Humans vs. Zombies: A Community Builder

Posted by Jesse Riggs

As someone who has organized at least seven games of Humans vs. Zombies and advised moderators around the nation and around the world on a few dozen more games, a current security chief of a small college, and holding a masters degree in higher education administration, I feel compelled to respond to Prof. Nechtman's concerns.  His concerns are all common, and perhaps legitimate, objections raised about the game that have been answered many times by students introducing the game to their campus.

First, I would like to encourage Prof. Nechtman to play the game.  Then he will have an opportunity to see firsthand the benefits I will outline below.  I hope he will at least take a moment to discuss it with the players on your campus.

Humans vs. Zombies has probably the greatest return-on-investment for student participation hours of any activity of which I am aware.  Students provide their own gear, props involved in gameplay are usually improvised from objects the moderators have in their homes, and it can be run from a free website.  Meanwhile it engages students for an entire week.

I agree that academically speaking the timing of this particular game is bad, and I hope the people in charge of scheduling take that into consideration next semester.  Ideally as moderators the organizers should have tried to schedule it for a week less likely to have important due dates, both to minimize impact on academics and to maximize the time players can commit to the game if they so choose.  Students are encouraged to go to class, that is how the game progresses.  If no one goes to class, no one gets tagged.  And then, also by virtue of the gameplay, students are going to hole up in a lounge or library until they absolutely have to cross campus again, during which time they just might study.

But, when Nechtman states that discussion of the game dominates pre-class discussion, he misses the obvious fact that this game is a tremendous relief from the everyday grind of class and homework, and an active alternative to video games or other sedentary pastimes.  HvZ is seen by many as an opportunity to put aside the hum-drum trapping of a college student, challenge themselves, and pit their wits against a campus full of adversaries.

And adversaries are only half of the game.  The other half is one's allies, those students who you instantly bond with because you are both wearing a bandanna either on the arm or around the head.  That bandanna is enough to begin a friendship between any two people.  In the moment they meet, as "humans," the bandana is all that matters, not the other person's political views, religious beliefs, or music preferences.  Players have a chance to connect with that person at the most basic of levels, where true character is revealed.  Honest, deceptive, brave, meek, loyal, or self-preserving, it will show during a game of HvZ.  I find that most players are honest and loyal, and oftentimes brave, though no one can really blame the guy who sprints away in the face of a zombie Horde.  Discretion is the better part of valor, after all.

Around the nation, HvZ games have been organized for fundraising efforts.  "University of Oregon's Humans vs. Zombies raises money for Japan," and "Humans vs. Zombies; Battle across UA's campus raises money for charity," are just two of the headlines trumpeting the social good that can be accomplished by the players of HvZ.

HvZ encourages teamwork, critical thinking, and situational awareness, all extremely useful skills in the emergencies you believe are made light of by this game.

Nechtman drew parallels between a game of HvZ and real mass shootings. I put forward that HvZ could prevent such shootings, by reaching out to and including the individuals who are in danger of following the path that leads to such atrocities, giving them a circle of friends and peers they were otherwise lacking in their lives, who will pull them back from that path.

HvZ is, by and large, an unusual game.  I hope everyone who plays will forgive me for saying we're all geeks and nerds in some way.  Great numbers of us will admit to having difficulty fitting in with the "cool" people, those people who will look at a game of HvZ and say "What a bunch of babies, running around with toys.  Why don't they play a real sport?"  Or "It's ridiculous that they can't find a normal activity to occupy their time," as if normal was something to which they should aspire.

Seung-Hui Cho, Adam Lanza, James Eagan Holmes, and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were not "normal."  No one can defend or condone what they did, but we see a pattern of individuals existing on the fringe of their society, drawn apart because they did not go in for "normal activities," or were too awkward to function on the party scene, or suffered from depression.

HvZ doesn't cure depression, it doesn't suddenly give you the ability to be the life of the party, but because it is not a normal activity, I suggest that it can and will draw in, accept, and help to heal those individuals wounded and scorned by "normal" society.

Additionally, Nechtman seems to propose that the tragedies of the past should interfere with our enjoyment of the present.  Why did these people who caused those tragedies lash out, except to vent their anger, fear, and despair, and impose those feelings upon others?  Will we lock down colleges and post guards and ban toys so that students hurry to class, not for the thrilling "fear" of being tagged, but for fear that if they linger too long they'll be marked as suspicious?  Fear that the next monster with a gun will catch them?

I speak in the extreme, but extreme circumstances were the examples Nechtman gave.  To say to students "You should not play this game where you pretend to fight fictional zombies because real people have been killed by other real people," is just fear mongering, giving stage time to the darkness, and snuffing out one of the bright points on which we should be focusing.

When Nechtman finds proof that Humans vs Zombies actively damages Skidmore's reputation, recruitment, or academic mission, he should most certainly bring it to someone's attention.  Because that will mean HvZ is failing its purpose.  Until then, he might take time to consider his purpose as an educator and goals of HvZ.  I believe he might find HvZ worth supporting, provided they don't schedule it during any big exams he administers.  That would be annoying.

Reel Talk: Talk to Her: With Bow Tie Cinemas opening in a few weeks, Sean turns to his Netflix indie queue for inspiration.

Posted by Sean van der Heijden

As many of you know, we have been without a movie theater since last February, when the Regal Cinemas in Wilton closed down. Well, that's all about to change. The Bow Tie Cinemas just off of Church St. that's been under construction for some time now is finally opening on Oct. 17. Until then, I'll be reviewing random movies-warningI have no method to this. Hopefully I can expose you to some pretty good films, though, so here we go:

First up is Talk to Her, written and directed by Spanish auteur Pedro Almod??var. Easily one of Spain's greatest filmmakers, Almod??var actually won an Oscar for this original screenplay back in 2003, but I'd wager the film has remained largely unseen by the general public.

Without giving too much away, Talk to Her is about a peculiar friendship that forms between two men as they care for two women who are both in a coma. Slightly surreal, wildly creative, and hauntingly beautiful, this film is certainly not for everyone, but I was entranced the entire time. The dialogue is also fantastic-at least in Spanish, but it's well worth reading the subtitles for as well.

On the performance side of things, both the male leads-Javier C??mara and Dar??o Grandinetti-are convincingly normal, yet subtly emotional. By that I mean there's nothing particularly special about their characters, but it's how they handle the situations they are thrown into that's truly interesting. As for the two women, portrayed by Leonor Waiting and Rosario Flores, they both manage to give incredibly powerful performances despite being unconscious for a large majority of the film.

And no, I did not just give away the ending. The story is told partly in flashbacks, and that's what is so brilliant about it. We get to see how the two men met their respective women, their troublesome and complex relationships that follow, and the women's inevitable comas, all the while seeing how the men are dealing with the aftermath of the whole situation. Screen legend Geraldine Chaplin also has a small but pivotal role that she pulls off with perfection.

On one last note, this film is also an amazing portrait of contemporary Spanish life. Set mainly in Madrid, I was completely immersed into the culture within the first 15 minutes, which is no small feat. The beautiful, classically Spanish score by Alberto Iglesias definitely helps with that, too, as well as the soft, romantic lighting used throughout by cinematographer Javier Aguirresarobe.

Talk to Her is a fascinating character study that ends so ingeniously that it's no wonder Almod??var won an Oscar for his script. I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for something, well, a little different-because it is different by all accounts of the word, but still a imaginative and mesmerizing story all the way through.

Public opinion swells as labor union negotiations continue

Posted by Elizabeth Hopkins '15

On Thursday Sept. 19 at 8 a.m., a group of students gathered silently on Case Green for an hour in a stand of solidarity for Skidmore College employees, whose contracts with Skidmore College expired this year. Students at the event last Thursday sought to show support for workers on an issue that "affects their livelihood," Joseph Alvarez '16, a member of the new Skidmore Labor Student Alliance (SLSA) said.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 200United is currently in competition with the United Professional and Service Employees Union (UPSEU) Local 1222, contending for the ability to represent Skidmore service employees. According to Skidmore administrators, service employees as a group have three options; they can vote to reinitiate their contract with SEIU, sign with a different union, or vote to forgo any union representation at all. A vote was taken this past August, but it resulted in stalemate. Negotiations have continued, and are being monitored by the National Labor Relations Board.

This process of renegotiation has been ongoing since the 1970s, according to SLSA members, and was an issue of contention just three years ago, Skidmore administration officials say.

Employee benefits remain the principle issue concerned in this compromise. Employees currently represented by SEIU receive healthcare and pension benefits from the union, not directly from Skidmore. If employees do not renew their contract with SEIU, these benefits could change, depending on whether or not they vote for a different union. Should employees forgo union representation all tother, Skidmore would provide benefits like healthcare and pension plans directly. "Employees are generally concerned," said Skidmore Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer Michael West, continuing "This is their future."

In a letter to the service employees, Skidmore President Phillip Gloztbach urged the employees to forgo union representation, arguing that it would bring the Skidmore community closer together. Skidmore currently maintains that employees would receive a higher level of benefits should they forgo union representation, and that--even though it would raise costs--it has a vested interest in ensuring its employees have a high quality of benefits.

As a result of the recent publicity on the issue and the flurry of student response to the issue, the negotiations have entered the minds of many students on campus. The SLSA has made extensive efforts to meet with Skidmore employees in order to gain a better understanding of the negotiations and why students might want to become aware of the issue.

On Tuesday Sept. 17 the student group met with employees to discuss the negotiations. "What was important in meeting with the workers was hearing their narratives," Brian Fredericks '16, another member of SLSA commented. Some students who have been following the negotiations wish to demonstrate support for employees by showing that they are simply aware of recent events and wish to stay informed about topics that concern workers. "The most important thing is to get this in people's minds," said Alvarez.

Student awareness has also increased significantly after Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun sent an email to the student body and faculty last week to clarify the confusion surrounding the negotiations.

When asked about the student demonstrations, West and Glotzbach urged students interested in the ongoing labor situation to explore the SEIU contract that Skidmore negotiated in 2010, and under which the service workers are currently employed. The contract is available on the Skidmore website here.

Negotiations are ongoing and will continue until a consensus between labor unions, employees, and Skidmore College is reached.

Updated as of September 30, 2013:

Update: On September 30, the Skidmore community received an email from Barbara Beck, Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Director of Human Resources in regard to the SEIU union contract. Skidmore College and SEIU Local 200United, the labor union that currently represents 147 Skidmore employees, reached an agreement to "extend the current union contract until November 30, 2013."

A second run-off election will be held to determine which union Skidmore employees would most like to represent them. Skidmore awaits a response from the National Labor Relations Board about the details of the election.

Barbara Beck also addressed the claims by SEIU that Skidmore College acted inappropriately during the last vote in August in its communications with Skidmore employees. This accusation has "been found to be without merit."

Updated as of November 14, 2013:

On November 13, 2013, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ran a run-off election between SEIU Local 200United and United Professional and Service Employees Union Local 1222. The results were 64 Local 1222 and 63 SEIU. Two ballots remain under review. As a result the NLRB has not yet reached a final decision. Skidmore College's contract with SEIU Local 200United continues until November 30, 2013.

Sussman Village opens ahead of schedule to positive reaction

Posted by Julia Leef '14

This October will mark the official coronation of the Sussman Village, previously known as the "New Apartments," marking the end of the three-phase construction plan which has been underway since January 2012.

The entire village reconstruction project cost $42 million, according to Michael West, Vice President for Finance and Administration and treasurer, $12 million of which was donated to the College by Trustee Emeritus and chair man of the College's investment committee, S. Donald Sussman, for whose family the village is named and whose daughter, Emily Sussman '04, is a Skidmore alumna. Sussman also has the privilege of renaming the individual apartment units if he so chooses.

The Sussman Village apartments have the capacity to house 238 students, although currently about five apartments, which each host four bedrooms, remain open, according to Donald Hastings, Director of Residential Life.

"So far it's beautiful," Hastings said, when asked about the general student reaction to the new apartments. "It's brand new and everybody loves it. The general feel has been real positive." Hastings also said that with the departure of the Class of 2014 this May, the College's largest graduating class to date at 772 students, the College may be able to finally reach its 90 percent student housing goal as more on-campus residences open up.

The new apartments boast larger living rooms and kitchens than their Northwoods counterparts, although the bedrooms are slightly smaller. Students may also park directly behind their apartment complexes, eliminating a lengthy walk to their homes. The new apartments add approximately 170 new beds, resulting in a grand total of 466 apartment-beds on-campus.

"They're really spacious and comfortable," Lucy Flanagan '15 said. "I think the mapping out of them is not very fluid. But the actual buildings themselves are very nice."

"I like the layout of the kitchen," Ariel Strobel '14 said, "and although the bedrooms are smaller I feel that the apartments have a more comfortable vibe than the old Scribner apartments. I wish the parking lots and roads went two ways. I've seen many people just go through the wrong way because they don't want to go all the way around to their apartment, and it's dangerous."

The effort to provide students with on-campus apartment housing has been a long one, starting with the experimental creation of Scribner Village (now the site of Sussman Village) in 1973, which was built with the back-up plan of selling the apartments if they did not work well as student housing.

Years later, when the College sold Moore Hall, a 1957 residential building on Union Avenue for sophomores, in the spring of 2006, the College opened up the Northwoods village that fall on an old staging site. Another complex, Whitman Way, was opened in that village in January of 2012, followed by the Hillside apartments in September of 2012 and concluding with the Sussman apartments that opened at the start of this semester.

The Sussman Village was originally slated to open in November or December of this year. Although the original projection date of completion was at the start of the semester, the College thought this too ambitious of a date, according to Hastings. And even so, only five of the seven units were supposed to be ready by the planned date.

According to Hastings, the Office of Residential Life received word around the second week of August that Apartment F would be ready in time for the new semester, and near the beginning of the semester learned that Apartment I would also be available. The Office of Residential Life reached out to the more than 100 Juniors and Seniors living in the residence halls, and were able to fill most of the newly opened apartments.

"It's been a great project," Hastings said. "As you go up and down the eastern seaboard, I haven't seen anything like it. It's very nice housing."

With more Juniors and Seniors living in apartment housing, Hastings said that he hopes to decrease the number of triples in the residence halls, eventually opening the school year with only 50, as opposed to the 90 percent of the Class of 2014 that had triple housing at the start of their academic year.

With these changes also come considerations to changing the current format of the room selection lottery, leading the Office of Residential Life to consider such possibilities as flipping the order of on-campus and off-campus housing selections or giving sophomores preference in the residence halls over upperclassmen, thus encouraging more upperclassmen to move into the apartments or off-campus.

Hastings also said that he hopes to see a community center built in Sussman Village where students can host parties, meet in groups or attend programs. This building would be located in the space of green between Apartments L and F and would serve to unite students for community activities and meetings.

The Office of Residential Life may be looking to remodel the residence halls again. This works on a cyclic system, with Jonsson Tower being the first of the halls to receive a renovation and Wiecking being the most recently refurbished. Now, Hastings said, the decision lies with whether to start over with Jonsson again, or to take a building out of the cycle for the year and completely redo it.

"We need to look at our residence halls and see what the next generation going out will need or want," Hastings said, adding that this continuous reworking has always been a part of the College's history. Originally, the halls in the south and north quads served as dorms instead of living spaces, with the Starbuck building serving as the common area for the south quad and the Barrett Center for the north quad.

There is also a discussion of what to do with the Hillside apartments, which has been considered in the past for sophomore-only housing. The discussion includes the debate of whether to make themed housing (spinning off of first-year seminars, clubs and organizations or members of the Honors Forum). This decision, Hastings said, will have to be made before room selection begins for the fall of 2014. 

Three Thoroughbreds honored by Liberty League

Posted by Katie Peverada

With Skidmore's fall teams doing so well, it is not surprising that individual Thoroughbreds are continually being recognized for their accomplishments. Three athletes continued their stellar performances on the field last week and were honored by the Liberty League for their performances and contributions to their teams:

Dani DeGregory '16 - Field Hockey - Honor Roll
Dani DeGregory scored a career and game high eight points for Skidmore during the team's 8-0 victory over RPI on Saturday. She was named to field hockey's weekly honor roll for her efforts. DeGregory scored three goals, one in the first period and two in the second period and added two assists to go with her hat trick. DeGregory leads Skidmore in assists with nine and is second in goals scored and points registered, with seven and 23 respectively.

Oliver Loutsenko '14 - Men's Tennis - Performer of the Week
Oliver Loutsenko swept the ITA Northeast Regional Championships this past weekend and has advanced to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. Loutsenko won the singles title 6-0, 6-4 over his opponent from New York University and then teamed with Danny Knight '14 to capture the doubles title 6-7, 7-5, 7-6. The USTA/ITA Nationals will take place Oct. 10-13 in Fort Meyers, Fla.

MacKenzie Denver '16 - Golf - Performer of the Week
Mackenzie Denver's second place individual performance led the Thoroughbred golf team to a fourth place finish at the Williams College Invitational. Denver shot a six-over-par 75-73-148, which helped the Thoroughbreds best 20 other teams in the 24 team field. Denver and the golf team now head to the Liberty League qualifier Sept. 28-29 at St. Lawrence University.

Uncharted Track

Posted by Amber Charette

Hello readers! My name is Amber Charette and I am a senior exercise science major here at Skidmore. As a peer health educator on campus, one of my roles this semester is to write for Skidnews on various topics related to health and wellness. And since it is so early in the semester, I decided that my first article would be on the topic of perseverance. Though perseverance is something everyone should possess as a trait, I feel that it is especially beneficial for first-years to know this. Almost four years ago, I submitted my college essay to nearly a dozen schools. Below is what I submitted and though I hope its meaning can be understood without me saying, I will close my article by following up on it.

This is it, I told myself. This is my chance. Last year when I competed in the 100-meter dash, I didn't even make it past semi-finals. But this year, this year was going to be different.

My heart thumped and pulsed and raced in my chest as I approached the starting line. I looked around at the mist-shrouded crowd in the bleachers with their raincoats and umbrellas. They looked antsy, impatient. Focus, I told myself.

I prepared myself as I waited for the official to signal the start of the race, first tightening the elastics in my hair, then repositioning my glasses. I could smell the rubber from the track, a smell I had grown accustomed to over the years. It eases my worries now, since it's always there to catch my feet-Left, right, left, right, left, I hummed to myself. The smell of rubber was tainted only by the sweat already dripping from each of our faces, even though the race hadn't even started yet; that, and the hostility you could almost see, touch, taste, hear, smell, emanating from the staggered starting lines. It's time. The official gave the order: Get on your marks, get set, and for what seemed like a never-ending pause, go!       

The gunshot was part of my past now. I recall feeling as if my legs and mind were not parts of the same body. My legs moved quickly, mechanically even, sure and resolute, but thoughts ambled through my mind at a tortoise's pace.

It came down to me and another girl with longer legs than mine. The other runners were right behind us, but it didn't matter really. My favorite thing about running is how personal it is. The only person I compete against is myself, my legs, my lungs, my thoughts. As the end neared I felt a sudden surge of energy course through my body and I jolted forward across the finish line. I did it. The pain was irrelevant. I was the fastest of the sixty-five sprinters in the race, but more importantly, I had significantly improved my best time (significant being mere seconds in track-but sometimes the most significant things about ourselves are the details, all the small things that we sometimes pay too little attention to).

I never run for the crowd, my coach, the medal. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's great leaving a track meet with medals strewn like glinting pearls around your neck; but it's not so much the medals-the things themselves, those cheap red, white, and blue strands adorned with equally cheap and entirely indistinct medallions-as the sense of accomplishment they represent. I had proved myself to myself. This is an incredible triumph to me because every runner has a point where their times plateau, they don't budge, not even a little, and sometimes they even get worse. It's these moments, moments of static sameness that runners dread most; and it's not because they're not winning, but because they're not improving.

I will continue to push myself to run as fast as I am physically capable of running because then I know I will have dealt with all the details; the space around me won't be an indecipherable blur, but an immaculately detailed picture, not of my surroundings, but of myself. When I run, I'm really stamping out my whole autobiography as it's happening. My footprints are my past and the uncharted track is my future. The time is now and I am somewhere in the middle.

To note, this was where I was at four years ago. Today, I am still running and probably still somewhere in the middle of my journey towards my goals. Over the past few years since coming to Skidmore, I have faced many new challenges, obstacles and set-backs. I have also accomplished new things as well, though. It is four years later and I haven't given up on myself or my abilities. I know that I will always be faced with challenges, but I also know that I will always be strong enough to confront and face them. I found my college essay again after rummaging through my belongings at home this summer. It opened my eyes a bit, and it reminded me how important it is to push yourself to be the best you can be while simultaneously embracing who you are now. My point for sharing this story with you all is to have it serve as a reminder that having perseverance is one of the most important skills for you to possess as a student at Skidmore (or anywhere, really). Practicing this skill will only ensure that you are always trying your best, and you can't really ask much more of yourself if you are doing this. 

Rookie QB Showdown: Geno Smith and EJ Manuel take the AFC East

Posted by Katie Peverada

On Sunday, the New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills by a score of 27-20. To an outsider, this game appeared like any other: two teams struggling to find their way, battling to find a convincing victory. Since 2000, the Jets are 17-10 in matchups against the Bills. Despite the loss, the Bills actually still lead the all-time series 55-51, a close overall series that clearly needs no added pressure. Going into this Week 3 matchup, though, there was arguably more riding on it than in years past.
For the first time in the history of the AFC East rivalry, two rookie quarterbacks faced off: Buffalo's EJ Manuel and New York's Geno Smith. The Bills took Manuel in the first round of this year's draft, a surprise to many, and Smith fell to the Jets in the second round. Due to veteran injuries both quarterbacks found themselves behind center in Week 1. So not only did this matchup determine bragging rights until the teams meet again in Week 11, but it also determined, for the time being, which team made the better choice in the draft.
Both quarterbacks entered the matchup 1-1.
In a close Week 1 loss to New England, Manuel completed 18 of 27 passes for 150 yards. Most importantly, he took care of the ball, never throwing an interception or fumbling the ball on one of his rushing attempts (3 for 23 yards). In Week 2 against Carolina, Manuel made some mistakes. He finished 27 of 39 (69.23% completion percentage) for 296 yards and one touchdown pass. With 1:14 remaining in the third quarter of a tie game, Manuel lost a fumble which resulted in a Carolina field goal. On the next drive he threw an interception which resulted in another field goal. Two Manuel turnovers resulted in a six-point lead for the Panthers. Manuel, though, showed poise in engineering a game-winning drive, getting the ball back with 1:38 left on the clock and, with no timeouts, hitting Stevie Johnson with six seconds left.
Geno Smith came out of Week 1 looking like a rookie who, with some work, could be successful for years to come. He completed 63.16% of his passes, throwing for 256 yards and one touchdown in a close 18-17 victory over Tampa Bay; however, during this game he also threw an interception and fumbled the ball on his own 11 yard line which resulted in a Tampa touchdown. Smith's Week 2 performance certainly led some to believe he just wasn't ready to start in the NFL. Smith's passing line was less than desirable: 15 of 15 (42.86%) and 214 yards and 3 interceptions all in the fourth quarter with his team down by 3.
Going into the game, Manuel had the edge, thanks in part to some more conservative play calling by the Bills. Manuel's passer rating was 95.9 and Smith's was 55.2. However, Smith overcame his mistakes to edge Manuel in round one. Smith threw two interceptions, but more importantly he threw for two touchdowns on 331 yards and rushed for another touchdown. Manuel didn't turn the ball over, but his 45.24% completion percentage left something to be desired.
Smith gave his receivers a chance to make plays, but Manuel struggled with his accuracy all day.
Smith overcame his team's mistakes -- a franchise-record 20 penalties -- and his own, following up one of his interceptions with a touchdown pass on the next Jets' possession.
Smith was able to take control of the game when it was tied 20-20, hitting Santonio Holmes for a 69-yard touchdown pass with 9:23 to play.
Manuel didn't play horribly, he just didn't step up when the Bills need him to.
Round one, Smith.
Interestingly enough, EJ Manuel and Geno Smith are the only two rookie quarterbacks getting substantial playing time this year, so this matchup was even indicative of who the best rookie quarterback is -- or will be. So far, neither quarterback has stepped up. Manuel has one interception to Smith's six and their quarterback ratings are nearly identical (Manuel 47.43, Smith 48.0). But Smith leads in the category where it counts, as his Jets have two wins, but the Bills only have one.
Much like their first matchup, the outcome of their individual and franchise battles will be determined by who can take advantage of the opportunities. It doesn't matter that Manuel is arguably playing better than Smith. In Week 3, it was Smith who played better when required.

America, Insane

Posted by Alex Hodor-Lee

You know that oft-cited Einstein aphorism: insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, last week President Barack Obama made yet another public plea for transformative gun safety laws, on the back of the mass shooting in Washington, D.C.'s Navy Yard.

While I suspect that the pairing of our hugely dysfunctional congress and highly functioning gun lobbies will be enough to stymie any effort at reforming gun safety laws, at least media insects can feed off the slain bodies, never letting a good crisis go to waste.

The media has, once again, engaged in a frenzied effort to find a fresh way of framing another mass American shooting. Immediately following the Navy Yard shooting, politicians called for safety in the Capitol (what a shocker: the security of political elites takes primacy in the critical debate over the safety of the Americans they represent). 

Other media mouthpieces spent their time connecting peripheral dots-they emphasized that USIS, the private contractor that screens two-thirds of federal government employees, including Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis, also vetted the infamous NSA leaker, Edward Snowden.

Let's be very clear. This isn't a story about security in Washington; this isn't a story about the failures of government contractors. Stop with the kaleidoscopic efforts to make meaning amidst chaos. This is a story about this American culture; and folks, we own this culture. Don't get distracted by the sideshows and crazed media vultures. As Danny Hayes, of George Washington University points out, "news coverage of mass shootings follows a pattern. In a shooting's immediate wake, gun control coverage spikes before receding back into relative obscurity." 

Every day, Americans are killed by guns. According to Slate, more than 8,400 people have been killed by guns since the Newtown shooting, which resulted in the death of 20 elementary school children. The Newtown, Conn. shooting shocked the nation, and sparked a worthy discourse about mental illness in America. But the most deranged actor, it turns out, was our U.S. Senate, who failed to pass a timid, bipartisan bill that would require mandatory background checks on most gun purchases. 

In Chicago ghettos, which have become war zones in their own right, young people are killed everyday by gun violence. Conservative commentators have seized on this mindless violence as an opportunity to add their slant, opining that Chicago's tight gun laws are proof that "strict" gun legislation is ineffective. In reality, the opposite is true. 

Illinois' neighboring states-Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri-have lamentably loose gun laws and many firearms are trafficked from the neighboring states and sold to Chicago gangs. Gun laws with no federal uniformity create discontinuity between neighboring states and the subsequent cleavages allow for the flow of guns from legal sellers to illegal buyers.

Last Friday, during a late night basketball game, a gunman opened fire in a Chicago park. Thirteen people were wounded and, luckily, no one was killed. But this act of violence was symbolically perturbing. It meant that the week ended just as it had begun: with another mass shooting. And just as he did in the aftermath of Newtown, a weary Barack Obama is trying to begin the gun debate anew. And just as they did after Newtown, the media went on a frenzy, dragging us along for the ride. And while the parents of slain Chicago teenagers have to live with their loss, we'll neatly push those Chicago youth, along with the Navy Yard victims, into the back of our national collective memory. There they'll sit in the fuzzy, unceremonious depths with the victims of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech and Columbine before them. Their only purpose? To be anecdotally, tendentiously and cyclically retrieved with the hope of new results that aren't coming-proof of our American insanity. 

Humans Versus Zombies: An Appropriate Community Event?

Posted by Tillman W. Nechtman

Last week, the campus community was notified that this year's Humans Versus Zombies (HVZ) game has been scheduled for October 22 to October 27. That notice assured us that this game would not interfere with non-players or with campus and its academic life.
 As one who has taught through this game in previous years and as one who has never participated in the game, I write to assure the campus community that the HVZ game most certainly does interfere in the academic life of the college. During the nearly-week long event, students come to class wrapped in their bandanas carrying along their Nerf weapons. The game dominates pre-class conversations among both players and non-players alike, time that ought otherwise be filled with thoughts and conversation about the course content. I can only imagine how completely the game marginalizes conversation about academic life in locations like the dorms or in the dining hall. Back in the classroom, students often bolt out the door at class' end to avoid the rush across campus in which they could become somebody's target. Likewise, just crossing campus can be harrowing, as students duck and run to avoid being struck down as part of the game play.
 Let's be honest, therefore, whenever this community organizes a weeklong game of this sort, it does say something about our community's priorities, and in this instance, we are not prioritizing learning, which is, after all, the college's primary mission. Let's not pretend that not only allowing but actually promoting a culture in which students carry around toys for a week does not have a detrimental and diluting impact on the seriousness with which the college can and does carry out its educational mission.
Even the timing here speaks volumes. Friday, October 25 is this semester's study day, scheduled as such because many classes will have papers due and midterms scheduled soon thereafter. That HVZ has been scheduled across the study day is a clear indication that academic interests took a back burner in this instance. Imagine the student who hopes to spend the study day outside of Case Center reading up for an exam who now has to be disrupted by others running around with their toys in the hallways shooting one another with Nerf pellets. Surely, that student's academic climate has been harmed by this event.
And, let us linger for a moment on the idea of a game that converts campus into a simulated war zone, a game in which students duck behind furniture and under bushes to avoid being shot. That is a scene that is sadly far too common in our nation. College campuses, high schools, elementary schools, even day care centers have become venues for horrific gun violence in recent years, so much so that the issue is an ongoing and serious topic in debates over public policy. How callous are we as a community that we turn that kind of scenario - a campus battlefield - into a weeklong game? How insensitive? I certainly do not want to be the one who has to explain to a prospective student from Columbine, Colorado or from Newtown, Connecticut why Skidmore thinks it is either appropriate or fun to have students simulate a war zone on its campus in the middle of an academic term. I suspect that citizens of towns where real violence and abject evil have manifested themselves in schools would read this event as far less "fun" than those planning it think it will be.
I urge those in Student Government and Student Affairs who are planning this game to re-think their decision. I urge those who are considering playing it to think deeply before they sign up. Is an HVZ game representative of the kind of scholastic community we hope to build here? Can we host it and reasonably expect that it won't damage our educational mission? And, as a matter of civic responsibility, ought our campus community casually play as a game something that, for far too many in our nation, has been a horrible reality? Think about it, Skidmore.

Saratoga Film Forum: The Way, Way Back: Liam James stars as an endearingly awkward teen in this charmingly cliche-free Indie hit

Posted by Julia Mahony

This weekend the Saratoga Film Forum will be screening Nat Fox's and Jim Rash's "The Way, Way Back." The show times are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Admission is just $5 for students with a valid Skidmore ID.

 The movie takes place in a seemingly regular, small vacation town outside of Cape Cod, where fourteen-year-old Duncan (Liam James) is hastened to by his recently divorced mother Pam (Tony Collette). Duncan is forced to live in her crude boyfriend Trent's (Steve Carrell) summer house with his callous daughter (Zoe Levin). James, whose performance as an out-of-place early teen is so convincingly awkward that it is at times genuinely painful to watch his interaction, is a stand-out in this indie flick.

 Coming-of-age stories are certainly not lacking on the big screen, but "The Way, Way back" manages to avoid clich??s in this well-tread genre. Rather than the teenagers being overtly irresponsible, we see the film's adults rapidly devolve via their indulgences.

As Pam's slow desertion of her son and Trent's cruelty towards him become too much to handle, Duncan is forced to search for a place of solace. He finds this in the local water park, with the droll moniker "Water Wizz." There, Duncan meets a distinct cast of characters led by the eternally boyish Owen (Sam Rockwell). Though Owen is not the most overtly mature of adults, he is the only father figure Duncan has. Under Owen's guidance, Duncan begins to actually have a good time, while creating a surrogate family for himself.

In addition to the staff of the Wizz, Duncan is shown some kindness by Trent's bawdy neighbor Betty (Allison Janney) and her two children, Susanna (AnnaSophia Robb) and Peter (River Alexander). Whether Betty is lovingly teasing her son about his lazy eye, or drunkenly conversing with her neighbors, Janney's comical performance is a scene-stealer. Susanna is the only kid of Duncan's age that he befriends. Their friendship allows for the possibility of romance, but is not the focal point of the film.

"The Way, Way Back" travels to previously unexplored territory as it tells the story of a boy surrounded by desperate adults drinking away their sorrows and emotions, and his attempt to find a place of belonging.

Exploring Class Restrictions at the Tang : Classless Society, the Tang's new exhibit, leaves viewers profoundly affected.

Posted by Blair Warren

Do we live in a classless society? The answer is no, but we often believe it to be yes. Why do we mask ourselves with these illusions of a balanced America?

"Classless Society", an exhibit currently in the Tang, is definitely worth exploring as it attempts to answer and explore these questions.  It's a multimedia exhibit with photos, videos, graphs, and even a wheel that discovers your future income.

This exhibit opened my eyes to the realities of the society we live in, where most of today's money goes to a small amount of the wealthy, leaving the rest of the population with the leftovers.

The graph when you first walk in is captivating, as it shows what we believe to be true and what is actually true in regard to America's current distribution of wealth.

The correlation between working hard and making money isn't always accurate in America, making it difficult to move up in this society. The "American Dream" is starting to look like a hoax, yet we usually don't notice the huge gap between the significantly wealthy and the rest.

A photograph by Jim Goldberg really stuck out to me. He did a project where he photographed people in the 70s-80s and then asked them to write a caption for the picture he took. He photographed people from all different backgrounds and scenarios. The captions really expressed the values of each person and showed how everyone has differing struggles yet each struggle is valued just the same.

One of the photographs by Goldberg was of a Guatemalan housekeeper with the woman she works for in the U.S. in 1984. Her caption was simply beautiful; I had to read it a few times. At the end she wrote how she was sad to be a housekeeper but is used to it now and said, "When your illness has no cure, why worry?"

I think she sums it up very well. Sometimes we believe that our situations are unchangeable and that we should just get used to them. Although this can seem more accurate than not at times, I think we can always find ways to change or fix our situations for the better. This exhibit expresses the standstill that America is currently in about the distribution of wealth, but I think that situations can be altered and that there can be a cure.

"Classless Society" is not only deeply fascinating and well done, but is also necessary to see. Our society isn't classless; no matter how much we think it is and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can change it.

David Yergan of Skidmore's Theater Department passes away

Posted by Andrew Shi

David Yergan, theater manager and technical director for the Theater Department at Skidmore College, passed away Sunday, Sept. 22, after experiencing a stroke late last week.

Yergan first arrived at the College 37 years ago as a student of the class of 1980. He graduated with the Margaret Ellen Clifford Award, studied at NYU and moved to Albany to work at the Capital Repertory Company. In 1987 Yergan returned to the College as technical director, lighting designer, production manager and theater manager for the Theater Department. Over the past 26 years he has set up and managed the scenic shop, founded numerous theater courses and produced the lighting and sound for innumerable productions.

Yergan was very active in the Saratoga community as well, working as lighting designer and director of production for Opera Saratoga and technical director for the Saratoga Shakespeare Company's production of The Tempest. During summers he worked with the Saratoga International Theater Institute.

A short meeting among Yergan's colleagues and students in the theater department was held Monday afternoon at the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater. Department Chair Lawrence Optiz broke the news to the students and shared a short biography which he has posted on the Skidmore Theater Department Facebook page. Students were then given the opportunity to share their memories of Yergan. A moment of silence brought the short meeting to a close, and rehearsals for the night were canceled, to be resumed the next day.

A memorial service has been tentatively scheduled for the end of the semester. To share your own memories of David Yergan, visit the Skidmore Theater Remembers David Yergan Facebook page.

Campus Safety Reports: September 13 to 19

Incidents of Note:

• Friday, Sept. 13-Sex Offense: Report received at 3:43 p.m. of a sexual assault that had occurred in an unknown location three years ago on campus, possibly in the fall. No further information available. Report provided by a third party. A second report received at 4:31 p.m. of a sexual assault that occurred during the fall of 2012 on campus. No further information available. Report provided by a third party.
• Sunday, Sept. 15-Theft of Services: Report received at 3:20 a.m. that a student refused to pay the taxi fare from a Dayton Drive location. Officers dispatched.
• Sunday, Sept. 15-Criminal Mischief: Reporting person called at 2:49 p.m. stating that he and his roommate were just woken up by someone throwing something at their window, shattering the glass. Dispatched officers. Report made.
• Tuesday, Sept. 17-Sex Offense: An incident of sexual misconduct reported at 3 p.m. that had occurred on Sept. 1 on the campus grounds. Investigation continues.
• Thursday, Sept. 19-Officers made checks at 8:15 a.m. at the Civil Disturbance/Demonstration involving students at the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. Officers reported a gathering of approximately 80 students shoulder to shoulder from Case walkway to Howe walkway. All students conducted themselves in a peaceful manner with no disturbance to the workers or daily operations.

Further Incidents:

Friday, Sept. 13:

• Suspicious Odor: A group of people was reported at 12:12 a.m., possibly smoking marijuana outside of Wait Hall. Officer dispatched to investigate. Subjects gone on arrival.
• College Violation: Report received at 12:23 a.m. of people running up and down the hallway and being loud. Officers dispatched to check the area. Subjects gone on arrival. All quiet after officers' arrival.
• Moving Violations: Officers observed three violations at 6:36 a.m. of vehicles being driven the wrong way on a one-way thoroughfare on the North Woods and New Apartments grounds.
• College Violation: Officer reported a college violation of alcohol found at 6:36 p.m. while granting access to a room for a maintenance call in Wiecking Hall. Alcohol confiscated. Report made.
• Medical Assistance: Caller reported an intoxicated person at 10:25 p.m. on the first floor of Kimball Hall. Dispatched officers and the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service. Ambulance contacted and person transported to the Saratoga Emergency Room for further medical treatment.
• Suspicious Odor: A suspicious odor reported at 9:01 p.m. in Wait Hall. Dispatched officer. Call unfounded.

Saturday, Sept. 14:

• College Violation: A noise complaint received at 1:39 a.m. from Wiecking Hall. Dispatched officers reported finding drug and liquor law violations as well. Items confiscated. Report made.
• Medical Assistance: Reporting person called at 2:21 a.m. from Cane Crossing requesting to be checked out by the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service. Officers and the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service dispatched. Reporting person evaluated.
• Medical Assistance: Medical assistance requested at 2:20 a.m. for a student in Penfield Hall. Officers and the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service dispatched. Student evaluated.
• Medical Assistance: Reporting person contacted the Campus Safety office at 10:22 a.m. looking for the hours of Health Services as she had a foot injury and pressure could not be put on it. Advised the person that the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service and an officer were en route to Wilmarth Hall to evaluate the injury. Advised the officer and toned out the SCEMS. Reporting person evaluated.
• Complaint: A call received at 2:58 p.m. that a College vehicle was being operated in a reckless manner in the New Village roadway. Report taken to be turned over to the Director for further follow up.
• Medical Assistance: The Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service requested at 3:25 p.m. for an injured ankle in Penfield Hall. Dispatched officer and toned out the SCEMS. Injury evaluated.
• Medical Assistance: Medical assistance requested at 5:27 p.m. for a student on the first floor of Penfield Hall. Officer and the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service dispatched. Person evaluated.
• Medical Assistance: The Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service requested at 5:40 p.m. for an injured person at the Williamson Sports Center. Campus Safety and the SCEMS dispatched. Person evaluated.
• Intoxicated Subject: A possibly intoxicated person reported at 9:55 p.m. on the third floor of Penfield Hall. Officers dispatched. Unfounded.
• Liquor Law Violation: A liquor law violation reported at 11:13 p.m. on the second floor of Wiecking. Items confiscated. Report made.
• College Violation: A large group reported at 11:58 p.m. gathering outside of Whitman circle. Dispatched officers, who reported that students were leaving in taxi cabs.

Sunday, Sept. 15:

• Medical Assistance: Reporting person requested the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service at 12:13 a.m. to be dispatched for an intoxicated person at Falstaff's Pavillion. Toned out the SCEMS. Person evaluated.
• Medical Assistance: Medical assistance requested at 12:41 a.m. for an intoxicated person in Penfield Hall. Officer and the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service dispatched. Person evaluated.
• College Violation: A noise complaint reported at 12:45 a.m. at Cane Crossing. Officer dispatched and reported loud talking. Voice lowered. No further problems.
• Fire Alarm: A stopper alarm received at 12:45 a.m. from the second floor of Wiecking Hall. Officers dispatched and reset the alarm.
• College Violation: A noise complaint reported at 2:16 a.m. in Penfield Hall. Dispatched Officer Vance who reported that the call was unfounded. Area quiet upon his arrival.
• Fire Alarm: Fire alarm received at 11:28 a.m. from the New Apartment G. Dispatched officer, maintenance and advised the Saratoga Springs Fire Department. Officer reported that the alarm was due to cooking. Advised the Saratoga Springs Fire Department.
• Graffiti: Reporting person called at 11:56 a.m. to state that someone had drawn a penis on her white board in Wait Hall and took her marker. She took photos of the picture and then removed it. Dispatched officer who filed a report of the incident.
• Medical Assistance: Reporting person called at 1:24 p.m. to have the Skidmore College Emergency Medical Service sent to check on her roommate. Dispatched officers and the SCEMS. Student's condition evaluated.
• Accident: Request received at 3:22 p.m. for an officer to take a report as someone had hit the reporting person's vehicle while parked in West Lot. Dispatched officer who filed a report.
• Larceny: Reporting person stated at 4:06 p.m. that her cell phone was stolen last evening at an off-campus location. Officer dispatched. The Saratoga Springs Police Department called.
• College Violation: Excessive noise reported at 11:37 p.m. coming from the New Apartments G. Officers dispatched.

Monday, Sept. 16:

• Escort: An escort requested at 2:25 a.m. to the reporting person's residence in the New Apartments G. Officer dispatched.
• Medical Assistance: Officer reported at 2:15 p.m. that a window had fallen on a student's head at Wilmarth Hall. Dispatched officer, maintenance and carpenter. Report made.
• Suspicious Odor: A gas odor advised of at 3:17 p.m. in the Williamson Sports Center. Dispatched officer.
• Suspicious Odor: A gas odor detected at 3:17 p.m. in the Dana Science Center. Officers dispatched but did not find the source of the odor.
• Suspicious Odor: A burning odor reported at 10:35 p.m. coming from a heater in the stairwell between the Howe and Rounds buildings. Notified maintenance who stated that everything was okay. No odor detected upon arrival.

Tuesday, Sept. 17:

• College Violation: A loud noise reported at 2:33 a.m. in Wait Hall. Officers sent to investigate. Noise had stopped. No one in the area upon the officers' arrival.
• Fire Alarm: Fire alarm received at 11:10 a.m. for the New Apartment complex J. Dispatched officers, maintenance and notified the Saratoga Springs Fire Department. Report made.
• Larceny: A call received at 12:52 p.m. that someone had stolen head phones from an office in the Williamson Sports Center. Dispatched officer, who filed a report of the incident.
• Animals: A skunk reported at 10:50 p.m. near a Northwoods apartment. Notified housekeeping.

Wednesday, Sept. 18:
There were no reportable Clery Act incidences recorded on this date.

Thursday, Sept. 19:

• Animals: Reporting person stated at 4:14 p.m. that he had been advised of a turtle that was stuck inside the Sasselin Art building. Dispatched officer reported that the turtle was outside the building upon their arrival.
• Sex Offense: Reporting person conveyed a sexual offense at 4:36 p.m. that had been reported through a hotline.
• Larceny: A theft reported at 4:49 p.m. of a sweatshirt and the reporting person's ID from the Williamson Sports Center. Report made.
• Animals: A turtle reported at 5:18 p.m. on the green in front of the Scribner Library. Dispatched officers escorted the turtle back to the pond.
• College Violation: Cigarette smoke odor reported at 7:18 p.m. coming in through the air vents at Jonsson Tower. Dispatched officer conducted a walk through but could not located the source of the odor.
• Propped Door: Officer reported at 7:44 p.m. to speak with students in Wait Hall who had propped a door. Area secure.
• Fire Alarm: Fire alarm received at 7:52 p.m. from the New Apartments G. Dispatched officer, maintenance and advised the Saratoga Springs Fire Department.
• Animals: A skunk reported at 10:57 p.m. outside of an apartment in Cane Crossing. Student was advised to stay away from it. Reporting person stated that the compost was outside of the apartment and the skunk was getting into it. Student was advised that this area should be cleaned up.

Skidmore's Current Geothermal Expansion Project: Skidmore College adds a third geothermal unit outside of Wiecking Hall.

Posted by Maddy Tank '16

Last year, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Education (AASHE) presented Skidmore College with the 2012 Sustainability Leadership Award for the successful implementation of a complex geothermal heating and cooling system to serve campus buildings. In 2007, when the Northwoods Village apartments were completed, Skidmore installed its first geothermal system, and since then, both the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall and the Arthur Zankel Music Center have been made geothermal. Construction is currently underway to add a third geothermal unit under the Arts Quad, which will service Wiecking Hall, the dance gym, and the Tang.

Geothermal wells are typically drilled down to a depth between 400 to 500 feet below ground level, and heat or cool buildings by harnessing temperatures below the Earth's surface. Proponents of Geothermal laud that it is remarkably sustainable, environmentally friendly, dependable and cost effective.

Though the well behind Wiecking hall is still under construction, Paul Lundberg, the Capital Projects Supervisor for Facilities Services, said, "By December 2013, it is our plan to have all three buildings (Wiecking, the Tang and the dance gym) up and running on that field."

At the completion of the current project, 30 percent of the Skidmore campus will operate geothermally. Lundberg hopes that in the next couple of years the energy load provided by geothermal will reach 40 percent.

Marie Nicol '14, an Environmental Studies major, was excited by the geothermal project, calling it "a wonderful step that Skidmore is taking towards renewable energy" that does not "spew tons of toxins into the atmosphere or deplete our natural resources."

"Skidmore is making the initiative says a lot about our school and our effort towards true sustainability," she added.

The cost to install the geothermal systems is expected to reach roughly $1.4 million by the time it is completed-a cost which includes engineering and design, equipment, drilling bores in the well field, digging and backfilling wells and pipes. While most of the funding for the project was provided through Skidmore's normal capital budget process, Skidmore received additional funding from multiple sources including NYSERDA, the National Grid and the New York State Higher Education Capital Matching Grant Program. 

Author Jonathan Franzen named Skidmore's Steloff Lecturer: Fall lecture scheduled Oct. 3

Critically acclaimed novelist Jonathan Franzen will deliver this fall's Frances Steloff Lecture at Skidmore College at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. The reading and discussion, titled "Jonathan Franzen: The Novel and the World," will be in Gannett Auditorium of Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

The program will include the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Franzen; a book signing by the author will follow the formal program. Franzen's books will be available for sale.

Born in Western Springs, Ill., in 1959, Franzen graduated from Swarthmore College.

His debut novel was The Twenty-Seventh City, his second novel Strong Motion. But he was widely hailed as a major voice in American fiction with the publication of his 2001 novel, The Corrections, which won many prizes, including the National Book Award, and stirred considerable debate on the merits and prospects of the social novel.

Franzen's most recent novel, Freedom, published in 2010, was widely praised and led to Franzen's appearance on the cover of Time magazine alongside the headline "Great American Novelist." In The New York Times Book Review, Sam Tanenhaus wrote: "Jonathan Franzen's new novel, Freedom, like his previous one, The Corrections, is a masterpiece of American fiction....Freedom is a still richer and deeper work-less glittering on its surface but more confident in its method...Like all great novels, Franzen's does not just tell an engrossing story. It illuminates, through the steady radiance of its author's profound moral intelligence, the world we thought we knew."

His newest book, The Kraus Project (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), is to be released Oct. 1.

Franzen has also written essays-for The New Yorker, Harper's and other magazines-on a great many different subjects, taking on everything from Twitter and e-books to the disintegration of Europe and the self-destruction of the United States. A number of his essays are collected in the volumes How To Be Alone and Farther Away. His 2006 memoir is titled The Discomfort Zone.

Skidmore's Steloff Lecture is a high point of the fall semester. Endowed in 1967 by Saratoga native Frances Steloff, the lecture series was designed to bring outstanding literary and artistic talent to Skidmore. Since 1968, Skidmore audiences have heard from such authors as including Ana??s Nin, Joseph Campbell, Arthur Miller, Seamus Heaney, Nadine Gordimer, Chinua Achebe, William Kennedy, Ha Jin, and last year, Zadie Smith.

SGA Fall 2013 Election Results

Posted by Julia Leef

The following are the results for the Fall 2013 elections for Student Government Association positions. There were 502 total votes received.

First-Year Senators:

• Nick Friedman '17
• Dorothy Parsons '17
• Kevin Wang '17

First-Year Class President:

• Abude Alasaad '17

First-Year Class Social Chair:

• Bernice Langyintuuo '17

First-Year Class Treasurer:

• Julia Elstein '17

First-Year Class Vice President:

• Madison Plummer '17

Senators-at-Large:

• Breyton Croom '17
• Brendis Gonzalez '16
• Anya Hein '15
• Luca Mobilia '17
• Maggie Patterson '15
• Lauren Scauzzo '15
• John Schreur '17
• Megan Shachter '17
• Matt Sickles '17
• Zach Stiller '17
• Charles Tetelman '16
• Ibrahima Thiam '16

Senior Class Treasurer:

• Jessica Strasser '14

Senior Class Vice President:

• Sarah Dinkelacker '14

Vice President for Diversity Affairs:

• Britt Dorfman '14

Isaac Gewirtz speaks about "Reading the Literary Archive: A Tale of Scholarship and Taste"

Posted by Julia Leef

An audience of approximately 60 students, faculty and community members were treated to the 25th Annual Fox-Adler Lecture on Thursday, Sept. 19 in Gannett Auditorium, in which guest speaker Isaac Gewirtz talked about the evolution of the Henry W. and Albert Berg Collection in regards to the changing literary perceptions and vales of contemporary society.

Isaac Gewirtz is the Curator of the New York Public Library's Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, and has been for the past 13 years. He also has co-curated several other exhibitions, including the Mark Twain: A Skeptic's Progress and the Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul exhibitions, the latter of which opens at the Morgan Library this October.

"Rare book collections grow out of the reading interests of their collectors," said Dr. Catherine Golden, professor of English and director of the Honors Forum, who introduced the speaker and gave a brief history of his accomplishments. "It is my pleasure to welcome Isaac Gewirtz, a curator, a scholar, a collector and a reader."

Dr. Golden also gave the audience some background on the Fox-Adler lecture itself, expressing her regrets that Norman M. Fox himself was unable to attend the lecture due to health concerns.

The Fox-Adler Lecture is given each year in honor of the Fox family and the late Hannah Moriarta Adler, who loaned her collection of 18th- and 19th-century books to Skidmore College in 1967, which is now known as the Fox Collection. The collection remains at the College permanently through the efforts of Norman M. Fox, who was a friend of the late Adler.

Gewirtz began his lecture with a brief explanation of the collection's various pieces, which hosts approximately 35,000 printed items and 115,000 manuscripts from more than 400 authors, including Charles Dickens, William Makepeace, Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Terry Southern and Annie Proulx. The collection also has several non-literary items as well, such as the table, chair, lamp and calendar of Charles Dickens.

Gewirtz explained that the collection's founders, brothers Dr. Henry W. Berg and Dr. Albert A. Berg, initially refused to collect manuscripts from recently deceased authors and most current ones, opting instead to mainly add printed material to the collection (including the purchase of the W.T.H. Howe collection in Sept. 1940), which opened on Oct. 11, 1940 and was dedicated to the memory of Henry W, who had died two years earlier

Dr. Berg later expanded his collection with the purchases of the Owen D. Young collection on May 8, 1941, with a discounted price that allowed Young to become a co-donor of the collection. Through the purchase of both these collections, the Berg had now become rich in manuscripts as well as in printed materials.

Gewirtz shared photos with the audience of some of the collections pieces, including a 1867 photo from New York of Charles Dickens, the last one he ever sat for, and several folios, letters and statements from William Burroughs.

"Of the 1149 research visits that were made to the Berg last year, more than fifty percent of them were devoted to author archives," Gewirtz said, adding that the majority of them had been acquired piecemeal over the decades.

An object of the collection that took up much attention was a prompt copy of Dickens' performance edition of A Christmas Carol which included his notes in the margins of how to perform the piece in regards to tone and expression.

Public readings were rare in 19th century Britain, Gewirtz said, as dramatized readings of an author's work were viewed as ridiculous and demeaning by critics. However, the public flocked to see Dickens' readings of A Christmas Carol at the Steinway Hall, which seated 2500 people and sold out at every reading, the first of which began in 1853.

Gewirtz showed more photos of Dickens' notes, explaining that the author had four major principles when editing a larger work to make it performable: he deleted or simplified complex sentences, deleted sentences revealing character thoughts of mind, which could otherwise be explained through the actions of the performer, made efforts to improve the style of the text rather than just shorten it and deleted passages that created a mood but that did little to advance the narrative.

Dickens, according to Gewirtz, preferred to emphasize family scenes at Christmas time in his performances, as people reacted more enthusiastically to the bright and cheerful scenes.

"We can see Dickens's willingness to reshape what he has written," Gewirtz said, something, he added, that would have been unthinkable to Milton or T.S. Elliot.

Gewirtz also said that, while the Berg collection initially focused on printed works, time has shown the value of manuscripts and unpublished material, which contributes to a textual history of an author's work and life.

"We learn that the published version is not necessarily better than the one that has remained unpublished, just different," Gewirtz said.

The lecture then opened up for questions from the audience, and Gewirtz talked about what has become lost with the popularization of computer-generated manuscripts, as well as the inherent similarities between authors such as Dickens and Burroughs.

"If you look at Dickens' writing about his own work, he talks very eloquently and movingly about how they come out of himself, really," Gewirtz said. "That is very similar to Burroughs and many of the Beats for that matter, who see aspects of themselves in the characters they create. They're sometimes denigrated as writing autobiographies, but if you know their autobiographies that's really not the case. I think Dickens is a monumental figure in the way he takes possession or ownership of that which he creates."

The Berg Collection is available on the third floor of the New York Public Library from Tuesday through Saturday.

The Skidmore Culture War

Posted by Alex Hodor-Lee

Most government majors at Skidmore read Morris Fiorino's "The American Culture War." In it Fiorino describes a nation plagued by a false epidemic: the perception of political binary.

Fiorino argues that Americans take cues from elites, pols and media, arguing that polarized elites and fierce bipartisanship between Democrats and Republicans is creating an overly-pronounced and mythologized schism in America.

One good example Fiorino points to is the 2008 election, in which many Americans were forced to choose between electing the first African-American President or a war hero who branded himself as a hardline conservative to appeal to his Republican base. But let's for a second imagine if Colin Powell, an African-American moderate, was running for president. In considering a third and more centrist option we may recognize that in fact Americans are not so different; and we may actually celebrate our similarities.

This type of cultural chasm, caused by polarizing options is reflected in the culture of our college.

These first weeks hundreds of freshman will be forced to choose between eating meals--an act that forges friendships and camaraderie--on the red side or blue side of our dining hall.

When I transferred to Skidmore, I was immediately struck by our dining hall (my last institution boasted an aggressively plain, beige mess hall). With a wide-eyed expression that made clear my immigrant status, I was told in no uncertain terms that "jocks" sit on the blue side and that "hipsters" dine on the red side.

As a freshman, trying to navigate this new home, locate your identity, and carve out your niche, choosing sides can unwittingly consign you down one social path, closing you off to another side of Skidmore.

But let's consider the Fiorino model for our dining hall. Engage in a mental experiment in which we triangulate a third, or "purple" side into our dining hall. Or imagine that the entire dining hall was painted green or yellow (our actual school colors). We may find that we more naturally integrate (in some places they call this phenomenon "progress"). 

And even if it turned out that athletes still gathered by the television, and "artsy kids" by the vegetarian bar, the dynamic would at least be organic, and any culture war would not be validated by the college's decision to make one half red and one half blue; people would be judged not by the color of their table, but the content of their character. Most importantly, we may diffuse this specious myth about where certain types of people should sit. In fact, we might actually become closer as a student body.

Ranking the College Experience

Posted by The Editorial Board

This August, the Princeton Review ranked Skidmore College No. 1  in their category "Reefer Madness."  Immediately following Skidmore were the University of Colorado, Boulder and  Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.

The Princeton Review bases their annually revised rankings on eighty online surveys. The ranking of schools under "Reefer Madness" is determined by students' answers to one question on the survey: "How widely is marijuana used at your school?" A student answers this question using a Likert scale, a five-point answer scale where one-point is designated  "Not at All" and the five-point option is designated  "Extremely." Students are also invited to contribute more detail in an optional comment box.

 To take the survey, students log-in on the Princeton Review website with their email  --which does not have to be the official .edu address issued by their college -- and select their school from a drop-down list. The survey system will only accept one survey from each e-mail address listed.

 The Princeton Review states that the average number of student surveys they receive from a school is 333, or roughly thirteen percent of Skidmore's student body. But the response rates of larger schools such as the University of Vermont skews the mean to the right, which suggests Skidmore's actual response rate is likely substantially lower.

The Princeton Review is undeniably a well-known and widely referenced publication and resource to prospective students, but how much stock should one take in their rankings as current undergraduate students? As students, there is a natural tendency to be invested in the reputation of one's school; and it's healthy for an institution when its students are consciously cultivating a reputable environment. But is it possible to rate the college experience using a two-dimensional one to five scale?

A collegiate environment is created and fostered by three parties: professors, the administration and past and present students. On this basis, the environment of an institution is constantly changing due to the constantly changing student body. And the student-body does not just restyle annually with the incoming freshman class-new clubs, performances, research and student government decisions are created daily. The collegiate environment has the unique and beautiful quality of being a constantly transforming-and transformative-community of new and challenging thought. While college is certainly a collective experience with our peers, it's also a highly personal, individualized experience for each student. This is true specifically at an institution such as Skidmore, where opportunities such as small class sizes and self-determined major options encourage individual growth. The Skidmore experience will never mean the same thing for two students.

While The Skidmore News recognizes the efforts of the Princeton Review to produce data on schools based solely on student input, it must be noted that we believe it to be impossible to accurately assess a four-year college experience with the selection of a single bubble, something we fear students and the larger population are taking away from this survey. While it's productive to be invested in the character of our college, it is ultimately the student body that defines an institution, not the institution's reputation that defines the student body. Skidmore may currently reside at the top of the Princeton Review's Reefer Madness list for better or for worse -- or for somewhere in between -- but Skidmore, its students and its experience, can't conceivably be defined by one label.  

Restaurant Review: Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk

Posted by Rachel Kashdan

In the summer months leading up to the start of the new school year, several new food vendors burst onto the downtown Saratoga scene. One establishment that has been receiving hype around campus is Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk. As its name not-so-subtly suggests, Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk is a cookie bakery owned by the same local family as Plum Dandy Frozen Yogurt & Toppings, a favorite among Skidmore students. Plum Dandy Frozen Yogurt & Toppings continues to set itself apart from generic frozen yogurt chains with its unique offerings and fun atmosphere. So when posters advertising Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk greeted Skidmore students upon their return to campus, one could not help but expect that it would live up to Plum Dandy Frozen Yogurt & Toppings' reputation.

Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk perfectly combines upscale modernity with charming vintage inspired details. The interior design is simple with sleek and modern white furniture, while decorative teapots, shelves of gourmet candy and robins-egg blue walls create a stylish retro feel. The electronic music playing quietly in the background and the long white iPad bar in the center of the room also help foster a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.

On the Friday afternoon I visited, the spacious bakery did not feel too crowded and service was both friendly and swift. Within seconds of ordering I was seated at a table with my cake batter cookie sandwich. Aside from the eight different cookie options on the menu, this cookie sandwich is one of four different sandwiches offered.  The cake batter cookie sandwich comprised  cake batter frozen yogurt with cookie dough pieces sandwiched between two thick sugar cookies. It was wrapped in brown paper with a teal string tied tightly in a bow, like an old fashioned package. It was clear that Cookies and Milk is highly attentive to presentation, and these simple yet well thought-out details truly added to the pleasure of the overall experience.

As someone who cannot resist anything sweet, this cookie sandwich was the ultimate treat. Just one bite into this colossal cookie sandwich and I knew I absolutely had to finish the dessert, regardless of what my stomach might have to say about it. These impeccable sugar cookies are thick yet exceptionally soft and the cake batter frozen yogurt makes a glass of milk almost unnecessary. My favorite part of the entire sandwich, however, might have been the chewy pieces of cookie dough that become a sweet surprise at the center of nearly every bite.

I should also mention that multiple napkins are an absolute requirement when eating this cookie sandwich. Then again, it is probably best to simply surrender to the fact that as the sandwich melts it will inevitably end up on your hands, face and, if you are a bit clumsy like I am, on the floor as well. But this sweet cookie sandwich is more than worth it.

And what would a trip to Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk be without a glass of milk? With over twenty different types of milk to choose from, even my milk adverse friend was able to find a flavor she enjoyed. I chose the basic Lactose Free milk, which my fellow lactose intolerant dessert lovers will be pleasantly surprised to learn is actually one of three lactose intolerant friendly milk offerings on the menu. Even the presentation of the milk was thoughtful--each glass was served in a vintage milk bottle with a fun, colorful straw.

Every element of Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk seems to have been carefully deliberated, making for a highly unique atmosphere. Ultimately though, it's the taste of those cookies that you will not forget. If you are a lover of all things sweet, I would highly recommend taking a trip to Plum Dandy Cookies & Milk.