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September 21, 2006
Weekly Calendar 9/22-9/28
The Matthew Vassar School of Learning
Poughkeepsie, NY—During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, painted copies and plaster casts were used to cultivate an appreciation of major works of western art, as well as a corresponding sense of elite culture to Americans who could not travel to see the original works firsthand...As the first U.S. college founded with both a permanent art collection and an art gallery, and with art among its core academic offerings, “It is no surprise that Vassar College collected and displayed both copies and casts from the very start,” said Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, an associate professor of art.
Women’s rugby values experience, not just wins
Acacia O'Connor
How do you measure the success of a team? Do you measure it in wins and losses, or in the number of points scored? Do you measure it in championship appearances? If you define success in these terms, Vassar women’s rugby is certainly extraordinary. However, if you ask Coach Tony Brown, he’ll tell you that it isn’t the numbers that count.
Athlete of the Week
Liz Pacheco
The women’s volleyball team captured the Vassar Invitational title on Sept. 9. En route to their final win over Skidmore, the team defeated Union College, Hunter College, and, for the first time in tournament history, SUNY Cortland. While the entire Vassar team performed well, captain Amanda Hsuing ’08 had a particularly standout performance.
Aikido class offers fun for beginners, experts alike
Emma Carmichael
When you think of martial arts, you may think of typical ninja movies: people dressed in black with covered faces, flying through the air while yelling battle cries and ripping out their opponents’ hearts. Aikido, a Japanese martial art form that has been in existence for over 80 years, does not quite fit that image.
Rushdie emphasizes power, neccessity of storytelling
Acacia O'Connor
“The truth about the world is that the world is not realistic. The world, in fact, is a fantastic place.” These words, pronounced to hundreds of students and community members in the Vassar College Chapel, shed light on where author Salman Rushdie places himself in the world of literature. In many ways, Rushdie, this year’s William Starr Freshman Course Lecturer, personifies a mixture of reality and myth—a fact that was apparent in his interactions with the student body on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
“Vassar Girls” on runway
Mally Anderson
Fashion label Tuleh’s Fall 2006 collection featured slim, below-the-knee pencil skirts, prim coats and suits, and muted wools. The pieces’ headline? “Vassar Girls.” In the July/August 2006 issue of Departures magazine, an article entitled “Vassar Femmes,” (written by an anonymous Vassar alumna) explored the idea of the archetypal Vassar girl and whether she ever really existed.
U.S.-India ties changed after Sept. 11, panel says
Mike Alberti
As Professor Emeritus of Political Science M. Glen Johnson took the podium to introduce the panel discussion “India Today: Reliable Partner or Emerging Rival?” on Tuesday, Sept. 19, he reflected on the country’s dramatic emergence into the public consciousness.
Plans for neighboring Hyde Park will protect historic town’s charm
Shahreen Saifi
Hyde Park, the former hometown of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Vanderbilt family, has been known for its landmarks, inns and small shows, as well as the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Four years ago, the town developed plans to ensure that “historic” did not mean “outdated,” and in July 2005 the town board took a decisive step towards development by releasing the newest draft of its comprehensive plan.
This Week at Vassar in 1982
The Vassar women’s volleyball team was returning from a match on Monday, Sept. 20 when they came upon a one-vehicle accident on the Taconic Parkway. The driver, Poughkeepsie resident and Culinary Institute of America student Karen Morris, had lost control of her car and smashed into a tree, sustaining a concussion and a broken clavicle.
Vassar Technology Today |Conference system makes learning truly global
Matthew Leung
In fall 2005, a group of Vassar students and a group of German students sat down to discuss the Holocaust, thousands of miles between them. The distance was bridged by an Internet connection, a camera, and a plasma video screen. Weeks later, Associate German Professor Jeffrey Schneider sat in that same room under the overhead studio lights with his students to talk to a group of German actors who were in a Schiller play.
Crossword puzzle solutions
Global Connections crosswordJer Isseks...Staff Editorial | Effects of early admissions under scrutiny
Harvard University is ending all Early Admissions programs for Fall 2007 applications. The decision caused a stir in the academic community, and seven days later, Princeton announced similar plans to drop its early admissions program. Colleges and universities around the country have entered a debate about the merits and pitfalls of EA, raising the questions of why colleges have these programs and who benefits from them.
Eye On America | The price of safety—do we pay too much?
Ross Weingarten
On Sept 14, the Senate Armed Service Committee approved a new approach to detaining and questioning terrorism suspects that the Bush administration deemed too lenient. The new legislation gives suspects more rights than they have had in the past, and limits the use of coercive measures such as torture to attain information. The Committee, which includes powerful Republican senators such as John Warner of Virginia and John McCain of Arizona, said that Bush’s proposal did not do enough to protect the rights of detainees. The White House was outraged, and said that they needed their approach to pass in order to gain vital information to stop future terrorist attacks.
Views On Vassar | Lack of variety in Campus Dining a cause for concern
Tendai Musakwa
Catherine E. Beecher, a noted educator and culinary expert in the 19th century, once said, “The art of keeping a good table consists not in loading on a variety at each meal, but rather in securing a successive variety.” Diversity is imperative in producing a balanced and wholesome diet, but unfortunately this element is lacking in the College’s dining services. The two main dining facilities on campus, the All-Campus Dining Center (ACDC) and The Retreat, serve a myriad dishes and sides but still lack “successive variety,” as Beecher calls it, in the food they serve. In short, students at Vassar are fed the same food repeatedly, and this has raised concern regarding their health.
Accountability sorely lacking in sports journalism
Kyle Nelson
Sports journalism is an increasingly broad field that jumps in leaps and bounds when national scandal is on the horizon. Remember OJ? Mark McGwire? Barbaro? The news has always been objective truth, but what happens when a simple game becomes a scientific survey and any definitive achievement can be dethroned by slander? Today, every move is questioned, every record asterisked. Where once it was simple performance enhancers, today it is testosterone. Where once there was a simple drug test and a yes or no answer, today there is a convoluted and questionable process that leaves just as many questions and answers. Unfortunately, athletes from across the sports spectrum have begun to find out that all it takes is one skeptic to destroy an entire legacy.
Assessing weight (in pounds) of empire
Evan Caspter-Futterman
I am generally an ardent critic of the United States government, especially when it relates to issues of international cooperation or shared purpose between countries. Why does the United States feel compelled to defend its sovereignty against the goals and ambitions of all humanity, as embodied in the Kyoto protocol, the International Criminal Court, or the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child—signed by all UN members except for the United States and Somalia? Yet on one critical point I applaud the United States for its continued obstinacy, and indeed wish that our quests for imperial dominion would extend to the sphere of units of weights and measures.
Letter to the Editor | Sept. 11 inappropriate day for chalking
Like most Americans, I was full of emotions on the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. There was rage, fury, and indignation at the perpetrators of the heinous crimes committed that day. There was pity, sorrow, and sympathy for the thousands who lost loved ones, and awe, respect, and reverence for the untold many who acted selflessly.
ACT OUT protests in NYC
Military's LGBT policy protested
Stephen Cheng
Katie Paul
More than 50 Vassar students protested at the Armed Forces Recruitment Office in Times Square on Wednesday, Sept. 20 and railed against the United States military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which they say is a violation of the civil rights of those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT).
Students take part in Darfur rally
Christine Vines
Marching along Fifth Avenue and congregating in Central Park, tens of thousands of people rallied in New York City on Sunday, Sept. 17 to protest the genocide in Sudan. Demonstrations occurred throughout the world for the Voices to Stop Genocide campaign, which were scheduled to coincide with the opening of the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations (UN). Approximately 30 Vassar students representing Save Darfur and Hunger Action gathered in New York.
Early admissions eliminated at Harvard, Princeton
Colleges debate drawbacks of early admissions
Rachel Wolff
On Sept. 12, Harvard University announced the termination of its early admissions program beginning next year. Less than a week after Harvard went public with its decision, Princeton University announced that it too would eliminate its early admissions option.
Lathrop fire leaves extensive damage
Mike Alberti
In the aftermath of the garbage can fire on the third floor of Lathrop House on Sept. 10, 20 students have been displaced from their rooms because of smoke and water damage. These students have been relocated to different rooms in Lathrop, as well as to other residence houses. Students were initially given a one- to two-day period before they could return to their rooms, but this wait period has now been extended to two to three weeks.
