Lucy's Caf?? opens to mixed reviews

Posted by Max Siegelbaum

Lucy's Café, on the first floor of the Scribner Library, opened on Feb. 25 to mixed reviews from the campus.

The new café is located across from the circulation desk in the room that used to house the library's copy and fax machines.

Lucy's is designed in a similar fashion to the Burgess and Atrium cafés, with earth toned Formica plastic and glossy stained wood. Students, primarily upperclassmen, staff the café.

While bags of green mountain coffee line the walls, coffee is prepared from small capsules in a brand new Keurig single serving coffee dispenser. The café also offers assorted pastries, fruit, juice and bottled organic tea.

Students have expressed mixed opinions about the necessity and convenience of a café in the library.

"[The café is] awesome. I don't have to go outside to get coffee," Courtenay Jagel '11, said.

Nadia Arcese '11 said she believes the café has promise, but worries that it might lead to a crowded and noisy first floor.

Other students expressed concern about the café.

"[The café] sounds unnecessary and wasteful unless they bring something different than Burgess," Sarah Rosenblatt '12 said. She suggested that Lucy's might consider importing food from the local farmer's market.

Tommy Wagner '13 said the café is unnecessary and a waste of resources. "I don't mind walking an extra two minutes down a covered walkway to get my coffee. We already have 3 food establishments all in minutes of each other."

A post on the website Skidmore Unofficial pointed out another negative aspect of the café: coffee from Lucy's is more expensive per ounce than coffee at any other campus café.

"One Keurig K-Cup brews about 8 ounces of watery coffee and will set you back $1.25." says the Skidmore Unofficial post. A 12-ounce cup at Burgess, the Atrium, or the Spa is the same price.

Students also described the coffee at Lucy's as bland and watery.

Despite some negative response, a member of the Scribner Library staff, who declined to have her name published, said she is "cautiously optimistic" about the future of Lucy's.

Lucy's is open from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday, and from 8 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday.

Dining Services food preparation gloves spur controversy

Posted by Alex Brehm

A Dining Services worker has recently expressed concern regarding boxes of food preparation gloves with a label that reads, "WARNING: These vinyl gloves contain a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm."

Stickers from manufacturing company, Food Handlers, conceal the warning labels on these boxes. One of the stickers says, "Learn more about Food Handler's sustainable glove and bag options: www.foodhandler.com."

The dining hall worker, who declined to have his name printed, said he first noticed the stickers covering the warning labels one year ago. He said he had posted the labels and the health warnings on the Dining Hall's suggestion board twice, but got no response.

When another worker posted asking about the labels he received a response that said Dining Hall managers cared about the safety of the workers and the issue had been investigated.

A representative from Food Handler said that the warning was placed on the gloves due to the presence of DEHP, a plasticizer that is used to make glove material more flexible, and which is found in other brands, not only Food Handler.

Under the state of California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, the company was forced to include the warning on its packaging as long as its product contained DEHP, the representative said.

Food Handler began including "strict requirements that eliminate DEHP completely" from the gloves. The representative said that the company had extra packaging containing the warning, and covered it with a sticker instead of switching immediately to a new package design.

Managers at Dining Services were not available for comment by press time on March 3.

Senate approves new SGA digital coordinator position

Posted by Kat Kullman

On March 1, the SGA Senate met to discuss a resolution to establish an official SGA digital coordinator.

The resolution to create an SGA digital coordinator stems from the senators' desire to make the actions and decisions of Senate more quickly publicized.

Senator Randy Abreu '11 created the resolution and suggested that becoming more involved in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter would allow information to get to the students faster.

The digital coordinator would update these sites during the weekly Senate meetings.

"It started off from talking to people who wanted to know about what goes on in Senate, but more in real time," Abreu said. "I realized that Skidmore kids are always on their smartphones, and that this could be a way to get the information to them instantly."

Abreu cited the 100 free tickets to a recent hockey game as an example of how getting the news out faster would have been more effective.

Not many students took advantage of the opportunity for free tickets, likely because of ineffective advertisement.

The resolution was unanimously approved, thereby creating a new step-up position in the Senate body.

In other news:

• Senate approved a resolution to allocate funding from program support to the Drastic Measures. Bryce Klatsky, president of the Drastics, approached Senate to request $100 for posters to advertise the group's charity concert on March 21. The money raised from the concert will go to a charity for autistic children.

• Senate approved a resolution to allocate funding to SkidTV. Mike Forbes '12, president, and Mike Levin '11, treasurer, requested $8,000 for new video cameras that are based on flash drives, not tapes. Senate unanimously approved the request. The cameras will be available to the Skidmore community, but only after a training process.

Teach-in confronts Compton's incident

Posted by Alex Brehm

At 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 24 more than 200 students and faculty members attended a teach-in organized to address the Dec. 2010 assault at Compton's restaurant and it's aftermath.

The event was held in the Spa and was organized by professor Winston Grady-Willis of the American studies department.

Several members of the college community spoke at the teach-in and presented various perspectives on the incident at Compton's Restaurant.

In late December, four students were arrested and charged with varying counts of assault after an incident at Compton's Restaurant in Saratoga Springs.

One student was charged with a hate crime, which was later dropped after the county District Attorney found the charge to be without substance.

Speakers discussed the history of racism in the U.S., presenting the idea that the hate crime charge in the Compton's incident was an example of racial prejudice and misunderstanding.

Janet Casey, a professor in the English department, began the teach-in with a description of anonymous blog posts and comments on the Internet, and the vitriolic nature they have taken. She noted specific comments on Food for Thought posters and Skidmore Unofficial.

Casey said that though students and professors might conclude that they cannot control other people's words, students could take responsibility for their own speech and ensure that it is part of a respectable dialogue.

Director of Student Diversity Programs Mariel Martin spoke about many issues that make students feel marginalized on campus, including issues of culture, language and accessibility. She also spoke about the challenges of navigating dominant and non-dominant groups on campus.

Mason Stokes, chair of the English department, spoke about the dilemma of acting without sufficient facts and information. In cases where facts must be withheld, he said, it is necessary to wait for better information, though such waiting can lead to a lack of community action.

Stokes said he could safely assume that police reports were not always true, and that young men of color and low socio-economic status cannot always be assured the same access to representation in the justice system as white, wealthier defendants.

The issue of ‘white flight' and ethnicity in urban areas was addressed next. Professor Jon Zibbell of the anthropology department said that unequal access to mortgages in the 1950s led racial minorities to be forced to live in high-density urban areas.

"What, do black folks just like cement? And white folks just like picket fences and single-family homes? No." Zibbell said.

Police treat people of different races differently when at the scene of a criminal investigation, Zibbell said, and the development of the suburbs, as well as behavior of police, could lead consumers of the media to be immediately skeptical of accounts of such events as the Compton's incident.

Guest speaker Gaspar Castillo, a defense attorney from Albany, spoke about the prejudices he witnesses when he works with defendants of different races.

Castillo said that when defending an African America man for a murder charge he first pointed the jury's attention to his client's race and urged them not to try him solely on the color of his skin. Castillo also spoke about his experiences growing up as a Latino man.

Castillo asked the audience some basic civil rights questions, leading to a tense moment when students in attendance were unable to describe the 1857 landmarks Supreme Court case Dred Scott v. Sandford that determined slaves were not citizens.

Theater lecturer Lisa Grady-Willis closed the teach-in. "What does it take to be visible, to be respected, to have a presence?" she asked.

Student-organized trip sends 30 to Planned Parenthood rally

Posted by Andrew Cantor

Background

Thirty students boarded a bus from Case Center on the morning of Feb. 26, traveled to New York City and joined 5,000 other activists to protest recent legislation that would cut funding for Planned Parenthood and its affiliates.

Planned Parenthood, in coalition with other reproductive rights and health organizations, coordinated "The Rally to Stand Up for Women's Health" in response to an amendment passed in the House Feb. 18 that would cut "Title X" funding for Planned Parenthood.

The Title X Family Planning program — or Public Law 91-572 — allocates federal funding for preventive health services, like education about sexually transmitted infections and screenings for breast and cervical cancers, but prohibits federal funding for abortions. In 2010, the federal government gave $363 million to Planned Parenthood, according to the organization's website.

The Title X program helps fund 97 percent of Planned Parenthood's operations, the majority of which are preventative health efforts. Abortions make up about three percent of the organization's efforts, according to its website. In this past year, Title X funding provided 360,492 STI tests, 67,957 breast exams and 70,490 pap tests to women at Planned Parenthood facilities in New York.

After the House approved the recent legislation with a vote of 240-185, sponsor Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., said, "It's morally wrong to take taxpayers' dollars of millions of pro-life Americans and use [them] to fund organizations that provide and promote abortion like Planned Parenthood of America."

The legislation will now go to the Senate for approval.

During the rally this past Saturday, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, made clear he would do whatever possible to prevent the Senate from passing the legislation.

"I come from the United States Senate and I bring you good news. These dangerous cuts that have passed the House are dead on arrival in the United States Senate," Schumer said. "And I speak for my colleague [Sen.] Kirsten Gillibrand [D-N.Y.] as well."

While it is unlikely that the Democrat-majority Senate will pass the legislation, students protested Saturday to draw local and national attention to women's rights and women's health.

Planning

Emily Zahn '11, a social work major, interns with Family Planning Advocates of New York State as part of her capstone project. She helped charter a bus for activists going to the New York rally from Albany, and later helped organize a bus from Skidmore.

"We coordinated a bus for people from Albany, but I also knew there were Skidmore students interested in going to the rally," Zahn said. "I know students at the school who have used Planned Parenthood services, so obviously the rally was appealing to them."

Sarah Rosenblatt '12, co-president of BARE — the self-identified Skidmore "sex publication" — found out about the rally from a guest speaker in a religion course taught by Mary Stange, professor of Gender Studies and Religion.

Stange invited Nancy Weber, a practicing pagan, to speak to her RE330 "Goddesses and Amazons" class. Weber's discussion with the class was relevant to its multifaceted study of female empowerment, and she explained her own values of community and activism. She also mentioned the upcoming rally in New York City.

Rosenblatt, inspired by Weber's talk, decided to gather a group of students passionate about the women's issues to attend the rally. Rosenblatt contacted Zahn to charter a bus directly from Skidmore to New York.

The chartered 56-seat coach bus from Skidmore to New York cost about $1600 dollars. Students paid only $10 dollars for a seat on the bus, and Family Planning of New York subsidized the rest of the cost.

In the Streets

The Rally to Stand Up for Women's Health drew about 5,000 supporters to Foley Square in downtown Manhattan.

The roughly two-hour midday event featured speeches by Schumer and Democratic Reps. Carolyn Malone, Yvete Clarke and Jerry Nadler of New York, as well as musical performances by The Mountain Goats and Nellie McKay.

Chris Weigl '11, one of only a few males from Skidmore who attended the rally, said he decided to attend because he heard Planned Parenthood was losing funding.

"I decided to go because reproductive health is important to everyone," Weigl said.

Most of the Skidmore students who attended agreed that the event was generally a success.

"The rally was so enthusiastic," Zahn said. "There was just an attitude of happiness and joy."

Rosenblatt expressed similar sentiment, noting in particular the diverse types of people that the event drew.

"It was great," Rosenblatt said. "It was a very active crowd… very diverse in terms of age, race, color and sexually."

Victoria Manganiello '12 was also struck by the types of people who were at the event.

"I think the speakers were powerful," Victoria Manganiello '12 said. "A pastor spoke in favor of Planned Parenthood and their efforts. Normally people equate anti-choice with Christianity… It was good hearing this wasn't necessarily true."

A few students thought event planners could have improved the rally with a more diverse speakers list.

"While it was good to hear a lot of politicians speak, I also don't feel that they're representative of the people who actually use Planned Parenthood's services," Rosenblatt said.

Victoria's sister, Lily Manganiello '14, also noted the overuse of politicians as speakers.

"I didn't necessarily relate to a lot of the speakers," Manganiello said. "Although it was good to hear the politicians speak, because they're the ones directly changing the law."

Students who attended the rally were clearly frustrated with legislation passed in the house, particularly the way they feel it misrepresents fact.

"I'm bothered that people are misinterpreting where Title X funds are going," the younger Manganiello said. "Our tax dollars aren't going to abortions… They're going to birth controls and other preventative measures."

Olivia Morrow '12 lamented the fact that she feels politicians formulate opinions on such matters in accordance with political allegiances.

"It's unfortunate now where politics have gotten to the point where being a Republican means being pro-life," Morrow said. "Politicians are voting on party lines on these very serious issues to women's health."

Zahn plans to continue to support women's health with a rally outside of U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson's, R-Kinderhook, office Friday afternoon on Broadway, in Saratoga Springs.

"We still need to put pressure on our legislators," she said. "We still need a lot of visibility."

Prof. Stange, who attended the rally, said she grew up thinking political action "could work," pointing to the Civil Rights Movement, the women's rights movement, the environmentalism movement and the Vietnam War protests as examples. But now, she said, "It seems almost [as if] change can sometimes seem impossible."

"But I think students here and elsewhere are starting to take to social change," she said.

Intersections' addresses nationality

Posted by Max Siegelbaum

On March 1 the Committee on Intercultural & Global Understanding (CIGU), the Bias Response Group and the SGA Committee on Diversity Affairs held the penultimate installment of the Intersections panel series with a focus on nationality. About 60 members of the campus community attended the panel, which was held in Davis Auditorium.

Hosted by Director of Intercultural Studies and American Studies Professor Winston Grady-Willis, a panel of three professors and one student discussed ideas of the nation, nationalism and national identity. The three professors explored the idea of the nation in relation to their own academic studies.

Jordana Dym, an associate professor in the history department, discussed the process of building a "geo body" in the country where she conducts her research, Guatemala.

Dym described the different depictions cartographers and artists drew of Guatemala in the early 19th century and how they affect the public perception of the country, saying the process of turning the nation from a relatively isolated group of different indigenous groups and immigrants into a unified state is complex but necessary.

Maria Fernanda Lander, associate professor of Spanish, followed Dym with a presentation on the connection between nation, gender and drugs. She opened with a quote from the French author Ernest Renan who wrote a description of the nation as a "soul, a spiritual principle constituted by a rich legacy of memories." She also quoted Renan, saying that nationalism is "the will to perpetuate the value of that heritage."

Lander said these ideals relate to the war on drugs in Mexico and the U.S. in the 1930s. During this period, Lander said, the U.S. government used this conflict to stir up xenophobia against the Mexico by posing the idea that Mexicans are ruining the American nation with the steady influx of drugs.

Yasmin Hormozi '11 followed Professor Lander with a personal account of what the nation means to her and how nationalism pertains to her life. She said she feels a strong sense of national pride, but has also faced prejudices because of her physical appearance and Indian heritage. She also spoke about racial archetypes and how they have affected her identity.

She ended by saying that the campus should not forget the distinctly American privilege that we hold to be able to criticize the country we live in.

Pushkala Prasad, a business professor, ended the lecture with an account of how national identity can bleed into the business world.

She spoke about the purchase of the New York City area, Rockefeller Plaza by the Japanese Sony Corporation and the widespread panic that followed because many Americans believed that the Japanese were encroaching on the nation.

Prasad also said there is a distinct need to be vigilant of American corporations abroad and that often the perception of America is colored by the interactions between the local population and the corporation.

The session ended with a question-and-answer session, where several of the audience members shared their own viewpoints about the nation and their experiences with national identity.

The final intersections lecture will be held on April 7 with the eminent Princeton professor Cornell West as the keynote speaker.

Professor re-evaluates financial aid

Posted by Sandy Zhang

A recent study conducted by Sandy Baum, professor emerita of economics, found that in many public institutions, financial aid is often used as a means to influence accepted students' decisions instead of a means to provide low-and moderate-income students an opportunity to attend college.

Baum is in the midst of critical work on the intersection of college endowments, financial aid and student enrollment. Her work explores the increasingly competitive college admissions process and looks for ways to ease the level of competition.

One of the primary goals of her research is to find ways to diminish financial barriers (also known as barriers to access) that prevent many students from attending college.

The most recent study on institutional aid patterns shows that in public colleges and universities, about 50 percent of financial aid goes toward students who need the funds, while the rest are used to sway students' decisions to enroll.

For example, an accepted student able to afford the tuition with high SAT scores will be awarded aid (often called a scholarship) simply because of his or her high scores, according to Baum.

Baum has also recently begun exploring ways to relieve the competitive admissions process. One of her proposed solutions for decreasing the intense level of competition for acceptance in prestigious institutions is to increase enrollment.

Baum says that considering the hefty endowments of prestigious colleges, they should be able to enroll significantly more students without sacrificing the quality of the educations they offer.

"If [the wealthiest, most selective colleges] were to increase the size of their undergraduate student bodies by some percentage, say half, virtually all of them would still be at the top of the list of institutions ranked by wealth per student, and their admissions queues would still be out the door," said Baum in a statement with her research partner Michael McPherson. McPherson is president of the Spencer Foundation, which provides grants for educational improvement research.

Baum started researching financial aid about 25 years ago, just before she joined the Skidmore faculty in 1987.

Her background as an economist and her interest in public policy led her to think about the relationship between the government's policies and the prospects for reducing inequality in America.

"I started looking at the government's role in reducing inequality in access to educational opportunities," Baum said.

Baum said the college has handled financial aid allocation well. Skidmore's approach to financial aid is need-based; meaning aid is awarded almost exclusively to accepted students who truly need financial assistance.

The need for innovative solutions to these challenges is more urgent than ever, Baum said, as both students and parents grapple with the increasingly extreme competition that comes with application to highly selective colleges and the financial barriers that stand in the way once acceptance is offered.

In summary of her research and work, Baum said, "The most important issues in the realm of college access are assuring that low-and-moderate-income students have the elementary and secondary education they need to be prepared to do college work and that they do not face insurmountable financial barriers to enrolling and succeeding in college."

The issue goes beyond simply assuring less advantaged students have access to higher education, Baum said.

"But we should also address the question of admissions to highly selective colleges. The current process not only excludes many qualified students from low-income backgrounds – it also does intellectual and psychological damage to many of the students who actively compete for admission."

Writing Center set to break record

Posted by Gia Vaccarezza

The college's Writing Center, in its 30th year of operation, is slated to reach a record number of appointments for the 2010-2011 academic year. Student and staff tutors conducted 1,113 tutoring sessions in the fall 2010 semester, more than half the total appointments during the 2009-2010 academic year, in which 2,171 sessions were logged.

The recent numbers are a dramatic increase from past years. In the 2005-2006 academic year, the staff recorded 738 appointments and Writing Center logs from previous years show similarly low attendance.

Phil Boshoff, associate professor of English, and English Department Lecturer Martha Wiseman direct the Writing Center staff, which is comprised of 38 student tutors.

All student tutors are required to complete the EN303H: Honors Peer Tutoring Project course and spend a semester as unpaid tutors-in-training prior to officially joining the staff.

Co-Head Tutor Annie Potish '11 said no single change in the Writing Center's approach explains the dramatic increase in student turnout, but she is pleased with the change.

"It's really nice to be part of something becoming so central in the Skidmore community," Potish said.

In Sept. 2010, English as a Second Language (ESL) specialist Thad Niles joined the Writing Center staff.

Niles works with student tutors to develop approaches to working with non-native English speakers, as they often have different needs than native speakers.

Niles holds office hours in the Writing Center and is available to work with ESL students who have been referred by student tutors throughout the week.

The Writing Center has increased its hours of operation to accommodate the increase in tutoring sessions.

The current hours of operation are noon-midnight Sunday through Thursday, and noon- 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Additionally, for the first time, the Writing Center will have limited office hours during the second Summer 2011 academic session.

In an attempt to reach more students, Wiseman is leading grammar and style workshops outside of the Writing Center this semester.

Designed to teach writing basics such as punctuation, organization and narrative voice, the hour-long workshops are scheduled for Thursday and Friday afternoons throughout the semester and are open to the entire campus community.

The next workshop, titled "Beyond Evidence: Using and Integrating Secondary Sources," will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 10. in Bolton 103.

During the academic year the Writing Center staff encourages students to call and set up appointments in advance to ensure a tutoring session, though the staff tries to accommodate walk-ins as well.

Papers longer than five pages must be dropped off an hour before the appointment, and papers longer than 10 pages must be received via e-mail 24 hours prior to a scheduled appointment.

Students can call the Writing Center at 518-580-8441 to make an appointment, or visit the office in Scribner Library room 440.

Hustvedt lectures on literary truth

Posted by Noam Dagan & Jean-Ann Kubler

At 8 p.m. on Feb. 22, prize-winning novelist and memoirist Siri Hustvedt presented a lecture and panel discussion titled "Memoir vs. Fiction," in Emerson Auditorium. The auditorium was above capacity and many were not able to find seating.

Hustvedt is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, and several books of memoirs. The New York Times Book Review praised her most recent work, "The Shaking Woman or a History of My Nerves."

English professor Robert Boyers introduced Hustvedt, who began her talk by addressing the contract between writers and readers of memoir and fiction.

Hustvedt spoke about the current public fascination with memoir, which is echoed in the popularity of reality television and celebrity gossip. Readers of memoir, according to Hustvedt, expect that writers are not openly deceiving them. There is no such expectation from the readers of fiction, Hustvedt said.

Although readers may not expect truth from fiction writers, Hustvedt said a good fiction writer does capture some form of the truth.

"Some novels do lie, the good ones do not," Hustvedt said. The truth a fiction writer may tell is not held to the same standard as the truth told by memoirists because a memoir can be fact-checked, Hustvedt said.

"We are not talking about truth with a capital ‘T'," she said. Rather, the importance is the truth of the feeling of the work, Hustvedt said.

Hustvedt spoke about the fallibility of human memory and how it is nearly impossible for any human to recall his or her experiences in full detail. For this reason, she said, dialogue in memoir is often true to the nature of a real conversation, but not necessarily a factual account.

Memory is inherently subjective, Hustvedt said, and no two people recollect the same events in exactly the same detail.

The difficulty of memory's subjectivity is scientifically documented, Hustvedt said, and the same parts of the brain control memory and imagination.

Hustvedt spoke about an example of memory's fallibility in her personal life. She said her husband and daughter have strikingly different accounts of when her daughter first decided to be a performer, and neither of their accounts are the same as Hustvedt's.

Following her lecture, Hustvedt asked for questions from the featured panel, which included Visiting Assistant professor of English Melora Wolf, Senior Writer-in-Residence Greg Hrbek and Boyers. All three panelists teach English courses related to non-fiction writing.

The panel members asked questions regarding intentional lies, misremembering and poetic license. They also asked Hustvedt to discuss the different discoveries a writer may make through fiction and through memoir.

Hustvedt said the freedom of fiction often allows her to be more open in her personal discoveries and unlock material from her unconscious.

Memoir, Hustvedt said, can limit the potential of personal discovery because the writer is often concerned with protecting a story's real-life subjects.

Hustvedt then asked for questions from the audience. Russell Banks, a notable author, was in the audience and contributed to the discussion.

Calhoun, Senate evaluate Career Services

Posted by Kat Kullman

Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun met with SGA Senate on Feb. 22 to present a draft of a document outlining how the college can best help students use a liberal arts education after graduation.

The document, titled "Transitions and Transformations," focuses on increasing high-impact opportunities such as internships.

The committee that wrote the document is made up of 14 administrators and faculty members, which allows a cross-divisional collaborative team to address the issue.

Calhoun said the idea for a document addressing the utility of a liberal arts degree came from the town hall meetings, a part of the college's Strategic Plan, which occurred over the past year.

"A recurring question from the meetings was ‘what is the value of a liberal arts education?'" Calhoun said. "This isn't just about your transition out of college, it's every step of the way. We want the Skidmore education to be transformational."

These high-impact experiences will be more readily available and abundant, and will help Skidmore students leverage their education after graduation.

The changes would be geared toward underclassmen, especially sophomores, so that ideally every student would have had one high impact experience by junior year.

"We want these opportunities to be almost unavoidable, and to create an experience for all Skidmore students regardless of money," Calhoun said. "We need to provide resources and access for these things."

Changes outlined in the document include restructuring of Career Services, which includes the creation of new positions.

The new Career Services coordinator position will be a faculty position, the goal of which is to add more communication between the administration and faculty to sustain the internship program.

"We already do some of this work, but we want to develop the idea that experiential learning comes from curricular and co-curricular learning," Calhoun said.

The new coordinator would also be more external, focusing on networking with employers and other schools, Calhoun said.

A senator asked why Career Services seems to only direct students to websites that leave most of the work to the students.

"We can't avoid students doing some of the work, but our work needs to come from these sites knowing that you're special because you're from Skidmore. It's about creating the right balance of student initiative and institutional support," Calhoun said.

To increase networking ability and the possibility of future employment, many senators suggested 1-credit business etiquette classes, internship coordinators for each department and a wider range of internship opportunities not necessarily dependent on majors.

The draft of this document will continue to be evaluated, and a survey will be sent to the Skidmore community to gain feedback about Career Services.

In other news:

Senate passed a supplemental to allocate money from Program Support to fund the Environmental Action Club's trip to this year's Power Shift conference in Washington, D.C.

The supplemental was unanimously approved for $3,000. Sixty students will attend.

A distressed community confronts administrators

Posted by Julia Leef

Throughout the past few weeks, Skidmore has shown its ability and willingness to gather together as a community in response to the ongoing events and issues concerning diversity and inclusiveness on campus. Last Friday, the community came together again in Gannett Auditorium for an open forum discussion between students, faculty and members of the community.

Acting President Susan Kress and the members of the president's Cabinet led the dialogue. More than 300 people came to the event, filling up the auditorium so that some people had to listen to a simulcast in both Davis and Emerson. Even after the meeting started, more people continued to file in.

Kress began the discussion by speaking about the incidents that have occurred on campus recently, including the vandalism of the Sex and Gender Relations bulletin board, the Graffiti on the controversial "Food for Thought" posters and the recent Compton's Restaurant incident and the subsequent media response.

"We stand by our fundamental commitment to support a diverse community," Kress said.

"There is work for every single one of us to do."

Kress invited the crowd to share their feelings, opinions and suggestions concerning the aforementioned issues. In addition, a question box was placed outside during the meeting for people who had additional concerns.

Although the majority of the people in attendance were older members of the community and faculty, a sampling of students also voiced their opinions that afternoon.

Students from various grades and backgrounds, such as Frank Cabrera '11, Rebecca Drago '11 and Danny Pforte '13, said that action needed to be taken to create a dialogue with the greater Saratoga community.

Many, such as Thomas Rivera '13, said that there have been too many conversations and not enough action. He also suggested bringing students and faculty together, by adding courses to the curriculum that would address such issues.

"In order to make this environment better," Riviera said, "there needs to be an understanding on both sides, students and faculty . . . we need to see you there."

Other students expressed their dismay at the racially charged comments made online in response to articles published in the Saratogian and the Schenectady Daily Gazette.

"It's bringing to the surface underlying tensions of racism," Angie Tucker '13 said, "comments such as the ones regarding the Compton's Incident were directed at minorities in general, not just at the four students involved."

The group repeatedly mentioned the Inter-Group Relations, or IGR, and applauded the opportunity that it offers people to speak about diversity and to become more involved in the community. Several workshops, such as the one currently scheduled for the summer, are open to both students and faculty, and many of those who spoke on Friday encouraged everyone to attend.

Sarah Finkle '11 and Yasmin Hormozi '11, who helped run the recent SGA sponsored student dialogue, "The Talk We Need to Have," are both IGR facilitators and were both present at the open community meeting. Both stressed the importance of involving more people, starting as early as the First-Year Experience. Hormozi also brought up the suggestion, which was echoed by several other speakers, that there should be a requirement to attend these discussions.

Kristie Ford, assistant professor of Sociology, spoke about an upcoming faculty and staff workshop in May, an annual IGR workshop where faculty could come together over the course of three days to learn about race and diversity related issues on campus. Following the workshop, participants are encouraged to share their knowledge by overseeing peer-facilitated dialogues, running a follow-up workshop or meeting and hosting a staff dialogue.

In addition, Ford also taught several IGR courses, including this semester's course "Race and Power". The college also offers peer-facilitated dialogues.

The dialogue cumulated with members of the Cabinet each making a brief statement on the actions their area is currently taking to make this a more inclusive campus. Some of those actions involved incorporating dialogues into summer programs and orientations, as Jeff Segrave, dean of Special Programs, said.

Mike West, vice president for Finance and Administration and Pat Rubio, acting dean of the Faculty, spoke about the ongoing effort to recruit and keep faculty members of color. West also mentioned using college resources to create more faculty diversity programs and workshops. Michael Casey, vice president for Advancement, said that his department was currently working with alumni to address these issues and to reach out to members of the community and the press.

Even after the meeting officially ended, more than 80 people remained another hour to continue the dialogue with each other. This gave participants an opportunity to share personal anecdotes about diversity on campus.

"Diversity does not just mean race," Rebecca Drago '11 said, "one kind of oppression means all kinds of oppression."

In an interview following the event, Susan Kress expressed the importance of continuing dialogues such as the one on Friday.

"Dialogue is a part of action," she said. "I think having an opportunity for people to listen to one another, for people to hear particularly the experiences of our students and particularly the experiences of our students as students of color… I think that's a very important piece of this work that we are doing."

On Monday, Susan Kress met with Cabinet members to discuss the feedback they received in the open community meeting, and ways in which they could address the questions put forth. In addition to the efforts listed by the panel, the administration plans to bring in advisors to the college to talk about how best to approach sensitive topics such as diversity. The administration will also attempt to strengthen the college's ties with the Saratoga Springs area, and deal with the online discussion boards that have been the source of alleged racial bias.

"We talk about Skidmore and the town as if these are two separate entities," Kress said. "We are the town, many of our students live in the town . . . we are part of the town, [so] how do we work together to try to understand how we can all be a more inclusive community, both the town and the campus?"

The college showed solidarity in the past few weeks through dialogues about racial diversity and bias. In the upcoming weeks, the college will try and extend this dialogue to the larger community.

"I think this is urgent work, and it's work for every single person on the campus," Kress said. "I think we can do better."

Health care costs rise for union: Union employees now required to pay 4.15 percent of gross pay for health care

Posted by Andrew Cantor

Beginning March 11, unionized college employees in the Service Employees International Union Local 200United will pay 4.15 percent of their gross earnings each pay period to cover the increased cost of their health care plan.

Local 200United represents about 150 college Dining Services, mechanic, maintenance, facilities, post office and stable hand employees.

The college and the union negotiated a new contract, signed on Sept. 26, 2010, and retroactively effective from June 1, 2010 to May 31, 2013, which did not include the 4.15 percent deduction to pay the health care 1199 SEIU Greater New York Benefit Fund.

At the end of 2010, the college and Local 200United did not finish negotiating a portion of the health care agreement.

An outside arbitrator then mediated the negotiations and decided unionized employees would pay 4.15 percent of their gross pay to cover increased health care plan costs, starting in February.

The college covered the increased health care costs for February, and employees will begin to pay them on March 11.

"We sympathize with our employees," said Barbara Beck, director of Human Resources at the college. "The increased costs are substantial."

In addition to the 4.15 percent gross pay deduction, employees of less than five years and more than five years will have to pay a health care premium of about $60 per week and $30 per week for a spouse, respectively.

The health care plan covers employees' children without any additional premium.

Ian Putnick, a union representative for the employees, notified employees of the pay deduction in a letter dated Jan. 17.

Employees claim they were unaware of the arbitrator's negotiations, and were surprised to find Putnick's letter.

Putnick did not respond to a phone call by press time on Feb. 24. "We didn't see this coming," said Thomas Baylor, a college postal employee. "It's awful. It's just awful."

"It's the fact that we didn't know about it that bothered me," baker Matt Littrell said. "We would have negotiated a higher pay raise in our contract if we knew this was coming."

"We should have known this was going on," Joanne Dugan, a short order cook, customer attendant and vice chairperson of the union, said. "It's not the college's fault … We should have been informed about the arbitration by our union."

In the agreement between the union and the college, employees can research an alternative health care plan and vote to switch plans.

Warren Desjardins, a cook and shop steward in the Dining Hall, is researching other health care plans. He posted a signup sheet in the Dining Hall asking employees to sign their names and pledge to research new health care plans.

Only two employees have signed their names.

"I'm looking for other options," Desjardins said. "But you have to realize how long this takes. We'd have to research a new plan, then go into negotiations with all the employees. We all have different shifts and schedules, so it's so hard to organize."

"It could have been a lot worse," Dugan said. "I've been an employee of the college since 1994. We haven't paid for health care [premiums] yet really until this year... We had to see this coming."

Uncontested SGA election yields large student turnout

Posted by Andrew Cantor

On Feb. 22 about 80 students packed into the SPA to hear Thomas Rivera ‘13 campaign for a seat on the SGA executive committee.

Logan Brenner '12, former vice president for Academic Affairs, is studying abroad this semester in Turks and Caicos, which created a vacancy for the position.

Rivera '13 ran uncontested for vice president for Academic Affairs, an executive board position, and won the position with 280 votes. There were 37 abstentions and 15 no confidence votes.

"It's a very tough position, honestly," Alex Stark '11, SGA president, said. "Especially midway though the semester, it's hard to find people running for that. The fact that we got someone very qualified for the job is even better."

Rivera was not required to give a speech for the election because it was uncontested.

"I didn't have to do this," Rivera said. "I didn't have to give the speech and put up posters. I told everyone to come out tonight because we have to make a shift from apathy to action."

"Currently student power is in the hands of a few students … Some of us forget that SGA represents the student body and a lot of us are simply giving up this power by not voting," he said.

Rivera launched a Facebook group named "Bridging the Gap between Apathy and Empowerment" where students can voice their ideas about how to shape academic affairs. His goal is to make SGA more transparent and accessible.

Rivera, in his new role as vice president for Academic Affairs, plans to have a dinner where students and faculty members from every department can meet and speak informally.

"As a business major I've never had the opportunity to speak with a biology professor," Rivera said. "It's important we speak to faculty members in other disciplines … and it's important they speak with different students."

Rivera also wants to alter the major fair and change the event venue from one large room with multiple majors represented at tables, to separate classrooms for each major. He said this is more conducive for an intimate atmosphere, giving prospective majors a better idea of each department.

In his speech, Rivera spoke about the need to be less apathetic in school affairs. The large student presence in the SPA on Monday night seemed to indicate, especially for an uncontested election, student interest in campus policy.

"We didn't even serve pizza on Monday night," Alex Stark '11, SGA president, said. "We usually feel pizza is a big draw for these things."

Office of Residential Life continues de-tripling process

Posted by Rebecca Orbach & Pat Klimaszewski

The Office of Residential Life is continuing to de-triple first-year students in response to the over-enrollment of the class of 2014.

In August there were 184 triples, in January 156 and 108 as of Feb 17.

Residential Life is encouraging upperclassmen that are living in the dorms to move to Scribner Village, Northwoods Apartments or off-campus housing to make room for the First Year Experience London students and first-years who were previously living in triples.

All first-year students who spent their fall semester in London are currently being housed in single occupancy dorm rooms.

Enrolled students who were off-campus in the fall entered the housing system as "student studying off-campus," and were entered into the same algorithm as returning study-abroad participants.

Students in this housing category are typically juniors and are given preference for single rooms.

This year's room selection process is different than that of previous year's.

In the past, an e-mail was sent to students in triples asking if they wanted to be de-tripled.

This year, that e-mail was not sent and, instead, students were expected to confront Residential Life if they wanted to be de-tripled.

This change aimed to focus de-tripling efforts toward rooms with the most severe housing complaints, such as irreconcilable differences among roommates.

Many first-years are uncomfortable with living in triples, but it is impossible to accommodate every student's desire to live in a single or double room.

To alleviate space issues in triples, Residential Life suggests utilizing other spaces on campus such as the additional study rooms in the residence halls and the new game room in Case Center.

"Next year will be a very similar situation with triples," said Associate Director of Residential Life Ann Marie Przywara.

Solomon presents terror theory at Ramsey lecture

Posted by Miles Mattison & Maximilian Ehrman

On Tuesday Feb. 15, the 12th annual Jon Ramsey Honors Forum Lecture was held in Gannett Auditorium.

Professor Sheldon Solomon from the Psychology Department gave a lecture on his vocation titled, "The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness."

Gannett was at maximum capacity and a live video feed of Solomon's lecture was transmitted for viewers in Davis Auditorium.

Director of the Honors Forum and Mathematics Professor David Vella welcomed Solomon to the stage after speaking briefly about Jon Ramsey, whom the lecture is named after.

Solomon's lecture was a synopsis of his Terror Management Theory, which he began to develop during his years in graduate school.

Terror Management Theory seeks to explain the prevailing travesties experienced by humans since the beginning of recorded culture.

The theory was sparked by the harsh realization that humanity's recorded history is plagued with genocide, tragedy and evil, Solomon said.

One unique feature of humans, according to Solomon, is that we are self-aware.

As a result of this self-awareness, humans are also conscious of an imminent mortality, which creates an incredible anxiety, Solomon said.

Solomon said culture is a human construct serving a death-denying function to deal with this anxiety.

When two people from different cultures meet and the thought of death is present, hostility is projected as a defense mechanism against the prevailing anxiety. These are the logistics of Terror Management Theory, Solomon said.

At the lecture, Solomon discussed an experiment he conducted during the 2004 election season.

Solomon separated registered voters from Rutgers University into a control and a manipulated group.

The control group read an article about a painful experience, while the manipulated group read an article featuring death.

Next, the voters were anonymously asked who they would vote for in the upcoming presidential elections.

The control group favored John Kerry's less aggressive war policies 4 - 1.

The manipulated group favored George Bush's more aggressive war policies 3 - 1.

The results confirmed Solomon's theory that when made aware of death, humans project hostility on to other cultures to suppress the anxiety of their own imminent mortality.

After the lecture, Solomon opted out of an audience to speaker question-and-answer session.

Instead, he met the audience for refreshments outside Gannett Auditorium to personally address any questions.

Honor Certificates were also distributed to the first-year High Honors and Honors.

The lecture was sponsored by the Honors Forum and the Office of First-Year Experience, and also served as an accolade to this year's first-year honors students.

Jon Ramsey was a professor in Skidmore's English Department for 28 years and later became the dean of Studies, serving from 1994 to 2004.

Professor Ramsey's contributions to the college include propelling the Honors Forum into existence and the Office of International Programs.

Ramsey was well-known for his administrative writing, which is displayed throughout Skidmore's college catalog and Academic Information Guide.

FYE extension in the works: College considers more focused sophomore year experience

Posted by Jean-Ann Kubler

The Office of Residential Life is collaborating with the First Year Experience and representatives from Student Affairs to create a program that combines critical aspects of sophomore-year academic and social life to make the transition out of FYE more gradual.

The program, which is in its nascent stages and does not yet have a formal title, is slated to debut in fall 2013.

Motivation for creating a sophomore-centric program came from a common opinion that sophomores lack the type of institutionalized direction associated with other class years.

"For first-years, everything is new and exciting and they have FYE. Juniors are usually focused on going abroad, and seniors have graduation and careers to prepare for. Sophomores are often left thinking, ‘Well, what do I do?'" said Don Hastings, director of Residential Life and associate dean of student affairs.

Hastings is working closely with Associate Director of Residential Life Ann Marie Przywara, Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun, Director of the First Year Experience Beau Breslin, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Academic Advising Corey Freeman-Gallant and Frank Cabrera '11, a senior who is writing his thesis on sophomore-centric programing.

Very few details of the potential program have been planned. The residential component, however, is more concrete.

"The new slope-side apartments will be instrumental in combining the academic and social aspects of the sophomore year experience," Hastings said.

The slope-side apartments, part of the $42 million Scribner Village Replacement Project, are tentatively slated to be finished in fall 2012. The two new apartment buildings will each house 56 students, separated into five-person apartments.

The five occupancy apartments, according to Hastings, can serve as a residential setting for students who wish to continue their FYE studies.

"For example, if five students from an FYE seminar really enjoyed their topic and want to delve deeper, maybe they could apply for an apartment together, similar to the old system of themed housing," Hastings said.

Themed housing, which was phased out in 2005 when FYE was established, offered students the opportunity to apply for houses, suites and residence hall floors with specific themes. Wait and Wiecking Halls hosted honors floors, and houses in Scribner included gourmet cooking and multicultural themes.

Like the themed houses, FYE extension houses would likely be set up through an application process. Student applications would be reviewed by a committee before being approved for continued study and housing.

It has not yet been determined if students approved for continued FYE studies will be given preference in housing selection, or how class credits would be appropriated.

Some students do not feel the lack of direction during sophomore year is a problem. "I thought it was a good break. A lot of the application process for going abroad junior year happens when you're a sophomore, so it's good to have the free time," Katie Humphreys '12 said.

Current sophomores said a more structured year could help with selecting a major. "You're given a lot of freedom during sophomore year, but when it comes time to declare a major, the lack of structure becomes a problem," Dylan Lustrin '13 said.

Being forced to declare a major after a year without guidance makes the selection process complicated and stressful, Lustrin said.

The continued FYE studies would be completely optional for sophomores. If students are uninterested in continuing their seminar topics, or do not believe they need a more structured sophomore year, they will not be obligated to participate.

"It would be much like the Survivor Series programs we run for first-year students. We think they're a good idea, but nothing is mandatory," Hastings said.

Residential Life is seeking more ideas for the new program. Any suggestions can be e-mailed to Hastings (dhasting@skidmore.edu) or Przywara (aprzwar@skidmore.edu).

"There have only been two formal meetings, but there has been interest and a positive response so far. We're still working out all of the details," Hastings said.

Senate approves controversial funding for travel

Posted by Kat Kullman

On Tuesday, Feb. 15, SGA Senate approved a supplement for students hoping to attend a medical aid program in Honduras during spring break.

Kelsea Sanderfur '13 and Leela Chandrasekar '12 requested a $1,760 supplemental for their trip with the VIDA.

This program is designed for pre-medical students, although no medical experience is necessary. The students stay in hospital dormitories and provide simple medical services at the understaffed facilities.

The students have the support of Skidmore's Responsible Citizens Task Force.

"The services we're providing there are for general public health, but the education is a two-way street. We'll be learning there, too. It's important and relevant for the Skidmore community because we can come back and teach the campus what we learned, and, if they're interested, how they can do the same," Chandrasekar said.

Many senators expressed concern because of the large amount of money the students requested from a relatively small group.

Their primary concern was larger groups who may want to do similar trips, but would no longer have the funds to do so. Senators also questioned whether such a small group would be able to represent Skidmore effectively abroad.

"It's about experiencing something we can't have here," Chandrasekar said. "It's about learning about global health care, a very pertinent issue today. It's taken us several years for this to gain support; we're traveling as individuals, but we're representing the community."

"What sets you guys apart is that you're here applying. Lots of kids on this campus want to save the world, but you've taken the steps to do it," Senator Dan Demartini ‘11 said.

The supplemental was passed with 24 yays and seven nays. After the students return from Honduras they will give a presentation on their trip and provide information on potential future travels.

In other news:

Senate approved a $1,850 supplemental for Bicycles Against Poverty to cover travel expenses and renting bikes.

Any students wishing to give suggestions for this year's Fun Day are welcome to attend an open meeting on Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. in Ladd 106.

Scribner construction on schedule

Posted by Katie Vallas

Students returned from winter break to see new progress in the Scribner Village construction project, which has been underway since last fall. After years of development and planning, the first structures will be completed as early as spring of next year.

The three phases of the construction project include an addition to Northwoods Apartments, the creation of new slope-side apartments alongside the perimeter road and a complete reconstruction of Scribner Village apartments, with eventual demolition of all existing structures in the complex.

With initial site work for the new Northwoods apartments ongoing since last fall, the three new Northwoods apartment buildings will be available for student housing by spring 2012.

Pending the college's receipt of building permits and selection of construction firms to helm the project, blasting at the site will soon give way to construction.

"The heavy work is going to start relatively soon, which is going to be when they're really breaking ground on the Northwoods site," said Ryan Ballantine, community coordinator for Scribner Village.

The second phase of the project remains in the initial stages, with subcontractors starting to clear the slope-side apartments' site at the start of this year.

"I think it's clearer to everyone how these apartments are going to fit into the project now," said Mike West, vice-president for Finance and Administration.

With most of the blasting at the slope-side site accomplished over the winter break, crews will continue to remove rock from the site during the coming weeks.

The project has been fueled by popular support at each planning stage, with administrators receiving unanimous approval from the college's Board of Trustees, Saratoga Springs' Planning Board and Saratoga Springs residents who live near the site.

"Everyone in the community has been positive about the project and positive about the college," West said. "We think it's a great project for our students, for the college and for the town."

The Board of Trustees supported the project as the culmination of several decades of plans to replace the original Scribner Village, built in 1973 as an experiment to gauge student response to apartment-style on-campus living.

The eventual move forward with the project came as a result of trustee donations, including a $12 million donation from the Sussman family and an additional $5.5 million gift from an anonymous trustee.

While additional fundraising efforts for the project will run concurrently with its construction, West said these trustee donations ensured that the project's completion would not be contingent upon further giving.

"We're striving to get additional gifts for the project, but these gifts mean we have substantial funding in place," he said.

He said he expects the project will be named in honor of the Sussman family's generosity.

"It's highly likely that the name will be changed to honor the wonderful and generous gift," West said. "We wish to recognize their gift that has made the difference to be able to permit us to do this project for our students."

Administrators said they expect the completion of the project to act as a strong improvement over the existing Scribner Village.

"The current Scribner is not the best environment for our students, especially compared to the other areas we have on campus," Ballantine said. "The whole idea that we're going to get new, fresh housing full of modern amenities is going to be a great thing for the students here."

But as construction continues, the project will necessarily inconvenience current students living in Northwoods and Scribner apartments, administrators said.

"The buildings at the top of the hill are most likely going to cause some disruption, especially for the students who live in the buildings closest to the construction site in Scribner Village," Ballantine said.

Already, students in Northwoods Apartments have come forward with complaints about noise associated with the new apartments' construction. "The college has made an effort to keep a very strict time frame for when they can start work," Ballantine said, adding that crews have been asked not to begin work before 8 a.m.

As the project continues, administrators anticipate students experiencing further disruptions.

"There will be some noise and some dirt, and there'll be times when we might have to shut the road down for bringing in a piece of equipment or moving a key piece of steel," West said. "We regret that, but we're under a very strict time frame to get these ready for our students."

While West said he understands any student frustration with the process, he added he hopes students will remember the importance of this project in transforming the college's residential experience.

"In three years – which is a long time for a student who is here, but in the history of the college is a relatively short time – we will have one of the better, more competitive residential experiences than any of our peers and, I would even say, some of our aspirant institutions," West said.

Support statement received negatively: Public responds to faculty-signed statement regarding alleged assault

Posted by Jean-Ann Kubler

A statement of support for the four students involved in last semester's Compton's Restaurant incident is receiving negative responses from the public.

The statement, originally issued through the campus Student Announcements e-mail on Dec. 6, is signed by Associate Professor of American Studies and Director of Intercultural Affairs Winston Grady-Willis, Lisa Grady-Willis, a lecturer in the theater department, Mason Stokes, chair of the English department and Director of Student Diversity Programs Mariel Martin.

The four faculty members point out issues of bias, media harassment and negative public opinion regarding the alleged assault of a Saratoga Springs man on Dec. 18, 2010.

An article in the Albany Times Union titled "Skidmore professors call treatment of students unfair," republished the statement and has received a number of online comments calling the statement of support biased and misguided.

The statement alleges that the four students implicated in the assault, Justin Tavarez '13, Sakhile Sithole ‘13, Elijah Johnston ‘14 and Korvin Vicente ‘13, have been misrepresented by the media.

The statement also asserts that due to the constraints of the legal system, the students involved have not been allowed to speak out and the media narrative is one-sided as a result.

"Though legalities mandate that we refrain from sharing the specifics of the case, it is important to note that only one perspective has been reported by the media, and that perspective has focused on the notion of a hate crime," the statement said.

The hate crime status of the assault charge was dropped when a new witness testimony suggested the use of the word "nigger" during the alleged assault was not racially charged.

Despite the retraction of the hate crime charge, issues of race and socio-economic status still appear in media discussions of the alleged assault.

"Those both inside and outside of our institution have called into question the significance of diversity initiatives in creating an unsafe climate. When you hear such iterations, we urge you to question the validity and severity of such indictments," proposes the statement of support.

A commenter on the Times-Union website named "Rob" pointed out a possible shortcoming in the statement of support.

"I guess I don't understand how you can plead guilty to assault and still be misrepresented, marginalized, and/or misunderstood… I just don't understand the point of this letter, particularly since it completely ignores the guilty plea."

Another commenter named "Kevin" said the statement is disingenuous because the faculty allege bias but do not offer any evidence.

Commenter "Prince of Ruins" said the students are being treated leniently, not with the bias the statement of support alleges.

"Nowhere in the article does it mention that these students are part of the Skidmore basketball team. We all know that athletes are treated differently in the ‘court of public opinion' as well as the criminal justice system," the comment states.

Further comments on the Times Union site allege that there is not only a problem with the statement of the support, but with the college as an institution.

"Like it or not Skidmore students now have a reputation for being thugs and now everyone will have to pay for it to a certain degree – even if that means guilty in the court of public opinion," said Joseph Cea in a comment on the article.

A comment from "LouHarv" stated "This whole incident, especially the school's response has tarnished Skidmore's reputation."

The college has responded to the issues of bias noted in the case with a series of on-campus discussions.

A teach-in was scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 2 but was postponed due to the college's snow day.

On Feb. 9, Peer Mediators and members of Inter-Group Relations led a student-only forum to discuss bias issues.

The forum, called "The Talk We Need to Have at Skidmore" is discussed further on page 14.

More than just food for thought: Student-only dialogue fosters discussion of diversity issues

Posted by Julia Leef

There have recently been a series of incidents on campus that have caused great controversy and bias. Both the administration and students alike have addressed these controversial events in the form of letters and open-forum discussions. Students are speaking out with regard to the "Food for Thought" posters that have provoked controversy on campus.

This past Wednesday night, from 8-10 p.m. in the second floor of Murray-Aikins Dining Hall, SGA hosted "The Talk We Need to Have," a completely student-run and participant based meeting that addressed the "Food for Thought" posters and the issues associated with them. SGA also invited several peer mediators and IGR facilitators to run the meeting.

"SGA took the initiative to respond back," said Emmily De los Santos '11, one of the mediators at the event. "‘Hey, Food for Thought, you got our attention, let's talk about this. Let's come together, next semester, we're going to have a meeting.' And that was what sparked this dialogue."

According to SGA President Alex Stark '11, the posters were the starting point for the questions that have been brought up around campus. "SGA members felt that we should provide a venue for these conversations," she said. "We wanted to interact with people who felt this way, who felt that these conversations needed to happen, and to use our resources to . . . encourage this conversation between many groups of people and the entire community."

The meeting addressed a series of "Food for Thought" posters that were anonymously put up around campus last semester. The posters asked questions about race, class, gender and other social identities. These posters have been vandalized with negative comments and many have been ripped down.

"While those posters were maybe the initial motivation," said Suzanne Finkel '11, an IGR facilitator, "I think it's been clear to a lot of us . . . that there are growing tensions on campus, that there is more than that, there's a lack of dialogue and communication."

"I feel like the beautiful thing is that the posters brought to light something that had been under the radar for so long," said Ismatu Alison-Konteh '11, another facilitator, "and not just something that's been under the radar, but something that's been bubbling under the surface of the campus for a long time."

More than 130 students of all ethnicities attended the forum, filling the room so that even when extra chairs were brought in, many still had to sit on the floor or stand.

The mediators and facilitators emphasized that the purpose of the meeting was to provide a neutral environment in which students could feel free to voice their opinions on the posters and the controversy the posters caused. A list of ground rules was established and the group was divided into four smaller groups that talked amongst themselves before rejoining for one last final discussion.

Generally, students seemed to approve of the posters and the questions that they raised. Students supported the fact that these posters challenged people to think about real issues and inspired further discussion.

"If those posters were never created," asked Lavere Foster '11, a mediator of the event, "would we have had this dialogue here tonight? And it's a shame that something really big has to go down in order for someone to actually step up and take charge. Why can't we step up for all these things that actually happen and try to prevent them in the first place?"

"I feel like being here really made me feel and learn a lot," said Chris Lord '12, a mediator. "I got a lot out of this, personally . . . when you're in this environment you really feel it. And when you feel it, that's what it's about."

Many students spoke about the need for even more people to become involved and express their own viewpoints outside of scheduled events. Even after the meeting was dismissed, students lingered to continue their discussions about these important issues.

"I honestly think if we continue to make provocative statements," said Hugh James O'Kelly '13, "such as the ones that were made with the ‘Food for Thought' posters, that can be one of the most direct and effective ways that this can happen."

"I think the most important take-away point of this dialogue is that it's important for everyone's narratives to be heard," Frank Cabrera '11 said. "And my philosophy is that being silent is just as bad as committing any hate crime, because silence just reinforces the fact that what is happening is okay."

Some other students, however, felt that there was a limit to the effectiveness of the meeting.

"I think that this dialogue went very well," Erin Richard '14, said. "But, at the same time, I feel that more people need to care more about these issues and then come to these events.

"I feel that the dialogue was effective, but, as effective as it was, we have a long way to go," said Xavier Hatten, class of 2014 president. "The people who already care were the ones that showed up."

Even so, everyone seemed to enjoy that students had taken the initiative to begin this talk and to support the talks to come.

"The thing for me that's important is that, while we may be students here for four years, we aren't just passing through," said Nick Hara '11, a mediator and co-president of the Conflict Resolution club. "To open up the dialogue the way that we have is something that is, like we've all said, a foot in the door, but, ultimately, we need to be talking about how we fit into this entire community."

"As students, we have more control and power than we think we do," said Natalie Alvarez '11, a mediator. "As students, we need to be taking control of our education, our community and of ourselves, and turn this around into a place where we feel comfortable and safe and enjoy it."

"For me, I love Skidmore, I think it's a great place," said Rachel Sotak '12, a mediator. "I think that everyone is privileged to be at Skidmore and everyone should get the opportunity to enjoy it and to get the full experience out of it."

As all of the mediators and facilitators emphasized, this meeting is not the end, but rather the beginning. The dialogue will continue with "Project Unity," a program that will meet on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in the ICC at Case Center.

"It's meant to be a place where there really is no hierarchy," Hatch said. "It's a place to learn from each other and to feel for each other."

In addition to "Project Unity," the mediators, facilitators and Stark encourage students to come and talk to them about their opinions concerning the issues on campus. They hope that people will feel comfortable enough to do so. One of the "Food for Thought" posters challenged students to establish constructive dialogues about these events and it seems that this challenge has been met.