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Misc 2.28.19 by The Miscellany News - Issuu

Misc 2.28.19

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The Miscellany News

Since 1866 | miscellanynews.org

Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY

Volume CLI | Issue 17

February 28, 2019

Alum talks Portraits illustrate prison epidemic Columnist U.S. voting taps into injustice M ‘sappy’ self Taylor Stewart Columnist

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n Friday, Feb. 22, Vassar students, faculty, alums and Poughkeepsie residents filled the Vogelstein Center’s Martel Theater to converse with seventh President and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) Sherrilyn Ifill ’84. A civil rights attorney, law professor and national expert on voting rights and judicial selection, Ifill engaged in an hour-long dialogue that was moderated by Professor of History Rebecca Edwards. The conversation touched on a myriad of contemporary issues confronting equality and suffrage rights for Black communities, examining the connection between modern-day conditions and patterns in U.S. racial history. The first half of the talk offered insight into LDF’s emphases on navigating contemporary civil rights discourse amidst what Ifill termed “a difficult and unrelenting See NAACP on page 4

Courtesy of Nicole Fleetwood

Ha Bui

Guest Reporter

ass incarceration is an epidemic in the U.S., home to 25 percent of the world’s prison population and only five percent of the world’s people (American Psychological Association, “Incarceration nation,” 10.2014). Despite its ubiquity, from smaller-scale jails to teeming state and federal prisons to publicly traded corporations, the U.S. corrections system remains perplexing to many citizens. Media outlets and policymakers frequently render the prison system an unquestioned characteristic of the country—too daunting to be tackled in political debates, much less through legislation. Likewise, there is a tendency to neglect the humanity of the millions of incarcerated people and their loved ones. Examining imprisoned people’s art is a not only a study of this system, but also a means to display the functions of portraiture and the artists’ strong will. Nicole R. Fleetwood explained the value of such a practice on Wednesday, Feb. 20 when she delivered the Claflin Lecture, “Interior Subjects: Portraits by Incarcerated Artists.” A former Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral

On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Professor at Rutgers University Nicole R. Fleetwood delivered the Clafin Lecture in an event sponsored by the Art Department and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Fellow, Fleetwood studied Visual Literacy at Vassar from 2001 to 2003. She is now an accomplished writer, curator and professor of American Studies at Rutgers University. Fleetwood wrote the forthcoming “Marking Time: Art in the Era of Mass Incarceration” and the 2015 piece “On Racial Icons: Blackness and the Public Imagination.” She co-edited an issue of Aperture Magazine, “Prison Nation,” which focused on the role of photography in represent-

ing the prison industrial complex and convicts themselves. Her projects about the visual culture of punitive captivity are those of personal interest; she talked about her cousin, Allen, who received a life sentence at 18 years old, and who writes to Fleetwood regularly. He sends her pictures taken by incarcerated photographers, posing, sometimes with props, in front of painted backdrops also made by inmates. OthSee PRISON ART on page 6

Tamika Whitenack Guest Colunmist

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s thoughts of spring flutter in the approaching future, maple sugaring season is in full swing! A year ago, maple syrup was merely something I associated with Canada and other people’s pancakes—I prefer my own plain. However, all this changed during spring break of 2018, when I spent two weeks as a volunteer at Magic Forest Farm, a small family operation outside of Albany, NY. I came to Magic Forest Farm as part of Workaway, an online service that connects homestay hosts with volunteers interested in traveling for various types of projects, including organic farming. My two weeks as a volunteer were transformative; one of my most exciting experiences was participating in the process of maple syrup production. Magic Forest Farm has 225 acres of mostly-forested land. In keepSee MAPLE SYRUP on page 10

Shiva documents refugee stories Women’s tennis hosts historic Seven Sisters Elizabeth Johnson Guest Reporter

Over five million people have fled Syria since 2011.” Vassar alum and filmmaker Alexandra Shiva ’95 begins her latest documentary “This is Home: A Refugee Story” with these words flashing across a black screen, reminding us of the almost decade-long Syr-

ian refugee crisis that has shaken the world. The film, screened in the Martel Theater last Thursday, Feb. 21, was presented by the Consortium on Forced Migration, Displacement, and Education, which was established by Vassar Refugee Solidarity (VRS) and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “This is Home” is a documentary Courtesy of Elizabeth Johnson

Filmmaker Alexandria Shiva participated in a panel discussion with Margaret Edgecombe ’22 and Sabrina Surgil ’21 at a screening of Shiva’s 2018 documentary “This is Home: A Refugee Story.”

that follows four Syrian refugee families resettling in the Baltimore area with the help of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The film’s 91-minute runtime takes us right into the families’ worlds: into their homes, into their English language and employment classes and deep into the emotional pendulum of restarting their lives in America. Shiva graduated Vassar in 1995 with a degree in Art History and has since made her name in the documentary film world. Starting in the early 2000s, she has directed and produced four films, notably including “How to Dance in Ohio,” which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. While this film tells the story of teenage girls with autism in Columbus getting ready for their prom—a vastly different See REFUGEE CRISIS on page 7

Teddy Chmyz Copy Editor

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fter 37 years, the final Seven Sisters Women’s Tennis Championships took place last weekend, Feb. 23 and 24, in Vassar’s Walker Field House. This year, for the 18th year in a row, Vassar and Wellesley earned the top two spots and, although the Brewers entered the event its four-time reigning champions, the Blue ultimately triumphed 4-1 in Sunday’s final. Despite this loss, Vassar remains atop the historic Seven Sisters leaderboard, with 15 wins to Wellesley’s 14 and Smith’s 8. However, for all of the participants, the Seven Sisters Championships developed into more than

just another tournament. The special format and friendly atmosphere of the event led to a weekend that, while still competitive, was not all about who takes home the trophy. The Championship—which included a banquet on Saturday night—served as an opportunity for attendees from all of the competing schools to bond and interact. Vassar Head Coach Kathy Campbell reflected on the significance of the event, explaining: “This is the last Seven Sisters, so it’s kind of a hallmark event … It is something that our team has always really cherished, we have a banquet [and] you get the sense of camaraderie among the Seven Sister colleges, off the court and on the court.” See WOMEN’S TENNIS on page 19

Breaking News Article Pending

Board of Trustees appoints Carlos Alamo-Pastrana as Dean of College, concluding search Inside this issue

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Don’t snap pics and depart; intern promotes FEATURES engagement with art

15

After Lagerfeld’s passing, fashion world must reflect OPINIONS on industry’s misogyny

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A disgruntled celebrity chef’s take: Gordon “Ramslay” HUMOR rails on Gordon Commons


The Miscellany News

Page 2

February 28, 2019

Editor-in-Chief Leah Cates

Senior Editors

Sasha Gopalakrishnan Mack Liederman

Contributing Editors

Talya Phelps Noah Purdy Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson Laila Volpe Jessica Moss Frankie Knuckles Steven Park Hannah Gaven Holly Shulman Abby Tarwater Sports Myles Olmsted Design Rose Parker Copy Teddy Chmyz

News Features Opinions Humor and Satire Arts

Assistant Features Assistant Design Assistant Social Media Assistant Online Assistant Copy

Ben Gregory ’20 has brought his passion for biology, scientific inquiry and wildlife photography to the mountain forests of Barrigón, Panama. In his first post for Far and Away, he writes, “[A]s Panama was the catalyst of massive global changes in the course of natural history millions of years ago, it is also one of the best places to see the massive changes currently taking place.” Read more of Ben’s meditations on “Panama, life, and the distant future” at farandaway.miscellanynews.org.

The Miscellany News 28

February

Thursday

Black History Month Closing 5:00 p.m. | CC Villard Room | ALANA Student Cultural Center

Lipshutz Lecture Series: Sandy Grande 5:o0 p.m. | SC 212-Auditorium | Education Dept.

Late Night at the Lehman Loeb

Monthly Community Dinner

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March

Friday

Vintage Founders Day Merch Sale 11:30 a.m. | Mug Alcove | Hunger Action

You CAN Do Research 2:00 p.m. | OH 267-Classroom | CDO and the Science, Technology and Society Dept.

Gallery Talk | Quiet as It’s Kept: Passing Subjects, Contested Identities 3:00 p.m. | The Loeb Atrium | The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

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March

Saturday

Students of Sobriety Group

37th Annual Bardavon Gala 3:00 p.m. | Bardavon Opera House | Dance Dept.

Senior Recital: Emily Drossell, soprano

Faculty Recital: Thomas Sauer, piano

1:30 p.m. | SH Martel Recital Hall | Music Dept.

3:00 p.m. | SH Martel Recital Hall | Music Dept.

Richard Huganir ’75 | Capotorto-Mulas Family Lecture

Paper Critique

37th Annual Bardavon Gala

Challah for the Elderly

6:00 p.m. | The AULA | Black Student Union

Vassar College Orchestra

7:00 p.m. | The AULA | Challah for Hunger and Chabad

VCSDC Cookie Sale

8:00 p.m. | SH Martel Recital Hall | Music Dept.

9:00 p.m. | Delivered to students’ doors | Social Dancing Club

Local White Man Gets [REDACTED]

8:00 p.m. | Bardavon Opera House | Dance Dept.

9:00 p.m. | SC 212-Auditorium | HEL (Happily Ever Laughter)

Reporters Ariana Gravinese Aena Khan Columnists Catherine Bither Jimmy Christon Christian Flemm Jesser Horowitz Dean Kopitsky Izzy Migani Emmett O’Malley Sylvan Perlmutter Taylor Stewart Blair Webber Copy Adelaide Backhus Anna Blake Natalie Bober Samantha Cavagnolo Madeline Seibel Dean Amanda Herring Phoebe Jacoby Anastasia Koutavas Caitlin Patterson Gillian Redstone Mina Turunc Photo Yijia Hu Cartoonist Frank

9:00 p.m. | Rose Parlor | The Miscellany News

5:00 p.m. | TH 102-Auditorium | Office of Alumnae/i Affairs and Development

Black Solidarity Dinner: Art as Activism

8:00 p.m. | Ferry House | Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson

Sunday

9:30 a.m. | RH 211 | AA Pougkeepsie

6:30 p.m. | Women’s Center | Women’s Center

Poster-Making Session

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March

Courtesy of VC Flickr

5:00 p.m. | The Loeb Atrium | The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center

Weekender_

Duncan Aronson Lilly Tipton Patrick Tanella Chris Allen Lucy Leonard

Come say “cello” to the Vassar Orchestra this Sat., March 2, in the SH Martel Recital Hall. The concert is expected to be a “note”-worthy performance.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

CORRECTION POLICY The Miscellany News will only accept corrections for any misquotes, misrepresentations or factual errors for an article within the semester it is printed.

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.


February 28, 2019

NEWS

Page 3

Poughkeepsie police seek positive community relations Tiana Headley Guest Reporter

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tories of antagonism between communities of color and law enforcement are ubiquitous in American society. News reports on police killing unarmed people of color are more than just a media trend; they are a window into people of colors’ distrust of police and vice versa. However, cooperation between the community and the police works to the benefit of both parties. With this in mind, the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department recently partnered with Marist College’s Center for Social Justice Research on a project to improve relations between officers and the community they serve (Marist College, “Partnering with the Community through Real-World Research,” 10.18.2018). With Marist’s help, the department developed an anonymous survey to gauge how residents feel about current community-police relations. The city mailed the survey—which includes between 30 and 35 questions—to 3,000 random households. By Oct. 12, 2018, participants were expected to have completed and mailed their surveys to Marist. Students and faculty from across the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences are currently evaluating the responses independent of the police department (The Poughkeepsie Journal, “Poughkeepsie police aim to improve community relations through survey,” 08.20.2018). City of Poughkeepsie Police Captain Richard Wilson explained that this approach to the process will help to ensure objectivity. “They’re in a better position to evaluate the results so that it can truly be a transparent reading of how we’re received,” he said. According to Wilson, Marist will summarize the survey responses into an overall report to develop officer training that is

responsive to the needs and desires of the community. This is at the heart of the department’s procedural justice goals: fair, objective and transparent policing of the Poughkeepsie community. The City of Poughkeepsie is not the only New York community that has been grappling with issues of transparency. Across the state, many police departments either do not record or refuse to publicly report vital information about their policing practices. This includes a lack of record on the race, ethnicity, age and sex of people charged with violations and misdemeanors; the location of law enforcement activity; and arrest-related deaths. Violations and misdemeanors, such as riding a bicycle on the sidewalk or possessing an open container of alcohol, are the most frequent law enforcement charges (Communities United for Police Reform, “After Budget with No Criminal Justice Reforms, Advocates Call for New York to Lead Nation by Prioritizing Modernization of Police Data Reporting,” 05.04.2016). According to Wilson, City of Poughkeepsie police do not collect demographic and location data during traffic stops or general questioning, but they do so when investigating a crime. He explained: “[If] someone committed a robbery, and we’ve received a limited description of the person and we ask someone who may fit that description, we do collect that data.” Wilson emphasized that officers walk the street frequently, so they speak with locals thousands of times a year. “We want our officers to interact with the community,” he said. Wilson also indicated that Poughkeepsie police do not perform stop-and-frisk—a routine practice of New York City police. When the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) embarked on a project to obtain documents and data on policing policies

from various police departments, they met staunch resistance. The NYCLU filed Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests to 23 New York police departments. In response, the departments ignored FOIL’s legal deadline, heavily redacted documents or cited deficient recordkeeping as reason for their inability to provide the requested information. In some cases, the NYCLU filed additional lawsuits in order to obtain documents (NYCLU, “To See How Police Police Themselves, We Went Behind the Badge,” 07.25.2018). Wilson said that if someone were to FOIL request information about an investigation, then that information would be shared with only a few exceptions. “If there was sensitive information that was uncovered that may potentially compromise that investigation, it may not be released,” he explained. Demographic and geographical location data in law enforcement activities can be relevant to policymakers and activists, as it provides concrete evidence of predatory policing practices toward communities of color. But in the City of Poughkeepsie, residents say some cops do not follow state or even national trends. In fact, according to Emily Lee, 39, a business owner in the City of Poughkeepsie, cops already have enough on their plate. “There’s enough serious crime going on that they aren’t trying to just harass people,” she stated. “I feel like in the smaller towns they try to find more things to stop people for.” Within the same vein, Meryen Elhor, 49, who moved from the City of Poughkeepsie to Arlington, said little to no crime occurs in the Town of Poughkeepsie, which is why police target people for smaller offenses there. She recounted several times when the Town of Poughkeepsie police pulled her over for minor infractions: her tinted car windows

or lingering high beams. Notably, Elhor is of Moroccan descent. The officers did not immediately identify themselves or state why they stopped her. “Town of Poughkeepsie Police stop you for nothing,” she emphasized. In his efforts to respond to the city’s needs, Wilson said all City of Poughkeepsie police officers will take training to confront their implicit biases. This is particularly necessary because Black residents comprise 37.6 percent of the population, according to 2018 U.S. census data (United States Census Bureau, “Quick Facts, Poughkeepsie city, New York”). In nearby Ulster County, John Jay College of Criminal Justice student Sahar Nasla said that the area has a reputation of corruption and racism. One of the Mid-Hudson Valley’s most notorious alleged police brutality incidents took place in Kingston, a city in Ulster. Kingston resident Fabian Marshall claimed he was punched and tased 21 times by police who mistakenly identified him as a suspect in a reported assault (Daily Freeman, “Kingston police board tosses case alleging police brutality,” 04.06.2018.) In the same county, Nasla shared that Highland police wait at the end of a bridge where City of Poughkeepsie residents cross to enter town. She explained that Highland police do so to target Poughkeepsie residents who drive over at night to buy alcohol. Liquor stores close at a later time in the town of Lloyd than they do in Poughkeepsie. According to Nasla, once they do stop a Poughkeepsie resident, the Lloyd police make a deliberate effort to rack up many charges on a person, such as drug possession. She believes City of Poughkeepsie police are more lenient to such things. “I’ve had friends who’ve been let off when they’ve been caught with weed,” Nasla said. “There’s bigger things to worry about than stopping people for weed.”

Writer-in-Residence Jenny Offill reads newest narrative Aena Khan Reporter

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Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

n Tuesday, Feb. 19, Vassar College Writer-in-Residence Jenny Offill spoke in Taylor Hall on her experiences writing both adult and children’s books. Professor of English on the Helen D. Lockwood Chair Amitava Kumar introduced the talk with an anecdote of how he boarded the Metro-North from Poughkeepsie, with the aptly-titled book “Department of Speculation” in tow, and found firm grounding on the Grand Central platform as a changed man. The book was nominated for the Pen/Faulkner Award, the Folio Award and the Los Angeles Times First Book Award—all three of which Kumar quipped it deserved—and was named one of the ten best books of the year in 2014 by the New York Times. In an interview, Kumar addressed what tasks writers-in-residence undertake and how Offill can contribute to campus. Kumar indicated that the writer-in-residence is at Vassar for three weeks each spring, visiting classes and commenting upon students in senior creative writing classes’ works. Vassar has hosted Pulitzer and National Book Award recipients, including Lydia Davis, Jhumpa Lahiri and Colson Whitehead. “The writer-in-residence is a writer of eminence,” Kumar summarized Kumar relinquished the podium and Offill made her way to the stage, a small book in hand. She thanked him and readjusted the mic, visage appearing from above the wooden stand. Offill, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, began with a personal meditation about how she secret-

Pictured above is Jenny Offill, Vassar’s Writer-in-Residence for Spring 2019. An award-winning American novelist, children’s book writer and editor, Offill discussed her process and books in an English Department-sponsored reading on Feb. 19. ly skulks around college campuses because of how beautiful she finds them. She transitioned to noting how writing is a daunting task—a long-sought formula on how to properly execute it is impossible to pinpoint. Likewise, she related how she often read the Paris Review’s interviews with distinguished writers in her undergraduate years. One author fixated himself upon writing for at least 20 minutes a day, whereas another would only

do so during sporadic bursts of inspiration. Ironically, the writing’s appearance or form may change but the task is, itself, elusory. The lecture opened up to a question-and-answer. An audience member asked what all those in proximity wondered: What was Offill’s preferred methodology? She tries to write a little bit every day. What was it like to write children’s books? Well, she began writing them before she had children and

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

discovered that the task almost demanded that one be able to read upside down. Offill then produced the aforementioned book, her newest work entitled “American Weather,” and began to read from the pages: It is the story of a woman struggling to be a loving mother to her son attending a school she feels alienates them both, a sister to her recovering addict brother and a wife racked by knee pains who is nevertheless there for her husband. A true family woman. Like her last book, “American Weather” examines family relations impacted by external circumstances as much as internal ones. Kumar elaborated upon this assessment: “What I like very much in Jenny’s writing is the mixture of fact and fiction. We got a taste of that in her reading, where there’ll be a reference to a study done or an archaic fact that will then be tied into a story.” Following the reading, Offill signed copies for all: residents who trekked to campus, students enamored with a book unfamiliar to them before a fateful creative writing course and members of the Department eager to further discuss Offill’s inspirations. Those who had a chance to dine with Offill afterward in the Alumnae House were struck by her honesty about life before publishing her first book. Leanna Faimon ’22 reflected upon the lecture, stating, “I am taking Creative Writing with Professor Molly McGlennen right now, and I came to the reading because I wanted insight into what professional writing requires. It was funny to see that anything, even the college campus we walk through... can serve as inspiration.”


NEWS

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Ae n a K h a n In our Headlines.... In light of a lawsuit filed by 16 states against President Trump’s national emergency, a U.S. district judge in Oakland, California, will hear from Democratic attorneys this week. Trump intends to divert military and infrastructural funds to build a wall along the southern border, a key campaign promise upon which Trump failed to deliver when he signed a bill to reopen the government. In the pending lawsuit, one lawyer calls the national emergency a “bogus declaration,” and another criticizes Trump for his flagrant disregard of the separation of powers and for circumventing Congress. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is at the forefront of the lawsuit, which will be heard in the Ninth Circuit of the Northern District of California Court. Trump, in his Rose Garden declaration, related that he expected legal pushback but believed that if the case made it to the Supreme Court— which it very well might—he will win (NPR, “16 States File Lawsuit Against Trump’s National Emergency Declaration,” 02.22.2019). Special Counsel Robert Mueller will soon release his highly-anticipated report on the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Newly-appointed Attorney General William Barr would not specify what portion

of the report he would make public during his confirmation hearings, but House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff stated on Sunday, Feb. 24, that he will subpoena Robert Mueller to testify on Capitol Hill if Barr fails to make the report public. Schiff stated to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” that, “We will obviously subpoena the report. We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify before Congress. We will take it to court if necessary ... In the end, I think the Department [of Justice] understands they’re going to have to make this public.” Schiff joined Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Richard Neal (D-MA), fellow House Democratic chairs, in a publicly-released letter urging the Department of Justice to fully and quickly release the report (Politico, “Schiff: ‘We will bring Bob Mueller in to testify’ if report not made public,” 02.24.2019). Republicans, led by Trump, have long berated Democrats for false allegations of voter fraud. Recently, the party has gone quiet after a narrow Republican victory in a North Carolina congressional race was overturned, due to election fraud. The North Carolina Board of Elections refuses to certify Mark Harris, the Republican nominee, as the winner and opened an investigation into the matter. Harris denied wrongdoing, in spite of withholding damning records from the Board and misleading regulators. In a sharp turn, he then relinquished any claim to the seat. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman stated that she could seek charges against Republican Operative L. McCrae Dowless, Jr. State and national Republican officials have remained relatively quiet on the matter, but the National Republican Congressional Committee is using the incident

to demand that Democrats support a national ban on collecting absentee ballots (New York Times, “Republican Cries Against Voter Fraud Go Mostly Quiet After Scheme Tied to Party,” 02.22.2019). Around the World … Nicolas Máduro is finding himself increasingly isolated following an internationally denounced rigged election that allowed him to recoup political power as President of Venezuela. Juan Guaidó, leader of the opposition, declared himself Venezuela’s rightful interim President last month and began moving supplies into a nation where hunger, disease and inflation run rampant. A displaced three million people have fled into neighboring countries by foot. The influx of much-needed supplies represents Maduro’s weakening power after he denied any aid being brought into the country for months. Máduro cut diplomatic ties with Colombia and its President Ivan Duque (outspoken Máduro critic and main supporter for Guaidó’s attempts to bring aid) and demanded that Colombian diplomats leave Venezuela in the succeeding 24 hours. Brazilian envoys managed to smuggle a truck to the Venezuelan border from Northern Brazil with Guaidó’s help, but hours later it was forced back by tear gas. The Venezuelan National Guard has been using a variety of means to quell dissenters, but Venezuelans remain united under a single phrase: “Queremos Paz,” meaning “We want peace” (New York Times, “As Venezuela Aid Standoff Turns Deadly, Maduro Severs Ties With Colombia,” 02.23.2019). The largest U.S. pro-Israel Lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), recently came into the spotlight following criticism by freshman

February 28, 2019 Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) over the PAC’s influence in Congress. AIPAC dominated Israeli headlines on Sunday, Feb. 24, after coming out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s newly-announced alliance with the far-right and anti-Arab Jewish Power and Jewish Home groups. The merger was in response to a new poll showing that Netanyahu’s Likud party might be defeated by a merger of centrist parties. Netanyahu has long been criticized for moving Israeli politics to the far right. The American Jewish Congress similarly leveled criticisms against Netanyahu, who is running for a fifth term on April 9 (Reuters, “At home and abroad, Netanyahu faces backlash for far-right alliance,” 02.24.2019). The British Parliament was set to vote on a deal for Brexit this week, but Prime Minister Theresa May delayed the vote in an attempt to buy more time for negotiations. May has come under fire from members of Parliament not only because of her secrecy around forging the Brexit deal, but also because of opposing beliefs from the Labour party that it moves too far from the existing agreement between the U.K. and the EU, and from the Tory party that it is essentially a watered-down version of the existing agreement. The next vote is set for March 12, only 17 days before the U.K. leaves the EU—with or without a deal—on March 29. Facing overwhelming rejection on her previous deal, this is the third time May has asked for an extension. May is currently attempting to renegotiate the Irish border, a move she hopes will increase her deal’s appeal. EU officials are currently considering a long extension, which may allow those opposed to Brexit to reverse the situation (Bloomberg, “May Delays Brexit Vote to Buy Time as Ministers Threaten Revolt,” 02.24.2019).

Attorney navigates historic, modern-day judicial discourse NAACP continued

from page 1 time” of inundating flows of information. She indicated that LDF focuses on four major areas constituting the core of issues affecting equality, access and justice. “These cutting edges are voting rights and political participation, criminal justice, economic justice, which takes you to affordable housing, discrimination in jobs and transportation, environmental justice and whatnot,” she illuminated. Ifill then carefully examined each component of the tasks LDF undertakes. Regarding voting rights, she said, “Voting rights, out of all, is our priority. At LDF we believe that being able to represent yourself and having yourself represented by someone lies at the core of democracy.” Ifill then addressed the current conditions of voting rights, stating that the rest of the country is seeing a pertinent but emergently pernicious reality, one incarnated in landmarks such as the 2013 spring court case Shelby County v. Holder. “Civil rights movements...are not only about the symbolic act of casting votes,” added Ifill. “Being able to participate in the political process equally also means the ability of Black voters and Black families to control their own destiny.” Narrating the perpetually transforming conditions of access to voting rights, Edwards further commented on equal enfranchisement: “I study the 19th century, including the Reconstruction Era, when the U.S. made a commitment to equal enfranchisement but then discovered that the nation did not have the political will or public commitment to uphold it ... the U.S. has had a theoretical commitment to equal enfranchisement but, to paraphrase George Orwell, some people have always been more equal than others.”

Joan Sherman ’54, another alumna present at the talk, further commented on how voting rights have transformed. She discussed how young people poured into the South in the 1960s to explain the Voting Rights Act to those who had not been enfranchised and encourage them to register to vote. However, Sherman indicated, “The Voting Rights Act only managed to hold the opposition at bay. Parts of the Act have been overturned by the Supreme Court.” Gerrymandering, limited hours, days and sites for voting, teamed with unlimited financial resources permitted by the Court’s Citizens United decision, have contributed to voter suppression, jeopardizing the political power of the individual. “In much the way our natural environment has been damaged, so too I fear our socioeconomic and political environment now has been severely impacted,” Sherman stressed. “Our courts have been politicized and the rule of law is jeopardized.” According to Ifill, justice, fairness, equality and shared power are non-negotiable in a democracy. Her prescription to mitigate the societal ills Sherman put forth is a simple one: more voting from ordinary people. In their familiar frontier of the justice court, LDF also faces strategic challenges given the current makeup of the U.S. court of justice. According to Ifill, the unprecedented lack of qualifications in elected judges and abundance of extremist views manifested in attempts to overturn constitutional decisions emanated from landmarks such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka pose a precarious prospect for preservation and expansion of former, present and future civil rights actions. Transitioning the dialogue to one between Ifill and the audience, Edwards posited a

question on the role Vassar and Poughkeepsie communities play to support LDF missions. In response to this question, Ifill recounted the 14th Amendment that gave birthright citizenship to individuals regardless of race, ethnicity or social status, evoking the obligation to updated possession of information and the responsible exercise of suffrages. Calling for invigoration in one’s contact with local powers while speaking against deliberate othering in political involvement and understanding due to differences in political alliances, she reminded attendees of what lay at the marrows of citi-

“Ifill reminded attendees of what lay at the marrows of citizenship and democracy.” zenship and democracy. Examining missions bestowed upon members in liberal arts environments, Sherman added: “Among our goals, encouragement of excellence and respect for diversity are never out of date. As Vassar students, we were challenged ‘to lead energetic and purposeful lives.’ Ifill encouraged us to be informed, to speak up, to participate in political discourse. The liberal arts persuade us to [act] with personal integrity, respect for others and...critical judgment.” In the open conversation that followed, Ifill directed questions of equality to existing covert biases in the booming technological and scientific private sectors. Here, she called to attention the fight for desegregation of public accommodations—from ones pro-

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

vided by traditionally materialized spaces like Starbucks to those emerging on algorithmic operations. These algorithms, posited Ifill, are entrenched with human prejudices and further purport the exclusion of already underrepresented communities from services offered by modern science and technological evolutions. Citing computer scientist Joy Buolamwini’s research on the existing incapacities of facial recognition software, Ifill argued for government involvement and legal regulations in these spaces. A request for attempts to rekindle national conversations across political lines solicited Ifill’s further examination of the mental division rippling through the nation. Ifill spoke against current levitations toward political rationalism in cases of persecution against immigrants and POC groups: “We have lost our ways on what keeps us united and have thrown these values into a pot of ideologies, a cauldron where you can stand on one side or another. We are confusing partisanship with the bedrock principles that keep us moving. Until we have decided that we are human beings first, and what binds us is our desire to love in a democracy, [we will] continue to see segregation and persecution and torture...among average people.” Regarding the impact public conversations such as this hold, Edwards added: “[Iffil’s] career shows that we might really think of liberal arts as ‘civic arts,’ essential to both self-knowledge and good citizenship.” In the boiling waters of political and social unrest, these interactions challenge the interpretation of our reality, direct us all back to the tenets of our humanity and reverberate the spirits that have been driving revolutions and evolutions in civil rights battles—a simple yet perennial message of faith, fairness and hope.


February 28, 2019

NEWS

Forum demystifies VSA Finance policies Noah Purdy and Charlotte Varcoe-Wolfson Contributing Editors Additional Reporting by Emma Koolpe

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rom humble beginnings, when in 1868 Vassar’s first Student Association met to discuss spending funds left over from the previous Founder’s Day, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) has since blossomed into a robust organization. The legacy of autonomy in student government is concretely exemplified by the VSA’s inde-

pendence in managing its large budget. To illuminate the often opaque oversight of funds, VSA Co-Chairs of Finance Mendel Jiménez ’20 and Nupur Balain ’19 hosted a Forum on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m. in Rockefeller Hall 300. Following through on his campaign promise to demystify the funding process, Jiménez began by describing Finance Committee’s place in VSA’s overall structure, under the Board of Activities. The co-chairs

Courtesy of VSA Finance The budget that Finance distributes—a total of $745,113.60 for fiscal year 2019—is comprised of the $185 per-semester, per-student activities fee as well as moneys from endowed funds. Notably, zero percent does not indicate that finance allocated $0.

serve as liaisons to the College’s Accounting Services, and the committee oversees allocations to organizations and pre-organizations, with VSA Senate’s approval. A majority of the budget is allotted to student organizations in April during annual budgeting, while approximately 27 percent comprises VSA internal funds. A remaining 17 percent is set aside for Special Purpose Funds, to which organizations apply throughout the year. Students have found the fund application process confusing in the past. Jiménez elaborated in an email, “VSA Finance has been difficult to navigate...from the finance policies and procedures for submitting applications to the...guidelines by which [it] deliberates.” To elucidate the application process, Jiménez described it in full. First, an organization submits an application to Finance Committee at least three weeks before its event. The Committee reviews the application at their weekly meeting. Then, it will recommend changes to the organization, forward the application to the larger Senate for approval, or reject the application, at which point organizations may appeal to Senate. The money for which orgs may apply breaks down into nine Special Purpose Funds: the Speakers Fund, Social Consciousness Fund, Collaboration Fund, Conference Fund, Community Fund, Administrative Offices Fund, Pre-organization Fund, Capital Fund and Discretionary Fund. Jiménez emphasized his hope for student engagement, writing, “Our goal is to create a more informed constituency that recognizes the value of self-governance...[and] is motivated to join the democratic processes which govern [our funds’] distribution.”

Workshop inspires budding translators Kimberly Nguyen Guest Reporter

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ith the popularity of translating apps and instant-translate options, translation is accessible at the speed of a tap. However, machine-generated translations often overlook subtle meanings and textures that bring language to life. These instances usually require a human touch. On Friday, Feb. 22, roughly 20 Vassar community members attended a workshop on the art of translation, hosted by the Africana Studies Department to give attendees a small taste into the work that goes into translating poetry. The event itself was coled by Lecturer in Arabic Mootacem Mhiri and Professor of Sociology at Simmons University in Boston Becky Thompson. The workshop focused on refugee experiences, as Thompson recently published a poetry anthology called “Making Mirrors”—to which Mhiri contributed—that highlights writing by refugees. Mhiri and Thompson began their discussion with a music video made and sung by a refugee, during which Thompson emphasized the importance of hearing the song in its original voice and original language, rather than an English dub overlaying it. “The art of translation, for me, begins with recognizing people as language,” Thompson shared. “Translation starts with people’s first languages.” As she quoted statistics about how many translations were published in the United States each year versus abroad, Thompson added, “Translation is a deeply political act. Who is translated is a decision that determines who is visible and who isn’t.” While Thompson framed her translating process through anecdotes describing

her experience managing poetry workshops and teaching yoga abroad, Mhiri spoke about translation as an art and the ways in which a translator becomes a co-author through the creative process. Speaking on the traits a translator should harbor, Mhiri emphasized, “Empathy is in fact a crucial human feeling and a translator’s guide.” After, Mhiri and Thompson invited the workshop attendees to partake in a writing and translation activity intended to provide real-world experience. Everyone paired up and sat facing one another, knee to knee, and each person in the pair had three minutes to answer the question “who am I?” to their partner. After everyone had responded, Mhiri and Thompson challenged attendees to write a haiku about their partner. A haiku is a Japanese form of poetry with rigid syllable requirements: five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second and five in the third. Mhiri and Thompson asked workshoppers to write their haikus in their first languages and then translate them into another language afterwards. The task presented unique challenges, especially when trying to preserve the syllabic structure in the second language, while simultaneously working to convey the original message. These hard decisions gave insight into the types of compromises real translators make. Soon after, willing participants shared their haikus and translations. The languages represented included Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Romanian, Spanish, Vietnamese and others. The room also discussed lessons learned during their haiku translations. Many students voiced difficulties with languages that do not

lend themselves neatly to a rigid syllable count and finding the exact translation for words that do not exist in other languages. Students appreciated the experience and insight that the workshop provided. Nahid Mahmud ’21 illuminated, “Attending the workshop showed me a different side of the work that goes into translation, one that transcends the practical and instead concerns itself more with conveying things like emotion, narrative and perspective.” Reflecting on how he can implement the learnings of the workshop into his personal life, Mahmud continued: “Exploring nuances hidden behind what seemed like an exclusively utilitarian practice to me gave me a newfound appreciation for the work, especially since I hope to use my growing proficiency in Arabic to communicate and—more importantly—empathize with the Arab and Muslim communities back home and in Jordan where I’ll be going abroad my junior year.” The workshop was not just applicable for students wishing to study abroad. Matthew Au ’19 added, “Translation is difficult. As a Linguistics major, I often grapple with the question of what ‘translation’ means, especially for text as deeply profound and personal as poetry. This workshop provided hands-on translating practice, and allowed one to learn more about the process and art that is translation.” Overall, the translation workshop was a valuable practical experience and a small window into the work that translators of literary texts do everyday. The workshop imparted a new appreciation for the art upon attendees, and skills that will potentially carry them beyond language borders.

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VSA Updates Updates from the VSA meeting of Feb. 24, 2019 Consensus Agenda–Passed Pre-Approved Allocations 198/198 from Collaboration to Chabad for supplies and ingredients for Campus Wide Challah Bake Allocations 600/600 from Discretionary to Habitat for Humanity for 2nd Annual Vassar Habitat Service Week in North Carolina 1500/1500 from Social Consciousness to BSU to bring poet Lenelle Moise to perform at the Black History Month Closing Ceremony. Appointments Programming Director for Joss House: Anastasia Koutavas VSA Elections Timeline March 27, 12 pm: Filing Opens April 3, 12 pm: Filing Closes April 3, 5/6pm: Mandatory Candidates Meeting April 9, time tbd: Exec Board Candidate Debate April 10, 12 pm: Voting Opens April 12, 12 pm: Voting Closes April 12, time tbd: Election Results announced in Old Bookstore Forum with Luis Inoa and Wendy Maragh Taylor The last Senate meeting was attended by Associate Dean of the College for Residential Life and Wellness Luis Inoa and Associate Dean of the College for Student Growth and Engagement Wendy Maragh Taylor. Both Inoa and Taylor spoke about their roles in campus life and together led the Senate in a discussion of the College’s orientation programs for first-year students. Senate members had an opportunity to share their opinions on College practices and to ask questions of the two administrators. Academics Committee The committee’s majors fair will be held on Friday, April 19, to provide undeclared students an opportunity to meet with representatives of most departments and programs and discuss possible majors in advance of pre-registration. Operations Committee Filing to run in VSA elections for the upcoming academic year will begin on March 7 and be open until the end of spring break. Elections are tentatively planned for the end of March. Health and Wellness Committee The committee is planning to send out a survey of student experiences with mental health resources on campus. President The March 7 administrator forum, originally intended to feature Assistant Dean of Students Rich Horowitz, will now be attended by Dean of Studies Ben Lotto. —Julian Corbett, VSA General Intern


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February 28, 2019

‘BlackKkKlansman’ delivers crucial social commentary Dean Kopitsky Columnist

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Courtesy of Wolf Gang via Flickr

s the ceiling lights illuminated and the few remaining audience members of the midnight showing of Spike Lee’s newest Joint “BlacKkKlansman” shuffled out, I listened to the credit music and stared at the crew names rolling by. The film depicts the absolutely remarkable and true story of Ron Stallworth, the first black police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the soundtrack that rung in my ears as my friend and I exited the theater. It was the psychedelic harmony of Emerson, Lake & and Palmer’s “Lucky Man” that I couldn’t get out of my head. It proved a perfect fit for the most euphoric scene in the movie, when the film’s protagonist, undercover policeman Ron Stallworth, and his coworkers celebrated their stymie of the KKK’s plan to blow up the home of Colorado College’s BSU. As the 70’s trio chants “Ohhhh what a lucky man he was,” the audience becomes aware that this exceptional moment is far from the rule. Moments later, “Lucky Man” abruptly ends, and the police chief orders the evidence from the undercover investigation destroyed. The chief offers Ron a transfer to narcotics, shutting down the undercover division due to purported budget cuts. It’s a disappointing end to the movie, although everything up to this point has suggested we shouldn’t expect more. Spike Lee doesn’t mince imagery. In “BlacKkKlansman,” he blurs the line between reality and fiction. His directorial voice is palpable to the point that it bleeds through the narrative playing out on screen. The theme is obvious from the beginning when Alec Baldwin, resident SNL Trump impersonator, plays a bumbling white supremacist filming propaganda against the civil rights movement. He drones on about the “agitators determined to overthrow the God-commanded and biblically inspired rule of the white race. It’s an international Jewish conspiracy, may God bless us all.” Baldwin’s scene presents yet another example of Lee’s deft ability to capture racial prejudice and white supremacy on screen. His protagonist continues this tradition. Stallworth’s understated confidence is the perfect foil to the ham-handed Klansmen he works against. When the protagonist spots an ad for the Klan in the newspaper, he calls

pretending to be a white man fearful that his sister was approached by a black man. He enlists the help of Phillip “Flip” Zimmerman, a Jewish officer played by Adam Driver, and together they convince the police chief to launch an undercover investigation into the Klan’s activities. The two form an odd duo to say the least, and together they infiltrate the Klan to its highest rungs. Washington plays Stallworth with a stoic conviction that allows him to carry conversations to form relations with KKK members and David Duke in disguise. At the same time, he befriends a woman named Patrice (played by Laura Harrier), president of the Colorado College BSU. They begin dating, one of the very non-factual liberties the movie takes. He tells her that he’s in construction rather than a cop, and the duality of their relationship makes the internal tension of the film: she, an activist and he, a cop in secret. Flip continues infiltrating the Klan, playing Ron in person, while the real Ron befriends David Duke via telephone. Finally, the Klan officially offers Flip membership. The climax of the movie is Flip’s swearing-in ceremony, which David Duke attends in Colorado. Again, Spike Lee does not mince his imagery. As the swearing in ceremony is playing out, Patrice and the BSU welcome a speaker who witnessed a lynching of his neighbor in the 1920s. Back at the ceremony, the Klan members watch “The Birth of A Nation.” They cheer and whoop and yell with vitriol

Spike Lee’s biographical crime film “BlackKkKlansman” received a Best Picture nomination at the 2019 Academy Awards. The movie controversially lost to Peter Farrelly’s comedy-drama “Green Book.”

at what president Woodrow Wilson called, “history written with lightning.” The dichotomy shows the power of drama, as well as politicians, to invoke hatred. In the 2010s, a movie like that would never have reached mainstream status, but the ability for entertainment to infuse narratives with hatred is becoming increasingly pervasive. Donald Trump’s political rise was every bit as much about entertainment as it was about dog-whistling populism. And sometimes the two intertwine. Trump synthesized “I alone can fix it” dogmatism with social media and meme culture. The day after he was elected, a classmate of mine boasted, “we memed a man into office.” If you believe Spike Lee’s warnings are on the nose, his pointedness is lifting you from under the rock you’ve been under. In one scene, David Duke’s radio show plays in the background. Duke asks why congressmen always genuflect to the “Jews,” instead of praising their own race. “No senator or congressman would dare get up and say, ‘I love white people.’ ‘I love white heritage.’” That was Spike’s writing in 2018; in 2019 real-life congressman Steve King famously asked what was so offensive about white supremacism (The Hill, “Steve King asks how terms ‘white nationalist’ and ‘white supremacist’ became offensive,” 01.10.2019). “BlacKkKlansman” is also about expectations. Lee has repeatedly come up against the barriers of recognition. As one of the most critically acclaimed directors of the last 30 years, he was not nominated for best picture until this year’s Oscars. His 1989 film “Do the Right Thing,” which focused on a multitude of racial issues, but told from a black perspective, was not nominated for an Academy Award. That year, “Driving Miss Daisy” won Best Picture. It’s an artistically strong film, but extremely limited in its approach to issues of race. The storyline revolves around an endearing relationship between a black man who drives around a wealthy but deteriorating white woman. In 2001, Spike Lee popularized the term, “magical Negro,” referring to characters like Freeman’s who act as wise, pedagogical instruments of a white protagonist’s narrative. In 2018, “KkKlansman” remains about expectations. The whole jig of the undercover story is a situational ironic play in which audience members know Ron is black and Duke and the Klan do not. It’s reliant on Duke be-

lieving he knows what black people sound like to the point he doesn’t second guess himself when Ron asks him if he could ever be pranked. “I can tell that you’re a...pure Aryan white man from the way you pronounce certain words,” Duke affirms confidently. In an early scene in the movie, Ron and Patrice discuss the movies of Blaxploitation. In the 1970s, white movie executives capitalized on the popularity of black culture to market and sell movies. They harnessed an expectation to sell a product, narrowing the scope of blackness to a pimp with a Afro who talked slick. It may have been black actors playing the roles, but it was white execs making most of the money. Finally nominated for movie of the year, one of the films that “BlacKkKlansman” was up against was “Green Book,” a movie that has ignited controversy (NYTimes, “Why Do the Oscars Keep Falling for Racial Reconciliation Fantasies?,” 01.23.2019). It’s coming under fire for minimizing and overlooking complexities in race relations to make a feel-good story. Instead of magical Negro it’s a magical Italian who the movie depicts as a caricature of such. Stereotypes have got to be like catnip for movie execs. Before the Oscars, I felt that “Green Book” had a better chance of winning than “BlacKkKlansman.” 20 years ago, “Driving Miss Daisy” won over one of Spike Lee’s greatest movies, Do the Right Thing. It’s basically the same premise except this time the “magical Negro” is the driver for an old white lady. It’s painless and heart warming, and in 2019, misguided. At the Oscars, Spike Lee gave his Spike piece on the loss to “Green Book”: “I thought I was courtside at the Garden, ref made a bad call.” Last year, “The Shape of Water” and “Get Out,” Jordan Peele’s directorial debut, were nominated for Best Picture. “Shape of Water” was a beautiful and touching film that no one will be talking about 10 years from now. “Get Out” was a witty, powerful social moment that addressed contemporary issues in an entertaining expression of art and homage. “Shape of Water” won. Of course it did. This year, “Black Panther,” “Green Book” and “BlacKkKlansman” are considered hallmarks in African-American film. Of those three, I feel BlacKkKlansman captured the most pressing issues in the most artful way. But in Spike Lee’s own words: “Every time someone’s driving somebody, I lose.”

Incarcerated artists claim authorial power in portraits PRISON ART continued from page 1 er photos, which stood out as cheerful and incredibly tangible, were taken on visits to Allen. They had dates on the bottom and depicted the family with their arms around each other. People at her lectures often approach her with their own stories about incarcerated relatives and their art, said Fleetwood, the timbre of her voice rising. She also gets mailed art samples. For “Interior Subjects,” which was sponsored by the Art Department and the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, she focused on portraiture, “the most common type of artmaking in prisons.” Fleetwood organized the lecture around an extensive lineup of artists, discussing both individual approaches and some of the uniting elements of art from and of incarcerated people. Lou Jones photographed people on death row, focusing on gesture and expression rather than his subjects’ being “condemned.” “Prison Nation” featured pictures from Jack Lueders-Booth, whose projects include “Women Prisoners,” about female inmates from a Massachusetts

women’s prison in the 1980s and 1990s when inmates could still wear regular clothes. Zora J. Murff’s series “Corrections” captures those held in children’s detention centers. Subjects cover their faces with their hands to maintain anonymity. Many of Deborah Lester’s stoic prison portraits were taken at the Louisiana prison Angola, the country’s largest maximum-security facility. Aidan Heck ’19, who approached Fleetwood after the lecture, remarked, “Angola is not taught in classrooms and only mentioned casually in conversations. I’m from Louisiana, and it is good to hear issues of race and incarceration in a formal setting.” Fleetwood pointed out that people in prisons, who don’t have access to recording technology, are aware of the role of the camera in stigmatizing them—the mugshot is a mode of “racializing criminality” that often renders the incarcerated population dehumanized and homogenous. Similar to the pictures of non-incarcerated photographers like Murff, art from within serves to dismantle stigma. Take George Anthony Morton,

confined to ten years in federal prison as a nonviolent offender, where he devoted his 20s to “[studying] the great masters.” He would come to study at the Florence Academy of Art and win the school’s best portrait of the year in 2016. Historically, portraiture is, in the lecturer’s words, a “tool of veneration,” a way to elevate and “historicize” the most important people in a society. Being a portrait artist, then, involves picking your subject matter and choosing who is important. By claiming this authorial power, Morton superseded structures of racism and the limitations of his captivity. Tommy Tomikawa ’21 asked the lecturer about such functions of artmaking in prison: “I found the lecture extremely interesting, especially when looking at art and where it stems from different people...as a coping mechanism.” Material study of art from incarcerated people exemplifies their great ingenuity. Not only do drawings serve as currency in prisons, where ownership of beautiful objects is valuable, but they are also made out of nontraditional media. Jesse Krimes, who spent

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the first year of his sentence in solitary confinement, produced hundreds of portraits on bars of soap. Lisette Oblitas-Cruz used Bristol pad and gel pens. Daniel McCarthy of a federal prison in Texas worked with lunch bags and pencil. Russell Craig maintained a mixed-media approach even after his release, making an eight-foot-high self portrait out of all his prison records. Filled with errors, the work expresses his reinvention and defies the system of “punitive captivity” that served as his source material. According to Fleetwood, “The system is overwhelming and that is part of its power: to make people feel completely and totally isolated, depressed and helpless.” (Dazed, “How photography shines a light on America’s dark prison system,” 03.22.2018) Portraits, of course, remain exercises in “aesthetic discernment” and testaments to artists’ resourcefulness when they come from incarcerated people. But they also represent, as Fleetwood stated, a “really intense type of authorial power,” and a way to chip away at the structures that detain the artists.


February 28, 2019

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‘This is Home’ portrays, personalizes refugee crisis REFUGEE CRISIS continued

09.19.2017). The families Shiva follows quickly learn the difficulty of making a life in a nation with such extreme bias, fear and restriction towards immigrants and refugees. The families depicted, who have only eight months to be self-sufficient from the IRC, must abandon careers, studies and dreams from their lives in Syria, and accept the first jobs offered to them. Many challenges are cultural: adults learning English from their children and husbands coming to terms with their wives needing to work. Simultaneously, the families deal with the realization that they might never be able to go back to the place they have always regarded as home. Behind the beautiful scenes Shiva captures of children laughing and the people who offered them hope, there is always the pulsing hurt of what they have had to leave behind and the trauma they all carry from the devastating things they’ve seen. “It’s a good question, asking ‘Do you miss Syria?,’” one of the family patriarchs says to the camera. “It’s like asking a child, ‘Do you miss your mother?’” The stories of Shiva’s subjects are not unlike the stories of many of the refugees with

which VRS works. The organization’s resettlement leader Sabrina Surgil ’21 commented: “As a student leader for VRS, watching this documentary was especially moving because parts of the stories reflected the lived experiences of the resettled families we work with upstate. It was familiar and Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

from page 1 subject matter than her latest film—it is similar to “This is Home” in thematics. Shiva is steadfast on spotlighting stories of people finding solace in unlikely communities. In a conversation led by two VRS members after the screening, Shiva mentioned that her passion for this film arose directly from the subjects themselves. She remarked, “[It was] very important to me and the team to show people with dignity. I wanted them to love the film and feel that they were seen.” Under the jurisdiction of an administration that is pushing every boundary to keep immigrants and refugees from entering, the families in “This is Home” embody an unimaginable degree of resilience. At the end of the discussion, Shiva left everyone in attendance with a reminder that “There’s a survivor quality to the people who got here.” Despite America’s promises of opportunity, many know the reality of the “American dream” applies only to a small subset of privileged people in the country (CNBC, “Less than 20% of Americans Say They’re Living the American Dream–here’s why,”

Venerated filmmaker Alexandria Shiva’s documentary “This is Home” humanizes families affected by the Syrian Refugee Crisis. The film depicts the resilience, strength and courage of these individuals.

powerful, and Ms. Shiva did a great job with the film.” Under the guidance of Professor of History on the Marion Musser Lloyd ’32 Chair Maria Höhn and Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Studies Brittany Murray, VRS works diligently to bring light to stories like those told in “This is Home.” The group takes on a number of different initiatives, such as inviting guest speakers to campus, organizing frequent trips up to the Albany resettlement center and instituting a forced migration correlate at Vassar. The screening of “This is Home” encapsulated this collaborative spirit. Murray explained in an email interview, “Ms. Shiva’s film demonstrates the resilience of refugees in this country as they overcome incredible difficulty; it was amazing to see students, faculty, and community members come together to witness that journey.” Through the documentary, we are reminded that amidst the daily occurrences of injustice in our world, the refugee crisis is one of persistence, one to which we always need to pay attention and one essential to finding the hope that hides amid crisis.

XXXTentacion’s work offers gaze into batterer mentality Holly Shulman Arts Editor

[TW: This article discusses suicide, domestic violence and sexual assault] had just turned 12 years old when Drake’s song “HYFR (Hell Yeah Fucking Right)” was released as part of the album “Take Care” (2011). I was becoming aware of rap at the time and feeling super cool about it— all the scandalous curses and commanding beats had me smitten with the genre from the start. I bought “Take Care” on iTunes (remember that?) and listened to it over and over, memorizing the words so I could impress my friends, all of whom were equally awed by this uniquely blunt style of music. I was 18 years old when “HYFR” came on my Spotify shuffle and, out of amusement and nostalgia, I let it play. When I reached Lil Wayne’s verse, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He rapped, “I flew jet, she flew commercial / but we still met, later that night / after my session, she came over / I was aggressive, and she was sober / I gave her pills / she started confessing and started undressing.” There it was, a fairly detailed description of sexual assault, right in the middle of a song I had grown up listening to. As the verse unfolded in my earphones, I was painfully aware that I still knew every lyric by heart. Somehow, this account of one of the worst crimes conceivable had been with me always, tucked away into some back corner of my adolescent (and now young adult) mind. All these years I had known the words without bothering to listen to what they were saying. And I wasn’t the only one. I did a little research and found out that “HYFR” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance in 2012. I started playing it around with friends to see how they would react. The opening bars were always met with a chorus of “Oh, my God I haven’t heard this in so long,” and faces turned to shocked stone when I revealed why I was bringing this deeply mediocre record back into our lives. No one remembered Lil Wayne talking about drugging and having sex with a woman. No one didn’t know all the lyrics. I’m 20 years old now, and it’s been at least a year since I made that discovery. I’ve been thinking about it a lot in recent months, but in the context of artist Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, better known by his stage name XXXTentacion (X). In 2016, X was charged

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with aggravated battery of a pregnant victim—namely his girlfriend at the time, Geneva Ayala. Her testimony was leaked by Pitchfork, and the trauma she suffered at X’s hands is too great to imagine. She eventually dropped the charges. However, X ended up on house arrest for three months on the count of witness tampering (Pitchfork, “XXXTentacion Prosecutors Plan to Split Up His Case,” 01.12.2017). On June 18, 2018, three months after his house arrest ended, X was robbed, shot and killed in his car in Florida. In my community, at least, social media completely blew up. About half the people I know were posting about how we shouldn’t mourn the death of such a horrible person, and we should never listen to his music; the other half were talking about how a loss is a loss, particularly when the person had such immense talent. I fell (and still fall) somewhere in between—X was absolutely, unequivocally a loathsome human being. I also have a hard time celebrating or dismissing any death. There is no excuse for X’s actions. But I’m not sure if shutting out his art is the right way to address what he did. I feel that there’s value in learning about the mental processes and emotional states of perpetrators so that we can arm ourselves and each other with more effective tools to combat sexual assault and domestic violence. X’s art is all about his state of mind, and I think we can use that as an educational resource. When X’s music comes on and people immediately turn it off, I wonder about all of this. I want to be clear: I do not in any way justify what X did. Nothing that I write below is a defense of him or his actions. I am simply challenging the notion that boycotting his music is the best way to deal with this issue. I also understand that engaging with this music may be triggering to some and, of course, I fully respect that. I am simply arguing that domestic abuse is a prevalent and real problem, and, for those of us who are able to listen without experiencing emotional trauma, to ignore work which might help us understand and combat violence is to let ourselves off the hook. A common argument against this viewpoint is that we should not be financially supporting people who do horrible things. While I agreed with this sentiment when X was alive, his death renders his financial in-

terests irrelevant. Another counter to the case I’m making is that we should not privilege or normalize the work of people who commit monstrous acts. This is a valid point, and maybe it’s better than mine. My response is simply that batterers are privileged and normalized in our society already, and an effective way to combat that hierarchy might be to listen when they describe how they became who they are. X’s art is an opportunity to do so. It affords us the chance to step inside the head of a perpetrator and learn what cultural and psychological factors led him to do nightmarish things. X himself emphasizes this point in the track “Introduction” from “SKINS,” (2018) his first album to be released posthumously. In a robotized, monotone voice, the artist speaks directly to his listener, “Hello. You’ve come here in search of release, huh? Feeling the need to inspire your soul? Wanting to disappear into a place you can feel outside of your skin? Well, you’ve found one. A place within my mind.” So what is it like within X’s mind? Let’s go back to an older album, “17” (2017). Perhaps the most well-known song from the record is “Jocelyn Flores,” a soft, crooning track which X wrote following his friend’s suicide. The lyrics detail the extreme guilt that the artist felt following Flores’ death: “Picture this, in bed, get a phone call / Girl that you fucked with killed herself / That was this summer when nobody helped / And ever since then, man, I hate myself / Wanna fuckin’ end it” (Genius, “Jocelyn Flores,” 2017). X goes on to explain that this is not his first experience with suicide: “Memories surface through the grapevine / ’Bout my uncle playin’ with a slip knot / Post-traumatic stress got me fucked up.” These lines indicate that the rapper was suffering from depression in addition to his self-proclaimed PTSD. It’s also evident that he had childhood memories of mental illness and suicide within his family (indeed, his uncle did kill himself), and that he blamed himself at least for the loss of his friend, if not his uncle, too. Fast forward a year and X released the album “?” (2018). On the track aptly titled “SAD!”, he rapped, “Who am I? Someone that’s afraid to let go / You decide if you’re ever gonna let me know / Suicide if you ever try to let go.” X was so terrified to be alone that he felt he would rather die than

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

be without Ayala. I am not a psychologist, but it seems likely that this powerful fear was linked to X’s experiences with suicide and the guilt he felt about not having helped people he loved. He would do anything in the world not to feel the emptiness of loss again. And he did do anything—he did the most heinous things possible. According to Pitchfork’s summary of Ayala’s testimony, “[X] slapped her and broke her iPhone 6S, because she had complimented a male friend on his new jewelry” (Pitchfork, “XXXTentacion’s Reported Victim Details Grim Pattern of Abuse in Testimony,” 09.08.2017). The details of the assaults became increasingly grotesque and terrifying. A pattern begins to emerge: every single incident happened because X perceived some very normal action of Ayala’s as a threat to their relationship, an indication that he might lose her. At one point, Ayala humming another artist’s verse in an X song prompted the rapper to become convinced that she liked his friend and threaten to cut out her tongue out for singing along. After he was released from jail for an unrelated charge, X believed Ayala had cheated on him and put a knife to her neck. The deeply horrifying and sickening account of their relationship goes on and on. There is absolutely no excuse for this at all. But there are reasons, and X’s music helps illuminate them. If we were to pay attention to this as a case study and examine the emotions the artist expressed in his work, perhaps it would help us, as music consumers and non-psychologists, to recognize warning signs in our own lives. Perhaps it would help psychologists deepen the existing knowledge of batterers. Perhaps it would help parents raise and support their kids better so that they have the tools to handle their mental illness without turning into monsters. Perhaps it would help all of us protect against domestic violence. Unlike “HYFR,” X’s music has the advantage of being recognized as deeply problematic. No child growing up today will realize years later that this work is horrendously offensive and harmful, because we all know that already. This makes it the perfect tool to use in educating ourselves. We know what to look for, so let’s find answers instead of ignoring questions. We have to face the painful, scary truth in order to make the world a little bit better and a little bit safer.


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February 28, 2019

Kanye’s Korner Installment I: ‘The College Dropout’ Charlie Summa Guest Columnist

The following is the first in an eight-part series documenting the discography of Kanye West. Each week, Arts will feature a piece detailing the merits of one of West’s albums, in chronological order. n the contemporary moment, the mere name Kanye West prompts contention. Depending on the audience, perceptions of the generational talent could land anywhere between genius and unhinged egotist; he evokes emotions ranging from devotion to distaste. However, in early 2004, before Yeezy ever felt the pressure of scrutiny, the unproven producer-turned-rapper was on the brink of releasing his magnum opus. Today “The College Dropout” is widely regarded by fans and critics as one of the best rap albums ever made. At its release, however, it was the much-hyped freshman effort of one of hip-hop’s most lauded beatmakers. Suffice to say, it delivered. A young Kanye released “The College Dropout” in February of 2004 and cemented his name in the rap game. In his debut album, Kanye is at his most authentic. Across its approximately 73-minute runtime, the perfectionism which has come to typify West’s illustrious career is at the forefront of each track. While recording for “The College Dropout” formally began in 1999, friends of the storied producer approximate that the aspiring rapper had been polishing and saving beats for his freshman effort years before any record deal was secured. Flexing his unique talents as a producer, Kanye seamlessly blends gospel, soul, R&B and hip hop into a deeply-layered story of his tenacious ascendance to the limelight. Insistent on utilizing his unique skill set, Kanye single-handedly controlled the album’s production, resulting in a masterfully soulful sound. Featuring samples ranging from the funky tones of the Dells to the theatrical stylings of Bette Midler, Kanye trademarked the tuned up “soul on 45” sound that pro-

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pelled him to stardom and paved the way for the future fusion of gospel and rap. Beyond its critically acclaimed production, “The College Dropout” embodied a profound challenge to the norms of the rap industry. Substantively, “The College Dropout” is far more than a musical tour de force; it is defined by its nuanced ruminations on the materialism of pop culture, racism, family, higher education, youth, self-consciousness and the difficulty of succeeding while challenging the status quo. The record starts with a school administrator asking Kanye to “do somethin’, for the kids, for graduation to sing.” Kanye responds with the rebellious anthem “We Don’t Care,” a bar-by-bar glamorization of marginalized peoples’ daily hustles. Emphasizing the unequal treatment of many in contemporary society, “We Don’t Care” issues a critique of privilege disparity in America and shows the motivation behind circumventing these disadvantages through any means available or, in Kanye’s words, “drug dealing just to get by.” Racial inequity is a driving theme of the masterpiece in songs like “Spaceship,” in which Kanye reminisces on his time working as a greeter for the GAP where, when “some black people walk in, I bet you they show off their token blackie.” This bleak racial commentary is masterfully underscored with the mellow sampling of Marvin Gaye’s “Distant Lover.” Speaking from his experiences as an aspiring artist, Kanye’s nuanced quest to shine contrasts social inequity with stories of unfaltering determination, all in order to create his most inspirationally substantive body of work. Challenging the glitz and glamor which had come to typify the rap industry, Kanye uses “The College Dropout” to dissect the pressures of materialism through witty barbs and personal reflection. Preceding the album’s release in 2004, rap charts were largely dominated by deeply consumerist themes in tracks like Nelly’s billboard topping “Air Force Ones” or 50 Cent’s “P.I.M.P.”

From this musical context, it cannot be understated how refreshing Kanye’s freshman effort was to the rap landscape. Headlining his meditation on materialism is the critically acclaimed track “All Falls Down” featuring the uplifting vocals of Syleena Johnson. With a hook sampled from Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Mystery of Iniquity,” the song is a musical and thematic triumph that contemplates how consumerism serves as a form of hollow escapism in a capitalist hierarchy. In his own words, Kanye spits, “It seem we livin’ the American Dream/But the people highest up got the lowest self-esteem.” This societal critique continues into “Breathe in Breathe Out” which features a hook from Ludacris. The song’s melody repeats the gaudy refrain “If ya iced up, pull your sleeves out, push a big truck, pull your keys out” while Kanye’s bars rebut this flashy theme. In his first rhymes, Kanye exclaims “Golly, more of that bullshit ice rap/I got to ‘pologize to Mos and Kweli (probably)” and questions if it’s “cool to rap about gold/if I told the world I copped it from Ghana and Mali?” Kanye’s willingness to self-criticize and reveal vulnerability across the album make the debut sound and feel as authentic as its creator. His conscious commentary on the tropes that built early 2000s rap inspire revered lines but, more notably, distinguish the producer-turned-rapper as his own brand. Despite his esteemed reputation as a producer for industry icons like Jay-Z and Nas, many doubted Kanye’s ability to succeed as a rapper. Before signing onto Roc-A-Fella records, the name Kanye West was entirely alien to the title of rap superstar. To executives working at major labels like Capital and Roc-A-Fella, Kanye’s pink polos and Louis Vuitton backpacks were irreconcilable with their notions of what a rapper should look like. It was only when Roc-A-Fella caught wind that Ye might be leaving for Capital Records (a deal which would eventually fall through), that they offered Kanye a re-

cord deal—mostly to retain his services as a producer. His stylistic departure from the tropes of the rap industry is embraced and documented throughout the album, most notably on classic tracks like “Jesus Walks,” “Through the Wire” and “Last Call.” Ye’s emergence as a rapper almost ended as soon as it began. On Oct. 23, 2002, Kanye crashed his car in a nearly fatal accident— constructing his debut album became his medicine. While in recovery, Kanye started penning “Through the Wire,” the ingenious ballad of perseverance that ignited the producer’s legend. Driven by a tuned-up sample of Chaka Khan’s symbolic “Through the Fire,” Kanye famously raps his debut single with his jaw still wired shut from reconstructive surgery. His verse kicks off with a joke about how “they can’t stop me from rappin’, can they?” and then proceeds to demonstrate his unconquerable spirit in a masterful 3 minutes and 41 seconds that have been immortalized in hip-hop history. While “The College Dropout” was a commercial, lyrical and productive feat, its smashing success ascended Kanye’s eccentric persona to the spotlight and, in doing so, dismantled the expectations of the modern rap star. Essentially, Kanye West’s “The College Dropout” is both an unrivaled musical master-stroke and a conceptually profound dismissal of all who doubted him. After “Every motherfucker told [Kanye] that [he] couldn’t rhyme,” Kanye’s freshman album silences the haters with hours of technically refined and substance-packed bars. The magnificent fusion of the soulful production that put Ye on the map and the profound lyrical nuance used to tell his legendary story of ascendance cement “The College Dropout” as Kanye’s crowning achievement. While Kanye claims one of, if not the, best discography of any rapper today, the self-proclaimed “savior of Chicago” had a peerless debut that remains as timeless and inspiring as ever.

On ‘Scorpion,’ Drake’s songwriting falls flat, sounds stale Jimmy Christon Columnist

Scorpion

Drake Young Money Entertainment

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ast year, Drake probably released the worst album of his career. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some shining moments on “Scorpion,” but let’s be real: Pusha T absolutely, unequivocally, WWE-style destroyed Drake during the summer of 2018 when he released a song, “Infrared,” that subtly dissed Drake for not writing his own lines. The dispute was ugly, yielding several diss tracks and exposing an old photo of Drake in blackface as well as his plans to use an Adidas track-suit advertisement to reveal the son he’d been hiding. Finally, Drake stopped responding and just took the loss. Drake didn’t really have enough time to recover before “Scorpion,” and it’s uncomfortably unclear whether he made the album before or after the beef. If he wrote it before, the songs are supremely disappointing in how emotionless they are, but if they were recorded afterward, they are weak responses. Either way, they aren’t good looks. But let’s stay focused. “Scorpion” is also

just a plain old bad album. Was there anyone that made it through all 1.5 hours without pressing the skip button? Did we really need this much 2018-style Drake? You will hear “God’s Plan” around campus any given weekend, but will you hear it in anyone’s headphones during the week? No. Because this album is like a bag of Lays: vapid, bloated and lacking in nutritional value. Do not get me wrong though—I love Drake. His music is not the best, but we all have enjoyed “God’s Plan” and “Nice for What” at least once. “Passionfruit” and “Hotline Bling” are Masterpieces, and I will defend that title. I would also argue that this musical expertise is evident throughout his discography as well. I grew up with this dude, and “So Far Gone” is ingrained in my life. That record is the project that I compare the rest of Drake’s work to. “Take Care” is nothing without tracks like “The Calm.” The album “Nothing Was the Same” is great because it reprises the sound of “So Far Gone” in innovative ways. And Drake’s best record, “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” is just an hour of what another Drake track calls “Ignant Shit.” “So Far Gone,” like everything else Drake, has bangers. “Houstatlantavegas” and “Successful” are both thrilling, popular tracks. Most notably, “Best I Ever Had” is an abso-

lute success in every sense. This song has got everything that a hit has needed in the last decade: problematic lyrics, an ear-worm of a lazy chorus and an electrifying instrumental. This song oozes Drake, whose personality is thick and hangs around the song like cologne. And the golden aspect of Drake’s career-—the genius aesthetic endeavor that is Drake—is present on “Nice For What,” which has that same stench. I’m not saying that this song is a copy or a riff on what came before, but these songs are similar like siblings. “Nice For What” has catchy lyrics, delicious flow and vibrant energy, similarly to Drake’s work ten years ago. In my opinion, these features are what Drake does best. But where “So Far Gone” pulls ahead of “Scorpion” is also where Drake reveals one of his biggest faults: He doesn’t take risks anymore. For better or worse, “So Far Gone” is filled with songs that experiment across a wide range of ideas. “November 18th” is the best southern hip-hop tribute made by a Canadian; “Little Bit” is a remix of the Lykke Li song of the same name (weird); and “Let’s Call It Off” is a reinterpretation of a Peter Bjorn and John song (weirder). The quality of these songs is up to debate. Personally, I think the tracks are alright for a debut record. “November 18th” has been a staple of the southern legs of Drake’s tours,

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

and it is also adequately moody. The Lykke Li and Bjorn songs are...well, a little bit more iffy. I like “Let’s Call it Off” some days; other days not so much. But props to Drake for experimentation on a debut mixtape. Compare that to the slew of debut mixtapes coming out by other artists around the same time— Meek Mill, Wiz Khalifa, etc.—and it’s easy to see why Drake was the most successful. Drake was always aiming to make it big. He can make a hit—that’s a universal fact. But if we’re judging his work as art, there’s gotta be something more here. “So Far Gone” is one of the most listenable Drake projects for me because of how unique it is. It felt fresh then, and still does now, as there is a vibrancy here that is pretty rare for first-time projects. Ten years later, I can’t say the same for “Scorpion.” I don’t even think I can say the same for the two albums that came before this. Some of the tracks are certainly striking––some even feel like true classics (“Passionfruit,” “Feel No Ways,” “Child’s Play” and especially “Hotline Bling”)––but I really can’t say that “Scorpion” is enjoyable. I’d say that it comes down to length, but “Scorpion” is only 15 minutes longer than “So Far Gone.” But while “So Far Gone” is at the very least provocative, “Scorpion” just feels bland and uninspired. It gets two stars—one for each hit.


February 28, 2019

Campus Canvas

ARTS

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A weekly space highlighting the creative pursuits of student-artists

submit to misc@vassar.edu

Georgia Hupfel Class of 2022 She/her/hers “In April of 2018, I started my own business: hand embroidering designs for clients, all of which can be found through the instagram @gbh.embroidery. While the majority of work is focused on t-shirts, I also embroider pants, hats and shoes. The designs are based on line drawings and sketches by some of my favorite artists like Matisse and Basquiat, as well as original designs.�

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FEATURES

Page 10

Quite Frankly Frankie Knuckles

Features Editor Quality Advice-Giver

Have a question you want answered? Submit your quandaries at http://bit.ly/2RFnXfk Hey Frankie, This is one of those sappy relationship questions, but why do I like someone but dislike the feeling of liking them? Sincerely, Paradoxical Paramour Dear Paramour,

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uite frankly, mood. As a chronic crush-haver, I’m completely empathetic to your plight here. You’re not alone. I can’t precisely say why you’re feeling this way because I have little knowledge about your specific situation. I can, however, give you my best guesses and tell you where to go from there. If I’m way off, just disregard my advice. Basically, this boils down to a few things. First, discomfort surrounding the whole scenario; second, you might not want to like this person; and finally, the fear of putting yourself out there with the potential of rejection. Let’s unpack each of these. First, having a crush is, by nature, not a very comfortable experience. It makes you hyper-aware of your actions as you (consciously or not) make strides to impress the person you’re crushing on. Interacting with the person you like makes your everyday social foibles seem so much worse than they are. In short, interacting with someone you like causes you to put a microscope on what might already cause you anxiety. Second, we don’t really get to choose whom we develop a crush on. You might like someone from an attraction standpoint, but not endorse their behavior. This obviously adds a layer of discomfort. Further, maybe you just don’t want to be bogged down by this extra amount of emotional effort right now. That’s a pretty normal response. None of these considerations invalidate your feelings, but they might cast your feelings in a more negative light. Finally, whenever you like someone, a whole mess of other concepts follow naturally from that. What will you do? Act on it? Keep it to yourself? Either direction gives your brain plenty of fodder for agonizing overthinking. If you do want to make a move, then there’s all the added anxiety that goes with that territory. Recognizing you like someone is step one toward a process that could lead to rejection, and that’s a scary thought. No one likes rejection. I’m hoping that by unpacking some of these feelings, you can begin to understand how you might want to proceed. It’s also possible that this is a passing infatuation that will naturally dissipate. Unfortunately, you really can’t make your negative feelings about the situation go away; I think the best course of action is to really try to look inward to find the source, and process your emotions from there.

February 28, 2019

Oddly satisfying syrup excursion exhilarates MAPLE SYRUP continued from page 1 ing with the climate and region, many of these trees are maples. The farm capitalizes on these plentiful trees as a source of food production. When I arrived in early March, farm workers had already tapped the trees and sugaring season was well underway, but I was fortunate enough to learn each step of the process from sap collection to maple syrup bottling. Magic Forest Farm is much smaller than a commercial maple syrup operation and lacks the technology needed to make the process more efficient. For example, many farms collect sap through tubing mechanisms that attach all the trees to a common storage tank and use gravity or mechanical vacuums to transport sap from tree to storage. However, at Magic Forest Farm, workers attach a collection bag to each tree. During my time at the farm, we would collect sap every few days. Weather conditions are crucial to sap collection: Sap only flows when the temperatures remain below freezing at night and above freezing during the day. After learning about the natural balance that contributes to sap, I felt I better understood the maple trees and tried to be mindful of the way in which sap collection is a form of human theft from nature. The endeavor involved walking through the snow with collection jugs, detaching each individual sap collection bag from the tapped trees, emptying the sap into the jug and then loading all the full jugs onto the back trailer of an all-terrain vehicle that delivered the jugs to the storage tank. Due to the snowy trails on the farm property, a normal truck can’t reach all

the tapped tree sites. I loved the activity of sap collection. It was an adventure to tromp through the snow, enjoying the peaceful presence of the trees while in search of bags full of sap. A plump collection bag, heavy with liquid, was like discovering a long-awaited treasure. I would eagerly transfer the bounty into my collection jugs, taking care not to let a single drop spill. Lifting the five-gallon jugs, combined with the effort of wading through thigh-deep snow, made for a good workout—at the end of each day I was pleasantly tired. Sap collection is only the beginning of the maple syrup story. The sap is clear and just mildly sweet. To produce syrup, it has to be boiled down to a much higher sugar concentration: about 40 gallons of sap for a single gallon of syrup! Learning these facts and taking part in the labor of the process earned me a new understanding of the seemingly expensive price of pure maple syrup. At Magic Forest Farm, the reduction process begins in an outdoor cooker, a large pan heated by a roaring wood fire underneath. The wood fire adds a distinctly smoky flavor to the finished product—my tongue was intrigued by my first taste of Magic maple syrup. The cooker pan is filled with sap from the storage tank. The whole apparatus requires constant monitoring to make sure that the fire is going strong and the sap stays at an acceptable level, as it can burn if there isn’t enough liquid in the pan. “Cooker babysitting” is much less physically taxing than sap collection. Standing by the warm fire surrounded by the sweet smells of wood

and sugar was a lovely opportunity to let my thoughts wander peacefully. The syrup-making process finishes on the wood stove inside the house. The reduced sap from the outdoor cooker, now slightly darker in color, is transferred back into jugs and transported to the kitchen. We workers filter the sap through a cloth filter and then move it into a large pot on the wood stove. Filtering actually occurs at each transfer of sap in the sugaring process to remove impurities, and I learned that the number of times we filtered at Magic Forest Farm was much fewer than the requirements for most mass-produced syrup. Once the sap is in the pot, the waiting game begins. The sap has reached the syrup stage when a special instrument called a Brix meter floats at a certain line. Then we can finally bottle it! My first time bottling was extremely satisfying. To see the thick, amber liquid gush into the container, and know that I was involved with its creation, felt significant. Of course, my journey with maple syrup didn’t end with the final step of the production process. To fully enjoy the experience, I obviously had to consume some maple syrup. A fellow volunteer and I found great fun in experimenting with it in various recipes: salad dressing, roasted vegetables, oatmeal and cornbread. Our favorite creation was maple candy; when boiled even longer, the maple syrup eventually hardens as it cools. We would drizzle this mixture over popcorn and salted nuts to create a dangerously addictive snack. This was our fitting tribute to the hours of labor and the gifts of nature necessary for exceptional maple syrup.

Unlike a large commercial operation, Magic Forest Farm does not rely on comparatively high-tech sap harvesting. Rather, workers must tap each tree, attaching a collection bag low on the trunk.

Above, a close-up view of a tapped tree with a collection bag. A worker inserts a spile into the trunk, then affixes the bag. Over time, gravity causes sap from the trunk to drip into the pouch.

Here, the cooker is shown. After bags of sap get harvested, they are emptied into jugs before the sap makes its way to this outdoor cooker, where it gets boiled down to the syrup stage.

After the necessary time spent in the outdoor cooker, the now more viscous sap gets moved to a woodstove inside the farmhouse to complete the process of cooking down, creating the finished syrup.

Best Wishes, Frankie P.S. Remember that liking someone does not obligate you to pursue any particular course of action. Maybe you can’t control a crush, but you can control what you do with it.

All photos courtesy of Tamika Whitenack

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE


February 28, 2019

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Prof spotlight: Keimowitz advocates environmental action

Courtesy of Tori Lubin Keimowitz is pictured above with some of the equipment she uses to conduct her research in the Bridge for Laboratory Sciences. Her work focuses on how certain contaminants, such as arsenic and manganese, interact with lakes and shallow groundwater. Tori Lubin

Guest Reporter

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ssociate Professor of Chemistry Alison Spodek Keimowitz smiled at me from her desk in Bridge Laboratory Sciences 216. On the floor below us, a laboratory with neatly compiled equipment exhibited her extensive research on metal contaminants. Keimowitz described herself as an environmental chemist, meaning that she thinks of pertinent questions regarding the natural world and uses chemical techniques to answer them. “I wanted to do environmental chemistry because I care about environmental issues, and I wanted my work to be directly applicable to important questions,” Keimowitz explained. It is no surprise that chemistry classes in high school proved to be Keimowitz’ forte. However, she has always fostered a love of

diverse academic disciplines. “As a kid, I always thought I wanted to be a fiction writer,” she said, highlighting the wide range of her interests. Keimowitz’ career as an Environmental Studies and Chemistry professor at Vassar is rooted in a background of STEM studies at Wesleyan College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where she focused on environmental contamination. “I have always been a really big fan of STEM in a liberal arts context,” she explained. “I think that ability to work directly in a close relationship between students and faculty with a lot of hands-on experience is a really great opportunity.” When the chance to teach at Vassar arose, “It was basically my dream job,” she concluded. A position as an analytical chemist after college cemented Keimowitz’ interest in pursuing research, but a three-month bike trip

around the country with her now husband ultimately guided her to the ideal graduate program. Keimowitz started pursuing a postgraduate degree in physical chemistry, but she soon realized it was not the right fit for her. It did not fulfill her hopes of doing research that applied directly to environmental issues—or allowed her to be outside. Up until that fateful bicycle excursion, “Maybe like a lot of Vassar students, I had done a lot of what was expected of me,” Keimowitz said. “I think without having taken the time and the risks of that slightly crazy bike trip I would have felt like I had to stay in the program I had started. Instead, I left that program, without knowing what came next.” Ultimately, Keimowitz ended up in a course of work and study much more suited to her interests. In keeping with her love of the environment, she also spent time working for the environmental activism-focused NGO Greenpeace. Keimowitz’ teaching reflects an acute understanding of and passion for environmental issues. The growing climate crisis has spurred Keimowitz to explore new ways to engage with her students. “I’m more aware of talking about my own feelings about the environment with the students than I ever have before,” she said. In the midst of worsening environmental conditions, Keimowitz has taken steps to integrate social concerns. “With the class I am teaching this year we are spending more time not just talking about the science, or the social science, but how we respond as people,” Keimowitz emphasized. For Keimowitz, environmental studies should stress not only scientific principles, but also advocacy and collective action. She cited a quote from the Pirkei Avot (a sacred Jewish text) to summarize her perspective on each individual’s role in protecting the environment: “‘You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it (2:21).’” In other words, “We don’t

need to each be taking it on ourselves to do the whole project, but neither are we free to ignore it,” she clarified. In an article published by Slate Magazine a year ago, Keimowitz explained how she prevents herself from succumbing to climate nihilism (Slate, “I Felt Despair About Climate Change,” 09.03.2018). In her interview with The Miscellany News, Keimowitz elaborated on her approach to intense emotions that come with thinking about the deterioration of the planet. Her four main strategies include engaging in activism, meditating, connecting with others around the issues and allowing for distraction when thinking about these concerns. “It’s okay to take breaks,” Keimowitz noted. “I don’t have to think about [environmental issues] 24/7.” These approaches apply to students as well. “I would encourage Vassar students to join either student organizations or broader environmental organizations and really throw themselves into advocating for systemic and structural changes,” Keimowitz recommended. She emphasized that “broader engagement with some systemic and cultural issues is more important” than changing one’s consumer habits. She also integrates meditative practices into her classroom and brings in guest lecturers so she and her students can connect with other environmentalists. Although Keimowitz considers the current global environmental situation to be bleak, she remains optimistic about recent initiatives such as the Green New Deal. “For the last several years, a lot of people who do what I do have been raising the alarm and nobody’s listening. I feel like something has changed in the last year, and people are listening more,” Keimowitz said. “That’s actually helped me a lot to not feel quite so frustrated.” Her philosophy continues to keep her grounded, even as difficulties abound. Despite hardships, she concluded, “We have to use whatever we have to fight for what we care about.”

Vassar Equestrian Team shows off unbridled enthusiasm Ariana Gravinese Reporter

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Maya Goodwin ’20 joined VCET her first year at Vassar and has remained a member ever since. She expressed that the org appealed to her because she has appreciated horses ever since she was young, but found it difficult to ride regularly. She described, “I grew up in the city and would have to escape upstate to find horses. I knew I wanted to go to a college with a riding team so I could ride more regularly and get proper horsey friends.” Despite spending time abroad in Edinburgh, Goodwin continues to keep up with the team and their various pursuits. She elaborated, “I’ve been following VCET on Facebook and on Instagram and I am so proud of what the team has accomplished. More than 20 students have signed up for lessons this semester, we hosted our own competition and our competing team has more than doubled.” VCET continues to focus efforts on expanding the club to make riding available and affordable for all. The Executive Board is very conscious about their budget and the costs associated with the club. Henrich expounded: “The hardest part has been managing the finances. I’m very happy that our team has doubled in the past year, but that comes with its own problems. We’ve had to skip shows that other teams in our region expect us to go to, and some of our riders have missed out qualifying for regionals this year.” While budgeting concerns have been an obstacle, the team is looking forward to welcoming new members and continuing to

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Courtesy of VCET

ith more than 170 unique clubs on campus, one organization with which students may not be familiar is the Vassar College Equestrian Team (VCET). While the Juliet sells hats with “Vassar Equestrian” on them, few students know the ins and outs of the team. VCET is an org for those who love horses. Whether you already know how to ride, or have never been on a horse before and want to learn, this club and team will welcome you regardless of any previous riding experience. VCET is based at MLC Farms in Millbrook, New York, about a 40-minute drive off campus. Owner Michelle Clopp teaches the team members twice a week in group lessons. In each hour-long session, you will be placed with students of a similar skill level. Unfortunately, students must pay for lessons, but Clopp gives discounts to Vassar students, and the team covers the transportation costs. This year the organization is comprised of nearly 20 members. Almost half of those riders compete in local shows. VCET participates in Zone 3 and Region 3 of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), which is the entity through which collegiate riding is organized. Vassar students compete in the walk-trot division, all the way up through the intermediate level, against schools like Centenary, Marist, West Point, SUNY New Paltz, Sarah Lawrence, William Patterson, Drew and Stevens. While competing is an option for club members, it is not mandatory.

Member Molly Berinato ’21 has been in love with horses ever since childhood. In an emailed statement, she described how VCET allows her to continue her passion for riding and balance her academics with the sport. “After a long day of class, going to the barn has to be my favorite activity,” she stated, “on the drive up I get to nap or watch the scenery turn from crowded highways and strip malls to bare, rolling farm country.” Being able to make her way off campus provides a different perspective of the surrounding area and the opportunity to meet those outside of the Vassar community. She also noted an unexpected bonus to training sessions: “Once at the barn, we are greeted with two excited, wiggling corgis and our trainer Michelle.” VCET offers more than the ability to ride horses; it allows members of the Vassar community to bond off-campus over shared non-academic passions. Co-captain Grace Henrich ’21 commented via email, “Being a member of the equestrian team has been a major part of my time at Vassar. Life can be pretty stressful sometimes, and being able to get off campus for a couple of hours and spend some time with the animals really helps.” Even though competing makes some days strenuous, Henrich still finds them enjoyable: “Show days are long and tiring, sometimes eight hours outside in the winter, but they are so much fun because I can spend them with my team and meeting riders from other schools.”

Shown above is the logo for VCET, which features Vassar colors. Members of the team may compete with other schools as part of IHSA shows, or choose to ride just for fun. Training occurs off campus at MLC Farms. work with Vassar for financing. Berinato explained how happy she is to be part of a fun organization with such supportive members, declaring, “I’m so proud of what the team and I have been able to accomplish during my time at Vassar, and I’m excited to see where we can go next.” Goodwin emphasized how this organization has changed her college experience for the better, saying, “Whenever I’m on a horse I still feel like I’m fulfilling my childhood dreams, and I hope that VCET will continue to make that possible for students at Vassar for many years to come.”


FEATURES

Page 12

February 28, 2019

Intern offers insightful museum gallery observations emotional turmoil of a living artist—I always leave feeling enriched. Museums proicture yourself entering an art musevide a window into the history of human um. It might boast an opulent entryemotion in a way that no other medium way like the Metropolitan Museum of Art can, whether curated or not. Sure, Rothko or the Louvre, or it might be sleek and just painted some colored squares (over simple like the Museum of Modern Art and over again). And yeah, maybe “I could (MoMA) or Vassar’s own Frances Lehman do that!” But I, nor anybody else, could ever Loeb Art Center. You purchase tickets, create a piece with the same feelings, inspigrab a map, perhaps browse the gift shop ration and motive behind it as those seemand then finally move on to the reason you ingly simple squares. came: the art-filled galleries. Now, the milMy advice to you the next time you visit lion dollar question. How do you interact a museum is to enter with the goal of purwith the art? poseful, active engagement. If it’s your first This past semester, I have enjoyed the optime at the MoMA, of course go see Van portunity to work as an intern at Magazzino Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Dali’s “The PerItalian Art Foundation, a small but exquisistence of Memory.” These iconic pieces site gallery of post-war Italian art in Cold draw an endless semicircle of museum-goSpring, NY. My role as an intern sometimes ers to linger around them for a reason. entails rudimentary tasks, from checking in But take the opportunity to explore the visitors to making many a mean espresso. less-crowded areas of the building, where But spending time in the galleries, answer- Above, a sample of the pieces on display at Magazzino Italian Art Foundation, including the wall labels have names you don’t recing questions and ensuring the art is not works by Alighiero Boetti (on the left and right) and Giulio Paolini (middle, foreground ognize. See what catches your eye, and give Think Swiftly Ben Costa, Frank touched has given me the chance to watch and background). Pieces such as these inspire a range of responses from museum-goers. it a good stare. 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February 28, 2019

OPINIONS

Page 13

The Miscellany News Staff Editorial

Metcalf’s understaffing hinders long-term mental support I

n response to the Dean of the College Search Committee’s question of what he believed to be the most pressing issue at Vassar, then Interim Dean Carlos Alamo-Pastrana immediately replied “mental health” (The Miscellany News, “Dean of College Search Narrows,” 02.13.2019). In fact, every candidate expressed their interest in promoting the overall well-being of Vassar students, demonstrating awareness that mental health concerns are an increasingly pertinent issue on college campuses nationwide. In light of the candidates’ remarks and Metcalf’s recent efforts to hire a new counselor, it is critical to assess the successes and shortcomings of Vassar’s mental health services. According to data provided by Director of the Psychological Services Wendy Freedman, the number of students seen at Metcalf skyrocketed from 484 in the 2014– 2015 academic year to 664 in 2017–2018—a 37.19 percent increase. Notably, Alamo-Pastrana explained via email that these numbers may not necessarily indicate a new crisis, but rather represent widespread efforts to destigmatize seeking support. In an apt response to both national trends and on-campus demand, Vassar College’s Counseling Services (VCCS) has worked to creatively expand services. At the beginning of the spring semester, VCCS offered four new workshops to address common issues college students face (Vassar Stories, “Helping Students Cope,” 01.24.2019). According to an emailed statement from Freedman, “Many times students believe

that individual therapy is the only model that will address their needs. However, the research shows that other modalities can be just as effective and sometimes more effective.” VCCS therefore offers an assortment of collaborative approaches that promote mental health solidarity and, in some cases, collective healing. VCCS also created a range of therapy groups, featuring topics such as navigating college as a first-generation student, practicing mindfulness and coping with loss. Led by one or two of Metcalf’s staff therapists, each of whom has a distinct specialty and background, groups meet weekly, providing students with a space to learn from each other and feel less alone. Freedman cited VCCS’s group counseling services as one of its biggest strengths. Yet despite its successes, VCCS has room for improvement. Limited resources at Vassar, including time constraints and finite staffing, lead to what students often characterize as rushed solutions to deeper issues. According to Freedman, “College counseling services are designed to provide short term therapy support to students around factors that are inhibiting their ability to thrive in an academic setting.” The intention to provide temporary aid inherently hinders therapists’ ability to foster meaningful longer-term relationships with students, who can typically only meet with their counselor every other week due to scheduling constraints. As a result, counselors often encourage students to seek help from off-campus resources, a

situation that leaves students feeling overlooked and discouraged. Outside psychotherapy services can also be prohibitively expensive, often costing upwards of $200 per session. In addition, only 55 percent of psychiatrists accept insurance plans, compared to 89 percent of other health care providers (Huffington Post, “Why is Therapy So Expensive?” 05.04.2017). As a result, Metcalf therapists try to prioritize students for whom accessibility is an issue. Even so, because of the sheer quantity of students seeking counseling, VCCS is simply unable to provide long-term individual psychotherapy for everyone. Despite what students may assume, Freedman indicated that Vassar’s Counseling Services are considered well-staffed compared to peer institutions. Freedman claimed that VCCS would be open to hiring more therapists, but stipulated, “It is not financially sustainable for the college to be able to indefinitely add to our staffing.” However, other Northeastern colleges of comparable size to Vassar do in fact have better-staffed mental health services. Wesleyan has 16 counseling staff members (Wesleyan University Counseling and Psychological Services, “Meet Our Staff,” 2018) and Williams has 21 involved in psychotherapy (Williams Student Health and Wellness Services, “Who We Are”) while Vassar only has eight on staff. It’s also important to acknowledge, however, that some colleges do have comparable staffs to Vassar’s. Bard College, for example, also has eight counselors, as well as a therapy

dog—perhaps a staffing decision that Vassar should emulate? (Bard Counseling Services, “About Counseling Services”). In the face of logistical and financial restrictions, Vassar has worked to destigmatize mental health and build a communal approach to overcoming struggles. Alamo-Pastrana cited recent projects of the Office and Spiritual Life and Contemplative Practices as examples of this shift. He explained, “Last semester they brought a labyrinth into the Villard [R] oom, and it was great to hear from several students how peaceful and rewarding they found being able to walk through the labyrinth. These kinds of practices...allow us to re-center ourselves and spend valuable time with and processing our emotions.” Such efforts serve as vital steps toward making Vassar a supportive, accessible community, and The Miscellany News commends VCCS for their recent strides. However, small-scale reforms are insufficient for resolving the crisis of widespread anxiety and depression among students. Until mental health concerns are universally viewed with the same level of importance as physical ailments, affected students will continue to face limited support options; thus, Vassar students and administrators must join VCCS in recognizing the provision of sufficient mental health services as imperative, not optional. — The Staff Editorial expresses the opinion of at least 2/3 of the Miscellany News Editorial Board

English Dept. lacks faculty teaching marginalized writers Kimberly Nguyen Guest Columnist

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n case you haven’t heard, the English Department is currently hiring their first tenure-track professor in a decade. With the current political climate that leaves the rights of marginalized groups in limbo, POC literature, women’s literature and queer literature are not only increasingly relevant, but also necessary in academic discourses and curricula. However, the English Department is not hiring in any of the above areas. Instead, they’re hiring for British Romanticism. The decision to hire in British Romanticism and not, perhaps, Asian-American or disability literature—two fields in which the department desperately lacks classes and faculty—calls into question the department’s diversity and representation, or lack thereof. The problem with diversity in the English Department begins with the faculty represented. Of the 21 faculty members listed on the website currently, only seven or exactly one-third are people of color. Additionally, despite Vassar being roughly 60 percent female, only eight faculty members are women. The classes offered this semester are not a diverse representation, either. Of the 34 classes listed—not including fieldwork or independent studies—only 12 explicitly center topics on race, gender, sexuality or disability in the course titles or descriptions. And while other classes may mention or contain works from historically underrepresented writers, it makes a huge difference whether those writers are just being touched upon or whether they’re ac-

tually being focused upon. However, the problems run deeper than simply representation. The logistics of which professors teach which classes are also problematic. It would seem from the course catalogue that the classes that deal with topics regarding race are only taught by professors of color. For example, this semester, the class on Black Modernism is being taught by Professor Tyrone Simpson, a black professor. Last semester, he taught a course on James Baldwin, an African-American novelist and essayist. In addition, courses that have popped up in the past on Native American literature have always been taught by Professor Molly McGlennen, who is of Anishinaabe descent. Of course, professors are hired for their specialization, so it would be unreasonable to expect someone with expertise in Shakespeare to teach a course on the Harlem Renaissance. This is why I suspect this delegation of POC literature to professors of color is a problem. It is irresponsible to place the onus of providing “color” or “diversity” to the department’s course offerings on a limited number of women professors and professors of color. If the English Department would commit to hiring more diverse specializations, then this burden could be lifted off the shoulders of POC professors and more evenly delegated throughout the department. Going as far back as Spring 2014, I also noticed that Asian-American Literature is only taught by Professor Hua Hsu, an Asian-American professor. As the only course on Asian-American literature in the department, it is an important topic and should be offered each year. However, when

Professor Hsu was on sabbatical during Spring 2018, no other professor picked up the course, and thus the course wasn’t taught that semester. That’s a huge red flag, especially given that the Asian-American Studies Working Group brought to light how the lack of an Asian-American Studies program erases Asian-American identities. Surely Professor Hsu cannot be the only professor qualified to teach that course. What then does it say about the English Department when they choose not to offer that course at such a critical time?

“If the English department would commit to hiring more diverse specializations, then this burden can be lifted off the shoulders of POC professors...” If indeed the problem is that the current mostly white and mostly male faculty is incapable of teaching courses about race, gender, sexuality and disability due to their respective specializations, then the English Department clearly needs to make a larger commitment to hiring more faculty capable of teaching those courses. This needs to be done so that the department may offer critical courses about race, gender, sexuality and disability even when the “default” professor for those courses is on sabbatical. Finally, the English Department needs to conduct a thorough examination of which

writers to include in the curriculum and why. As far as literature in the English language goes, it’s no secret that the further back in time you go, the fewer women and people of color you find. During older eras, women and people of color often were not allowed to write or what they wrote was not taken seriously. Therefore, those writers need to be highlighted and centered today, even over writers who are part of the traditional canon. For example, if I had not gone abroad, I would have never known that Queen Elizabeth I was writing during the exact same time as Shakespeare. She navigated life as a monarch of a country that was unwilling to take her status as an unmarried woman seriously, yet her writing and speeches are critical to understanding how she overcame all her obstacles. Why, then, does our English Department offer a course on Shakespeare each year, but pay little to no attention to the writings of Queen Elizabeth I? In a time when we begin to recognize that representation matters, I fail to see myself represented in the English Department’s curriculum. As the College begins to enact sweeping changes to majors and major requirements, this is a good time for the English department to make necessary adjustments. Given the opportunity to hire more tenure-track professors in the future, the English Department should take a serious look at adding faculty to teach more courses on race, gender, sexuality and disability. Additionally, a closer look at their course offerings might help in evaluating which areas need more courses, faculty or even a syllabus revamp.

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE


OPINIONS

Page 14

February 28, 2019

Unethical conduct plagues legal career of Kamala Harris Jesser Horowitz Columnist

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n Jan. 2019, U.S. Senator Kamala Harris declared her candidacy for President of the United States of America to great fanfare. She earned quick praise and frequent comparison to former President Barack Obama. A recent Democratic Party straw poll by the Daily Kos ranked her in the top tier of Presidential candidates, with 27 percent of respondents voicing their support for her candidacy. So far, she has pitched herself to the American people as a strong progressive with a particular passion for criminal justice reform. Harris has a reasonable chance at winning the Democratic Party nomination. She’s charismatic, smart and very likely to bridge the growing divide within the party between the progressive left and the centrists. If she wins the nomination, she might even defeat Donald Trump in the general election. I understand why some voters in the party have decided to rally around her: She’s a promising alternative for Democrats who want someone progressive like Bernie Sanders but better than he is at speaking to identity politics. However, I would like to encourage my fellow Democrats to approach Senator Harris with a healthy dose of skepticism. As a prosecutor and California State Attorney General, Harris has engaged in blatantly unethical behavior for her profession and embraced positions that actively hurt her constituents. While this does not necessarily have to be a red line for everyone—and it certainly will not prevent me from voting for her should she win the Democratic nomination—our party should hold Harris’ feet to the fire here. Even more concerning than her past positions is that she refuses to own up to them, portraying herself as a long-time, progressive criminal justice reform activist. I want to clarify that I have no inherent issues with a prosecutor being elected to the

presidency. We need prosecutors; we need people who serve the public good rather than represent the interests of paying clients. However, if your job requires you to make decisions that could potentially ruin people’s lives, the ethical standards should be higher, not lower. If you, like Kamala Harris, decide you want to run for President of the United States, it becomes imperative that the public thoroughly and mercilessly scrutinizes every facet of your political career. In 2015, law enforcement caught Robert Murray, a prosecutor in Kern County, committing one of the most egregious offenses a prosecutor could perpetrate. Specifically, he falsified a confession transcript that connected the defendant with a far worse crime than that with what he had actually been charged. When the defense demanded a copy of the original tape recording, Murray admitted to his crime but said that it was merely a harmless joke. The judge disagreed. He stated that the court refuses to tolerate such outrageous conduct and dismissed the indictment on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct (Observer, “California Prosecutor Falsified Transcript of Confession,” 03.04.2015). How does this incident involve Senator Harris? At the time, she was the Attorney General of California. In that capacity, she appealed the indictment. According to Sidney Powell of The Observer, this was the third time she had appealed a prosecutorial misconduct dismissal in less than three months. As of March 2015, Murray was still allowed to work as a prosecutor (Observer, “California Prosecutor Falsified Transcript of Confession,” 03.04.2015). As Attorney General, Harris has a history of fighting to keep men she knew were innocent in prison and of hiding cases of significant illegal activity conducted by law enforcement. In 1999, Daniel Larsen was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison for possession of a concealed weapon. There had been nine witnesses who could testify that Larsen

Please, Tell Us More! Prof. Eve Dunbar English Dept.

[Spoiler alert: This article reveals events of “The Walking Dead,” Season 7.]

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advocated that the need to keep nonviolent offenders as slaves outweighs their constitutional rights. How would the Democratic Party call itself progressive if members threw their support behind someone with such an atrocious record on civil rights issues? Even worse, Harris has yet to apologize for her actions and in fact has refused to even acknowledge them (Reason.com, “Kamala Harris Hopes You’ll Forget Her Record as a Drug Warrior and Draconian Prosecutor,” 01.31.2019). At a town hall, she responded to a question calling her out on her past actions by answering “I’ve been consistent my whole career,” and then explained how the record supports her claim that she has been progressive on prison reform (CNN Twitter, “I’ve been consistent my whole career,” 01.28.2019). I won’t delve into her argument because, in my view, it’s irrelevant. When you actively cover up police misconduct, try to keep a man who you know is innocent in prison and refuse to release nonviolent offenders because you need their involuntary labor, you don’t get to reframe your narrative. Kamala Harris is not owed an audience. She is not entitled to one simply because she wants to be president. We should not give her the benefit of the doubt, because she refuses to even acknowledge her wrongdoings. We don’t have the right to forgive her; that right belongs to all the people she’s wronged over the course of her long career. For that reason, I ask you not to vote for Kamala Harris in the primary, no matter how attractive a candidate she is or how well she explains away her inconsistent career. It’s possible that her past really won’t have much of an impact on how she’ll be as president, but why should we wait and see? The best-case scenario is that she’s a progressive who repeatedly violated her own principles so that she could promote her career. In the worst-case scenario, she’s just another corrupt, rotten, regressive prosecutor.

Professors: What is a topic, idea, theory or breakthrough related to your field of study that you find absolutely fascinating or feel very passionate about? Explain why.

cause I spend a good bit of my teaching and writing life enmeshed in African-American narratives concerned with imagining how this will all end—this being the oppressive elements of American culture, politics and society. It was “TWD”’s obsession with rebuilding human community post-zombie apocalypse that drew me. I’m most excited by the opportunity to imagine otherwise. Years into watching the show, after watching person of color after person of color, after watching Glenn’s demise, I’m newly reminded of the impossibility of mainstream media to free our collective imagination. How do we world-build, and how do we free ourselves to imagine differently in this new world? How will memory hold us together or tear us apart? What is the role of hunger in all of our relations? And what does the “we” do with the “monstrous others” who simply want to “be,” too? These are some of the animating questions for my thinking, research and writing.

This segment is designed to be a space in which professors are invited to talk about any topic related to their work that they find fascinating. If you are interested in contributing to this column, please write a response of 300 words or more to the question above. Email your piece to Steven Park at eupark@vassar.edu along with a picture of yourself or something relevant to your topic (examples include research projects, independent work or labs).@

Courtesy of Eve Dunbar

atching “The Walking Dead” (“TWD”) has become a chore. Since Negan (played by Jeffrey Morgan) killed Glenn Rhee (played by Steven Yeun), the show just hasn’t been the same. This fact brings me some sadness since “TWD” was “must see TV” for me for many years. On the bright side, I’m now able to reclaim that hour or so a week to do more constructive things, like write this short piece for The Miscellany News (at least until “Game of Thrones” returns). I began watching “TWD” in medias res, by which I mean to say I binged two-and-a-half seasons in one week so that I’d be able to watch the show in real time from the middle of the third season onward. What’s kept me watching all these years isn’t so much a love of zombies (and I’m shocked the sheer amount of campy violence didn’t run me away sooner). Instead, I kept watching be-

was not guilty, but the court called none of them at the trial because of his incompetent and now disbarred attorney. With the help of the Innocence Project, he was able to prove his innocence, and the court overturned his conviction in 2009. How does this involve Senator Harris? She challenged his release not because she believed he was guilty—she did not dispute his innocence—but because he hadn’t presented proof of his innocence quickly enough. And so, she fought to keep a man she definitely knew was innocent behind bars for life (NBCLosAngeles, “After 13 Years in Prison, Man Found Innocent of Crime Freed,” 3.20.2013). In another incident, law enforcement discovered that Deborah Madden had purposely sabotaged the drug results of multiple cases as a technician at a San Francisco crime lab. But even though the highest levels of the district attorney’s office knew about Madden’s unreliability as a drug expert, Kamala Harris and her office hid this information from defense attorneys. Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo ultimately ruled that Harris’ office had violated defendants’ rights through this act of prosecutorial misconduct, calling into question the convictions of nearly 40 defendants (SFGate, “Judge rips Harris’ office for hiding problems,” 05.21.2010). However, perhaps Harris’ most egregious example of immoral conduct happened in 2014. A federal judge ordered that all non-violent second-strike offenders be eligible for parole in California in an action against constitutional prison crowding. Kamala Harris, then the Attorney General of California, disagreed with the decision. She argued in court that by releasing these inmates early, prisons would lose “an important labor pool” (Los Angeles Times, “Federal judges order California to expand prison releases,” 11.14.2014). Despite pitching herself as a lifelong champion for criminal justice reform, Harris had

Eve Dunbar is an associate professor in the English Department who teaches courses in African American Literature and Culture. An author of a book and several scholarly articles, Dunbar is currently teaching a course on Afrofuturism.

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE


February 28, 2019

OPINIONS

Page 15

Karl Lagerfeld’s death marks turning point in fashion world Emma Jones

Guest Columnist

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first encountered a picture of Karl Lagerfeld in an issue of Vogue sometime in the mid-2000s. I had by this point eagerly devoured every book on Coco Chanel available on the shelves of the local library, and I remember being somewhat taken aback that this peculiar, inscrutable cartoon of a man was the successor of the effortlessly elegant Coco. Over the years, I came to love Lagerfeld, the creative director of both Chanel and Fendi, and talented designer, photographer, illustrator and writer. I was greatly saddened by the news of his death last Tuesday, Feb. 19. As I pored over eulogies and scrolled through images of this artist and his creations throughout the decades, it began to dawn on me just how monumental this moment was. It may sound trite, but the fashion world truly will never be the same without him. Yet while this is a profound loss, it also opens up the identity of the fashion icon to much-needed reconsideration. In an article for i-D Magazine, Philippa Snow refers to Lagerfeld as the “last descendant” of a “bloodline for the chic eccentric” (i-D Magazine, “Where did all the wild fashion eccentrics go?” 07.10.2017). She observes that while the designer has essentially transformed his hyper-specific image and “super-villain bitchiness” into high art, she states, “[W]e live, thank God, in times where inequality and political incorrectness are at least noted—if not, I admit, extinct—which makes the classic high-class, haute-cruel fashion world doy-

enne or doyen something of a dying breed” (i-D Magazine). Like all art forms, fashion encapsulates a component of escapism and make-believe. And while it is time to begin holding artists responsible for the tangible implications that their creations have on the “real world,” especially as a new iteration of industry leaders emerge, we need to ask ourselves: To what extent do we expect them to be grounded in reality?

“We cannot continue to idolize industry giants who prioritize the whims of powerful men over the bodily integrity of models.” Due to his unparalleled clout within the fashion world, Lagerfeld was rarely, if ever, held accountable for his bizarre declarations, which ranged from, “I get along with everyone except for men my age, who are bourgeois or retired or boring, and cannot follow the evolution of time and mood” (The Cut, “Karl Lagerfeld’s Most Memorable Quotes,” 02.19.2019) to “I’m fed up with [the #MeToo movement] ... What shocks me most in all of this are the starlets who have taken 20 years to remember what happened” (The Cut, “Karl Lagerfeld Talks Death and His Enemies in a Wild New Interview,” 04.13.2018). His outrageous statements were more than just tolerated; they formed a core part

of the Karl “brand.” In the current era of political turmoil, environmental crisis and social media freefall, however, we expect designers to not only have artistic vision, but to also say the right things, use the right materials and sell clothes without having the customers notice all the marketing ploys subjected upon them. Following Lagerfeld’s death, we need to look critically at the channels through which designers brand themselves and are branded. No matter how the industry evolves as a new generation comes up through the ranks, the well-being of models must be a central priority. When asked about the sexual harassment allegations against former creative director of Interview magazine Karl Templer, Lagerfeld responded, “I don’t believe a single word of it. A girl complained he tried to pull her pants down and he is instantly excommunicated from a profession that up until then had venerated him ... If you don’t want your pants pulled about, don’t become a model!” (The Cut, “Karl Lagerfeld Talks Death and His Enemies”). We cannot continue to idolize industry giants who prioritize the whims of powerful men over the bodily integrity of models. As new designers break into the industry, how they treat the people they employ should be under careful scrutiny, regardless of the designers’ talent or larger-than-life personas. In an interview with i-D Magazine in 2012, singer Florence Welch, actress Anna Calabrese and model Brad Kroenig compared the designer to “a bejewelled hawk,” “a lion—king of the forest” and “a mix

between a lion and a fox,” respectively (i-D Magazine, “Fashion industry insiders on what made Karl Lagerfeld a genius,” 02.19.2019). These astute characterizations cut to the core of the problem with Lagerfeld’s brand of celebrity. As Rachel Syme shrewdly noted in her article, “Not content to toil in fashion, Lagerfeld wanted to dominate it, to preside over it” (The New Yorker, “Karl Lagerfeld, the Designer Who Dressed to Survive,” 02.20.2019). In this respect, he certainly succeeded: He positioned himself at the top of the food chain, determining who was pretty and who was ugly, who was interesting and who was boring, who made it in fashion and who didn’t. Part of Lagerfeld’s genius was his knack for spotting the girl of the hour (and it was frequently a girl, not a woman), from Vanessa Paradis to Kate Moss to Lily Depp. In a way, Lagerfeld’s iconic image extended to the constant rotation of young, fresh-faced, sprite-like girls on his arm. Although he hated to be called an artist, there is no better way to honor Lagerfeld’s wide-ranging and breathtaking body of work. But given how those who worked closely with the artist liken him to a predatory animal, something needs to change. In the wake of his death, the fashion world and its followers must grapple with the degree to which it grants power and artistic license to its leaders. Despite fashion’s love affair with the fantastical and the absurd, it is first and foremost an industry, and its leaders have a responsibility both to those within the industry and those affected by it.

Police presence in schools augments crime, violence Catherine Bither Columnist

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ne of my earliest elementary school memories is the day a police officer came to my fifth grade classroom. I was sitting in the front row, and the gun in his belt was right in front of my face. I remember his blue uniform, white skin, thin sunglasses and short, cropped hair. I don’t remember exactly what he said to us or for how long he stayed, but I do remember him showing us the mug shots of long-time drug abusers and then immediately taking out and brandishing his gun. By the time I reached middle school, police presence was a regular, although distressing, presence for me and the majority of my peers. Before the gentrification of my neighborhood in Oakland, CA began and city authorities removed the bus stop in front of my house, police regularly cruised down my street, blaring their sirens for seemingly no reason at groups of children idling or playing outside. A police car was always parked outside of the high school a block from my house and also in front of the continuing school a few blocks further away. I was used to hearing gunshots at recess and having to practice “red dot drills,” or lockdown protocols, every week. Police presence on school campuses is not a new phenomenon for elementary, middle and high school students, notably for those of us who grew up in working-class and urban areas. Authorities insist that police presence serves to deter crime and maintain safety on school campuses, particularly in a time increased violence on school campuses. Schools

faced 279 violent incidents in the 2017-2018 school year, a dramatic increase from the 131 incidents filed the previous year (USA Today, “There were nearly 1,300 more threats made at U.S. schools this past year, report finds,” 08.14.2018). The most common acts of violence include the presence of a gun on school campuses, followed by shootings and foiled attacks. President Donald Trump himself voices his support of arming teachers to somehow prevent school shootings. However, militarizing schools and turning them into sites of state-sanctioned violence, surveillance and policing that rely on prison-related technologies—such as metal detectors and video cameras—further aggravates the problem of violence in schools. Underfunded schools rely on police rather than teachers or administrators to discipline students. According to the Urban Institute, more than two-thirds of high school students attend a school with a police officer present. Its report also states, “Students attending high schools that have substantial shares of black or Hispanic students attend schools with a police officer at higher rates than students attending schools with few black and Hispanic students.” (Urban Institute, “The prevalence of police officers in US schools,” 06.21.2018). By connecting police presence with that of students of color, this study exhibits a de facto preconception that crime is more likely to occur in schools with high numbers of students of color, even though most school shootings are conducted by white males (Statistica, “Number of school shootings in the United States between

1982 and November 2018 by shooter’s race and ethnicity,” 11.19.2018). There is no proof that police officers’ presence in schools decreases crime on campuses or improves student behavior in any way. In fact, a 2013 study found that with more police officers on campus, schools record more weapons and drug crimes and report more non-serious violent incidents (Urban Institute). Rather than make schools safe, police presence on school campuses normalizes guns, surveillance, profiling and punishment, and instills in students a fear of authority. Similar to Foucault’s theory of Panopticism, which details how institutions use surveillance and discipline to assert their power and preemptively deter “crime,” many of my friends back home referenced their experiences with police in and outside of middle and high schools as the beginnings of their anxiety around police and other carceral apparatuses. Additionally, schools tend to prioritize the elimination of drugs and other illicit materials from campuses over the privacy and security of their students. Friends from multiple schools in my area have recalled stories of authorities entering campus with drug dogs to search students’ lockers without their permission. In many instances, students were expelled or arrested merely for the presence of drugs in their lockers. According to the ACLU, “[F]ederal courts have found that students’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures do not always apply in a public school setting” (ACLU, “Search and Seizure in Public Schools”). Militarized police

presences in schools combined with strip searches, racial profiling and surveillance trains young people, particularly the young urban working class and people of color, for incarceration. Although youth incarceration rates continue to decrease, the United States still imprisons more young people than any other country (ACLU, “Youth Incarceration”). A majority of these children, adolescents and teenagers are victims and survivors of the school-to-prison pipeline. Students with learning disabilities and those living through poverty or abuse are particularly vulnerable to disproportionate policing. Instead of nurturing these students, authorities force young people into a carceral system that punishes them for social and economic circumstances over which they have no control. I am by no means attempting to provide a comprehensive study of police and military technology in schools. Scholars and activists dedicate their entire lives to studying this phenomenon. Modern-day abolitionists and affiliated organizations, such as Angela Davis’ Critical Resistance and Miss Major’s Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, strive to dismantle carceral structures and create rehabilitative, restorative and transformative alternatives in our lives. However, I intend to challenge the established views of the carceral logics within schools, encourage Vassar students to research and reflect on the carceral presences in their lives and urge people to reimagine a world wherein individuals, particularly young students, are not criminalized for their identities and actions.

The Miscellany News is not responsible for the views presented within its Opinions pages. The weekly staff editorial is the only article which reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE


HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 16

February 28, 2019

Breaking News

From the desk of Hannah Gaven, Humor & Satire Editor

Ketchup fails to create perfect blood spatter, forcing drawing student to stab roommate for pattern accuracy Room inspections for stolen furniture lead to squabble Blair Webber

Best Roommate Ever

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Frank/The Miscellany News

t’s fairly common for things to go missing in shared spaces. The “VC Lost and Found” page frequently reunites losers with their found objects, but not everything that disappears gets returned. Such has been the case with certain new pieces of furniture in Cushing House. The dorm, having undergone a renovation that destroyed its bathroom sinks for any practical use, received a second facelift in the form of Mid-century style lounge pieces, replacing the Late Victorian sofas and the mysterious stains of bygone years. A problem has occurred for the dorm, however: A few of the chairs have gone missing. An email from the House Advisor was not enough to uproot them from the offender’s private stash, and although students were given ample time to return the chairs or confess to their misdemeanors, no one stepped forward. This set in motion the most severe ResLife procedure possible: a student conduct process. Unfortunately, the thorough inspection of the entire building did not yield results in terms of the missing furniture. However, it did have serious implications for roommates Sasha Baron ’20 and Talia Johnson ’20. “I got back to my room around 3 after getting out of class,” Baron reported of the horror scene that she returned to. “The room inspectors left one of Talia’s drawers open, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was full to the brim of Justin’s almond butter and dark chocolate cups. It was beyond distressing.” Baron had reason to be alarmed—hoarding the other’s sweets and snacks is expressly prohibited by Baron and Johnson’s roommate agreement under the section “Items That Are Not Shared.” Apparently, Johnson had

not taken heed to this rule. “What do you do in that situation?” Baron wondered aloud, “I mean, you’ve been living with this person and believing that your almond butter cups really do just get carried away by mice or the lax bros next door steal them, and then BAM you find out you’ve been living a lie.” Johnson claims to have no knowledge of her drawer being full of Baron’s candy. “I have never not seen them, and I didn’t take them per se,” Johnson coherently argued in her defense, “I think the real question is why the room inspectors were looking for stolen chairs in my desk drawer.” For Baron, however, one invasion of privacy is far more severe than the other. “How can I trust someone who steals my almond butter cups? She wasn’t even eating them, she was just keeping them. Some of them I bought back in November. I don’t know what to believe anymore,” wept Baron. Johnson, in another brilliant moment of self-defense, proclaimed, “In our modern era, all chocolate looks exactly the same. It’s the downside of a post-capital, post-modern, globalized society. How can we even be sure they’re the peanut butter cups she bought?” Baron cried “They’re almond butter cups.” As of this publication, the two roommates have yet to reconcile the conflict. Baron threatened to sleep in the hallway; she didn’t feel confident that Johnson wouldn’t just steal the bed out from underneath her. In response, Johnson quipped that she couldn’t fit a bed in a drawer. Both roommates went to stay in friends’ rooms. Inspections continue for the missing Cushing furniture. The Misc requests that if you see something, say something.

Poor Harlow the womp-womp is jealous of the dogs on campus. This isn’t suprising because 78 percent of students say dogs are their favorite animals. Let’s start a new campaign where we kiss womp-womps to show them our love.

Deece booth hermit survives despite horrible selfie light Return Address: Izzy Migani, Booth by Pillar Back Left, GC 12604

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t took several rounds of explanation and several cups of suspiciously watery tea before my friends understood what I was doing at the Deece. “You’re trying to tell us,” they said slowly, “that you, in your final last-ditch effort to find a reasonable living situation, are moving into a Deece booth?” “That’s what my goodbye letter says,” I sighed. They paced around Global Kitchen with agitation. Although there were likely parlors and dining rooms which would have been more appropriate to live in, I had chosen to set up camp behind the two pillars near My Kitchen. It had ample space, was pretty quiet and overall a perfect place to live out the rest of my days here. My stack of chem notes were spread across the central island in a state of disarray. I had folded several pages and was attempting to build a tent with them. Those concerned for my well-being tried in vain to dismantle my

small dwelling, but their efforts were to no avail. No one was ever going to sit at that booth again. I was slowly becoming one with the Deece. My friends weren’t sure what to do. I tried to explain it in endless clauses, footnotes and analogies, and yet none of it made sense. I was slowly losing my sanity. There are only so many days I could live off peppermint brownies and Nilda’s cookies. Any form of nutrient was virtually nonexistent in my body. I was beginning to hallucinate, imagining that maybe the mozzarella sticks were actually what they were hyped up to be. That was a first. My friends were beside themselves. What were they supposed to do with a semi-delusional hermit who only drank hot water from the cappuccino machine? They reconvened. “We need to stage some sort of intervention. This is getting sad,” they muttered, watching me attempt to build a fire using compostable forks for

what seemed like the hundredth time. I sensed my time in this haven was coming to a close. I persevered. “Wouldn’t it just be easier for me to live here? I can take care of myself. All I need is here, and you guys can come visit once I’ve gotten enough cups to build a living room.” After several tense moments, my friends sighed. “We suppose...It wouldn’t really matter. It’s not as though there isn’t enough space, after all. And you plan on staying here after closing?” “Yes,” I replied. “I already have a hiding spot and everything.” “Well then, welcome to your new home.” They looked resignedly at me. “We’ll help you move the rest of your things.” The next few weeks will be remembered forever. Living at the Deece seemed like a dream come true. I was the first in line at late night. I always had a booth. After the first month, however, trouble began. I tried to do my best to go about

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

my daily routine like I would in a dorm room, but it wasn’t quite the same. I was hoarding an obscene amount of Deece cups. Apparently you can’t stack them like Jenga blocks. The lighting in here was also extremely unflattering. I was beginning to grow tired of continuously looking like a human Lo-Fi filter. Still, I persevered. I wouldn’t let anything stop me. I was to become the Deece hermit; I felt it was my true destiny. By midterms, I had created enough space in my booth dwelling to haul up my microfridge and plug it in. Weeks later, I installed my Keurig complete with condiments, water filter and pod carousel. The final touch. My Deece home was complete. I had successfully set up shop in that one far booth near My Kitchen. I hoped my booth home would last many prospective Deece hermits to come, passing down from generation to generation, serving the students of Vassar College to the end of time.


February 28, 2019

HUMOR & SATIRE

Page 17

Crikey! Gordon ‘Ramslay’ derides Gordon Commons Tanya Kotru Gode

Liker Of Deece Coffee

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isclaimer: Please read this article in a British accent, specifically in the aforementioned celebrity chef’s voice for full enjoyment. Also please don’t be offended by Mr. Ramslay. He’s just “hangry,” and he complains about everything under the sun. And please imagine the bleeps, and not the bad words! @%$&#*. Sorry, I meant “hello.” I’m here to rant about a bloody #%$@# thing I discovered recently. Who am I? Blimey! You don’t know who I am? What a load of #@^% crap. I’m Gordon $@#&% Ramslay for crying out loud. I’m the real deal, the best chef in the whole @*#$^ world! Alright, I’ll try to swear a bit less in this scholarly article about my immense food expertise. Today I would like to talk about the absolutely magnificent dining center at Vassar College. That’s sarcasm, you nitwit. I think it’s absolute @(&#$# crap. I think everything is @(&#$# crap. I’ve never been happy with anything in life. Anyway, the most infuriating thing about Vassar’s dining center is that they f@%&ing stole my name! @%$&*!!!!! I’m beyond furious. I’m salty. I’m boiling with anger, just like water should be when you’re making pasta, you numbskull. Do I have to teach you everything? I’m so mad I want to sue them. I’ll sue everyone. I want to prove how American I can be. I first went to this !@*#$ dining center in the morning for breakfast, and they (&$#* ran out of eggs! Absolutely unacceptable! I could have a freakin’ pet rooster, and he’d give me

Courtesy of gordonramsaysubmissions via Flickr Above is Gordon %#!% Ramslay. He loves negativity, short walks on beaches and verbally insulting others. He is not only scary because he yells at people, but also because he is adept at wielding a knife. I can’t decide if I’d rather be diced or sliced. more eggs than they did. Yes, a freakin’ rooster!!! Heck, I could lay more eggs myself. That stupid rooster is fired for being incompetent. What an idiot sandwich (That’s right, he’s a chicken sandwich now). But that’s just the beginning of my misery. I have a whole arseload of complaints. On the day of my visit, I asked people for their hateful complaints (I feed on negativity, it inspires me), but some numbskull student who had the audacity to claim she wrote this article said she likes the coffee and lives off of it. I stated (politely, of course) how much of a dimwit she is and told her the coffee tastes like mud. Don’t ask me how I know what mud tastes like. I’m a @($&# chef damn it—I know everything about taste. Another issue is how they claim their meat is humane. I don’t believe them because I don’t believe anyone. I’ll tell you who’s the most humane. I am! I’m the kindest #$#*$ person on this planet. Don’t argue with me,

you dunderhead. They also try making all kinds of cuisines, and man they fail so shoddily hard (in my westernized opinion of every cuisine in the world). As a white man, I know how it’s all done, and only I can cook every cuisine perfectly. Don’t challenge me you @*$^#. And once they put so much ginger in a dish, it was a freakin’ Weasley! And not even a good Weasley like Ginny, or Ron or the twins, but one of the useless ones like Percy. Also, why are there so many freakin’ desserts? I can’t choose which one to eat, and my brain hurts. And they’re all bad. I didn’t even try them—I just know they’re bad. I know everything. And in my opinion, their ice cream is too damn cold. Only I know the perfect texture and temperature for perfect Michelin-star ice cream. Another one of my brilliantly wellthought-out complaints is that the stir-fry station is too crowded. I don’t like squeez-

HOROSCOPES

ing next to incompetent people while I’m cooking. I want my own stir-fry room, you idiot. And also the lights in the dining center are just too damn bright. Is this a dining center or a @#&$#* makeup room? Crikey! Plus, don’t even get me started on how all their hard chairs and booths hurt my sensitive arse. They should at least provide some freakin’ softer ones just for me. I’m a star! I also have a problem with the staff being so nice and friendly. What is this, kindergarten? I strongly believe in making people miserable, and I believe that people who make food need to be ruthless, or the food will never be perfect. I think I want to give the Deece employees a lecture on my favorite bad words. I have so much to share! I also don’t appreciate how the Deece has hours that are too %(&#@ convenient for students. Such spoiled kids. I want to whack them all. The freakin’ Deece is open till freakin’ 1 a.m. Who cares this @*^#& much about hungry kids anyway?? And finally I think it’s absolute bull*#$^ that students work, study and socialize here. Fine dining means NO FUN. Someone make this dining center a red carpet with a formal dress code. All these Vassar hoodies are so drab. Okay, that’s enough for today. And no, I don’t have a problem with everything. I have a problem with you, dumbhead. And to those who say things like “I love the Deece. I practically live in the Deece. The Deece is my home,” (like the stupid junior who claims she wrote this article), I say you’re all idiot sandwiches. @(#*@#(!!!!!!!!!!

Hannah Gaven

amateur astrologist

ARIES

March 21 | April 19

TAURUS

April 20 | May 20

GEMINI

May 21 | June 20

CANCER

June 21 | July 22

LEO

July 23 | August 22

VIRGO

August 23 | September 22

You know what you want to do? Come to paper critique at 9 p.m. on Sunday nights. You want to come so that you can tell everyone else on the Misc how much you love the horoscopes and the horoscopes writer.

I love getting a good nosebleed. It makes me feel like I’ve been possessed by the Devil, which, if we’re being honest, is life goals. Give yourself a nosebleed to experience the euphoria of pinching your nose while blood squirts everywhere. I’m not sure that I like popsicles. It’s basically just licking a stick of flavored water, which is literally what humans are. Doesn’t it feel a little too close to cannibalism? Think before you lick.

Drink the blood of thine enemies. All of the vampires will be jealous of your reckless blood-drinking. If you don’t know whose blood to drink first, get Senior Editor Mack Liederman. He can be found in the Misc office on Tuesday nights. List of things to do this weekend: Ocean pollution Torture Vaccines Make Pluto a planet You know the song “Issues” by Julia Michael, where she sings, “I got issues, but you got ‘em too”? I think that we, as a society, don’t think enough about what her issues really are. “One of them is how bad I need you,” but what are the other ones? Irritable bowel syndrome?

LIBRA

September 23 | October 22

SCORPIO

October 23 | November 21

SAGITTARIUS

November 22 | December 21

Getting off campus is such a time. I’m excited to go to the grocery store, which is so wild because when my mom used to ask me to pick up stuff in high school, I would throw a temper tantrum. Now I just feel like a disgruntled parent who hates her children and is looking for any excuse to get out of the house. I have my shades open for the first time in about four months, and I am feeling myself. It’s so nice to actually see the sun for once. You should also try opening your blinds because anyone could be out there.

My life is an uncertain mess. I don’t know what I will be doing in a few months. So, I’ve decided to hibernate and wake up when there are no more tests to take, and I can just sunbathe. If you need me, that’s too bad.

What do people do to contain their earwax?

CAPRICORN Why does earwax even happen? Who? When?

December 22 | Where? What? I love the five “W” questions. January 19 “How” must feel sad because it’s the odd one out. Help her out and only ask people questions using “How.”

AQUARIUS

January 20 | February 18

PISCES

February 19 | March 20

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

Vampire Weekend (AKA the best band ever) is touring again. I can’t go to any of their concerts, which makes me murderous. Fuel yourselves with my rage, and commit some felonies this week.

The only thing bringing me joy in life is the Chrome extension Tabby Cat. When you open a new tab, an adorable cat pops up. Download it right this minute, or I’ll hack into your computer and do it against your will.


SPORTS

Page 18

February 28, 2019

Zion’s rise exposes injustice of big-business NCAA sports Emmett O’Malley Columnist

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A School George Washington Duke was born on Dec. 18, 1820 in Orange County, North Carolina. In Oct. 1863, with one known slave to his name, Caroline, Duke joined the Confederate navy. Twenty-seven years later, in 1890, his most lucrative business venture became the American Tobacco Company. At that time, the American Tobacco Company was the world’s largest tobacco manufacturer. In 1896, according to the historian Robert F. Durden, Duke donated $100,000 to what was then Trinity College on the grounds that it “open its doors to women, placing them on equal footing with men.” He died in 1905, and left the fortune he’d started growing in

A Coach Mike Krzyzewski—at some points an outspoken supporter of all things Republican and at many others a politically silent, sports-only god of amateur athletics—unceremoniously became Duke University’s head basketball coach in 1980. He now rakes in about $9 million in salary annually (USA Today, “The 5 Highest-Paid Coaches in College Basketball,” 03.1.2018). In 39 of 50 states, a football coach (31 states) or a basketball coach (eight states) is the highest-paid public employee (ESPN, “Who’s the Highest-Paid Person in Your State?” 03.20.2018). Of those amateur-labor magnates, Krzyzewski is the second-highest paid behind only Nick Saban. Further, according to Alabama Local News, of the 40 state employees whose salary pays them over $1 million, 39 (the magic number!) are college coaches (al.com, “Nick Saban is Country’s Highest-Paid Public Employee. Who is No. 2?” 01.20.2018). A Problem? For a true believer in the merit-rewarding, moral value of markets (full disclosure: not me!), there is a justification for these extraordinary salaries. Take, for example, the fact that the cheapest day-of ticket available for the Duke versus University of North Carolina matchup at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Feb. 20 was $2,500. That’s not a typo (ESPN, “UNC-Duke Tickets Approaching Super Bowl Prices Because of Zion Williamson,” 2.20.2019). Barack Obama sat courtside in a stun-

Courtesy of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff via Flickr

A Play hen the University of Virginia’s DeAndre Hunter caught a pass from teammate Jay Huff, the nearest Duke defender was approximately 20 feet away... The 6’7” Hunter, undoubtedly a lottery pick and a 47 percent shooter from threepoint range, set himself for three. He would surely get his shot away, and as open as he was, he would likely make it. It was a patented Virginia play, showcasing the kind of execution and selflessness that has made the Cavaliers a perennial powerhouse in college basketball. Hunter calmly raised the ball above his head and shot. When the University of Virginia’s DeAndre Hunter caught a pass from teammate Jay Huff, the nearest Duke defender was approximately 20 feet away... That Duke defender was Zion Williamson. Williamson had started the sequence covering the combo guard Kyle Guy on the left wing, but now realized that he would have to finish it in the right corner of the floor. The surefire number-one-overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, the 6’6” 290-pound Williamson took five stutter-ish steps before launching himself into the air. When he took off, he was noticeably closer to the paint than he was to the three-point line. When he landed, he was braced against the shoulders of an elderly duo in the front row of Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena. The ball that DeAndre Hunter had shot was a few rows higher.

the antebellum South to his sons James and Benjamin (Robert F. Durden, “The Dukes of Durham,” 1987). Nineteen years later Washington’s progeny committed $40,000,000 to higher education in North Carolina, through their newly formed Duke Endowment. Later that year Trinity College was renamed Duke University to honor the legacy of Washington Duke (Robert F. Durden, “The Dukes of Durham,” 1987). Eight years later, a statue of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee was erected in Duke Chapel. It stood there until Aug. 19, 2017 (NPR, “Duke University Removes Robert E. Lee Statue from Chapel Entrance, 08.19.2017).

Duke University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski draws up a play for his team. Krzyzewski makes $9 million a year while his players go uncompensated. Football and basketball coaches are the highest-paid public employees in 39 states. ningly fresh Rag & Bone bomber. (Side note: people were really, unironically referring to this jacket as the “OBomber.” Classic, classic comedy.) The faces of Spike Lee and Ken Griffey Jr. flashed across the TV screen as tip-off neared. To get a commercial played on ESPN at the breaks of this massive game cost millions. The campus was buzzing, the city was buzzing, the state was buzzing and the entire sports universe was buzzing. If Krzyzewski is the main person responsible for warranting that price tag and this environment, then so be his $9 million salary. If you’re a true believer, you know that money and education can solve all problems in neoliberal societies. Thus, an elite institution of higher education—an institution that has cultured the minds of Paul Farmer, Richard Nixon, Tim Cook, Melinda Gates, Adam Silver, Kyrie Irving and Mike Posner—is the best remedy to societal ills. The leaders of tomorrow are educated at places like Duke, and

Courtesy of keenanhairston via Flickr Duke first-year Zion Williamson has quickly made himself must-see-TV thanks to his eye-catching numbers and athletic ability, shown off on this dunk against Hartford earlier this season. Williamson is considered the likely top-overall pick in the coming NBA Draft.

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

tomorrow is always so, so bright. But even with this calculus in mind, even with the belief that wealth creation and our current system of higher education are inherently good things, what is going on at Duke, and college sports more generally, is absurd. Because Zion Williamson was the person most responsible for the $2,500 price tag and the laundry list of celebrities in attendance. And Zion Williamson did not see a dime of the pot of gold at the end of the UNC-Duke rainbow. A Problem. Instead of receiving money for his labor, Zion Williamson is supposed to revel in the glory of competition, in the college experience, in earning his stripes before roaring into the NBA. Williamson, more than anyone, is supposed to not worry about the money he should be making in college, because he is about to be rolling in more dough than the Pillsbury boy. Perhaps an $80 million shoe deal will come his way, to go along with his $40-plus million dollar rookie contract. He’ll surely have endorsements piling up. But that does not justify the current vicious exploitation of his labor, because to justify such labor is to perpetuate a system so archaic that the likes of University of Houston professor Billy Hawkins refer to many venues of Division I sports as “The New Plantation” (Billy Hawkins, “The New Plantation: Black Athletes, College Sports, and Predominantly White NCAA Institutions,” 2010). To my mind, Zion Williamson is the best NBA prospect since Anthony Davis. For a player less gifted and less physically-imposing than the Duke star, a fall like the one he took when his sneaker malfunctioned against UNC 30 seconds into the game might be the end of a career. He, his teammates and the players on UNC are the only people involved in this event who are supposed to accept such precarious terms. They’re supposed to do so because they get to play this game, for fun, and they should be grateful for it. The situation begs the question, however (and I’ll leave it as a question): Why isn’t the same true for Mike Krzyzewski? And what does it say about how far we’ve come that a school built on the backs of unpaid black labor now profits from the very same thing?


February 28, 2019

SPORTS

Page 19

In targeting Scott Foster, Harden barks up wrong tree Jaan Choudhri

Guest Columnist

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taples Center buzzed on Thursday night, as LeBron’s Los Angeles Lakers and James Harden’s Houston Rockets squared off for their first games back post-All-Star break. The main storyline heading into the Western Conference matchup revolved around the last time the two teams played each other in Los Angeles, where a brawl broke out between the Chris Paul of the Rockets and Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram of the Lakers. Following Thursday night’s game, however, the focus shifted from the players to the officials. The Lebron-led Lakers manufactured a 19-point comeback in the second half that led to Harden fouling out with 1:24 remaining in his team’s 111-106 loss, pushing the melodramatic Lakers’ squad to 2.5 games behind eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in an already-tight Western Conference playoff race. Following his team’s collapse, Harden sat down in the locker room to discuss all the typical post-game topics. But instead of talking about his play and the team, Harden decided to attack Scott Foster, a veteran official who worked the game. “Scott Foster, man. I never really talk about officiating or anything like that, but just rude and arrogant,” asserted the smooth lefty who had just collected his 32nd 30-point game of the season. When a reporter asked Harden if he thought Foster’s treatment of the Rockets was personal, Harden replied, “For sure” (ESPN, “Rockets’ James Harden fined $25K for public criticism of ref Scott Foster,” 02.24.2019). But is that really the case? Let’s take a look. According to numbers aggregated on the

r/nba subreddit, from the 2016-2017 season to this current one, the Rockets have played 18 games in which Scott Foster served as the referee. In those 18 games, the Rockets are 9-9. Six of those 18 games were playoff games. In those six games, the Rockets are 0-6, with their smallest loss being only by two against a Thunder team led by thenMVP Russell Westbrook, and their largest loss being against the San Antonio Spurs by a whopping 39 points. But do these playoff losses point to Scott Foster hating the Rockets, or Harden in particular? No, they do not. In the six playoff games Harden has played with Scott Foster as an official, Harden averaged 28.7 points on 38.1% shooting, 7.8 assists, 4.5 turnovers, 10.2 free throws attempted and 4.3 fouls, according to Basketball Reference. These look like decent numbers, right? Well, I hate to bring up old times, but let’s take a look at two of Harden’s worst playoff games during this stretch. On May 3, 2017, Harden came up against a prolific Spurs team. In this game, Harden only scored 13 points on 17.6% shooting, and the team was outscored by 13 points with him on the floor, resulting in a 16-point loss. What’s funny is that Harden didn’t even have the worst plus-minus that game; instead it was Ryan Anderson with a disgusting -26. Surely Harden would step it up and play better to close out the series, right? Wrong! In a pivotal Game 6 in Houston, Harden scored only 10 points on 18.2% shooting, fouling out with six turnovers and a plus-minus of -28 in a near 40-point loss to end their season. Looking back on those Rockets teams, it’s easy to determine why they were losing

games: they couldn’t play defense, and their offense remained inconsistent. Take Game 7 of the 2018 Western Conference Finals for example, where they played a dejected Golden State Warriors team in Houston. This was supposed to be the game where Harden cemented his legacy and knocked off one of the greatest teams ever assembled. Instead, the Rockets shot 7-44 from beyond the arc, at one point missing TWENTY-SEVEN consecutive three-pointers, breaking an NBA Playoffs record and opening the door for the Warriors to go to their fourth consecutive Finals. But what’s even more interesting is the almost comical disparity in fouls going Harden’s way. Harden has become one of the league’s premier foul drawers. As of Feb. 23, he’s shot 627 free throws, according to the NBA’s official website. In comparison, the second-leading free throw attempter is Joel Embiid, who’s shot 546 free throws. In 2017, according to fivethirtyeight, Harden was fouled on more threes than any other team in the NBA. This season, he’s had 15 four-point plays, which is nine more than the league’s favorite chucker, Stephen Curry. So why is Scott Foster being put to blame? Well, if you want the easy answer, it’s because Foster is a no-nonsense referee. He isn’t chummy with star players, and he is part of an older generation of referees brought up under Joey Crawford, a referee notorious for being a bitter old official who hated everyone and everything (like that one relative we all have). More noteworthy, however, is Foster’s ties to Tim Donaghy. For those who aren’t aware, Donaghy was an NBA referee caught running an illegal gambling ring by the FBI, fixing games to his pockets’ likings. Following

Courtesy of Keith Allison via Flickr Houston Rockets’ guard James Harden rises to shoot in a 2016 game. Harden, an MVP candidate thanks to his unstoppable 1-on-1 game, recently made headlines for criticizing veteran NBA referee Scott Foster. an investigation by the FBI into Donaghy’s activities, Fox News revealed that during the 2006-2007 season, Donaghy called Foster 134 times, leading some fans and analysts to believe that Foster was a part of the gambling ring (CBS Boston, “Scott Foster, Recipient Of 134 Tim Donaghy Phone Calls, Refereeing Celtics-Heat Game 3,” 06.01.2012). And with the recent passing of a law that will legalize sports betting, the reputations of referees like Foster have become even more questionable. Neither the league nor the FBI found substantive evidence incriminating Foster, however, and he’s earned respect from numerous players and NBA officials as one of the best in the game. So, James, instead of whining because the referees didn’t baby you and give you every call, focus on trying to get your team together and making a run as you approach the playoffs.

VC takes second place in final Seven Sisters Championship WOMEN’S TENNIS continued

Courtesy of Nick Jallat

from page 1 The Seven Sisters Championship also used a unique tournament format. Instead of the normal structure of three doubles matches followed by six singles, teams competed in two doubles matches and three singles all during the same time slot, which meant players could each compete only once per matchup. This unorthodox format granted coaches an opportunity to rotate rosters throughout the weekend, allowing players to compete in positions or with teammates they may otherwise not have. Explained junior Tara Edwards, a captain: “For me, this has been one of the highlights of my career thus far because it has given me the opportunity to play doubles with someone I don’t normally get the chance to. This is a fun change of pace that I think is fun for not just me, but for the entire team.” Because of the novel format Edwards partnered with her fellow captain, senior Morgane Flournoy. The duo was named to the All-Tournament Team after claiming victory at the No. 1 doubles slot for the third year in a row. For her part, Flournoy agreed that the Seven Sisters were special in how they allowed for interaction and bonding with opposing players. “I am really going to miss the Seven Sister Tournament because it is truly unique in tennis,” Flournoy affirmed. “Compared with other tournaments we play as a team, Seven Sisters is just as competitive, but there is also a sense of camaraderie with your opponent that is very rare to find in a tennis match.” In the process of helping build new relationships between players of opposing teams, the Seven Sisters encourages teams to build community within themselves. During the banquet, each program’s seniors present the rest of their team to all of the other at-

Women’s tennis captains, senior Morgane Flournoy and junior Tara Edwards, pose after being named to the Seven Sisters Championship’s All-Tournament Team. In the finals against Wellesley, the pair won at first doubles, but ultimately the Brewers fell 4-1. tendees, choosing a theme and then describing each individual’s character—both as a teammate and as a person. This year, Flournoy (Vassar’s only senior) gave each other member of the team a stuffed animal that represented them in some way. For Edwards, the process of giving and receiving gifts and introductions is a big part of what makes the Seven Sisters so special. “For my team especially, the seniors giving gifts to each player on the team is one of the highlights of the weekend,” she explained. “Not only is it fun to receive a gift about your personality from your senior, but overall it demonstrates the strong team and friendship bonds that have formed through tennis [and] also allows you to get to know your op-

ponents as people rather than just a player on the opposite side of the net.” In the midst of all the camaraderie and bonding unique to the Seven Sisters Championship, the Vassar team also put forth an impressive tennis display. In their matchups against Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke and Smith, the Brewers only dropped a single match. Even in the final matchup against Wellesley, Vassar fought hard, taking two of the four lost matches to a third-set tiebreaker. Flournoy attributed the team’s performance to the conditioning and character of the team, saying “I think...our fitness has been really great. And I thought it really showed today, just like being faster on the

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

court, being able to handle longer points...I thought just our attitude on the court [was great]...the determination all the way until the end. It can sometimes be easy to give up, even just like within the last couple points, but no one on the team did that today.” Campbell also praised the team’s character, along with their support for one another even when they were not actively playing. The long-serving coach added that, with such a young roster, she took full advantage of the opportunity to give experience to different players and was happy with how it turned out. Campbell noted that there is always room to improve, but she still focused on the positive, adding, “As the season goes forward...I think we have things for each of the young women on the team [to work on], whether it be serve percentage [or] footwork on returns...but as a team I think we just have to use the positives out of this weekend to keep getting better because...our goal is to keep getting better and keep improving and stay positive with ourselves and with each other.” Beyond what it contributed to the teams as tennis players, the Seven Sisters Championship will be remembered for the special sense of community it built between all who attended through the years. “I along with most of the players are sad that this tournament is ending,” Edwards reflected. “The tradition of the tournament, its different format and the banquet with the other Seven Sister players is unique and is one of the benefits of going to a Seven Sister school and playing a sport in college. I think this is what people will miss the most: Getting to know people who have more in common with us...because of the unifying characteristic of us all attending Seven Sister schools.”


SPORTS

Page 20

Josh Lacoste, Track

Why We Play Courtesy of Josh Lacoste

Josh Lacoste

Guest Contributor

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hen I was younger, I hated running—like, with a burning passion. I always thought of running as a punishment, not as something I genuinely enjoyed doing. However, I did love soccer. I played soccer for six years and my least favorite part of soccer was the running. I hated racing against others to chase down the ball, and I was not very aggressive on offense. So naturally, I became a goalie. After a while, my fascination with soccer faded; as I became more familiar with the sport, it became less exciting to me. Combining this with a move to a new school, I was ready for a change. When I was 12 years old, I remember talking to my mom about what sport I wanted to sign up for in the fall. The options at my school were either soccer or cross country. I wasn’t passionate about soccer anymore, so I considered my options. However, I didn’t think cross country would be a good fit for me. As I’ve mentioned, I hated running and, of course, the entire sport was just running. My mother, however, convinced me that this was the fresh start I needed, so I signed up anyway. Needless to say, I hated it. My first practice went terribly. I wanted to throw up the entire

February 28, 2019

time. It was physically demanding and overall not an enjoyable experience. I desperately wanted to quit. My mother wouldn’t let me, however, and said I needed give it a chance. My coach that year saw potential in me when no one else really did. I remember her telling me one day, “You need to toughen up.” I had never been talked to so bluntly in my life, but it’s the advice I needed to hear. That’s when it started to click for me: This sport was all about mentality. It’s so much more than just a finishing time, it’s the journey you take to get there. Racing started to become exciting for me. I got a rush of adrenaline every time I competed and had an inert desire to prove myself to others. That’s not to say that I loved every aspect of running. I developed a love-hate relationship with it, for sure. I hated being on a team that was comprised of me and literally one other kid (especially when all of the self-proclaimed cool kids were on the soccer team), and I really hated spending all my time in practice. But the harder I worked, the better my results were. Seeing that improvement was the catalyst that made me want to be the best version of myself. That spring, I signed up for and fell in love with track. I tried out a bunch of events: hurdles, relays, the mile and sprints. The diversity of events allured me. Cross country was very mundane in that each course was the same distance, but track excited me because I got to choose my own adventure. I started to put in the requisite time and energy. Over the next several years my body slimmed down, my times really improved and I was well-known at my high school for my achievements. At the end of my high school career I was a four-year double varsity athlete in both cross country and track.

That was something I was really proud of. Near the end of my first semester of senior year, I was in a really weird place in terms of my relationship with running. I wanted to go to an Ivy League school, and I had given up on the possibility of running in college, knowing that I was not fast enough to be a DI athlete. I sent in my application early decision and got deferred to regular admissions, which at the time was really upsetting. In November, once I was out of cross country season, I started thinking harder about college and where I saw myself in that environment. I missed running. I missed my teammates and being in season. That was the moment I knew—I wanted to be a collegiate athlete. I was good enough to be a collegiate athlete. And being deferred gave me the time and headspace to realize this was actually what I wanted. I had been in talks with coaches at several different colleges—Kenyon, Amherst and Vassar—and was testing out the waters for what life in college would look like as a student-athlete. After visiting for Admitted Students Day, I had a gut feeling that Vassar was where I belonged. I saw myself happy there, and that was the most important factor. Looking back now as a sophomore, I never once regretted that decision. Vassar is my home. Being a sprinter on the track team has been such a positive experience in my life. I have really great friends who support me on and off the track. My coach is flexible, pushes me and makes me feel comfortable enough to open up to him about my personal life. I have faced my share of struggles though, and in these moments I often do find myself asking the question: Why do I run? Why do I spend around 20 hours a week doing this activity? Track is physically ex-

hausting, and in all honesty, it gives me a lot of anxiety. Social anxiety about team dynamics, personal anxiety about performing well and general anxiety about not meeting others’ expectations. Why have I been competitively running for almost eight years now? For a long time, it’s just what I did. I wasn’t a quitter, and I wanted to see myself improve. Now that I’m in college, away from my parents, old enough to make my own decisions, I theoretically could stop whenever I wanted. What keeps me going is that track has shaped me to adopt a mentality where I work hard at the things I do and strive to be the best version of myself. It gives me an outlet to destress about my life. It gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment knowing I was able to complete a really tough workout. I run because, for a brief moment, nothing else matters. I can escape reality and just focus on the task at hand. And for me, that’s beautiful. I will always have a love-hate relationship with running. Any runner will tell you they experience really high highs, and really low lows. I’ve faced plenty of setbacks in my athletic career. But I’ve learned that it’s not just about getting back up after you fall, but also about how fast you rebound after a setback. Track has taught me to work hard for my accomplishments and to always hold myself accountable. I am proud to be a track athlete, and I am so proud of the accomplishments of anyone I’ve ever had the honor of running next to in a school uniform. I might not always be on the Vassar track and field team, but I will always be a runner. Being a runner isn’t just a position on a team, it’s a state of mind. I’ll carry the lessons I’ve learned and the ways I’ve grown from competing in track with me for the rest of my life.

Men’s Fencing

Men’s Tennis

Vassar College 7, NYU 20

Vassar College 9, Clark University 0 February 23, 2019

February 13, 2019 Men’s fencing hasn’t competed since Feb. 13: a 7-20 loss to NYU. Earlier in thay day, the Brewers fell to Columbia. The losses came after Vassar won four of five matches at the previous weekend’s Northeast Conference Multimeet. The team, 26-19 on the year, returns to competition this Saturday, Mar. 2 in the NEIFC Championships in Wellesley, MA.

In their fourth contest of the Spring season, facing off against Clark University in Shrewsbury, MA on Saturday, Feb. 23, Kelly McDermott’s men’s tennis team cruised to a 9-0 win. Juniors Allen Sokolov (pictured) and Jeremy Auh got things started for the Brewers, winning 8-5 at first doubles. Vassar doesn’t play again until their spring break trip to Southern California.

Women’s Swimming and Diving

4th at Liberty League Championships

Women’s Squash

1st at CSA Chaffee Cup

February 24, 2019

February 24, 2019

The women’s swimming and diving team took fourth at the Liberty League Championships last Saturday, Feb. 23. First-year Jesse Ecklund won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.82, a Vassar program and Liberty League Championship record. Ecklund’s time—the fifth-fastest mark swam in DIII this year— qualified her for the NCAA Championships in late March.

Written by Myles Olmsted, Sports Editor Photos courtesy of Nick Jallat

MISCELLANY NEWS | VASSAR COLLEGE

On Sunday, Feb. 24, women’s squash took the 2019 College Squash Association (CSA) Women’s Team “E Division” National Championships. After dispatching Bard College and Colgate College, Vassar beat Bowdoin College, 7-2, to take the CSA Chaffee Cup title. It was the Brewers’ final competition of the season.


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