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Articles by Duncan Aronson
Investigation: Why Tinder, and why today?
Since quarantine became a thing, all the usual (read: Zuckerberg-owned) apps have been hopping—whether with news, memes, recipes, unwarranted opinions, dangerous advice, or what have you. But we at The Miscellany News wondered what became of Tinder, an app that often relies more on a, shall we say, “physical” presence. Each of us created a profile labeling ourselves as student journalists and turned our bios into an open invitation to engage with us in an on-the-record conversation.
Tacit modeling, poor role-playing hurt teacher training
Classroom simulations are conventional tools for teaching and practicing pedagogy. I am only a year and change into my education courses and fellowships, but I have already experienced my fair share of simulations. Such instances may look odd at first glance. “Teachers,” usually experienced educators or student-teachers practicing, prepare the lesson’s content and materials. “Students,” sometimes played by adults, but often a bunch of undergraduate student-teachers, participate in the activities.
Alumnae/i administrator spotlight: the coffee, tea of SAVP
Vassar administration. The enemy. In student discourse, the two terms are usually interchangeable. Vassar’s administrative bodies are the faceless entities that reduce a student’s financial aid, demolish faculty housing for conference venues and increase campus wages in a way that doesn’t quite add up as advertised. But there are real people—complex people—who have to navigate these complex situations.
Where did all the womp-womps go?
Vassar is evicting its spiritual mascot. The Vassar College Store is lined with merchandise sporting the embroidered letters of “Vassar” or “Brewers,” alongside racks of standard VC monograms or emblems of the goddess Athena surrounded by the finer symbols of learning. Yet, Vassarites identify with another symbol altogether. We informally celebrate a cute underground mascot: womp-womps, known to the outside world as groundhogs, a type of marmot.
Senior imparts, channels fresh curiosity
“I wonder how high we can pile up the sand? “Let’s make a canal or a river!” “Does the sand get redder than this? What’s the reddest it can go?” “This is so cool!” One would expect these phrases to burst out from a bunch of kids playing in a sandbox. One would not expect said kids to be four Vassar college students in the Geology department building, none of whom were geology majors, and at least one who had never set foot in the building.
Coalition aims to energize campus on carbon neutrality
Student referendums. Banner drops and group chants. A cappella concerts, spoken word performances and workshops. Faculty and class participation, national media coverage, alumni and Rockefeller Brothers Fund donations. Sit-ins attracting a total of 400 people, with some students rotating around the clock to ensure that students lined the halls of Main and key administrative offices 24/7.
ASA Fashion Show displays dazzling array of inspired attire
Before the doors opened at 6:30 p.m. last Saturday, March 30, the College Center Multi-Purpose Room (CCMPR) was populated with empty chairs and filled with silence, except for a few last-second preparations. By 7 p.m., the CCMPR buzzed with people; the space became a standing-room-only venue. The runway—a long, narrow strip of well-lit carpet—split the sea of chairs and people. The models waited anxiously in an adjacent room. The Asian Students’ Alliance (ASA) Fashion Show was about to start.
Curried cauliflower captivates tastebuds
My home has always sincerely welcomed vegetables, but my sister’s full-on vegetarianism required making some adjustments. Instrumental to these dietary modifications has been the “Cooked Veg” section of the “Ottolenghi Simple: A Cookbook,” published in October 2018. It is one thing for vegetables to be cooked poorly or cooked well; it is quite another to have a party of vegetables and spices popping off in one’s mouth with every bite.
Show us your best stickers!
“This is my favorite sticker because it’s a Sunrise sticker about a movement of young people working to stop climate change.” -Melissa Hoffmann ’21. Duncan Aronson/The Miscellany News. The mosaic of colorful stickers on students’ laptops radiate personality through study-spaces like the “I need more laptop space.” -Annika Rowland ’20. Duncan Aronson/The Miscellany News. “This is a quote from ‘Slaughterhouse Five,’ one of my favorite books ever.” -Eli Wassertzug ’22.
ASC magazine centers Asian and Asian-American voices
Above, Lead Designer Am Chunanada ’22 proudly showcases the Migration Stories page of “Portrait,” on which she focused particular design attention. She drew inspira- tion for the visual style from well-known magazines of Asia and the stories told within. Duncan Aronson/Miscellany News. When mired in the present, it may be easy to become myopic.
Education Fellows support, inspire East Coast students
[Full Disclosure: Aronson participated in this program as an Urban Education Fellow.] Winter break is a time for students to distance themselves from school. How ironic is it that some would choose to spend their respective winter breaks involved in precisely the one institution in which they aren’t expected to partake— school?
Forum broadens VASAM horizons
Rather than being narrowly focused on Asian American studies, however, Okihiro’s talks connected Asian and American identities to comprehensive critical ethnic studies of all identities to investigate a universal human condition. His unexpectedly expansive approach suggested a different motivation than self-representation.
Prof spotlight: Williams Brown talks educational diversity
Just before Thanksgiving break on an already sparsely populated campus, I stopped by the Old Observatory Building to have a chat with Assistant Professor of Education Kimberly N. Williams Brown. Only in her second year as a Vassar faculty member, Brown has taken an unlikely path to enter the world of education, academia and teaching. The Miscellany News: Why did you become an education professor? What got you interested in education?
Nguyen ’20 navigates crossroads of multiple identities
Whether she’s working at the Information Desk, delivering laughs in underground improv performances or running around as president of the Asian Students’ Alliance (ASA), Heather Phan Nguyen ’20 always carries a bright, buoyant air about her. Her sentences are often punctuated with laughter. During our interview, Nguyen constantly interrupted herself to shout enthusiastic greetings to acquaintances even if they were across the College Center.
ASA Night Market fuses, celebrates culinary cultures
In a similar vein, ASA Treasurer Johnson Lin ’21 associates night markets with the feeling of adventure, on which he reflected via email: “It’s not the same sense as you would get exploring a new place or hiking feeling of adventure. It’s more like an excitement of getting to eat new foods that I was sure was going to be delicious.” Wang’s and Lin’s personal accounts illustrate how the night market inspires the imagination in a way that food merely sitting on a plate cannot.
Twins talk: Telepathy theory explained, demystified
As Vassar students, we proudly celebrate and share our identities. They are explored through various outlets, such as Orientation events, student organizations and administrative offices. By this token, it’s safe to say that we ponder our identities through self-reflection and dialogue. This article highlights one such exchange within an unusual demographic: twins. I sat down with Olivia Guarnieri ’20 and Max Guarnieri ’20 in person to talk about twinhood.
Students discuss iterations of home, ways to unwind
As if the semester doesn’t go by quickly enough, October break—a whole 216 hours away from the normal routine of Vassar—has come and gone. There is something profoundly sad about the passage of time. Time’s scarce and fleeting qualities draw attention to the ways in which we choose to spend our lives.
Dairy diaries: PAWS connects cows, cats, college students
You may be wondering how petting animals directly relates to being a veterinarian and, by extension, how the farm trip aligned with PAWS’ goals. The answer: The mission of the org is much broader than veterinarian preparation alone. Treasurer Ruth Demree ’19 shared, “We want to be a resource for veterinarian-track people—we are having a veterinarian alum come and talk in a few weeks. There is always that educational aspect.
Org of the Week: Quidditch excites, unites Vassar Muggles
Russo added, “We do that for 24 hours straight in the second semester. We turned that into a fundraiser, which [brings in] a lot of money. [U]ltimately, at the end of the day, we’re a sports organization, but we’re also a social organization.” Atlas chimed in, “We do board night parties, and—how could I forget?—we organize a Yule Ball every year as well.” What about the athletic aspect of Quidditch?
Prof Spotlight: Rock explains illuminating nature of politics
[This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.] This week, we stopped by Rockefeller Hall to chat with Professor of Political Science Stephen Rock. A long-time Vassar faculty member with an extensive academic and administrative background, Rock offers an informed perspective rich with Vassar-specific and general life experience upon which students and colleagues alike can draw. The Miscellany News: What courses are you teaching this year?
Internship tips stave off job-pocalypse
Hello fellow and incoming Vassar Brewers! Ready or not, we will have to adjust our lifestyles back to the school grind on a dynamic campus. If you are new to the campus, then chances are there is something about college life that you find daunting. No need to fret. We—faculty, administrators and upperclassmen—have been there and are more than willing to ease your angst.
Vassar Food Community teams up with Big Night In for collaborative cooking
April 20, better known as 4/20, is a date inextricably tied to substance use. This year, however, Big Night In (BNI) and the Vassar Food Community (VFC) co-hosted the Off-Campus Group Dinner. The substance-free cooking event was held at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory (PUF), a repurposed underwear factory that is now a restaurant and a venue equipped with a kitchen.
Big Night In lasagna-baking session fosters community
April 20, Big Night In (BNI) and the Vassar Food Community teamed up to host a cooking extravaganza at the Poughkeepsie Underwear Factory. Participants made friends and shared laughs as they whipped up a salad appetizer; vegan, vegetarian and meat lasagna entrees; and a fruit crisp dessert. We ended with more people than we started with, on account of all the food babies filling our stomachs.
Barefoot Monkeys strive for poi-fection through inclusivity
This past Sunday, Apr. 15, the Barefoot Monkeys’ Spring Show performance dazzled with fire, props (the professional term is toys), music and choreography. The Spring Show was one of four major shows the Barefoot Monkeys perform annually. A typical show consists of around 20 acts and 35–55 participants. The Barefoot Monkeys refer to themselves as a circus and fire arts group, but they are aware that they do not conform to just one idea of what circus is.
Prof Spotlight: Students motivate educators, posits Bjork
This week we interviewed Professor Christopher Bjork from the Education Department via email. With his long tenure at Vassar and his meta-knowledge of education, Bjork’s insights on Vassar as an educational institution are invaluable. The Miscellany News: How did you first become interested in education? Christopher Bjork: I thought about teaching ever since I was an elementary school student.
Funded by alumna, ‘Discover America’ fosters discussion
Have you been wanting to get more involved on campus? Would you like to converse with a wide range of people about their life experiences? Or are you just craving mac ’n’ cheese? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” you should consider coming to the upcoming event, “Discover America,” hosted by the Office of International Services (OIS) and the Office of Campus Life and Diversity.
Chinese students offer views on liberal arts education
It is nigh impossible to write an internationally focused series of articles and not write about China. The waves of Chinese students leaving China for locations as geographically and culturally diverse as Singapore, Korea, Australia, the U.K., Canada and the U.S. are only growing. The Chinese Ministry of Education reports that in 2015 alone, a whopping 523,700 students left China to study abroad: more than triple those of India, which ranked second.
International spotlight starring Vassar’s Korean students
Since the mid-1970s, the student bodies of American colleges and graduate schools have become increasingly foreign. The last decade or so has seen a particularly large surge of international students, surpassing the 1 million threshold and accounting for five percent of undergraduate and graduate enrollment. Relative to America’s total international student body, Koreans comprise the third-largest nationality at roughly 10 percent. This statistic becomes quite astounding upon closer inspection.
Debate combines competition, community
Each side has multiple debaters and is designated as either constructive or rebuttal speakers. Constructive speakers build up their side’s arguments, while the final rebuttal speakers focus solely on arguing why their side should win the overall debate using only the arguments previously presented. The judges score the teams based on content, style and strategy, and they have the final say in deciding the winning team. Debate, as is apparent, involves many practical skills.
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