask: Is Israel’s existence as a Jewish state necessary? Do the Jewish people need a homeland? I suppose this is ultimately where I diverge from many fellow Je ws, but I will say no, not at the cost of giving up the pursuit of democratic principles. The relative lack of resistance of the Jews in the Holocaust was not a failure of the Jews, and allowing this campaign of extermination to happen right under their noses was not a failure of the German peoples or the people living in Nazi-occupied states. The failure we saw in the Holocaust was a failure of humanity, not peculiar to any specific group of people, and if we would use the Holocaust to justify giving up the struggle for true democracy, then we truly have learned nothing from the deaths of 11 million people.

—Emil Ostrovski ’12 is a philosophy major at Vassar College.

October 28, 2010

OPINIONS

Page 11

Breast cancer overly commercialized Hannah Blume

F

Guest Reporter

or those of you who were not already aware, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In case you did not notice the avalanche of pink products that hit store shelves in the spirit of this month’s cause, some of you may have received this giddy reminder in your Facebook inbox: “Okay, ladies...it’s that time again!!!” OMG. This anonymous message then prompted girls to post where they like to leave their purses with responses like, “I like it on the couch,” or “I like it on the back seat of my car.” All in the name of breast cancer awareness. The best part, in all caps, “DON’T TELL THE BOYS.” At the risk of sounding like a snarky, uptight prude, I fail to see any connection between tasteless sexual innuendo and the horrors of a dangerous disease that affects one out of every eight women.

Useless Facebook memes, boob-centric awareness campaigns and hugely profitable pink marketing campaigns all speak to the way in which breast cancer awareness has mutated into a foul combination of consumerism and sexism wrapped up tight with a cute pink ribbon.

This mild example of the sexualization of breast cancer is by no means unique. You may have heard of the campaign “Save the Ta-tas” which tells women to “show off your ta-tas” by wearing one of their signature tshirts. The foundation, which sells products online and at independent retailers, donates 25 percent of their proceeds to breast cancer research projects. Their feature product this month is “Boob Lube: The Original Breast Check Soap.”

The Boob Lube promotional video, found on the organization’s website, features a woman wearing red lipstick and a luxurious golden robe nervously eying the “Boob Lube” obviously purchased by her mustached hus-

band who is dubiously fixing drinks in the background. She looks at him. He nods. She reads the breast check instructions on the back of the bottle. And, to the jazzy tune of the background music—“a little bit of motion in a circular motion and you’ll be lovin’ Boob Lube too”—the woman whisks off her elated husband to the shower to “get her Boob Lube on.”

In the heat of the moment, the auto-tuned male announcer champions the magical wonders of Boob Lube: “It has been suggested that the use of Boob Lube may spur your lover to never again glance at another woman, because you are enough for him, always and forever, for eternity, in perpetuity, throughout the universe. A fanciful universe in which he forever spanks your perfect ass no matter how many carbs you had that day.”

Hear that, ladies? All that for just $14.99!

Products like “Boob Lube” would be funny if not for the fact that self-breast checks and mammograms save women’s lives, not just their prized breasts. Or the fact that many women who suffer from breast cancer get mastectomies or lose their hair—not exactly the type of sexy that “Save the Ta-tas” endorses.

Instead of making a gag gift out of a breast self-examination, why not promote annual clinical breast exams for women in their 20s?

Or provide resources for low-cost or free mammograms for women who otherwise could not afford one?

The problem with these campaigns is that they create a boob bonanza out of the second most deadly disease to women. Trendy as they are, “Save the Ta-tas” and “Keep A Breast Foundation” seem to worship the disembodied breast. There is a profound danger in allowing an organization to sexualize women under the guise of feminism.

As breast cancer awareness has become an untouchable cult-like value, the pink ribbon has become the symbol of women’s solidari-

ty in our “post-feminist” nation. Forget issues like domestic abuse, rape or abortion—breast cancer is just tame enough for anyone claiming to be “pro-women” can rally behind.

For this reason, the pink ribbon and breast cancer translates into big bucks. And business has certainly noticed.

This month, Lay’s, Yoplait, Tic Tac, Bobbi Brown and Cuisinart, KitchenAid and hundreds of other companies all emblazoned their products with pink ribbons. It is every consumer’s duty to consider whether pinkwashing is really in women’s best interest, or just another way for corporations to exploit women’s bodies.

Let’s do the math. Take the Pink Cuisinart Food Processor for $39.99. Cuisinart, in their arduous efforts to save women’s lives, donates three percent of their revenue to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that promotes breast cancer research. That’s $1.20 per food processor. Komen then uses 83 percent of that money for breast cancer causes. That leaves less than $1 for research per unit sold.

It’s a win-win-win! You get a cute pink kitchen accessory, breast cancer research gets enough money for a few thousand cotton swabs, and Cuisinart enjoys an exponential increase in profits! Cuisinart self-righteously proclaims on its website that it has pledged to donate $30,000 to breast cancer research. That is borderline offensive to women.

Invariably, the response is: “it’s for a good cause.” Not true. Research has shown that corporations have contributed to many cases of breast cancer. Namely, in the past 30 years, there has been a sharp increase in the incidence of breast cancer despite advances in diagnostics and the National Cancer Institute’s “War on Cancer.” Corporations contribute to cancer because they have introduced hundreds of thousands of new chemicals. Some See CANCER on page 12

Thompson undervalues athletics programs Ben Guzick

Guest Columnist

J

uan Thompson made good points in his opinion column “Athletic recruitment harmful to academics” (10.06.10). Let’s grant that: 1. Historically, athletic recruiting may have had a less-than-auspicious beginning.

2. The focus on finances of big-time, Division I sports is misplaced.

3. Athletes shouldn’t attend college solely as a means to prepare for professional sports. By neglecting the classroom, such individuals are selling themselves short, since only a small fraction succeed at the professional level.

Other points in the op-ed column, however, can be questioned. Can the decline in the number of U.S. college graduates relative to other countries be attributed mainly to athletic recruitment? I don’t think so. In the midst of a global recession, countries like China (one that Thompson cited) are positioning themselves on the international economic forefront. It would seem that our nation’s declining relative global position in college graduates is much more likely due to a combination of cultural, social, political and economic factors.

Some of Thompson’s comments are simply extreme. College is not “a place where athletes go merely to play sports, choosing to attend class only when they see fit.” The vast majority of athletes, knowing that they will make a living at something other than their sport, take their studies seriously. As the student-athletes say on the clever TV commercials, “there are over 380,000 NCAA student athletes, and most of us will go pro in something other than sports.”

The overall impact of college sports is more complex than suggested by Thompson.

I recently moved to Gainesville, Fla., home to the University of Florida (UF). Let me tell you, the rabid enthusiasm for and knowledge of the Gator Nation is infectious. The UF athletic teams become a source of pride and

a rallying point for Gainesville and the entire state. During football season, weekends— and student life overall—revolve around UF athletics. And things are nearly as obsessive during basketball season. People are even knowledgeable about my favorite teams, the tennis teams. Across the South Eastern Conference (SEC), UF’s conference, these college towns have townies and students just as devoted to their teams. The same goes for the other major conferences, I’m sure. This fervor, excitement and sense of identity that the sports programs generate have a multitude of ripple effects, revenue-related and not. Kids in Florida grow up wanting to be Gators. Alumnae/i want to give back. And make no mistake, much of this identity and commitment is because of the sports teams.

But you may counter that most schools don’t generate this fervor, so all that’s left is economic loss. True enough, but that is to miss a broader, more important function of college athletics, and why colleges continue to support their sports programs. Being a member of a collegiate sports team is a way to balance mind and body, and to balance life generally. Some students have music, some art, some sport. To lead a healthy life, these avocations play a key role in maintaining balance in what could become a onedimensional, academic grind. And for each pursuit, colleges should provide an environment where students can make the most of their talents. No one would argue in favor of cutting the orchestra out of colleges, or the art galleries, although surely they are money losers. The same goes for athletics. Like musicians and artists, student-athletes who devote themselves to their craft learn lessons of discipline, practice, teamwork and competition, lessons that have much to contribute inside and outside the classroom. These lessons, when balanced by the benefits of rigorous academics and a culture that respects student-athletes as students first and athletes second, create tremendous synergies.

Vassar, to my mind, strikes this balance

particularly well. Students who play sports at Vassar are not defined by their sport. Sure, it is a significant part of our life and identity, yet we are truly students first and athletes second. Anyone on the lacrosse and swimming teams, for example, who get up at ungodly hours most students don’t know exist to practice before class, can certainly attest to that.

I would argue, too, that athletic recruitment has social benefits. I can vouch for this on a personal level as a member of the tennis team. Many of my best friends at Vassar are, perhaps unsurprisingly, on the tennis team.

Sure, some of this is pure circumstance: we have the head start socially of sharing the experience of junior tennis and love of the game, and we spend time in practice with each other nearly every day and support each other in matches, all of which build solidarity and closeness pretty quickly. But outside the tennis courts, my teammates have offered me different perspectives on life and have helped me grow as a person.

On a broader scale, having athletes on campus provides a more varied social experience. We have a number of artsy types here, and that’s good. But I also love the presence of unapologetically loud and crude members of the men’s rugby team at the All Campus Dining Center. They’ve been welcoming whenever I’ve sat with them. As with the artsy folk, they’ve widened my perspective on people. I bet they’d do the same for you.

I do not hold any fanciful notion of becoming a professional tennis player. But if there were only academic colleges and preprofessional sports colleges, as Thompson rashly proposes at the end of his column, I and many others would lose one of our passions and joys of life—playing a competitive sport we love—in choosing an academic college. Let’s keep varsity sports in college, because, in their purest form, they provide an option for everyone to build a well-rounded education.

—Ben Guzick ’12 is on the Vassar men’s tennis team.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

What’s the creepiest place on campus?

“The library because it reminds me of my coming thesis.”

Mathew Leonard ’11 “That place between Doubleday Studio and the Shiva at night. It’s like an alleyway.”

Emily Sweeney ’12

“Cushing’s basement”

Tessa Verbanic ’11 Nicole Block ’12

“Dan Flynn’s closet.”

Ben Wills ’14

“It’s not my closet, it’s under my bed. Duh.”

Dan Flynn ’13

“The sex tree.”

John Nguyen ’14 —Matthew Brock, Senior Editor Julianna Halpert, Photography Editor

OPINIONS

Page 12

October 28, 2010

Corps not motivated World in standoff over weak dollar to fight breast cancer Maziar Kazemi Guest Columnist

CANCER continued from page 11 of these chemicals are linked to hormone disruption, a cause of breast cancer and other diseases.

The chemicals in question can be found in such everyday products as shampoo bottles, food-can linings, plastics and cosmetics.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, a major producer of chlorine and petroleum-based products, has strategically positioned itself on the board of sponsors of Breast Cancer National Awareness Month. According to Breast Cancer Action, as “the final arbiter of the text of Breast Cancer Awareness Month’s promotional materials—[AstraZeneca] has its own corporate interests in mind when it refuses to allow the word ‘carcinogen’ to appear in any of these materials.”

This October, as many corporations are promoting these very products as pretty in pink, with that cheerful ribbon, we need to hold these corporation accountable for their effect on public health. We need shrewd questioning of why the government refuses to fund innovative research on possible carcinogens instead of just preventative measures.

Facebook memes diminish the gravity of breast cancer awareness.

Women need to do better.

We need to contemplate why breast cancer awareness is so important.

It’s about living lives of meaning, dignity, and value. It really has nothing to do with “Ta-tas.”

—Hannah Blume ’13 is a student at Vassar.

Donors given too much control over elections DONORS continued from page 9 wishes to see a Republican-controlled House. This is by far the group’s largest donation, and makes up a significant portion of the group’s operating budget. It is a frightening assault on our democracy that a wealthy conservative Texan has the ability to write a single check and choose who will represent the people of New York in the 112th Congress.

The Supreme Court’s decision has had and will continue to have a disastrous effect on our elections. A system that allows wealthy elites to

create what are essentially shadow Republican parties is not conducive to free elections. The Republicans have spent unprecedented amounts through independent organizations in this election cycle, and we can expect them to do so again in 2012.

President Obama should do what is right and push for radical campaign finance reform so that elections can’t be bought by shadowy ideologues hiding behind their money.

—Rachel Anspach ’13 is a political science major.

T

he International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank held their annual meetings in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. The main point of discussion? Currency wars. The U.S. government’s and the Federal Reserve’s growth policies have hurt—and angered—many emerging market economies such as the People’s Republic of China, Brazil and Singapore. Are we doing this intentionally? No, but that does not really matter. For emerging economies that are large exporters, the low interest rates maintained by the Fed can be crippling.

It is not news that the United States just emerged from one of the worst recessions in recent memory.

Through 2007 and 2008, the average growth rate of U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) was 1.2 percent. Expectedly, the Fed took and continues to take measures to boost that growth number. The Fed’s oldest, most used tool is Federal Open Market Operations. Through this vehicle the Fed buys or sells government bonds to influence short-term rates. In bad times such as these, the Fed opts for a low interest rate policy to encourage borrowing and investment, thus stimulating growth.

Firms can use borrowed funds to invest in capital, people can borrow to buy a new car and, voila, GDP starts—hopefully—to go up. However, there are two sides to interest rates. When they are low, the cost of borrowing may be low, but so is the return on investing. Currently, the U.S. interest rate is 26 basis points, or 0.26 percent. For foreign investors, investing here does not look very profitable, while investing abroad looks more attractive for

American investors. Therefore, we have capital outflow, which weakens the U.S. dollar against other currencies. A weaker dollar is good for U.S. exporters and local industries that compete with foreign producers, while it hurts growth in exporting countries. This was called the beggar-thy-neighbor policy during the Great Depression.

So how does this affect emerging markets? Well, that capital has to flow somewhere. Investors, both foreign and American, are looking around and seeing that emerging markets, namely Brazil and Singapore, offer much better returns on investing. Thus, countries like those two are experiencing “capital inflow.” If capital outflow causes currency depreciation, it should not be too difficult to see that inflow will cause currency appreciation. For a country like Singapore, whose trade surplus makes up more than 18 percent of its GDP, it is important to remain competitive in global markets. When a country’s currency appreciates, that country’s goods become more expensive to foreign consumers, and thus their exports will decrease. Against the United States, Singapore’s currency, the Singapore dollar, has appreciated a whopping nine percent since June.

Brazil’s, the real, has appreciated 13 percent in that same time period.

It should be no surprise that these emerging markets are peeved at the United States.

To avoid this currency war, why does the United States not just raise the interest rate?

As I mentioned previously, raising the rate could have serious negative effects on our already languid GDP growth. However, there is another theory involving the United

States’ debt. With a weak U.S. dollar brought about by near-zero interest rates, the real value of the U.S. debt is lower than its value would be if the dollar was stronger, so those who hold U.S. debt could see the value of their securities decline.

I reject this theory simply because the United States traditionally does not deliberately manipulate its currency value. This theory does, on the other hand, give firepower to those who are vexed with U.S. policy.

Looking at the situation from another perspective, one might ask, “Why don’t the emerging markets devalue their currencies to maintain their edge in international markets?” This seems like a valid strategy, but it will inevitably elicit a backlash from other countries. If Singapore were to devalue its dollar, then surely a number of other countries would follow suit to keep their competitive edge. Inevitably, this would require Singapore to devalue again, and we soon end up in a downward spiral. Competitive devaluation was, after all, one of the main causes of the Great Depression, due to the significant decrease in the total volume of international trade.

The world seems to be in a Mexican stand-off. The United States cannot afford to raise interest rates for the sake of our own economy.

On the other hand, emerging economies are suffering from those low rates, but aside from complaining to the IMF and World Bank, there is nothing they can do. The question in this standoff is, “Who breaks first?”

—Maziar Kazemi ’13 is the vice president of the Vassar Business Club.

Crossword by Jonathan Garfinkel ACROSS 1. “NOW!”, for MD’s 5. Market booth 10. “Nova” airer 13. Brings aboard 15. Casual, indifferent 16. One in customer service, briefly 17. “Fame” star Cara 18.

8-Down, for example 19. El Dorado content 20. Tip of the spear, say 22. Bury 24. Sum 25. Metro-North and Amtrak, briefly 26. Louvre worry, perhaps 29. Soulful James, and

others 31. Fight for practice 32. Caps, maybe (abbr.)

33. Either of two “Ugly” characters, to Cinderella 37. Flat-topped mountain 40. A long, long time 41. “This parrot is _____!

It has ceased to be!”

46. Contenders 49. Cashed in 51. Peanut butter cup producer 52. Big name in the Valley of the Kings 53. 1040 ID’s 54. Explanations

Answers to last week’s puzzle

59. Inscription on a cross 63. Bit of land in a lake 64. Form 67. Miley Cyrus, perhaps (unfortunately) 69. Humored utterance 70. 40-Across component, to Juan 72. “Stop!”, to Blackbeard 73. One with a green thumb 75. Head, briefly 76. Causes resentment 81. Low point 82. Nuptial utterance 83. A-Rod or Texeira 84. Words after “Ready!”

85. Bird sound 86. Some Ed.’s marks, perhaps 87. Henry VIII’s greatest desire DOWN 1. Jewish mourning ritual 2. Diatribe 3. Philosopher Hannah ______ 4. Chinese leader Xiaoping (var.)

5. Camera type (abbr.)

6. Gratuity 7. From ___ Z 8. BA hub

9. “_____ be” (Lennon/ McCartney lyric) 10. For the time being 11. Lacking 12. Baseball and hockey 14. Big name in pointillism 15. Offer 18. M-16’s and AK’s 21. Rump 23. Sports association that didn’t play an ‘04’05 season 26. Classes for highachieving HS students 27. “I smell a ___” 28. Fashion 30. Peter and Nicholas 31. Cause for atonement 34. Dog, cat, or piranha 35. Message from the Titanic 36. Caviar precursor 37. The briny deep, to Jacques 38. St. Louis-NYC dir.

39. Sault ___ Marie, MI 42. Untidy 43. Meditative noises 44. Stimpy’s pal 45. Actor Harris and others 47. ___ Lingus 48. Aspirin and Advil’s class 49. Hie

50. Letter before theta 52. Oft-stubbed appendage 55. General with poultry 56. Sick 57. Exam for JD wannabes 58. Revolutionary War hero Allen, and others 59. Font modification 60. State name meaning “snowfall” in Spanish

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

61. Swear again 62. ___ and outs 65. With “rest”, 22-across-ed 66. Junior naval officer’s rank 68. Macy Gray 69. Santa’s repeated utterances 71. Not these, to Pablo

73. Spelling competition 74. Scottish denials 77. Excellent credit rating 78. San Diego-LA dir.

79. Stone Mountain grp.

80. Rapidly gentrifying Manhattan ‘hood with many tenements

HUMOR & SATIRE

October 28, 2010

Page 13

OPINIONS

Trick or treat, now where’s my candy?

Lamenting the lack of free sweets

Original cartoon for The Miscellany News by One Two Six Oh Four

Alanna Okun

H

Humor and Satire Editor

ands down, the worst part of being at Vassar—besides the slow-walkers in the All Campus Dining Center and the recent preponderance of SoftCups in public bathrooms—is not being able to trick-or-treat anymore. I trick-ortreated until I was 17* years old.

Long after it was okay for me to dress up like Wednesday Addams or a television set, when the rest of my graduating class was busy drinking Busch Light and tongue-kissing one another, I was out roaming the streets of my suburb desperately seeking Kit-Kats.

After a certain point**, I justified my Oct. 31 forays by dragging my little brother along. Although he is seven years younger than me, he grew out of the whole being-myjuvenile-cover thing pretty quickly (which may or may not have coincided with the year I suggested he and his neighbor-friends go as the lesser Gryffindors*** to my transvestite Harry Potter). I re-

ally lucked out my junior year of high school, when I had a French exchange student staying with me through October. I gleefully drew cat whiskers on Manon’s bewildered, Gallic face and dragged her from house to house. “She’s foreign!” I would say to the confused adults who answered the doors.

“I’m just showing her a real American pastime! Ha ha!” Where there is a will to obtain free candy, I discovered, there is usually a way, and that way is probably a reluctant human living in your house.

But there is no free candy at Vassar. Or if there is, nobody is telling me where it is and you’d probably have to take off crucial articles of clothing in order to get it. Besides, if all I wanted were candy I could just go to Target and buy a fuckton of it with my sophisticated, grown-up debit card. What I really ache for is the thrill of the chase, the singular satisfaction that comes with prowling around your neighborhood in the dead of 9 p.m. and tricking your younger sister into

trading you all her Milk Duds**** for Necco Wafers. So I’m at a loss: Do I go along with the masses, donning something tiny comprised of at least 20 percent Spandex in order to drink watery beer and make out with someone dressed like a Ninja Turtle, or do I strike out on my own for some over-the-hill trickor-treating? The answer, of course, is Busch Light and tongue-kissing, but you can bet your Sexy OB/GYN costume that I’ll always have the hope of ringing a stranger’s doorbell just one more time.

* 18. ** Specifically, the point at which I traded in my training bra for the real Limited Too, AA-cup deal. *** Who gives a ballsack about Seamus Finnegan? **** I’ll give a prize to anyone who counts the number of times I mention Milk Duds in the Humor & Satire section this year. Hint: it is not a small number, and the prize is that you get to buy me some Milk Duds.

A new twist on Halloween: give your costume a Vassar spin Michael Mestitz

G

Columnist

reat pumpkin! It’s, like, three days to Halloween; if you don’t have a costume yet, you’re in trouble. Every well-heeled Vassar student will be partying, decked out, and possibly blacked out. Anyway, as I was saying, you would be in trouble, if I hadn’t decided to devote this week’s column to costume ideas. There are a few general schools of costume thought: falling back on tried-and-true successes (“I’m a mouse. Duh!”), or cutting and topical costumes satirizing the issues of the day. Here’s a onestop guide to either style.

sailor, librarian, classics professor, cat, devil, Disney princess, astronaut, Cappy, cheerleader, Harry Potter character, clown, Smurf, Tudor monarch (sexy: “Anne of Cleavage”), French maid, Lady Gaga, cop, bride/groom, superhero, bat, witch (classic, Pagan or Christine O’Donnell), angel, Founding Father, werewolf.

Contemporary Halloween:

Decapitated Smokestack »» Do bring: Bricks »» Don’t bring: Other bricks »» Walk around humming the Tetris theme song and dropping bricks periodically.

Classic Halloween:

There are two basic themes for Halloween; sexy things, and undead things. Basically, you can choose any given noun and add either “sexy” or “undead” (or both?) to the beginning and you’re pretty much set. Use the list below to get started, but feel free to add your own ideas.

Sexy zombie Sylvia Plath? You’re in business! »» Adjectives: Sexy, undead »» Nouns: Nurse, nurse-anesthetist, nursemidwife, Florence Nightingale, pirate, ninja,

Problem-Drinking Freshman »» Do bring: Four Loko, tightly-knit fellow group, excitement about Villard Room parties »» Don’t bring: Moderation, responsible drinking behaviors »» Popular costume this year, as it turns out.

Crypt-ster »» Do bring: Cryptkeeper mask, plaid flannel

»» Don’t bring: Internal organs, mainstream culture »» Just think how well the skinny jeans would fit if you didn’t have calves! Shuffle around moaning about how you came back from the dead before everyone was doing it.

JYA Junior »» Doesn’t matter what you wear or do, as long as you vanish halfway through the evening.

(But to Portugal, or something, not drunk, into the bushes.)

Tea Party-er »» Do bring: Invective, rhetoric, ideals »» Don’t bring: Separation of church and state (Christine O’Donnell), basic sensitivity towards victims (Sharron Angle), cucumber sandwiches (Algernon Moncrieff) »» Yes, this was all a setup for an Importance of Being Earnest joke…Hey, someone thought it was funny. No? Just me? Okay then.

Matthew Vassar »» Do bring: Top hat, Classy 1860s pimp cane »» Don’t bring: Endings to your speeches

Weekly Calendar: 10/28 - 11/3

»» Spend the night drinking beer and founding institutions of higher learning. (Kidding! That’s not all Matt did; he also ran away from home, nearly got gored by a bull, received hardly any schooling whatsoever, went statue-shopping in Rome, and recorded his own extensive interactions with ghosts.)

Jersey Shore in 60 years »» Do bring: Tans, Bump-its, melanoma, cirrhosis »» Don’t bring: Shirts, Class »» Abs of steel and hips of titanium. »» »» Thesis-Writing Senior »» Do bring: Stress, B-minus draft, terror »» Don’t bring: Plans for after graduation »» Every time your advisor suggests another source you have to read, take a shot.

Bedbugs »» Do bring: Mandibles, bed sheets »» Don’t bring: Anything you ever want to wear again »» You might not like the idea now, but this costume will grow on you.

by Alanna Okun, Humor & Satire Editor

Thursday, 10/28

Saturday, 10/30

Monday, 11/1

3 p.m. Tea. Ways in which the Deece Cat is better than your

10 a.m. Halloween 5K Fun Run. The only time it is ever reason-

actual preexisting friends. Rose Parlor.

able to run five kilometers is if one is being pursued by the little girl from The Ring. And that seems somehow less than fun. Quad.

3 p.m. Tea. The Deece Cat doesn’t sob and whine when the boy/girl/woodchuck it likes doesn’t text it back. Or if it does, you can’t understand it, because the Deece Cat doesn’t speak English. Rose Parlor.

12 p.m. Squash Alumni Match. Butternut is supposed to be a strong contender on the courts this year. Summer has totally gotten fat, though. Kenyon Squash Courts.

Tuesday, 11/2

Friday, 10/29 3 p.m. Tea. The Deece Cat has no opposable thumbs, rendering it unable to open cans of Four-Loko and consequently vom all over your new shoes. Rose Parlor.

3 p.m. Tea. The Deece Cat isn’t in an a cappella group.

Rose Parlor.

8 p.m. “Dear Brutus.” Dear Brutus, I would like to go on a date with you. Would you like to go on a date with me? Check yes/no/ maybe. Love, Alanna. P.S. Get that temper under control, Stabby McStabberstein, or this is never going to work out. Shiva.

8 p.m. Raymond Haunted House. I’m actually hard-pressed to think of a place on the planet Earth that is less scary than Raymond. A play-pen full of gently slumbering Scottish fold kittens? A cupcake factory run by a kindly widow who donates all her proceeds to cleft-palate research? Josh Rosen’s warm embrace? College Center.

10 p.m. Senior Class Annual Halloween Party. Here are some

suggestions if you don’t have a costume yet/are too lazy to read the rest of the section: Sexy Maureen King. Sexy Chris Roellke. Sexy D.B. Brown (I know, that last one’s redundant.

Sue me.) Villard Room.

7 p.m. Chemistry College Bowl. Step 1: Attend. Step 2: Dazzle

Sunday, 10/31

3 p.m. Tea. The Deece Cat doesn’t plaster the Internet with tired jokes about the Deece Cat. Oooh, meta. Rose Parlor.

5 p.m. Catholic Mass. Atone for that weird shit you did at the

Halloween party the night before involving a balloon arch and that freshman girl’s left elbow. Twenty Our Fathers and about infinity Hail Marys should do the trick. Chapel.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

all with your knowledge. Step 3: Get more tail than you can shake a fluorocarbon at. Mudd Chemistry.

Wednesday, 11/3

10 p.m. ViCE DJ Discovery Night. DJ Fire Sperm rides again,

bitchez. The Mug.

ARTS

Page 14

October 28, 2010

J.M. Barrie’s ‘Dear Brutus’ a departure from Neverland Shruti Manian

T

Courtesy of the Francis Lehman Loeb Art Cener

Vassar students participate in “Tow the Line,” a performance piece by Kate Gilmore. Participants in the work as well as members of the audience disagree over the effect of the piece on those involved.

‘Tow the Line’ performance spurs dialogue on femininity Connor O’Neill Reporter

A

nyone walking through Noyes circle during the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 7 did not chance upon the typical array of frisbee practices and students sunning themselves in the last gasps of warm weather. Instead they found a ring of 12 Vassar women, each standing on their own pedestal, each dressed in identical brown dresses and bright yellow sweaters, passing around bulky ceramic pots filled with paint. This curious sight was the latest performance piece by contemporary artist Kate Gilmore, entitled “Tow the Line.”

The performance piece has incited considerable dialogue amongst the Vassar community over the past weeks about its commentary on feminism, objectification and exploitation.

Gilmore, whose oeuvre consists mostly of video installations of the artist maneuvering within and then breaking out of dry wall, wood or concrete, has of late been conducting performance pieces in which she does not participate herself. Never afraid to highlight her feminism, Gilmore’s previous piece, and the first in which she did not take the leading role, was an installation in Bryant Park in Midtown Manhattan. It featured seven women, again dressed alike in yellow dresses and this time sporting high heels, plodding on an eight-foot yellow structure in the middle of the park.

The women go nowhere, contained in such a small area, but Gilmore still estimates that the participants walked a total of 13 miles.

The participants in “Tow the Line,” far from walking a great distance, were not permitted to move from their designated pedestal but still given the equally onerous task of passing the cumbersome paint holders, without pause, for shifts lasting three-and-a-half hours. Though the shifts were long and at times grueling, the repetitive nature of carefully passing these jars had a contemplative quality; Gilmore even commented to the performers at one point that the whole thing took on a sort of zen.

This sentiment rings true for Carolyn Bergonzo ’11, who was one of the performers. “For me it was definitely meditative, it had to be a kind of focused attention to my body, how I needed to use it to support the shifting shapes of the ceramic jugs, and also how the other girls were reacting to the piece.”

That careful attention to how the the girls were reacting arose with perhaps the biggest catch for the performers—they were not permitted to speak during their time on the pedestals. Explains Annie Massa ’13 in a blog post written about her role in the piece, “interaction was important to Tow the Line in surprising ways. Standing there, I didn’t just

communicate with the girls on either side of me—the whole circle was communicating, too. We communicated in our rhythm; when we were feeling tired we passed the urns more slowly, and when we recovered we picked up the pace.”

The effects of fatigue was something Gilmore had taken into account. She told the participants in a meeting the night before the performance that she wanted the piece to discuss the role of work, bearing weight and female individuality.

This being the first time the work has been performed, having created it for the Vassar premier specifically, Gilmore remained unsure on the details of the act. The long, difficult, and sometimes tedious work produced not just an intimate, if unspoken connection between the participants but much dialogue and debate with the audience. Gilmore gave a talk and fielded questions around 6 p.m. that evening, several hours into the performance.

The women continued to pass the urns while students and professors spoke with the artist.

Those topics included the role of the artist in a performance in which she did not take part, whether or not the performance was exploiting or objectifying the women passing the urns, and who was in possession of the creative role in the piece.

Gilmore’s discussion of the piece while excluding the perspective of the participants is one of the points of criticism that have been raised over the project. Joseph Redwood Martinez ’11, perhaps the most vocal of students to engage with Gilmore, was especially troubled that the work was done by volunteer students while the artist stood by as an observer. He later responded to the work with an e-mailed statement to The Miscellany News, formatted as a poem, stating that, “The human condition is being portrayed as a/performance of an emancipated and autonomous self.”

The participants, though tired and weary at the end of their shifts, remained positive about their role. “The piece was meant to be about how we as a group sustained the momentum of this task and worked in accord with each other’s needs,” says Bergonzo. “If I had to do an equally onerous task alone I’d probably grow frustrated a lot sooner, yet by having 11 other women around me who seemed equally taxed and yet persisted, I could recognize a sort of harmony.”

Fellow participant Elysia Glover ’11 underwent a lot physical stress from the performance, but ended up reacting positively when it was over. “When we ended the piece, I had a physical feeling of having been in a deep state See ART on page 16

Reporter

he Shiva theater is thrumming with activity on a Thursday evening, as Elizabeth Scopel ’14 and Ethan Slater ’14 finish enacting a scene from J.M. Barrie’s “Dear Brutus,” in which a father and daughter discuss the prospect of falling in love. Dropping their British accents, they turn to the director for feedback.

“Don’t say ‘love’ in a romanticized way,” instructs Andrew Massey ‘12. “Make it sound like it’s something you find gross.”

Rehearsals for the Philaletheis play have been in full swing as they prepare for the production’s debut tonight. The play, which will mark the first full-length student-theater performance of the semester, has kept Massey extremely busy. “I like the fact that I don’t have to be worrying about being on stage, but yeah, I think I am definitely going to be nicer to the directors from now on,” said Massey in an interview afterwards, who is trying his hand at directing for the very first time. “I really know what that’s all about, now that I am on the other side of the stage.”

“Dear Brutus” is a 1917 play written by J.M. Barrie, whose most celebrated work is the children’s classic “Peter Pan.” “Dear Brutus” is set in Britain during the period right after World War I, depicting a country deeply fractured by violence. The “dramatic comedy,” as Massey describes it, blurs the line between reality and fantasy with a plot centered around a mystical wood in which the characters get the opportunity to relive their past. “The play is very funny and yet it is sad in so many ways, because it makes you think about how life could have been, if only you had made different choices,” said Kristen Schau ’12, who is the stage manager for “Dear Brutus.” Schau, who has worked on numerous productions with Vassar’s Shakespeare Troupe, said, “It’s very exciting for me to be working on ‘Dear Brutus.’ Not only is this my first time working

with Philaletheis, it’s also the first time I am working on a fairly modern play.”

The three-act play tells a story of what might happen if people were given the opportunity to turn back time, to change their pasts and thereby rewrite their present. “The text gives really distinct worlds for the characters to portray, because the play shifts completely between the three acts,” says Jake Levitt ’12, who is the production manager for “Dear Brutus.” Levitt, who is also on the board of Philaletheis, is in charge of the lighting for “Dear Brutus.” He emphasizes how essential the Shiva Theater is as a setting for this play: “The Shiva Theater is the perfect setting for this production, because it is like a huge black box that pretty much lets us play around and create a very interesting set that will really add to the story,” he said.

The cast of “Dear Brutus” has a considerable number of freshmen, some of whom have never been a part of student theater before.

Said Alisha Cherian ’14, who will play Joanna Trout, “It’s the first time I’ve ever been a part of student theater, and I think it’s amazing how every aspect of the play is handled by students. It’s very comfortable and the atmosphere it creates is really amazing. You learn a great deal and it makes you grow so much as an actor.”

The play may boast fantastical and comedic elements, but is tragic in nature. “In high school I did a lot of comedies and in college I did quite a few tragedies, that just seemed to be the pattern,” said Massey. “But ‘Dear Brutus’ is a mixture of the two, and that provides so much variation. It’s like a grown up fairy tale, more than anything else.”

“It’s fun, fast-paced, and there will always be so much happening on stage that you won’t be bored even for a minute,” added Massey.

“Dear Brutus” will be staged at the Susan Stein Shiva Theater on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 28 and 29 at 8 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m.

ViCE mixes it up with new DJ Discovery Night in Mug Julia Sharpe-Levine Guest Reporter

“P

eople go to the Mug on Wednesday nights?” one student asked me upon hearing that there was a new Matthew’s Mug Night set to take place on Wednesdays, a night usually consumed by schoolwork, extracurriculars and meetings.

However, there is now a reason to go out on Wednesday. Vassar College Entertainment’s (ViCE) “DJ Discovery Night,” also known as “ViCE Presents....” newly instated this month, will take place every Wednesday night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. for the rest of the school year.

“The name DJ Discovery Night is something that our [Student Activities Resource Center] intern came up with to put on the calendar,” explained Sean Shoemaker ’12, ViCE Special Events committee chair. “But it will actually be named differently based on the event.” For the past few years, Wednesday Mug nights have had specific themes—last year it was “The Hump” and the two years before that, “80s Night.” So why the change?

“I know there are a lot of DJs out there who would love to DJ the Mug but have a hard time gaining access to it because you can only register a Mug night if you are part of a student organization,” explained Sarah Morrison ’10, Assistant Director of ViCE. “With our ‘DJ Sharkattackz Presents’ night anyone who is interested can contact us and schedule a Wednesday night to DJ.” DJ Discovery Night does not limit Wednesday to a specific theme, but rather allows for many different genres and themes on a weekly basis. “We are always excited to hear about new DJs who are interested,” says Morrison.

The Mads Vassar Mug Night took place on Oct. 6, and was one of the first two official DJ

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Discovery Nights of the year. “While the crowd wasn’t as big as those on weekend nights, the event drew a lot of publicity not only for my blog, but also for the new ‘DJ Discovery Night’ series,” said Max Kutner ’11, who hosted the event. He was optimistic that Wednesdays could become just as popular as weekend Mug nights. “Wednesday nights will have to build their popularity, but I’m confident that if the music and the atmosphere are inviting, students will come. After all, Wednesdays used to be ’80s nights and had an almost cult-like following.”

Hannah La Follette Ryan ’14 won the ViCE Circus student DJ competition earlier this semester, and wants to DJ for the event in the future. “Nothing makes me happier [than DJing]”, she explained. “In a lot of ways [DJing] is a one-sided music swap. What makes DJing electrifying and terrifying is the spotlight. I get to see instantaneously what moves the crowd and what doesn’t, for better or for worse, but that’s why I love it.”

The ultimate goal of “DJ Discovery Night” is to create a venue for gaining experience without having to jump through endless hoops scheduling wise, which is what one normally must do to book a Mug Night.

“The Mug gets so booked up during the other nights of the week that it becomes difficult for a small or unofficial organization to have an event,” added Kutner. On the contrary, getting involved with “DJ Discovery Night” could not be more simple or easy.

“People who are interested in DJing can come up to us and just request a date,” commented Alejandro Calcano ’11, one of the founders of the event. “It will give a chance to up-andcoming student DJs to practice, or whoever wants to just throw a Wednesday night party to do so!”

October 28, 2010

ARTS

Page 15

To HEL and back, a guided tour of campus comedy Rachael Borné

Assistant Arts Editor

F

eeling overwhelmed by Vassar’s cornucopia of comedy? Have no fear! Here’s a short, concise and, of course, hilarious guide to comedy at Vassar College, brought to you by the jokesters themselves. Now, let’s get intimate.

Kate Thulin ’11 on IMPROV

Daniel Files ’11 on THE LIMIT

QQ: What makes The Limit stand-out compared to other comedy groups on campus?

AA: I don’t think it’s unfair to just come right out and say this, but I really think we have the best table manners by far. Oh, and of course, we have nursed and raised the only singing and dancing lizard acrobat on campus.

QQ: What new things will The Limit try out this year?

AA: This year, we are: hitting up the gym, losing 10 pounds, not eating red meat, shaving ourselves from head to foot, purifying our intestines, rubbing our naked skulls with blessed palm oil, begging the gods for luck in the coming harvest.

QQ: What is The Limit most excited about doing with comedy this year?’

AA: We are most excited about this hilarious knock-knock joke we thought of, you really have to hear it.

QQ: Can you describe The Limit in five words or less?

AA: Yes, I probably could.

QQ: If you could change anything about the comedy culture at Vassar, what would it be?

AA: Comedy culture is much more friendly and cooperative than it was four years ago, but

Eric Schuman/The Miscellany News

QQ: What makes Improv different than all the other comedy groups on campus?

AA: Improv is the only improvisational comedy group on campus. Our shows are always different and contingent on a responsive, actively participating audience.

QQ: What new things will Improv try out this year?

AA: We want to try longforms with different structures. Right now we are toying with longforms that rely on games with narrative influences. What we would like to try is to create longforms that are completely game oriented or completely story-based.

QQ: Can you describe your troupe in five words or less?

AA: Dark. And full of sass.

QQ: If you could change anything about the comedy culture at Vassar, what would it be?

AA: The pervasive male-gaze. I say this as a member of a group that is almost completely male, but if you want to know how I feel about gender issues in comedy, let’s have coffee.

QQ: What should audiences expect at one of your shows? What do you expect of the audience?

AA: Our shows are better when our audience is participating—we count on them to engage and concentrate as what we make up is audience input and pattern based. Our shows are amalgams of Improv’s collective sense of humor and what our audience gives us.

QQ: When’s the next Improv show?

AA: Thursday, Nov. 4, Taylor 203!

The Limit, featured above, is one of the many sketch comedy troupes available at Vassar.

Other groups include Improv, Indecent Exposure, Happily Ever Laughter and No Offense. more collaboration between the groups in terms of events would be exciting. We are hoping to bring back Menage-a-ha, an old tradition that has fallen by the wayside, where all the comedy groups perform together at the end of the year.

QQ: What should audiences expect at one of your shows? What do you expect of the audience?

AA: The audience should come expecting a fully cancerous endeavor, and in turn we expect the audience to prepare three to five MLAformatted pages on mortality in the works of Henry James.

Devin Schiff ’11 on HAPPILY EVER LAUGHTER (HEL)

QQ: What makes HEL different than other comedy groups on campus?

AA: We’re unique because we’re the only group who uses the acronym version of their name. Things we like to have sketches about: babies, horror movies, historical figures, mysticism, space, oasis (the band and the place), sauces, shams, shamwows, shamrocks, nature, doctors. Do you think any of these things are funny? Great.

QQ: What are some new things HEL wants to try out this year?

AA: We’re trying to make a video starring only our moms. We also want to order custom HEL Snuggies, so actually this is a good platform to gauge interest. If interested in your very own custom HEL Snuggie, or if you have anything else on your mind, please do not hesitate to locate Danny Lempert’s ’13 room in Lathrop and slip a note and 35 American dollars under the door, he loves mail. He also does palm-readings.

QQ: What is HEL most excited about doing with comedy this year?’

AA: We are going to Chicago’s Sketchfest in January. We did that last year and we had a good time, so we’re going back. We also kind of enjoy performing at school for y’all,

you’re a good audience.

QQ: Can you describe HEL in five words or less?

AA: HEL’s darkest, spookiest secret is...

QQ: If you could change anything about the comedy culture at Vassar, what would it be?

AA: We’d make comedy culture a major. Why not? It’s just as legitimate as media studies.

QQ: What should audiences expect at one of your shows? What do you expect of the audience?

AA: Is it okay to talk about the Snuggies again?

Seriously, if you want to get one, then you should. We might actually order them. Or HEL t-shirts. Or HEL milk.

QQ: When’s your next show?

AA: Nov. 19 and 20 in Sanders Classroom 212.

Lilly Richard ’12 on INDECENT EXPOSURE

QQ: What makes Indecent Exposure a unique comedy group on campus?

AA: I think our group is pretty distinct from others on campus. Besides the obvious—that we’re the only group that’s all women— we’re also the only group that does stand-up as well as sketch comedy. We also try to be pretty aware of the messages we’re sending out with our comedy, and I guess basically use comedy as a force for good in the universe.

QQ: What are some new things Indecent Exposure wants to try out this year?

AA: We want to start getting more into pranks this year!

QQ: What are you most excited about doing with comedy this year?

AA: We’ve been “talking about” getting a Menage-a-ha together in the spring. It’s a big collaboration between all of the comedy groups, which is pretty cool. Beyond that, I’m just excited to write and perform some new, high-quality sketch and stand-up so I can get the external validation I need to maintain my self-esteem.

QQ: Can you describe Indecent Exposure in five words or less?

AA: Eight hella awesome funny ladies?

QQ: If you could change anything about the comedy culture at Vassar, what would it be?

AA: I definitely think the “comedy culture” at Vassar could strive to be more inclusive and progressive. Women aren’t the only group that’s frequently marginalized, excluded and used as the butt of jokes in the “comedy world” in general, and some of that is recreated at Vassar. But in general I love the “comedy culture” at Vassar, especially that there’s so much of it.

QQ: What should audiences expect at an Indecent Exposure show? What do you expect of the audience?

AA: We expect the audience to puke from laughing so much. But also please bring a bag to puke in because if you damage any of the seats in Sanders, our group gets fined. Wait, no, we expect the audience to sit there in respectful silence so they can hear all of the lines we have worked so hard to memorize.

Afterwards a congratulatory handshake will show us that you have appreciated our “comedy.” Wait, that is also not true. I don’t know how to answer this. We perform funny sketches and stand-up sets and sometimes we do a dance. I’ve heard people say they enjoy it.

QQ: When is the next Indecent Exposure show?

AA: Our next sketch show will be Dec. 3 and 4 in Sanders Classroom 212.

Andi Sharavsky ’11 on NO OFFENSE

QQ: What makes No Offense different than other comedy groups on campus?

AA: I think this year especially, No Offense is focused on creating interesting and surprising characters, and writing sketches that highlight the way these characters interact with the world around them. Our first show of this year featured a number of these weirdos, from a neurotic dancer to the employees of “Little Disney” in Reno Nevada, to two idiot girls obsessed with their YouTube channel of self-sung Broadway hits.

QQ: What are some new things No Offense wants to try out this year?

AA: We’ve actually started to use improv both as a means of generating sketch ideas and to group-write moments in our sketches.

We’re by no means an improv group, but we’ve found that so much good stuff comes out when we’re all in the room, laughing at and respecting each other’s ideas. Stuff that you can’t necessarily get from sitting behind a laptop. Also, I foresee a lot more dancing this year.

QQ: What are you most excited about doing with comedy this year?

AA: Working to create comedy that comes from a place of joy. That probably sounds really lame, but hear me out: We all know Vassar is a stressful place, but a comedy group (and really any creative performance group) should be a sort of shelter from the chaos, regardless of how much needs to get done in a short amount of time.

QQ: Can you describe No Offense in five words or less?

AA: Wit. Mustaches. Mondo Juice...Love? Gross.

See COMEDY on page 16

ViCE, Russian Studies screen films in spirit of Halloween Adam Buchsbaum Guest Reporter

H

alloween is this week, and to celebrate the notorious holiday the Russian Studies Department and the Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) Film League will hold a movie marathon in its spirit.

The Russian Studies Department will put on the Three Nights of Terror: three Russian films over three nights, each one meant to inspire fear and delight in the student body. “It’s more or less a traditional thing. We do the same thing every year—if you wish, a Russian Horror Picture Show,” said Professor of Russian Studies Dan Ungurianu. “We were looking for what we can contribute to the American tradition.”

The idea emerged spontaneously several years ago, and soon became a yearly event. The first film to screen will be Night Watch, a modern, big-budget blockbuster weaving together

an epic tale of vampires and magical forces.

The next screening is Day Watch, the sequel to Night Watch. There is an edited American release as well, but the department will screen the Russian version.

The series will conclude with Viy. This film dates back to 1967, and is the first and only horror film to come out of Soviet-era Russia. The basis for Viy is a classic, short horror story of the same name by the famed Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, about a priest who becomes entangled in a witch’s twisted mischief. The department has put on other films besides Day Watch and Night Watch, but Viy is constant as the last film in the tradition. “[Viy] is a perfect ending and really a perfect Halloween flick in my opinion. It’s a sort of low-budget production but with first-class actors.” Ungurianu said. “It is pure horror. Undiluted.”

Each film for the Three Nights of Terror

will be in Russian with English subtitles, and screened over three nights at Rockefeller Hall room 200 at 8 p.m. from Oct. 29 to 31. But students have other movie options for the eve of Halloween, as ViCE will also be screening two films in the spirit of the holiday. One is The Crazies, a film about a town’s residents inexplicably turning into serial killers. The other film is Hocus Pocus, a live-action Disney film about three witches who seek eternal life.

The Film League Committee decided to screen the films after being approached by the Class of 2011 Council, who traditionally organize the gamut of Halloween festivities, including the dance in the College Center Villard Room. “They approached us to do something with them, to kind of make the Halloween events Saturday be more eclectic,” said Nora Lovotti ’11, chair of the ViCE Film League.

The committee had such an extensive

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

list of movie ideas that they decided to do a double-feature, ultimately deciding to match a newer offering (The Crazies) with light Disney fare. “While Halloween is obviously about being scared, it’s also a holiday of our childhood,” said Lovotti. “That’s why we thought the combination of showing The Crazies and Hocus Pocus would be a fun way to tie in both of those Halloween connotations.” ViCE currently hasn’t settled on the particulars for the event yet, including the all-important questions of snacks and decoration. “Let’s just say that we may have some tricks up our sleeves,” said Lovotti. The movies will run back-to-back in the second floor of the Students’ Building on Oct. 30 at 9 p.m.

“I think it’s just gonna be a low-key, fun way to celebrate Halloween in addition to all the other partying and trick-or-treating and everything that’s going on on-campus,” said Lovotti.

ARTS

Page 16

Indie rockers acclaimed for high energy

Massey a masterful thespian, comedian Evan Lester

Guest Reporter

W

hether you know it or not, you have probably seen Andrew Massey ’12 perform at Vassar. As a member of Vassar’s improv group, Happily Ever Laughter (HEL) and The Philaletheis Society, Massey extends his passion for drama far beyond the reaches of the classroom.

Hailing from the small Maine town of Yarmouth, Massey’s path towards drama was latent in his youth. While he performed in high school plays, he never intended to pursue acting in the future. “I never really thought that acting would be a big part of my life, but then I took an intro drama class here and the rest is history,” said Massey. “I kept taking drama classes, until I realized that I should make this my major.”

Massey’s comedic abilities did not blossom until he reached Vassar. He never participated in comedy groups in high school, although he does admit to being a bit of a class clown.

While at Vassar, Massey succeeded in gaining acceptance into not one, but two comedic groups: improv and Happily Ever Laughter.

For Massey the two groups complement each other well. “Improv is a really fun thing to do, its not like doing work, there is no pressure, it’s a low-time commitment way of performing.”

In comparison, HEL requires a lot of practice and work, but Massey enjoys it nonetheless.

“What’s exciting about sketch [comedy] is that you get to try out what you learn in improv and maximize the laugh.”

However, he admits that at the moment neither of these two groups require as much work as his third. Directing Philaletheis’ production of “Dear Brutus” has accounted for much of Massey’s time in the past weeks. “Dear Brutus” is a play about a group of people who are transformed into people that they could have been if they had made different choices in their lives.

It is the first full-length play that Massey has directed. “It was a really exciting experience for me, a challenge. I was responsible for what was happening on stage, it was my own vision that I was producing; it makes the experience a lot more satisfying.”

Laura Smith/The Miscellany News

CONCERT continued from page 1 a No-ViCE concert. It was a relatively small affair with a then unknown-band, and a far cry from what November’s event will be like.

“They’re pretty big compared to what they used to be back then,” said Alejandro Calcano ’11, the Chair of the ViCE Music Committee.

It was only a month after their performance at Vassar when Yeasayer began receiving major industry attention, thanks to a stellar set at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

There, they won over fans with their energetic worldbeat songs, and were declared

by MTV to be the “Next Big Thing.” Soon their they released their first album and began touring with indie powerhouses Man Man and MGMT. Three years later, their rise to fame has continued unabated with a successful European tour and with a new album called Odd Blood making appearances on the Billboard Charts.

Calcano has seen the band live before, and was deeply impressed by what he saw.

“Their live show is surprisingly danceable,” he said. “Everyone was getting up, they were inviting people to get onstage, and there was a lot of energy.”

It is the Music Committee’s hope that this energy will separate this concert from ViCE shows in the past. “It will have a very different feel,” he said. “It will be in a familiar place, for a familiar event, but it will be a very different kind of show.”

Calcano’s goal as Music Committee chair is to bring more acts that are high-energy and easy for students to enjoy, regardless of their previous exposure to the artist.

He sees the Javelin/Kid Sister concert as a great example of such an event, and believes that Yeasayer will deliver as well, especially with its much-noted showmanship and visual extravagancy during their live performances. The committee has yet to decide on the two opening artists, but Calcano wants them to fall into the highenergy paradigm.

“Even if you don’t know the band, I want people to come and dance and have a great time,” said Calcano. “I want them to be out of their seats by the end.”

The Yeasayer concert may pose no problem in the department of infectious music, but ticket distribution has been an issue for ViCE in the past, namely with the M.I.A and Beirut concerts. For the Grizzly Bear and Flaming Lips concerts of last year, the organization smoothed out the kinks in the process by distributing the tickets over a number of days, and by ensuring that students do not take a disproportionate amount of tickets for their friends.

For the Yeasayer concert, students will be limited to carrying three V-Cards on behalf of their friends. Said Calcano, “Overall, our goal is to make everything more accessible for everyone.” Ticket distribution for Yeasayer will be on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m., and the following Thursday and Friday at 11 a.m.

There will be a $10 charge for tickets, which Calcano says is a necessary price to pay for bringing a band of Yeasayer’s caliber to campus. He also noted that compared to ticket prices for previous concerts, $10 is relatively inexpensive.

“We’re getting bands that normally cost two to three times as much to get tickets for,” said Calcano. “The student activities fee heavily subsidizes the cost for these concerts.”

The fall concert has a lot to live up to, after the organization’s ambitious Flaming Lips concert from last April. Calcano is confident that the Music Committee will meet the semester’s high expectations: “We don’t feel trapped, but we know we need to do bigger and more exciting things,” said Calcano. “The concert is going to be a lot of fun.”

October 28, 2010

Andrew Massey ’12 is currently directing Philaletheis’s production of “Dear Brutus,” which opens tonight, Oct. 28. Massey’s theater resumé also includes several comedy troupes on campus.

Beyond the performing arts, Massey is an active member of the Vassar community. He is a member of the rugby team and has a fond interest in the art of graffiti. “Graffiti came by accident when avoiding doing homework one day.”

Using a box-cutter and black and white images printed onto manila folders, Massey began creating stencils and over time perfected his methods. When talking of his hobby he is quick to distinguish himself from the vandalistic variety of graffiti, and is most proud of the hundred intricate t-shirts he made for last years Valentine’s Day indie rock concert Love Hurts.

Massey has high hopes for his future. He plans to move to Brooklyn with some friends after graduation, and immediately pursue act-

ing. He plans on taking classes in improv and sketch at the famous Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, a premiere comedy institution based in New York and Los Angeles. “It is a great stepping stone for getting noticed in the community.” As for his ultimate goal, Massey wishes to live in Los Angeles as a successful actor.

Massey should have no issues when it comes to a career in comedy. With sheer enthusiasm and an amazing work ethic, Massey has been able to integrate himself into several niches of the Vassar community. While his extracurricular load is especially large, he doesn’t mind because he loves what he does, and judging by the reactions of his audiences, the Vassar community may love it even more.

Performance took Comedynormative toll on participants joins troupe ranks ART continued from page 14 of meditation, and a couple of us commented that it felt very zen,” wrote Glover in an e-mailed statement.

The sight of the women at work is an ambiguous vision, at once a back-breaking labor, but also a repetitive action that allows individual identity to rise up from uniformity while still being, as Martinez puts it, “the troublesome territory where/togetherness and the sense of belonging/ struggle with stubbornness, singularity,/and a self-centered universe…”

Bergonzo takes a different stance, arguing, “I think [Gilmore]’s goal with the piece was to see…what messages we could send to each other with our bodies alone, or how something about who we were as individuals would make itself apparent even while wearing the same dress and performing the same task, just by how messy we got, how we carried ourselves.”

This expression did not stop some, however, from growing weary. “That evening I was so physically exhausted that I was

nauseous and fell asleep the minute I got back after the performance,” wrote Glover.

The long and intense nature of the performance led to questions and sore muscles, but also accentuated the tension between similitude and the manner in which individuality appears within it, all while provoking questions about the very nature of performance.

Furthermore, the performance was able to question whether or not something that was liberating and insightful for the participants could also appear to others as something objectifying or exploitative.

A lot of messy and deep questions have been raised by “Tow the Line,” and though perhaps a firm verdict cannot be reached about the essential core of the performance, for something to raise many more questions than it answered and spark such debate is truly a testament to its power.

Perhaps the final word is best left to Gilmore, who wrote in a 2009 interview, “I always set out to win, to accomplish something, but often I don’t get my way.”

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

COMEDY continued from page 15 QQ: If you could change anything about the comedy culture at Vassar, what would it be?

AA: Well, I personally would say stand up comedy needs to have a larger presence on campus, but Dan Sohval ’13, bless his heart, is working really hard to make that happen. The first Comedynormative show of the year had an awesome turnout, and I was beyond thrilled.

QQ: What should audiences expect at a No Offense show? What do you expect of the audience?

AA: Just come the way y’all always do. Ready to laugh and have a good time. And excuse the tech issues that are bound to occur in the magical Sanders Auditorium. And if you sit in the front row, be prepared for water to break.

Dan Sohval ’13 on COMEDYNORMATIVE

QQ: What makes Comedynormative a unique group on campus?

AA: Comedynormative is the only exclusively stand-up troupe on campus. Everyone else has some sketch element to their perfor-

mances. We don’t. Also, we don’t have auditions. Anyone who wants to try stand-up, or just wants to participate in the comedic process can stop by! We meet Tuesday evenings at 7 p.m. in the Davison basement.

QQ: What are some new things Comedynormative wants to try out this year?

AA: We’re a pretty young group as it is. We’re not officially VSAcertified (yet) and we only have a few shows under our belt. That said, we’ve been trying to organize some open mics, roasts and split shows with other comedy groups.

QQ: Can you describe Comedynormative in five words or less?

We tell jokes and stuff.

QQ: What should audiences expect at a Comedynormative show? What do you expect of the audience?

A laid back, fun show featuring some of the most talented comedians at Vassar.

When’s your next show?

We don’t have a date set, but we are doing a split show with No Offense later in the semester as well as several others in some of the dorms/houses.

ARTS

October 28, 2010

Page 17

Sufjan Stevens makes electronic shift The Age of Adz Sufjan Stevens [Asthmatic Kitty]

R

emember 2005? I know that these days five years is considered an eternity due to our internet-driven pace of music consumption, but if your blunted memory can push back a few years, you’ll probably remember Sufjan Stevens’ masterwork, Illinois. More monolith than actual album, Illinois broke every rule in the book while going on to become one of the most important records of the past decade. It was long without ever seeming indulgent, orchestral without ever verging on overkill, and literary without ever being boring. Stevens pulled off a veritable miracle—a concept record about an entire state that featured more instruments than most people knew existed. At the time, Stevens was claiming he’d make one of these records for all 50 states in the union, and needless to say, expectations were high. But one year passed, then another and then another, and before long, Stevens admitted the whole project was a gimmick. So for those who were hoping that their home state would be the topic of Stevens’ next album, the news that his first proper record in five years has no concept whatsoever might come with a tinge of disappointment. But for those who have been waiting patiently for any sort of news from Stevens, one listen to The Age of Adz will wash away any misgivings his absence might have caused.

Aside from the fact that Stevens’ latest album isn’t named after one of the 50 states, and the fact that it has a normal looking track list, the biggest difference between The Age of Adz and Illinois is Stevens’ use of electronics. Though Stevens has dabbled

with electronic music before—most notably on 2001’s Enjoy Your Rabbit—Stevens’ catalogue is most known for its organic feel—a folky focus on acoustic guitars and an almost obsessive use of every string, horn, reed and mallet based sound known to man. The Age of Adz, however, is chock full of clicks, hisses, beeps and buzzes. Its not like Stevens has decided to use more synthesizer this time around—he’s decided to use a sampler, and he has peppered this record with a cacophony of disparate and obviously electronically generated noises.

What’s more surprising than the sudden one-eighty from Illinois is the fact that his fascination with electronics blends so well with his more established fascinations. The schizophrenic samples mesh perfectly with the triumphant horns, angelic flutes and soaring strings for which his oeuvre is so well-known. The result is a transcendent hybrid of both baroque-pop and electropop that sounds so undoubtedly like Sufjan Stevens, its hard to imagine that The Age of Adz represents only one facet of his widely diverse catalogue.

The second track, “Too Much,” mixes these two elements excellently, resulting in a high point for a record with very few low points. The song’s percussion comes courtesy of a smattering of electronic flourishes— jittery laser beams and clanking, synthetic claps—while the melody is built upon a few keyboard stabs. Stevens’ voice descends with its usual feathery lightness, and by the time horns and flutes and strings start to poke through the noise and into the mix, nothing seems amiss. The song ends with bustling horns that recall the anthemic music from Star Wars mixed with dissonant, percussive electronic samples. Despite the Frankenstein quality of all the mish-mash, the song will sound familiar to any fan of Stevens’ prior work—it’s a beautiful, multisection mini-symphony, tied together by

Stevens’ incredible vocal layering.

Later in the album, “I Want To Be Well” pulls off a similar feat. Through several transitions, the song keeps up its propulsive pace with a dizzying number of electronic sounds, ranging from a straightforward keyboard line to the rapid fire handclaps normally associated with southern hiphop. Near the middle of the track everything fades out save Stevens’ voice and a polite guitar riff, giving the listener a momentary reminiscence of Illinois. The moment, however, is short-lived. A series of gurgling synth lines start to intertwine with the guitar, another layer of Stevens’ voice—this one treated electronically to give it a harrowing, melodious quality— joins in, and before long an entire orchestra of sounds, both synthetic and organic, has crashed the party. The female choir vocalists from Illinois repeats the track’s title in beautiful harmony, a sea of percussion thunders in the distance, and Stevens’ himself is singing, “I’m not fucking around.”

As the song slowly dissipates into an outro of wailing, slithering samples, its hard not to agree with Stevens—he is most certainly not fucking around. All the pieces of his musical puzzle fit neatly into place, as if it were too easy to do what Stevens’ does.

For five years it has seemed as if Stevens was trying his best to avoid making a new LP, instead focusing on multi-media arts projects and releasing Christmas music. But The Age of Adz is so thoughtfully constructed and well executed, it also seems as if he’s just been biding his time for this record. The Age of Adz is grandiose, hopelessly ambitious and stunningly gorgeous—all things Stevens’ fans have come to associate with his music. That he consistently pulls off records like The Age of Adz—records with varying influences and sonic templates—is just another testament to Stevens’ and his artistry.

Campus Canvas A bi-weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

submit to misc@vassar.edu

TheView From Here: Storm King at 50” Storm King Art Center, Poughkeepsie Runs until Nov. 14 $8 As part of its season-long 50th year anniversary celebration, Storm King Art Center will host a special exhibition entitled “The View From here: Storm King at 50.” This indoor show will highlight the works of ten different artists, all focusing on the rich and varied history of Storm King, a 500-acre site now renowned worldwide for its incredible, large scale sculpture. The exhibition will constantly evolve, with new photos and media replacing older ones, to offer a unique glimpse at how the center has changed over the years. Visitors can also visit the “5+5: New Perspectives” outdoor exhibition, which will run through 2011.

Night of 100 Pumpkins The Bakery, New Paltz Oct. 31, 6 p.m.

Free So the Halloween dance was fun and all, but looking for a more wholesome way to celebrate the most ghoulish time of year? New Paltz’s annual Night Of 100 Pumpkins contest, and a charming one at that.

Taking place right after the town’s annual Halloween parade, viewers can stop by to take in a vast array of carved pumpkins and sample free pumpkin bread, hot chocolate and cider. The carvings range in subject matter from spooky to topical, and are eligible for over 60 prizes, and the event is said to draw over a thousand visitors annually. And let’s face it: the best part of Halloween (other than making yourself sick off of fun-size Kit Kats, of course) is cute kids in cuter costumes, of which there will many. The Bakery is located at 13a North Front Street in New Paltz.

Performance and Screening of Works by Max Neuhaus Dia:Beacon, Beacon Sunday, Oct. 31, 2 p.m.

Free with admission of $7 Dia:Beacon presents a celebration of the work of the late percussionist and composer Max Neuhaus.

Neuhaus, whose soundworks are in the collections of museums and galleries from Turin to Houston, is described on his website as “the first to extend sound as an autonomous medium into the domain of contemporary art.” The event features a performance of his early “concert realizations” by percussionist David Shively, as well as screenings of films of and by the artist, such as Phil Niblock and Dave Gearey’s seven-minute 1967 video portrait, Max. The museum is located at 3 Beekman Street in Beacon.

The Felice Brothers The Chance, Poughkeepsie Saturday, 10/30 at 8 p.m. $17 in advance, $20 at the door

“Listen for me When I’m Gone,” is the product of a creative whim on the part of its creators, Hilary Tandy ’12 and Isabella Batts’12.

“At the end of last year, I had a lot of V-Print left over,” said Tandy. “So my dear friend Izzy and I decided to have some fun with the Lathrop photocopier.”

The two photocopied their hands, faces, and hair to create a series of images which they later turned into collages. This

particular creation stemmed from a novel idea on Tandy’s part.

“I had some piano sheet music lying around,” said Tandy. “I put it on the paper tray, and copied my face onto it.”

The piece evokes memories of a James Taylor song Tandy’s mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl. “It used to make me really sad,” said Tandy. “Because it’s about someone going away.”

-Erik Lorenzsonn, Arts Editor

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

For those seeking an alternative to Saturday’s Halloween festivities, the folk/rock band the Felice Brothers may be the way to go.The ensemble started out by playing on the New York City subway, but are now touring with the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show and the Dave Matthews Band. Perhaps the bigger draw is one of the show’s opening acts, Titus Andronicus. The New Jersey indie rock band is known for its concept album “The Monitor” about ironclads during the U.S. Civil War.Adam Haworth Stephens of the San Francisco duo Two Gallants will also open.

SPORTS

Page 18

Women’s tennis travels to New York championships

October 28, 2010

Lakers getting ready for another winning season Andy Sussman

I

Courtesy of Sports Information

Melanie Horn ’13 helped the Brewers dominate the first day of the New York State Division III tennis championship on Oct. 15, double-bageling her opponent in the second round of play.

Lillian Reuman

W

Contributing Editor

ith practically the entire roster in tow, the Vassar women’s tennis team headed to Ithaca, N.Y. on Oct. 15 for the New York State Division III Championships. Hosted by Ithaca College, the tournament play began at 9 a.m. on Friday with participation from 14 local teams including several Liberty League opponents. Ithaca’s own Cristina Nunez took the no. 1 singles championship after defeating Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) Lia Weiner 6-3, 6-1. Although Vassar was not able to capture any of the championships, the tournament was nevertheless successful, summarized head Coach Kathy Campbell, in an e-mailed statement: “Many of our team members played their best-ever tennis at this tournament.”

In the first round of single’s play, four of Vassar’s six competitors advanced. Jennifer Ruther ’13 (no. 2), Lindsay Kantor ’14 (no. 3), senior Captain Caroline Dunn-Rankin (no. 4), and sophomore Melanie Horn (no. 5) defeated their respective opponents and advanced to the second round. In an impressive bout, Ruther and Horn both double-bageled (6-0, 6-0) their rivals. In doubles play, Nicole Block ’12 and Dunn-Rankin fell to their RIT competitors while no. 2 doubles pair Ruther and Kantor received a bye and no. 3 doubles pair Horn and Meghan Smith ’12 trampled Brockport’s

Carolyn McMenemon and Sheyla Combs.

Despite their command of the courts on the first day of competition, the Brewers struggled to advance after the second day of tournament play. In her route to the finals, Kantor first defeated New York University’s no. 4 Flora Lee and then continued on to crush William Smith’s Kiara Ocasio in three hard-fought semi-final sets (6-7, 6-1, 11-9).

Just short of reaching the finals, Horn fell in single semi-final coampetition but continued on with her doubles partner, Smith, for the win (8-6) over RIT’s no. 3 pair.

Sunday Oct. 17 brought nothing but challenge for the Brewers. After splitting sets with Skidmore’s Nataly Mendoza, Kantor lost 10-3 in the third and final set. Following this trend, Horn and Smith fell 8-2 to Mendoza’s teammates. However, Kantor’s superior athleticism did not go unnoticed. For the second week in a row, Kantor received the Liberty League Rookie of the Week honor based on her impressive spectacle in the team’s final tournament of the fall season.

While the tournament concludes the fall season, it also provides a launching point for the Brewers as they prepare for their spring season. Campbell wrote, “The [New York] State Championship was the culmination of a fall season in which all of our players successfully stepped up into higher playing positions and gained valuable experience.”

Columnist

t is far easier to predict the contending teams in the NBA than it is for any other professional sports league. The season has only just started, and yet I can tell you confidently that the Minnesota Timberwolves, for example, have as much of a chance to win the NBA championship as Snooki does winning a Nobel Peace Prize. Several teams, namely the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers, have a chance if everything that possibly can go right does, but as this is unrealistic, I will only focus on the five teams that have a respectable chance of winning the NBA title this season even with a minor setback or two.

No team in NBA history has had the kind of scrutiny and attention that the Miami Heat will have this season. Pulling off a virtually impossible coup, the Heat resigned franchise player Dwyane Wade and signed All-Star Chris Bosh. Oh, and apparently they got this guy named LeBron James, but it garnered such little publicity that you probably didn’t notice. With this “big-three,” expectations are sky-high for the Heat. However, will the team’s bench be deep enough to keep the team afloat if one of its stars gets injured? In the beginning of the preseason, Wade tweaked his hamstring; will he be able to stay healthy for a full season? LeBron is the best player in basketball and should be able to fulfill whichever role is asked of him. Bosh is in the perfect situation as a complementary player who can work off the great passing from Wade and James without worrying about creating offense and giving him more energy on defense. The only thing bigger than the expectations Miami faces will be the ratings for every Heat game in the foreseeable future.

As the two-time defending champions, the Los Angeles Lakers have to be rather pleased with the team’s current situation. Overshadowed in the media by the Heat, the Lakers have merely geared up for a three-peat. Led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers’ core is virtually unchanged from last season, and in fact the rotation probably improved as the team signed forward Matt Barnes to a cheap two-year contract. Considering Barnes was effective for the playoff-bound Orlando Magic last season, this has to be considered somewhat of a steal for the Lakers. Between Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom, the Lakers have plenty of size to be effective on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. The team’s main concern will be keeping Bryant healthy, as the thirty-two year old has had various ailments plaguing him for the past couple of seasons.

The Boston Celtics showed last season that they have barely missed a beat since winning the NBA championship in 2008; they just need

to pick their spots to go all-out. Limping into the playoffs as a no. 4 seed, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and company suddenly played as if in they were in their respective primes. After bouncing LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers and defeating a strong Orlando Magic team, the Celtics pushed the Lakers to seven games before ultimately succumbing. With the re-signing of Allen and Paul Pierce, the Celtics management has shown that it believes Boston can come right back and still contend for a championship. The real reason for optimism in Beantown is young point guard Rajon Rondo’s transformation into the best player on the Celtics. If he continues to develop, Rondo can potentially offset the inevitable decline that Garnett, Pierce and Allen all face in their 30s.

It’s crazy to think that one year ago at this time the Oklahoma City Thunder was considered to be a team in development, three or four years away from being in the championship consideration. Of course, no one anticipated just how great forward Kevin Durant would become, winning the NBA scoring title at just 21 years old. The Thunder didn’t just make the playoffs because of Durant, though. Point guard Russell Westbrook, himself in his early twenties, showed great play-making ability both offensively and defensively. Jeff Green played the complimentary third scoring option quite well and Thabo Sefolosha made the All-Defensive Second Team. The team is young, which should help its general health, and the trio of Durant, Westbrook and Green should continue to rapidly develop under Head Coach Scott Brooks.

Don’t be surprised to see Durant with the MVP trophy by the end of the year.

They may not be particularly exciting, but there is no arguing the effectiveness of the Orlando Magic the past several seasons. Dwight Howard is the best center in the NBA and has won the past two Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Vince Carter is still a talented scorer, even if he is not as efficient or athletic as he was in his prime.

Rashard Lewis is a 6-foot-10 power forward who is an excellent three-point shooter, and Jameer Nelson was an All-Star in 2009. The Magic are deep and have playoff experience; they may be the new San Antonio Spurs with respect to the way they play, both defensively and boringly.

So, when all is said and done, who will win the 2010-2011 NBA championship? With the information we have right now, I have to say the Los Angeles Lakers will three-peat, Kobe Bryant will have as many titles as Michael Jordan, Head Coach Phil Jackson will retire, and LeBron James will still have two fewer championships than Adam Morrison. Of course, I could just be a hater.

Soccer season most successful in program history SOCCER continued from page 1 In the final weekend of the season, Vassar was set to do battle with both foes, meaning if they could win both games, they would guarantee their spot in the playoffs. noted co-Captain Allison McManis, “This year (for the first time), we finally had our destiny in our own hands going into this weekend. If we won both games, we would be going through, regardless of how any other games played out. This was a huge confidence booster, reminding us how much we had already accomplished” On Saturday, the Brewers welcomed Skidmore for the first of their momentous weekend contests. From the outset, the Thoroughbreds dominated the game. Skidmore fired off nine shots in the first half, and earned four corners, compared to just one of each from the Brewers. Despite just the one attempt, the Brewers still made it count.

At 11:37 into the contest, Tessa Verbanic ’12 struck the ball high into the right corner of the net off an assist from Demougeot to give Vassar the narrow edge. Verbanic’s play this season earned lofty praise from all three co-Captains: “Tessa Verbanic has stepped up in so many ways, she never gives up and fights with everything she has every minute of every game.”

In the second half, Skidmore continued their relentless attack, outshooting the Brewers 15-4 on

the game. Despite the barrage, goalkeeper Alexandra Higgins ’13 and the Brewers defense withstood the waves, and held onto the 1-0 victory.

Higgins led the defensive effort, notching five saves for Vassar. Senior co-Captain Rachel Shea wrote, “Following the Skidmore game—first of all, I was ecstatic. Second of all, I was thinking about every possible scenario that could be played out for us to make the tournament.”

Vassar’s victory, as well as a 2-0 victory by Union over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), tied the two teams for third place at 4-2, with Skidmore just behind, in fifth place at 3-2-1. Meanwhile, both William Smith College and Hamilton College had already locked up their playoff spots. With Vassar and Union set to square off, the situation unfolded such that if Skidmore vanquished RPI, the winner of the Vassar-Union contest would earn the final playoff spot. RPI entered their contest with a 1-5 conference record, suggesting that either Vassar or Union would join Skidmore, Hamilton and William Smith in the postseason. With their seasons on the line, the two squads prepared to face off.

In the first half, Union fired off four shots, compared to Vassar’s three, yet the Dutchwomen forced three saves out of Higgins, compared to zero Brewers’ shots on target. The Dutch-

women’s dominance was apparent in their 8-1 advantage in corner kicks. Still, as the teams prepared for the second half, the score remained locked at zero.

Throughout the second half, the defenses remained the key to the action. Neither squad could find the back of the net, despite a plethora of shots from both sides. Vassar fired off nine shots, compared to eight by Union.

In a game that saw 24 shots, one stood out.

With just over four minutes remaining, freshman Kylie Ladenberger lined up her first freekick of the game. The freshman, who had never scored a collegiate goal, picked an opportune moment for her first. Her free kick traveled from the right side, towards the far post and into the back of net. The Vassar defense, once again led by Higgins, who recorded eight saves, held off the Dutchwomen the rest of the way, and propelled Vassar into the playoffs for the first time in program history. Shea declared proudly, “After the Union game, I honestly could not stop crying. It was the most amazing feeling ever,” she continued, “ I was so proud of the way we played in the second half against Union. We played with so much energy and Union just could not keep up with us.”

The good news did not stop there for the Brewers. Skidmore’s 3-0 victory, combined

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

with St. Lawrence University’s upset of Hamilton, earned Vassar the no. 2 seed in the Liberty League tournament, ensuring the Brewers a home game. Shea noted, “My dad yelled to me from the bleachers and told me that Hamilton lost and we were playing at home, and I can’t even describe how I felt.”

As one of the top two seeds, Vassar will host their first round contest, taking on no. 3 seed Hamilton College. In their previous meeting, the Brewers dropped a 3-1 contest on the road.

Last year, the last time the two teams met in Poughkeepsie, Vassar earned a 2-1 victory. Shea wrote, “I really believe that if we play with the same energy and heart that we played with against Union no one in our league can beat us. We played Hamilton a few weeks ago, and coming off the field after the game I knew that we were the better team even though we lost.

I am so excited to play them again because I know we are better than them and we can beat them.”

While the team looks ahead to the playoffs, they do not lose sight of their accomplishment.

Demougeot wrote, “This season was an absolute success up to this point. Sure we have lost games I think we should have won, but none of that matters because we met our goal in making the playoffs.”

SPORTS

October 28, 2010

Page 19

Giants, Rangers square off in story-filled World Series Corey Cohn

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Reporter

he World Series is supposed to be about pitting the National League’s best against the American League’s best—two teams fighting it out to determine which team can be called the best team in all of baseball. Yet this year, the matchup is ripe with individual storylines.

Sure, there is a present sense of intrigue for each franchise in the 2010 Fall Classic. The Texas Rangers have a chance to win their first championship since they came into existence as the Washington Senators in 1961. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Giants can end the current thirdlongest World Series drought—behind the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians—and claim their first title since moving out of New York in 1958. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to associate the Giants with something special in the post-Barry Bonds era?

But, regardless of the markets involved, it seems like fans can watch this World Series not necessarily for the teams it will showcase, but for the noteworthy players on each side.

Sure, there is spectacular talent everywhere you look. A former MVP, Vladimir Guerrero; a former batting champion, Michael Young; 2010 batting champion and MVP candidate, Josh Hamilton; a former Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee; and a possible 2010 Rookie of the Year, Neftali Feliz—and that’s just the Rangers. The Giants, while not sporting as much on the mantel, do have a two-time defending Cy Young win-

ner, Tim Lincecum; and a possible 2010 Rookie of the Year, Buster Posey; to go along with a stellar rotation behind Lincecum. But there’s more to the story than just Texas’s explosive offense and San Francisco’s impressive arsenal of young arms.

For the Rangers, their tremendous run this season is all the more remarkable in light of the individual struggles that members of their team have overcome. By now, most everyone knows of Hamilton’s rocky road to superstardom. A former number one overall pick in 1999, he always had the skills to excel in The Show, but a persistent problem with drug addiction curbed his career until 2007. In only four years, Hamilton has made a huge impact, not only creating headlines with his play but also providing inspiration with his comeback. The guy dubbed “The Natural” may very well have his own movie someday with the way his career has gone. Hamilton had the Yankee Stadium crowd on its feet during the 2008 Home Run Derby, in which he blasted a record 28 bombs in the first round. Follow that up with two more All-Star appearances, a batting title, an ALCS MVP Award and a possible World Series ring, and Hamilton is inviting himself into the history books and potentially Hollywood as well.

Ironically, this Rangers season initially revolved around the drug-related controversy of another member of the team—manager Ron Washington. During spring training, it was revealed that Washington had failed a Major

Freshmen athletes adjust to NCAA competition Nathan Tauger Guest Reporter

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s we reach the midway point of the semester, freshmen are afforded the opportunity to reflect on the beginning of a new stage in life. While all freshmen have had to adjust, those facing one of the biggest adjustments are undoubtedly athletes, who in addition to their academic rigors, now must face the challenge of applying their trade at the next level: the NCAA. Justin Nesheiwat ’14, a resident of Poughkeepsie, has been accustomed to an unorthodox sleeping schedule for quite a while. As a high school student he rowed in Poughkeepsie for four years. “I row on the same area, same river, same part of the river. Pretty much exactly the same as high school. My boat house is only 100 feet away from my high school boathouse.

I start practice at the same point as I did in high school,” he said. Still, the transition from high school to college life isn’t as smooth as moving to the next boathouse.

“It’s been hard on my schedule, I haven’t had as much time as I’d like to participate in more things.” For Nesheiwat, however, the benefits of rowing outweigh the costs.

In the race this past weekend, Nesheiwat placed second in the four-man boat and third in the eight-man boat. “Crew schedule is hard on me, but it’s worth it,” he acknowledged.

For others the progression to college life has been smoother. Fencer Johnny Arden ’14, from Pelham, N.Y., has found college life more accessible. “I definitely have more work now than what I had in high school. I think I have a bit more time to do it…for fencing I think I have adjusted well, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the continuation of my favorite sport.”

Women’s soccer player Sheeva Seyfi ’14, from Laguna Hills, California, has experienced a similarly constructive adjustment.

“It’s been great, busy but great. I generally enjoy having a busy schedule because it keeps me from getting bored and makes me feel productive… Practice everyday and occasional games are fun ways of keeping busy.”

Seyfi was also quick to point out the importance of upperclassmen in adjusting to college life and varsity soccer. “The upperclassmen have been a huge help. They definitely made an extra effort to have the

freshmen feel included on the team, and have been incredibly supportive on the field.”

Women’s soccer Captain Rachel Shea ’11 described this process. Shea noted, “We always try and start assimilating the incoming freshmen during the summer.

This summer each of the freshmen was assigned to a captain and we would talk to them about the workouts and answer any questions they had about soccer or school. Once the season starts we do a lot of things as a team outside of soccer, so we can really get to know the freshmen and vice versa. I think our team as a whole is really welcoming and helpful to the freshmen.”

Meanwhile, men’s fencer Michael D’Urso ’11 outlined a similar way in which his team gets to know their newcomers, “Each year we have a picnic style meet and greet, followed by a week or two of captain’s practices, so that the team can get to know the freshman and vice versa before the start of the season. The upperclassmen are all helpful in instructing any freshman that join the team as walk-ons with little or no experience. We also frequently organize gatherings with the team so that we can spend time together in a social environment free of any stress.”

Nesheiwat and Arden have found the system to be helpful, “I received a lot of guidance, both on campus and rowingrelated, from upperclassmen: …the right time to go out at night, when to stay back, just general campus knowledge and how to deal with the people on campus.”

Regardless of distance traveled to get to Vassar, from more than 2,000 miles to fewer than 20, there are bound to be some bumps in the road to adjusting to college athletics. The strict rules of the women’s varsity soccer team could be interpreted as one of these. “I guess the rules we have in regards to partying have put a damper on the ‘college experience,’ but they’re completely understandable and have made a huge impact on how we’re playing,” said Seyfi. But more important problems exist for a new member of the competitive squad. Seyfi continued, “The pressure associated with playing well and making your team proud can be overwhelming, but it’s simultaneously what makes it worthwhile.”

League Baseball drug test in 2009, leading to his admission of cocaine use. Many were predicting Washington would be the first manager fired in 2010. Not only was he not one of the eight skippers shown the door during the season, but Washington is now almost a consensus pick for American League Manager of the Year.

For the Giants, Posey has been making a name for himself to say the least, bursting onto the Major League scene with a flourish. He was called up in late May, but for two-thirds of the season he made his presence known. Now, Posey is the face of San Francisco’s lineup, primarily batting cleanup. If you’re wondering how many times a rookie catcher has hit cleanup in the playoffs, don’t rack your brain too hard; it’s never happened until Posey did it this year.

Posey, interestingly enough, represents one of the few key pieces of the Giants’ farm system on the field. The pitching is well-stocked with homegrown arms—all of the postseason starting pitchers, along with closer Brian Wilson, have only donned a San Francisco uniform during their respective careers. The rest of the team, on the other hand, includes a contigent of journeymen. Still, this mosaic of otherwise unimpressive names—did Cody Ross cross anyone’s mind twice before he hit three NLCS home runs against the Phillies?—includes guys with championship pedigrees. Five players on the Giants’ current roster—infielders Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe, outfielders Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand, and reliever Javier Lo-

pez—all have a championship ring, won with other teams of course. Renteria, in fact, has the noteworthy distinction of ending two different World Series, getting the walk-off Game Seven single for the 1997 Florida Marlins and making the last out for the St. Louis Cardinals to lose his team the 2004 title and give it to the Boston Red Sox. Even Giants manager Bruce Bochy has a chance at Fall Classic redemption, as his last trip to the World Series ended in his San Diego Padres falling to the New York Yankees in 1998.

Of course, individual storylines would not be complete without mentioning Rangers catcher Bengie Molina. Besides the fact that he has already faced the Giants in the World Series with the then-Anaheim Angels in 2002, Molina is ensured a World Series ring no matter what the outcome. He began the 2010 season with the Giants before being traded in June to create more playing time for, you guessed it, Buster Posey.

So, for those who will be watching the World Series with rooting interest for either the Rangers or Giants, wear your caps, wave your pennants and don your replica jerseys. (If Rangers fans really want to get in the Giants’ heads, they should break out the Thundersticks.) But for those without any particular team affinity, there is still plenty of reason to tune in. And, if all else fails, there’s still the follicular fascination to witness, between Elvis Andrus’s ever-growing Afro, Tim Lincecum’s signature flowing locks and whatever has taken over Brian Wilson’s face.

Stern steers NBA collective bargaining agreement talks Nik Trkulja Columnist

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ertain names perfectly describe the personality of their bearers. Never has that statement been truer than in the case of David Stern. Stern is the NBA Commissioner, a position he has held for the past 26 years. His heavy-handed leadership has widely been accredited as the reason behind the NBA’s commercial and popular success.

Stern is famous for handing down player suspensions, fining owners and chewing up and spitting out any and all who dare cross him. In the NBA, Stern’s word is law, and while so far it has steered the league perfectly, now “his sternness” may have gone a step too far.

Next year marks the end of the NBA’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). As things stand, a new one seems unlikely anytime soon, meaning the world’s second most popular league is likely to face a lockout beginning next season. The CBA is crucial to the NBA, as it functions as the guideline for all monetary transactions in the league. Every so many years, NBA officials and team owners sit down with representatives of the players’ union to agree to salary cap terms, contract guidelines and other issues pertaining to everyone’s number one obsession: money. Most of the time the two opposing parties make outrageous demands and then agree to settle somewhere in the middle to ensure the relatively smooth functioning of the league. This time, however, Stern seems unwilling to back down.

Recently Stern stated that the NBA needs to cut spending on player salaries by around 40 percent so as to remain solvent. At present NBA teams are required to spend 57 percent of their revenue on player compensation, amounting to a league-wide annual total of around $2.2 billion. Stern wants that number decreased by around $750-$800 million and is unwilling to budge. The result of this deadlock can best be summarized by Celtics’ star Rajon Rondo’s recent comments that he’s saving money this year as he’ll probably be on strike next fall.

In line with Rondo, NBA players around the league are angry, to say the least. The fact is that NBA officials have confirmed that this past year set records for attendance, gate receipts and television coverage, not to mention that season ticket sales are higher this year than they have ever been.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Furthermore, this summer’s free agent season saw a number of teams simply showering players in money, before turning around and claiming losses in CBA negotiations.

The exact truth behind the NBA’s financial position is unclear. The players’ union claims the league has never been better, while team owners cite persistent losses in profitability. Realistically both sides are making valid points, except each is choosing to focus on different aspects. The players are primarily concerned with revenue streams.

With tickets selling better than ever, revenue has never been better. For their part, owners are looking at profitability ratios. As things stand, the profitability of their teams has declined. That’s not to say they aren’t profitable—well some aren’t—but rather they aren’t as profitable as they used to be.

There is no easy solution, and really there is no way to make both sides happy. If the CBA is taken off the table and compensation is allowed to flow according to free market principles, then the richest teams would be able to afford the best players and smaller market teams would compensate players less. Of course, small-market owners want to be relevant, and the majority of NBA teams are in small-markets.

Since we can’t get rid of the CBA, the other solution would be to generate money from the financial markets. Teams can either raise debt, something that isn’t really desirable, or they can become publicly listed on the stock exchange as many of their counterparts are in Europe. This of course makes them much more unstable, but it will nonetheless allow owners more flexibility in terms of raising money and bailing out. It also gives fans a chance to buy in and have a say.

However, again, the players’ union doesn’t want instability and owners don’t want to lose control.

In other words, the free market options available are undesired.

The NBA’s only solution is a new CBA, but Stern is quite simply being stern. He refuses to demand anything less than a salary cut, and for their part the players refuse to relinquish their salaries to owners that trade them around like cattle. The result is the inevitable lock-out, a hit even the NBA can’t entirely weather. Unless, of course, Stern somehow proves the old truth wrong, and shows that sometimes, just sometimes, names and characters don’t really have much in common.

SPORTS

Page 20

October 28, 2010

Cross country wins Seven Sisters title

SCOREBOARD

Kristine Olson

OCT 23 FIELD HOCKEY

Guest Reporter

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ROCHESTER AT VASSAR

Madeline Zappala/The Miscellany News

assar hosted the 2010 Seven Sisters Cross Country Championship on Saturday, Oct. 16. Joining the Brewers in the 29th annual race were Bryn Mawr College, Mt. Holyoke College, Smith College, Swarthmore College and Wellesley College. Wellesley entered the competition as the Seven Sisters defending champion, boasting a record seven championship titles. Vassar, which had never placed until last season, entered the race as the 2009 runner-up. This year proved different for the Vassar women who, despite windy conditions, claimed the championship title for the first time in Seven Sisters history by one point.

Vassar won with 32 team points, followed

by Wellesley (33), Swarthmore (56), Smith (132), Mount Holyoke (137) and Bryn Mawr (168).

Randelle Boots, a Wellesley sophomore, won the race in 18:38, followed by Johanna Spangler ’12 in 18:49. Kelly Holmes ’13, second for Vassar and fourth overall (18:54), finished neck-and-neck with Aubree Piepmeier ’14 (18:54), who finished fifth overall. Also within split seconds of each other were Elizabeth Forbes ’12 in ninth (19:14) and Zoe Carpenter ’11 in 12th (19:14).

“It was a great day,” commented Head Coach James McCowan. “We knew heading in that it would be a close race. Swarthmore beat us [on Oct. 1] at Paul Short, and Wellesley’s been strong all season. And both schools are highly ranked in both regions,” said McCowan. Reflecting on past Seven Sisters Championships and seasons in general, McCowan pointed out that the top 10 runners in this year’s race all beat the previous record set for the 5k Vassar Farm course.

As the Brewer’s top runner and the Seven Sisters 2009 reigning Champion, Spangler

Women’s cross country recently won the 2010 Seven Sisters Cross County Championship with a total of 32 points. They are now preparing for the Liberty League Championship this Saturday. went into the meet with high expectations, and was evidently disappointed at a second place finish. Coach McCowan, however, explained that, “Randelle Boots is a national champion runner in cross country [placing 82nd out of 280 at the 2009 NCAA National Championships] and in the 1,500 meters. We knew it’d be a tough race for [Spangler]” Despite individual highs and lows, the win was a team effort. The Brewer’s have focused on running in packs since pre-season, and that is what made the difference at Seven Sisters. In a strong pack near the front was Hannah Ziobrowski ’12 (20:16), Melissa McClung ’12 (20:18), Sammy Creath ’12 (20:19),

and Arial Shogren ’13 (20:22)—all running roughly a minute faster on the Vassar Farm course than they had at the Vassar College Invite 5k on Sept. 4.

The Brewers have clearly improved from the start of the season. And as the 2010 Seven Sisters Cross Country Champions, they have proven their strengths in depth and speed. As the Wellesley coach said to McCowan after the meet: “See you at Nationals.” But first, Vassar must face the Liberty League Championships on Oct. 30 at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. The team will have a week to rest following this race before competing in the NCAA regional Championship.

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OCT 23 MEN’S SOCCER VASSAR AT SKIDMORE

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OCT 24 WOMEN’S RUGBY RUTGERS AT VASSAR

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Guzick earns program-first victory at ITA nationals Wilson Platt

Guest Reporter

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Courtesy of Sports Information

t was clear that Andrew Guzick ’13 was in trouble. Competing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships in Mobile, Alabama, spectators watched as sweat slipped down his face and past his clenched teeth, gathering at his chin and dripping off onto the steaming court. He was doubled over, trying to push past the wrenching pain in his back, that had plauged him since the initial set.

After taking the first set 7-5, he was down 0-3 in the second, forced to chase down ball after ball as his back got worse and worse. The trainer Guzick had called at the end of the first set had massaged his back and given him some Advil, neither of which had helped yet.

Staring at him across the net was his opponent, Trinity University’s Bobby Coconougher, who had clearly noticed his injury and was now meticulously lengthening the points with surgical precision. “I could see he was just picking on my weakness.

He changed his game,” Guzick wrote.

Guzick stepped up to the baseline to return another serve, racking his brain to find something to stop the flow of losing that had plagued him all weekend. Anything. But all he could see was another excruciating point to play, another ball to run after, all bringing him one step closer to another brutal loss.

It started Thursday morning, Oct. 14, against the no. 1 seed in the tournament, Dillon Pottish from Emory University. It was a crushing match, 6-1, 6-1, that left Guzick disappointed in himself. In some ways, there were aspects out of his control. There was the bad luck to play the no. 1 seed in the tournament, and then the unfortunate discovery that Pottish played

Andrew Guzik ’13, above, recently returned from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championship in Mobile, Alabama, where he was defeated in two out of his three games due to his crippling back pain a counter-punching, heavy topspin style with which Guzick had always struggled. But by that night, Guzick was pumped to redeem himself.

“The good thing about this tournament, is I get three matches no matter what,” he wrote. Friday however, would prove even more frustrating than Thursday.

It was Nick Garcia of Dubuque University on the other side, winner of the Midwest ITA, and someone who, apparently, would refuse to go quietly. Guzick began the day dictating play and taking the first set 6-3.

“Coach [Ki] Kroll likes to describe my game as an ‘all-court player.’

My strengths, especially lately, have been my serve and my forehand, and I’ve always thought I had a pretty solid return of serve.” But the second set was a different story, Garcia came out firing while Guzick faltered, and suddenly he had dropped the second set 6-1, losing his focus repeatedly.

In the third and deciding set Guzick rallied, going up 4-2, 40-0 on his opponent’s serve. Then, inexplicably, he took his foot off the gas pedal and Garcia came roaring back. “I’d say my biggest weakness is my impatience,” Guzick admitted afterward. He didn’t completely implode, but serving up 5-4 with a chance to win the match,

his killer instinct had left him, and his opponent stole the game, easily.

With a barrel of momentum, Garcia stormed forward and took the next two games, and then the match. For the second day in a row, Guzick went back to his hotel with a loss hanging over his head. Reflecting, he noted, “I wasn’t focused the way I have been recently, [I] thought about the moment and where I was too much instead of the game-plan.”

But what was important at the moment was that Guzick was not losing this match. Around 0-4 down in the second set, the Advil had finally kicked in, running was less painful,

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

he could hit his strokes cleaner and everything began to fall back into place. With one last strategic move, Kroll walked over to the fence and said through the chain links, “Let this one go, no need to waste your energy for the rest of this set.” Kroll’s tactics had worked before, so Guzick dropped the second set, and prepared to do battle in the third.

With the pain in his back under control, Guzick fought back in the final set. Still, Coconougher would not surrender easily. The players alternated games for the first seven, before Guzick was able to break serve, earning a 5-3 lead in the set.

At 5-3 serving for the match, Guzick fell behind in the game before drawing even and soon after surpassing Coconougher. With a slight lead in the game, Guzick kicked a serve up to his opponent’s backhand, darting up to the net behind it, only to watch as his opponent sent a blistering return crosscourt. It was a beautiful shot, and it would pass him, he knew it. Almost in slow motion, the ball veered off course, landing harmlessly out of bounds. Game, set and match. Guzick had won, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3, a staggering comeback through adversity, and a display of which he could be proud. In his first national tournament, Guzick had battled the best, lost a close one, and finally, fought for his first win. “I was really happy afterward, I mean it would have sucked to get in last [8th] place. And I was glad I could leave Coach Kroll with a win as his last match.” The experience left him undeniably more prepared for the next nationals, Guzick confirmed later, but drenched in sweat with a smile on his face and his coach and family all around him, all he could think about was one thing: “Hands down... unlimited sleep.”