A new era for the Skidmore News: The campus authority transitions to an online-only format

Posted by the Editorial Board

On this Friday evening it seems timely to use both this space and this time of the week to publicly address the changes in The Skidmore News effective this semester.

Up until this academic year, every Friday would see the distribution of a fresh printed edition of our newspaper on campus. Now, however, our editorial board is pursuing a new direction for the publication, the most noticeable consequence being the transition to an online-only format.

On a provisional basis for this semester, we have set out to retire the weekly print edition and produce this online-only publication, with new content posted five days a week. Should we fail miserably, the print edition may return next semester, but we have high hopes for our new model.

The industry of print journalism has been struggling for years, competing with the proliferation of 24-hour cable news, the Internet and the resulting accelerated news cycle. Collegiate journalism has remained something of a stronghold for printed news – we have no cable networks to compete with, and no obligation to be profitable.

Nonetheless, we believe we can deliver something better. Publishing weekly has put us perpetually behind the eight ball with regard to the timeliness of our news. Far too often we have been late to the proverbial party, or have missed it entirely. Furthermore, every week we would pour an enormous amount of time and resources into designing our print issue, time that could be better spent generating content.

No one is sadder to see the print edition fall by the wayside than we are. The future, however, is bright. We are going to be able to be able to publish more content in a timelier manner. We will be a more involved presence on campus. By not publishing a print edition, we will also be saving a few hundred pounds of paper each week. (We apologize to any papier-mâché enthusiasts who feel slighted by our environmental responsibility.)

Our website, www.skidmorenews.com, will see new content posted at least five days a week. You can also receive Twitter updates from @TheSkidmoreNews, or find us on Facebook. Additionally, in the coming weeks we will be launching a dedicated mobile reader, available in both the Apple App Store and the Android Market. Finally, even though there will not be a new paper to read every Friday, we will send out emails featuring the biggest stories of the week.

The loss of our print product is a sad moment, but it is also a stirring one. We have the opportunity to do something exciting, something beneficial to the college community as a whole, and something that we hope will ultimately improve The Skidmore News as an organization and as a news source. We appreciate your feedback and your continued readership.

College revises Alcohol and Sexual Misconduct policies

Posted by Kojo Amarteyfio

Following a turbulent academic year that saw more than 20 students admitted to a hospital following substance abuse, the college has revised its Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) policy to feature significant changes effective immediately.

The new AOD policy features a new "point" system, where student violations of the policy may result in their being assigned points that correspond to the nature of the offense, also taking into account the record of the offender. The accumulation of 10 points at any time during a student's tenure will result in a recommendation for suspension being made to the dean of Student Affairs.

Another major change has been the insertion of an "association" rule. Underage students who are not drinking, but are found in the presence of other underage students who are, will be assigned points after the first such incident.

The categories of offenses have also been expanded from four to five and the fines attached to violation of the AOD policy have been roundly increased.

The review process has been a lengthy one, commencing last fall and continuing through this summer. According to the administration, the new policy is in part a response to trends on campus concerning substance abuse last academic year.

There were also multiple instances of physical and verbal abuse of college staff, and last academic year the college spent about $40,000 on college property repairs following incidents of vandalism. An insufficient AOD policy was identified as a weak link in the campaign to regulate campus behavior.

Don Hastings, head of Residential Life said, "We expect that students recognize and are concerned with the new policy and that there will be a reduction in incidents."

Among students, the policy has already stirred controversy. "I think it's a bit harsh. I do not think that people caught in the vicinity should be punished if they're not drinking, " said Kyle Lavecchia '14. Other students have remarked on how easily a student could possibly accrue 10 points within four years at Skidmore.

Hastings argues that the new policy is not as harsh as students perceive it; "The students who didn't have to worry with the old AOD policy will not have to worry now."

The new policy is open for discussion and potential amendment. "There are certainly controversial points," Hastings said. A change that would see students' point count reduced after a period of continued good standing is under consideration. A formal student feedback session is planned for October and the policy will undergo a review process in January.

At the same time, the Sexual Misconduct policy has undergone major changes since last year, following a recommendation by national experts on sexual misconduct policy. The primary change is a reduction in the standard of evidence required as proof of misconduct, from clear and convincing (about 70 percent consensus) to preponderate (about 50 percent consensus).

Following a "Dear Colleague" letter sent by the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to colleges all over the country, Skidmore has appointed a Title IX investigator for sexual misconduct claims.

Also, there is now a mechanism for claimants to appeal decisions of the Sexual Assault Response Task Force on reported incidents of sexual misconduct. Further support systems have been provided for sexual abuse victims; particularly through an increase in the numbers of staff trained to deal with sexual misconduct issues.

Class of 2015 arrives

Posted by Tara Lerman

On Sunday, Sept. 4, in the Big Gym of the Williamson Sports and Recreation Center, the 633 students in the class of 2015 attended New Student Convocation, where they were formally matriculated into the college. An additional 34 first year students arrived on campus approximately two weeks earlier, before departing for London, where they will spend their first semester of college.

During convocation President Philip Glotzbach, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Mary Lou Bates, Interim Dean of the Faculty Beau Breslin, Charles Wait from the Adirondack Trust Company and Student Government Association President Jonathan Zeidan ‘12, each addressed the incoming class.

The male-to-female breakdown for the class of 2015 is 42 percent male and 58 percent female, similar to that of previous years. More than a quarter of the class – 171 students – identified themselves as students of color in their applications. Of those students, 134 are domestic, and 37 are international. International students make up 6 percent of the class, the highest percentage that the college has ever had.

"The class of 2015 is off to a great start," said Marla Melito, the interim director of the First Year Experience. "They were engaged and enthusiastic during pre-orientation and orientation programs and seem to be settling into life at Skidmore."

Among the differences between high school life and college life, these first year students must accustom themselves to sharing rooms with other students. "Most of the class is in a tripled room," said Ann Marie Przywara, associate director of Residential Life.

"For housing concerns, first-year students should consult the Roommate Connections publication they received in their orientation folder. It is a great resource with tips, myths, facts and scripts on how to develop good roommate relationships. They should also connect with their resident advisor, who is trained in mediation."

Due to the unusually large size of the preceding class of 2014, there was some discussion as to whether the admissions office would make an effort to admit fewer students the following year, in hopes for a smaller class. According to Bates, however, that did not turn out to be the case.

"The class of 2014 opened with 730 students on campus and 40 in London. The on-campus range we were targeting for the class of 2015 was 580-630 students on campus and 36 students in London. Although next year's class size target range has not been fully established for the class of 2016, it will likely be similar to this year's."

One year in, college maintains late-night bus route

Posted by Michael DuPr??

Prior to September 2010 the college and Saratoga Taxi maintained an arrangement to provide free rides for students returning to campus after 11 p.m. The free cab program was available to all Skidmore students and picked them up from any location in Saratoga Springs.

The program was replaced in fall of 2010 with an extension of CDTA bus hours. The additional bus service runs Thursday through Saturday from midnight to 4:15 a.m. between downtown and the college.

Officially dubbed the "Night Loop," but colloquially referred to by drivers and students alike as the "Drunk Bus," the bus follows a simplified version of the Route 473 – Jefferson Street bus that runs during daytime hours. Beginning at 9 p.m., the Night Loop runs from Case Center to Spring Street, before looping on Henry Street and returning to campus on Broadway. It skips the Embury Apartments and does not travel as far as the Saratoga Gaming and Raceway. It does, however, include stops at the corners of Caroline Street, both on the Broadway side and the Henry Street side.

Free cabs are available to students between the hours of 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Saratoga Taxi, and the various other cab services in town, remain open, however, and students wishing to return home by taxi are still able to request and pay for a cab from any point in town.

Expense and the enabling of underage drinking were cited among the reasons for ending the cab program. In a Student Government Association meeting one year ago, then-SGA-President Alex Stark '11, "Without using the cabs, Skidmore is saving $25,000 by using the CDTA bus route at night."

Despite the fiscal benefits, many students have expressed concerns and frustrations over the new program. Adam Abdel-Jaouad '12 took issue with the safety of the bus rides, stating, "The night bus is dangerously overcrowded." Douglas Pilawa, also a senior, voiced confusion over the schedule. After waiting 20 minutes for a bus downtown last weekend he announced, "Screw this, I'm walking back!" before saying of the new program, "I'm not a fan."

While Saratoga Taxi picked up students from anywhere within city limits, the CDTA bus is only available at designated stops along Broadway. Students returning from off-campus location in other areas of Saratoga Springs no longer have access to school-rides back to campus.

As a result, some students worry that drunk driving has increased since the cancellation of the cab program. "The system may have been abused, but it got people home safely," said Steve Pennell '12. Isabella McKeon '12 remarked that, without the cabs, people are likely to end up driving or walking back to campus when they are not in any condition to do so. Echoing that concern, Will Mosley '12 said "Not offering free cabs back to campus facilitates dangerous behavior. I would not be surprised if someone gets hit by a car while returning to campus."

One senior, who asked not to be named, remarked, "Since the cab program was cancelled, I have, on several occasions, received rides from students who should not have been driving."

Stories I Never Quite Finished, Part 1

Posted by Kevin Kerrane

I suppose that there's a bit of the writer in every reader. This is at least true in my own case, where an all but overwhelming desire to write is very nicely balanced by an utter inability to produce any really readable fiction.

This is really too bad, you know, because I'm sure that creating characters (albeit paper ones), and making them do what I want them to do, would give me that tremendous feelings of gross power which I so sincerely desire, desperately need, and richly deserve.

At any rate, I have tried writing fiction – everything from vignettes to the great American novel. But I have – fortunately, perhaps – been found lacking. This article contains several stories, of one type or another, that I never quite finished – usually because I had neither the energy nor the heart to do so. After each story a short criticism follows. The criticism is offered to me, but of course you may profit from it too.

You may notice, incidentally, that in some cases the criticism is longer than the actual story reprint. This conclusively proves what has been a major contention of mine for some time now: namely that critics make things grow. How? I think that any farmer knows what makes things grow.

The first story that I never quite finished was written at the tender age of 13. It was, I think, intended to be an Anglo-Saxon epic. It is called "Sir Gawain Rides Again" or "Carousel." It runs as follows:

"Geez," said Sir Gawain, as the poisoned lance pierced his armor, entered his chest, and poked one hell of a hole in his back. "The dirty red…"

Criticism

This manuscript, found recently, reveals several writing faults, some of which border on the sadistic. First of all, the plot has become somewhat limited in scope (and length) due to the probable early demise of the protagonist. The story poses some interesting questions:

1. Is this some kind of sequel?
2. If so, what happened when Sir Gawain rode before he rode again?
3. Is this a suicide attempt?
4. Does the use of the word "Geez" denote Stoicism?
5. What is the reference to dirty red in the incomplete sentence?
6. Does it attempt to describe Sir Gawain's blood? His socks? The fact that he was a communist?
7. What in the name of God was I like at 13?

The whole thing, however, does have its good points. To deny that it is vivid would be like saying that Margaret Sanger was a fan of the Dionnes. It must also be admitted that this is not the idealistic stuff that one would expect from the "average" child. Since the writer seems to arouse some interest, next week we'll examine another one of his works.

Skidmore takes Tim Brown Invite by 19 strokes

Posted by Skidmore Athletics

The Skidmore College golf team won the Tim Brown Invitational by 19 strokes on Monday after shooting 287-296—583. The nine teams played all 36 holes on Monday.

Liberty League teams took all three top places with Rochester coming in second with a score of 296-206—602 and Rensselaer finishing third at 301-302—603.

Thoroughbred first year Zach Grossman shot 67-73—140 to take first place by one stroke. Skidmore's John McCarthy ‘13 (72-74—146) came in fourth, Anthony DiLisio ‘13 (73-75—148) and Scott Pinder ‘14 (78-70—148) tied for fifth, and Garrett Coglan ‘13 (75-74—149) placed seventh.

Skidmore will compete in the Middlebury College Duke Nelson Invitational Sept. 17-18.

[Skidmore Athletics]

Lost in the Farmers' Market

Posted by Margaret Myers

Each Saturday morning at 103 High Rock Ave, vendors at the Saratoga Farmers' Market sell a variety of fruits, vegetables, plants and crafts. The Market is in its 33rd year and this summer was voted one of the top five farmers' markets in the country for 2010. The market includes over 50 vendors and is a short drive, walk or bus ride from campus.

Within minutes of arriving, it becomes clear why the Saratoga Farmers' Market has earned acclaim. This Saturday, my friends and I wandered among the tables: we stopped to pick up cups of freshly brewed iced tea; to listen to live acoustic guitar; and to admire the colorful heirloom tomatoes, tall cacti and freshly baked bread.

The Saratoga market is distinctive in that everything is entirely local – produced in Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Washington counties, the only exception being freshly caught fish from Long Island.

Each vendor we encountered was friendly and offered unsolicited but helpful advice about proper care and handling of purchases.

The products themselves are a reason to check out the market, but the experience delivers more than the makings of a locally grown meal. "It makes me feel like a connected person," said Carmel Gordon '13, of the market. "It's nice to be a part of the community in town."

Attending the market is not the only way to feel like part of the community: Roz Freeman '12 works at the vegetable stand for Pleasant Valley Farm.

"I see a wide variety of people at the markets... There are many families that come to the market, often with young children. There is a wide age demographic, from Skidmore students to young couples to elderly people," Freeman said.

The Skidmore demographic that visits the market also ranges within itself.

"I think the market definitely benefits Skidmore students, particularly those that have houses or apartments with kitchens," Freeman said. "I have also seen many underclassmen who come to check out the bustling, beautiful scene and hang out downtown."

The Farmers' Market is positive both environmentally and economically. Many of the products are organic and profit from each purchase goes directly to the farms and farmers, which boosts the local economy.

Given Skidmore's sometimes-shaky relationship with the Saratoga Springs community, a chance to meet on common, environmentally friendly ground seems an entirely good thing.

The Saratoga Farmers' Market summer (May-October) hours are Saturdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Wednesdays from 3-to-6 p.m. at 103 High Rock Avenue. The Winter Market runs from November to April on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Division Street Elementary.

For more information about the Saratoga Farmers' Market visit

http://www.saratogafarmersmarket.org

Scripture, song, and silence

Posted by Julia Leef

This Sunday nearly 50 students and faculty members gathered together to remember and pay their respects to the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The service was held at Wilson Chapel and led by Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Rick Chrisman, director of religious and spiritual life at the college. Cellist Alexandra Guest '14 performed selections from Bach.

Those in attendance, including President Philip Glotzbach, listened as Chrisman spoke of the loss suffered on 9/11, quoting alternatively from the Bible, a passage from Hindu scripturep, and the Quran. It was a very quiet affair, as Chrisman continuously paused so everyone could either take a moment of silence or listen as Alexandra played.

Absent was any discussion of more political facets of the tragedy, as Chrisman later noted.

"This day is not about patriotism," Chrisman said. "It's about coping with devastation and coping with the realization that we can be hurt." He added that he had almost decided not to hold this service, thinking that the day should be reserved for the families' grief, stating that this grief was very different from the feelings of those who were not directly affected. "In a way, this day is for [the families]," he said.

Guest, whom Chrisman contacted through the music department, said that in addition to Bach being her favorite composer, she felt that the selections she chose possessed the appropriate tone for the evening.

"It wasn't overly sad, and the last piece that I selected had a more uplifting feel." This choice of ending the service on a hopeful note was something that both Guest and Chrisman agreed upon.

At the end of the service, Chrisman requested that everyone leave the chapel in silence before gathering again outside. Even once outside, most students remained quiet, some thanking Chrisman for the service before leaving.

Later that night from 9:30 to 11 p.m. Chrisman hosted a showing of the documentary "Beyond Belief," in the Davis Auditorium. The film follows the lives of two women who were pregnant at the time they lost their husbands in the 9/11 attacks and later reached out to Afghanistan widows through the organization Beyond the 11th.

Roughly 35 students were in attendance and before leaving some voiced their immediate reactions to the film. Among the reflections of the students were a reconsideration of "the enemy abroad" and how different America is from a third world nation such as Afghanistan.

"The movie hit me at several levels, showing how the widows coped with their grief," Chrisman said. "How tricky it is to try to help someone when you don't live their lives, and how very important it is to express feelings of compassion and to act on them."

A Tuesday in September: A decade later, Skidmore students and faculty reflect on Sept. 11

Posted by Julia Leef

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, students at Skidmore College woke up to attend class, beginning a normal day alongside most Americans across the country. That normalcy was short lived, however, and 10 years later students can remember the moment that the United States, and the world at large, was forever reshaped.

In the minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 collided with WTC 1 many students were not immediately aware of the full extent of the attack. Holly Leber '02, who served as the features editor for The Skidmore News at the time and is currently a columnist and reporter for the Life section at Times Free Press in Chattanooga, Tennessee, remembers that it was a few hours before she understood what had happened in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.

"I had a seminar first thing in the morning. When I left the dorm I noticed a crowd of people glued to the TV, but didn't think much of it." Only after she had listened to a voicemail message from her cousin, asking if she had been able to reach her parents, did she turned on the television to see the news for herself.

Meanwhile Keith Kirshner '02, who now lives in Atlanta, had just started his term as SGA president. "I was leaving my house going to a marketing class that morning. One of my friends was home in Brooklyn; his dad was running in a local election, and he called us after he had just seen the first plane hit."

Without the stream of online information so readily available today, it was a while before Kirshner and many other students were able to learn more about what was happening.

In that window of confusion and miscommunication, members of the Skidmore community were desperate to hear from family and friends who worked at the towers. "It was a constant struggle for all of us to get in contact with these people," said Frank Won ‘02, who now works as an Optometrist in Yonkers, New York. "People couldn't get a hold of other people that they knew, and of course if you couldn't get a hold of the person for whom you feared the worst."

Accurate information proved equally elusive. Some students, like Justin Graeber '02, now a journalist at the Duxbury Clipper in Massachusetts, tried to gather as much information as possible.

"In the aftermath of the attacks, I just could not get enough news. I really became an Internet news junkie that day," he said. "This was just such a shocking event that everybody needed to know what was going on."

Although classes were not officially cancelled, many students did not attend and several professors cancelled. Holly Leber recalls going to an English class in which one of the students stood up and said, "We shouldn't be here." Justin Graeber recalls that many students felt angry that school had not been cancelled that day.

In the Spa, television screens ran the latest news from the towers, Washington and Pennsylvania. Lauren Yanuzzi '04 says that she felt dazed when she first found out.

"As I walked to Case Center alone to check my mail I thought about how relatively close my hometown was to NYC, that I had been in the towers several times, and how so many of my friends' parents commuted to the city. A lot of the people around me seemed dazed too. As though it was too big of a concept to fit in our heads at the moment. This was death we were staring at."

Kirshner spent a lot of time with then-president Jamienne Studley trying to figure out which students had family at the World Trade Center. "Once things had settled down," he added, "we needed to do something, so we organized an all-campus meeting."

This gathering was hosted on the Case green at 4 p.m., during which Studley, Kirshner, and Campus Safety Director Dennis Conway, tried to reassure people and inform them of the resources at hand, such as the Counseling Center, Health Services, and religious services.

"I don't know if there was anyone on campus who didn't go to that meeting," Kirshner said. "It was really just a sense of community, during a terrible but historic day."

Conway, who had just started working at the college in January of that year, remembers getting a call from an officer at the front desk who had heard the news on the radio. "One of the first things I did was rush to my computer; my biggest concern and fear was of how many people were in those buildings."

Soon after, Conway met with members of the administration to discuss how best to address the students. "We knew that we had a lot of our students from the New York and Metropolitan area," he said, adding that students were instructed not to tie up communication lines so as to leave them open for police forces.

Campus Safety also worked with local state and law enforcement, delivering a heightened sense of awareness to the college. "We brought in extra officers to make sure that we had a presence on the campus." As these officers entered Saratoga, certain student volunteer firefighters entered New York City to provide help at Ground Zero.

In the days after the attacks, Leber observed the people passing by her window. "There were certain students who were just sort of out and wandering around. Some of them looked almost envious of those who were providing some service or writing about it. I was so grateful to have something that occupied my time, some obligation."

Several students on campus lost family members and friends that day in September. One former student who suffered a loss was Kirk A. Cassels '02, who lost his close friend Tyler Ugolyn '01, of Columbia College. Ugolyn was working on the 93rd floor of the North Tower as a research associate for Fred Alger Management, Inc.

Cassels, who now works at Dartmouth College as a multimedia specialist at the office of public affairs, was serving as the editor-in-chief of The Skidmore News at the time. Shortly following the event, the staff gathered together for the next two days to print an issue centered on the events of 9/11, which in 2002 won the Associated Collegiate Press Award for special coverage.

In the aftermath Cassels found a lot of support in his immediate group of friends, as well as people he had never even met before. This to him was the only thing that allowed for a quick recovery. "Move on, but do not forget. This is our Pearl Harbor," he said, "our JFK assassination. This is our generational moment."

The attacks on 9/11 affected the entire campus, and left their imprint on each and every student. "The one thing that made that day so different from any other kind of tragedy or sad news," said Graeber, "was that it was something just so raw, so shocking that you couldn't imagine what to do with yourself."

Students who wish to mark the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 on campus may attend two events being held on Sunday: a half-hour memorial observance at the Wilson Chapel at 5 p.m., and a documentary screening of "Beyond Belief" from 9:30-11 p.m. in Davis Auditorium.

Elizabeth Marie Glotzbach, daughter of Philip and Marie, dead at 30

Posted by Gabe Weintraub Elizabeth Marie Glotzbach, daughter of college president Philip Glotzbach and theater department professor Marie Glotzbach, has died from complications relating to Type-I diabetes, according to an announcement by Vice President for Academic Affairs Susan Kress. Glotzbach was 30 years old.

Read Kress's full announcement after the break.

---

Dear Members of the Skidmore Community,

I write to convey the very sad news that Phil and Marie Glotzbach's daughter, Elizabeth Marie, has died from complications relating to Type-I diabetes.

Elizabeth Marie Glotzbach graduated from Santa Clara University in 2003 as a Communications major and a Political Science minor. She began working in the film industry in 2003 with Paradigm Talent Agency, where she remained for three years, eventually becoming the assistant to their head literary agent. In 2006, Liz moved to Fox Searchlight, the industry's premier "indie" film production company, concluding her career there as a Creative Coordinator. At the time of her death, she was in New York City working as an associate producer on a new film. Everyone who met her recognized her amazingly positive spirit and enthusiastic creativity. Liz loved working in the film industry, bringing projects to the screen that not only attracted an audience but above all told stories that illuminated our shared humanity.

Liz is survived by her parents, Phil and Marie, her brother Jason, sister-in-law Kristi, and nephew Barrett. She was 30 years old.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

I know that the entire Skidmore community joins me in expressing our deepest sympathy to Phil and Marie, Jason and Kristi, and their extended family and friends.

Sincerely,

Susan Kress

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Powershift draws activists to D.C.

Posted by Tess Wendel

What do we want? Green jobs! When do we want them? NOW!

This was just one of the many messages students gave to Congress in Washington, D.C. last weekend. Eighty-two students from Skidmore College joined 10,000 other students from around the U.S. for Powershift, the largest environmental youth summit in the nation.

The idea behind Powershift is to create a network of environmental leaders across the country who can share ideas and experiences and through these partnerships and bring regional change to their schools and communities.

This year there was a strong focus on leadership training but there were also more specific workshops like the future of electric utilities, how to ban bottled water on your campus and promoting public transportation.

Students heard from world-renowned speakers like Van Jones, Bill McKibben, Al Gore and Rita Jackson of the EPA, who urged them to keep up the fight for a greener future.

There were also lobby trainings and direct action workshops to prepare for the third day of the conference where there was a large rally and march to the capitol.

Half of the students scheduled meetings with their representatives and senators and urged them to continue supporting the EPA and protecting the Clean Air Act, which has been under attack, particularly by the Republican party.

The other half of students took part in a direct action by marching to the Chamber of Commerce to protest the huge subsidies given to oil and coal corporations and then moving to the Department of Interior to protest the land being given up to uranium mining for nuclear power in Wyoming.

The environmental movement is incredibly diverse, but the beauty of Powershift is that it recognizes that all of the different smaller campaigns within the movement can be united through a shared goal of a clean equitable future for all.

One can become overwhelmed with the number of problems that need to be solved, whether that is human trafficking, hydrofracking or corporate greed and campaign financing.

The conference is designed to give students the tools to tackle these important issues and form a successful campaign to bring change.

However, the weekend is not just about learning the tools for change. As organizer Rachel Chalat says, it is there "to provide the inspiration and motivation to come back to campus and make personal, college and community changes."

This is the third year Skidmore students have gone to this biennial event organized by the Environmental Action Coalition, an umbrella organization for many smaller environmental groups, and the weekend continues to be a catalyst for change at Skidmore.

The last conference in 2009 inspired Laura Fralich ‘11 to start the Skidmore garden and spurred Becca Drago ‘11 to start the cool cities campaign, which led Saratoga Mayor Johnson to sign the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement.

Library Cafe deemed unsuccessful

Posted by Gia Vaccarezza Nearly a semester after the Lucy Scribner Library Cafè opened on the first floor of the library, students say they are still not sold on its services.

After multiple requests for a place to get coffee in the library, Dining Services remodeled the old copier room on the first floor, moving the copiers to the basement. The room now has a small counter, bakery case and Keurig instant-coffee machine.

A major source of complaints about the library café is the overpriced coffee, according to students.

The library café uses "K-cups," small packets of coffee grounds inserted into a machine. "K-Cups" only brew 10 ounces of coffee, but are brewed into 12 ounce cups and cost $1.25. A full 12-ounce coffee at the Burgess Café costs the same price.

Student often ask employees at the Library Café for medium or large coffees, but find they can only choose the 10-ounce size.

"I know a lot of students would really like bigger sizes. I think Dining Services would bring in a lot more money and students would be more satisfied if they offered bigger sizes," one student employee said.

Other students have also said that the hours of the café aren't conducive to their needs. The library café is open from 8 a.m. to noon and 8 p.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday. On Friday, the café is only open for the morning hours, and it does not open at all on Saturdays.

Many students said they do not frequent the library during these hours and were hoping the café would be open during the afternoon. Some students have suggested Dining Services send out a poll to Skidmore students to find when the most beneficial hours of operation would be.

Student employees open the café at 7:30 a.m. and during their morning shifts they report seeing very few customers. This is also the trend with students working the night shifts.

"I get six customers during my two-hour shift. It gets really boring," one employee said.

Some students have come up with suggestions for Dining Services in addition to polling the student body. They said they would appreciate different hours of operation, as well as lower prices for the coffee. The general consensus is that, because the amount of coffee from the Library Café is less than a small at the Burgess Café, it should not cost the same price.

Another suggestion is offering constant specials, like the Burgess Café does. At Burgess, before 11 a.m., there are five different breakfast specials - one per weekday. They all include some type of pastry or bagel and a small hot beverage. The prices for these specials are noticeably less than buying the two items separately.

The opening week at the Library Café did offer a different special per day, including a two-for-one special. They were successful at generating customers, according to student employees, but now that business has slowed, students are calling for special incentives.

"They should make getting coffee at the café appealing, because going to Burgess offers so many other options and a nicer atmosphere," Amari Boyd '14 said.

Bill Canney, director of Dining Services, did not respond to questions about the financials of the Café. However, the empty room alludes to little or no business and leaves some students wondering, "Why not just put in vending machines?"

Summer reading: consider change: Challenging Privilege

Posted by Danny Pforte

We all want to believe that our eyes are open, but are they really? How quick are we to ignore the issues that plague our campus? No matter what your views are, it is important to at least give voice to them. My outlook on the overall campus climate is that students are apathetic to the point where it's dangerous.

So few students are fighting to empower and maintain the safety of those who suffer. So few students uphold the open-minded attitude with which Skidmore College advertises itself -- but what about everyone else?

Where were we when a group of our own was accused of a hate crime and an assault at Compton's Diner? We were so quick to judge and trust speculative evidence from the Saratogian while arriving at our own conclusions about the incident. We demonized the few people who understood the circumstances of people of color in the criminal justice system and the importance of showing solidarity in their community.

Where were we after the OSDP office was vandalized and when swastikas and "Kill N*****" were spray-painted on campus grounds? Voices were silent when there was reason to believe that homophobia resulted in a student's window being egged and other cars being vandalized in the Northwoods parking lot. These hostile actions are brought to our attention, but then quickly placed in the "too uncomfortable to address further" compartment of our minds.

The loudest voices heard this semester were anonymous. There were the "Food for Thought" posters, which offended some by challenging privilege and its relationship with oppression. There were also many anonymous comments posted in response to my articles.

We as an institution have done a poor job making issues that deeply affect students seem urgent. While I commend the students, faculty and administrators who have promoted dialogue and action regarding sensitive issues that arose this semester, people have prioritized their own individual ideologies over the collective good of the student body.

Instead of interpreting the message on the "Food for Thought" posters that were posted on the office doors of faculty members as a legitimate reason for concern, many considered the call for attention as an attack on individual faculty members. The posters were criticized because they challenged privilege. Similarly, many saw the threat I received online as a joke and tried to downplay the harm that online posts can have.

This campus is at a tipping point. I think that people relied upon anonymity with the "Food for Thought" posters, knowing that it would at least bring attention to the matters at hand. Despite numerous SGA discussions, community meetings and other events that sought to bring these people out in the open, most of the Skidmore community did not attend. This widespread apathy and ignorance has made those of us who care feel burnt-out and hopeless.

The challenge to the Skidmore community lies within each and every one of us. We must be true to ourselves. We must also challenge apathy as something that is unnatural and caused by larger issues within our society.

Why care about racism and bias incidents if you've never been the victim of one? It is a fact that white people enjoy this privilege on this campus and in our greater society. Why care about homophobia if you're a heterosexual? It is a fact that our society is hetero-normative and denies rights and privileges from sexualities that do not fit the narrow definition of heterosexuality. Who cares about people who feel uncomfortable on this campus? As long as I remain unaffected, these problems must not exist.

This has been the attitude of most Skidmore College students over the past semester. A lot has happened, but few students spoke up. This semester revealed the need for students to take a step outside of their comfort zones. I believe that this is an ongoing process. While it's fine to focus on oneself during stressful times, it becomes problematic when we cannot see how this selfish mentality is damaging to the greater society in which we live.

Individualism strips us of our ability to empathize with others whom we do not understand. Until we see beyond ourselves and the surroundings to which we are accustomed, we cannot find solutions to the social issues that have been leaking into our bastion of liberalism since Skidmore's creation.

There are huge issues that I will be thinking about this summer, and I hope that everyone who reads this does so as well. Do we see ourselves as incapable of becoming agents of change? Do we take offense to opinions that challenge our own? Will we remain indifferent to the unearned privilege and power that society grants certain individuals at the expense of others? These are questions that we should ask ourselves over the summer. Come back ready to improve our campus.

Foxglove Co. presents 'Hazards of Love'

Posted by Max Siegelbaum

On May 5, the Fox Glove Company will begin its performances of the Decemberists's 2009 album, "The Hazards of Love."

Created and directed by Sara Jane Munford ‘11 and co-directed by Samuel Kahler ‘11, the performance will be a multi-media staging of the work.

"The Hazards of Love" is a rock opera that tells the story of a woman named Margaret (Angela Cascone '12), and the shape shifting William (Kelsey Hull '13).

The two fall in love, but come into conflict with William's mother, the Queen of the Forest (Grace Troxwell '13) and her henchman, the evil Rake (Adrienne Schaffler '13).

The performance will run straight through the album, using choreography to tell the fantastical story. The music itself portrays a dynamic range of style and sensation, which helps lend itself to a wide range of actions and emotions for the actors to display.

To stage the performance, the company built an elaborate set in a warehouse 20 minutes away from campus.

Under the guidance of Skip Suva '11 and Tom Meredith ‘11, the company transformed the space into a veritable set piece that could stand alone as an art exhibition.

Suva and Meredith divided the space into several different sets that center around a massive white tree.

In one area designated as the "Queen's Root Castle," white tendrils protrude from the ceiling to create the sinister and surreal home of the Queen. Dark and foreboding scenes painted by Abel Mills '11 and Hannah Mode '11 surround the main stage.

The space is designed to work as a "360 degree performance," Munford said. The actors will play their roles weaving in and out of the audience, using the entire space in the performance.

Several life-sized puppets created by a four person team of puppeteers led by Jeremy Ohinger '13 will be included in the performance. An animation by Galen Koch '11 will also be screened during the show.

"Hazards of Love" premieres on May 5 and performances will continue from May 7- 8 and 13- 15. Attendees should meet at Case at 7:30 p.m. before each show.

Audience members will receive a free CD of music to listen to on the way to the warehouse. The CD features a mix of relevant music selected by Munford and Kahler.

Audience members will also receive a program that will detail the history of the company and provide a synopsis of the story. All shows start at 8 p.m.

Tickets are free, but to attend the show, spots can be reserved by emailing foxglovecompany@gmail.com or calling (713) 816-5553. Transportation is limited, so it is encouraged to carpool to the performance space.

Iron in Alabama: Sculpture students travel to National Conference on Cast Iron Art

Posted by Gabe Weintraub

During the week of April 11, five sculpture students and foundry club members traveled to the Sloss Furnaces, a national historic landmark in Birmingham, Ala., to participate in the 2011 National Conference on Cast Iron Art.

The students participated in a number of iron pours, and also competed in a contest for student-made cupolas - specialized furnaces for melting iron. The Skidmore cupola won an award for production. The students were accompanied by Professor John Galt, of the studio art department.

SGA president-elect vows government transparency

Posted by Jean-Ann Kubler

Jonathan Zeidan ‘12, SGA president-elect for the 2011-2012 academic year, says he will emphasize transparency and accessibility within the organization during his term as SGA president.

"SGA does a lot of great and influential work in the community, but a lot of the time students don't know what's going on within SGA, or how to get involved and participate," Zeidan said, "SGA doesn't work without voices. Community engagement is paramount to our success."

Zeidan said this year's SGA members have done an incredible job of responding to the community's concerns after a semester of arguably negative publicity.

The college made national news after incidents of alcohol-related hospitalizations in October. In December, four students were charged with the assault of a local man at Compton's Diner in downtown Saratoga Springs.

In the wake of the Compton's assault charges, many students and faculty members spoke out on behalf of one of the students, who was charged with a hate crime.

SGA hosted a number of campus climate dialogues during the spring semester, during which students could express their concerns about the incident.

"I think SGA has done a great job of giving students a forum to have their voices heard in a focused way — but perhaps not quite focused enough, in the sense that the dialogues tend to be large and people may not feel completely comfortable voicing their opinions," Zeidan said.

The executive committee for 2011-2012 plans to host an open forum in the fall for students to tell SGA what issues they feel are important to discuss. From there, Zeidan said, SGA will work to create smaller, more focused forums for student dialogues.

"Intersections dialogues are going to continue, and those cover race, class, gender, nationality; but we also want to know what issues the students think are important," Zeidan said.

One area in which Zeidan said he feels SGA could improve is in its tendency to be reactive.

"On the flip side, SGA does do a lot of great things, but I think it has been very reactionary in the past. Taking a proactive, rather than a reactionary, stance is one place where I do think we can improve as an organization," Zeidan said.

Zeidan said he will take many cues from Alex Stark '11, the current SGA president.

"I can definitely learn a lot from Alex's term as SGA president. Alex is strong and flexible, and she's been able to draw the best out of everyone, which is something I hope I'll be able to do. She works hard and she works smart. We can all take a lot from her presidency," Zeidan said.

The biggest goal for his term as SGA president, Zeidan said, is fostering a stronger relationship among SGA, the college community and Saratoga Springs.

"At this time next year, I hope SGA is more a part of the community. We want to define each position and each person, so every student knows that if they need money they should contact Ethan Flum, our incoming vice-president for financial affairs, or if they're curious about a curriculum change, contact Thomas Rivera, the vice-president for academic affairs. It has to be all about transparency and accessibility," Zeidan said.

The first-year guide to 'Fun Day': What Would C. Do? Advice from an Anonymous Friend

Posted by C.

Who says it can only occur on one day? With summer upon us, everyday has the potential of being a "Fun Day."

This is the last and final installment of WWCD until next spring — I will be conquering Europe, in search of my soul mate and the perfect gelato flavor.

Hope there is plenty of reciprocated summer lovin' and a fun-filled fall semester for all. I will always be available to answer burning (hope not!) questions at SkidWWCD@gmail.com.

Hi C,

There is this guy who used to text me all the time when I clearly was not interested, to the point that I stopped responding to him. I never used to see him around, but lately I have seen him everywhere — help me with this awkwardness!

—Anally Awkward

Dear Anal,

This lucky situation always seems to occur at the most inconvenient times, like when you start to aggressively ignore. It is OK. The awkwardness is all in your head.

Sure, the guy might try to flash a sympathetic, easily-mistaken-for-a-puppy-in-the-playpen look, in hopes of sparking some pity pillow talk. If you comply with this tactic, throw the guy a bone and gently raise the sides of your mouth to produce a forced smile.

Just make sure to have some nice thoughts behind your eyes so it is not a total bitch blow-off. Flashing him a smile featured on your latest Facebook default might instill some false hope, and he will text you with the desperation of a dog begging for a treat.

A forced smile gives him a confidence boost from your subtle acknowledgement.

Also, I bet you would hate your crush to completely ignore you. Hopefully, the increase in sightings is based on coincidence and not on his following your scent.

In case you feel it is the latter, we only have a few weeks. Say something if you need to, either that you are not interested or you have a boyfriend.

Dear C,

Regarding Fun Day: how do I act, what do I wear, what drugs do I take, at what point is it appropriate to vomit? These are things that us freshmen need to know!

Thanks, Freshman's First Funday

Dear Freshie,

Prepare yourself. There are no rules to Fun Day. That is what is so fun about it — everyone is a complete mess.

However, there are a few helpful tips that I have learned and have witnessed from past day-drinking experiences:

Wear something comfortable that you can be bloated in, photographs well and can possibly get dirty. If you want to wear the dress that will give you beautiful tan lines — or none at all — be weary of what you wear underneath seeing as things can get rowdy.

Beware of shots! I have seen friends that took one too many during the day, and they were ruined for nightly festivities.

Definitely drink until you feel good, but do not pound it down since you will be drinking over a long period of time. If you want to be creative, concoct a yummy drink you will have for the whole day, and you will not have the consequences of mixing alcohols if that affects you.

Avoid vomiting; there is never a really appropriate time to vomit in public. That being said, gorge on a huge breakfast full of carbs — go ahead, eat that bagel! After the day is done, take a little nappy-poo before feasting on dinner. Perhaps there is one rule on Funday: no diets allowed.

Have an amazing time and remember: if you forget undergarments under your precious sundress, no one will remember, much less care.

Ciao Bellas and Bellos — see you in Spring 2012!

Stars and Hearts, C

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

Approach academic life with genuine interest: Editorial

Posted by the Editorial Board

As the semester comes to a close, students in the class of 2013 will pick the disciplines that will be their majors. If last year's trend continues, 13 percent, for a total of almost 100 students, will choose to pursue a course of study over the next two years in the most popular department on campus: Management and Business.

Numbers like these cry out for explanations. A disproportionate number of students might express interest in this discipline because the subject is inherently more interesting, relevant or valuable. The Management and Business faculty might be more encouraging, engaging or better qualified. Maybe MB 107, the introductory course, wins students' loyalty to a greater degree than other departments' equivalent courses.

Or Management and Business attracts the largest number of students because, perhaps, the department has become Skidmore's default major, popular among those students who, in the absence of interest in another discipline, have just decided to follow the crowd.

This idea will be familiar to anyone who picked up the April 14 issue of "The New York Times" and saw the article "The Default Major: Skating Through B-School," a ringing condemnation of larger trends in undergraduate institutions' approach to teaching business classes. The article — required reading for any student considering the major — posed the argument that many business departments have become overrun with unmotivated students, who will spend few hours studying thanks to a lack of real interest in the discipline.

Upon reading an article like this, the first response of anyone in our college community is to look to our own department of Management and Business. We question whether this picture of the apathetic business student coasting through dumbed-down coursework is an accurate representation of what has become the most popular and visible department on campus.

But even a first glance will show that when it talks about failed pre-professional preparation, this article isn't talking about schools like Skidmore. Our department sits one floor down from the (nearly as popular) department of English; one building over from classrooms where students are learning psychology, sociology and history; and across campus from biology labs and art studios. Ours is a liberal arts approach to business, the department's professors say.

We think such a department belongs here. Its holistic take on the discipline means that it's largely not the pre-professional department as labeled by its critics (and many of its supporters): with students gaining a basic sense of the many moving parts of a business, rather than an intensive understanding of just one, students aren't leaving as marketing gurus and CPAs. For the most part, business students learn to apply the very disciplines that are quintessentially part of the liberal arts: math becomes finance, sociology becomes marketing, English becomes communication, and so on.

But the department runs into trouble when it expects a liberal arts understanding that, for many of its students, might not exist. If business majors haven't spent time with those other disciplines — if the finance student is weak on math, the marketing student ignorant of sociology, the communication student inexperienced with English — their understanding will be flawed at best, superficial at worst. Discussions turn vapid. Tests just recycle the textbook, without asking for students to demonstrate critical thinking. Even the most engaged students lose focus. That's when classrooms veer dangerously close to the generalizations made by the department's critics, of unquestioning and unthinking eyes on the bottom line.

Many Management and Business students already spend much of their time in non-business classrooms, but to thoroughly avoid the academic pitfalls laid out in "The New York Times," the department needs to mandate an interdisciplinary approach. Planned restructuring of the major, with a rumored emphasis on students' learning in other departments' classrooms, looks like it might do just that. Besides making our business students better at business, such changes would reinvigorate the intellectual curiosity of students who treat Management and Business as that pragmatic default major — the department that they chose because, well, they didn't know what else to do.

Those students will always be there, dragging down classrooms otherwise populated with some of the college's most engaged, enterprising and creative minds. So long as students continue to overlook the rich variety of the almost 40 departments and programs offered by the college, default majors like Management and Business — as well as other similarly popular majors, like English, Psychology and Studio Art — will continue to play host to unmotivated, apathetic students.

By picking these disciplines for a reason besides genuine academic interest, a student does not only himself, but our college, a disservice. He or she just robbed another department of one of its most passionate students.

Senate re-examines campaigning policies

Posted by Kat Kullman

On Tuesday, April 26, the Senate of the Student Government Association voted to amend the SGA election policies and procedures, limiting candidates' use of campaign materials and banning third party campaigning.

Jenny Snow '11, vice president for communication and outreach, brought the resolution to the floor. The primary change in the policy was the addition of a clause saying no candidate may produce more than 50 pieces of physical campaign material.

To help the campus become more environmental, Senate added an additional clause that no more than 35 of the campaign pieces may be paper.

A second clause in the resolution says the candidate is the only person who can campaign for his or her candidacy. The clause is included in the policy to give every candidate an equal opportunity, according to Snow.

"I don't want SGA and elections to become a popularity contest," Snow said. "We're trying to protect the people of Skidmore who don't have an army of friends to help campaign for them."

Some senators disagreed, saying more campaigners would raise awareness of elections.

"We don't have a right to tell people what they can't say," said Alex Bland ‘12, vice president for club affairs. "All this is doing is stopping people from talking about elections."

While many senators were in support of striking the clause from the policy, Snow pointed out that if the clause were to be struck it would become impossible to account for any slanderous or unfair campaigning from either the candidate or supporters.

The clause remained in the policy, meaning a candidate is now the only person who can campaign for his or herself. The resolution to amend the policy was passed, but will likely return at next week's Senate meeting.

View Islam rationally: get to know our Muslim brothers and sisters: Daydreams

Posted by Rick Chrisman

Although Greg Mortensen, author of "Three Cups of Tea," should be held accountable for stretching the truth in his book, Mortensen remains an important model for the unique work that he did while in Afghanistan.

As Nicholas Kristoff wrote in a recent article, "he was right about the need for American outreach in the Muslim world. He was right that building schools tends to promote stability more than dropping bombs. He was right about the transformative power of education, especially girls' education. He was right about the need to listen to local people — yes, over cup after cup after cup of tea — rather than just issue instructions" (NY Times 4/20/11). Greg Mortensen took Muslims and Islam seriously, and he succeeded in getting many Americans (including the Pentagon!) to do so, too.

Unfortunately, not everybody has adopted Mortensen's positive spirit. Instead, a large part of our population is afflicted with "Islamophobia." Evidence from last year alone is enough to warrant saying so. People determinedly opposed the construction of a mosque "at Ground Zero," even though it was not a mosque and not at Ground Zero.

Brigitte Gabriel, a "self-appointed terrorism detector" who makes $178,000 a year by lecturing to big audiences, blames what she calls "Islamofascism" on the Qur'an. Glenn Beck of Fox News ranted all year about a worldwide Islamic conspiracy to reinstitute the ancient Caliphate, until he was finally banished by his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

New York Rep. Peter King held a controversial Congressional hearing in March to investigate American Muslim sympathies, confirming the widespread anti-Muslim prejudice in our society. The "Reverend" Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fl., having changed his mind about burning a Qur'an back in September, decided to "hold Islam accountable" by holding a "mock trial" of the holy book.

He pronounced the Qur'an "guilty" of five "crimes against humanity," which led to a protest in Afghanistan two weeks ago that resulted in the death of 12 non-combatants. But if the Qur'an is to blame for all the offenses committed by Muslims, shouldn't we also blame the Bible for David Koresh, Jim Jones and the "Rev." Terry Jones, too, for that matter?

Does any of this constitute a real problem? Yes. We have seen this sort of bigotry many times before in U.S. history: Massachusetts Puritans hanged Mary Dyer and three fellow Quakers on the Boston Common in 1660; the Mormons were driven out of New York and into Illinois where their leader, Joseph Smith, was murdered in 1830; Roman Catholic immigrants were persecuted in post-Civil War America.

Such poisonous intolerance doesn't disappear without effort. Although there have been no fatalities this year, there has been a lot of religious discrimination, harassment, threats and phony legislation (e.g. the law outlawing "Sharia" in Oklahoma, Missouri, North Carolina and other states).

We need to act better, not only for the sake of good human relations in our diverse country, but also so that there will be clear-sighted decision-making in Washington. Good policies do not grow in a climate of fear and intolerance, as we saw in the case of the Iraq War.

We have a part to play, too. We must live up to our image as an informed and compassionate citizenry. First, we need to defend American Muslims the way we would stand up for any other good neighbor. For example: Heartsong Church in Memphis put a "Welcome to the Neighborhood" sign on its lawn facing the construction site of a new mosque being built across the street.

Second, we need learn more about the Qur'an — it's a beautiful book that creates high expectations of a moral life and a just society. A good way to do so might have been to enroll in Professor Gregory Spinner's course on Islam next fall, but unfortunately, it's already full. You could, however, lobby the college to add more sections to the class and, while you're at it, suggest that we expand the Religion Department in general.

Third, students, get to know your Muslim peers at Skidmore better. Admittedly, it is hard to find and engage each other over religious matters. One option would be to join the (new) Islamic Awareness Club, led by Sofia Naqvi '14 under the auspices of Hayat.

Fourth, look next fall for Islam-related and other inter-faith programming of the (also new) Inter-Religious Council. Under its auspices, students are proposing a series on "War Today," featuring panel discussions about current religiously stoked hot-spots around the world.

Finally, good people, become curious about religion. And do so with genuinely sympathetic interest, not presumption or bias. There is much, much more to every religion than meets the eye.