Your Custom Text Here
“I’m just being gender normative. You should try it sometime.” - Overheard in Palamountain
“Books are the superior form of technology.” -Overheard in the English Department
“I believe we write for the dead.” - Overheard in Palamountain
“Mom...that’s not punk rock.” -Overheard off campus
“I’ll release the bees, bitch.” -Overheard on perimeter road
By Noa Maltzman
This year Skidmore welcomed a new smoking policy. The policy restricts smokers to certain designated areas on campus. Specifically, the interior of the main campus – including the tables outside the Burgess Café – has been declared “smoke free.”
Listed on the Skidmore College website, the smoking policy explains that the purpose behind this new development is "to limit the potential exposure of students, faculty, staff and visitors to the effects of second-hand smoke, reduce the risk of fires on campus and provide the community with a healthy, respectful working and learning environment.”
This year’s academic handbook gets into thick details regarding the smoking policy, unlike in the 2013-2014 handbook, which merely stated, “in compliance with New York State law, smoking is prohibited in all indoor areas of the College, including dining halls and the Spa. In addition, all residence halls and apartments are smoke-free buildings. Cigarettes are not sold on the College campus.”
No one is allowed to smoke indoors on campus, including residence halls and the dining hall. Nor is smoking permitted in college-owned vehicles, within 25 feet of a campus facility or in the designated smoke free areas. The interior of the college along the quad is one of the major smoke free areas. All college events are non-smoking and no smoking areas are provided.
Overall, the student reactions have been varied. The Skidmore News posed an online survey to the Skidmore community asking, “this semester, the College rolled out a new smoking policy that prohibits smoking in certain areas around campus. Do you support the new smoking policy?” The results showed in favor of the new policy. However it’s important to point out that the poll contained a mere 20 participants (16 in favor of new restrictions with only 4 counts against).
A few students – whom asked to remain anonymous – were smoking outside the library on Tuesday, the 16th. Students have been spotted smoking in other smoke-free areas as well.
Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs, Rochelle Calhoun, said simply, “we expect our students to follow the rules” (in regards to the new smoking policy). For those not sharing Calhoun’s enthusiasm for policy respect, the new smoking policy details the consequences for those who choose not to comply. Consequences vary depending on your connection to the campus. For example, a faculty or staff employee of the college should know that, “violations of this policy will be addressed through educational and corrective measures as outlined in Human Resources policies and procedures.” As a student, you’ll be sent to the integrity board. Lastly, visitors refusing to comply with the policy may be removed from the building, the event they are attending, or from the campus and may not be readmitted.
For smokers who wish to quit smoking should seek the assistance the college has made available. “We have additional services in place to help people stop smoking,” said President Glotzbach. On the Skidmore College website under the listed smoking policy, you’ll find resources from the NYS Smoker’s Quitline, Glen’s Falls Hospital, Employee Assistance Program, and Community Health Centers for those seeking to quit. On campus, Health Services can provide counseling, and even prescription medicine for more drastic cases.
The College plans to revaluate the smoking policy in spring of 2017, and hope that by the fall of 2017 the campus will be completely smoke free.
[images title="The Address" cols="five" auto_duration="100" lightbox="true"] [image link="6137" image="6137"] [image link="6139" image="6139"] [image link="6136" image="6136"] [image link="6135" image="6135"] [image link="6134" image="6134"] [/images]
Photos by Meredith Simonds, Co-Arts Director
By Andrew Shi, Editor-in-Chief
The first, annual State of the College Address will give students a peek into the plans and intentions of the college administration and the Student Government Association. Scheduled for Friday, Sept. 19 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Arthur Zankel Music Center, the event will include speeches from President Philip A. Glotzbach and SGA President Addison Bennett '16.
In a preview of what is to come, Bennett summed up the main message of his speech to be, "the state of Skidmore is one of potential and growth. Making our school the way we want it to be will require all of us (students included) to buy into a culture that cares and works for Skidmore."
Much of the speech includes a plea to students to participate in campus life, especially the student government, whether that be through elections, which were held on Thursday, Sept. 18, or by direct communication to SGA officials.
Bennett's speech will also touch upon the summer's arrest of a Campus Safety official for sexual assault, last year's failed motion to increase wages at Skidmore, the minimum which hovers well below that of New York's mandated minimum, and the introduction of a Student Activity Financial Aid Fund to help clubs pay for additional expenses when the alternative would be the exclusion of student participation due to socioeconomic disadvantages.
It is not yet determined what Glotzbach will speak about, but his speech will likely mention the recent smoking policy that was rolled out, and the stronger, more aggressive sexual assault policies implemented in conjunction with (but not because of, according to the administration) the nationwide, collegiate initiative called for by the Obama administration.
Speeches will be followed by an opportunity for Q&A from students and faculty. There will also be prizes, giveaways and food. For more information, check out the Facebook event page.
Jamaica Kincaid will present “The Writer in Her World,” the annual Frances Steloff Lecture/Reading at Skidmore College Thursday, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
She will receive an honorary doctorate of letters from Skidmore President Phillip Glotzbach. Following her presentation she will respond to audience questions and participate in a book signing.
Author of a wide range of books, including novels, memoirs and polemical works, Kincaid is perhaps best known for Annie John, Lucy, At The Bottom of the River, Autobiography of My Mother, Mr. Potter and A Small Place. Her most recent book, See Now Then, has stirred considerable controversy, turning as it does on a disastrous marital break-up, which is said to resemble very closely the demise of Kincaid's own long-time marriage to the son of New Yorker editor William Shawn.
A native of Antigua in the West Indies, she was discovered by the New Yorker magazine as a very young woman and rapidly came to fame as the author of "Talk Of The Town" pieces published in that magazine.
Kincaid has written on several occasions that she feels it to be her "duty to make everyone a little less happy," and there is no doubt that she has been true to her self-assigned vocation in books and in her public appearances across the country. See Now Then, for example, was said by the reviewer for The New York Times Book Review to "endow common experience with a mythic ferocity" and a "scouringly vivid" prose. The reviewer for The Chicago Tribune described it as "Chaucer's Wife of Bath meets Virginia Woolf," while Ms. Magazine described it as "a hurricane of a book, a novel of psychic bewilderment" which bears upon "the permanent legacy of slavery and colonialism" reflected upon with "frequent savage humor" and "unabashed rage."
Kincaid is a professor at Harvard University and a long-time visiting writer each July at Skidmore's New York State Summer Writers Institute.
The annual Steloff Lecture is named for the legendary founder of New York City's Gotham Book Mart. Steloff was a Saratoga native who endowed the lecture series nearly 50 years ago, and is therefor responsible for Skidmore's bringing to campus many of the world's greatest writers, from Nadine Gordiner, Saul Bellow, and Seamus Heaney to Susan Sontag, Arthur Miller, and Zadie Smith.
Today, Co-President Julia Diamond '15 broke the first rule of Fight Club to discuss its work with The Skidmore News
Q) In a nutshell, what is your club?
A) We are a peer mediation group. In our general meetings we teach basic skills that pertain to mediation such as listening and the proper techniques. Anyone is welcome at these meetings. However, we also have a team of trained mediators who are certified by both Skidmore and the state of New York. When people have a conflict with another person or group of people, they may come in and we'll work with them in a productive fashion. Too often people just go back and forth and they get nowhere.
Q) Can you elaborate on conflict mediation?
A) Certainly, there are two kinds of mediation, group mediation and one-on-one. Most people seem to be more comfortable with the latter. We'll talk with them and try to root out the seed of the issue. From there, we'll often make a plan for how they can deal with the person they're having an issue with in a productive manner which will hopefully resolve the issue. One person I was working with went off and followed that plan, and he gave me feedback, telling me how much better he felt. We're open to the community and encourage students to come to us when they're fighting with their roommate, their friends, or when their friends are fighting with each other. We're confidential, and people can always choose their mediators. We really want to encourage people to use us as a resource.
Q) I think a lot of students might be uncomfortable coming to students with their problems, despite qualifications. How would you respond to that?
A) Well, as I said, we go through a lot of training to become certified, but a lot of the issues we want people to come to us for are roommate/ housemate problems. As students, I think we are better able to empathize and understand the problems at hand compared to older, more experienced mediators. As students we understand other students' needs. I'd also say that you shouldn't knock it until you try it.
Q) I think the other issue students might have is that the people they'd be sharing intimate details with are people they'd see around campus. Do you see that as a potential problem?
A) We are sworn to secrecy, we don't talk about it to anyone or amongst ourselves. We won't even talk about it to the students involved outside of the office. We have different hats, if you will. If we see the involved students outside of class, we'll smile, but say nothing more. There are a lot of mediators and chances are, there will be many you don't even know. I'm not even too familiar with some of the mediators. If you don't wish to speak to someone you know or might see often, there's definitely someone who will fit that description. We don't want people seeing us and thinking that we're judging them, because we're not. After the meeting or meetings we'll avoid talking about it because it's done, it's over for us. But if people ever want to return we're very open to that, and glad to hear feedback.
Q) What do you normally do at club meetings?
A) We do a lot of basic training on mediation. We hold workshops that teach people how to de-stress. We'll look at film clips such as, The Breakup and try to determine the central problem that's causing the conflict. It's a lot of fun but also a great lesson. We may also try to get a speaker, perhaps from the mediation group down-town, Mediation Matters. Speaking of which, we have a great relationship with the group and they produce tons of opportunities and internships for our mediators, who will be able to sit on real court cases and sometimes even mediate between groups along with an experienced mediator.
Q) Do you host campus events?
A) We have a whole week of events in mid-October called, Fight Week. The most notable of these events includes the “giving-thanks” cards. You'll see us set up in the Atrium, where you can fill out these cards for others and have them sent to their mailboxes. We're also going to try to do a pumpkin carving as a stress-release event; there'll hopefully be a capella groups performing and it'll be a great way to relax. There are plans for more events, too, but at the moments it's all tentative.
Make sure to keep an eye out for Fight Week, and if you're interested in joining Fight Club, meetings are Wednesdays from 9-10 p.m. in the ICC. Fight Club holds open-office hours for those interested in mediation from 2-6 p.m. on Sundays in the office of Campus Life on the third floor of Case Center.
By Billie Kanfer '16, Features Editor
Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing the founders of Yik-Yak, Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington who graduated in 2013 from Furman University in South Carolina. Both Droll and Buffington were fraternity brothers who bounced ideas back and forth about an application that originated from their own college campus experience. They had realized how only a select few on campus were using Twitter and how most parody accounts were coming from a small amount of accounts and wanted to change that, allowing the entire student body to have the power to be witty. October 2013 marked the beginning of what soon became, Yik Yak which was later released in November 2013. In my interview with the founders, I discovered the reason they created Yik Yak and their hopes for the future of the app which has sky rocketed since its 2013 release.
Q: When did Yik Yak begin?
A: After we graduated in May 2013, we began working on the app in October and finally released it in November. It only took a few weeks to make; however, the hard part was making it grow and take over the college scene. At first release the app only reached two colleges, one was our own. When spring rolled around, we upped our efforts and got into the southeast and east coast schools. Spring break was when people began to talk about the app and brought it back to their own colleges. When this year began we noticed a huge explosion with new college campuses picking it up every day since the summer. Yik Yak is currently being used in over 500 colleges in the states.
Q: Who is your target demographic?
A: We definitely perceive the American college student as our target market. We want the users to be 17+, for the reason that they are more mature, and in college. Obviously our demographic lies within the college campus area in America and we believe there will be a natural spread to the Metropolitan areas such as D.C and NYC.
Q: Do you believe the anonymity of the app will promote cyber-bullying?
A: We don’t feel that it will promote cyber-bullying on college campuses. It is not being used by high schools or middle schools because they are not psychologically mature enough. College kids can say a variety of things but we hope that they are good at handling their responsibility. Another way we attempted to escape the possibility of cyber-bullying is through making Yik Yak anonymous; therefore, gender, sexuality, etc does not matter. Everyone is on a level playing field where they are judged on content and content alone.
Q: What is the mission behind Yik Yak?
A: Many people are dubbing Yik Yak to be the new Twitter. We enjoy that; however, we have a much more noble goal in mind. Yik Yak has a huge potential to make a greater impact through the “peek”feature. This aspect provides students with real time updates. When you “peek,”the yaks are coming from the ground, they are much more authentic than someone on Twitter who is commenting from wherever they may be. We want to have an authentic and constant stream that is socially powerful.
Q: What makes Yik Yak unique?
A: Yik Yak is unique because of its “peek”feature. On a more campus level, everyone is equal. Yik Yak allows everyone to participate in this social world, and no one is missing out on something witty being said. Sometimes there is a tendency for people to be shut out of a large portion of people on campus but Yik Yak allows you to connect with everyone.
Q: How will you keep the app thriving?
A: The strongest part of our application is the community it creates. Every college student will have a specific bond with the community on Yik Yak because of the location feature. From small to large campuses, there aren’t many places where you can interact with everyone on campus; therefore, Yik Yak bridges that gap and brings everyone together.
Q: What are your future hopes for Yik Yak?
A: It would be awesome to be used on every college campus in the states. We would also love to be the #1 app in an area when you arrive in a new location. We want Yik Yak to be used for entertainment but also as a database for people to know where the best place to eat is, etc. It is the best way to connect to everyone that might be a stranger around you. We also hope to generate lots of open discussion, a forum for people to talk and converse constantly.
By Billie Kanfer '16, Features Editor
College students have a tendency to start rumors which in turn spread like wildfire. Since the semester began two weeks ago, a few rumors have surfaced. Below are some of the ones heard around campus, and whether or not they’re true.
1. Moorebid is cancelled: Sadly, the beloved Moorebid has been cancelled. After speaking to SGA President, Addison Bennett ’16, he informed me that the event was cancelled by a “higher”authority and that the SGA found last year's success to be great; however, others did not feel that way thus canceling the annual Halloween event. (Check back in soon for a full report on why.)
2. Fun Day is cancelled: Luckily, Fun Day is still happening! For all you who love celebrating together by the pond on a beautiful day with food and bouncy castles - you’re in luck. Bennett '16 confirmed the event will still be up and running this year!
3. Campus Safety has unmarked cars: Despite the murmurs around campus regarding these “sketchy”unmarked vehicles, Dennis Conway has confirmed that there are no unmarked Campus Safety cars. Although when the Campus Safety vehicles are in the shop, they will borrow Facilities’cars.
4. Skidmore can’t use CTM anymore: Word has been getting around that SkidKids can no longer use “CTM”because someone bought the acronym. Fortunately, we can all continue to use this phrase because the CTM trademark has been renewed. Andrea Wise of the Office of Communications has confirmed that we can keep on CTM-ing.
5. Dhall is installing cameras: For all who love dhall (aka, everyone who has ever stepped foot in Murray Aikins), you will be glad to know that Mark Miller has confirmed that there are no plans to add cameras to dhall at this time.
by Mia Merrill '18
If anyone knows scandals, it’s the management and publicity team for Urban Outfitters. They’ve got it down to a science: when the time is right to release a controversial product, when to pull it off the shelves, and when to publish some sort of half-apology aimed more at their costumers’ wallets than their hearts. Earlier this week, Urban Outfitters revealed a “vintage” inspired Kent State University sweatshirt in faded red with blood spots and apparent bullet holes. The sweatshirt was one-of-a-kind – there was literally only one made, but one was all it took to spread like wildfire on the web. Blogs, gossip columns, and reputable news sources alike raised their pitchforks and went after the company, which was almost certainly the reaction Urban executives wanted.
In case your high school history class didn’t cover counterculture and the Vietnam War, or you’ve never heard the song “Ohio,” on May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard opened fire at a Kent State student protest. The police officers killed four students and caused another to become paralyzed. So Urban producing a red, bloodstained, tattered Kent State sweatshirt, even if it was a limited-time auction item, is unspeakably saddening and pathetic. The shooting may have been almost thirty-five years ago, but not even two years have yet passed since the Sandy Hook shooting. Remembrances of the Virginia Tech and UC Santa Barbara shootings still make our culture quake. When Urban tries to turn these tragedies into profits, they essentially say to all of their consumers who have been affected by mass shootings, “So what?”
Urban Outfitters doesn’t care so much that consumers were offended by the Kent State sweatshirt though, or by the yellow T-shirt they released with a patchwork Star of David eerily similar to those that Jews were forced to wear during World War II, or by their greeting card that made use of a discriminatory gendered term known as the “t-slur,” or by their culturally appropriative designs co-opted from Navajo artwork that violated trademarks held by Navajo leaders. Urban cares that consumers are talking about these products at all.
You don’t have to be a marketing expert to realize that every offensive move Urban pulls is merely a publicity stunt. It’s hard enough to sell to a target group of teenagers obsessed with defining their identity as ‘hipster’ or their culture as ‘ironic,’ but throw in a barely recovering economy, and it makes sense why Urban may need a scandal to stay relevant. Whether we like it or not, and whether we shop there or not, Urban Outfitters has been on our minds this week, inching its way back into the public profile. You also don’t have to be an ethical expert to know that what Urban Outfitters repeatedly does is pretty wrong.
So, what are we supposed to do about any of these controversies? The answer is simple, but nobody likes hearing it. Don’t shop at Urban Outfitters. Don’t shop at Free People or Anthropologie either, because all of these stores are owned and operated by the same company, Urban Outfitters, Inc. Sure, your thirty dollars here and there may not make too much of a difference in the market, but your long-term choices will. Let it be enough that Urban Outfitters always finds a way to make sure that we’re thinking about them – don’t let them find a way to make sure that we’re the ones funding their next big scandal.
By Skidmore Athletics
In the latest Penn Monto/NFHCA Division III National Coaches Poll, the Skidmore College Field Hockey team moved up to third.
After winning back-to-back games last week, beating New Paltz 8-2 and Babson 7-1 the Thoroughbreds outscored opponents 39-6 through five games this season, and has outshot the opposition 162-33.
The Thoroughbreds rank first in the NCAA Division III in goals per game and scoring average, both at with 7.8 . They also rank third in scoring margin at 6.6 and points per game at 20.40. They rank fourth in assists per game at 4.8.
Dani DeGregory ’16 leads the division in points per game at 6.4, along with goals per game at 2.6. DeGregory ’16 holds a slight edge on teammate Sam Skott ’15, who is second with 2.4 goals per game.
This weekend Skidmore opens the Liberty League play at RPI on Saturday, September 20 at 1 p.m.
By Skidmore Athletics
On Tuesday evening at Wachenheim Field, the women’s soccer team came out with a 4-0 non-conference win against Castleton.
Midfielder Emily Saliterman ’17 achieved her first career hat trick, along with Erin Barry ’16 scoring her first goal of the season. Both Arena Manning ’16 and Nicole LoRusso ’17 produced assists.
12:25 into the first half, Barry ‘16 gave Skidmore a lead. She collected a loose ball in the midfield, and then fired a strike from 25 yards into the near post.
Saliterman ’17 then extended the lead over Castleton during the 32nd minute. She received a cross from Manning ’16 and shot past the Spartans goalkeeper Jessica Binkowski.
Saliterman ’17 secured the win for Skidmore in the 71st minute with her goal of the game.
Deirdre Walsh ’17 made three saves in goal during her first career shutout. Skidmore beat Castleton 12.7 and won a 2-1 edge in corners.
This weekend the Thoroughbreds will host Plattsburgh at 1p.m. on Saturday, September 20.
By Skidmore Athletics
The Skidmore College Athletic Department celebrated 100 student-athletes recognized as members of the Thoroughbred Society on September 15, 2014 at the Williamson Sports Center.
The Thoroughbred Society was created to honor student-athletes who achieve a 3.67 GPA or higher for any given semester. The society also honors teams with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
For Spring 2014, the group of students in the Thoroughbred Society included 13 student-athletes who achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA.
The highest semester team GPA belonged to the Field Hockey Team (3.617), Women’s Crew (3.517), and Riding (3.511).
Follow this link for the complete list: Thoroughbred Society September 2014
By the Editorial Board
With a whopping tuition of $59,942, including room and board, no one is fooling themselves into believing Skidmore College is inexpensive. However, tuition costs are upfront and made easily available to prospective students. The hefty fees for taking certain classes at Skidmore are not.
As part of our breadth requirement for graduation, each Skidmore student must take a class designated as an art. However, it is common knowledge among art students, and it soon becomes shockingly apparent to newcomers, that art classes entail numerous unlisted extra fees.
For an idea of just how pricy the average introductory level art class at Skidmore can get, Introduction to Drawing has cost students $200-300 for required supplies, although the price tag can vary with the professor. These students were not made aware of the specific supplies they needed until class began. Color Theory requires about $120 for paint and supplies, which one student reports actually using only about $40-worth throughout the semester. Another student dropped the course because they could not afford to pay for additional supplies. Printing paper for Intro to Printmaking costs $10 per sheet of paper, of which one student reports already having used three in just the past two weeks. Students were not made aware of the cost of printing paper unless they inquired ahead of time themselves. Jewelry and Metals 1 requires a starting kit for which students expected to pay $90, but ended up paying $150. Communication Design 1 students report having to spend an additional $130 on top of the preexisting $105 lab fee.
That being said, art is not the only discipline that springs unforeseen costs on students. Business and Organization Management (MB107) required its students to purchase an $80 set of case studies, which they were unaware of until the second week of the semester. However, these kinds of instances are more rare.
Few of the supply costs are explicit in course descriptions and some professors withhold this information deliberately so that they can go over the specifics in class. This practice prevents students from looking online for affordable options and assumes that they will readily have the spare money to purchase their supplies.
Of course, the arts are not the only department that demands extra fees, and the Board understands that classes require additional costs. The prices aforementioned are not unreasonably high. Rather, what the Board disagrees with is the lack of price transparency for supplies required by many art classes. Textbooks, required for the majority of academic courses, often surpass art supplies in price, but students are made aware of their classes' required reading far in advance, which gives them adequate time to compare prices. Renting a book or purchasing a used textbook is a great way to save money, but is not an option for art supplies.
It is important to note that the Board recognizes that withholding required materials from students does not hold true for all professors. Many are very conscientious about letting students know in advance what they will need to purchase. And we certainly are not accusing the professors who do not inform students of acting maliciously. But the board does ask that all professors consider the affordability of class supplies. Transparency would make required purchases much more manageable for students. Knowing the extra costs a few weeks before the first class, and ideally before even enrolling in the course, seems fair. That way, no student will be blindsided in their first week by the need to leave campus and spend hundreds of dollars of pocket money on supplies they never knew they needed.
On another note, many students report never finding a use for some of the leftover supplies that they purchased for a certain course. We would like to bring to the student body’s attention the Skidmore Swap Sale, an online forum in which students can exchange or sell items they no longer need. Using that forum, unused or lightly used supplies can be passed on and offer more affordable options amongst students on campus. As of now, it is underused and unpublicized. Perhaps if more students began visiting the forum, the school could work on improving its online format. The forum would also be great for the exchange of textbooks.
We do not ask for changes to the curriculum, or even for supplies to be readily available for students. But we do ask that professors keep in mind the burden of expenses they place on students and allow them the opportunity to minimize cost by informing them ahead of time what exactly it is that will be required of them.
By Tara Lerman
Skidmore College has a beautiful campus located in a scenic region of Upstate New York. Its academic buildings are fairly new and relatively easy to navigate, and while the dorms are, well, dorms, they provide most students with a convenient space. The dining hall serves fresh, healthy food and creates a comfortable atmosphere for socializing. Overall, I would say Skidmore’s campus is an ideal environment. But, that is probably because I am an able-bodied student.
What many of us fail to realize is that the Skidmore campus is horribly inaccessible for those students who utilize wheelchairs, crutches, or any other sort of physical aid.
For instance, the handicap button for many on-campus buildings does not work properly, which poses a problem for handicapped students trying to get to class on time. Most dorms and apartments, with the exception of Jonsson Tower, are without elevators or ramps. Now one might argue that a handicapped person could just live on the first floor. In theory, such an assumption makes sense.
However, certain dorms on campus, such as Wilmarth Hall, actually require students to walk up or down a staircase in order to simply reach the first floor. Assume that a student wants to visit his or her friend who lives on the third floor of a dorm, or attend a party in a lofted apartment. Not so simple now, is it? This poor architectural organization makes it difficult, and often impossible for students with physical disabilities to socialize the way they may wish to.
Do not get me wrong; Skidmore’s treatment of students with disabilities is not all negative. In fact, when it comes to learning disabilities or disorders that affect academics, Skidmore does an excellent job accommodating students. Every professor at Skidmore is required to include in their syllabus how a student’s disabilities can and will be accommodated.
The office of Student Academic Services (SAS), located on the bottom floor of Starbuck Center, provides accommodation letters, tutoring, and a quiet study environment for students. However, when it comes to getting around campus quickly and efficiently, there is certainly some more work to be done.
It is important to note that Skidmore does not have an abundance of physically handicapped students, or at least not visibly so. However, I suppose there is a reason for that. People with physical disabilities pay attention to accessibility on each campus they visit before they, like all other prospective students, decide which one best fits their needs socially and academically.
Perhaps if Skidmore were to adjust the way its campus is organized, we would be able to accommodate more students with disabilities in the student body. That way, students of all kinds will be able to thrive at Skidmore and view the college as the creative and tolerant place that it really is.
Incidents of Note:
Friday, September 5th 2014
Saturday, September 6th 2014
Sunday, September 7 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Wednesday, September 10th 2014
Thursday, September 11 2014
Woman
Woman, bound by beauty- Melt the silver from your wrists, ears, fingers and instead fix intelligence around your neck not as an adornment or justification, but as a symbol of your conscious independence.
&
The Name Game
Nonchalant on the way to the bathroom he said "we’re all girls here"
He takes his testosterone on Tuesdays; the alliteration seems to fit the occasion.
&
A Visit to the Plastic Surgeon for Remedios Varo
Ferdinand turned to the kindly creature jacketed by starched white robes, its teeth bleached perfectly to match- with the flourish of his hand, the pleasant golem flashed a smile spinning his apocryphal tales of patients that he’d personally rescued from the tattered rags they called a life, how with a gentle shaping of their body he could p-pop a failed relationship back into place, how stunning they could be after a quick crack with a hammer to the bridge of the nose and maybe a little filling of facial cartilage, nothing too violent, no, just enough scraping to shape the jaw bone-
(he mentioned of course that he believed all his clients beautiful, naturally before restoring them to an approximate self)
But Ferdinand wasn’t listening, too busy marveling at his attempt at perfection proffered by those friendly tombstone teeth and offered himself too willingly, thinking i will be young forever
By Noa Maltzman
Recently, in major cities across the world, bike share programs have sprung up into the public use. People rent a bike at one rack location, pedal around for a while, and simply drop it off at any bike rack in the city. As of June, Skidmore has expanded their bike share program from last year’s. Originally started in Fall 2013, bikes were checked out like library books, from the library desk. Now, individuals have a personalized pin. “Before we were relying on the library and the library hours and now people have 24 hour access to the bicycles,” said sustainability coordinator Levi Rogers.
With grant funding from the Margaret Cargill Foundation, the bike share program changed. “After our [old] program became so successful, we sought funding to expand the program, both in size and functionality,” said co coordinator of the program senior Emily Durante. Rogers explained that the old program was so successful that, “when we first launched that program the library kind of felt overwhelmed because all the bicycles were being taken out over and over again. So as soon as a bike came in, that same bike would leave.”
So from now until November (or when the snow arrives) then starting again in
late March, for any member of the Skidmore community in need of some wheels need not worry because there is a new bike program called Bikemore. “Once a user obtains a personalized PIN from the Sustainability Office, they have access to the bikes 24/7,” said Durante.
“The program is open to the entire college community, so I think it’s really cool to see faculty/staff biking to a lunch meeting or students biking downtown to explore Saratoga Springs,” Durante said.
The new bikes came from a Rhode Island company called On Bike. Unlike the old ones, these new bikes are designed for bike share programs and are very durable. The old bikes were donated by Bikeatoga and, because used, they required lots of maintenance and repair.
Currently the only bike share rack is located outside the library. However, it is likely the bike share program will grow to include the larger Saratoga Springs community. Durante talked about how, “over the summer, the City of Saratoga Springs launched a pilot bike share program that went incredibly well, so the prospect of a city-wide bike sharing program is definitely on the horizon and Skidmore would naturally be involved.”
Skidmore College to observe Jewish high holy days
The holiest days on the Jewish religious calendar are approaching. Known in Hebrew as hayamin hanoraim—the Days of Awe—or in English as the high holy days, these holidays include the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.
Religious services for both holidays will be held on the Skidmore College campus in the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater, sponsored by college’s Office of Religious and Spiritual Life in conjunction with Temple Sinai, the Reform synagogue of Saratoga Springs. Rosh Hashanah services will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, and 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 25; Yom Kippur services will begin at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, and continue throughout the day on Saturday, Oct. 4, beginning at 10 a.m. and concluding with a break-fast after dark, at approximately 7:30 p.m. These services will be led by Rabbis Linda Motzkin, Skidmore’s Jewish chaplain, and Jonathan Rubenstein, who together are the co-rabbis of Temple Sinai. There will also be a service for the second day of Rosh Hashanah at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 26, at Temple Sinai, 509 Broadway, Saratoga Springs.
All the high holy day services are free and open to the public. For further information, contact Rabbi Motzkin, lmotzkin@skidmore.edu; 580-5683.
He works the daylight hours.The artist mends rifts in
trend in an attempt to render a better make than the current model
and wishes cynicism were only temporary. Still
he scans, canvas dripping a face from the crowd
now left to the imagination, eyes unrealized as he lifts his head
from the surface of oil fingers saturated
but with a nod, consciousness intent to drop other thoughts his
way like hindsight bombs foresight anxieties
send him another taken way his mind, diverted, forgets
the shape and color of the eyes in recall as he moves forward,
faster, sitting shivering in the breeze of scrutiny,
mutinously studious and reduced to the pursuit of serenity though
painting an unstoppable slave to happiness
with a bowl of rice and beans set by the easel, its easy to
see why the pictures have been painting themselves