SGA grants Treblemakers charter

Posted by Kat Kullman On Tuesday, Dec. 7, The Treblemakers, an all-inclusive a cappella group, were granted a charter by the SGA senate.

The group appeared before Senate last year in an attempt to gain club status, but was denied. This year, the group applied to be an unbudgeted club, meaning it will not ask for money from SGA.

All 34 members came to Senate to show support and to perform a rendition of the song "Kiss the Girl" for the Senators. Club President Sara Hickey ‘12, Musical Director Alissa Belcastro ‘12 and Tucker Costello ‘12 answered Senate's questions.

"Our group is meant to be an outlet for singing, just to have fun. We're much more like the Skidmore Chorus than one of the a cappella groups on campus," Costello said.

The club accepts anyone, regardless of musical experience, and does not use sheet music. The club relies instead on auditory learning. The members are welcome to attend as frequently, or infrequently, as they wish.

In order to make rehearsals more efficient, the group created a subset of ‘teachers' who are more musically inclined and whose job it is to help the other members learn the music. This avoids creating a hierarchical structure within the group. Every member of the group votes on who will become a ‘teacher'.

"If the Treblemakers ever get invited to perform, it's always everyone. The teachers never perform on their own. It's always all-inclusive. That's what we're always about," Belcastro said.

The Treblemakers are not as focused on performing as the other singing groups on campus. With the limited amount of performance space on campus, and five a cappella groups already in existence, the Senate was concerned that another a cappella group would cause strain when planning events.

"We're pretty relaxed. We want to go to the dining hall, Case, even all-halls, and just sing. We're not being competitive about space because we're not a classic a cappella group," Costello said.

"We're going for the people singing in their showers or cars, the people who may not even want to sing in front of other people," Belcastro said.

The resolution to charter the Treblemakers a cappella group was passed almost unanimously.

In other news:

Senate unanimously passed a supplemental of $820 for the Environmental Action Club's composting project. The club plans to order 40 bins to start for each Scribner or Northwoods house that wants to try composting. The group also plans to order large garbage bins to be placed around the student housing that can then be relocated to a compost pile.

First-year thought matters: FYE students exhibit projects a semester in-the-making

Posted by Andrew Cantor

In May, the college admissions office notified the First Year Experience program that there would be more than one hundred unanticipated extra first-year students attending the college in the fall.

Beau Breslin, director of First-Year Experience, managed to enroll every first-year student into one of the 46 intimate Scribner Seminars, while other classes were forced to over-enroll or deny additional students.

The Scribner Seminar, a required first-year program which evolved from the Liberal Studies 1: Human Dilemmas course, has an enrollment cap of 16 students, and this year, only five seminars were over-enrolled with one extra student.  Breslin decided to add one more seminar this year, teaching it himself, to keep class sizes near the desired cap of 16 students.

The Scribner Seminars are four credit hours, with three credit hours dedicated to interdisciplinary study and "creative thought," and the other credit hour left open-ended for each professor to help acclimate his or her students to college life.

Breslin said the college is the only liberal-arts school in the area that offers an intimate, interdisciplinary experience like the Scribner Seminar.

With the most diverse sampling of seminars available in college history, the professors along with their students and peer mentors, made use of the unique academic and social freedoms afforded this year.

Each professor, with an initial $500 budget, took their students outside of the classroom and into the larger community for a practical application of the ubiquitous college maxim of "creative thought."

BUZZ – The Visual and Material Culture of Caffeine

Professor Mimi Hellman

"This seminar infiltrated my life," Layla Durrani '14 said. "I was in Burgess [Café], getting a cup of tea that was called Victorian English Breakfast, and it started off a memory. Why is there a picture of a cottage on the wrapper? When I bought this $1 tea, I was participating in a larger event."

The "larger event" Durrani is referring to is a critical "reading" of the visual design of caffeinated foods and beverages. In the BUZZ seminar, students studied the history of caffeinated product design, from 18th century Victorian tea sets to the modern Flash-based Starbucks website.

"Tea is sold through associations with a generalized, exoticized image of Asia that ignores cultural differences; an M&Ms campaign attempts humor through an ahistorical mash-up of communist imagery; Coke makes a pitch for xenophobic patriotism and traditional gender roles," Mimi Hellman, professor of the seminar, said. "Most consumers do not recognize these attitudes… You have to learn how to look."

The semester culminated with the class designing and curating an exhibit in the Scribner Library, where groups analyzed four case studies on the visual presentation of caffeine.

"My group studied Coca-Cola ads in the '40s during the war," Joe Marto '14 said.  "We skimmed through an archive of old ads, and then had Media Services reproduce them for the exhibit. It was very professional."

The Music Between Us: The Culture of Musical Creation and Consumption

Professor Gordon Thompson

Veteran Music department Professor Gordon Thompson has taught "The Music Between Us" Scribner Seminar twice before.  Thompson's seminar previously surveyed a wide range of genres and the way music affects individual personality and culture. This year, he added an element of arts administration to the syllabus, and had his class produce the annual campus-wide Beatles tribute concert in November, Beatlemore Skidmania, held for the first time this year in the new Arthur Zankel Music Center.

Thompson's students decided to donate ticket profits to Skidmore Cares, a college-based charity that donates food, money and school supplies in the local community during the holiday season.

"Skidmore Cares usually only raises a few hundred dollars, but we were able to raise a few thousand in ticket and T-shirt sales," Cody DeFalco '14 said. "[It] gave me perspective on the [music] industry… It was completely new to me."

The course texts included Thompson's own book on the infrastructure behind the ‘60s British pop industry and essays on "a rave club in Detroit, ‘tween females referencing Britney Spears in their personality formation, jazz clubs in Kansas City and Chicago, music festivals and karaoke," which gave his students a comprehensive review of popular music culture.

"I'm always experimenting with my pedagogy, adjusting with different students and learning from what works and what does not," Thompson said.

Thompson's pedagogical method this semester proved successful as his seminar produced by far the largest Beatlemore in the events' 10-year history, along with a considerable donation to charity.

Ways of Seeing: Image, Text, Illumination

Professor Michelle Rhee

"The seminar changed the way I view museums after we had to curate our own small gallery," Kate Jestin Taylor '14 said. "I realized every little detail has a purpose… it was so difficult, but also rewarding."

Professor Michelle Rhee's seminar studied the delicate relationship between text and image, which her students then applied at the end of the semester in curating an exhibit in the Tang Teaching Museum.

"It's a power dynamic we're in. Both text and image seem to be perpetually vying for your attention," Rhee said.

Rhee's assigned reading included the cult classic word and image publication  "The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects," by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, along with Art Spiegelman's graphic novel, "Maus."

With the $500 budget provided by the FYE, the class took a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and received a private tour on text and image artwork. The seminar also picked pieces from the Tang's collection, and then curated their own exhibit in the Winter Gallery.

Human Dilemmas

Professors Sheldon Solomon and Sue Layden

The college offers 11 Human Dilemmas Scribner Seminars, and professors Sheldon Solomon and Sue Layden are taking advantage of its shared curriculum and large student group to mentor and guide inner-city high school students.

Arisleyda Urena '96, principal at the Academy for Language and Technology in the Bronx, approached Breslin around a year ago to create a partnership between the college and the public high school to connect her students to a college-prospective program. The majority of students at the school are first generation Americans, recent immigrants or English language learners, who do not necessarily have the resources or education for college.

In October, the high school students took a bus to the college, read the same texts as the Human Dilemmas course, attended a lecture by Solomon and ate lunch with Human Dilemmas students.

Professor Janet Casey also video conferenced a lecture to the high school students back in New York about activism.

"We spoke with Arisleyda right after the lecture. All the students were very inspired," Layden said. "They took the activism very seriously."

Layden and Solomon plan on continuing the partnership between the high school and college in future.

Zombie invasion not easy on the psyche: TV Review

Posted by Eric Shapiro

A character drama in a post-apocalyptic zombie setting is a surprisingly brilliant concept. Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead"  has run for 79 issues (rare for a creator-owned series) and wowed comic fans since 2003.

On Oct. 21 the TV adaptation premiered on AMC, at long last giving non-comic geeks a chance to experience the cult phenomenon for themselves. Alas, thus far the show has failed to fully capitalize on the promise of its masterpiece of a first episode, with the exception of several great moments interspersed throughout subsequent installments.To start with the positive, it is clear from the outset that the series' main creative architect, Frank Darabont, has nailed the visual style of the comic. Never, at least on TV, have flesh-eating zombies looked so human and hence, so sympathetic.

However, the eerie, quieter moments of mounting tension and calms between the blood-soaked squalls are most memorable. Rick Grimes, rank and file cop from Cynthiana, Kentucky, wakes up in a hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound. It isn't long before he comes to the horrifying realization that the dead no longer stay dead and his wife and son have fled town. A series of improbable coincidences lead to a blissful family reunion, complete with cheesy music.

Things don't stay happy for long though; in addition to the obligatory zombie attacks, the group of survivors has to deal with danger from within their own ranks. It seems that a zombie invasion isn't easy on the fragile human psyche, and therein lays the main hook of "The Walking Dead."

Unfortunately, the characters are, with a few exceptions, pretty flat, occasionally crossing the line into offensive stereotype. Case in point: the two redneck brothers that Grimes has the misfortune to encounter. As they constitute some of the biggest departures from the comic it is disheartening that they fit in so poorly and contribute so little.

The core cast is more of a mixed bag. Rick remains an unflinchingly noble blank slate throughout the season (although, to be fair, Kirkman takes a while to flesh him out in the comic).

His wife Lori comes across as selfish and manipulative without any real depth. This is a problem, considering her pivotal role in the plot. It's difficult to see why Shane, Rick's friend and fellow police officer, is smitten with her to the point where he would consider killing his own best friend.  Regardless, the men's rivalry for Lori's affections and for leadership of the group is one of the show's most compelling elements. Shane is one of the few characters with any genuine depth; it's too bad the writers see fit to make him so detestable.

The supporting cast is a colorful, albeit underdeveloped, bunch. We pity them because of the situations they face (watching your sister get her throat torn out is enough to earn my sympathy) rather than any real concern for them as people. To compensate, the writers tend to linger on certain admittedly tragic events longer than they should, diluting their impact and coming across as a tad manipulative.

A dramatic zombie series is appealing, but a zombie soap opera is just insipid. The show's other main weaknesses are hackneyed writing and poor pacing. Hopefully, the next season will strike the perfect balance between zombie slaughter and character development. 

Learning to research for credit

Posted by Julia Leef

With hundreds of courses offered each semester, one and two credit classes can easily be passed over when a student is searching for the perfect schedule. Two such classes are LI 100: Electronic Information Resources, and LI 371/372: Independent Study, offered through the Lucy Scribner Library faculty.

LI 100 is only taught for the first quarter of the semester; its goal is to show students how to navigate the massive collection of electronic databases and resources available through the college.

Access Service and Humanities Librarian John Cosgrove and Barbara Norelli, the instructional services and social science librarian, alternatingly instruct the one credit LI 100 course.

"We are living in what has been dubbed the Information Age, so I think the course becomes more important every year," Cosgrove said. "We examine how information resources are formatted, organized, structured, searched, browsed, evaluated and used, and consider some of the technological, social, political, economic and practical issues of the information age."

LI 100 meets twice a week for seven weeks. In addition to weekly class meetings, professors from other departments often make guest appearances, instructing the class in how to best research for different subject matters.

"It's an opportunity to expose students not only to research technology, but to talk about resources students should be aware of," said Norelli, who has taught the course since 1998.

Norelli also notes the importance of taking the class as early as possible. "Students who enroll in the spring of their senior years often regret not learning about the databases sooner," Norelli said.

 Part of the problem, according to Norelli, is that students may not necessarily see the Library courses between the much larger departments in the course catalogue. However, a renewed effort to advertise, she believes, will help inform students of the opportunities that the classes offer.

"I think students like the class," Cosgrove said. "Enrollment has been good and evaluations have been positive."

LI 371/372 is an independent study course designed to help students prepare for intense projects such as a senior thesis, a capstone or an honors project involving a lot of research.

Students have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a subject specialist in the library to organize and prepare for major projects.

Ruth Copans, the Library director and one of the professors for LI 371/372, has worked with two students working on French projects this semester. Copans has enjoyed the experience, noting, "Seniors would benefit from working with a librarian one-on-one with their topic."

The course allows students to gain full knowledge of the library's research facilities and databases, aiding them with stressful final projects and alleviating some worry, such as correctly assembling a properly formatted bibliography.

"I think sometimes we can open up different avenues and different perspectives, and that's really helpful," Copans said.

In addition to Copans, LI 371/372 is taught by Susan Zappen, Yvette Cortes, Andy Krzystyniak and Linda Hofmann, among others.

Several professors, such as Kate Graney, head of the government department, and sociology professor Kate Berheide, routinely recommend that students participate in this course.

"Having a weekly assignment and being kept to a specific timetable for researching and compiling a bibliography has proven very useful for the students," Graney said. "It is a great class and a wonderful resource for the government department and our students."

French professor John Anzalone requires LI 371 for students working on an honors thesis or other final projects.

"Students need to know how to navigate the world of research in the digital age and I find that our students are not well equipped to do so without guidance," Anzalone said. "Scribner Library's subject specialist librarians have been invaluable in directing my thesis students in the creation of targeted bibliographies and in the myriad ways of conducting research today."

Anzalone also brings some of his classes to the library for bibliographic instruction sessions, which he finds helpful for his Scribner Seminars as well as several of his other classes.

The library courses also allow students to build relationships with the librarians and subject specialists by working with librarians consistently over a period of time. LI 100 and LI 371/372 provide important information for students that will benefit them in future semesters, and the professors and librarians involved all encourage students to take advantage of its many resources and opportunities.

Rounds Gallery domesticates wild: Art Review

Posted by Kristin Travagline

Rounds Gallery, located in the Skidmore residential life office, brings the wilderness into a warm, welcoming atmosphere during this brisk autumn season.

The gallery's newest exhibition "Wilderness" showcases student and faculty artwork, including a winter landscape photograph taken by President Philip Glotzbach. The exhibit displays a wide range of mediums including photography, collage, sculpture, drawing and painting. The diverse textures and colors represented in the artwork fill the white hallway with playful vibrancy.

Three of Molly Leon's '14 photographs hang in the exhibit displaying a bundle of peaches bright red, prickly berries with green tips and round, white seashells with raised, circular bumps.

"Control This" by Kate Imboden '13 consists of a series of five collages that use bold geometric patterns and a progression of bright colors moving from browns in the first collage to yellows, greens, and pinks in the latter pieces. Ironically, Imboden's art seems to boldly declare the futility of trying to "control" nature.

In contrast, Devon Mattison's '14 "Assorted Drawings" illustrate the breathtaking natural order of the wilderness. Mattison's precise use of color and lines captures the essence of a field of swaying, golden wheat set against a deep blue sky.

Adam Steinberger '13 made the ceramic "Tea Tree Set:" a teapot, three cups and a plate all designed to reflect a tree trunk. The square shape of the teapot, the bark-like grooves in the clay and the reddish-brown color give the piece an organic feel.

 However, Ali Carney-Knisely's '12 steel giraffe sculpture truly exemplifies the exhibit's theme.

Tracy Hensley, the residence hall director, Karen Donovan '12 and Nurya Gilbert '11 curate the gallery. This show is Donovan's second exhibit as curator, her first being the summer show "Living Places." For this exhibit, Donovan came up with the theme "Wilderness." "I see nature as an essential part of the human world, and how we react today effects not only the future of the environment itself, but whether or not we will be able to continue to react with it. I think it is important to notice the world around us, and who better to point out the world around us than artists?" Donovan said.

The exhibit received 25 submissions. She tries to accept as many submissions as will fit in the gallery. "For the most part I don't really ‘choose' or ‘select' the art. This semester I had multiple participants submit eight to ten photos and I had to either ask them to choose the three or four they thought worked best as a series of photographs or I chose a few myself," Donovan said.

When the submission period ends Donovan arranges the exhibit herself.  "Wilderness" is open during regular residential life office hours and will be on display through January.

Ending the semester with the Token Dude: The Token Dude

Posted by Jack McDermott

Well folks, it is almost the end of the semester, which means my housemates and I will all be going abroad soon.  That's right, the Token Dude will be no more. Well, unless I end up living with five Italian girls in Florence.  But I don't think that is going to happen.

 So I think it is time for me to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.  Up until now, I have been writing about all the weird and ridiculous things that my housemates do.  But let's just take a look at all the weird things I do that they could make fun of.  

 For one, when I go to bed, change or do anything that involves taking off my pants, I literally just drop trough and step out of them.  I just leave them there on my floor right where they fell, still perfectly molded to my body.  When I take off another pair the next day, the old pair is usually still just sitting there right next to the new.  My housemate made fun of me once because she walked by my room and there was a circle of shorts and pants just standing guard next to my bed.

 On the subject of clothes, I also have blue boxers from the Gap that have beer and pretzels on them.  As a side note, for my 21st birthday last week, my housemates filled my room with beer and pretzels.  They put some pretzels on my wall, which actually just look like mounds of poop.  But I haven't taken them down because I am way too lazy, and you never know when you're going to need a midnight snack.  

But back to the boxers.  My next-door neighbor happens to have the exact same boxers and we actually plan out days when we are going to both wear them.  He will come over and just draw boxers on my calendar and I know that's beer and pretzel day.  We also just randomly show each other what boxers we're wearing whenever we see each other on campus.  My housemates always make fun of it, and now that I'm writing about it, it actually is really bizarre.

 Lastly, other than using regular unscented shampoo, a real bar of soap and having a whole corner of my room devoted to my own huge paintings, one of the weirdest things I do is talk about getting fat.  Now I have a really high metabolism and can eat pretty much anything without gaining any weight, but I am just convinced that one of these days I am going to wake up fat.  No slow transition.  Just, "Good morning sunshine, you're fat!"

I mean, the other day I really wanted ice cream, so I bought a pint from the atrium and ended up eating the whole thing.  Eating my emotions? Maybe.  Now stereotypically, girls are the ones who worry about getting fat, but whenever I'm eating anything, my housemates make fun of me because I always exclaim, "One of these days I'm going to wake up fat!"

Now that we've taken a step back and looked at some of the things that I do, I realize now that it isn't just living with girls that is weird and mysterious.  Living with anyone in general is just hard.  Everyone has some quirky thing he or she does that you don't understand or that will inevitably get on your nerves.  But if you just accept that fact, any living situation, whether it is with five girls or just one roommate, can be manageable and fun.  

Before I leave you, I want to share a few facts. First, you should know that all of my housemates just won vibrators, and we've decided that if one of my housemates was an adult model, her name would be "Abstinence Sally." And, last but not least, for all the English majors out there, "I don't care that I'm dangling a preposition, I'm dangling my dignity!"  Cheers! Token Dude out.

First-year Gavrik to play for Ukraine, will represent home country in 2011 world championship: Sports Wrap

Posted by Audrey Nelson

Skidmore first-year Vlad Gavrik will represent his home country of Ukraine in the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) U20 World Championship in Belarus from Dec. 13-19.

Ukraine is competing in the IIHF U20 Division I – Group A with Belarus, Japan, Great Britain, Italy and Latvia.

"It's an honor to represent and play for your country," Gavrik said. "I can't wait to start playing."

"It's great to have that international presence both on campus and in the locker room," Skidmore ice hockey coach Neil Sinclair said. "I think it meshes really well with the educational theme here at Skidmore."

Gavrik has played in all seven games for the Thoroughbreds this season. He ended his semester play with two game-winning goals.

On Dec. 3, senior Alex Mykolenko scored the winning goal at 2:31 in overtime to give the Skidmore College hockey team a 7-6 win over Bowdoin College.

The Thoroughbreds advanced 3-3 overall and 2-1 in ECAC East play, while the Polar Bears lost for the first time this season, dropping to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in NESCAC league play.

Skidmore led 3-0 after the first period with goals from sophomore Zach Menard, junior Nick Dupuis and senior Joe Melnyk. In the second period, Bowdoin scored its first point at 5:11 with a goal by sophomore Daniel Weiniger.

First-year Thoroughbred Dave Dupuis scored his first goal of the season at 15:20 to set the score at 4-1. The Polar Bears answered back with a goal from Harry Matheson ‘14 at 16:20 to cut the lead to 4-2.

The Thoroughbreds scored two more times in the final 1:41 with goals by junior Tyler Doremus and Menard to make it 6-2.

Bowdoin picked up speed in the third period, scoring four unanswered goals by first-year Kyle Lockwood, senior Kyle Shearer-Hardy, Matheson and senior Jeff Fanning, to tie the game at 6-6.

At the 2:31 mark, Mykolenko sent the puck to the net for the winning goal, putting Skidmore up 7-6.

The next day on Dec. 4, Skidmore played Colby College where the final score rested at a 3-3 tie. The Thoroughbreds are 3-3-1 overall and 2-1-1 in league play. The Mules are 3-3-1 and 1-2-1 NESCAC.

Colby held a 2-0 lead in the first period. Junior Nick Dupuis scored at 13:56 of the second period to put Skidmore on the board at 2-1.

Sophmore Brendan Cottam tied up the score with assist from first-year Brad Schuler and Dupuis at 1:20. Colby took the lead at 4:17 but the Thoroughbreds tied it again on sophomore Julian Malakorn's goal from Phil Buonocore '14 at 15:48.

Skidmore outshot Colby 4-1 in the overtime, but couldn't get past Colby's goalie for the winning goal.

The Thoroughbreds lost 4-1 to Plattsburgh State in a non-league match-up on Dec. 7 at the Saratoga Springs City Rink.

The loss breaks a three-game winning streak for the Thoroughbreds who are now 3-4-1. The 7-4 Cardinals have won five straight.

After two goals in the first period first-year Vlad Gavrick scored Skidmore's only goal of the game and his fourth of the season, at the 13:56 mark.

But the Thoroughbreds couldn't keep up the momentum and the Cardinals picked up two more goals.Skidmore goalie Colin Bessey ‘12 had 33 saves.

Skidmore's defenseman Nick Dupuis was named Eastern College Athletic Conference East Player of the Week.

In the team's game against #4 Bowdoin, Dupuis scored a goal and had two assists. He also scored a goal and made an assist in the 3-3 tied game against Colby.

He leads the Thoroughbreds in scoring with five goals and five assists for 10 points, and he ranks first among ECAC East defensemen in scoring.

Skidmore will finish the semester at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Castleton State.

Women's Basketball

The women's basketball team lost 60-55 to Trinity College on Dec. 3 in the Williams College Invitational.

Trinity held a consistent lead despite junior Megan Gaugler's 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Senior Ismatu Alison-Konteh added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while first-year teammate Michela Ottati hit six out of six free throws to finish with 8 points.

The women played host team Williams College on Dec. 4, but lost 68-50. The Thoroughbreds drop to 2-4, while the Ephs remain undefeated at 7-0.

Williams ended the first half with a 38-23 lead and maintained the lead throughout the second half.

Skidmore made a come back in its game against Potsdam with a 75-43 win. The Thoroughbreds improved to 3-4, while the Bears fell to 1-7.

Skidmore never trailed and led as much as 17 points in the first half, where the score settled at 34-21 at the half.

The second half continued the lead for Skidmore. Gaugler had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, while teammate junior Christine Gargiso scored 10 points off the bench. Ottati scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.

The win closes out the semester for the Thoroughbreds. They will return to action on Jan. 4 against Nichols College.

Faculty votes to accept online transfer credits

Posted by Alex Brehm

On Friday, Dec. 3 the faculty discussed and voted on new policies, including the acceptance of online classes in transfer credit.

Acting President Susan Kress began the meeting by reporting on recent social activities on campus, such as the recent Beatlemore Skidmania concerts, which raised more than $3,000 in funds to local food pantries.

Dean of Academic Affairs Rochelle Calhoun spoke about the success of several athletic teams, including women's field hockey, which competed in the national competition, the men's basketball, which played a record-setting game with seven overtimes against Southern Vermont, and swimming, which beat Vassar College for the first time in Skidmore history.

The faculty voted to confer degrees and honors on 20 students who will graduate at the end of the fall semester.

The faculty eliminated the sociology-anthropology interdepartmental major from the college catalog.

The college has been systematically eliminating interdepartmental majors for months under the rationale that students are better served with a major and minor in the two associated departments, or a double major.

The faculty turned to the question of whether or not the college should accept credits from online classes for transfer students.

Proponents said that transcripts from other schools do not note whether or not a class was taken online, making a policy of denying online classes unenforceable.

A professor said schools using online classes are usually large universities or state institutions, and denying credit to students from these schools could harm the diversity of transfer students the college could expect in the future.

Opponents of the new policy said that online classes are not in keeping with the tradition of a small college that values close interaction with professors.

One faculty member said that the acceptance of online transfer credits would create a chain of events that would make online Skidmore classes more acceptable in the future, which would ultimately diminish the college educational experience. Despite criticisms, the measure passed.

The faculty will not meet for another general meeting until Feb. 4 in the spring semester.

Bocanegra's 'I Write the Songs': Art Review

Posted by Elizabeth Porfido

Susan Bocanegra's "I Write the Songs," in the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, creatively features mixed-media wall works and sound and video installations. The exhibit runs until Jan. 2.

Contained to a single dark room on the second floor, closed off with thick black curtains, "I Write the Songs" contrasts the free form abstract "Jewel Thief" exhibit. Each of Bocanegra's five pieces has its own speaker set that plays different tracks of ambient music.

Since all of the speakers play simultaneously, an eerie tone settles over the room. The painted black walls emphasize the only light sources, spotlights on the pieces and the four television screens.

Bocanegra's "Color Chart" consists of a box of yarn organized in five columns and five rows and a speaker playing music.

 By observing the piece alone I was not able to understand the artist's vision, but the pamphlet provided by the Tang brought dimension to the piece.

Each ball of yarn has a name, and each syllable of these names was given a specific vocal sound by the artist. A musician then strung together these syllables to create a fluid sound, which was played through the speaker. With the yarn and music in sync, the artist creates the sound of color in her piece.

The next piece in the space is an ancient fragment of a blue and white Danish tapestry hanging from the ceiling. Titled "After Rerememberer (All the Threads)," the fabric shyly dances while the bottom tassels just barely touch the ground.

In general fabric is woven in a five-line staff, which mimics the composition of music. Bocanegra used this parallel structure to create an interaction between the fabric and the music.

The proportions of the thread count and the numerical ordering of the loom for the weaving pattern serve as the score and scenario for the entire installation. Accordion dominates the music and can be clearly heard above all the other tracks. The tapestry hanging from the ceiling with the music playing brought life to the fabric. Its slight movements were extrapolated until the tapestry embodied the music it devised.  

The next piece in the show is Bocanegra's "All the Petals" based on Jan Bruegel the Elder's "Sense of Smell," 1618. Bocanegra broke down flower by flower Bruegel's original painting of a bouquet of flowers to create an expansive wall mount.

 Clusters of thin paper in the shape of petals are pinned to the wall with black ribbon. The number of petals in each cluster is proportionate to the number of petals in each flower in Bruegel's original painting, as is their spacing.

The petal colors are mostly warm tones, primarily red, orange and yellow, with hints of dark blue, creating a stark contrast against the black wall.

Just as "All the Petals" ‘de-painted' Bruegel's bouquet of flowers, Bocanegra's "Little Dot" breaks down the specific dots used to create Georges Seurat's pointillism painting "Young Woman Powdering Herself."

Seurat's 14 dominant colors are represented by 14 pairs of ballet slippers, each of which sits atop a wooden pole.

Bocanegra sorted all of the dots in the painting and created the choreography for a dance that is performed by a ballerina on the platform, fenced in by the poles of slippers.

With an accompanying computer generated score, the painting can be seen and heard as a live performance.

In her final piece, Bocanegra set up a collection of video recording. In a past live performance, Bocanegra had scattered various pages of already composed loose sheet music on a kiosk and invited the public to draw random figures on the pages.

When a drawing on the page of music was complete, it was brought to a stage using a pulley system and interpreted by the FLUX Quartet.

Each musician played music based on the existing notes on the page and the drawing. Each of the four members of the quartet played different pieces simultaneously, creating an overall unified sound of the public's art.

Drawing inspiration from already existing art, Bocanegra challenges conventional notions of art and the various forms that art can take.

Creative thought at its musical best

Posted by Samantha Hoffman

Have you ever wondered what your music major friends are up to when they disappear for hours at a time?

While some may be rehearsing for that always-looming senior recital, others have been composing to their musical hearts' content in the far-away land of the Arthur Zankel Music Center.

Skidmore's motto, "Creative Thought Matters" truly came alive within the walls of the Ladd Concert Hall in Zankel the afternoon of Dec. 4, when seven young composers presented world premieres of no less than 12 original compositions.

The featured compositions ran the gamut from a traditional string quartet to an experimental 13-instrument piece to a trio for violin, viola and an Apple computer.

If that list of vastly varying instrumentation isn't impressive enough, the range of explored styles should be noted as well.

 This program would have pleased most any audience member; whether his or her interests included soulful jazz, classical piano, intricate electric guitar, flamenco-inspired classical guitar, or a multitude of other styles, he or she would not have left this concert disappointed.

Each and every composition exhibited true inspiration and a commendable effort on the part of the composers. While some compositions did reveal the inexperience of the young writers, others could have tricked anyone into believing musical veterans composed them.

A few compositions were so intriguing I wouldn't mind importing them into my iTunes library.

One of the most memorable compositions was "Loose Strings," a piece for classical guitar and string quartet written by Aaron Haas '11.

The first movement for solo guitar exhibited a fusion of flamenco-inspired elements, classic rock-inspired elements and very impressive technique.

The third movement was also incredibly fun to listen to, at times reminiscent of the music one might find in a Spanish dance club.

Another standout composition was the string quartet "Words" composed by Ben Mickelson '12. A sense of urgency was immediately established, which remained an underlying force throughout the entire piece.

Each instrument's part had compelling moments and together they all told an intricate and captivating story.

Unfortunately, the audience was sparsely filled for the recital and much of the Skidmore community missed out on the outpouring of creativity that the composers offered.

Not only did the music exhibit the students' creative juices, the enigmatic program notes written by the composers presenting tidbits such as "Why won't drum burn the carpet?," "Clarinet discourages Dixieland around the automobile" and "The competitive powder mends the evidence below a just chaos,"  showed another facet of their imaginations.

Congratulations to Bobby Burch '12, Julia Cox '12, Joanna Schubert '12, Stefan Schonsheck '12, Ben Mickelson, Aaron Haas and Aaron Wallace '12 for a job well done!

Visual rhymes at the Tang

Posted by Kristin Travagline

Curated by English professor Michelle Rhee and peer mentor Caitlin Allen '12, "Eye Rhymes," in the Frances Young Teaching Museum and Art Gallery unites image with text in an unhappy marriage where each party vies for attention. The exhibit explores the tension-inducing power dynamics created when image and text undergo full equalization. The exhibit runs until Jan. 2.

The piece "Mercy" (1991), by David Moffet, embodies this tension. The piece mounts a translucent photograph of an unfurled white rose on a circular light box. "MERCY" glows in black caps in the center of the rose. "It just kind of glows and leads the viewers into the gallery and I think that the students really enjoyed discussing that in class," Rhee said. "Eye Rhymes" includes a variety of other media including book art, collage and screenprint.

The exhibit also serves as classroom space for Rhee's Scribner Seminar, "Ways of Seeing." "The change in space for students is really wonderful and important. Also, to have your primary text exist in this very public space changes your orientation toward how you treat it and how much importance you give to it," Rhee said.

A year and a half ago, Rhee went to the Tang to look for art for her English classes. "I was trying to figure out ways to incorporate the Tang into my classes. And once I was there I realized there are so many works of art that incorporate text and image just in the private collection," Rhee said. From that moment Rhee worked with John Weber, dayton director and professor of liberal studies, and Ian Berry, the Tang curator, to find a way for a gallery show and a class to coexist.

After an eight-week installation project, the course culminated in a reconfiguration of the space based on student research. The students received scaled down versions of every work of art on the main wall of the exhibit, which they mounted in a miniature, to-scale version of the gallery. Collectively the class decided to mount the artwork in an order that conveyed a transition from innocence to maturation.

However, when the class tried to mount the exhibit in the gallery they realized that their vision would not translate to reality. "It would have had no concept of space," Rhee said. But, the 16 students still had to decide on a single idea for the space and a way to make the artwork cohesive.

"They had started to impose meanings upon the works of art that weren't necessarily there. It was almost a hindrance to them that they knew too much about the work of art," Rhee said. The students let go of the narrative idea and instead drew connections between the pieces through visual cues.

"I think they did an even better job than what I had come up with, with the help of my peer mentor over the summer. It's really quite good. They were really impressive," Rhee said.

One of Rhee's favorite pieces in the exhibit is "Negroes with Guns," by Michael St. John. The piece displays 14 small canvases with pictures of various African Americans associated with gun crimes, ranging from Martin Luther King Jr. to Tupac Shakur. The pictures range from several inches to covering the entire canvas. Bright colors and the text "NEGROES WITH GUNS" in bold, black font also span the canvases.

The piece was based on the manifesto by Robert Williams, which suggests that the NAACP should arm themselves to prevent being attacked in the south, an idea which the Black Panther Party gravitated toward and eventually used.

 Beneath this piece, two black leather shoes with buckles that spell the words "LAP DOG," by Nayland Blake, rest on a pedestal. "It creates this strange bodiless sculpture where you have these heads and then the feet and then the two works sort of alter their meanings by being juxtaposed in that way," Rhee said.

After the exhibit was remounted the class presented the trajectory of their semester work in a Tang dialogue to the public.

"It was probably, in terms of teaching, one of the most rewarding classes I've taught because it felt like every step along the way was moving toward something very tangible. Everything just became very productive in a way that I've never experienced before," Rhee said.

Editorial: Give sophomores direction

Posted by the Editorial Board

The "sophomore slump" sees students adjusting to new social situations, making significant academic decisions and taking more challenging classes – all without the aid of any sophomore-specific college assistance. Without the structure of the First-Year Experience or the certainty of declared majors, students can feel lost trying to navigate potential courses and disciplines. The college needs to institute academic programming specific to sophomores to provide a foundation for a year that has yet to take shape at Skidmore.

Just as first-years have the FYE, juniors study abroad and seniors post-graduate planning, sophomores need a cornerstone experience that can provide class unity and purpose. The college should consider forming a class-wide sophomore project that encourages students to investigate individual areas of interest through interning, research or a community service project. Challenge students to apply what they have learned in their first two years here, letting students better understand their own academic interests. That will only help them choose their majors more wisely at the end of the sophomore year.

For students interested in fulfilling this new sophomore requirement in a familiar form, the college should offer 200-level interdisciplinary classes similar to the first-year Human Dilemmas course. With the positive response to the Scribner Seminar model in the FYE, the college should look at how to utilize that success to beat the problem of the "sophomore slump." They can help those students still feeling lost in their sophomore year by offering them another chance to engage with their peers and a professor in a more close-knit environment.

But even as they seek to unify the fractured and disoriented sophomore class through new models, the college needs to better the structures already in place. As students transition from their assigned Scribner Seminar adviser to their choice of a major adviser, they can feel isolated in the very months where they must make the kind of decisions – like major declaration – that will have a profound influence on their college and post-graduation lives.

The college should strengthen and standardize the advising sessions between Scribner Seminar advisers and their sophomore advisees, ensuring that their conversations tackle the tough issues of major declaration, impending academic deadlines and resources for help. Eliminate the crapshoot element to post-FYE advising and make sure that students, even if they go through much of sophomore year without an adviser from their area of interest, can speak productively with professors about their academic futures in the sophomore year.

While material on the college's website deals particularly with challenges faced by students in their sophomore year, the sheer amount of online content can overwhelm students trying to narrow their focus in major declaration. The college should consider providing options for undecided students to perform degree audits with potential majors in mind, to evaluate their course choices and see potential planning for their next two years. They should also continue to try to increase awareness of tools like the degree audit, battling a still-steady number of students who do not know resources like these exist.

In that vein, all department offices should offer printed guides to the majors available to querying students, with information ranging from course checklists to professor profiles. Let students get to know their prospective disciplines by providing them with the contact information for each department's student representatives, giving them a real idea of what that major would entail.

Sophomore year sees students adjusting, for the first time, to making big decisions for themselves. The college needs to provide students with a strong foundation to their year, while encouraging across-the-board effective communication to ensure that students make choices right for them.

Men's basketball winds down semester

Posted by Audrey Nelson

After an historic seven overtime win against Southern Vermont with its new coach Joe Burke, the Skidmore men's basketball team nears the end of the semester with a dramatic win against Castleton State College.

Junior Terron Victoria sent the three-pointer shot in the last 24 seconds of the game for a 74-71 win. The team improves to 5-2, while the Spartans fall to 2-4.

Victoria hit a three with 1:12 remaining to tie it at 69-69 and tied it up again at 71-71 before his winning three-pointer. Junior Melvis Langyintuo had a game-high 22 points, scoring 15 in the last nine minutes to aid the win.

The Thoroughbreds led 42-37 at the half, but the Spartans stayed alive until the last minute. After junior Dylan Malloy's three-pointer, with 13:38 remaining giving Skidmore a four point lead, Castleton made 11 unanswered points, taking the lead with less than 10 minutes remaining. With about three minutes on the clock, the teams traded the lead until the last shot.

"I am very proud of our resiliency", there were multiple times where we could have given in tonight and in the end we were able to get the job done," coach Burke said.

The team had hosted the Hilton Garden Inn Invitational over the weekend where the Thoroughbreds won 87-48 in their initial match against Bard College. This victory sent the men to the championship game against Utica where the team fell to the Pioneers 64-62.

"The Hilton tournament was a disappointment because we simply did not win, which is what we set out to do," senior and team captain Jeff Altimar said. "That being said, I thought we played pretty well in the tournament and definitely had our chances to win in the championship game."

Skidmore got the first basket of the game with a three from Gerard O'Shea '12 and maintained the lead until the half. Utica kept a close trail of two points through the first half but wasn't able to tie it up as Skidmore took a 36-31 into halftime.

The Pioneers grabbed their first lead of the game with 9:30 remaining. Skidmore took the lead right back with two free throws from O'Shea. Jeff Altimar '11 and Sakhile Sithole '13 added to that lead with 6:58 remaining.

Utica took the lead for the rest of the match with 2:52 remaining. O'Shea cut the lead back to a two-point difference on a three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining, but the Thoroughbreds couldn't make their last attempt shot to tie it up, as the Pioneers grabbed the 64-62 win.

 "We were very inconsistent. We defended and executed our offense very well in stretches, but not throughout the entire game. Thus that is why we were not able to sustain our leads until the end of the game," Langyintuo said.

With a motto of "play tough, play together and play with confidence," the Thoroughbreds stand at 5-2 in hopes to end the season as Liberty League Champions and secure a place in the NCAA tournament.

"Being six games into our season now, I think the team has made great strides in getting to where we want to be. We have had both good and bad moments, but we are learning from all these experiences," Altimar said.

With a new coach leading the team, Langyintuo feels a greater bond with his team.

"I feel that we have greater cohesion, team spirit and more confidence as a group. Also, each player is a friend on and off the court; we are more of a family this year," he said.

"I think that this is attributable to the unity we fostered as a group prior to the official start of the season. We had intense fall team workout sessions that included weight lifting, pick-up games and 9 a.m. Saturday conditioning/training sessions."

But nothing could bond the team more than the marathon, seven-overtime victory at Southern College. On Nov. 23, the Thoroughbreds won 128-123 against Southern Vermont to set the NCAA record for the longest game in the Division III history. The game also tied for the longest game in any division, among numerous other records.

"The seven overtime game is one I will never forget and it really showed how resilient our team can be," Altimar said. "It makes me tired just thinking about it." He added that the team was very proud to see coverage of Skidmore on ESPN and other positive publicity.

Langyintuo echoed this sentiment. "It was exciting to see our school featured on national TV because we as athletes work as hard, if not harder than some of the teams that are routinely featured. Thus to accomplish such a feat as sustaining seven overtimes to achieve a victory is a testament to our determination, drive and unity as a program," he said. "Personally, I felt a calm sense of enjoyment because what we did was surreal."

In the middle of an exciting season, the men's basketball team, in addition to the women's basketball and ice hockey teams, has not only boosted its team spirit, but also its holiday spirit with a charity can drive event. The program, Skidmore Cares, has benefited local food banks and families in the Saratoga area for several years.

"It is a great way for our privileged college to give back to the community and help stock local food banks for the holiday," Altimar said. "We as college students have a lot to be thankful for and this is a small way to help others who may not have been as lucky."

Langyintuo added, "By helping the community through service initiates, we are not only gaining new supporters, but also contributing to the growth and prosperity of the society we live in."

The team will finish the semester at a home game against Trinity College on Dec. 10, and will return to the court on Jan. 5 against Norwich University.

Warriors, come out to pray: Daydreams

Posted by Rick Chrisman

Jesus says in one of the Gospels, "The poor you always have with you." He might better have said, "War you always have with you." It would have been just as true, and more helpful. I wish he had. Heck, we would have been forewarned!

War is not just hell (as anyone could guess), it is persistent and pervasive in history. War, and its kissing cousins the police state and conformity, provide the violent with the means to get their way. Jesus repeatedly attacked the temptation to meet that violence with more violence when he said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who maltreat you." To one philosopher, these preachments were the signs of a "slave religion." But they were Jesus' way of saying, violence is everywhere  — beware of being sucked into it.

And here we are, sucked into violence big time. Not one but two wars, in two different countries, each eight and seven years long, and counting. 4747 and 2250 U.S. military deaths each, and counting (this number does not include stateside veteran deaths by suicide.)  The wounded in Iraq, according to official counts, comes to 32,937, and counting. (Unofficial estimates put the number much higher). If these numbers seem only like abstractions to you, join the club. Try multiplying 40,000 times your brother or your sister.

And who can say for sure what the total number of civilian casualties in both countries might be? Imagine what living in a war zone that long would do to a society (examples are on display in the Wilson Chapel picture gallery).  Likewise, do we ever contemplate what this is doing to American society?

Yes, as a nation, we have been totally sucked into violence and don't know it. It's not just a matter of our war policy. America bathes unaware in our own war culture. That is hard to see. What would you guess is the minimum daily dose of violence ingested by kids playing video games? What are all those cops and robbers on TV today doing but entertaining us and fighting proxy wars? We re-enact the immemorial battle between good and evil on screen and praise the successful hero. And how did he (she) win the day? Always, the violent bear it away.

This is wrong, and our attempts to hide from it proves the point. We ignore the violence and deny being at war because the soul recoils. War is inhumane — and inconvenient, to say the least. Its true costs must be buried, and we do a great job of that.

Isn't it time for the citizens to take charge, or is that just a daydream? The truth is, the U.S. citizenry has been de-clawed.  And we are paying a huge, huge price for it. Great numbers voted in the 2008 national election, but it takes more than voting to effect change. You could say we need the spiritual equivalent of a full court press on our politics. In my Christmas dream, three ghosts confront and challenge me:

1. To acknowledge the costs.  Sebastian Junger's book, "War" (recently made into a documentary film entitled "Restrepo"), urges us to reckon openly with the fact of our wars. "That evaluation, ongoing and unadulterated by politics, may be the one thing a country absolutely owes the soldiers who defend its borders." I ask, what public ritual could give appropriate expression to this on our campus?

2. To study war no more — study universal national service instead.  Isn't it time we conceived a fairer recruitment policy? Shouldn't everyone have an opportunity to serve, whether it be in the military, the Peace Corps, inner city education, health services, etc.? Wouldn't that give everyone (particularly in your demographic) a greater stake in this country's policies? One Skidmore student sends me by e-mail her interviews of citizens who participated in universal service in her home country of Spain. I ask, can't we study up on this more?

3. To get religion — but be sure to make it a good one. A religion, any religion, is the practice of a discipline.  It takes discipline to sacrifice violence. I say, let's practice.

Rick Chrisman is director of Religious and Spiritual Life, teaches occasionally in the Religion and Philosophy departments and suspects art is the one true religion.

Perfecting your potential New Year's kiss: What Would C. Do? Advice from an Anonymous Friend

Posted by C.

Let's talk about the importance of a good kiss. I've had numerous conversations with friends and strangers about their random hook ups and the number one question I always ask is: was he or she a good kisser?

 A kiss is like the root of a flower; if it's watered properly, it will mature into a fruitful make-out session.   

Don't feel nervous and feel the need to practice on your hand before you go out.  If you are unsure of yourself it does show. Be confident and don't be afraid to ask for something your partner is lacking: more tongue, less teeth, etc.

Being dominant and knowing what you want is not a bad thing, and even appears endearing in the eyes of your partner.

Everyone has his or her own kissing style.  It isn't bad if someone tells you what he or she wants — welcome it as practice!

 If you're worried your hook up buddy is becoming a potential mate, don't fret. Couples usually adapt to each other's kissing styles eventually, especially as the feelings grow stronger between the couple.

Never doubt the importance of a kiss.  Whether it be French, Eskimo, butterfly or underneath the mistletoe, it's the confidence you carry with your lips that counts.

Dear C.,

I'm hooking up steadily with this guy, but we aren't bf/gf. Now that break is coming I don't know what to do. Should I mention visiting him? I don't want to force him into staying with me over break.                —Sleepless at Skidmore

Dear Sleepless at Skidmore,

Okay, things to consider: do you hook up with other people (or does he)? Is he a good kisser? Do you like him?  Most importantly, though, if this hook up has lasted over a month, why haven't you developed into something more than just a hook up?

I believe the biggest indication for the future of any casual hook up relationship is the faithfulness of both individuals. If you know you look forward to his call, which only occurs after 1 a.m. and inconsistently, chances are he is getting booty elsewhere.

Now, don't be discouraged; keep in mind that you are not boyfriend and girlfriend. If he is being a loosey goosey then you must try to be as detached from him as possible and avoid any high hopes of a serious relationship. Vice versa if you do the same thing!

If you only like him for his tongue pressure and not for his quirks, I would not mention visiting him.

Keep in contact and send a "hope your break is going well" text and add a bit of your personality or something that will make him chuckle.  See what happens after break. It's nothing to lose sleep over, just distract your self with the potential of a New Years smooch!

                —Stars and hearts, C.

Email me at SkidWWCD@gmail.com with questions. Privacy is guaranteed. Advice can remain unpublished upon request.

Tang collects 4,000 bottles

Posted by Tegan O'Neill

The exhibit "Environment and Object in Recent African Art" will be on display at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery after winter break from Feb. 5-July 1, 2011, but not without the help of the entire Skidmore community.

The centerpiece of the exhibit, which will be created by Nigerian artist Bright Ugochukwu Eke, will be a site-specific installation made up entirely of plastic water bottles.

In order to collect the 4,000 bottles needed for the installation, collection boxes have been placed around campus. There are boxes in the dorms, academic buildings, the dining hall and in Case Center.

Posters of an image of a plastic water bottle with the words, "Save Us" superimposed on it and a message reading, "Help Us Make Art" written below advertise the collection effort.

The three-week-long collection period began on Dec. 1 and will continue through Dec. 22.  

"It is an interesting project because it needs the support of a huge pool of people for its realization," curatorial assistant Megan Hyde said of the project.

The show's curators have partnered with the Environmental Action Committee as well as the dorm Eco Reps in organizing the bottle collection effort.  In addition to the collection boxes placed  around campus, various bottle drives will be conducted in Northwoods.

"It brings meaning to the project for people to actually be able to see the bottles that they donated in an art project at the Tang," said Amanda Hawkins '12, a student worker in the Tang.

The 4,000 plastic bottles will be used to construct walls of water bottles that mimic the pattern of waterways.  It will be a maze of plastic that viewers can walk through.  "Bright takes objects of everyday use and makes something meaningful and gorgeous out of them," Hyde said.  

Eke intends his work to inspire people to examine the connection humans have with the environment.  He is concerned that humans are disconnected from the environment.  The use of recycled plastic water bottles is meant to draw attention to the ethical problems of this disconnect.  

The fact that 4,000 bottles can easily be collected in a three week period on a small college campus represents the tremendous amount of resources that are consumed every day.

Eke has chosen to concentrate on water because it is a resource held in common by everyone on the planet; however, not everyone on the planet has equal access to it.

  Many areas of the African continent are plagued by a lack of clean, safe water.  Because of a lack of proper sanitation and contamination from industrial waste, people are forced to import plastic water bottles.

In addition to Eke's piece, the exhibit will feature sculptures, photographs, paintings and videos by a wide range of contemporary African artists including El Anatsui, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Yinka Shonibare, George Osodi and Nnenna Okore.  

The pieces in the exhibit address the issues of deforestation, deserted coal mining operations, scarce clean water supplies and the cloud of conflict that shadows the oil industry.

The art shows the relationship between people living in Africa and the environment they are living in, as well as the relationship that Africa has with the western world.

Many of the pieces comment on the lasting colonial impact and draw attention to the question of who is taking and using Africa's natural resources.

"There is certainly an urgent agenda inherent in this exhibition," Hawkins said. Bright Ugochukwu Eke will begin his residency at Skidmore in early January to install the centerpiece.

Contemplate life outside the bubble: Campus Banter

Posted by Taylor Dafoe

As classes comes to an end, slowly fading away in that familiar, caffeine-induced haze of evaluations and finals and all-nighters, I can't help but wonder how this semester is going to be remembered. What will we think?

Maybe it'll go down as the semester with all the freshmen - the one with the overflowing dorms and all those triples fighting over the top bunk and the TV, probably so they could watch the newest episode of "Glee". Maybe it'll be remembered for the drunken disasters of Moorebid – for the campus damages, the ambulances and the endless cans of Four Loko. Maybe it'll be the semester the field hockey team went to the Final Four, or the semester Zankel opened or the semester that Glotzbach was gone, witness to only some of these events.

Or maybe it won't be remembered for any of these things; maybe they mean nothing to you.

We talk so much about the Skidmore "bubble," the idea that we're locked perpetually in this tiny college and tiny town, that you would think we would have the drive to do something about it. Our lives are defined by the walls that make up our little world here on campus that often we forget about that world outside Skidmore and Saratoga. We forget about issues that aren't on the chalkboard and about things that make us happy. And all those trips to the dining hall and textbooks rotting away in the bottom of our backpacks - they're only making it worse.

We need to reevaluate ourselves as college students. Our school is far too dominated by these warped notions of college life – ideas that have us killing ourselves with books during the week and with beer on the weekends.  We need to reconsider why we're here, what we're doing here and what we're going to do in the future – how we're going to spend our years here at Skidmore.

Keep this in mind as you're taking your last tests and writing your last papers. Don't get too consumed by any one aspect of your Skidmore experience, not the classes nor the parties. Remember that stress is fleeting and that homework gets finished. Remind yourself that this is merely a moment of your life, not the whole thing.

So this winter break, think about all these things. Think about what it's like to be home again, away from dorms and classrooms and the library – away, finally, from our campus. Take in a little bit of the outside world and bring it back with you. Let's make next semester worth remembering, worth the nostalgia for college that will inevitably come in the years following graduation  – the years in that real world.

Happy semester, everybody. Good luck with finals.

Taylor Dafoe is an undecided sophomore from Cheyenne, Wyo.

Saisselin renovations to increase group work

Posted by Julia Leef

The Saisselin Art Building is currently undergoing renovations that will increase and reallocate classrooms.

"The faculty prioritized our needs, and having more space for classrooms is really, really important," Chairwoman of the Art Department Kate Leavitt said.

Art students will benefit from the additional classroom studio space, which will be built in the extra space above the downstairs studios. An extra seminar room will resolve schedule conflicts, allowing professors more flexibility when trying to reserve the room for classes.

"The extra seminar room would really help me out as far as my schedule goes," said Ariel Strobel, '14, a current art student in the Visual Concepts class, "that way I don't have to worry about it being full when I need to use it."

Renovations will move the jewelry and metals studio, which currently resides on the second floor, downstairs with sculpture and ceramics, while the communication design and electronic media studios will be moved upstairs.

"The move of all digital areas to one area will increase the efficiency of the computer areas. These will include a single server and tech support. Additionally, the digital areas can begin to collaborate and possibly avoid overlapping technical needs," Leavitt said.

Leavitt said the second floor would provide a clean environment for the computers, one without the dust and mess from studios like ceramics and sculpture.

Another phase of the renovations involves installing a new geo-thermal heating and ventilation system, like the one in the Arthur Zankel Music Center.

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) is an ideal replacement for the current system, as many materials in the art building require specific settings. Leavitt said that getting an HVAC was made possible by a matching grant between the college and the state.

Renovation plans began about seven years ago. The proposal has altered over the course of time and has been financed by the state grant.

Art professors hope the renovations will create additional office and studio space for the faculty members.

"Our faculty have no place to do their work. Studio space would provide a lot of opportunity to work with students and provide a much more collaborative environment," Leavitt said.  

New studios would allow professors to show students their own work process. "We are expected as faculty members to be active scholars, and students look to us as models after whom they can pattern their own form of intellectual engagement," Leavitt said.

The faculty said they are pleased with the changes being made, as they will benefit students and the department as a whole.

The renovations, which are being done in stages to accommodate classes, are expected to be completed no earlier than 2013.

Renovations will be accomplished through a series of temporary builds and moves, which will allow classes to continue as normally as possible.

Combating finals with cookies: A Sprinkle in Time

Posted by Katie Lane

It's finals time. I'm way busy. Who isn't?

The logical thing would be to set aside non-essential activities in order to focus on passing my classes. But nope, not me.

I think have baked more in the past week than I have all semester. It is, after all, the ultimate stress buster.

First, you can procrastinate by browsing hundreds of drool-worthy recipes online. Then you can waste at least a couple of hours in the kitchen actually making the darn things. To top it off, you can wallow in your stress by scarfing down some freshly baked cookies, cupcakes or anything chocolate with your equally stressed housemates.

But really, who am I fooling? Stress is stress and not even these cheery sugar cookies can write a paper or study for an exam for you.

 They can, however, remind you that the holidays are right around the corner. We can all take a break, a breath, and recharge a bit. Sometimes, though, you just need a little holiday cheer to push through to the real thing.

We are trying as hard as we can over here at my house of diverse faiths and traditions. We have a tiny Christmas tree, topped with the Star of David, and we have a menorah. We have lights (thanks Elaine!), we have cranberry bread (thanks Rebs!) and we have "Now That's What I Call Christmas! 3" (thanks Betsy!).

And we have sugar cookies (thanks me!). The kind you roll out thin and cut out with cookie-cutters and decorate with frosting and eat for months until they go stale in your pantry.

Somehow these ones didn't make it that long in our house… Anyway, I plan to bake (and eat) my way through finals. And once I get home, I plan to bake (and eat) my way through winter break. If you need a little homemade holiday cheer, whip up some of these classic sugar cookies, and have a wonderful break, my friends!

Stay tuned at www.asprinkleintime.wordpress.com for treats all winter long!

---

Traditional Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

Adapted from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett

•2 ½ cups flour

•1 tsp baking powder

•1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened

•1 cup sugar

•2 large egg yolks

•large pinch of salt

•2 tsp vanilla extract

•Frosting or sprinkles for decorating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until well blended and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, then the salt and vanilla, until evenly incorporated. Gradually stir in the flour mixture to form a smooth dough. If dough is overly dry, try adding some milk (just a tiny bit at a time) until the dough comes together.

Chill the dough for at least an hour or overnight. Remove from fridge and roll the dough out 1/8 inch thick. Cut out cookies with assorted cookie cutters and transfer carefully to an ungreased baking sheet. If using sprinkles, add before baking.

Bake for 8-11 minutes, until very lightly colored. Keep a very close watch as these will burn quite quickly. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for several minutes before removing them and let them cool completely before decorating.

What is in store for Zankel?: Examining the potential of the Music Center as a cental building on campus

Posted by Alex Brehm

What if the college spent $32 million and built a new building with facilities reserved for you and your field of study?

Think about this the next time you walk into Zankel.

The Arthur Zankel Music Center represents a world of opportunity for the school, the potential to showcase famous musicians, feature talented speakers and service new media to a larger single audience than ever before. It is designed as a space primarily for the benefit of music and performance students, for practicing and teaching. But with the benefit of the cutting-edge space, allowing the campus community to view more student and guest performances than ever before, in a better setting than ever before, we all benefit.

Construction on Zankel was finished for the spring 2010 semester. The building is 54,000 square feet and cost $32.5 million to build. The building is named for Arthur Zankel, a former trustee of the college and philanthropist who donated $15 million to help fund the building's construction.

The building was cited frequently at the faculty meeting in November as a new symbol of success. College administrators believe attraction to Zankel is partly to account for the unprecedented enrollment in this year's first-year class.

Generally, the space is used for education. "The primary use of Zankel is to serve the college's institutional needs," said Amanda Boehmer, Concerts and Events manager at Zankel. According to the Zankel mission statement, those needs include "the teaching, learning, and performance needs of the college music department and the Office of Special Programs."

In her position, Boehmer serves many roles, primarily contacting performers or their agents and scheduling events, planning shows a year or more in advance. She oversees the production of the calendar of events and reports on Zankel's progress to the music department and Special Programs. Boehmer also assists in the college's new Arts Administration program.

Boehmer says that most of her energy, and that of the other executives running Zankel, is focused on "getting through this first year" successfully.  She wants to establish a clear brand identity and have visitors equate Zankel with quality performance.

Boehmer agrees that Zankel stimulates prospective student interest, and that the building can attract and provide for the most talented young musician. "Most conservatories don't have this practice space." She emphasized that with the new facilities, the college can expect to produce even more high-quality musicians in the future.

The music department is exploring a new relationship with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra performed in Zankel in October, and there have been discussions to plan a concert for every semester, including a residency where members of the orchestra will offer master classes to music students.

Earlier this year, Zankel debuted some performances jointly administered with Caffè Lena, the historic folk venue in downtown Saratoga Springs. Caffè Lena began as a small coffeehouse giving folk musicians a space to play when they were just starting out. Performers such as Bob Dylan and Eric Andersen played Lena before they became household names.  This year, Caffè Lena celebrated its 50th anniversary with two concerts in Zankel, featuring Arlo Guthrie at the end of the spring and Ani Difranco this fall. Boehmer beamed over the memory of these performances, saying that it provides cachet with agents when booking new performances. "It really legitimizes us, and I hope it does continue."

Zankel can even serve as a space for watching films. "Film just works so well in there," Boehmer said. "There's a kickin' A/V system…it's better than a movie theater." The space held a screening of the film "May I Be Frank," about a man who finds a new life after embracing raw food and holistic medicine. Boehmer mentioned the possibility of screening live performance broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

A report by the Zankel Study Group, commissioned by President Philip Glotzbach in 2008, said that beyond providing for education, Zankel will be "a venue for nationally-known guest artists…bringing in audiences from the campus and beyond, serving as a resource for the local and regional community."

"Ultimately, I'd like to see that there isn't a dark night in Zankel," Boehmer said.

The college celebrated the completion of the "Creative Thought, Bold Promise" campaign with a gala opening in Zankel during Celebration Weekend in October. A dedication ceremony was held to commemorate Arthur Zankel and formally dedicate the space in his honor.

The event featured Emmanuel Ax, a widely known pianist and close friend of Arthur Zankel. Ax performed a solo sonata, a concerto with the Skidmore College Orchestra and in a quintet with student Hanna Tonegawa '11, faculty member Michael Emery, and two members of Ensemble ACJW. The presence of the ACJW members is itself significant, as it is a reminder of the college's partnership with Carnegie Hall, receiving outstanding young professional musicians in residency each semester. The performances symbolized the range and caliber of performances the college can share at Zankel from solos to symphonies, from distinguished guests and our very own faculty and students.

Confidence is high in what Zankel offers its students as premier music education. The college community can value, as well, the range of uses the space can offer in the future, and the quality education and entertainment we can gain if the building's directors embrace its full potential. As the Zankel Study Group wrote, the building can find a wide range of uses, across music, dance, visual art, film, theater and lectures.

Zankel has also already demonstrated its potential as a community venue. In particular, the Skidmore College Chorus's production of Carmina Burana last semester showed seamless community presence, as audience, as chorus members and as soloists. Performances frequently draw residents from the surrounding area.

Boehmer acknowledged that Zankel will draw a public presence in the future, much as the Tang Teaching Museum has done for the last 10 years. Boehmer said that even the reputation of the local Saratoga Performing Arts Center is something to aspire to in years to come.

If performances of the quality the college has seen the past year remain regular and become even more frequent, those aspirations can become a reality. Until then, Zankel stands as a proud new gem in the educational power of this college.