Softball soars through winning streak: Sports Wrap

Posted by Julia Schwartz & Isaac Baker The Skidmore softball team cleaned up this week with four wins in two double-headers. Last Sunday, April 3, the Thoroughbreds traveled to Utica College where they pulled out two wins in two closely contested games. Skidmore came back from a formidable deficit to win the first game, and scraped its way back on top in the second game, giving it two big wins against Utica.

In the first game, the Thoroughbreds were down six runs in the seventh inning. But after many quiet innings, Skidmore's bats lit up, as the team drove in seven runs to win the game with a final score of 9-8.

The Thoroughbreds sprang out in the second game with the momentum gained from the first win, working their way up to a 4-1 lead by the third inning. The Pioneers closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth inning with a pair of runs, bringing the score to 4-3. The following inning, Utica brought in another run to tie the game. After a standstill in the seventh inning, both teams returned to the field for extra innings. In the top of the eighth, Skidmore proved more successful with seven runs to Utica's three that they put on the board in the bottom of the eighth, finalizing the score at 11-7.

Between the two games, Julia Schwartz '13 had two home runs; teammates Charlotte Evans ‘11, Caiti Ketcham ‘11, Katie Sorochka ‘14 and Christina Gargiso '12 each finished with one homer for the day. Gargiso also went 4-4 in the first of the two games.

Three days later on Wednesday April 6, Skidmore played another double-header against Sage. Skidmore won the first by a significant margin, winning the game 8-1. Charlotte Evans '11 was 2-4 with a two run double, Caitlin Ketchem '11 went 1-2 with two RBIs and Christina Hein '11 went 2-3 with a pair of runs scored.

The following game, first-year Sorochka threw a no hitter, allowing just three walks and one hit batter. The Thoroughbreds shutout Sage 5-0, and headed back to Saratoga with their fifth straight win under their belts. Hein went 2-3 with a solo home run, while Schwartz went 1-4 with a two run double.

Skidmore heads to Middlebury April 1, hoping to continue its streak.

Baseball

The Thoroughbreds home field advantage was not enough to bring them luck against their double-header April 2 against Vassar. The Thoroughbreds fell short at the end of both games, losing with the final at bats in both games.

Zack Rudman '12 took the lost in the first games, throwing the full nine innings to no avail. Matty Tatkow '13 lead the Thoroughbreds effort up at bat, but was unable to punch enough through to the gaps to bring them a win.

Skidmore called upon Bobby Stafutti '13 in the second game when the game went into extra innings to continue the efforts of Trevor Brucato '11 on the mound, allowing two runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.

Stafutti received the loss after the Brewers were able to pull through in the bottom of the 11th inning. Rob Rubenstein led Skidmore's offense in the second game, going 3-5 at the plate with an RBI.

The Thoroughbreds returned to the field the next day for two more games against the Brewers, this time losing the first game 8-3 and coming back at the end of the four game series with a score of 6-1.

Nick Laracuente '11 and Rubenstein received Co-Pitchers of the Week and Co-Performers of the Week for their efforts in their competitions against Vassar. Laracuente improved his throwing record to 4-0 with his win against Vassar, giving up one walk and striking out nine, which also lowered his ERA to 0.60 on the season so far. Rubenstein went 11-19 against the Brewers with eight RBI and a .780 slugging percentage.

Men's lacrosse

Men's lacrosse continued its success ranked at No. 19 on April 2 with a win against league rival, St. Lawrence 16-10. The Thoroughbreds had 46 shots on goal, 16 higher than that of St. Lawrence.

Skidmore secured the advantage early in the game with a 6-2 advantage at the end of the first period. Despite the Saints' attempt at vengeance beginning in the second half, Ben Cornell '11, Jon Hoeg '13, and Sam Lawfer '13 all put points on the board for the Thoroughbreds.

After half time, Skidmore returned to the field and pushed out the score 13-7, securing the win with a large enough advantage to finish out to the final second.

Major contributors to the Thoroughbreds' success were Mike Holden' 13, who had a game-high of five goals, as well as Cornell, Bryan Connolly '13, Matt Levesque '11 and Mike Perlow '13, all with two goals. Connor Dowling '12 protected the net for the Thoroughbreds with assistance from Ryan Paradis '12, who had a game-high of eight ground balls.

With The Thoroughbred's success came the elevation of their ranking in USILA Coaches Poll to No. 13. They have now won six straight games and have an 8-1 overall record and are 2-0 in league play.

Holden and Jacque Ward '11 received Liberty League Co-Performer of the Week and Co-Defensive Performer of the Week, respectively, for their contributions in their game against St. Lawrence. Skidmore returns to the field at home on April 12 to compete against Middlebury.

Women's lacrosse

Skidmore lacrosse started off the week with a tough loss against RPI in overtime, with a final score of 12-11. Despite the close loss, the team came together and fought back hard the next day against Vassar.

The Thoroughbreds were able to glide by and win with a final score of 17-8. Contributions to the score came from six different people throughout the game, allowing the Brewers to be kept off guard at all times. Lauren Madden '12 had a game-high of four goals, while Lindsay Stavola '11 finished the game with three goals and five assists. Lauren McCarthy '11 and Lexi Melville '13 also provided stability for the team, with three goals apiece. After Skidmore's outstanding performance against Vassar, Stavola earned Co-Offensive Performer of the Week for the third time this season.

The excitement earned from their huge win against Vassar did not carry over to the next game, as Skidmore fell to Union 12-3 on the road. The loss brings the team's record to 1-2 in league play. Stavola scored a goal, as did Kimbery Segalas '11 and Ali Frey '12, but those goals were not enough to create the momentum they needed to win over the Dutchwomen.

Skidmore continues road play April 8 and 9 at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, respectively.

Women's tennis

The Thoroughbreds rallied back and forth attempting to win close competitions April 2 and April 3, but fell short at the end, terminating both match ups with a score of 5-4. Melissa Hirsch '14 stood out for the Thoroughbreds, despite the two losses, earning Liberty League Rookie of the Week. She was 2-0 at No. 2 singles and 1-1 playing doubles with teammate Molly Nolan '14, with an 8-4 win against Wellesley and a close 9-7 loss against TCNJ. The women's tennis team plays next at home April 16 against Williams.

Editorial: We stand by our commenting policy

Posted by the Editorial Board

Prior to the publication of this past week's issue, members of the faculty and administration approached The Skidmore News with concerns regarding online comments on our website.

A specific complaint sent to editors in an e-mail was that the comments, which are predominantly anonymous, are "vicious" and "vitriolic."

While the editorial board of The Skidmore News agrees that many of these anonymous comments are neither civil nor constructive, we have definitively concluded that we will not change our website's policy regarding anonymous commenting.

This nation was founded on the principle of freedom of expression, and as an institution of the free press we are fundamentally obliged to uphold that principle.

Readers' commentary, whether anonymous or signed, is an important component of journalism, and as long as these comments do not evolve into hate speech, bigotry, threats or libel, they must be protected. The comment board is a venue for our readership to hold writers responsible for their articles.

Furthermore, by censoring readers' criticism, we delegitimize our position as the "campus authority". Readers' responses to articles and other comments on the website often hold as much importance as the articles themselves.

These hateful comments have sparked concern because they are written in response to issues that have been a source of contention on campus.

Requesting that The Skidmore News take down such comments ignores the larger issue, which is that there are people within our community who clearly hold these offensive and hateful opinions. We recognize that reading these comments is disconcerting and unnerving, but we cannot confront the issue by denying people a forum to express their opinions. It is better that these commenters express their opinions anonymously than not at all.

Beyond this, the Internet is inherently anonymous. Even a required registered username may still only be a pseudonym, and we cannot limit commenting to only Skidmore students. Our readership extends outside of the campus, and those readers deserve to be part of the discourse.

Ultimately, requiring users to sign names on their comments does not guarantee the authenticity of that name, and shutting out the Saratoga Springs community isolates Skidmore further than its wooded plot of land in the north of town.

The Skidmore News does not accept all readers' comments. We protect, and will continue to protect our writers. In instances of hate speech, or threats to our writers, we will continue to remove and report such comments. Similarly, if a comment does not pertain to the discussion at hand, we will exercise our right to remove it from the board, otherwise, it is not in our interest to censor these comments.

We recognize the legitimacy of the administration's concerns, and we feel obliged to respond to Acting President Susan Kress's March 31 e-mail to the Skidmore community.

In her e-mail Kress wrote, "Much of what is currently being transmitted in the online postings of The Skidmore News is neither respectful nor open. In some cases, the commentary has shifted from reasoned and passionate argument to personal attacks that have been received as indirect or direct threats."

The Skidmore News would like to clarify that the opinions expressed by online commenters are in no way related to those of the editorial board. We feel her e-mail unfairly links these comments to us.

We will not remove the right to comment anonymously, and we will continue to encourage signed comments that are both constructive and respectful to all parties involved.

As journalists in a dynamic industry, we are always revising our policies. We have extensively researched this specific policy in other publications and we feel we are making a well-informed decision by upholding it.

Students create a gap year program: First Year Experience chapter for gap-year students organized

Posted by Mariel Kennedy

Skidmore's First Year Experience aims to aid a student transition from high school to college living by implementing first-year, peer mentors, pre-orientation programs and a plethora of other resources.

Special programs and events also exist for incoming students of color, international students and transfer students. Soon, students who deferred a year will also be able to have a program in the FYE dedicated specifically to their needs.

The idea for a deferred-students program came from Anna Graves '14 and Josh Speers '14, both of whom deferred a year before coming to Skidmore.

"The idea is out there with other colleges, and there are even schools that are encouraging students to take a year off … We are getting this idea from our own experiences in wishing we had a program like this as first-years," Graves said.

Graves said she spent her year in a number of productive ways, ranging from working on an organic farm to working with nonprofits and environmental internships to even sneaking into classes at the prestigious Brown University. She ended her gap year by moving from Rhode Island to California to be a climbing instructor in the Sierra-Nevada's.

Speers, who could not be reached for contact by press time on Thursday, spent his gap year working with the Governor of Massachusetts before moving to Denver, CO, and playing music, according to Graves.

Graves said she and Speers both wanted to meet more students, like themselves, who had chosen to defer. "We wanted to create a network to meet each other and learn about all the different experiences," Graves said. "The transition from a year off is hard, because students are coming from a world that doesn't feel or look like college at all."

Graves also stressed the importance of this network because most students who defer are older than their peers, which Graves says can make a difference in connecting with other first-year students.

The main goal of the program, according to Graves, is to give students a bigger outlet to meet and connect with different people.

The program is being set up with the coordinators of the FYE program, who Graves describes as "extremely supportive … and really willing to help." The program will start with a deferred students dinner during first year orientation week. It will continue throughout the first semester with slightly less formal meetings. In addition, there will be "peer friends," who Graves describes as upperclassmen who deferred a year and who will be available to students throughout the semester. However, Graves said the relationship with a "peer friend" is "not to be a formal relationship like there is with a peer mentor."

Graves and Speers are working with similar programs at other schools — Princeton, UNC Chapel Hill and Harvard — to establish and expand Skidmore's program. Though no students attended the informational meeting on March 29, Graves said, "The interest has been extremely high in all the deferred students that have heard about it. Almost everyone has been excited about the prospect of meeting other deferred students."

Matt Gaydar '14, who took a gap year before enrolling, says the program sounds interesting, but lacking in purpose. Gaydar spent his year , which he says was denfinitely beneficial to him, participating in three different programs, leading him to travel around the U.S. and to South America, Africa and Spain. While traveling, Gaydar learned many things from outdoor skills with Outward Bound to African drumming and dance.

"I think that having a program like this would be interesting, although I personally do not see the point … I actually felt more motivated and ready for college after the gap year. I do not really see the need to separate gap year students anymore," Gaydar said.

Still, Grave, Speers and their potential members are enthused and excited about the upcoming program and encourage students who deferred a year to contact them and join the network that they call "awesome to be a part of."

Voyeurism and violence at the track: Ancient American Traditions

Posted by Brian Connor

This past September, as the racing season came to a close and the Fall semester began, a friend and I took a group of first-years on a pre-orientation trip to the racetrack. To make things more interesting, we took a little trip of our own. We strolled around the track and the paddock underneath the mellow late-summer sun, which cast a strange glow on the scene, simultaneously nostalgic and melancholic, as families came out to picnic for the last few races and old raspy-voiced, wrinkly-faced horseplayers tried to recoup their staggering season-long losses.

We wandered, dressed in our finest threads, though still confined to roam the general admission areas, as the owners and elite lounged above in their boxes. Psychologically indisposed to responsibly supervise the first-years in our care, we abandoned them, procured beverages and managed to place several completely random impulse bets before joining the masses near the post. As the tension within us rose to a fever pitch, synergistically enhanced by and channeling the crowd's pre-race tension, the starting gates blasted open and they were off.

The crowd erupted as the horses battled around the far stretch and the vicious faces of the potentially impoverished yelled over our shoulders, their beer sodden spittle dowsing our clothing. The crowd was awash in waves of ecstatic glee and vicious desperation as these giant beasts, muscles tightening and rippling, jockeys furiously egging them on, crossed the finish line.

And then, about 50 yards from the finish, a horse at the back of the pack suffered a massive heart attack, flipped over, planting its head in the dirt, its enormous torso crashing down after it, throwing legendary jockey Kent Desormeaux several yards onto his neck, breaking one of his vertebrae. A deafening silence fell over the crowd and all the emotional outpouring was instantaneously stopped in its tracks and crystallized in the thick summer air. The wide-eyed first years looked confused and frightened. I was shaken very badly.

I fumbled through my betting stubs, hoping these numbers and dollar amounts would somehow make sense of the situation before me. Nobody really knew what to do or how to feel. A truck came out onto the track, and officials gathered around the felled horse, preparing to put it to sleep. To my side, I heard someone yelling. I turned to see my aforementioned friend, a shocked look in his eyes, shifting his gaze between the crowd and the scene on the track, yelling to no one in particular, "they're ANIMALS!," "these are ANIMALS!," "these are f***ing ANIMALS!"

I was too bewildered at the time to understand his pronouncements, but when I ran over a turtle on perimeter road later that evening, I began to understand. The turtle lay there, its broken belly spurting out greenish brown bile, its legs beating trying to turn itself over, and I was transfixed as I watched, gripped simultaneously by hollowing sorrow and visceral, unflinching curiosity.

In each of us there is a repulsive, yet completely innate, infatuation with death and violence. The racetrack, my friend had observed, is an exhibition of these innermost primitive longings. Though thoroughbred racing is popular around the world, the American racing industry is infamous for its lax policies on performance enhancing drugs. The horses are pumped up on intense steroids and then forced to compete against each other in unnaturally taxing capacities. And human beings come to watch and exchange money on these twisted, forcefully imposed, drug-riddled displays of physicality.

At the racetrack, the line between human being and animal is obscured. The "animals" my friend was speaking of, the "animals" he became acutely aware of at that moment, were all around him. All of the spectators, who came to gamble and watch the beasts compete, all of the owners, who, despite their cocktail party chatter about breeding and pedigree, sacrifice the horses' health for profit and celebrity, were animals, indulging in primitive, base voyeurism. We are the animals, and this fact is more evident than ever in our new sadistic internet culture.

"Don't tase me bro" was the desperate cry for mercy uttered by a University of Florida student who, invoking his 1st Amendment rights by posing questions, on Constitution Day no less, was tased and physically removed by police from a lecture given by Senator John Kerry. This incident, the video of which went viral on YouTube, should have been regarded as a deeply disturbing incidence of police brutality, but was instead trivialized and made into an internet meme, setting off the "bro" craze which brought us "bro rape," "bros icing bros," "brosemite Sam," "bro-Nameth" and the general prominence of "bro" in the American lexicon.

The video did spur some serious discussion over 1st amendment rights and appropriate use of force by police. Major networks chimed in, and the event became a rallying point for some radical civil rights groups. On the whole, however, the event was buried under an inane avalanche of popular culture renderings on T-shirts and in remixed YouTube videos.

Even students in the audience, witnessing this horrific act first-hand, can be seen goofily guffawing at this man's cries for help and his screams of pain at having electricity shot through his body. The backwards way in which this video appealed to young internet-faring American audiences, as a "bro" to be laughed at for being such a "bro" and provoking violence, rather than as a gross injustice, exemplifies our prevailing culture of voyeuristic sadism.

When Tyler Clementi's roommate streamed his sexual encounters over the internet, he was indulging in that same technological sadism. This was the tased-bro situation with a fateful and telling twist: rather than the police perpetrating a wrong upon a person while a second party captured it and a third party, our culture, looked on and laughed, the roommate assumed all three roles. He was the cameraman, the perpetrator and the cruel voyeur. But this time, no one was laughing and a sick culture was briefly exposed. But, for all its importance as a symptom of an ailing culture, the Clementi incident did not have nearly as much lasting power and internet presence as did the "don't tase me bro" incident.

Clementi's suffering and resulting suicide was talked about briefly as an example of a potential homophobic hate crime and the definition of privacy in our uber-information age was discussed, but our innate longing for sadistic voyeurism remained intact. The cries of despair uttered by the student who gets tased — like the electric current that swept through his body — instantly triggers the animalistic pleasurable response in which our synapses are wired to indulge in.

A month after that grisly scene at the racetrack, after that turtle's demise and after Clementi's suicide, Paul the Octopus, the German World Cup predicting animal, died. He correctly predicted seven matches as well as the final result of the 2010 World Cup. He was cremated, a shrine was erected in his honor, and the rest of the animal kingdom, humankind included, continued its eternal competition, trudging through life and making sure to slow down and rubberneck here and there, to stop and smell the anguish.

Brian Connor is a senior American Studies major from Brooklyn. He spends his summer nights at Siro's and his winter mornings in bed.

Lee Shaw Trio and Medeski share confidence on stage

Posted by Dale Obbie

Last Friday, pianist John Medeski of the jazz-funk trio Medeski, Martin & Wood joined the Lee Shaw Trio (Lee Shaw on piano, Jeff Siegel on drums and the college's faculty member Rich Syracuse on bass) to play a highly anticipated jazz show at the Zankel Music Center.

Before the first tune, the group captivated the audience with its easygoing poise. To begin the show, Medeski took to the stage alone.

With no more than a wave to the crowd, he sat down at his Hammond B3 organ and filled the hall with the heavy sound of its warbling chords.

After a little bit of free improvisation, drummer Siegel joined him, and soon the groove was underway. Not long after, Shaw appeared, followed by Syracuse, who walked leisurely to his upright bass, all the while bobbing his head to the beat.

The reason for their shared confidence is no mystery: Syracuse and Shaw have been playing together for 20 years, and Shaw began teaching Medeski the art of jazz improvisation in his early teens.

What this sort of familiarity among such accomplished musicians entails in the music is a limitless creative potential – the ability to play whatever they want on the spot.

On Friday they did just that. According to Syracuse, they hadn't decided upon a set list when they began the performance, but instead only "talked about concepts."

He went on to explain that "what we strive for in a very nonchalant way is that we save it all for the music … you have to imagine that the whole thing, the concert, is like running water. Like a river. And you walk up to the river and you jump in, and it carries you."

They opened with Duke Ellington's songs "Mood Indigo" and "Love You Madly," giving each soloist a chance to strut their stuff over the tunes' bluesy chord progressions. Even Shaw, now 84, didn't hesitate to show off her chops, playing with just as much vigor as her younger counterparts.

But, as expected, Medeski eventually took the spotlight. About half way through the performance he played a solo improvisation on the grand piano that showcased not only his command of melody, but of rhythm as well.

The sight of his percussive playing was as enthralling as its sound; his hands seemed to vibrate effortlessly above the keyboard, resembling balls of grease skidding along a frying pan.

In a significant departure from the standards with which they began, Medeski's flurries of notes led into his song "Where's Sly?" during which Shaw left the stage.

Unsurprisingly, the remaining trio had no trouble recreating the avant-garde texture of sound characteristic of Medeski, Martin & Wood. Syracuse strummed harmonics on his upright bass, while Siegel dragged his drumstick across the cymbals, resulting in a gloriously dissonant screech.

The next song, Shaw's "Prairie Child," featured a heartwarming duet between teacher and pupil. Medeski picked up his melodica (an instrument that lies somewhere between a harmonica and an organ) and stood at Shaw's side throughout the song.

Appropriately, the quirky instrument gave a lighthearted feel to a song that, as Shaw explained, is about her childhood, despite the fact that it lacks lyrics.

They concluded with another of Medeski's songs, the funky foot-stomper "Wiggly's Way," which was undoubtedly the highlight of the show.

It featured an outstanding bass solo from Syracuse, and left the audience hungry for an encore. And they weren't disappointed: the group closed with Shaw's tune "Blues 11," and left the stage to a standing ovation.

Discuss these issues face-to-face: Challenging Privilege

Posted by Danny Pforte

People say that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." But words are weapons, and they can hurt more than sticks and stones, depending on how they are used. Many students have used harsh language to disagree with my opinions and have done so anonymously.

I want to use this article to further push my beliefs until naysayers decide to use the resources available to discuss these issues in person, rather than disagreeing anonymously – or even worse – threatening me for my beliefs.

First, whether we'd like to admit it or not, inequality is a reality. The practices of neoliberalism (i.e. the privatization of everything and a prioritization of individual over collective good) has nearly eliminated social mobility and turned our nation into one of privilege. The underclass and working class in this country are struggling to survive while growing in number. Wealth and power remain in the hands of a small minority. This is a grim reality that will only worsen because of the ideologies that blind us to differences in race, class and gender that are socially constructed to divide us.

No matter if it is race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, age or a combination of these, aspects of identity, inequality and hierarchy exist within and between these groups. Access to power in this country is reserved for privileged groups, and that is true across the board. Often, experiences with oppression differ when various identities intersect.

White, able-bodied, upper class males are the creators of our current system. Their policies, institutions and ideologies are purposely created to subordinate certain groups of people. If one studies the political and social climate of our country, one would realize that there is a war against the working class, women andpeople of color, as well as other subordinate identities in this country. Being a combination of these socially constructed categories leads to disaster, because our country's institutions have systematically restricted resources needed by individuals within these categories to gain voices and to gain power.

I will reiterate that the Skidmore community is no different. The majority of the Skidmore population is white and upper class. Most are able-bodied, in that physical or mental disabilities are not an issue. And yes, the campus is also overwhelmingly heterosexual. The institution and many students do not understand groups who do not fit into the Skidmore norm. This lack of understanding rarely comes in the form of blatant acts of intolerance. Usually misunderstanding takes the form of avoidance and silence.

When my friend told me to check out the most recent comment on my article from two weeks ago, I did not expect to read this:

"Danny…although this privilege is not genetic, I have a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you stop writing these articles now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will ‘dialogue' you."

I was taken back by this harsh defensiveness toward my views. This infuriated response to my writing is nothing new, but here it transformed from mere comments to a threat. It has given me reason to fear for my safety in a community I call my own. I have grown uncomfortable walking by myself at night on this dark campus.

And why must I feel this way? The main reason is because I challenge the society we live in as unjust, and place accountability on those who are the privileged creators of the systems within it. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert F. Kennedy, among others, found out the hard way what happens when an individual challenges the status quo of our great nation. If you could ask them, they would probably agree, to put it simply, that you end up shot, thrown in jail or both.

I am uncomfortable on this campus, and I know others who have not only expressed their discomfort to me, but to the campus community as well. When I say that equality is a myth in this country and a myth on this campus, I mean it. I do not have to prove this like a detective because in fact, the detective work has been done already whether you want observational proof or proof in numbers.

This reality is enough for me to say that I will not stop writing these articles and pursuing work that leads to a change in society for the greater good. You can threaten me anonymously or otherwise, or even take the final step of following through with your threat. Or, you could join me. If you want my opinion, I like the second choice better.

My feelings toward this campus and this nation can be summed up by Canadian hip-hop artist Shad in a lyric from his song called "Call Waiting": "World full of pain got us waiting on a miracle, waiting on the world to change, when we should wait on the world like a waiter, serve the world man this world is strange, bizarro, lovers of tomorrow to break under the weight of the wonder and the sorrow." Well said.

Danny is a sophomore who is inspired by the need for change.

The Local serves up classic pub fare: One stop for local beer, Irish food, international teas and sustainable ambiance

Posted by Erin Dillon

Although not a local best-kept-secret, The Local Pub and Teahouse falls under the Skidmore student radar. Located at 142 Grand Avenue, The Local is hidden in the Beekman Street Art District — not quite in the middle of nowhere, but a walk from the nearest 473 bus stop.

The Local Pub and Teahouse maintains a casual sports-bar atmosphere with a sophisticated twist. It is a small space with a cozy ambiance about it. Thick, wooden furniture, a roaring fireplace and a deep red motif create a richness in the restaurant.

To start, we ordered a small pot of a sweetly understated honey chai tea. We sipped and caught glimpses of a baseball game, but the televisions were in no way a disruption. The restaurant was filled with sports fanatics and tea enthusiasts alike.

The menu weaves traditional English and Irish cuisine with various American classics. Some daintier items include tea sandwiches (sans crusts, of course) and a selection of organic teas. At the other end of the spectrum, The Local offers hearty dishes like Shepherd's Pie and Steak ‘n' Chips. For the conventional folk there is the Ploughman's Lunch, consisting of warm bread, a chunk of cheese, tomato wedges and stone-ground mustard. For the timid, Caesar salad and nachos are available.

I went with the veggie burger — lame, I know. But I was intrigued. The Local makes it with grilled eggplant, roasted red peppers and mozzarella. The roll was fresh and the sandwich good overall, although a bit bland without the balsamic served on the side. Also, my teeth were not quite sharp enough to sever the tough eggplant skin.

My meal set me back a mere $10, including tip. Everything is modestly priced with the most expensive item being $11. The food and atmosphere quality is exceptional for these prices.

The Local also displays a glass case filled with beautiful, drool-inducing desserts. There were three options when I visited: two cheesecakes and a red velvet cake. However, I dodged dessert, despite its allure.

Whether stopping in to play darts or practice your tea manners, the Local is sure to hit the spot.

Erin Dillon is first-year student with an exceptionally advanced palate.

Student artists make sales at Art Craft fair: Partial proceeds given to the Jeneba Project through the IAC

Posted by Sandy Zhang

On Friday, April 1st, the International Affairs Club hosted an Art Craft sale for the second time this year. The fair, which took place in Case Center, featured works by more than 12 students.

The fair was part of a larger effort by the IAC to raise awareness and funds for the Jeneba Project.

Founded by alums Joseph Kaifala and Peter Brock, the Jeneba Project focuses on reconstruction efforts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea through educational projects such as school building and scholarship grants for girls.

The success of the first Art Craft fair had motivated the IAC and student artists to organize and participate in a second one. The first fair had raised more than $500 for the Jeneba Project.

Issac Chansky '13, a member of the IAC and an organizer of the event, expected this fair to raise even more money than the previous, because there were more students participating.

The club now plans to organize an Art Craft fair every semester. The Art Craft fair was originally created out of a want from student artists to sell their works.

"We started off wanting to sell rings, and another student from printmaking also wanted to sell their art. Then, eventually, we partnered up with the International Affairs Club," said Rebecca Donner '12, who was selling silver and copper rings.

The financial arrangement between the IAC and students selling their works was that 30 percent of all sales would go toward the Jeneba Project and the student keeps the remaining 70 percent.

Student sellers thought this policy was fair. Ripley Sager, a junior art major, sold lithographic prints. "I'm definitely comfortable with the 30/70 split," he said.

"I did pretty well. I was very happy with how the whole sale went. I was definitely impressed with how every one of my peers did, and I was impressed by the turnout of students to buy student art," Sager said regarding the first Art Craft fair.

For Sager, the Art Craft fair is the chief avenue he uses to sell his work.

For others, like Kelsey Cioffi, a sophomore majoring in art, the Art Craft fair is the only sales option. Cioffi sold hats and headbands that she made.

"I've given them out for free to a lot of friends before. I haven't thought about selling them until last year when somebody mentioned that they had craft fairs and I thought that'd be a good option," Cioffi said.

"I've been trying to keep them relatively cheap so people will buy them. The only thing that really matters to me is that I can make back the money I actually put into them," she explained about setting the prices.

A first time participant in the fair was the Photo Club, which sold photos that were taken by students. The Photo Club was happy to have an additional setting to sell student works, in addition to other opportunities that they have had such as Celebration Weekend, Accepted Students Day and Club Fairs.

Other items sold at the fair included drawings, handmade bowls, T-shirts, handmade iPod sleeves and bowls made out of vinyl records.

Rule No. 1: Always read the book before you watch the movie: Stranger than Fiction

Posted by Hunter Prichard

About eight months ago I saw a movie called "The Trial", which was made in the ‘60s and starred Anthony Perkins and Orson Welles. The acting was good and it had some good scenes. However, the entire thing was confusing, hard to watch and a little boring.

When I read Franz Kafka's novel, The Trial, I realized how great it was. The film might be ruined for my for perpetuity, but the book — and Kafka in general — is a favorite.

Set in a dystopia Europe, the novel concerns Joseph K., an average, young man trying to please others as he rises in ranks as the manager of a city bank and is arrested and prosecuted for a crime that is never explained. Simply, officers come one morning, put him under arrest and tell him to go to the courts at a certain time.

The rest of the book follows K. as he falls for a cute neighbor, Fraulein Burstner, recruits a powerful lawyer by way of his uncle, has a morbid talk with a struggling artist who gives him a full explanation of the ways of the court (according to him, is nearly impossible for a man to be fully acquitted of the "crime") and is eventually executed in the final passages. The finality of K. should not come as a surprise to on who has any knowledge of Kafka's work – the brilliance of the story comes not from the shock or the movement of the plot but of the mood and pathos of the story.

I have already mentioned the dystopia in which K. is living; it is a world that influenced the next eighty years of science fiction. The frightening point about this world is the detachment and austerity of the law officials who put K. under arrest. Given that no actual crime has ever taken place, K. is the victim of a court-ordered destruction. Although the story is only of one man, there seems to be a systematic holocaust taking place.

The final two chapters are the best in the book. First, there is a brilliant interlude in action in which K. enters an abandoned cathedral. He believes he is there to lead an Italian client of the bank around the city. Instead, he has a long conversation with a priest. The priest knows everything about him, but K. knows nothing of him; shadows shade most of the man's face, so he is nearly hidden.

The conversation between the two concerns a parable titled, "Before the Law," that can quickly be described as a story in which a man stands outside a doorway and attempts to bribe the doorkeeper to let him inside. Years past and the man is still sitting there. Finally he is on his deathbed, and he sadly asks the keeper why he is not kept out. The doorkeeper tells him that he cannot let him in because the door is only for him, and then he shuts the door.

K. does not understand the story, and there are many pages of analysis and conversation between him and the priest. The conversations are a little boring if one reads quickly, but they explain a good deal about confusion and discordance if read patiently.

The final scene of the book — the execution of Joseph K — is fantastically written even though Kafka originally left the book unfinished. K. is led to his death by two men and he is killed. His final words are "like a dog," a fitting conclusion to a novel about a human treated like a caged animal.

Hunter Prichard is an English major from Maine, or "Vacationland."

Terrorism hearings spark debate: Politics for the Upstate Student

Posted by Julia Grigel

Assessing the state's readiness to respond to security threats is always a good thing, unless you seek advice from people who themselves should be considered national security threats.

State Senator Greg Ball is holding a hearing in lower Manhattan today called "Reviewing our Preparedness: An Examination of New York's Public Protection Ten Years After September 11." Ball, a Hudson Valley Republican, has called for the hearing as chairman of the State Senate Committee on Homeland Security. The hearing is set to cover a range of topics, focusing on public safety and public protection in the case of a crisis situation, be it a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

But, so far, the terrorism part has gotten most of the attention. Ball has expressed concern that the state has been lulled into complacency by the passage of time since Sept. 11. In March, he said that "as New Yorkers, we live in the world's most likely terrorist target and as the ten year anniversary of Sept. 11 grows near, we must assess the measures that are being taken to protect our citizens from these types of threats, as well as what preventative measures we should be taking to ensure our continued safety."

Sounds good. But today's hearing has been the subject of heated debate in Albany, largely because of its inclusion of controversial anti-Islam activist Nonie Darwish. Darwish is known for her belief that the Islamic Law establishes jihad as the duty of every Muslim to struggle against the non-Muslim community. By inviting Darwish to speak at the hearing, as Senate Democrats have charged, Ball is turning what should be a hearing on national security into a discriminatory anti-Islam hearing. By including such people at the hearing, according to Senate Democrats in a letter to Ball, "you conflate the religious observations and practices of a faith into a security matter."

The letter, signed by State Senator Kevin Parker and several other senators, raised the vital criticism that talking about the nature of Islamic law should have nothing to do with talking about the best way to respond to national security threats. A speaker who underscores the dangers of radicalized Islam might be informative in certain contexts, but definitely should not be part of a conference intended to assess the New York region's readiness to deal with a potential terrorist threat or natural disaster.

In addition to Darwish, the hearing will include U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY), who held Congressional hearings on the subject of the radicalization of American Muslims last month. Dubbed the modern-day McCarthy, King has proudly vowed to fight "crippling political correctness," and has taken on the issue of homegrown Islamic terrorism, which he sees as "the elephant in the room." The hearings generated more political heat than they did concrete answers.

Peter King, unlike Darwish, does not attempt to argue that Islam is inherently violent — but he nonetheless embodies prejudice. The presence of people such as King and Darwish undermines what could have been a constructive effort to assess and improve New York City's responsiveness to terrorism and natural disaster. A radicalized character who fights extremism with extremism is perhaps not the best person to bring to a hearing about improving a city's ability to respond to extremism.

King recently returned to the spotlight when he was sent a bloody severed pig's foot in Congressional mail. Presumably, the foot was a hateful response to his Islamic radicalization hearings. "Anytime you get involved in any controversial issue, there's always going to be extremes that react," said King in response to the foot incident. He's right: "extremes" do react to controversial issues, and he is one of them.

Today's hearing in New York has already generated some intense emotions. By including people like Peter King at the hearing, Greg Ball has blown his cover. It's obvious that his motives extend beyond a simple concern for our state's security, and people are not happy about it. It remains to be seen how extreme the debate will get (and if anybody will even touch on natural disasters). Maybe Ball won't be bequeathed with a bloody pig's foot, but he definitely shouldn't be surprised when he receives some flak for endorsing intolerant speakers under the guise of increasing security.

Julia is a senior who enjoys politics, especially when they're reactionary, Nihilist, German, or a combination of each.

Jono Zeidan '12 elected SGA president: Large voter turnout fueled by competitive races

Posted by Andrew Cantor

On a Friday afternoon, SGA President Alex Stark '11 e-mailed the second round SGA election results to the campus. She announced the winners of a highly contested election for many positions, and said the elections received a very high voter turnout.

Students elected Jono Zeidan '12, currently vice-president of financial affairs, to the position of SGA president, the highest Executive Committee position in the college student government. He defeated Alex Bland '12, vice-president of club affairs.

"It was a pleasure to run against someone who was so qualified," said Zeidan in his first statement as president-elect. "I'm looking forward to the upcoming opportunities next year as SGA president."

According to the Stark's e-mail, 893 students voted.

 "We're really happy with the voter turnout. Usually participation is closer to 600 students," Stark said. "I think people voted because a lot of these positions were contested. It gets people excited."

In the other contested races, Logan Brenner '12 won the position of vice-president of club affairs, Raiza Nazareth '12 won the position of vice-president of communications and outreach and Aaron Shifreen '12 won the position of vice-president of residential affairs.

All candidates running in uncontested executive committee races won against votes of no-confidence or abstentions: Melvis Langyinto '12 for senior class president, Thomas Rivera '13 for vice-president of academic affairs and Ethan Flum '12 for vice-president of financial affairs.

All candidates running in uncontested inter-hall board races won against votes of no-confidence or abstentions: Jess Sonnenfeld '14 for Howe-Rounds president, Daniel Gaunard '14 for How-Rounds vice-president, Britt Dorfman '14 for Kimball vice-president, Lindsey Decker for Penfield vice-president, Molly Grant '14 for Wait vice-president, Kim Ohnemus '14 for Wiecking president, Jess Strasser for Wiecking vice-president, and Margeau Canon '14 for Wilmarth vice-president.

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At 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening, about 100 people packed into the SPA for the second round of SGA Speech Night. During the course of the two-and-a-half hour event, 20 students delivered speeches for significant SGA positions including SGA President.

Voting began at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday morning and ended at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Election results were not available as of press time on Thursday, as elections had not yet ended. Students who voted were automatically entered into a raffle with a chance to win gift certificates to local restaurants.

Many students' platforms focused on adding transparency to SGA to make the group's policies more clear to members of the student body. Students also campaigned to change the general campus culture in response to the recent dialogues about diversity.

Students also proposed "fun" all-college events, such as hosting a snowball fight and purchasing sleds for the student body, both related to the snowy winter months the college historically experiences.

According to SGA President Alex Stark, Wednesday's Speech Night received one of the largest audiences during her four years at the college.

SGA President: Jono Zeidan vs. Alex Bland

Students ran contested in nearly every executive board position for round two of elections. Alex Bland '12 and Jono Zeidan '12 both ran for SGA president, the highest executive committee position.

Bland started his speech for president by commenting on SGA's lack of transparency.

"On an average day I'll have a conversation with someone and I'll tell them I'm in SGA… I get the response ‘what is SGA?,' ‘what does SGA' do?'," Bland said. "People think it's just an acronym on a poster."

"Our biggest accomplishments don't always come from inside, they come from the student body," Bland said.

Zeidan agreed. "Perhaps the biggest thing SGA does is extract ideas from everyone else," he said.

Bland said SGA sometimes receives superficial requests, like including an elevator in Scribner Village to connect to the Jonsson Tower parking lot, but also receives more significant requests, like changing the college's Sexual Assault Policy.

Zeidan began his speech by appealing to the audience with references of classic Skidmore all-college events.

"Did you know Skidmore used to have competitive mud wrestling?," Zeidan said. "We used to have hot tubs on the green in the dead of winter. We can bring the fun back to Skidmore… Those are some silly ideas but we I have some other [serious] things we can get done."

The candidates were asked what they thought of the diversity dialogues on campus, and how they would continue them, if at all, in the following semesters.

"I didn't know there was such an issue until I went to the dialogues," Bland said. "They caught me off guard… I think the biggest problem is that people just don't know."

Zeidan said the larger issue was that students feel uncomfortable on campus, and binge drinking has a been a way to remedy the discomfort.

"Alcohol is a symptom of this discomfort about diversity," Zeidan said. "Through these dialogues, we've laid the foundation, and now it's time to take the next step."

Bland saw the issue of diversity differently.

"I agree alcohol is a problem on campus but it's different than diversity," Bland said. "We need to address both [separately]."

One member of the audience said both candidates' platforms were similar, and asked what distinguishes each other from their candidate.

Neither candidate fully distinguished themselves from their opponent.

"We both even kind of look alike on paper so we're the same," Zeidan said. "I'm not going to bash Alex [Bland], he's a good friend of mine. What separates us is what's off the paper."

"The full commitment is pretty extreme and I'm ready to deal with it," Bland said.

Vice-President of Club Affairs: Donald Duff vs. Logan Brenner

Donald Duff '13 ran against Logan Brenner '12 for the position of vp for club affairs.

This past fall, Brenner resigned from her yearlong position as vp for academic affairs to go abroad to Turks and Caicos. Brenner gave her speech via a YouTube video she filmed outside by a beach, and she answered questions previously asked of her via Facebook.

The candidates outlined their procedures for chartering and de-chartering clubs.

"I would go through charters with the club affairs committee, and would ask the [executive] boards of these clubs to meet with the club affairs committee and if they've been inactive they should propose a plan for change for more activity," Brenner said. "I think all clubs deserve a chance [though]."

Duff campaigned for a more stringent policy on chartering clubs.

"The possible club or student members will have… a five week trial period before a recommendation to be chartered," Duff said. "For de-chartering, the club would have to be inactive for the semester, and would be put on probation status. If it remained inactive the next semester, they would be de-chartered by majority vote," he said.

Candidates were asked to elaborate on how they would change more bureaucratic processes, like the club presidents' meeting.

"I would like to create a social event in cooperation with presidents and vice presidents of clubs," Duff said. "I also think there should be interim evaluations of club presidents."

Brenner also campaigned for more social club presidents meetings.

"I'll make sure the meeting is properly publicized for their clubs try to get their opinions on how the semester is going… It'll probably be better with food in their stomachs… also smaller meetings would be helpful," she said.

Outside of his prospective duties for vp of club affairs, Duff plans to sponsor several SGA resolutions.

"I have not brought one to the senate but I plan to bring on in the coming weeks. One passed by Thomas Rivera, how the vp of diversity affairs should have OSDP experience. To understand what diversity is you have to be a part of OSDP club," Duff said. "Also one [resolution] by Leeland [Martin ‘14] … A Resolution for sleds for the coming year. It will create more fun. We'll have better things to do around here," he said.

Vice-President of Academic Affairs: Thomas Rivera-Patterson, unopposed

Thomas Rivera '13, vp for academic affairs, ran for the position he currently serves. Rivera won an uncontested election in February after Logan Brenner '12 resigned and vacated the position, as she is studying abroad this semester.

Rivera, in his role as vp for academic affairs, offered many changes to the current academic program and academic social life.

"I want to have a faculty and student dinner," Rivera said. "I think this will create a better relationship between students and faculty, and we'll get to build that bond… I've heard a lot of people saying they're in biology and they've never met anyone in the government department."

In addition to the outside of the classroom experience, Rivera is planning a service-learning program, which is not limited to volunteer work.

"I plan to have a student in every single academic major represent to other students in the major options for service learning," he said.

Alex Brehm '12 asked Rivera if he supported internship work, even if students, who are not getting paid, end up paying thousands of dollars for credit hours, whether it is "out-of-pocket" or paid through scholarship.

Rivera did not see this as a problem.

"Service learning is entirely worth it," Rivera said. "You're doing something active, doing workshops… When you engage in what you're studying, along with the internship, it's worth it."

Inside the classroom, Rivera said he plans to propose a public speaking course.

While Rivera feels comfortable in his role as vp for academic affairs, but he said it was not initially easy learning the procedures.

"There was a barrier to a certain extent. The more communication got better, things got better," he said. "I was nervous first as vp… But we're getting to the point now where we can move forward [more smoothly]."

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While the candidates running for executive committee positions received more questions and had a larger audience to deliver their speeches to, the other candidates running gave equal attention to their speeches and platforms.

For executive committee positions, Melvis Langyinto '12 ran for the position of senior class president, Raiza Nazareth '12 and Alec Unkovic '12 ran for vp of communication and outreach, Jovany Andujar '13 ran for vp of diversity affairs, Ethan Flum '12 ran for vp of financial affairs and Alexis Curry '12 and Aaron Shifreen '12 ran for vp for residential affairs.

The candidates running for hall presidents and vice presidents all ran uncontested.

The candidates for vp of residential affairs commented on the future role of popular college drinking events like Moorebid Ball and Fun Day, as their position requires them to monitor and administer the events.

The 2010 Moorebid Ball received national media attention after 14 attendees were hospitalized for alcohol-related sickness and injury.  

"I want to speak with past planners of Moorebid Ball," Curry said. "I want to see how the event was transferred to Moore Hall [to Case Center], and see what was fundamental in doing that… We have to make sure Moorebid and Fun Day continue."

The recent race dialogues have also received attention, in the The Skidmore News and through various forums on campus.

Jovani Andujar ‘13 ran uncontested for vp of diversity affairs, and would be a leading voice in diversity affairs in his capacity in that position.

He said he wants to change the way diversity is perceived on campus.

"Diversity isn't about numbers," Andujar said. "It's about the interaction between the groups of people. There people who want to see diversity as something only visual. Diversity is more than something on someone's face and the color of their skin."

Sunny days and flower cupcakes: A Sprinkle in Time

Posted by Katie Lane

Is it summer yet?

I know it is still cold and rainy outside, but all I can think about is summer. And when I think about summer, I think about these cupcakes.

This article is going to be a little unorthodox, o.k.? I am not going to give you a detailed recipe or exact instructions.

Instead, I am going to tell you that serving a plate of adorable edible sunflowers will result in the following: smiles, giggles, grins and, eventually, bellyaches after your friends eat three cupcakes loaded with Oreos, frosting and M&Ms.

But these cupcakes are really what baking is all about for me. They are just plain happy.

I do not know about you, but I am feeling the stress of senior year. My brain is whirring with papers, group projects and final exams, not to mention the whole part about finding a job and place to live in six short weeks.

Honestly, I have not even really had time to bake any treats as stress-relief. All I can do is pull up these pictures of sunny little cupcakes and try to visualize myself eating them on a beach in a bikini.

O.K., maybe eating cupcakes in a bikini is a little ironic, but you know what I mean.

I wish I could tell you that simply looking at this photo would make the stress of the final days of Spring 2011 dissipate into a sugary bliss, but it cannot and will not.

It can provide some temporary relief, though (see above: smiles, giggles and grins). You can even make these yourself right in your Scribner kitchen!

Yep, that is right. Look below: I am instructing you to use a cake mix, canned frosting and highly processed cookies and candies. Just go with it.

They are from a fabulous book called "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, which is full of fun, little cupcake creations that you can make with very few tools.

We can do it, guys!

THINK SUMMER!

THINK SUNFLOWERS!

THINK LADYBUGS!

THINK CUPCAKES!

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Sun Flower Cupcackes

Ingredients:

Yellow cake box mix and corresponding ingredients

2 cans vanilla frostingww

Food coloring

Oreos (regular and mini)

M&Ms

Black decorating gel

Directions:

Step 1. Whip up your favorite yellow cake box mix. One box should make 24 cupcakes.

Step 2. Combine some white frosting (Betty Crocker?) with a few drops of green food coloring and mix well. Spread on cooled cupcakes.

Step 3.  Do the same with some yellow/orange food coloring. Scoop it into a Ziploc bag, press out the excess air and seal. Reinforce the corner of the bag with six overlapping layers of Scotch tape. Pinch the corner flat and cut out a small V-shape to make the leaf tip.

Step 4.   Artfully arrange regular Oreos and mini Oreos on your frosted cupcakes. Use the Ziploc bag to pipe petals around each Oreo.

Step 5.   Press M&Ms onto flowers and decorate like ladybugs with black decorating gel.

Step 6.   Eat in the sun while wearing a bikini.

Composting Committee seeks paid management position: SGA Senate coverage

Posted by Kat Kullman

On April 5, SGA Senate met with the campus Composting Committee to discuss creating a composting manager position on campus. Though no decision was reached, the Senate will continue to work with the committee to improve composting on campus.

Composting manager would be a paid position, and would include a large amount of physical labor.

"It's a lot of physical work; composting requires a lot of maintenance," said Senator Dan DeMartini '11, who is also a member of the Composting Committee.

"Most other schools like Skidmore already have a program and a position like this. Composting training needs to be part of the job, but the person who filled the position would have to be really dedicated," said Talia Arnow '13, another Composting Committee member.

The Composting Committee was given $800 at the start of the year to begin a composting program in Northwoods apartments.

The group has distributed composting buckets to all of the Northwoods residents interested in participating, and has established intermediate bins across the apartment complex. The composting center is located in Scribner, and is approximately 4 by 11 feet. This space handles almost all of the compost generated by the apartments.

"What we want to do next is expand into Scribner. To do that we really want to create some structure around the program by creating compost managers to be in charge of Scribner and Northwoods and be a liaison with EAC," Arnow said.

Senate suggested the committee improve the program by sending weekly e-mails with updates of the amount composted in Northwoods, as well as holding educational seminars on what to compost and how composting helps.

"Eventually this composting could go back to the community garden, which would be a way to really give back. We also want the administration to pick up on all of this, and to have all the new buildings built with composting already integrated," DeMartini said.

In other news:

Senate unanimously approved a supplemental of $450 to Pulse, a musical group on campus that uses recycled items as instruments, to fund a weekend trip to New York City to play in public areas such as Central Park.

"We've never done it before, but I want to get us out there, and this could be fun and get us a lot of exposure," said Andy Letwin '11, president of Pulse.

The group will videotape its performance for students to view the trip after they return.

Seminar campaigns for change

Posted by Jean-Ann Kubler

On April 11, "EN105: Under the Influence," will begin two weeks of campus-wide campaigning to improve awareness of healthy living, green initiatives, binge drinking and gender relations in Africa.

The class, an expository writing seminar, spent the semester studying the use of persuasive language to influence audiences. As a final project, students are working in small groups to design persuasive campaigns for subjects they feel passionately about.

The campaigns explore issues specific to the college, as well as larger national and international issues.

Many of the groups are focusing on green initiatives, such as water conservation and increased recycling on campus, and convincing the administration to install motion-censored outdoor lights to decrease energy use.

Siwei Song '14, an international student from China, is campaigning with her group to raise money for oppressed women in Africa.

To encourage donations, the group is offering hand-folded origami figures in exchange for contributions to its campaign. The group is also seeking the assistance of Benefaction and the International Student Union.

Two student athletes in the class are campaigning to increase student use of the gym in an effort to promote healthier student lifestyles.

They plan to host a campus-wide dodgeball game to encourage students to be active and social, according to Aaron Beck '14, a member of the group.

First-year Anthony Giacim's group is campaigning to decrease binge drinking on campus.

"We know we're not going to be able to end underage drinking, but if we can get people to have one or two fewer drinks in a night, then we'll consider ourselves successful," Giacim said.

The persuasive aspects of the campaign will take the form of posters, Facebook groups and documentary viewings, according to the class. Many of the groups plan to set up tables and small exhibitions in the atrium of the Murray-Aikins Dining Hall.

The success of the campaigns will be part of the students' final grades, according to Professor Thad Niles.

"Let's think about your actions on the ground," Niles said to his class during a brainstorming session, "The things people are going to see. The things that will make your campaigns successful and active rather than just ideas."

Each group will develop an individual, quantitative form to evaluate the success of its campaign. Song's group will judge its success by how many donations they receive, but many groups' evaluation methods have not yet been decided.

"All of these issues are so huge — it can be paralyzing to think about trying to take action. I want the class to see that even if it's just at the campus level, two people can get 30 or 40 people to take action, and that's success," Niles said.

Swan Lake' collaboration to take the stage at Zankel

Posted by Rachel Kim

On April 14 and 15, the college orchestra and the dance department's classical ballet workshop will be performing "Swan Lake" at the Zankel Music Center.

The dance performance, which was staged by associate professor Denise Warner Limoli, is based on Lev Ivanov's 1895 restaged choreography of the second act of the original ballet.

This particular performance is unlike others. For the first time, the orchestra and ballet can join one another in performance because of the amount of space that the Zankel Music Center has to offer.

"This is the first time we've been able to do something that really incorporates the orchestra and dancers," Julia Grigel '11, the percussionist said.

"Swan Lake," written by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, is a ballet about Odette, a princess who, after being cursed by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, lives as a swan by day and a beautiful maiden by night. This curse can only be broken by the power of eternal love.

Prince Siegfried, the lead male dancer role, is gifted a new crossbow from his mother and goes hunting. He stumbles onto Swan Lake where meets Odette and falls in love with her.

Since the publication of the original ballet, many different revivals and productions have been made. The version of Tchaikovsky's ballet that will be performed focuses on this part of the ballet.

Before the ballet dancers come out, the orchestra will be performing its own piece in the pit below the stage.

"The orchestra is first doing the overture, which is in the first act. Then the ballet dancers come on stage," violinist Jane Esterquest '13 said.

The performance will then move onto the second act where Siegfried meets Odette.

"It's sort of a conversation between Siegfried and Odette. She explains to him about the spell she has," cellist Meg Ashur '11 said.

The middle of the piece will feature a solo shared between Ashur and violinist Hanna Tonegawa ‘11. This solo will be accompanying the dance between the main ballet dancers playing Siegfried and Odette.

"It's really a beautiful, romantic dance that's very graceful and even kind of sad. They fall in love, but she has to tell Siegfried about the spell," Tonegawa explained.

This new type of collaboration forced orchestra members to pay more attention to maintaining the tempo in accordance with the choreography.

"It's a unique experience for the orchestra because it's rare for the tempo to matter this much. It's kind of a nice challenge because the tempo is so important to the dancers," Grigel said.

Because of this new challenge, steps were made to ensure that the orchestra's music matches up with the ballet dancers.

"Everyone got a recording and listened to it and Dr. Holland kept the choreographer's directions in mind," Ashur said.

Limoli joined the orchestra's most recent rehearsal and provided directions to prepare the group for when it would rehearse with the dancers.

"She sat on the stage where the dancers would be and Dr. Holland watched as we watched him and played," Tonegawa said.

Performers would have to focus on conductor and music director Anthony Holland, just as in any situation, but with more attention.

Tickets for "Swan Lake" are now on sale and can be purchased online at skidmore.showclix.com.

Civic engagement grant not allocated

Posted by Jean-Ann Kubler

A month after the college received a $250,000 grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations to encourage civic engagement, the money has still not been allocated.

The college has previously said that the grant money will help support the Responsible Citizenship Task Force, a group that is working to develop ways to integrate service learning into the academic curriculum.

The grant will also help fund the training of students and faculty members to work in the new civic engagement programs.

Administrators were scheduled to meet on March 14 to discuss more specific allocation of the grant money to individual departments and programs, but the meeting was delayed, according to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs David Karp.

When the meeting finally took place later in the month, no concrete decisions were made about how the money would be divided among programs and departments.

"We did identify potential candidates for being the director of the project and faculty fellow positions," Karp said.

The names of faculty members being considered for the director position are still confidential, but Karp said the administration is looking for someone who is tenured, a strong leader and committed to civic engagement.

"The fellows wouldn't have to quite meet this standard, but [will have to] champion the project within their divisions," Karp said.

A director will hopefully be chosen within the next two weeks, Karp said. Once a director is selected, the process of allocating funds will begin.

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation is a philanthropic organization based in Jacksonville, Florida. Established by the American industrialist Arthur Vining Davis, the foundation provides grants to educational organizations, public television, health care and religious organizations.

Anthropology department re-evaluates program

Posted by Julia Leef

As part of a self-study that each academic department and program must conduct every 10 years, the college's anthropology program is evaluating its faculty and curriculum in an attempt to improve student academic experiences.

Proposed changes include eliminating several elective courses, including North American Indians and Applied Anthropology, shifting 300-level research methods courses to the 200-level, and altering 100-level courses from four credits to three.

"These are exciting moments because they are opportunities to stand back and consider what does work and what doesn't work," said Rik Scarce, associate professor and chairman of the department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work.

Michael Ennis-McMillan, an associate professor of anthropology who was on sabbatical for the past academic year, said he has been with the anthropology program for 13 years, and has witnessed many changes to the staff and curriculum.

Throughout the past few years, McMillan said, several professors have passed in and out of the anthropology program, bringing with them new ideas and inspirations for students, which, in turn, determine what courses students respond to and help shape the future curriculum of the program.

"I can see how, from a student's perspective it's news that professors come and go and programs change, but it's actually the way the program works," Ennis-McMillan said.

Based on recommendations from evaluators based on contemporary anthropology programs in other colleges, the anthropology program has strived to incorporate a broader range of training for its students.

According to Scarce, 90 percent of anthropology majors go abroad, so there is a lot of interest in studying non-western cultures.

There are also many opportunities for students to conduct research in Saratoga Springs, allowing students to study both locally and globally.

"What can we learn, literally in our own backyard, in the U.S?" Ennis-McMillan asked.

During the next couple of years, anthropology majors will be required to complete a research methods course in Saratoga Springs, McMillan said.

In 2001, the college applied for a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to broaden knowledge and encourage high standards of service and leadership.

The grant sponsored a fifth teaching position for four years, with the understanding that this position would focus on non-western areas, particularly east Asia, after which the college funded the position.

Both Scarce and Ennis-McMillan said professors' areas of specialization are highly relevant to students' lives, especially for those interested in interdisciplinary work.

"The college has asked us when hiring people to have people who can actually contribute to other majors," Ennis-McMillan said.

According to Scarce, although the anthropology program is small, it is essential to student education.

"Anthropology has a really important role in this globalized future to bring understanding and to bring us together in very positive ways," Scarce said.

A question of Skidmore identity

Posted by The Faculty of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work

It is clear to us that what has come to be known as "the Compton's incident" has become a catalyst for change on the Skidmore campus. It has drawn the best and the worst out of our community, and its effects persist despite untold conversations, classroom discussions, teach-ins, and items published in The Skidmore News.

As a result, our individual characters and our collective character as an institution are being tested both by voices pleading for understanding and insight and by those who embrace ignorance and reject dialogue.

The question we confront is, who are we? Are we, individually and collectively, open-minded and capable of addressing questions that make us uncomfortable? Or do we shutter our minds, our classrooms, and our institution from the challenging questions concerning race, class, gender, and other points of difference among us that have been raised on campus, in Saratoga Springs, and on these pages? It is worth keeping in mind that these points of difference are socially created and have profound implications for us all.

Among those speaking publicly for unity, understanding, and in opposition to racism, classism, and the like, Danny Pforte, Teshika Hatch, Sulin Ngo, and Professor Kristie Ford stand out. Yet, in the on-line version of The Skidmore News Danny, Teshika, and Prof. Ford have been vilified and even threatened with bodily harm. Consider these quotes that were posted in response to Danny's columns over the last month:

"And Teshika, listing traits that make one privileged? What textbook was that list from? … Jesus, Kristie Ford is doing everything she can to incite race riots on campus. I fall into 4 of those categories, but guess what - I WORK HARD EVERY FUCKING DAY AND I'M PROUD OF MY ACCOMPLISHMENTS. You know nothing about me personally, or most of the people that you're generalizing."

"That guilty onlooker bullshit was relevant for the Holocaust, but for you to call everyone at Skidmore a racist who isn't fighting your made-up systematic oppression is such complete bullshit. I respect every race, but I don't respect you or your opinions anymore. There are ways to strive for equality without CONSTANTLY accosting the white students like Pforte does weekly. It's offensive and it makes him a hypocrite ... We really need to get rid of the fucking sociology department. They're churning out these god-awful chronic martyrs at record rates."

"Danny, … [i]f you stop writing these articles now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will ‘dialogue' you."

We echo Acting President Kress's condemnation of these postings. The content of the courses that have inspired Danny, Teshika, and Sulin and that are offered by Prof. Ford and others in our department is founded in the best scientific research that can be brought to bear on social inequality, power, and privilege.

What these scholars, every professor in our department, and many others across the Skidmore campus are trying to do is to hold up a mirror to individuals and to our community. No one is trying to convert anyone to any point of view. Rather, we want to encourage students and our colleagues to examine the facts and to learn from and about one another. The point is to grasp and appreciate difference and the exciting, often difficult-to-acknowledge possibilities inherent in exploring the discomfort that many feel when confronted by difference and its societal implications.

So, what can you do? First, when you hear or read homophobic, racist, classist, or misogynistic language, challenge the assumptions behind those remarks—even if they come from friends. Second, promote earnest, curious explorations of those points of division. It's okay to question anything and everything on this campus, so ask for the data and ask others outside of your circle of friends about their experiences.

And most of all, do not shy away from hard questions about you: why do you believe as you do? Do you embrace stereotypes? What assumptions do you make about others — and others about you? How well founded in reality are those assumptions?

Here at Skidmore, we are fortunate to have numerous opportunities in the classroom, in The Skidmore News, and elsewhere on campus to ask these questions and others like them. Take advantage of those courses, and join clubs and casual groups that will help you to ask and answer those challenging questions. And demand that your peers, professors, and administrators promote opportunities for the sort of free interchange of ideas, suppositions, and facts that can result in this campus addressing difference in productive ways.

There may be no better vehicle on campus than The Skidmore News for the free interchange of outlooks and experiences regarding what divides us. In a small community like ours, the student newspaper has a profound responsibility to ensure the safety of those who publish on its pages—web pages included.

As such, we invite all Skidmore News readers to join with us in demanding an end to the on-line paper's anonymous posting policy. That policy allowed and encouraged the quotes above to see the light of day, and it is out of place for three reasons.

First, it allows for threatening, libelous posts but does nothing to protect those who write openly. How would you feel if someone wrote profane comments on-line that implied s/he would do you bodily harm and signed them "Anonymous"? Could you ever feel safe on campus?

Second, one of the standards of scholarship is acknowledged authorship, and we see no reason why the same standard should not hold for a campus's student newspaper. We must know who writes what so that we can engage one another in meaningful dialogue. Anonymity promotes bullying and even terrorism, not the sort of respectful disagreement and earnest engagement in issues that institutions of higher learning stand for.

Third, the discourse on our campus should be elevated and well-considered. Anonymity promotes thoughtlessness and does nothing to compel the sort of difficult self-questioning that we advocate.

The Skidmore News editors' new policy promising to censor objectionable comments does little to address these concerns. On-line posts are already monitored, yet threatening comments have slipped through. Indeed, our concerns about the comment quoted above addressed to Danny were dismissed by The Skidmore News editors, who insisted those lines were merely a paraphrasing from a movie, as if the threat to do bodily harm somehow no longer existed. Nor will the new policy do anything to promote engagement and elevated discourse.

Many of us are doing all that we can to ensure that Skidmore stands up to its ideals. Together, we can do more. Will you call out those who privately embrace intolerance? Will you call for more to be done to promote understanding in your dorms, your classrooms, all over this campus, and in Saratoga Springs? Will you demand honest interchange and the exchange of ideas person-to-person with nothing hidden: not names, not faces, and not even opinions? Will you try to understand difference—and in the process try to better understand yourself?

This piece was submitted by the Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work faculty. By request, this piece has not been edited by The Skidmore News editorial board.

Faculty meeting addresses growing campus concerns

Posted by Alex Brehm

Acting President Susan Kress addressed her growing concern about alcohol and drug use on campus, and negative anonymous comments on The Skidmore News website, at the faculty meeting on April 1.

Kress opened the meeting by saying that several events associated with alcohol abuse, including Moorebid Ball and a car crash on perimeter road, are worthy of concern. Moorebid, she said sent nine students to the emergency room last Halloween.

She also spoke about the recent death of Alexander Grant, a visiting student from Boston College whose death was linked to an off-campus party and the possible use of drugs or alcohol.

The college is using a "three-fold process" in response to alcohol and drug use, Kress said. The college is examining current policies, increasing programming and examining student cultures relating to substance abuse.

Kress also said she is growing increasingly uncomfortable with anonymity and messages left in various forums, including posters, online message forums and, most recently, a threatening comment aimed at Danny Pforte, a columnist for "The Skidmore News", left on the newspaper's website.

She said she believes that such comments are threatening to the intellectual and social environment on campus.

The meeting continued with a report from Mary Lou Bates, dean of admissions, about the makeup of the incoming first-year class of 2015.

The college selected students from an applicant pool of 5,800, down about 4 percent from last year. Two hundred sixty students were enrolled through the early decision process and 10 were accepted for the first-year London program.

She also said 26 percent of accepted students self-identify as people of color.

Studio art professor Peter Stake, speaking on behalf of the Faculty Development Committee, followed Bates with an announcement that Spanish professor Grace Burton had won the Ralph A. Ciancio Excellence in Teaching Award. The announcement received a long round of applause from the faculty in attendance.

Hugh Foley, a psychology professor, followed with a presentation titled "What I learned on IPPC."

Foley discussed the role of the Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC), which oversees far-reaching institutional changes to the college, such as construction and land development, creation of new offices, and tuition policy.

Foley said that the college's tuition, if left to increase at a seemingly modest 4 percent annual rate, would push yearly tuition to $100,000 a year in about three decades.

Mike West, vice president of finance, followed Foley with a detailed presentation on the college's current finances and economic challenges.

The college receives about half of its revenue from students' tuition, West said, with the rest coming from room and board fees, interest on the endowment, grants and alumni gifts and other sources.

According to West, the college is facing a decrease in applicants, which makes it more difficult to preserve "quantity and quality" in each year's incoming class.

West also said uncertain financial markets and decreasing federal and state government aid decrease predictable sources of revenue, while requests from students for financial aid is predicted to increase.

These financial pressures make the school consider increasing tuition and fees, West said.

West compared the current financial situation to that of two years ago, when the financial crisis and "Great Recession" blighted many college endowments. At that time, the college's endowment decreased from less than $300 million to about $220 million.

Since then, the college has recouped most of its losses, with an endowment of about $290 million.

West said that compared to the financial situation two years ago, however, the college's current finances are improving.

"I'm glad those days are behind us," West said.

The next faculty meeting is scheduled for April 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Psychology class plans Autism awareness events

Posted by Mariel Kennedy National Autism awareness organization Autism Speaks says that doctors estimate that one in every 110 children is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatric AIDS combined.

Rachel Mann Rosan, professor of psychology, and the students in her course "Developmental Disabilities and Autism" are currently planning Autism awareness events on campus for this April, Autism Awareness Month.

The course focuses on a clinical overview of developmental disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs).

Mann Rosan said that students not only gain an understanding of disorders but also learn the roles of assessment and treatment for behavioral issues related to the disorders. Students "get an opportunity to learn about and develop skills in functional assessment and behavior support planning," Mann Rosan said.

"We will have a variety of speaker presentations on a range of topics from the parents' perspective, to research in the area of cause and epidemiology to local clinicians who will talk about various treatment methods. There will also be a showing of a documentary that was released last year called ‘The Horse Boy,'" Mann Rosan said.

The students have also prepared information posters that will be hung around campus and will be presenting these posters in Case on April 14.

Speakers are associated with organizations Saratoga Bridges, ASPIRE NY and the Parent Network.

The speakers were selected and contacted by students in the course and relate to the topics addressed on each informational poster, Mann Rosan said.

Saratoga Bridges is a local resource aimed at serving people with disabilities and their families. ASPIRE NY is a recreational and activity group for teens and young adults with ASDs. The Parent Network is self-described as a community resource for families of individuals with special needs and for professionals who work with these families.

Mann Rosan began organizing Autism awareness events on campus last year. She describes the events as "a way to build upon students' enthusiasm for the topic," adding that she has found that many of her students have personal connections to ASDs. "It seemed that the Skidmore community could benefit from learning more about it," Mann Rosan said.

Last year Mann Rosan and her students were pleased and proud of both the work they achieved and the response from the Skidmore and Saratoga Springs communities.

Last year's events included several lecturers, such as New York State Senator and advocate of autism awareness Roy McDonald, and an Autism Informational Fair.

The Informational Fair consisted of both on-campus and community organizations that provided information about ASDs and community resources, as well as about available volunteer opportunities at Skidmore and in the Saratoga Springs community.

In addition, the fair featured a sale of craft and art items created by local artisans diagnosed with development disabilities and a bake sale that benefited the Autism Society of America.

Above all else, the focus of the events being planned is to raise awareness in the community.

Hannah Miller '14, one of Mann Rosan's students in "Developmental Disabilities and Autism," said, "Autism is a growing issue in our society, but a lot of people don't understand what it is, how it is caused or how they can help. "