Staff Editorial
Earlier this month, the Committee on Curricular Policy (CCP) voted to forward a proposal for approval to the faculty that would allow athletes to obtain half an academic credit for their participation in a varsity-level sport. The proposal—which has been a project of the Vassar Student Association (VSA) and the...
When I was asked to write an editorial for the Miscellany concerning Vassar College Entertainment’s (ViCE) budget from the perspective of co-President of Hip Hop 101 I knew immediately what needed to be said. Come May, I will have been co-President of Hip Hop 101 for three years and that experience has given me an up-close and personal perspective
Much has been said lately both in support of and in opposition to awarding credit for natural science labs. I could add to the number of articles that spew numbers and facts, tell you what percent of Vassar students are in support of awarding credit, compare the number of hours a natural science major spends in class to a humanities major taking the same number of units or describe how awarding additional credit would cause many science majors to exceed the maximum allowance for in-department units.
As a Division III athlete participating in cross country and track, varsity sports have been and continue to be a major part of my education. I feel that training to master a sport has infinite parallels to mastering a subject in the classroom, and I have found that the mental attitude that is essential for successful training and competing has made me a more competent and successful student.
In the interest of promoting open dialogue and providing accurate information, I would like to respond to some of the statements made in recent issues of The Miscellany News by critics of the deer cull on the Vassar Ecological Preserve. Dr. Richard Born, in his recent letter, “Anthony DeNicola and the (White) Buffaloing of Vassar” (2.
Vassar’s recent deer cull has led to heated opinions and vehement letters, most over the ethical question of why the College should take the lives of deer. The public enthusiasm for biodiversity on the Vassar Ecological Preserve is an outstanding testament to the importance of that space for the Vassar community and for Poughkeepsie more broadly.
In her recent article “College correct on stronger illegal downloading penalties” (2.18.10), Opinions Editor Angela Aiuto ’11 hit the nail on the head regarding the moral implications of illegal downloading. It is, for lack of a better word, petty theft, and taking a song—or really, any other piece of art in any medium—without the express permission of the artist or the holder of the copyright is not only legally dubious at best but a morally reprehensible thing to do as well.
Last week, my co-Editor Angela Aiuto correctly examined the legality of illegal file sharing (“College correct on stronger illegal downloading penalties,” 2.18.10); however, the legality of the issue is, in my opinion, not the main point of contention in the debate over College punishments to students because of illegal file sharing.
I’m not one to give much credence to statements made by terrorist organizations, but when I found a post on the BBC News website dated Jan. 29 that said Hamas was reporting that a “senior Hamas military commander has been assassinated by Israel in Dubai,” I nodded and moved on to the rest of my daily news reading.
If you open up The Miscellany News and turn to the Opinions section, it is a good bet that you are bound to find one or more articles that negatively make reference to—if are not entirely devoted to attacking—former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
A year ago, nobody would have thought that Sarah Palin, John McCain’s failed pick for vice president, would still make headlines this long after their crushing electoral defeat. Of course, I would have never anticipated Scott Brown’s election or the inability of the largest Democratic majorities since, um, Carter, to pass a health care bill, either.
Humor and Satire
In my inner circles there is little doubt that I am the biggest sports fan the world has ever known. Here are my credentials: I am a four time—count ‘em!—winner of my local Little League’s “good attendance at practice” award; I watched almost half of the super bowl this year; and I think it might be real between me and Norwegian men’s downhill skier/total BAMF Aksel Lund Svindal.
Humor and Satire
It’s winter. Winter at Vassar means claustrophobia, phallic snow sculptures and such low temperatures in the Joss House bathrooms that last week I opted not to shower for upwards of 48 hours. And yet, even though we have to trek across the frozen tundra to get to class every morning, summer is at the forefront of our minds.
