volume XV, Issue 1
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Robert Seydel
1960 - 2011
Conflict over IDF
soldier event
Students protest
Hampshire rap group
Satire or not?
2 NEWS
Pub Safety log
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Suspected Drug Activity:
While on routine patrol of Prescott, officers heard a
smoke detector alarm coming from one of the mods. Upon entering the mod, officers observed the smell of
marijuana. The student was questioned about smoking in the mod and a Dean’s Referral was submitted.
Vandalize Property:
While on routine patrol, officers noticed suspicious
activity outside the front doors of the Dining Commons. Upon their arrival, several students were walking away from the area. The students stated they had
nothing to do with the activity in question. Saturday,
February 12, 2011
Medical Emergency:
Officers and EMTs were dispatched to Dakin for a
report of an injured student. EMTs administered
first aid and the student was transported by taxi
to Umass Health Services for further treatment.
Fire Alarm:
Officers were dispatched to Greenwich for a fire
alarm. The cause of the alarm was smoke from burning incense. AFD reset the panel and cleared the
scene.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Medical Emergency:
Officers and EMTs were dispatched to the Dining
Commons for a report of an injured student. EMTs
administered first aid. The student signed a Refusal
of Care form.
Fire Alarm:
Officers and Amherst Fire Department were dispatched to Enfield for a fire alarm. The cause of the
alarm was cooking smoke. AFD reset the panel and
cleared the scene.
Well-Being Check:
Officers were notified by Umass Health Services
about a Hampshire student that would require a
follow-up well-being check. Officers have been in
contact with on-call house staff and will follow up.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Medical Emergency:
Officers and EMTs were dispatched to Enfield for a
report of an injured student. EMTs administered first
aid and the student signed a Refusal of Care form.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Well-Being Check:
Officers were dispatched to the Eric Carle Museum for a well-being check on a Hampshire
College student. Officers were able to contact the student and transported them to Dakin
in the care of the on-call house director
Volume XV Issue 1
Changes in division I requirements
By Elyssa Czynski
Staff Writer
E
very Hampshire student, from the FirstYears to the Div III’s, knows there are certain requirements for passing Division I. Hampshire is not
a school known for having a lengthy list of requirements. The strictest requirements that exist are those
that typically are passed within the first semester
that makes up Division I.
The current Division I requirements include finishing one 100-level course as a first year tutorial and
any 100-level or designated 200-level course in each
of the Five Schools of the College.These schools include Natural Science, Cognitive Science, Critical
Social Inquiry (formerly Social Science), Humanities,
Arts, and Cultural Studies, and Interdisciplinary Arts.
The combination of the five courses from each of the
schools and three electives equates to distribution
requirements that are typically completed after two
to three semesters.
Currently, there is a plan to change the Division I
requirements as of the Fall 2011 semester. The new re-
quirements are very similar to the old requirements
but instead of having to take courses from all five
Schools, students will only be required to take four
in addition to the three electives.
The requirements were changed with the hope
that more students will be able to complete Division
I in only two semesters. According to Zena Clift, an
assistant dean in CASA, the new requirements give
students more freedom in choosing their courses
and thinking about their potential concentration.
Even though not much has changed about Division I, there is a prospective new requirement. Community Engaged Learning is to be added to the Div I
requirements. According to Clift, it is the least solidified aspect of the new Division I. At present time, it
is similar to the Community Service requirement for
Division II.
Prior to the change coming this fall, Division I requirements have only changed once before. In 2002,
passing Division I went from being exam-based to
successfully fulfilling the required classes.
Also, Div II’s, don’t worry—the Division II requirements have not changed. ~tree~
The introduction of Meatless Mondays
By Colby Colodner
Staff Writer
N
ew and snazzier cereal dispensers, relocation of the desert table, and an increase in
bread shelving are not the only changes being made
in Saga this spring semester. For roughly a month
now, the dining commons has been running under
a new managerial structure, as a result of the implementation of a new Sodexo general manager and a
new head chef. February 7th marked the beginning
of the new management’s largest venture: Meatless
Mondays.
The title of Meatless Mondays adequately conveys
the significance of the event—there will be no meat
options produced in Saga aside from lunchtime burgers and deli meat will still be available. The reasoning
for not completely discontinuing all meat products
on Mondays is because, as general manager John Davis comments, “[they] understand that some kids still
want a burger or a roast beef sandwich.”
Sodexo is currently supporting Meatless Mondays at college campuses nationwide, as well as at
The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The intention behind Meatless Mondays, as part of Sodexo’s
healthy Monday program, is to reduce individual
meat consumption by 15 percent, and improve per-
sonal health. Additionally, the program aims to help
protect the environment, citing that it will aid in reducing carbon footprints, water usage, and fuel dependence. Meatless Mondays is operated under the
mantra of “good for you, good for the environment.”
When asked whether the creation of Meatless
Mondays was a budgetary precaution taken by both
Sodexo and Hampshire College, Davis responded
that economic reasoning was definitely not the focal
point. Davis remarks, “people tend to place protein
and dollars in the same category, but organic fruits
and vegetables can often cost the same or even more
than meat.”
Meatless Monday seems to be receiving positive feedback from both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. First
year student Jonah Simonak, who regularly eats meat from
Saga for dinner comments, “I don’t believe in a healthy or
non-healthy diet. I’m more into eating what tastes good,
so if there are good-tasting meatless options, then I’m into it.” Similarly, first year and vegetarian student Saffronia Downing is also fond of the new program. Downing
states that she wanted to start a program similar to Meatless Monday last semester, which she learned of through
her Sustainable Hampshire class, and came back from
break to find it implemented for the spring. Downing also
comments that she feels Saga is doing a good job thus far,
“even though there was a lot of meat this Monday”.~tree~
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Managing Editors
Ben Kudler
Editorial Board
Elizabeth Berg
Sami Diaz
Emily Drummer
Brittni Hayes
Jo Nguyen
Roberto Rodriguez
Duncan Sullivan
Alyssa Tufano
NEWS 3
Record snowfall amounts at Hampshire
Staff Writers
Colby Colodner
Elyssa Czynski
Morgan Drewniany
Cleo Ebertz
Scotty Gillmer
Ryan Mihaly
Photographers
Eve Bernhard
Hampshire College
893 West St. Amherst, ma 01002
hampshireclimax@gmail.com
The views expressed in the Climax do not necessarily reflect those of the paper, its staff, or Hampshire College. the Climax will gladly work with
any interested writers and photographers and
holds regular staff meetings open to all Hampshire
students and faculty. Please direct any comments,
questions, corrections, letters to the editors, or article submissions to hampshireclimax@gmail.com.
The typeface families used in the Climax are Climax News DJr by David Jonathan Ross (f03); Microflf & MicroExtendFLF by Casady & Greene;
and 20Db by Jovanny Lemonad. The Climax
was designed by David Jonathan Ross and Dan
Clarendon (F06).
Copyright 2011, the Climax. All rights reserved.
Cover image taken by Will Delphia
By Morgan Drewniany
Staff Writer
T
courtesy of flickr
his past winter has been a snowy one in the
Pioneer Valley, though especially in Amherst.
Each day the snow banks get pushed higher up
and further back to make room for the continuing
snowfall.
January of 2011, with 39.9 inches of snow, was the
second snowiest January on record for Amherst, explained UMass climatologist Michael Rawlins. The
runner-up was January of 1984 with 48.2 inches.
The snow has been record-breaking for other regions in Massachusetts. Boston reached 38.3 inches,
the third highest recorded, and Worcester received
48.4 inches, their second snowiest January.
The most notable snowfall record reached was
at Hartford’s Bradley International Airport, located
in Windsor Locks, CT. Their previous snowfall record for January was 43.1 inches, in 1996. This was
smashed by the arrival of over 57 inches of snow
this past month. It also broke the overall snowfall record for any month in Windsor Locks ever.
“Over the past few weeks, southern New England
has seen several low pressure systems moving rapidly
down from southern Canada… It was the abundant
moisture from these vigorous Nor’easters, combined
with cold air from northern Canada, which resulted
in heavy snowfall and high depth-to-liquid snow ratios,” Rawlins reported.
He also explained that this high depth-to-liquid
snow ratio meant fluffy, light, powdery snow. Wet
snow compacts more when it falls and therefore, results in less accumulation.
in
this
issue
Rawlins added that the snowfall events in January were not singular events; they were convergences of different storms during perfect meteorological
conditions.
Students of Hampshire that attended Jan Term
were greeted with snow they had perhaps never seen
before. The campus was covered with mountainous
piles of snow and paths across grass were no longer
passable.
“I love the snow but Hampshire College doesn’t
plow the one path I need to get to my mod,” said JB
Frelander.
Jana Farrell shared the same feelings, “I like the
snow but it does cut off my favorite path.”
“I hate snow but now that there’s ice I can walk
anywhere on the snow,” Devin Ingraham-Adie pointed out, “I took a walk in the woods this weekend and
it was pretty cool. When it melts there will be too
much water though and I hate mud.”
Div III student Jeremy Koelmel said it didn’t affect him quite as much, “I’m inside all the time. It
gives me an excuse to work later.”
The snow makes it harder on commuters as well.
Some parking lots are blocked off and spots are completely filled. “It’s gotten me towed,” said student
Tom Leland. “It makes it so hard to park.”
So far February has not been as snowy. However,
with cold temperatures holding up, the accumulations
from January are far from over. Looking even further
into the future, Rawlins from UMass remarked “climate model projections for the future suggest wetter
winters, and perhaps more heavy snowfalls in coming
decades.” ~tree~
News: Changes to Div I (2), Meatless Monday (2), Snow (3), Pro-Israel harassment (4)
Opinions: Letter from SPICI (5), Letter from SJP (6), Response to SJP (7), Hampshire
rap group (8-9), Books of consumption (9)
Features: Egypt solidarity march (10), Calendar (11), Valentine’s day (11)
Arts & Entertainment: Legacy Circle (12), Sound Thoughts (13), Cartton artist (14)
4 News
Volume XV Issue 1
Guest speaker, harassment of Pro-Israel students
resparks debate
By Nara Williams
Contributing Writer
T
owards the end of last semester, a Hampshire student reported being attacked multiple times for expressing support for Israel both at UMass and on
Hampshire’s campus. The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, was called
a “racist bitch”, “apartheid lover”, and was at one point physically pushed. After
receiving an e-mail that was perceived as a death threat, the student approached
the dean of student life, Amnat Chittaphong.
The incidents were reported to Public Safety through the dean’s office. The student could not identify the persons involved in the multiple incidents as Hampshire students, as they were wearing hoods in all instances. Public Safety was thus
unable to implicate specific persons in the incident, but had an outreach officer
follow up with the student several times. Interim President Marlene Fried responded to the incident by writing an open
letter to the community in which she condemned the acts and reminded students
that “While conversations around Israel and Palestine are often loaded with emotions, it is our responsibility to ensure that they take place in an environment of
respect and care for all members of our community.” Additionally, eight faculty
members signed a letter of support.
In what has become an ongoing dialogue, student group Students for Justice
in Palestine (SJP) responded to Fried with another open letter to the community. Representatives of SJP explained that the letter was a measure taken to make
their feelings as a group clear and express that they in no way condone any of the
harassment that occurred.
Students Promoting Israeli Culture and Information (SPICI) recently responded with a further letter in which they criticized SPJ for making their letter “into a
heated proclamation that unnecessarily attacks insignificant nuances in the President’s letter and inappropriately defines personal identity as the authors see fit.”
These tensions again rose to the surface last Thursday, February 3rd during a
speech in FPH by a former frontline IDF soldier, Sergeant Benjamin Anthony.
Before the event, SJP launched a plan to interrupt the soldier through yelling
various phrases. They were then to cast a banner and stage a walk out, as well as
hold a vigil outside for this who didn’t wish to come in
Directly preceding the speech, there was some disorder. “Public safety wasn’t
letting anyone into the event and everyone in the lobby started yelling and chanting at each other. The pro-Palestine side was chanting their chants and the proIsrael side was chanting back in the same way. Someone dropped an Israeli flag
over the banner and someone then dropped a Palestinian flag,” said a representative of SJP.
When students were finally let into the lecture hall, the administrators stressed
that they wanted everything to be civil and instructed anyone planning to interrupt the event to leave immediately. During the speech, however, members of SJP
blew whistles and shouted attacks at the speaker.
At one point one member of the audience members, a non-Hampshire student,
called other members “faggots.” One member stood up and started yelling “I’m a
faggot, I’m a faggot, you’re homophobic this must stop.” Eventually, public safety
removed both members.
Public Safety otherwise reported finding everyone to be generally cooperative.
Blocking the doors after a certain point in the evening was intended as a measure
taken to enforce fire-hazard regulations, as the room had reached capacity. “Of
course physical violence cannot be tolerated,” said Associate Director of Public
Safety Ray LaBarre, “but we recognize the importance of dialogue and debate on
campus. Our priority is to ensure safety without taking sides.” Eventually the speaker had to stop his speech earlier, resorting to hold a short
question and answer session and the event ended. Following the event, members
of SJP and others sang peaceful protest songs and ended the vigil.
Representatives of SJP reported that they felt it important to disrupt the event
for a number of reasons. In their community letter, which was sent out before the
event, they wrote “We find it reprehensible that at a time in which Hampshire
is calling for increased ‘civility’ in our political discourse, a representative of the
Israeli ‘Defense’ Forces would come to our campus in an attempt to garner sympathy for the ‘hardship’ he endured while serving his time.”
The students involved in bringing the IDF soldier to campus were upset with
the interruptions. “Everyone deserves to be listened to”, said Amir Fogel, a signer
for SPICI. SPICI, who originally backed the event, pulled out several days before
due to anticipation of a protest. “The event was not intended to be an instigation.”
Fried issued a statement the following morning informing the community of
the disruptions and reminding students of the need to be able to conduct “open
dialogue and discussion.”
Those who openly support Israel continue to perceive a culture of hostility
on Hampshire’s campus. The student attacked, who considered not returning for
the spring semester, had to switch mods and continues feeling afraid to go out at
night alone, even on campus. The student also admitted knowing of “at least ten”
other students who had experienced harassment, some of whom had even left
Hampshire as a result.
Fogel, who had an Israeli flag taken from his dorm room door last year, also attested to the climate of fear. “When someone takes my personal thing, my Israeli
flag, a symbol of me, the message gets through that I’m not allowed to have that.
I’m shut down for having an opinion, which is the worst feeling ever”.
Students from all sides continue to express frustration with the polarization of
the issue and the misconceptions that have arisen. Representatives of SJP express
hope that despite disagreements, they wish to have a dialogue and ultimately establish similar views and hopes for the world. SPICI, Fried, and the members of
the administration have also expressed the need for civilized dialogue and general education regarding Israel and Palestine. ~tree~
Courtesy of Will Delphia
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Opinions 5
Open letter from the Students Promoting Israel Culture and Information
I
n light of recent incidents at Hampshire, and in response to the reactions of various groups on campus to those events, we feel that we must offer
our own statement to add to the public discourse.
Violence or the threat of violence against any person for their beliefs (political or otherwise) is unacceptable in any context. The instances of physical, verbal,
and written harassment, threats, and intimidation which were addressed by Acting President Marlene Gerber Fried and Special Presidential Assistant for Diversity and Multicultural Education Jaime Davila in their letter to the Hampshire
community are examples of such violence, and we applaud both the administration and faculty for publicly speaking out in response to these acts. Furthermore,
we trust in their ability to discern between actions fueled by ethnic or religious
hatred and those of political intolerance. To suggest that they have not done so is
as dismissive of the events that have occurred as it is cowardly.
We feel that is it is equally irresponsible to condemn the violent incidents and
then immediately justify their basis, as the letter recently distributed by Students
for Justice in Palestine (SJP) seeks to do to. This document turns what should be
a statement in support of denouncing “threats and personal violence to students
who identify politically with the State of Israel” into a heated proclamation that
unnecessarily attacks insignificant nuances in the President’s letter and inappropriately defines personal identity as the authors see fit.
As the signers for a group that does its best to represent the wide range of affiliation with or support of Israel found within Hampshire’s student body, we understand the term “Zionism” as the right to Jewish self-determination. To claim
that such a broad orientation is inherently aligned with current policies of Israel’s
government and military is ludicrous. By the same logic of such a statement, anyone who believes in the foundational values of the United States is implicit in
each and every one of the country’s institutionalized intolerances, military operations, and genocidal history.
At the intersection of our shared public position as representatives for SPICI and our respective personal Jewish affiliations, we feel a need to address
the recurring introduction of anti-Semitism into discourse that concentrates
specifically on anti-Zionism, often proffered without relevance or basis, or
used to dismiss the validity of any Jewish narrative in support of Israel (and
here we must contend another point in SJP’s most recent letter that appears
consistently in their rhetoric: that a Zionist perspective and Jewish identity are artificially “conflated.” While the SPICI signers see Zionism and Judaism as two very separate things, for many Jews a connection to Israel is
an integral—if not defining—part of their personal identity, and ought to be
respected as such). It is our firm belief that anti-Zionist sentiments or actions are not inherently rooted in anti-Semitism, but the truth of the matter is
that they can be and often are connected, especially within the Hampshire
community. Each of the SPICI signers has been personally approached
by increasing numbers of students expressing their discomfort with the
anti-Semitism they face from their peers and educators alike, often but not exclusively apparent around anti-Israel demonstrations on campus. These concerns are
legitimate, and they are worth the consideration of the entire community when
voiced—and even more so when they are silenced.
Nor should the question of anti-Semitism be arbitrarily brought up in order to
distract our campus’ conversation concerning the events that have occurred. In
the case of the repeated acts of physical, verbal, and written harassment about
which Hampshire’s acting president wrote in December, the victim was targeted
for vocally supporting Israel, not for any religious or ethnic affiliation. To our
knowledge, no individual or group has been publicly accused of direct responsibility for these incidents on our campus, and by no means are we in any position
to place blame or point fingers in this regard. We do believe, however, that such
aggression does have a source in the militarized rhetoric and political attitude
that has become widely accepted in our community, a violently passionate form
of “activism” that is practiced by some groups more heavily than others. Whether
the perpetrator of a harmful act is a member of an organized group or not, responsibility for encouraging a discourse and environment in which the perpetrators
felt that such action was acceptable must be introspectively acknowledged.
The scene in the Main Lecture Hall last week proved demonstrative of the need
for such introspection. Despite our personal feelings about the event, (which were
and are still varied) we attended Sgt. Benjamin Anthony’s presentation as SPICI
signers and representatives of Hampshire’s Israel-identified community—only to
find ourselves in the margins of an audience that was more focused on itself than
on the stage: a crowd that was too absorbed in its own dynamics to actually consider the content of the evening’s remarks. Opposing views were polarized on all
sides long before the day of the event, and consequently, every banner-waving,
flag-draped student in Franklin Patterson Hall that evening attended to expressly
agree or disagree with the speaker; not one of them came to have their views challenged. Is that really all the integrity that’s left of Hampshire’s academic values?
Although SPICI did not plan, organize, or even sponsor this event, its student
signers all support and commend the efforts of all Hampshire students to bring to
our campus speakers with whom they identity and align themselves, regardless of
our own personal opinions about the presentation or its message. To assert that
any voice has no place at Hampshire is both small-minded and audacious in its
lack of common respect and its defiance of the pursuit of intellectual curiosity for
which Hampshire has stood since its very inception. Every member of a community of ideas should consistently challenge their own perspectives, and be challenged without being threatened.
It is our sincere hope that this letter, which was very difficult for us to write
and even harder to sign, will contribute to a conversation that must be held
throughout Hampshire college, by students, staff, faculty, and administration
alike.
Sincerely,
Nat Bernstein, Staci Akselrod, and Amir Fogel
Signers for Students Promoting Israel Culture and Information (SPICI) at Hampshire College ~tree~
6 Opinions
Volume XV Issue 1
Open letter from the Students for Justice in Palestine
D
ear Community Members,
We are issuing this statement as concerned members of Hampshire’s Students for Justice in Palestine to inform the community about the event that took
place on Thursday, February 3, 2011. We feel that the letter that President Fried
sent out the following day omitted crucial information about what took place that
night and that it is necessary to clarify the nature of this specific event.
Sergeant Benjamin Anthony of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) came to give a
presentation on behalf of his organization, Our Soldiers Speak. The sole purpose
of this organization is to present the lives of Israeli soldiers and the wars they are
a part of in a sympathetic light, with no mention of the Palestinian civilians who
suffer as a result of these wars. As such, they implicitly and explicitly defend the
internationally recognized war crimes soldiers like Sgt. Benjamin Anthony have
participated in.
Appalled that a soldier from an occupying army was coming to speak openly on
our campus, a multi-generational group of students and community members participated in a collective protest during the event. Our protest had multiple goals: to
call attention to the fact that there was no space for the voices of Palestinians to
speak to the injustices committed against them by such soldiers like Sgt. Anthony,
to challenge his purported “a-political” participation in the occupation of Palestine, and to offer a safe space for support and remembrance of those thousands
silenced, killed, and displaced by the Israeli regime. In the interest of transparency,
we would like to outline the steps we took to carry out each of these goals.
SJP produced and distributed a pamphlet for the event that described the history of the organizations that sponsored the event, including their participation in
Islamophobic, racist, and anti-Arab propaganda. From the beginning of the event,
a banner was held that read “Where is the Palestinian voice in this dialogue?”,
while protesters held up signs with phrases including “Never Again for Anyone”
and “The Wall Must Fall,” as well as names of the 352 children killed during Operation Cast Lead. Over the course of the night, members and allies of our group stood
up and raised their voices as a form of resistance to Sgt. Anthony’s narrative, and
all of them complied with Public Safety when they were asked to leave the room.
Those expelled from the lecture hall joined a vigil in the lobby, which offered an
open space for song, silence, and honor for those who have died as a result of the
occupation. The vigil allowed us to remember those who continue to resist, within
the occupied Palestinian territories and internationally.
Our intentions in disrupting Anthony’s speech were to re-center the talk in a
human rights discourse, and to condemn the human rights violations of the lon-
Courtesy of Will Delphia
gest standing military occupation in the world. From the outset, the structure of
the event itself showed a power disparity.
Only those in support of the speaker were allowed to sit in the front three rows,
with the exception of a protester who uses a wheelchair and two of her friends.
Certain members of the audience were not only barred from sitting in first three
rows but were immediately warned that if we attempted to go towards the stage
we would be handcuffed immediately. The audience was also informed that nobody would be allowed to use recording equipment in the room. However, this
was only enforced against protesters; a handful of Sgt. Anthony’s supporters recorded the event without consequence or impediment.
Throughout the event, the administrative representatives present fully cooperated with Sgt. Anthony’s agenda, which we feel discredited subsequent claims
they made for fair and just “dialogue.” In a move that is unprecedented at Hampshire, public safety officers guarded the doors for the entirety of the event and did
not allow anyone to enter late or re-enter if they had left. Everyone attending was
prevented from entering until the speaker gave his order. Each person was then
lined-up in single file by a public safety officer. When one Hampshire student was
assaulted and called a “faggot” by a supporter of the speaker, public safety officers
initially moved to remove the Hampshire student who received the homophobic
slur, rather than the person who used this threatening language. When two Palestinians in the room were referred to as “terrorists”, no action was taken. No attention was given to the safety of protesters when audience members suffered hate
speech.
We understand this event as part of an effort to whitewash the IDF and to distract from growing international criticism of Israel’s human rights violations. As
students in the US, it is our responsibility to critique our government and challenge our educational institutions for their unquestioning support of Israel’s atrocities. Whenever the Israeli government and its supporters attempt to gloss over 46
years of war crimes, glorify the construction of illegal settlements, claim democracy despite the blockade and bombardment of Gaza to overthrow its democratically elected government, legitimize the confiscation of water access, or justify the
destruction of thousands of Palestinian homes, they will be challenged with truth
and justice.
We will not be silent.
Sincerely,
Students for Justice in Palestine ~tree~
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Opinions 7
Another open letter to the Hampshire College community
By Robert Liota
Contributing Wtiter
D
ear everybody,
Three months ago, one of our fellow community members wrote an editorial piece in The Omen meant as a joke. It was in fact insulting to many on campus, and induced unease and even fear for some individuals’ social safety on this
campus. A dialogue session was held.
I think a key lesson to be taken away from that incident is that, while we all
have a right to free speech, that fact does not morally validate or condone saying something that is hurtful or endangering, nor does it release any individual
from a responsibility to uphold a certain form of social contract as part of this
community.
The reason I revisit that event is because the recent letter to the community
from Students for Justice in Palestine has rather disingenuously turned a very
serious caution about the social rights of individuals on this campus into a
spring-board for propaganda, one which also subsequently proposes that certain
individuals should not be allowed on campus to speak. One that hinges on drawing a contrast between Judaism and Zionism that suggests that to be anti-semitic
is not to be anti-zionist. True. But when it is framed as part of a response to hearing about both violent and threatening acts targeting an individual on campus, it
seems to affirm these actions in making them distinctly different from each other,
depending on whom they are targeting. That is wrong. Perhaps SJP did not intend
to sound like they were condoning acts of violence— they certainly seem to be
oblivious to much of the contents of the President’s initial letter (it was sent in
December, not January).
For instance, at issue in the President’s letter were not necessarily acts of antisemitism. At issue was violence directed toward individuals in our community.
What SJP is essentially demonstrating in their first paragraph (and subsequently
their entire letter) is that they take issue with acts or threats of violence, vandalism, and harassment of individuals when concerning anti-semitism. Definitely
laudable. But then it proceeds to backtrack on itself and say, “But wait, what is really at issue in the letter is anti-zionism!” Or rather:
“However, what is very clear to us is that the letter issued to every member of
the Hampshire community was not primarily concerned with acts of anti-Semi-
tism, but with vocal opposition towards expressions of Zionism.” (SJP, “An Open
Letter to the Hampshire College Community”)
First of all, the letter was not in fact concerned with vocal opposition toward
expressions of Zionism. It was in fact concerned with this:
“...students on this campus have been subjected to physical, verbal, and written
harassment, threats, and intimidation because of their political views in support of
the state of Israel.” [emphasis added]
Nowhere in President Fried’s letter does it condemn anyone for “vocal opposition” toward expressions of Zionism. I would also like to bring up another criticism here, however— being in support of the state of Israel bears a rather vague
association to Zionism. You can be a Conservative Republican and be against a
woman’s choice in bearing a child but still be in support of the States of America,
just as you can be a Liberal Democrat and believe exactly the opposite but still
pledge allegiance to the United States. So it is still a stretch to glean “expressions
of Zionism” from “political views in support of the state of Israel.” What if one’s
support hinged on an Israeli state free of religious/racial directives?
I could criticize SJP about the way they approach some of their activism for a
very long time, but that would be getting away from the point of this letter, which
is that this community has some serious problems with hostility. Rather than allowing President Fried’s letter to resonate with a warning about it, SJP has decided to deaden it by piggybacking on it with a letter that boils down to anti-speech
propaganda. I think that’s disrespectful of this community, and I think it hints
dangerously close at excusing the actions that were described in Marlene Fried’s
December 17th letter.
While we all have a right to free speech, that fact does not morally validate or
condone saying something that is hurtful or endangering, nor does it release any
individual from a responsibility to uphold a certain form of social contract as part
of this community.
I ask both sides of the Israel-Palestine issue, as well as the community at large
to heed this caution in general. And stop hitting each other. It makes Hampshire
College sound more like a day-care for wealthy brats than it already is.
Sincerest love, appreciation, disgust, and/or respect,
Robert Liota ~tree~
Courtesy of Will Delphia
8 Opinions
Will the real feminists please stand up?
By Colby Colodner and Siena Dryden
Staff and Contributing Writers
H
ailing from a low-income neighborhood in Santa Cruz, CA, and
declaring rap music as an integral part of his childhood, Viva Hansen has
emerged on the Hampshire music scene hoping to establish himself as a serious
rapper. His collaborator who holds a strong interest in poetry, Alec Larson, also
claims that the sounds of hip-hop and rap from various generations resonated
through his home in the affluent suburban area of Dover, MA. The two first year
students were initially members of the Hampshire hip-hop group Coast to Coast
(CTC), but have recently broken away from the rest of its members. Their most
current project includes the creation of a new group: The Feminists.
The Feminists first began working together in January of 2011 with the intention to entertain because, as Larson states, “the root of any music is entertainment.” The pair defines entertainment as something that an individual can latch
onto, enjoy, take something out of, or be inspired by. When asked if there was
any additional reasoning or goals behind the music, Larson responded that “on a
very basic level [they are] patronizing the bigots and sexists who exist both in and
mostly outside the Hampshire community.” The duo feels they are able to do so by
formulating satirical lyrics and promoting their music solely within the confines
of the Hampshire College community.
Hansen and Larson claim their attempt at satire is achieved through lyrics
such as, “We treat our women like we’re living in an Arab nation” and “Fuck with
the feminists you get your fucking kids raped.” Thus, we must first discern what
satirical content is and what it subsequently promotes. Satire, as defined by the
Merriam-Webster dictionary, is wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vices or folly. It is also known to be constructive social criticism. A look into
the lyrical content of The Feminists poses the question of where the indication
of satire lies, as it is difficult to identify the wit in lyrics like, “Next time she don’t
shave her pussy, imma kill her.”
When asked to explain the satirical message conveyed in their lyrical content,
and where the satire is evident, the duo remarked that it is visible in all layers of
their lyrics. Hansen introduced Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, famous for its
satirical elements that comment on American slavery and the prevalent racist attitudes of the time, and commented, “if you could compare us to [Huckleberry
Volume XV Issue 1
Courtesy of Facebook
Finn], it’s kind of like that—over the top descriptions of stuff that are so over the
top, that if you really believe them, then maybe the joke is on you.” The Feminists
feel that the use of exaggerated satire allows them to promote their own politics,
which remain undefined, while mocking the views of others. Yet there is a lack of
assumed responsibility and awareness of the weight that their statements carry.
When asked if they care if their lyrical satire is properly conveyed, and whether
or not their listeners understand it, Larson responds, “I hope they do, but if they
don’t, I don’t care.”
Sexual violence and hate speech towards women is currently plaguing countless communities worldwide. By using lyrics like, “I’m going in whether her tampon is red or white,” The Feminists are representative of how rape culture becomes
perpetuated through lyrical and other references to sexual violence within the
media. Our media’s obsessive production of eroticized depictions of female sexual
violence in films and music videos desensitizes young males to the widespread issue of sex crimes against women and unfortunately has a hand in facilitating said
crimes. The vaguely presented satirical lyrics of Hansen and Larson, produced
from their comfortable status as heterosexual white males, serve as an example
of how the multibillion dollar rap industry allows, and is partially responsible for,
the aforementioned discriminative behavior.
Since The Feminists claim satire and make reference to sexual violence within
their lyrics, the question arises as to how, as artists, they advocate for those oppressed by the sexists they patronize? Where is the activism and the production
of constructive dialogue over the issues they claim to believe in? In response to
our questioning of how they are active in supporting their social beliefs, Hansen
retorted, “what do you want us to do? Start a discussion group and meet three
times a week?” Well, it would not hurt.
Currently, when it comes to being advocates for positive sexual relationships,
ending sexual violence, and the overall betterment of women, the duo falls short.
Although the group claims to believe in and encourage open dialogue, it only
transpires when a disgruntled audience member approaches them. Larson comments, “one of our goals is to open up dialogue, but we’re not seeking people out
to talk about our music.” Additionally, the duo admits to have limited knowledge
of the sex crimes against women that transpire both on a global scale, as well as
on the Hampshire campus. “We’re most familiar with rap music, and the sexism
in rap,” says Larson.
Continued on page 9
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Novels of consumption
By Roberto Rodriguez
Opinions Editor
Opinions 9
here is a certain satisfaction in being surrounded by books. They hold
a sort of weight that is entirely their own. They are dense and perhaps physically heavy, but they also hold a weightless density, for words and ideas surely
hold a sense of force, operating within laws of gravity that are entirely their own.
Unlike the contemporary dissolution of the newspaper, books continue to
hold some vitality or imperative. Yet to consider its current state is to examine the
powers that preserve its existence. Threatened by the piercing spearhead of commercialism, the body of the newspaper has been digitized, reformatted within the
internet in order to reach a larger audience. With an ever diminishing group of
readers (or rather, consumers), the physical newspaper is slowly fading, incapable
of retaining its audience.
The prospect of a publishing industry contingent upon the notion of the reader
as a consumer as opposed to the reader as a consumer of knowledge is frightening. The very beauty of published texts withers beneath the obstructing force of
this industry’s regime, for it stifles the creativity of the text and possibly denies
certain forms of information from being uncovered. Most lamentably, perhaps, is
how commercialism, consumerism, and pop-culture have opened a wound on the
body of contemporary literature, tearing at its core, infecting its bloodstream with
values that hold the monetary value of the novel above the value of its innovation, craft, and content.
Indeed, recent canons – Opera’s Book Club, the New York Time’s Bestseller List,
etc. – have arguably rendered novels more accessible, stamping their emblems of
esteem and drawing readers first to the cover of the novel. Thus, even the book’s
cover has been transmuted. Book covers were once plain and unembellished, allowing the reader to cultivate a singular relationship with the text while also allowing the text to speak for itself. Yes, a reader’s evaluation of a work is contingent
upon numerous external factors, yet the unadorned book cover lets a work speak
for itself. Book covers today are saturated with reviews and badges of validation,
arousing readers with superficial and often trite comments on the novel.
So, for whom are these covers designed? Surely, a reader will pick up a book
for the sake of the profound experience of reading. These covers are designed to
market a book, making readers consumers and commoditizing the book. We are
being forced to judge a book by its cover, denying it of its voice, asking how many
copies it sold as opposed to how many lives it changed. The commoditized book
is scarred with insidious messages scratched by an industry that also seeks to
carve a consumer out of the reader.
The regime of consumer culture has posed an even greater problem to the fate
of literature, for it has yielded the emergence of “pop literature”. Publishing agencies are inundated with overwhelming and incessant waves of manuscripts, flipping through pages of potential flops and waiting for that rare to gem to fall into
their laps. Yet how do these agencies evaluate manuscripts? What are their criteria for publishable novels? Recently, even novels that purport to be great pieces
of fiction seem contrived, chosen by publishers who seek potential bestsellers,
novels that will attract consumers towards the cash register. “Good” novels are
published with ambitions of fame and acclaim. Publishing companies eagerly anticipate bestseller lists and potential movie deals, waiting to redesign their book
covers, releasing them with protruding brands (“NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE”). Thus, we are simultaneously marketed a novel and a movie. We are enticed to buy this novel, watch its film adaptation, develop a relationship that is
sparked by attraction.
This trend is unyielding. However, unlike its cousin, the newspaper, the novel
is far from being dead. Its future, however, does not reside in the consumer-centric
culture of the mainstream; its intractable current has always spit innovative and
subversive novels out onto its marginal banks. But when a novel is great enough,
an updraft may lift it from the margins, dropping it into that rapid stream. Sometimes, these novels are so heavy that, upon falling, they alter the course of that
stream’s current. ~tree~
The Feminists readily affiliate themselves with Hampshire College as they
state multiple times in their lyrics to “represent Hampshire, yep that’s a given.”
This is an area of Hansen and Larson’s work that we take high issue with. College campuses in general are not strangers to sexual assault as, noted in the 2007
film Dreamworlds 3, 1 in 5 college females will be the victims of sexual violence.
Hampshire is no exception, as it is a community of which both victims and survivors of sexual violence are members. Thus, it should be noted that Hampshire
aims to serve as a place of support and justice for said members of its community,
and at no point should any other member of the community belittle or trivialize
individual experiences with sexual violence.
By so eagerly claiming to represent Hampshire, The Feminists are suggesting
to be representative of the beliefs and opinions of the overall community. We
are not comfortable with this. When asked how they feel their lyrics are or will
be perceived by the survivors of sexual violence within the Hampshire community, Hansen responded, “We can’t appease [sic] everyone. That’s a small group
of people that will take offense to [our music]…but at the end of the day, that’s
entertainment.”
The work produced and promoted by The Feminists aptly falls under the idea
of “hipster racism”, a term used by Andrea Plaid, the sexual correspondent for
Racialicious (a blog working to highlight the intersection between race and pop
culture). Plaid defines hipster racism to be “ideas, speech, and actions meant to
denigrate another person’s race or ethnicity under the guise of being urbane, wit-
ty, educated, liberal, and/or trendy.” By claiming satire, The Feminists feel they are
sufficiently justifying their work. Hansen and Larson feel entitled to make whatever derogatory and offensive comments they want because (of course) they do
not actually mean it. However, the failure to successfully achieve a recognizable
level of satire removes all traces of sardonic wit from their lyrics, ultimately leaving the lyrics of The Feminists to be nothing but insolent and illogical.
While The Feminists have supposedly received multiple comments criticizing their lyrical content, they do not plan to switch or change any of their lyrics.
Larson mentions that moving forward, some of their songs are going to be more
extreme, and some will be more satirical. As a group, they hope to continue promoting discussion and dialogue, and help people better understand the purpose
of their music. However, if the goal of The Feminists is in fact, as Larson states, “to
take the misunderstanding off the table”, we have a few suggestions.
We challenge you to uphold a more immediate sense of responsibility for the
work that you produce. Acknowledge the cowardice in comments like, “at the end
of the day you can’t bridge a gap. You can’t please everyone, not everyone’s going
to see our point of view.” Take an active role in assuring that people understand
your message, and that it does not get lost in translation. We challenge you to acquire a greater knowledge of the social issues you claim to comment on in your
work. Take interest in the gravity of sexual violence towards women. And finally,
we challenge you to produce more constructive and intelligibly satirical lyrics.
We just stood up. Good luck getting us to sit down. ~tree~
T
Will the real feminists please stand up? continued from page 8
10 Features
Volume XV Issue 1
Western Massachusetts marches in solidarity with the Egyptian uprising
By Christopher Clark
Contributing Writer
W
e have all witnessed an enormous step toward self-determination
in Egypt and the Middle East as a whole over the past three weeks. Hosni
Mubarak has left his position as President of Egypt, no longer able to ignore the
millions of Egyptians who refused anything less than his resignation as they occupied Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo and spent days marching in the streets
in other cities across the country. On January 25th, the defiant act of marching
in the streets accompanied by chants pressing Mubarak to leave emboldened
Egyptians all over the country to join in the throngs of protestors, voicing their
disgust with the leadership’s inability to represent the will of the people. The protests were sparked due to a number of different reasons which will likely flesh
themselves out more fully over the reflective period post-Mubarak, but one can
surely point to the Tunisian revolution as perhaps the largest inspiration for the
thousands in Egypt to initially take the streets in late January. Of course, over the
past thirty years of brutal repression under Mubarak’s leadership, the perpetuation of Emergency Laws which allowed for the detention of any dissenters and a
constant firm grip on any means of common representation all helped foster the
cries of protestors who were rallying for dignity, respect, democratic institutions,
and basic human rights.
A statement released through the internal groups involved in organizing the
Egyptian protests read: “Year after year we marched, protested and fought daily
for a decent life, for dignity, for independence and for freedom. We saw our lands
occupied, our people invaded and murdered, our thinkers and journalists imprisoned, our activists tortured and disappeared and our very ability to live and feed
our families challenged. If it wasn’t for the despotism and iron fist rule, imposed
on us by colonial dictators who receive orders from their imperial masters, the
Zionist genocide in Palestine and Lebanon and the U.S pillaging of Iraq would
not have been possible.” The synergy of these connections is most relevant when
thinking of the broader geo-political landscape in relation to the implications of
such actions in Egypt. For instance, The United States’ vast military and economic
support for Egypt and Israel are linked, the impact of the occupation in Iraq and
the wave of restlessness from Arab countries, etc. There are innumerable opportunities to draw out the similarities between the mobilizations in Egypt and the
significance it holds for the rest of the region.
When February 5th was declared the International Day of Solidarity with Egypt
Courtesy of Michelle Williams
alongside the uprisings, over 200 citizens from the surrounding Massachusetts area joined others all over the world for a march in solidarity with the eleventh day
of protests in Cairo, Suez, Alexandria, and other cities around Egypt. The march
was organized by the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Palestine— a group
made up of community members, Five College student groups, and Pioneer Valley
faculty and students concerned with social justice in the Middle East. The event
page on Facebook read: “February 5th has been declared the international day of
solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian people as they continue to organize themselves to form an alternative to the oppressive regimes they lived under before.
It is imperative that these actions which have sparked movements all across the
Arab world are not seen as singular but intricately connected. These pockets of
resistance have found sparks in Yemen, Sudan, Jordan, etc. Now, we must stand in
solidarity with those who are fighting against occupations of their land, neocolonialism, neoliberalism, and regimes which do not represent the will of the people.”
The protest began on UMass Amherst’s campus at 1:00pm amidst sleet and rain.
The march wound itself from Hagis Mall through downtown Amherst and finished on the steps of Amherst College’s Robert Frost library.
Thirteen diverse organizations from the area co-sponsored the march ranging
from SmithSTAND to Amherst Amnesty International to Western Massachusetts
Code Pink and Palestinian Solidarity Bridge. Attendees of the march chanted slogans such as, “Hey Mubarak can’t you see? You will fall like Ben Ali,” “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Mubarak’s crimes,” and “From
Cairo to Palestine, power to the people.” An emphasis on ending the monetary
support from the United States was the prevalent theme of the march as many of
the speeches made on Amherst College’s library steps illuminated the need for
increased pressure on the United States government to end military aid not only
to Egypt, but all dictators in the Middle East who are effectively trying to silence
the reverberating scream of resistance. The days leading up to the resignation of
Hosni Mubarak saw lecture halls filled with professors and students, attempting
to place the recent acts of defiance and civil disobedience in context to broader
ideas of justice in the Arab world. Classrooms were filled with in between chatter of students philosophizing the outcome of these public displays of mobilized
indignation for authoritarian regimes. The excitement from these uprisings is unmatched in our time and all eyes should be fixated on the people of the Middle
East as they reclaim their communities amongst barbaric censorship and iron-fist
rule. ~tree~
Features 11
Thursday, February 17, 2011
February 17 - March 3
Su
20
27
Contra Dance
Red Barn, 7 pm
M
21
Campus Visit Day
Slam Collective
Open Mic
FPH WLH, 8 pm
28
Slam Collective
Open Mic
FPH WLH, 8 pm
Tu
22
1
W
23
CS Talk
ASH 12 pm
Crossing the
American Crises
Screening
FPH ELH, 7:30 pm
2
Reconciliation in CS Talk
ASH 12 pm
Rwanda
FPH MLH, 6:30 pm
A Sustainable You
FPH Faculty
Lounge, 4 pm
Th
17
Climax Meeting
Kiva, 7 pm
Winter Dance
Concert
Main Dance Studio
Theatre, 8 pm
24
Protection
Screening
FPH MLH, 7 pm
Third Thursday
Open Space
Centrum Gallery,
8 pm
3
F
18
Sa
Winter Dance
Valendance
Red Barn, 9:30 pm Concert
Winter Dance
Concert
Main Dance Studio
Theatre, 8 pm
25
Five College
Film Festival
FPH MLH, 7 pm
Main Dance Studio
Theatre, 8 pm
Duncan & Amir’s
Birthday Party
Donut 2, 10:30
26
Robert Seydel
Memorial
Red Barn, 3 pm
Chiku Awali
Main Dance
Studio, 7:30 pm
Science & Religion
Panel
FPH MLH, 5:30 pm
Climax Meeting
Kiva, 7 pm
Chance encounters: “How I met my significant other”
by Maxwell Coviello
Contributing Writer
19
“Andrea and I met at the end of 2009 in an online community. At the very beginning, we spoke to one another on occasion in a chat room. Eventually this
occasional talk became almost daily up until Anime Boston 2010. During the conove-at-first sight is an often disputed phenomenon. Some believe it is the vention, the MFA in Boston was holding an exhibit on the Tomb of 10A, which
product of Hollywood cinema, a quaint if not idealistic notion. Others have Andrea was quite interested in seeing due to her love of Egyptology and ancient
first-hand experience in it. Sometimes it is not the first meeting that defines a re- history, and so I decided to accompany her. That afternoon flew by and two hours
lationship, but what comes after that sets the foundation for love. Whatever the didn’t seem at all like such when we were through. Come June, I slipped out of an
case may be, first encounters are not just delegated to the realm of fiction. The fol- emotionally abusive relationship that I’d been in at the time, and Andrea and I belowing are three auto-biographical accounts from three different couples.
gan to come together as something more than friends, realizing in August that we
shared mutual feelings for one another. We’ve been together ever since, and to be
“So the guy I’m sort of seeing I met on the day after New Years. I was in Boston honest, it’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened in my life.”
with my friends and we, being slightly hung over from the night before, wanted
—Justine and Andrea
food. Most of us had never been to a Sonic, and there was one down the street
from where we were. So we piled into this huge truck and drove there and ate
“I met Tobias years ago, before we were together, at our church. But it’s thanks
what felt like everything on the menu. As we were leaving, my friend unwrapped to Facebook that we’re going out now. He had posted this long note-response on
the receipt around his card. After a second, there was a loud gasp, followed by his wall that he got from some friend, and one of the questions in it was “Would
two more very loud gasps. All of a sudden this letter is shoved in my face that you go out with the person who you took this questionnaire from?” I was really
says: “Just wanted to say, she’s gorgeous.” Before I know it, one of my friends is nervous about asking him out directly, so I decided that before I said anything, I’d
dialing the number for the restaurant and asking for the waiter who served us. try to be subtle. I filled out the entire note (which took forever since it was really
When he got on, my friend shoved the phone in my hand before I knew what was big) and for that question that asked “Would you go out with this person” I put
happening. I asked him coyly if he had “left something behind.” There was this down “Maaaaybe”. Afterword I posted it on his wall. And Tobi noticed it! Eventulong pause until he shyly said, “...yes?” So I gave him my number, and we’ve been ally we ended up talking (over Facebook chat of course) about it, realized we both
crazy about each other since.”
had feelings for each other, and here we are now!”
—Katie and Matt
—Brian and Tobias ~tree~
L
12 Arts & Entertainment
Legacy Circle review
By Jo Nguyen
Photo Editor
T
he lights were dimmed as people took their seats, the pristine set mirroring the expected upkeep of a typical suburb in Middle America as it stared
back at the occupied chairs. The lights soon faded into darkness accompanied by
a low, whirring, electronic hum and the audience was transported to Legacy Circle.
Legacy Circle is the creation of Jamie Custer III, a native Wisconsinite who
wrote and directed the play for his Division III. The quiet suburban neighborhood
is loosely based on Custer’s childhood, the cul-de-sac “has a kind of Mid-West
feel to it, but is not deeply rooted,” says Custer. Just like any character in the story,
the set plays an integral part.
The opening scene offers a glimpse of the plot with all the actors present silently on stage revealing nothing with their blank stares, until a pile of spandex is
dropped in the middle of the floor just to be retrieved by Steven, the character of a
twenty-year-old pothead disappears off set.
As the synopsis says, Legacy Circle is “a story about family, sacrifices, desires,
heroes and villains,” that were conjured up by Custer’s “reflection of the past going towards adulthood and the things that collide in there.” It is what one might
expect if Desperate Housewives were to collide with Marvel comics at the hands of
a Hampshire student.
The first act played out like a sitcom about a typical suburban family. There is
the unhappily married couple, Joe and Laura, and their sixteen-year-old daughter, Karen. They live next to Bill, a single parent by choice who adopted his son
because of his excess amount of time and family money. Bill just happens to be
in love with his next door neighbor, Martina, an artist who is also unhappily married to her husband. Rounding out the other side of the cul-de-sac is Jerry, the
widowed anal dentist and his sixteen-year-old daughter, Vic, who gets rides to and
Volume XV Issue 1
Jo Nguyen/The Climax
from school from Steven, who lives down the street. All of these characters mingle and intertwine throughout their mundane lives, but their lives change after a
quiet night is pierced by an unidentified explosive noise.
The themes that emerge from the first act are predictable but insightful. Ever
present and entertaining is the couple that cannot stand each other, how boring
“conventional” life can be, the discovery of your first love, moral right and wrongs,
the optimistic romantic, the conservative, protective father, etc. The characters
that promulgate these themes and the contradictions of life remind us that not
everyone in the suburbs is a pair of “tan slacks that talk.”
In fact, in the second act, the spandex does the talking. That loud explosive
bang at the beginning of the show where the spandex makes its first appearance
was to foreshadow that the neighbors, while dissatisfied with suburban life, are
not ordinary people—they are superheroes (and a villain).
Steven, the good kid that has no direction, just happens to be able to shape reality. Joe is the typical superhero that can break a tree in half. Bill is a genius due
to extreme mental training and Martina is actually an alien from another planet
sent to earth to save us from her kind. Their evil villain is Jerry, the dentist who is
actually “The Doctor.” This is where the sitcom starts flowing like a movie.
The superheroes (and villain) rediscover their identities, their purposes and
powers are revealed, and things get resolved. The Doctor kills himself because
his daughter chose her girlfriend, Karen, over him. Excitement and dreams are revived as the ordinary Joe goes off into planets unknown with the boy that started
it all, Genesis a.k.a. Steven. Bill wants to adopt Vic, Laura and Karen accept that
Joe is a superhero and wait for his return, and Martina’s life is remains up in the
air.
There were opportune moments for a good chuckle as well as outright laughter.
The tight spandex was well received by some giggles, but the entire production
was deserving of a standing ovation. ~tree~
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Arts & Entertainment 13
Sound Thoughts: Streetlight Manifesto @ Pearl Street
By Ryan Mihaly
Columnist
Ska-punk legends Streetlight Manifesto played to a sold-out crowd at
Northampton’s Pearl Street this Friday. They charged through songs from their
two proper full lengths (although they have released 4 albums in total, one is a
covers album and the other is a rerecording of Keasbey Nights, an album originally
released by Catch-22), and over the course of nine years of the band’s existence,
these songs have become age-old anthems— the band hardly needed to sing their
own lyrics as the whole crowd hollered them cheerfully in unison.
The seven-piece group, complete with an impressive horn section of saxes, a
trumpet, and a trombone, opened with the rapid-fire “The Receiving End of It All,”
from 2007’s Somewhere in the Between, spurring the crowd to shove forward and
start moshing. Hardly stopping to take a breath over the course of their hour and a
half long set, the band played several favorites, including sing-a-longs like “Point/
Counterpoint,” “Down, Down, Down to Mephisto’s Café,” and the literature-referencing epic “Here’s to Life.”
Streetlight’s various influences make them stand out as a group. Tomas Kalnoky, Streetlight’s songwriter, vocalist, and self-proclaimed perfectionist, will
switch genres and styles mid-song, incorporating Jewish melodies and flamenco-
courtesy of www.listosaurusrex.com
style sections. He even references the main theme in Brahms’ Hungarian Dance
No. 5 in the middle of “If and When We Rise Again,” from 2003’s Everything Goes
Numb.
Kalnoky’s lyrical style is also notable, as made evident in the highlight of the
evening, the performance of their anti-suicide anthem “A Better Place, A Better
Time.” Their longest song to date, it tells the story of two lovers, one on the verge
of taking her own life and the other, the protagonist of the song, pleading for her
to reconsider and how he is willing to stand by her through the thick and thin.
Kalnoky sings, before erupting into a full-fledged ska-punk chorus: “You can’t
decide, and they’re all screaming ‘why won’t you’/I’ll start the engine but I can’t
take this ride for you/I’ll draw your bath and I’ll load your gun/But I hope so bad
that you bathe and hunt.” The combination of the band’s thoughtful lyrics, their
team attitude, their various musical abilities, and their sheer technical proficiency
makes the band not only smart but tremendously entertaining.
Other standouts of the night were “Failing, Flailing,” which had the whole
room chanting during the final chorus: “Sticks and stones may break my bones
but names will never hurt me!” and “We Will Fall Together,” a self-professed pirate
shanty and an ode to friendship and standing by your convictions. Here’s hoping
that they come around again soon. ~tree~
14 Arts & Entertainment
Volume XV Issue 1
Comics Collective brings Andrew Hussie to Hampshire
By Morgan Drewniany
Staff Writer
C
omics Collective has been described by
the signers as a kind of “behind the scenes”
club at Hampshire in the past few years. As a turn
of all three signers occurred this past spring, they
began to bring a new breath of air into the club,
shifting its presence on campus.
This past fall, the collective continued to fuel
the growing collection of comics in the Hampshire library. Zach Clemente, one of the new signers, explained, “it’s really a spectrum of comics
from mainstream superheroes, specifically requested writers, and historically important comics, like the Green Arrow and Green Lantern from
the 90s.”
“At least from my perspective, the most important thing to have in comics in this collection is
a good flow. If the art is odd or changes, I can’t
read it,” Clemente added. This is what he hopes
to bring to the new selections.
All of the new signers believe strongly that
the Hampshire comics collection needs to be not
only kept but expanded. Clemente continued, “I
stopped following comics when I got into my
teenage years, but then Hampshire re-introduced
me to comics through the library collection. They
have become a wonderful new literary medium.
You can do anything in a comic you can do in
a novel, perhaps more so because illustration is so most to the Hampshire community, both Clemente
powerful. Comics deserve to be in the library in the and Rocklin almost immediately responded “Black
same way that movies, CDs, and other art forms exist Sad.” Rocklin added, though, “Blankets is a great inin a library.”
troduction to comics. It reads like a traditional novel.
Rachel Rocklin, another new signer, added to Cle- When it comes to webcomics, Gunnerkrig Court, it’s
mente’s thoughts on the value of Hampshire’s col- what would happen if Harry Potter was written very
lection, “it’s important for comics to be recognized well.”
as a valid form of art and storytelling. Wheaton ColIn the continuation of the new signers’ drive to
lege has a very significant collection of comics and share comics with the Hampshire community and
is recognized as a great school for comics studies. encourage their legitimacy as an art form, they are
Hampshire could really become something like this. bringing in local artists. In saying this, though, these
[I took] sequential imagery and it offers a lot to learn local artists are not simply being asked to speak beand takes the medium seriously.”
cause of their proximity to Hampshire, they all have
“There is a stigma against comics because a lot of immense talent and popularity.
them aren’t very good. However, you can’t judge a
The first artist, who visited Hampshire on
medium by its weakest work. You can’t judge litera- Wednesday, February 16, was Andrew Hussie. Hussie
ture by Twilight. You can’t hold up Preacher and say is an artist known for his mixed multimedia comics
because it exists, Blankets or Black
such as Homestuck, Problem Sleuth and Sweet Bro
Sad aren’t beautiful,” Rocklin said in response to and Hella Jeff.
people who may believe comics don’t belong in the
“Problem Sleuth was led by reader comments
library.
which could be anything from ‘catch the banana’ to
When asked what comics they would suggest ‘shit in the hat’,” explained Rocklin, “you could tell
courtesy of mspaintadventures.wikia.com
there was an authorial intent mixed with an audience that knows where they want the story to go.”
“In Homestuck, his latest story, he began with
reader commands. Hussie says he gleans toward that,
taking the ones he wants. As the story went on, he
disabled the comment box and now there is a much
more narrative command. You can see how he has
grown as a storyteller,” she elaborated.
“He uses flash and game elements where you interact with the characters,” Clemente added, “it’s
very uncommon and even strange at times. I love the
cyclical aspect though, and his language built out of
visual cues.”
This is only the first in what Comics Collective
hopes will be a series of visitors. Prospective visitors in the future include artist KC Green out of Easthampton. Rocklin said “he’s really crazy, really fun
and an amazing inker.” They also hope to bring in
Jeph Jacques, creator of Questionable Content. Students can watch for advertisements or check Comics
Collective’s Hampedia page to check for updates. ~tree~
Denouement 15
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Hitching to Boston
by Adam Gottlieb
“Like fishing,” muse I on the median,
“This mission calls for patience.” Soon I sigh.
“It will be hard to keep our spirits high,
But if you’re up for it, I think we can.”
An old guy in a silver minivan
Shoots us a dirty look as he drives by.
But Lisa, she just gazes at the sky,
Then smiles at me and says “Sounds like a plan.”
I nod. “Yes, like the fisherman, we must
Put faith in that upon which we would drift.
He has no need to use expensive bait;
The secret to his trade is basic trust.”
She smiles again, but doesn’t speak, and with
Our thumbs outstretched, morale still high, we wait.
Sewing with the ghost by Liv Lee
16 In Memoriam
In Memoriam: Robert Seydel, 1960-2011
Volume XV Issue 1
By Ryan Mihaly
Columnist
R
obert Seydel, beloved professor of photography and mixed-media art, died suddenly on Thursday, January 27. He was 50 years old.
School officials report that the cause of death was a heart attack.
Before teaching at Hampshire College, Robert had taught at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. He worked at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston
University as the Director of Programs and as a curator from 1992 – 1997.
He was born in New York, NY, and held a B.F.A. in English and Photography from New York University as well as an M.F.A. in photography
from the Rhode Island School of Design. He was planning a sabbatical
leave for the 2011-2012 school year.
Robert was known for his deep adoration of student work and his
seemingly limitless reserve of artistic resources. He stressed the importance of owning books and art, and had an impressive collection of
books in his office. Students who worked with Robert will remember
him for his zeal and creative passion, his endearing personality, and as
an aesthete who helped carry students’ work – no matter what medium
was used or what form it took– to unforeseen and exciting new places.
He had a keen eye for subtleties in his students’ art, and he encouraged
them to keep notes, take walks, and to look for the beauty that inhabits
the everyday world.
His own projects incorporated collage and language, as well as drawing, history, and photography. Some of his collage work is currently on
display in the Jerome Liebling Center. Book of Ruth, a collection of his
art that he worked on avidly for several years, is forthcoming on Siglio
Press. Of this work he wrote, “Essentially I want to write an art, to make
of the visual a kind of text, and have it be as well a poor art, assembled
from scraps. Material is essential; scuffings carry history, which wanders
throughout.... Art, as creation and as sign of primary Imagination, is not
objects but a state, a kind of fluid… The wind is what comes through,
barely glued down, sign of what maker here.”
Book of Ruth’s lexical theme has its connections to A Short History of
Portraiture, a series of photographic works for which Robert received
a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. Robert’s fascination with the amalgamation of image and text is explicated in his
writing about the work: “Of the pictures themselves, they are meant as
thoughts made, in the sense that they express an interest not in experience per se, but in the thinking that the visual image can contain. That it
feels like a form of literature goes without saying.”
Robert’s work was intimate, playful, and magical. The fact that he had
a profound understanding and curiosity of the enchanting – or in his
words, “lovely” – possibilities of the meshing of mediums and of the beguiling realms of art and language is undeniable. He graciously shared
his enthusiasm with many, and those in the Hampshire community who
worked with him will feel his inspiration strongly for years to come.
A memorial service honoring his life will be held Saturday, February 26, at
3:00 PM in the Red Barn. An exhibition featuring art of students who worked
with him will be hung in the Library Gallery in the coming week, and a reception will take place there immediately after the memorial. ~tree~
courtesy of bombsite.com