Posted by Dale Obbie
On Sunday, Jan. 29, music department lecturer and classical guitarist Brett Grigsby performed a stylistically diverse solo guitar concert in the Arthur Zankel Music Center's Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall. The event was well-attended by students, faculty and Saratoga Springs residents.
Grigsby performed music by Francesco da Milano, Leo Brouwer, Mauel Ponce, J.S. Bach and Patrick Roux, as well as a number of arrangements by Roland Dyens. In other words, the program included many styles of classical guitar music – Baroque, Renaissance, Spanish, French and even some jazz-inflected arrangements. Grigsby said he enjoys playing an eclectic program not only because he loves all types of classical guitar music, but also because he believes that the audience appreciates the variety.
Despite the technical intricacy of the music and the sheer number of songs that Grigsby played, he performed with his eyes closed throughout the entire concert, relying on his memory rather than sheet music to carry the performance.
"You don't just memorize songs, you learn them," said Grigsby, explaining that the arduous process of rote memorization allows musicians to approach the music from a deeper and more personal level.
"There is definitely a wall that people hit when they're learning classical music," said Grigsby, adding that when musicians overcome that wall, they can learn to further express themselves. "You need to know how to do it strictly so that you can then mess around with it."
He made full use of what he calls the "magical acoustics" of the concert hall, emphasizing shifts in dynamics and tempo to express himself with every nuance of the music.
Grigsby, who has been playing classical guitar for 25 years, has performed extensively in both the U.S. and Canada. He has studied with the renowned Peter Segal, Pat O'Brien, Michael Newman, Ben Verdery and Patrick Roux. Grigsby explained, however, that he truly fell in love with classical guitar after he began studying with Joel Brown, the chairman of the Music department.
Sunday's concert ended with a standing ovation, and Grigsby returned to the stage to play an encore – "El Choclo," a spicy piece arranged by Roland Dyens and composed by
Posted by Julia Leef
Beginning next fall, local youths will have the opportunity to attend concerts and programs at the Arthur Zankel Music Center free of charge, as a result of the recent $50,000 grant given to the College by the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust. The grant will provide free admission to Zankel Music Center activities for children ages 6 to 18 as part of the newly established Alfred Z. Solomon Community Fund for Children, Youth and the Arts, which the Office of the Dean of Special Programs will direct. As part of the program, the College will work with local schools to engage younger listeners in various events at the Zankel Music Center. "This really gives us a chance to reach out to people and bring them in," said Michelle Curran, concerts and events manager at the Zankel Music Center. "It's very exciting to have this kind of opportunity to reach the [youth], our next generation of audiences. We might not have been able to do this without the grant." The initial $50,000 is intended as an endowment only; the College will only spend the annual accumulated interest - about 5 percent, or $2,500. While many programs at the Zankel Music Center offer free concerts and lectures, the Solomon grant is specifically directed at bringing younger audiences free-of-charge to the approximately 20 concerts a year that charge in order to cover costs. These youth groups also will be able to attend master classes and performances by guest artists for free -- events that usually charge admission. "Most of the other grants that pay for events at Zankel basically just pay for the performers and the artist," said Paul Calhoun, interim dean of the Office of the Dean of Special Programs. "This is the only one that's targeted to a specific audience group." The Solomons, a local family, also have funded the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery in the past. Curran, who started working at the College six months ago, is responsible for spending the money. The Office of the Dean of Special Programs will put together a plan by June to share with the Solomon family that will address events and special issues, such as providing transportation for local schools. "We'll identify specific events that we think are particularly suited to this [opportunity], as well as schools or youth organizations, and market to those students or school administrators to get them here," Calhoun said. "We're very grateful. It's not clear that we would have been able to do this outreach without the grant. It's important for Zankel because Zankel was built in part to serve the broad community, not just Skidmore." Posted by Julia Leef
Next week, Skidmore College will relocate its 50 Starbuck Center employees to various locations in Case Center and Palamountain Hall, in response to the as of yet undetermined health concerns reported by employees. When asked about the rumors of breast cancer and miscarriages as a result of working in the Starbuck environment, Dean of Student Affairs Rochelle Calhoun declined to comment. President Glotzbach released a statement to the student body on Jan. 25 stating that the College will take measures to determine the source of these concerns, as well as to ensure the safety of the community. "We do not know yet if the incidences of health problems are statistically significant, but we do know that the well-being of every individual in our community is of paramount concern to us," Glotzbach said in his statement. "For this reason, we have decided to relocate all 50 employees currently housed in Starbuck to other campus locations until we have a clear understanding of the situation." The transfers will take place over a three-week period, and each office will be closed for two days as furniture is moved and phone and computer lines are set up in the new locations. "After the relocations have been completed, we expect that Starbuck will be offline for some number of months," Executive Director of Communications Dan Forbush said in an earlier statement. "We will be able to estimate that period of time more accurately once we begin to see test results." During the week of Jan. 30, the Academic Advising, Registrar and Student Academic Services offices will relocate to the fourth floor of Palamountain, occupying the space recently vacated by the Office of the dean of Special Programs in its move to Filene. The Office of First-Year Experience will move to the main floor of Case Center. All offices will be closed from Jan. 30 to 31, and will reopen on Feb. 1. The week of Feb. 6, the Bursar, Card Services and Student Financial Aid offices will move to the second floor of Palamountain into the space previously used by Media Services before its transition to the ground floor of the Scribner Library. The offices will be closed from Feb. 6 to 7, and will reopen on Feb. 8. Finally, Career Services, the Office of Institutional Research and the Off-Campus Study and Exchange offices will now occupy various locations in Case Center, including the game room. They will be closed tentatively from Feb. 13 to Feb. 14, and will reopen on Feb. 15. Testing will begin next week, with the aid of an industrial hygienist, to determine if the nature of the issue is related to environmental factors. Although Forbush said he would be unable to release any further information until after the tests, he did say that whatever issue is at hand has not seemed to spread outside of Starbuck to the buildings in the surrounding area, such as the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. In addition, the College is working with any concerned employee on a case-by-case basis. Forbush estimates that Starbuck will be vacant from two to six months, until the College can fully determine the nature of the problem. Students with questions or concerns should contact Patricia Bosen, director of Health Services, at ext. 5550. Posted by Andrew Shi
During the faculty meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 2, Director of the Honors Forum Dr. Catherine Golden announced that the Honors Forum would now be called the Periclean Honors Forum to preserve the name and history of the College's first honor society. The name change refers to an earlier merger in 2008, an endeavor to save the Periclean Society, an honor society founded in 1956 to recognize academic achievement, which faced disbandment due to non-regular membership. The Honors Forum now administers the Periclean Scholar Awards, recognizing outstanding senior projects from the senior class. "In 2008, SGA de-chartered the Periclean Honor Society as an affiliated organization. Periclean found itself in a crisis, and the Honors Forum was asked to take over some of its functions," Golden said. This merger is only one of several changes to the Honors Forum, the biggest of which is the procedure through which it inducts new students, Golden said. Former Director and Chairman of the Honors Forum Professor David Vella initiated communications with Admissions last year until Golden took over and worked with Admissions and the dean's office to execute the changes. The biggest change affects the numbers of members inducted into the Forum, which has increased over the years. This year, the incoming class of inductees is 73, a number close to tripling the initial incoming Honors Forum class of 28 inductees in 1997, Golden said. "The Honors Council agreed that the membership numbers must be brought down and the population broadened. The Honors Forum Council believes there is little or no way to manage intimate intellectual engagement successfully with these large numbers," Golden said. "As things previously stood, staff of the Admissions Office, which supports our new way of inducting students, reviewed the files of incoming students and made invitations." Thus, high school students will no longer be able to begin their college careers in the Honors Forum, but must prove themselves academically through college accomplishments in order to be inducted. Tillman Nechtman, associate professor of history, is the source of this idea, Golden said. In addition, while under the current system, students are inducted in the fall and spring terms; following the changes to the Honors Forum, there will be only one induction per year. Students may apply to the Forum after their first and third semesters. Other changes consist of a revamped initiative to create Honors Forum housing, which used to exist in the Adams and Hathorn Houses in 2000. The housing will be located in Weicking and will be open to sophomores through seniors. "Beginning in fall 2012, Honors Forum housing will now be available for students in the Forum looking for a quieter and more work-focused environment," Golden said. For more information on the Honors Forum and upcoming Honors Forum sponsored events, visit its website. Posted by Brendan James
On Tuesday evening a Skidmore student walking on East Avenue was struck by a vehicle driven by an elderly resident, according to witnesses at the scene. The student, 21, was walking east on East Avenue around 5 p.m. when a green Buick struck her from behind. According to police scanners the car was traveling under 20 miles per hour. Though no grave injuries are apparent, the student complained of leg injuries and a loss of consciousness. Police scanners indicate the student thrown 10 feet by the impact of the vehicle. Among the witnesses was a Skidmore employee who identified the victim as a student at the College. For more information visit The Saratogian's report. Posted by Kristin Travagline
"A Resolution of the Arts and Sciences," now on view in the Schick Art Gallery, goes beyond a unification of the two fields — it demonstrates they are one in the same. Curating the exhibition was a team comprised of Ali Carney-Knisely '12, Rachel Fisher '12, Nora Johnson '12 and Professor John Cunningham. The show features artwork by eight current students, 12 alumni and seven faculty members. Planning for the exhibition began two years ago when Fisher volunteered to help Professor Cunningham recreate his event "Walk Like an Egyptian," which took place at Skidmore in 1987. The premise of the experiment was to lift as much mass as possible using a force multiplier that Cunningham devised. Intending to recreate the event, Cunningham sought funding from the College. "I went to the dean to see if I could get some money — the College would have nothing to do with it." He went on to quote the Skidmore slogan ironically: "Creative thought matters, as long as it doesn't cost money." In lieu of support from the College, Cunningham and student volunteers raised funds themselves and established a non-profit organization. "I think there were four to six other people who met with us regularly, but who dropped out for one reason or another. And we feel strongly that they should have gotten credit, too, although Nora, Rachel and Ali were the fundamental officers…. Pete Stake, the director of the gallery, did a staggering job. It wouldn't have happened without him," Cunningham said. What they originally envisioned as an experiment to be conducted with the involvement of Kenyon University evolved into "A Resolution of Arts and Sciences" exhibition. Cunningham kicked off a lecture series last fall, which culminated in the opening of the exhibition. Acknowledging that the word "science" can draw to mind cold steel instruments and sterile laboratories, Rachel Fisher's piece playfully runs away with this imagery. Fisher's piece depicts an almost futuristic medical tool for drawing blood. The streamline structure resembles a pen, while the metal that curls back to reveal the silver calls to mind a candy wrapper. "I really love biology so I've always been attracted to the medical field," Fisher said. The piece also incorporates a ball joint, allowing it rotate 360 degrees. Fisher's piece channels the general spirit of the "Resolution" show, as it turns common notions of science on their heads. Christine Neill's '69 watercolor "Eucalypt Medusa" exemplifies the overall warmth of the exhibition. Gentle curves, vibrant greens, gentle oranges fill the canvas to display the graceful movement of plant tendrils. The tendril-like foliage illustrated in Neill's piece resonates with the fantastical, pink tendrils of John Matthew's '79 sculpture "Eclipse." The metal tendrils emanate from a large oval piece of wood. The grain of the wood displays dark sparkling patterns, like oil swirling in water. "My works express the energy of growth and structure in biological forms such as seed pods, buds and vine," Matthews said. The brightly colored tendrils look like the metal bars on a playground. Michelle Molokotos' '13 piece "Representation of Monet's House of Parliament" uses layers of paint tubes as a means of representation. The sparkling blue paints, orange tones and purple depict an irresistible sunset. I imagine running my hands over the rippled tubes. Courtney Mattison's '08 sculpture "Dissolve" uses stoneware, porcelain, glaze and wood resin to create a highly realistic depiction of a coral reef damaged by climate change and ocean acidification. Tiny upright cylinders, rough porous patches and smooth surfaces simultaneously convey great fragility and resilience, increasing one's curiosity to feel the surface. Luckily, some of the pieces are meant to be touched. This includes Professor Flip Philip's "Glavens," made of white, glistening plastic and used to study human perception of three-dimensional forms. The Glavens have simple, rounded forms like small, white sea creatures and minute, detailed surface patterns, like finger prints. The stimulating atmosphere of the exhibition also attests to the seamless collaboration between current students, alumni and professors in creating the show. "We were so staggeringly delighted that the College has accepted it so positively, to a degree that humbles and amazes us," Cunningham said. "A Resolution of the Arts and Sciences" will remain in the Schick until Dec. 4. Posted by Julia Leef
In response to the second early shutdown of Moorebid Ball in as many years, the administration formed a committee to analyze and discuss possible solutions to resolve this year's issues of overcrowding and excessive drinking, as well as whether the College should continue to host Moorebid at all. Committee members include Ryan Ballantine, community coordinator of Residential Life, Aaron Shifreen '13, vice president for Residential Affairs on the Student Government Association, Larry Britt, associate director of Campus Safety, Theresa Polson, assistant director of Leadership Activities, David Karp, asssociate director of student affairs and Robin Adams, interim director of Leadership Activities. The committee first met on Nov. 9 to discuss the challenge of location, student behavior and possible remedies to the ongoing problem of Moorebid. "If we cannot create a safe event for students, then we should not be doing it," Calhoun said. "If we can legitimately look at our concerns and address them adequately with the support of the student body, then it should be a consideration." Moorebid Ball, the annual all-campus Halloween party, first took place in Moore Hall, an off-campus residential apartment building that held several hundred people. When the building was sold in 2006, the location of the dance moved to Case Center, which served as a successful location until two years ago, when excessive drinking and the hospitalization of several students shut it down. This year's Moorebid Ball, which was held in the recreational and dance gyms in the Williamson Sports Center, was also prematurely terminated, this time due to dangerous overcrowding in the hallway connecting the two gyms. Britt said that while the two gyms, which each hold about 750 people, were not the best venues for the event, they were the only options available without limiting the numbers of students who could attend. He added that the planning committee thought it would be a safe location since there are plenty of fire exits in the gym. "The big problem that we really didn't anticipate was the crowds in the hallways," Britt said. "It was just a complete log-jam. When I went downstairs at quarter to one, I had to wrestle and push people to get through." The inability to anticipate crowding in the hallways stemmed from data from previous events, which the planning committee used as the basis for student behavior at Moorebid Ball. Karp said in previous years, students remained largely in the dance areas, and thus they believed students would behave similarly this year. Since many students did not remain in the dance areas, one of the more pressing concerns the committee will discuss is whether there is a venue on campus that can feasibly hold a safe event so many students can attend. Britt said the venue that would most likely be able to maintain a safe environment during Moorebid is the main gymnasium, which the committee was unable to secure this year due to conflicts with athletic events. Scheduling conflicts may continue to be an issue in securing the main gym as a location for Moorebid, as athletics have priority for its usage. While the matter of a future venue is still being considered, all members of the committee agreed that Case Center was no longer a viable place to host the dance for such a large portion of the student body. Fire codes limit the number of people in Case Center to 500, Britt said, which results in huge violations during Moorebid. With this in mind, one of the solutions the committee is considering is limiting the number of people who will be able to attend Moorebid, which may involve charging for admission and distributing tickets to the student body, as has been done in the past. "It would be reassuring to have a successful event that's smaller and more contained, and then consider it being large again as opposed to having another all-out event go badly again," Karp said. The committee recognizes, however, that most students would be disappointed to be turned away from Moorebid, and is considering other possibilities that would avoid placing a capacity limit on the dance. Another major concern is the behavior of students before and during Moorebid, which the committee feels has been influenced by the event's reputation for drunkenness. "A lot of the people planning the event are nervous that it has too much history," Adams said. "By making it bigger, does that make it better and safer? These are the questions that we are asking." "There are certain events that call out particular kinds of behavior," Calhoun said. "There is an issue with cultural norms that has grown up around Moorebid in ways that haven't around our other events." While the committee mentioned the possibility of using Intoxilyzers, a device that uses infrared spectroscopy to identify the presence of ethanol, at the entrance to the dance, its members agreed that most of the change has to come from the students themselves. "We can do what we can planning-wise, but it's really up to students to show that they can be responsible," Karp said. Although many students believe the administration should apologize for the dangerous circumstances surrounding this year's Moorebid, the committee emphasized the unpredictability of the event and said administration took the responsibility to shut down the event before it became a serious danger to students. "It would have been a mistake to allow the event to continue once it was understood that students were in danger," Calhoun said. There will be an address to the student body before the end of next semester regarding the committee's decision about next year's Moorebid. The members of the committee are open to student suggestions, and Adams cited some of the student ideas already presented, such as considering off-campus venues. Hosting multiple events on the same day on- and off-campus is also a possibility. "It's an event that has to be reinvented and planned very deliberately," Adams said. The committee will continue to meet throughout the semester to discuss these issues. SGA, which is partnering with the committee and has talked about Moorebid in several of its Senate and Inter-Hall Board meetings, will also discuss different possibilities and solutions through an ad hoc committee comprised of representatives from the IHB, the Senate and the student body. Its first meeting will be this Sunday, Nov. 20. Posted by Kelsey Nichols Students, faculty and community members will jump into the cold waters of Lake George to raise funds for the Special Olympics New York from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday, Nov. 19, as part of Skidmore's first participation in the Polar Plunge. The event is organized by the Special Olympics New York, which holds similar events across the country. All funds from the event will go toward this program, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, fostering relationships with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and their communities. Pat Wildes, a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council and chairman of the Community Service subcommittee, said he is excited to be part of organizing the College's first Polar Plunge. "I was inspired to bring the Polar Plunge to Skidmore's campus after hearing about it too late last fall and deciding that we should partake the following year," he said. "My role was to get our student athletes at Skidmore mobilized to take part in this event." The Athletics department has hosted swim practice for members of the Special Olympics team every Tuesday in the Williamson Sports Center for the past few years and is involved in many different fundraising events and activities for the community. "The swim practices are the only current Special Olympics-related connection I know of on campus, but part of our goal this year with our SAAC subcommittee is to expand upon that," Wildes said. "I think we really need to help out the local chapter of the organization." One of the ways in which the department has been helping the organization is by fundraising for this event, which started on Nov. 14, and totaled $1,365 as of Nov. 17. Wildes said he hopes to reach $1,500 before Saturday's event. On the day of the plunge, participants will take a bus paid for by the Athletics Department to Lake George. The team name for the College is "Skidmore Athletics," although not everyone participating has to be an athlete. The event is free and open to the public, although participants are encouraged to donate to this event. General donations may also be made to the team's event page. Posted by Julia Leef
On Monday evening Pulitzer Prize-winner Will Englund and his wife and fellow journalist Kathy Lally took a long-awaited break from their desks in Moscow to speak to Skidmore students about their careers, the world of foreign correspondence and television drama "The Wire." The discussion was moderated by Brendan James '12 and Sarah Goodwin, professor of English and faculty assessment coordinator. Englund and Lally serve as The Washington Post's correspondents in Moscow. Englund originally wrote from Russia as a correspondent for The Baltimore Sun in the 1990s, and joined The Washington Post in October 2010. Meanwhile, Lally was an editor of The Washington Post until she became Moscow bureau chief in September 2010. She also worked in Moscow for The Baltimore Sun, witnessing the coup and fall of the Soviet Union. The two addressed questions about the essentials of journalism and their reasons for staying in the field. "Being a journalist gives you the opportunity to experience all kinds of amazing moments and the obligation to cover them," Lally said. In February Englund and Lally both reported on the events in Cairo during Egypt's revolution, although they each had different experiences. While Englund, kept inside his hotel by the regime's curfew, shared drinks with other correspondents from the Sun, Lally, found herself facing a roadblock of men with machine guns. Lally used the story as an example of the flexibility required of a writer abroad. "If you don't find the story you were sent for," she said, "find the story that's there." When asked about their favorite stories they had ever worked on, Englund spoke of the article that won him his Pulitzer Prize in 1998. His three-part series exposed the dangers of a shipbreaking in India, which resulted in 400 worker deaths per year. Although Englund at first worried his article would lead to the shut down of the shipyard, resulting in massive job loss, his article helped to improve the workers‘ situations, bringing the fatality rate down to an average of 40 deaths per year. Lally, on the other hand, spoke about her time in Moscow in 1991, during the attempted coup on Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On Aug. 19 of that year, thousands of unarmed people gathered around the Russian White House for three days,to demand a new era of a free society in Russia. Lally said seeing these people take an active stand against a oppressive regime was incredible and remains in her memory during contemporary events such as the Arab Spring. Segueing into a discussion about journalism in the digital age, Englund and Lally expressed the difficulties inherent in keeping up with flow of information, much of it spurious. Lally said there is now a great pressure for immediacy, but stressed the need for a balance between deadlines and quality reporting. She also stressed the importance of a writer knowing his or her audience. "It always helps to know for whom you're writing as you choose which stories to cover," said Lally, adding that the rise of the Internet has expanded readers to a global scale. Englund addressed the increasing popularity of online blogs, which in his opinion blur the lines between news and opinion, something that has happened before and is most likely to happen again, he said. Both emphasized that journalistic objectivity is an important goal to strive for. Objectivity, Englund said, adds to the quality and credibility of these sources, as opposed to a personal blog. "The effort to approach objectivity is a worthwhile effort," Englund said. He also said that what objectivity ultimately means is fairness, which he later defined the effort to portray an honest picture of the situation and the views of contending sides. This, Englund and Lally said, can be applied to the ethics of a college newspaper, which should examine the administration and address areas of improvement in reporting on the community. They encouraged audience members involved or interested in journalism to dedicate themselves to a fair, objective representation of events and circumstances, putting aside any pre-conceived notions in favor of an informative and evaluative article. Before the evening came to a close, Professor Goodwin revealed to the audience members – many of who nodded in agreement with her praise of Baltimore-based TV drama "The Wire – that Kathy Lally had made an appearance as a journalist in the show's fifth season. Both Englund and Lally stated that they are familiar with the show's creator David Simon from their days at The Baltimore Sun, placing a good word for him and the series in general. After applauding Lally for her performance in the show, students left the event with one more reason to aspire to a career in journalism. Posted by Andy Shi
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, the College will host a candlelight vigil and a showing of the documentary "Homeless-The Motel Kids of Orange County" to promote National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Jennifer Au, program coordinator of the Office of Community Service, will coordinate these events in collaboration with Saratoga County Housing Alliance and Shelters of Saratoga, the only adult homeless shelter in Saratoga, Washington or Warren counties. "The students wanted to put together [a fundraiser] for the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, but by the time we returned from the conference we had a week to pull everything together," said Au, referring to the Resolve to Fight Poverty National Conference from Nov. 4 to 6 at the University of Maryland. The candlelight vigil will consist of a welcome from the Housing Alliance and testimonials and short speeches by community members, Au said. The documentary, directed by Alexandra Pelosi, focuses on children who live in expensive hotel rooms with bedbugs and poverty in Orange County, while their parents struggle to make a living. "The true reason we have been able to continue expanding upon the services we've provided for the past 20 years is a direct result of the generosity and commitment of individuals and businesses in our community who care about the well-being of others," said Cindy Harrington, director of Marketing and Development for Shelters of Saratoga. Although Au said there is no fundraiser or charity associated with this event, Cindy Phillips, co-chair and community developer coordinator of the Saratoga County Housing Alliance, said students have teamed up with the Saratoga County Housing Alliance to sponsor "Helping the Homeless Makes Cents Initiative," a community coin drive to benefit the homeless. Cans to collect coins will be placed in participating downtown Saratoga businesses. "SOS [Shelters of Saratoga] will be launching its second annual appeal in the coming week with hopes of meeting or exceeding the funds raised last year, which are used to support operational expenses," Harrington said. In spirit of the National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Au said she will set up collection cans on campus at Burgess Cafe and the Atrium in the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall. The Candlelight Vigil will start on the Case Walkway at 6 p.m. and the film "Homeless-The Motel Kids of Orange County" will be shown in Gannett Auditorium at 7 p.m. For further information on the Saratoga County Housing Alliance, visit its website at saratogacountyhousingalliance.org, and for addition information on Shelters of Saratoga and the week-long series of events on- and off-campus, visit sheltersofsaratoga.org. Posted by Max Siegelbaum and Ani Lordkipanidze On Nov. 6, 65 students traveled to Washington, D.C., to join 12,000 people protesting against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline project as part of a committee the Environmental Action Club organized. TransCanada, a Canadian oil and gas conglomerate, proposed this $7 billion project to transport Tar Sands Oil over 1,500 miles from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast. This would involve sending highly toxic materials over most of America's heartland, including the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest aquifer in the country, and through the fields that supply most of the country's wheat. Once in Washington, D.C., students stayed in St. Stephen's Church overnight, as per the original schedule, which was briefly changed to a one-day trip before the EAC reverted it back to its original format. On Sunday, organizers of the occupation addressed people against the issues of the Keystone XL Pipeline and hydrofracking, a drilling process that threatens to contaminate public drinking water. "We want to act, to put our bodies on the line to show Obama that this was something that really impacted us," said Eliza Sherpa '14, vice president of the Environmental Action Club, "We want to show him that his constituents feel really strongly about this, and are willing to take action." At 3 p.m. protesters encircled the White House with posters, t-shirts and costumes, including polar bear costumes from members of the Alaska Wilderness League, a group working to preserve Alaska's wilderness. Slogans included, "Hey Obama, we don't need no pipeline drama" and " Tell me what democracy looks like?" The protests ended at 5 p.m. without any arrests. Margot Reisner '14, president of the EAC, organized the trip along with Sherpa in order to combat a problem that at its base, she said, represents many core problems found throughout American politics today. "[Keystone XL] touches on a lot of different issues that we have in our country from government corruption to hydrofracking to issues of transportation," Reisner said. "All these issues are coming together in one form -- the pipeline, which we really just need to stop. " The protest was held one year before the next election to remind President Barack Obama of his agency in this issue, Sherpa and Reisner said. "The pipeline isn't something that has to go through Congress or any government body. Obama is the sole decider," Sherpa said. TransCanada says Keystone XL has the potential to be a large future source of employment but, however, both Sherpa and Reisner disagree with its projected numbers. "Most of the jobs will be outsourced," Reisner said. "At most, 5,000 jobs will be created." Among the damage created from the pipeline, Reisner and Sherpa said, the process of Tar Sands Extraction is extremely water heavy, with an average of three barrels of water to a barrel of oil. This leads to a massive amount of stagnant, polluted and unusable water that is left to sit in collecting pools, where chemicals like Ammonia and Cyanide can leech into the local water supply. They added that TransCanada's previous Keystone pipeline has a history of seven leaks in the first year of its existence. Sherpa and Reisner described the future potential oil spill as having the capability to equal the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010, when approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over the course of three months. No decisions have been made about the pipeline, and the Obama administration announced this week that it is putting off the decision until after the 2012 elections. Reisner and Sherpa said they hope President Obama will make a final decision in support of the protesters. "A lot of the people who care about these issues and who were at these rallies really worked hard to get Obama into office because we thought he represented change and hope and all these things," Reisner said. "Now we're holding him accountable to all these promises that he made to us when we got him into office. He said all those things in his campaign and now he forgot all of that and let the tyranny of oil take away his backbone." Sherpa and Reisner said they were pleased with the success of the event. "We brought 65 students to this rally, which is a really big thing for Skidmore," Sherpa said. "Skidmore students are active, are civically engaged and really do care about these issues of moving our world away from fossil fuels, and that's something we're willing to fight for and need to be working for on our campus, in our state and in our country." Keystone XL protests will continue throughout the year and the EAC will continue to promote protests and rallies. Editor's Note: An account of the protest by Katherine Cavanaugh '14 can be found in Features. Posted by Eleazer Amarteyfio On Tuesday, The Pohndorff Room in the Lucy Scribner Library held the first half of "Shades of Gray", an annual two-night panel discussion organized by the Honors Forum revolving around this year's theme, "Where do we find diversity at Skidmore?" About 20 people attended the discussion, which focused on the effects of socio-economic profile on students' college experiences, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds and issues of race relations. "The point is to have a conversation in a pseudo-intellectual format," said Vinay Trimedi-Parmer '12, president of the Honors Forum. "It's not necessarily a committee that's focused on problem-solving, although that may come out of it." The panel featured Janet Casey and Holly Jackson, both professors in the English department, Jamin Totino, interim director of the Opportunity Program, Hale Hall '14 and Mariel Bazil '12. The Executive Council of the Honors Forum asked the panelists to identify the sources of diversity at the College. Bazil suggested that the Office of Student Diversity Programs offered an accurate representation of the diverse make-up of the community, while Hall noted a difference between ‘diverse' and ‘diversity' and suggested that having a diverse community does not necessarily lead to more diversity in the community. "Diversity requires more active engagement," she said. Casey said people attend college to gain the tools to improve their socio-economic standing, and that perhaps as a consequence, they are mostly unwilling to talk about their less-privileged socio-economic backgrounds. She noted that this phenomenon extends even to professors who have successfully completed this transition. Jackson said diversity issues tie to issues of social justice, and that an unwillingness of members of society to lose their social advantages contributes to silence on diversity issues. Totino suggested that in the discussion on diversity, disabled students and their unique contributions to campus life are often overlooked. A member of the audience suggested that religious diversity was another overlooked aspect of diversity issues. Bazil said she worried some faculty and staff make assumptions about economic affluence, citing a professor's casual question to students on where they had gone on vacation for spring break, forgetting that some students had remained on campus. Another member of the audience lamented the fact that not very many affluent white students attend school-sponsored discussions of diversity issues, and felt that their perspectives were missing. Some students voiced concerns over Celebration Weekend and Convocation, suggesting that the traditions associated with these made them unfriendly to families that were not economically well off. A major issue identified was a general lack of knowledge about official college programs set up to help less privileged students. One member of the audience described her effort to gain access to disability funds as a "maze". Another audience member cited his frustration at finding out about some of these opportunities only as senior, during a preparatory program for peer mentorship. "Shades of Gray" will continue from 7 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday in the Pohndorff Room and will deal with "diversity policy." The discussion will feature Jennifer Delton, professor of history, Jovany Andujar '13, Herb Crossman, assistant director for EEO and Workforce Diversity in Human Resources and Christine Hintze '14, a student representative on the Committee of Intercultural Global Understanding (CIGU). Posted by Andy Shi At 2:55 p.m. on Nov. 7 students received an email from the Information Technology Department describing a temporary Wi-Fi outage that occurred in the academic and administrative buildings. Monday's outage is the latest in a wave of Wi-Fi problems this semester, and students have experienced problems with connecting to the provided networks. Unbeknownst to most students, however, is that the College employs two separate data networks to provide wireless to the campus. Aruba Networks is responsible for the administrative and academic buildings and Time Warner Cable for the residence halls. It is the latter network that most students consider unstable and to which IT is allocating much of its effort. "The issues with access from the main campus network to the Internet on Monday resulted from a problem with the DNS (Domain Name System) on campus," said Justin Sipher, the College's chief technology officer. "DNS is the system that translates the words you type into a browser, such as www.google.com, into numbers that the Internet uses to route to the appropriate servers." Sipher said IT is speaking with the vendor that supplies the wireless to the administrative and academic buildings, and he assures students that matters are stabilized. Sipher described multiple issues with the network that IT is addressing, such as the increased use of wireless, new Internet patterns that clog up the bandwidth and the use of personal Wi-Fi systems. Sipher compared bandwidth to lanes on a highway. The more lanes, the faster the traffic, and, in the case of the Internet, the better and faster the wireless connection. Sipher said the wireless network in the residence halls is a relatively new addition, conceived of two years ago and spearheaded by Mark Bauer, assistant director and network administrator. IT partnered up with Time Warner Cable for this project, a company IT had previously hired as a vendor for residence hall cable and landline services. Since then IT has installed an expansive wireless system around campus consisting of about 100 access points that Sipher compares to signal towers for cell phones. Sipher said that one of the major issues with the wireless system was the unforeseen proliferation in use of wireless. "The original design of the wireless system in the residence halls was to provide supplemental coverage to the wired network in your rooms," said Sipher, adding that because wireless has become a primary medium for connection to the Internet and due to advances in technology, the bandwidth of the access points become strained. Bill Duffy, director of IT strategic planning and communication, points to the increased usage of online video and movie streaming through websites such as Netflix and YouTube for increasing the needed bandwidth. A second issue that relates to the increased usage patterns is the increasing quantity of WiFi-connected devices, particularly smartphones and tablets. Sipher recalls several students he has polled admitted to having four or five devices connected at a time. Unreliable wireless can further be attributed to students setting up their own wireless routers in their dorms. In a cause and effect scenario, students who have decided the College's wireless is unreliable set up their own wireless systems, which then further weakens its wireless bandwidth. Sipher said although a personal wireless router will assure great connection for that one person, it disturbs the College's connection with other students. He said IT is researching innovative methods for improving the connection, and, for now, is augmenting the amount of access points around campus. He advises students to seek out the IT department, located on the first floor of Harder Hall, for personal assistance, as he says many times students just rebuke the wireless because of its poor reputation, when sometimes there is an easy and reliable solution to connecting the Wi-Fi to the student's device. "Still, the Internet is a moving target," Duffy said. With the Internet constantly changing and technology always advancing, the campus's wireless system will never be perfect. For a better connection, Sipher recommends to use a landline whenever possible, as it frees up the Wi-Fi bandwidth for other users. As for the wireless system, Sipher said IT is optimistic that the system will constantly be improving for the students. Posted by Ani Lordkipanidze
There was standing room only in Gannett Auditorium on Nov. 8 when Steven Barnes, an innocent man who spent 19 years of his life in prison, told his story to the College community. In 1989, Barnes was charged with First Degree Rape, First Degree Sodomy and Second Degree Murder. He was accused of raping and killing 16-year-old Kimberly Simon, whose body was found near the Mohawk River in Whitestown, New York. Evidence included eyewitnesses, but no serious forensic documents. He was given a 25-year sentence. "If New York state supported the death penalty, I would have been executed," Barnes said. Kimberly Frederick, professor of chemistry, who teaches the Forensic Science and Criminal (In)justice seminar that hosted the event, was able to arrange the meeting with Steven Barnes. When she applied for a speaker the "Innocence Project" suggested Barnes, who has been telling his story in different universities and communities in the three years since he was released. In 1993, Barnes's younger brother discovered the "Innocence Project", a public policy organization, founded by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992, that helps exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing post-trial. Although the "Innocence Project" represented Barnes starting in 1993, it was not until 2007 that proper technology involving short tandem repeat tests on the Y-chromosome (Y-STR) for DNA testing became available for his case. In November 2008, based on DNA evidence, Barnes was found not guilty and was freed after serving 19 1/2 in prison. Barnes said that every day in prison was a hell for him. "When freedom is gone, life is gone," he said. "Prison is like a war; it's not easy. You have to be strong." After his release, Barnes was given compensation in the form of $3.5 million. He said Simon's family released a statement wishing him all the best. However, the real murderer has not yet been found. "To realize that the wrong person was in jail wasn't fair to anybody, and it took a long time to come to terms with the fact that Steven was wrongfully convicted," said Cheryl Simon, Kim's mother, in The Observer-Dispatch, the newspaper of Mohawk Valley, where the Simon family lives. "Now, we certainly understand what his mother has gone through, too, and we just hope they can be at peace now." Posted by Alexander Brehm
The College faculty convened for the third faculty meeting of the semester on Friday, Nov. 5 to discuss the Office of Special Programs and its mission, the College Strategic Action Agenda and diversity and inclusion within the College. The Office of the Dean of Special Programs (ODSP) recently welcomed Paul Calhoun, who was previously the harder chairman in business and management, as its new dean. Calhoun said the mission of the ODSP has changed over time, and that members of the office were reviewing and reshaping its mission and objectives, though he did not specify what these changes would involve. The seventh Strategic Action Agenda is now available on the College website. Every year, administrators and faculty review the College's current 10-year plan, now in its seventh year. Every year, the new agenda gives an assessment of the College's progress toward achieving its goals and a set of high-priority, shorter-term objectives. The new agenda lists diversity and inclusion, science and the Civic Engagement and Transition and Transformation initiatives as themes on which to focus. The faculty spent the majority of the meeting discussing diversity and inclusion. In May 2011, the Committee on Intercultural and Global Understanding (CIGU) sent a letter of recommendation to the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), the major authority on the College's mission and strategy. Professors gave their recommendations on how to increase diversity among the faculty. Their names have been kept private so that they may speak freely. Some encouraged using existing tenure lines to hire people of color or to find faculty born in foreign nations. Others suggested using "target of opportunity" hiring, in which a candidate is selected based on outstanding reputation, and the institutional benefits to retaining such a professor are considered justification to create a position for that candidate. Other faculty members pressed for better specification of the concept of diversity. One professor observed that when each faculty member spoke to his or her own ideas of diversity, their specific not necessarily intertwine. She argued that the dialogue on diversity suffered for lack of definition. Another professor appealed directly to the college administration on how increased diversity might be measured and what criteria would be established for determining success or failure in the College's diversity goals. Phil Glotzbach, president of the College, gave some examples of data points to use — for instance, the fact that recorded bias incidents against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people outweigh racially motivated incidents. He also cited that depression rates among students of color are substantially higher than those among white students. One faculty member suggested a resolution to express the sense of loss the College felt at Winston Grady-Willis's decision to leave the college at the end of last year. Grady-Willis, former director of intercultural studies, was highly involved in diversity issues on campus, working as a chairman on the CIGU and a member of IPPC, and developing the Intergroup Relations curriculum. Ultimately, the resolution was laid over to improve its wording. Posted by Julia Leef
For the past three weeks, the recently formed Occupy Saratoga group has protested on Saturdays in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, this week in front of Bank of America in downtown Saratoga Springs. The first meeting for Occupy Saratoga was held on Oct. 18 at the Saratoga Springs library, which about 30 people attended, said Kathleen Bartholomay, a member of the group and a volunteer for the Outreach Working Group, an organization that works to increase awareness among the Web community. "It was a mixed group politically," Bartholomay said. "We took turns speaking and listening to each other. It is a sort of community-building, really." These protests are part of the larger movement inspired by the actions of protesters at Occupy Wall Street, a protest against "the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporation over the democratic process" that began on Sept. 17 in Manhattan's Financial District and has since spread to more than 100 cities in the U.S., according to its website. "There's no one demand or anything, but I think the corporate takeover of the country has changed what people think about in our country," Bartholomay said. "Things haven't changed enough where we feel confident that things are going to go in a way that makes our society a happier place to live in." Occupy Saratoga works with other protest groups, including Veterans for Peace and the Saratoga Peace Alliance, and in conjunction with the local MoveOn group, which is dedicated to bringing the American people back into the political process. The Saratoga Peace Alliance has protested outside of the U.S. Post Office in downtown Saratoga Springs for years, and Occupy Saratoga joined the members at this location in its first two weeks. Bartholomay said that much of what the group protests against is applicable to the lives of students, especially after college. "We're really looking for some Skidmore students to come in and participate," she said, adding that two students looking to find more information on Occupy Saratoga came to a MoveOn meeting at the Saratoga Springs library. "I'm sure there are kids who are going to have trouble getting jobs and have a lot of loans and issues involving those things," she said. "It's just really dangerous for students, there's no way out from under those loans." Members of Occupy Saratoga ask people to close their checking and savings accounts at Bank of America and at other corporate mega-banks because such corporations, Bartholomay said, do not pay taxes to the U.S. Treasury but benefit from the people's taxpayer bail out. "We are asking people to move their money to local banks and/or credit unions," Bartholomay said. "Students in particular might get involved on the basis of future employment concerns and future student loan debt concerns. These are very real and very serious concerns for at least some of Skidmore's students." Bartholomay also suggested that students shop locally to support local businesses, especially for the upcoming holidays. "We have been doing outreach into other areas of the town to elicit more support, such as marching to Skidmore and contacting local business owners," Bartholomay said, in reference to a peace march on Oct. 22. "Our protests have been well-attended with about 25 to 50 people of all ages." Occupy Saratoga also collects winter clothing at its weekly protests for members of Occupy Albany who sleep outdoors in the winter, and delivers these items on Saturday afternoons, following the General Assembly meetings. Students and community members can learn more at the group's General Assembly meetings at the Saratoga Springs library, the times of which can be found on the group's Facebook page. Occupy Saratoga also provides additional information through handouts at its protests and its pro-board. "We like to live in a place where we're doing constructive things, working for ourselves and working for society at the same time," Bartholomay said. "We take this stuff very seriously. It can ruin lives at a young stage, and there's no need for that." Posted by Julia Leef
Members of the Bias Response Group met students and faculty members in the Intercultural Center on Nov. 3 to discuss questions regarding bias incidents and the role of the Bias Response Group in one of two discussions held this week. The main purpose of the discussions is to give students and faculty the chance to learn more about the Bias Response Group, as well as to offer feedback and suggestions regarding future dealings with bias incidents, said Rochelle Calhoun, dean of student affairs. "People were not very clear who the Bias Response Group is and what we do," said Calhoun in a previous interview. "So the goal of the community meetings is one, to be known, and two, to create a space for people to have the opportunity to talk to the group of us who have some institutional responsibility for the overall climate and community." Calhoun said many of the events and discussions hosted by the Bias Response Group this year are the result of a survey conducted last April, which gave students an opportunity to express their concerns and demonstrate their knowledge of bias incidents. Mariel Martin, director of student diversity programs, said the survey was distributed to the entire student body, and that 312 of those students responded. Thirteen percent said they had personally been targets of a bias incident, while twenty-nine percent said they had witnessed a bias incident at some point. Eighty-eight percent stated that they had a high or moderate awareness of incidents on campus. "We were able to do some planning based on this survey to shape what we were doing this year in particular," Martin said. Some of the events that have taken place so far are the "Everyday Leadership Training" program before the start of the semester and the Dr. Frances Kendall lecture hosted on Sept. 26. Such efforts have gained the attention of other colleges. Teshika Hatch '11, who is now the assistant director of admissions, said that Colby College has been inspired by the College, and is mirroring its own Bias Response Group after Skidmore's. One topic that members discussed was the subject of incident reports, which the group receives from students throughout the semester. These incidents are most commonly reported on bias in regards to gender, sexual orientation and race and ethnicity. Martin provided the numbers of incident reports over the past three years, reporting 21 incidents from 2008 to 2009, 11 from 2009-2010 and 22 from 2010-2011. This academic year, there have been only two reports since September, one of which occurred before the start of the semester. Don Hastings, director of residential life, explained that students may submit incident reports online, and will receive an acknowledgement email and an invitation to speak at the next Bias Response Group meeting in reply. A general report later goes out to the student body. However, several students at the meeting expressed concerns that the Bias Response Group ceased to inform of the status of their cases after this initial email, leading to an overall feeling that submitting a report would not do anything. Another issue was brought up by Jonathan Zeidan '12, president of SGA, who said that at times the exact definition of a bias incident could be unclear, leading to uncertainty in students as to whether to submit a report or not. "You can get in a very circular discussion about bias unless you are saying exactly what bias is," said Calhoun, adding that bias incidents are targeted at groups or individuals based on their identities that result in harm to the target. "What we often hear from folks who have felt targeted by incidents is that they're unsure. There is a hesitance to name it. I'm struck and moved by some things that we have heard that are horrific, that student are still asking us [if it's considered a bias incident]." The Bias Response Group members emphasized the importance of their liaisons with the Office of Residential Life, as most bias incidents take place in the residential halls, and Campus Safety, who often works in conjunction with the Bias Response Group, joining its members on their annual retreat in January. "It really became clear to us that for this community, we all need to be in communication together to be able to respond effectively," Calhoun said. Members also emphasized the importance of dispersing information to the College community, and discussed various ways in which this could be better accomplished. Some of the suggestions students brought up include additional dialogues and discussions, awareness programs, guest speakers and open forums. Students also expressed their desire for first-years to be informed about the Bias Response Group early on in their academic careers. Several of them cited their past involvement in leadership training and Inter-Group Relations dialogues, and encouraged more opportunities for those programs for First-Years. "Students try to justify these incidents so as not to make a big deal out of them," said Jovany Andujar, vice president for diversity affairs on SGA. "We have to keep giving voice to and presence to these issues because they're so silencing." Riley Neugebauer, campus sustainability coordinator, as a relatively new member to the College, suggested that information on the Bias Response Group be offered to faculty as well. There will be a second public discussion at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, in the Intercultural Center in Case Center. Posted by Andy Shi Josh Stearns visited campus to share his views on the world's changing relations to media, addressing this topic in his lecture titled "Media, Civil Engagement and Sustainability" at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 in Davis Auditorium. Stearns is the associate program director of Free Press, which, according to its website, "is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to reform the media," and manages its journalism, public media and media consolidation campaigns. "Media's been this sort of undercurrent to what I've done," Stearns said. "I'm excited to do what I do." Stearns said he first became interested in the media in his work as the literary magazine editor at St. Lawrence University, which is also the university he graduated from in 2000. He received his master's degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and joined Save the News, a project of Free Press, in 2009. Stearns said Free Press contends with issues dealing with the First Amendment, specifically those involving violations of freedom of the press. Stearns pointed to one example that detailed Comcast's policy of blocking sites to customers and ending file sharing to monitor Internet traffic. After citizens discovered this, they publicly protested against Comcast, which forced the company to revise its policies. This situation underlines Free Press's support of network neutrality, which Stearns defined as a policy that states "Internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online." Large, powerful corporations often ignore this policy and frequently lobby for Congress to support their stances, Stearns said. In 2006, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, at the urging of service company lobbyists, advocated for a bill that would curtail network neutrality. One observer videotaped Stevens's argument, which included an analogy of the Internet to "a series of tubes." The comparison revealed Stevens's ignorance of the Internet and the lack of knowledge that the politicians had concerning the bill. The video went viral and the Republicans dropped the bill. Stearns said citizens can stand up to big corporations and political pressure by publicizing their injustices. He referenced Reel Grrls, an organization devoted to empowering women, which tweeted about the January 2011 merger that was approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) between one of its sponsors, Comcast, and NBC. The tweet expressed concern that FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker left her job for one as a Comcast head lobbyist following the merger. Comcast pulled its sponsorship for Reel Grrls, which then turned to the public for support, and, receiving an overwhelming response, raised more than $24,000 in funds. Comcast attempted to reconcile with Reel Grrls later on, but Reel Grrls rejected its advances. Stearns said that media is a life and death situation, and that people must keep the government and large media corporations from violating their rights. "In a participating culture, no one is fully literate unless we are creating, not just consuming," Stearns said. Stearns spoke about local radio and television broadcasting and its ever-growing importance, adding that local broadcasters provide the local news that large corporation news broadcasters do not address. He shared a story of local broadcasters in Florida who warned citizens to seek shelter during a hurricane in multiple languages, which the larger broadcasters failed to do, saving hundreds of lives. Stearns passed around a petition that he hopes will be sent to Congress, demanding that local broadcasters, net neutrality and the prevention of corporation consolidation be upheld to protect the rights of the American citizens. "We must put our money where our mouth is," Stearns said. "To protect democracy we must defend the media." Riley Neugebauer, campus sustainability coordinator, who sponsored the lecture, shared her vision of connecting the College to Saratoga Springs to promote the general welfare of the community. "If sustainability, the environment and justice is No. 1, then media is No. 2. We have to tell our story," Neugebauer said. For further information on Josh Stearns and Free Press, visit Freepress.net and Savethenews.org. Posted by Max Siegelbaum
Approximately 50 students and 10 administration board members met at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 in Gannett Auditorium to discuss the highly contested revision of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy instated at the beginning of this semester. Controversial changes to this policy include a "point system" and the "in the presence of" clause, which dictates that underage students in the presence of alcohol or other substances will be punished, regardless of whether or not they themselves are consuming them. Don Hastings, director of Residential Life, discussed the creation and necessity of the policy. He reassured students "the policy has always been grounded in health, safety and the welfare of the student, but also under the constraints of New York State law." Hastings said that in 2004, a litany of incidents required a new policy to be instated, including the hospitalization of 12 students on "Diva Night," a DVD player being thrown out of a window and the portrayal of the college on the Princeton Review as a drug addled mess. Due to these events, the administration decided to reconsider the existing policy, resulting in the grid system. Offenses were divided into a grid, with the most serious infractions on the third tier, and the most benign on the first. Hastings said he noticed a change two years ago, when the college began to suffer similar bouts of malicious drunken debauchery. Hastings referred to several hospitalizations, abuse of Campus Safety officers and staff and three DWI's that resulted in serious injury, two of which required helicopter evacuations. Hastings said he believed at that point that the staff of Residential Life and several other administrative groups, including Health Promotions and the Student Assessment and Intervention Group, had no choice but to address the situation. In order to formulate this new policy, the administration looked at the colleges in the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium, comprised of Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, St. Lawrence University and Union College. A prevalent topic of the Nov. 1 discussion was the highly debated "in the presence of" clause. As it now stands, the policy states that any underage student in the presence of alcohol more than once will be subject to parental notification and a $25 fine. The fines increase after repeat offenses and can eventually result in an Integrity Board hearing. "We have always done [the ‘in the presence of' clause]. This is the first time it has been put in writing," said Hastings, adding that the Residential Life staff tries to put a student's history into perspective. "The first couple of [incidents], you get a pass." After repeat offenses, students will start to accrue points and face real consequences. In a prior interview, Rochelle Calhoun, dean of student affairs, said she had heard a great amount of feedback from students on this clause. "I was really quite moved by the students who identified as non-drinkers, and really talked to me about the fact that they provided a kind of measure to the behavior, just because of their presence." Several students presented questions and suggestions to Residential Life staff. William Moseley '12 brought up the discrepancy between the policy and the repeated emphasis on student safety. "I don't know how it makes this a safer campus," he said. "If students are afraid about getting in trouble around peers that are drinking, then how can we still have safety measures, like designated drivers?" Hastings stressed the Amnesty Clause, which states that any student who contacts Campus Safety in an attempt to help another incapacitated student will face no consequences. Laura Meli '12 recalled an incident in which she attempted to help a sick student the night of Moorebid Ball, but faced a late response time by Campus Safety officers, who, when they finally reached the student, turned her down because the girl she was attempting to help wasn't sick enough. Another female student proposed the idea of "restorative measures, a way to participate in an event, like community service, that would reduce points." The discussion ended with Thiviya Navaratnam '12 addressing the "Parental Notification" clause. "Sometimes parents don't always understand American culture," she said, stressing that notification might bring unwanted and unwarranted conflict at home. "We're adults and we need to be treated like adults." Calhoun stressed the concern for student safety and responsibility and promised reconsideration of certain aspects of the policy. "The 'In the Presence of' will be delved into. Restorative measures will also be highly considered," she said. "It's a challenge for us institutionally," she said in the interview on Oct. 26, "but I think what we're trying to create a balance around is absolutely adhering and working within the laws of the state of New York." Several students were left unsatisfied by the responses from the staff and the student turnout. They expressed concern that these issues were highly opposed by the student body, yet only around 50 students attended the review. "It seems like nothing was really accomplished," said one student, who wished to remain anonymous. However, Chris Lord '12 and Sam Leibenhaut '12, organizers of the meeting and co-presidents of the Conflict Resolution Group, otherwise dubbed "Fight Club," felt that the meeting was successful in some degree. "The goal was to give students a voice and be heard," said Lord, stressing the importance of establishing a dialogue with the administration. "All we really want is for voices to be heard," said Leibenhaut, "and to motivate students," Lord added. The discussion about the policy will be ongoing, but a survey about issues concerning the campus and alcohol will be sent to the student body soon. A formal session to revise the policy will take place in January. "The current plan has always been to implement, see how it goes and then in January make any significant revisions that we saw fit," Calhoun said. "But I'm open to the idea, and I think most of the group will be open to the idea that, after our conversation, there might be a uniform response to a change that needs to be made, and I think we would be open to making that judgment." Posted by Ani Lordkipandize As a result of Halloween festivities, the Environmental Action Club cut this week's meeting short, but listed the upcoming sponsored events this week, including the trip to join the protests in Washington, D.C., against the Keystone XL project. Students will travel via bus to the protest on Sunday, Nov. 6. Though initially free, students who wish to attend must now sign up with club leaders and pay $20 for the round trip, a recent change the EAC made after switching bus companies. More information on the event can be found here. Other EAC-sponsored events this week include the public lecture, "Media, Civic Engagement and Sustainability" by Josh Stearns at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2 in Davis Auditorium. Stearns is the associate program director at Free Press and SaveTheNews, and will speak about the current state of the media in relation to civic engagement and sustainability. The Mountain Top Removal Action Roadshow, a presentation by Dave Cooper, will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 3 in Emerson Hall. Cooper is a member of Mountain Justice, which is a direct action environmental group that works to fight against mountaintop removal in Appalachia. The EAC meets at 9 p.m. on Mondays in Ladd 207.
Skidmore College receives $50,000 for Zankel Music Center: The Office of the Dean of Special Programs to use funding to bring youths to concerts and events
50 employees removed from Starbuck Center due to health concerns: After report of environmental health risks, hygienic testing set to begin next week
New changes in store for the Periclean Honors Forum: Honors Forum student membership and housing to change
Skidmore student struck down by car on East Avenue: Pedestrian thrown 10 feet ahead by Buick, according to witnesses
A Resolution of the Arts and Sciences' culminates in Schick Art Gallery
Administration forms committee to evaluate Moorebid Ball failures: Members to discuss issues and determine the dance?s fate next semester
Freezin' For a Reason: Polar Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics: Team 'Skidmore Athletics' will jump into Lake George for charity
Moscow correspondents share notes from the underground: Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist visits campus with Washington Post bureau chief
Skidmore Organizes Candlelight Vigil for the Homeless: Office of Community Service collaborates with Saratoga organizations for week events
Skidmore students join thousands in Washington, D.C. protest: Protestors express objections to Keystone XL and hydrofracking
Shades of Gray: A look at diversity on campus: A panel of faculty and students answer questions regarding diversity
Information Technology Department addresses wireless outages: Chief of Technology explains bandwidth and other network issues
Steven Barnes speaks about his unjust imprisonment: An innocent man, he spent more than 19 years of his life in prison
Faculty discusses diversity and inclusivity at monthly meeting: Professors recommend ways to increase diversity among faculty
Occupy Saratoga brings Wall Street protests to Saratoga Springs: Members encourage student participation from the College
Bias Response Group holds community discussions: Members invite people to share their questions and concerns regarding the group
Josh Stearns speaks on the role of media in the community: Associate Program Director of Free Press expresses the importance of maintaining media relationships
Alcohol and Other Drugs policy forum addresses controversy
Upcoming events this week sponsored by the EAC: Events include the Washington, D.C., protests this weekend; now with a transportation fee
