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March 30, 2007
Women’s lacrosse scores Seven Sisters title
Juliana Kiyan and Lauren Sutherland
The formidable Swarthmore team was only one of the adversaries that the Vassar women’s lacrosse team had to face at the semi-final game of the Seven Sisters Tournament on Saturday, March 24.
Overtime | Steroids prevalent in professional sports
Kyle Nelson
In baseball, random testing allows most players to get away with doping; there are enough loopholes in the process that when a guy’s muscles balloon to McGwire-size and he gets caught, the media and the public act like it’s a fluke.
Chikanobu’s nostalgic prints come to FLLAC
Liza Darwin
Japanese woodblock print artist Yoshu Chikanobu explored a wide range of themes during his career, and influenced many international artists during the latter half of the 19th century.
Wesleyan professor to speak on influential American architect
Rachel Pittenger
Famed modern architect Louis Sullivan revolutionized the way Americans thought about buildings at the end of the 19th century.
Zodiac confounds police, viewers
Matthew Poland
David Fincher’s new true-crime drama, Zodiac, which documents the string of murders that terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the late ’60s and early ’70s, may just be the antithesis of his earlier thriller Se7en.
Music Box | I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead
Mike Newmark
Hip-hop was becoming a tired institution when El-P, Bigg Jus and Mr. Len (under the moniker Company Flow) recorded one of the most stunning hip-hop albums of the ’90s.
Ethnic Studies experts share insights
Sarah Siegel
Ethnic Studies has been one of the most dynamic issues surrounding Vassar curriculum over the past several years.
ACT OUT participates in day of lobbying
Mike Alberti
Last Monday, March 26, ACT OUT and the Vassar College Democrats teamed up to actively raise United States politicians’ awarness of the controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
Winston brings back sex lectures
Jackson Reeves
If put to the test, how many men would fail to find the clitoris? Some women don’t even know where to find their own. But never fear, Sheri Winston is here.
Two Broads Abroad | Visiting primary sources brings a new level of understanding
Molly Finkelstein
Some people are born dorky, some achieve dorkiness, and some have dorkiness thrust upon them. I’d like to think that maybe this new level of academic dorkiness I have achieved has been thrust upon me and is not my own fault.
Vassar community celebrates childhood
Emma Epstein
Tomorrow, you can go back to the good old days of playing with finger paint and Play-Doh.
Vassar Technology Today | Emphasis on user provides diversity in the digital realm
Matthew Leung
Two boys met in a dark parking lot, embraced and kissed in the video game Bully that was released in October 2006 by Rockstar Vancouver for Sony PlayStation 2.
Yearley to explore use of wandering
Mike Alberti
Stanford University Professor of Philosophy Lee H. Yearley said that he accepted the invitation to deliver the Matthew Vassar lecture on Wednesday April 4.
Staff Editorial |ResLife should not outsource investigations to students
At a small residential college like Vassar, students are expected to be respectful of their residence houses
Eye on America | Moderate Muslims’ voices can help to curb extremist terrorism
Ross Weingarten
Recently, at a checkpoint outside of Baghdad, a car with two men in the front and young children in the back seat approached a group of American and Iraqi soldiers.
Views on Vassar | Policy forbidding employee access to dorms misguided
Tendai Musakwa
The fact that employees (non-teaching staff and faculty) of the College require guest passes to enter dormitories is worrying and unacceptable.
Object Lessons | Lay off Right, we of the Left can intimidate each other just fine
Carolyn Bradley
What’s the matter with the Vassar left? By now, it has become almost a rite of passage for pundits of The Miscellany News to pen a hand-wringing article about the mistreatment of conservative students on campus by liberals.
Letters to the Editor | Killer Coke campaign leaves many students flat
Letters to the Editor | Students can’t decry their Coke and drink it too
GSA Administator Lurita Doan ’79 to face allegations of misconduct
Amanda Melillo
Vassar College trustee Lurita Alexis Doan ’79 made her first appearance at a hearing regarding allegations of misconduct in her role as administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
High cost of higher education in U.S. again subject of scrutiny
Hayley Tsukayama
In a bold move, peer liberal arts institution Davidson College became the first liberal arts college to eliminate the use of loans from its financial aid packages in favor of grants and work-study programs to reduce the amount of debt for undergraduate students.
VSA, ResLife to streamline relationship
Brian Farkas
The structure of House Teams will be significantly changed as of the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year.
Student arrested for poking around prison with pot
Katie Paul
When Africana Studies major Jessica Kibblewhite ’07 visited a New York State prison to conduct research for her senior theis, she had no idea that she would soon become a part of that research.
Walkouts protest Iraq War anniversary
Shahreen Saifi
The war in Iraq sparked protests at colleges and universities across the country last week as students joined the growing anti-war movement.
News Briefs
Photo of the Week
Warm weather greeted students as they returned from spring break. Freshmen Chris Root and Marco Brydool-Horowitz left their shirts at home on Tuesday, March 27 when temperatures rose into the...March 01, 2007
Weekly Calendar 3/2-3/9
Backpage
Spring sports set to start their seasons
Emma Carmichael
Even in the midst of snowstorms, Vassar spring sports teams are gearing up for their upcoming seasons.
Uphill season for downhill ski team
Sports Briefs
VRDT celebrates 25 years at Bardavon
Audrey Tempelsman
For 138 years, myriad dance legends and other performing artists have leapt across the small stage of the Bardavon 1869 Opera House, located at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie. For the past 25 years, the Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre (VRDT) has maintained its place in the Bardavon’s rich history.
Well-versed Australian poet to read original works
Liza Darwin
Prominent Australian poet Les Murray will host a reading of his works on Tuesday, March 6. His poetry, described by The New Yorker as “working-class lyricism,” has received worldwide acclaim and awards.
DJ Rekha mixes it up with lecture on bhangra in U.S.
Lauren Sutherland
Bhangra, a form of traditional Indian song and dance that originated in harvest festivals in the Punjabi region of India, has found a home in a radically different—but no less celebratory—setting.
Letters from Iwo Jima a rare, haunting war film triumph
Matthew Poland
François Truffaut once famously argued that it is impossible to make a successful anti-war film, because by its very nature cinema renders violence an exciting spectacle. Few films produced in the 40-year interval since his claim have done anything to challenge it.
Music Box | Explosions in the Sky
Mike Newmark
There was a moment during All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone that truly scared me. It came in the middle of the 13-and-a-half-minute “It’s Natural to be Afraid,” where two guitars quietly and comfortably meander in three-fourth time.
Spring Break Arts Calendar
College drafting plan for possible pandemic
Sarah Siegel
When Betsy Wieand ’08, along with her fellow health interns, along with campus Emergency Medical Technicians were presented with the College’s plans for a possible flu pandemic, their party favor was neither the ubiquitous free pizza nor Nilda’s baked goods: it was hand sanitizer.
NSO adds comics events to NonCon
Weintana Abraha
It’s that time of the year again: The College Center is abuzz with video games, card tournaments, and game enthusiasts of all ages.
Two Broads Abroad | U.S. tourists prompt humbling experience
Acacia O'Connor
After five semesters of Italian language classes and two trips to Italy, I had accumulated a certain amount of pride in my ability to function as a student and not solely as a tourist.
Pastry Garden takes the cake
Emma Epstein
I discovered The Pastry Garden while searching for a friend’s birthday cake, and I almost wish I hadn’t, because I haven’t been able to stop going back.
Vassar Technology Today | Overdependence on bandwith is a disaster waiting to happen
Matthew Leung
Our complaints about the slowness of bandwidth at Vassar are like our complaints about congestion on the highway: During rush hour, the demand for roadway seems unlimited. But on the entire global scope of bandwidth usage, the availability of bandwidth is actually meeting, if not surpassing, the demand.
Has Vassar College gone to the dogs?
Staff Editorial | College designation of gender-neutral bathrooms laudable
If you do not identify with your biological sex, which bathroom do you choose? Men’s room? Women’s room?
Eye On America | Prince Harry’s deployment highlights hypocrisy of politicians
Ross Weingarten
Imagine receiving the order that within weeks, you will be sent to Iraq to join the war. Imagine knowing that you and your friends will soon be involved in an an incredibly unpopular war, and that in a short time you will be surrounded by heavily-armed enemies who want to make your life as hard as possible.
Views On Vassar | Students should be given full control over transcript access
Tendai Musakwa
How would you like it if every single administrator on campus could access your academic records? Or if the Office of Residential Life and the Learning and Teaching Center were to contact you to discuss ways to change your lifestyle in order to raise your gpa?
Opposition to Iraq war shows selfishness of American citizens
Christopher Binetti
In a recent Democratic Party primary debate, Congressman Dennis Kucinich stated that the common claim that President Bush deceived the American public was not true. When the debate on the Iraq invasion began to intensify in the fall of 2002, the President did not postulate a good enough reason to go to war.
Off Topic, On Point | Obama may not bring the change we desire
Evan Casper-Futterman
Two Facebook groups have probably appeared on your news feed recently: “One Million Strong for Barack Obama” and “America for Barack Obama.” So, is Barack your friend on Facebook?
Vassar fundraising tops $50 million
Shahreen Saifi
It was a record-breaking year of fundraising for Vassar, among many schools. According to the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), Vassar raised $34,337,585, but including gifts and pledges, Vassar’s total fundraising for the year was approximately $50 million.
VSA to initiate faculty evalutations
Danielle Laberge
The Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council passed the Professor Review Resolution to create a forum for faculty evaluation at its Feb. 25 meeting. The idea sprang from the former AskStudents database, which was dismantled by the administration over concerns of unfair grades and inappropriate comments.
Ongoing sewage troubles shut down the Mug
Brian Farkas
After a series of sewage leaks in Matthew’s Mug, the campus bar has been shut down until extensive repairs can be made.
ACT OUT demonstrates in Retreat
Stephen Cheng
ACT OUT, the student activist group that protested the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in New York City during the Fall 2006 semester, held a silent vigil and fundraiser in the Retreat on Feb. 22.
Rutgers awarded $3 million for federal social monitoring project
Hayley Tsukayama
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, a $3 million grant this week to study patterns in online social networking, part of a four-university collaborative program begun this past summer.
News Briefs | Security
ALANA bulletin board vandalized
Audrey Tempelsman
Last week, students discovered black ink scrawled over the announcement board of the African American/Black, Latino, Asian/Asian American, Native American (ALANA) Center, Vassar’s primary resource for students of color.
