Vassar Chronicle, April 2011

7/29/2019 Vassar Chronicle, April 2011

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Debate VSArepreSentAtion: DelegAteortruStee? 16

Vassar JuD. BoArDweighSinonVSAAmenDmentS 3

arts & Culturepage 7

INSIDE THE MIND OF COL. GA

The VassarChroniCle

What Should

Constitutional

Reform Look

Like?

Vol. XX, Issue 3 April 5, 201


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Vassar Chronicle

the VASSArChroniCle

Vassar & Local

Arts & Culture

National Affairs

Foreign Affairs

Debate & Discourse

The Last Page

ediTor-in-ChiefSteve Keller

seniorediTorsJeremy BrightMatthew Brock

ProduCTion & design

CoPy& sTyle

Vassar& loCal

naTional affairs

foreign affairs

debaTe & disCourse

William SeAlaric ChinJessica TaMichelle CLane KisonEthan Mad

CoPyassisTanTs

debaTe & disC. assT.

researCher

illusTraTors

Kathryn BAndrew BlStephen LoNathan TaMichael GrJamee BatTian-An W

oureDitorSStAnDBehinDtheirpu

win25foreAChmiStAkefoun

TheVassar Chroni

[email protected]

This past week, the Vassar Stu-dent Association (VSA) failed topass constitutional reform that

sought to remove House Presidentsfrom the VSA Council and replace themwith cla ss senators . Though well -int en-tioned in their aim of creating a moreefficient student government, the re-ject ed leg islati on was fla wed from theoutset. Nonetheless, the VSA constitu-tion must be reformed on a fundamen-tal level, and hopefully this legislationwil l be an impe tus for such reform.Here are a few suggestions about whichfuture leaders of the VSA should thinkdeeply.

First and foremost, the VSA Execu-tive Board should recuse itself from itsvot ing posi tion at the hea d of the VSACouncil. As members-at-large, they arenot accountable to a specific constitu-ency and are therefore the least visiblemembers of the Council. Thus, they arefree to act behind the scenes in a man-ner contrary to the wishes of the stu-dent body as a whole, as demonstratedby their refusal to hee d the mas siveoutcry from the student body in re-sponse to their proposed amendments.Furthermore, they are able to use theirstatus as the leaders of Councilasthe oldest and most experienced mem-ber s of Council to exe rt undue pres -sure over the Council and force themto adhere to the wishes of the Execu-

tive Board, perhaps even above thoseof their constituents.

Moreover, should the ExecutiveBoard remove itself from the Council,there would be increased accountabili-ty to the student body because it wouldcreate checks and balances within stu-dent government. Under this improvedmodel, the people proposing consti-tutional amendmentsthe ExecutiveBoardwill not be the people votingon the amendments. Instead, they willhave to produce amendments that themajority of the class and residence hallrepresentatives can actually support,

whi ch was not the cas e two Sund aysago when they split fifty-fifty for andagainst the changes.

Beyond accountability, one point thatwas con tinu all y br ough t up thr oug houtthis process was that the VSA Execu-tive Board was overworked. For thisproblem, there is a simple fix: Separatethe Executive Board from the Council,whi ch should be a pure ly leg islati vebod y. Thi s poin t of cont ent ion has notbee n analyzed or writ ten on publ icly ,even though it would bring the VSA inline with the model of governance usedby most succ essf ul gove rnme nts of theworl d.

We at The Chronicle were further per-plexed by the notion that these changesshould be accepted despite their flawsbec aus e of the supe rfi cial cla im thatthey will allow more so-called activ-ists to serve on the VSA Council. Theidea behind this proposal is that sena-tors, unlike House Presidents, will runon a platform, promising to addressspecific issues. We would first like topoint out that House Presidents areperfectly capable of running on a plat-formmany students specifically runfor this position out of a desire to par-ticipate in Counciland there is noth-ing inherent to the position of senatorthat makes it more likely to attract ac-tivists.

Even if this new system could ensure

activism, someone on Council needs toexplain why activism is unconditional-ly positive. What do we expect this newcouncil to be activists for, and how willthis benefit their constituents? Oneidea that came up at the VSA meetingat which the changes were debated wasthat the VSA could take a stance onhydraulic fracturing. Hydrofracking, ameans of drilling for natural gas thatcan have harmful consequences for theenvironment, is currently banned inNew York State. However, the morato-rium may be lifted later this year andhydrofracking may be used to drill for

gas within the state. If the New YorkState government fails to stop hydrau-lic fracturing, the question then be-comes, what can the Vassar studentgovernment possibly accomplish? Wehighly doubt that a resolution signedby the VSA wil l wei gn upon the statelegislature.

Furthermore, how do students ben-efit from this activism? Council paintsa picture in which every member of theVSA is try ing to purs ue his or her ownpet cause, which seems entirely coun-terproductive. Council, by its own ad-mission, barely has enough time to dealwith Vass ar-r ela ted issues as it sta nds.

Bringing activism into the equationwill only serv e to fur ther bog downthe Council and make them even lessproductive. The VSA exists primarilyto serve as the student bodys liaisonto the administration and to advocatepolicies that will help improve the stu-dent experiencea function that theywill be unable to ful fil l if the y are tobusy foc usin g on thei r acti vist causes .

In conclusion, we would like to en-courage the Council to make sure thatthe student body truly understandsand supports these changes. At Coun-cil, representatives seemed to be di-vide d into two categories . One groupconsulted their constituents, foundthat the majority opposed the changes,and voted against the amendments.

The other group did not once mentionpolling their constituentsmaybe cit-ing anecdotal evidence from conver-sations with friendsvoted in favor ofthe changes because they as individu-als supported them. The VSA Councilis elected to represent usVassarsstudents. We hope that they rememberthis charge as they move forward intothe referendum process and work tocontinue the conversation.

The Staff Editorial has been agreedupon by at least 70 percent of theChronicles Editorial Board.

The Vassar Student Association is currently working on revising its Constitution, much to the dismay of a large portion of the student body.

sTaff ediTorial

VSA constitutional reform inherently awed

Letters Policy: The Vassar Chronages its readers to voice their opinionLetters to the Editor, several of whiclected for publication in each issue wi

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M.I.C.A. is a student umbrella that aims to further moderate, iconservative, and libertarian thougpus by sponsoring events designed to

breadth of Vassars political dialogue

M.I.C.A. produces The Vassar [email protected] to become inthe club.

ChroniCle,April 2011

Tableof ConTe


3/20

Two Sundays ago, we had the oppor-

tunity to observe the student andVassar Student Association (VSA)debates on the far-reaching Constitutionalarguments regarding VSA senators andHouse presidents. At one point in the de-bates, a request was raised to place the con-stitutional amendments on a referendum tobe placed on a ballot. As such, the wordingfor student referenda was brought up onan overhead projector. However, as twotrained members of the Judicial Board, wenoticed something in the language that wewere compelled to investigate further.

Ask any random student walking throughthe quad on one of this years uniquely briskspring days what the Judicial Board does,and youll probably hear something alongthe lines of, They sit on academic panelsif a professor thinks you might have plagia-

rized, or, Theyre the ones you sit acrossfrom when you got caught smoking weed inyour dorm last weekend, but most likelyyoull just get a blank stare upon mention-ing one of the least visible but most essen-tial branches of student government at Vas-sar College.

Having a combined three years of ex-perience on the Judicial Board in its roleswithin the Academic Panel, College Regu-lations Panel, VSA Judicial Board and theStudent Conduct Panel, we are perturbedby the broad lack of awareness of the mul-titude of responsibilities which have beendelegated to the Board both by the VSAConstitution and Bylaws and by the VassarCollege Regulations.

It is difcult to cast blame on the studentbody for its unfamiliarity with the Boards

role in affairs ranging from breaches of aca-demic integrity to violations of safety codesto the hearing of disputes between VSA or-ganizations. One will most likely only hearfrom a Judicial Board representative dur-ing elections as they campaign for votes ina four-day window, bringing the Board intothe public eye ever so briey. On the non-VSA side of things, Associate Director ofResidential Life Rich Horowitz notes thatwe currently rely pretty heavily on stu-dents taking the initiative to read the Stu-dent Handbook in order to get info aboutthe student conduct system. Horowitz iseager to include other ways to increasegeneral knowledge of the Boards purposewithin the system.

A primary purpose of the student con-duct systemaside from working to pro-

vide a safe and respectful environment,Horowitz says, is to cultivate mindfulnessamong students as it pertains to behavioraldecision-making. From our experiencesitting on dozens of panels over the pasttwo years, it seems accurate to say that theBoards representatives perform their du-ties discerningly and with great discipline,reinforcing Vassars ideals of community-living through deliberate readings of Col-lege Regulations and consideration of theevidence presented before the student andfaculty representatives who preside overhearings.

The case-by-case effectiveness of the Ju-dicial Board does not translate into broadstudent awareness of its functions; howev-er, the average students sole contact withthe Board occurs when he or she has been

brought before a panel to answer specic,situational questions in a fully condentialenvironment. In contrast with meetings ofthe VSA Council, theMiscellany Newsis notbrought in to live-blog Judicial Board hear-ings. Judicial Boards condential nature atonce particularizes the role of the Board inthe mind of each student who encounters itand limits the visibility of the body in com-parison to the entities charged with policy-making and event-planning, such as theVSA, Class Councils, and House Teams.

Furthermore, most of the Boards ca-pabilities are only brought to bear on theresidential and administrative side, despitethe clear role constructed for it by the VSAConstitution in Articles IX and; among theBoards most important duties are to en-sure the compliance of VSA legislation with

[the] Constitution (IX.2.C) and to reviewthe VSA Constitution and the VSA Bylawsand advise the VSA Council of problems orinconsistencies therein (IX.2.D). Addition-ally the Board can mediate disputes betweenand groups and individuals and has a role inaspects of the electoral process.

In the past two years the Judicial Boardhas heard only two cases relating to VSAorganizations and enforcement of the By-laws, a surprising statistic when one con-siders we have over a hundred separateorganizations. Among the student body,however, the Board has heard 57 caseswithin its Student Conduct and CollegeRegulations roles in the past year alone.While this comparison suggests that theJudicial Board has been under-utilized inthe VSA context, it wasnt until the VSACouncil Meeting of Mar. 27, and a subse-quent meeting between members of theVSA Executive Board and members of theJudicial Board, that the gap the Board hadto ll was truly made apparent.

Both of us were present at the Mar. 27meeting, a gathering which evoked a mul-titude of emotions among Council mem-bers and drew a sizable audience. The an-ticipation grew through the hours as housepresidents voiced the opinions of their con-stituencies, and it became clear with eachpassing word that a vote was soon to come.Sometime around 11:30 p.m. a motion wasbrought to the oor to push the politicallycharged Constitutional amendments, in-cluding the creation of Class Senators, to areferendum. At this point, displayed on theprojector screen in the front of the room wasa document titled Student Referenda.

As the Council discussed moving to im-plement a referendum, it dawned on us thatthere was a problem with their plan; mem-

bers of the Executive Board had hoped to be-gin the referendum by April 8 so that therewould be sufcient time before elections tobring potential VSA candidates up to speedif students were to ratify the amendments.Unfortunately, visible to those of us in theaudience was a slight contradiction be-tween the letter of the law and the proposalat hand: C. Questions must be submitted tothe Judicial Board no later than two weeksbefore ling takes place.

The period running from after Mar. 27to April 8 came out to 12 days which, onewould think, would have put the Councilpast the deadline. When we broached thequestion, VSA Vice President for StudentLife Samin Shehab 11 responded: In thiscase, we would bypass the Judicial Board.He justied this on the following passage:D. Any member of the VSA Council shallhave the power to request a referendum.A two-thirds majority afrmative vote ofCouncil is required to place the question onthe ballot.

To anyone reading the document, itwould seem that a referendum from theVSA Council under Section D is not exemptfrom the two-week rule in Section C. TheExecutive Board, however, moved to in-terpret the law in the opposite fashion andthe vote unfoldedunsuccessfully, we arethankful to say. Unable to determine in thefrenetic environment of the Council meet-ing whether or not this argument could belegitimately applied, we went to Chair of

the Judicial Board Shouvik Bhattacharya11 to gure out what steps to take next.Bhattacharya believes that training for theJudicial Board completely ignores the VSAaspects of its role. In the long term, he as-serts that this needs to be corrected.

What we found out in the day followingthe VSA meeting was disconcerting; theStudent Referenda document in question,ostensibly a part of the VSA Constitution,was nowhere to be found in the version ofthe Constitution posted on the VSAs web-site. In fact, we discovered that the VSA wasoperating under a Constitution that wasnot publicly available through conventional

means. When we convened withand VSA President Mathew Leonarnight, we discovered further discrbetween the Constitution as avaipublic consumption and the versiosible to Council members, the mosgaps relating to procedures concerdent referenda and special electionwe spent the bulk of our time discu

The Judicial Board plans to fuview the Constitution and reassesin the context of VSA policy-makintacharya envisions a future for tcial Board in which it actively enhitherto ignored mandate of ensucompliance of VSA legislation witherning documents rather than onlymany important panels it serves oCouncil had brought in the Judiciduring the months leading up t27th to assess the eventuality of adum, is it not more likely that thebe one Constitution rather than tw

All functioning governments,ing the VSA, are obligated to mato its constituency what initiativtaking, especially when they areencompassing as the changes prothe constitutional amendments be put to referendum. At Vassarbe achieved in part by keeping theBoard in the loop and, even mortantly, by introducing new membecommunity to all the institutions wrelevant to their lives. Each studen

benet from understanding that tcial Boardlike the VSA, Houseand the administrationhas a unin shaping policy, checking and bother institutions, and providing and transparency. It would do the to realize this in future years, anddo the Judicial Board equally wetend its efforts toward outreach, the need for its capabilities has beclear.Alaric Chinn 13 and Lane Kisonrepresentatives from the Class ofthe Judicial Board.

VASSAr& loCAl

pAge 3 ChroniCle,Ap

Constitutional changes challenge Judicial Board oversig

Judicial Board rediscovers its supervisory role in VS

A special meeting of the Judicial Board concerning the Constitutional Referendum.Lane Kisona

Alaric Chinn, Copy EditorLane Kisonak,National Affairs Editor

In fact, we discovered thatthe VSA was operating undera Constitution that was notpublicly available through

conventional means.


4/20

Over the past semester, the VassarStudent Association (VSA) has beenworking to make itself more efcient.

While most students at Vassar no doubt feelthat this is an admirable goal, many of us be-lieve that they are proceeding in the wrongway. Right now, I would like to look past thedebate over senators or house presidents, andexamine the issue that I believe should trulybe streamlined: VSA organizations and theirfunding.

For most Vassar students, the only con-tact they have with the VSA is when they areasking for funding for their organizations.Unfortunately, this process is necessary forall organizationseven Vassar College Enter-tainment (ViCE) whose annual budget is northof $100,000. They simply do not get enoughfunding at the start of the year to pay for allof their operations. Whats worse, the VSA isconstantly faced with conict over whether ornot to certify a new organization given that itwould eventually take up some of the already-scarce funding. This current system is hazard-ous both to current organizations nancialhealth and to future organizations that theVSA may simply be unable to afford.

I propose that the VSA devise a tiered sys-tem for organization budgeting that would al-low them to prioritize certain organizations inthe budgeting process to make sure that the

student activity fee is used as efciently aspossible to maximize student enjoyment.

Consider a three-tiered system, similar tothe one used by the Student Union at BrandeisUniversity, where I spent my freshman year.At the top, they have what they call securedclubs who get the rst crack at budgeting. AtVassar, this would include organizations that

are deemed to be central to campus culture,such as The Miscellany News or any of themajor cultural or religious organizations.

What secured status means is that theseorganizations would be considered for bud-geting before any of the others, and awardedfunds based on their needs, not on scarcity, inorder to ensure that they can continue supply-ing their much-needed service.

The second tier would comprise the ma-jority of organizations, which would receivefunding the way all organizations do now.They would apply for a set amount, based ontheir perceived expenses, and would then beawarded a sum which takes into account boththeir need as well as the total amount of fundsavailable.

Last, at the bottom, would be organiza-tions that were not entitled to any budgeting

but could apply to the VSAs special purposefunds and would otherwise be entitled to allof the privileges of being an ofcial VSA orga-nization, such as being able to reserve roomsand table in the College Center.

The main benet of a tiered system is thatit would make it much easier for students tostart organizations. I have seen students ap-

pear before the VSA many times, asking themto approve their organization, and promisingthat they wont actually request money. Un-fortunately, many organizations make thispromise and then renege without any penalty,so certain members of the VSA may be reluc-tant to vote in favor of authorizing the neworg. Under my proposed system, however,

there would be checks in place to ensure thatthe organization could never request budget-ing, so the VSA would not have to think twiceabout certifying these new organizations.

For instance, say I wanted to found a lmappreciation society, in which the membersoffered to supply all of their own movies or torent them from the Library, so it would havevirtually no operating costs, but we wouldstill want to be a VSA org so we could reservescreening rooms. The VSA would treat thisproposal under the suspicion that the clubmay one day request budgeting, and may denyus org status based on that logic. However,under a tiered system they would have an as-surance that we would never request budget-ing. If one day, this lm club realized that itneeded to buy the rights to the lms it showsand therefore needs a budget, it would have to

reapply for second-tier status on the platformthat it most denitely does plan on requestingfunding, and then Council would assess theapplication taking this fact into account.

Moving on, even if an organization did tryto apply to be a regular, funded organization,it would likely have an easier time being ap-proved because it would be competing for

funding with fewer organizations, givcertain percentage would likely be uand because the VSA could be assuthere were protections in place for essential organizations even if there wer funds to go around.

Finally, this system would benet pus as a whole by ensuring that, n

what, the organizations that are inVassar culturethat provide essenvices to the campuswould be promatter what. Under this system, thrisk that a budget crisis might forceto change The Miscellany News baMiscellany Monthly, or to consolAsian Students Alliance and the SouStudents Alliance.

While the VSA currently ghts wiover whether or not House Presidenally be expected to put their full efforing members of the Council, I hopeare able to pause and consider types that could benet students in a verydirect way. While the system that I pthis article is far from perfect, I hopgives the Council a new perspective can reinvent the VSA in such a way

maximizes the benets for its conwithout tampering with Councils retive structure.

Matthew Brock 11 is Senior EditVassar Chronicle and Contributing The Miscellany News. He is studyingscience and public policy.

VASSAr& loCAlVSA org funding overlooked in constitutional amendmen

Matthew BrockSenior Editor


I

f you go to a college like Vassar thenyou know this story. Its the point of

freshman year sometime after youreighty-seventh round standing in line atthe Eggs-All-Day station. You go withyour roommate to the Religion Depart-ment interest meeting; its in the Rose Par-lor and catered by Thai Spice. The profes-sors introduce themselves, then you all goaround and say your interest in religion.Western mystical traditions, says thegirl in the blue pea coat. Shinto folklore,states the bulked man in the curry-stainedshirt. Early Christianity, announces yourroommate. So, whats your interest? Theprofessors ask.

South-East Asian cuisines, I confess. Iwould have gone to the Last Supper for thebread and wine.

I go to many events for the food, andworking on the assumption that my

friends and I are not exceptions. I think itsa campus-wide phenomenon. The practiceof going places just to take the food, lis-ten to a speaker, and then leaving seemssecond nature to those who care to survivethe horrors of campus dining. It is not thatI dont occasionally learn something froman eventonce or twice the experiencemight have even stuck with mebut I ammostly unengaged attendance at well-ca-tered events; another stomach.

Drifting from event to event for hungerssake leaves a certain guilt on the mind. Iwould like to see myself as someone who

could be genuinely interested in all theevents causes, but oftentimes the knowl-edge of my own self-interest prevents trueinvolvement. The hosts of the events knowme, they put on their events at meal times,advertize the fact that there will be freefood almost more prominently than whatthe event is about. They hope that I, theunfaithful drawn in by carnal promisesalone, can change. I will hear their words,let them hit my heart, and join the cause.Its happenedmaybe once. In the end,their job is often to create attendance,produce the feeling that the event is well-received. Thus we sit and eat largely insilencepied pipers and gluttons unitedin guilt.

A few weeks ago, The Miscellany Newscarried an article in which one of their re-porters was able to go an entire week atVassar only eating free food given out atevents. She was hungry, at times, but byno means starved. A glance at any bulletinboard on campus can serve as evidence tothe fact that organizations lead studentsby their stomachs. As President of the Vas-sar Debate Society, I feel the temptation tobuy into our free pizza culture, to lure inthe masses with Bacios and claim a mas-sive growth when its time to apply for nextyears budget. More pizza, more people,more money, more pizza. Theres a certainego you adopt when you run an orgyoufeel like what your group does is the mostessential thing on campusthat all peopleneed to be drawn in to hear it. This leadsto a do-anything to create attendancestrategy of leading which is destructive tothe organization and to the Vassar Student

Association (VSA) structure at large.It frightens me how much of the student

activities fee must go in the mouths anddown the throats of our students. We needto recognize that giving orgs money just tocreate attendance relies upon circular log-ic and denies orgs that offer substantiveprogramming the budget they needthatit forces orgs to resort to compete for thesefalse signs of success to get VSA money.

The VSA should adopt a standard ofstrict scrutiny when refunding orgs for

their food purchases. Food shousense. A good example is thehunger banquet put on by Hution, which demonstrated a centthrough use of a meal. It would alsense for an a cappella group to beed for food on the road to a concethe Catholic Community to hold abrunch. But do we need our freeevery other lecture and open forucessful orgs that can create engaggramming can do without.

Come for the food, not the event: The problem of free pizEthan Madore

Debate & Discourse Editor


5/20pAge 5

VASSAr& loCAl

Several outraged Vassar students

rallied peers to storm the capitalWednesday as the New York State

Legislature was poised to pass GovernorAndrew Cuomos controversi al budgetproposal any day now. The budget, whichwas successful ly passed on Friday, Mar.31, was the second timely budget since1984the other being in 2006. Thiscomes as a relief to some following lastyears budget, which was delayed 125days beyond the Mar. 31st deadline. Whathas not been so welcome about Cuomosbudget are the large cuts in spending itcalls for.

Cuomos proposal, which holds strongsupport in Albany, marks the rst budgetto cut overall spending in 15 years. The$132.5 billion proposal would cut spend-ing by 2 percent and close a $10 billion

decit. Additional pressure for these cutsis fueled by the sunsetting of $5 billionsin federal bailout money that will no lon-ger be paid to the state.

The plan decisively imposes no newtaxes, but instead makes large cuts, pri-marily in Medicaid ($2 billion) and edu-cation ($1.2 billion). Additionally, NewYork City anticipates it will receive about$1 billion less in state aid this scal year.A frustrated Mayor Michael Bloomber g,facing an imposing city budget crisisas well, has not been on board with thegovernors plan since it was made publiclast month. Bloomberg projects that thecuts could leave 4,700 teachers out of ajob this year in New York City alon e. Thebudget has prompted numerous work-ers rights groups and a fair number of

citizens to march on Albany against thespending cuts.

While many reports nd these cuts re-grettable, the budget as a whole is beingtouted as a great success for the governorand the statea notion that is difcultto disagree with. In the past few years,problems have escalated. Two governorshave publically admitted and apologizedfor having extra-marital affairs. EliotSpitzer, as many recall, was busted forpatronizing a major prostitution ringand resigned from ofce. Governor Da-vid Paterson on the other hand, althoughslightly better behaved, perpetuated anair of futility, as he was unable to passany signicant social legislation andonly further escalated the states nan-cial woes. To top it off, in the summer of2009, state Republicans organized a suc-cessful coup, seizing control of the StateSenate, an event that resulted in Demo-crats scrambling around the capital lock-ing doors, turning out lights, and cuttingoff Internet connection to the senatechambers in an attempt to mitigate theshocking shift in power.

In the end everyone looked bad, andyoud be hard pressed to nd anythingpositive to come out of Albany in recentmemory. Gov. Cuomo won the 2010 elec-tion with overwhelming support, with thehopes that he could end the circus that the

state government has become. A biparti-san budget delivered and agreed uponby members from both sides of the aislethat will pass on time and cut the decitis certainly a strong symbolic gesture forthe new governor. Beyond the signicantchange Cuomos budget metaphoricallyrepresents, the document itself ought tobe laud ed, not protested.

It is quite clear that the budget pro-posal received stronger than expectedsupport from both parties within boththe Assembly and Senate. Few expectedthe budget to be approved so soon. Also,a recent Siena Poll showed strong ap-proval ratings continuing to follow thegovernor, his favorable/unfavorable rat-ing is 69 percent over 20 percent. Sup-port was equally strong from Democratsand Republicans. And when asked to ratehis performance on the budget as eitherexcellent, good, fair, poor, 50 percentranked him as good or better, 85 percent

as fair or better, and only 9 percent be-lieving him to have done a poor job. Thissupport may come as a surprise to somein light of the proposed cuts, but the cutsare indeed warranted.

New York has one of the most gener-ous Medicaid programs in the countryand typically runs the state around $53billion each year. Additionally, that num-ber does not include any federal funding,that is the cost unique to New Yorkers.It is more than twice the national aver-age per capita, and considering the entirenew budget is only $132.5 billion in total,it is clear just how costly the Medicaidprogram is. It accounts for over a thirdof the state budget. The specic cuts toMedicaid are still relatively unknownoutside of the capital, but speculation is

that many will be targeted at eliminatingbureaucrac y. Cuomo has reached out tomembers of New Yorks health care unionand hospital lobby to advise in how bestto reform Medicaid spending.

The cuts being made in state aid to ed-ucation have drawn plenty criticism fromall directions. The teachers union espe-cially has been critical of the proposed

cuts. Much of the education debate ismarred with misinformation and rheto-ric. The facts are that in 2007-2008,New York spent $17,173 per student onpublic education. This not only ranks asthe highest amount in the nation, but itis substantially (67 percent) higher thanthe national average ($10,259). In theyears since then public education hascontinued to enjoy high and consistentbudget inc reases.

Despite this massive amount ofspending, New York public schools aremediocre at best compared to the rest

of the nation. According to the MorganQuitno Press Smartest School StateRankings New York ranked as highas sixth in 2004-2005, but then fell totenth in 2005-2006 and tumbled againto sixteenth in the most recent rankingsfrom 2006-2007. Many also forget thatthe cuts have already been scaled backfrom their original proposed levels.Originally the cuts to education wereslated to be $1.5 billion, but over $270million was recovered from the originaldraft of the budget released in February.Institutions of higher education, SUNYand CUNY, also recovered an additional$80+ million dollars from the initialfigures. While opponents of this cut willtoss around rhetoric about how the cutshurt our children, quite the opposite

may in fact be true.It is true that many teachers will lose

their jobs, but this gives the state an op-portunity to end the widely unpopularand damaging last hired, rst redpolicy the teachers union and New YorkState law has been operating on. The lawdoes not permit any merit-based judg-ment when deciding which teachers toretain when the cuts are made. The onlyfactor that matters is seniority. This pol-icy has kept non-performing and com-placent teachers in jobs for years, whileyoung, innovative and successful educa-tors are turned away. This archaic policywill likely be ended with the passage ofthe budget.

Of course cuts to Medicaid and educa-tion will be felt, but it is easy to forget

how bloated the two systems are withinNew York. Few remember that beforethis years budget cuts, the state govern-ment has awarded over $7 billion in bud-get increases to education in the decadeprior. The reality is, government has be-come too accustomed to overspendingand underperforming in key areas. NewYork needs to bec ome more efc ient withhealth care, and more innovative witheducation. Hard times force changes forthe better. It is hard to say that cuttingfunding would be benecial, but I thinkit is clear that considering the nancial

situation the state is in, there is option. It is refreshing to see a bbudget that exercises restraint .really ought to be applauded forvoking one of the many shady acctechniques or quick xes used inthat got us into this mess. Past have relied on borrowing from tpension fund ($6 billion).

This is a very contentious pthe governors budget. The plantemporary tax surcharge that hplaced on earners of above $2for the past few years. Many evenadditional taxes on income or coproducts should be used to prevespread cuts.

There are several major problethis philosophy. New York is alr

most taxed state in the nation. Pareason the tax surcharge is not bnewed is because it generates $less than projected last year andcontributed to the decit in doiis becoming harder and harderpeople with human capital, high high taxpayers, to stay and live iwhere the cost of living is so highare eeing the state to other parcountry. New York is thus in danpotential brain drain. Increasican no longer be the solution. In run as people leave the state, taxwill fall, but our expenses will cto rise. We are simply borrowingthe future with such measures.

The Cuomo plan is far from perin the twilight zone that is Alban

pretty fair and bull-nosed budgetthe decit, cutting it now, and cby cutting funds to sectors thatderperforming relative to the renation is the tough kind of solutan economy like this demands. Nwill the bud get el iminate a $10 bdecit this year, but shifts forecaa $45 billion decit in 2014 to juslion. The budget proposal is exbut it i s fair, and it is n ecessary.Todd Densen 12 is an economjor at Vass ar Colle ge.

The New York State Capitol Building houses the New York State Legislature.

Cuomos budget harsh but necessary given economic realActivists, opponents should rethink their position on de

Todd DensenContributor

ChroniCle,Ap

Few remember that beforethis years budget cuts, the

state government hasawarded over $7 billion in

budget increases to education

in the decade prior.


6/20

Before the September 11, 2001 terror-ist attacks, I never realized that I livednear a nuclear power plant. I was in

the fth grade when the attacks occurred a

mere 30 miles from my cozy suburban townOssining, New York. Suddenly, the fear ofterrorism became very real, and the routinesiren tests by Indian Point Energy Centerturned into a sound that caused knots in mystomach. I began to wonder if the day wouldcome when the wailing sirens would signifya true emergency. Would I have to abandonmy home? What about my pets? What aboutmy friends and family?

My experience is not terribly uniquethere are thousands, if not millions, of peo-ple who live within the danger zone of a nu-clear plant. For Indian Point, the EmergencyPlanning Zone lies within the 10-mile radius,on the border of which Ossining happensto lie. While my fears of a nuclear disasterheightened after Sept. 11, I gradually beganto grow more comfortable with my situation.

People do not think about the danger everyday; rather, they benet from the energyproduced by the power plant. In that regard,Indian Point is a necessity.

According to Indian Points ofcial web-site, the plant provides 20 to 40 percent ofthe electricity in the New York metropolitanarea. It is estimated that, without IndianPoint, energy costs could rise by over $1 bil-

lion per year in the area. If Indian Point wereto shut down, alternative forms of energywould have to be used and, more likely thannot, such forms would include the burningof fossil fuels and the laying of new gas pipe-lines. Furthermore, Indian Point employsapproximately 1,500 workers and, giventhe perpetually fragile state of the economy,

one can imagine that would be quite difcultto nd jobs for these displaced workers. Asmuch as I would like to see Indian Point de-commissioned because of its potential dan-ger, it is apparent that this course of actionwould be extremely difcult, given the ben-ets that Indian Point provides as long as itis working efciently.

Still, I cannot shake the unnerving ques-tion of What if? What if something cata-strophic did happen? What would my familydo? Would all of the planning in the worldreally amount to anything once an emergen-cy situation occurred? I am doubtful.

In light of the recent nuclear disaster inJapan, nuclear power plantsparticularlyIndian Pointhave made headlines. If Indi-an Point experienced a nuclear catastrophesimilar to the plants in Japan, then a 50-mileevacuation would be necessary. Yes, that in-cludes New York City, home to millions ofpeople. Honestly, its grueling to get out ofthe Big Apple on a good day; it seems that atotal evacuation of the City would be out ofthe question.

At the same time, I believe the hype sur-rounding Indian Point has gotten a bit out

of hand. Recent articles have pointed outthat Indian Point resides within the RamapoFault zone, causing some commentators tosuggest that major earthquakes are possible.The Indian Point website, however, citesAlec Gates, Professor of Geology at RutgersUniversity, who proclaims that the Ramapofault is deadIt was a big fault in the olddays, but not anymore.

I honestly do not think that a catastrophecaused by an earthquake and/or tsunamilike the one that has rocked Japan could everoccur at Indian Point. We cannot allow that

sort of unfounded fear to fuel potforts to shut down the plant. It is murational to cite actual possible dradiation leaks and other malfunctexample.

Yesthere are times that I amof a nuclear disaster happening inbackyard, but so far, having weighmate concerns against tangible beseems worth the risk. I do foreseewhen nuclear energy will not be neuntil then, I sincerely hope that the ics behind it all function properly an

VASSAr& loCAlNuclear power worth the cost to Indian Point residen

Indian Point, a nuclear power plant that sits on the banks of the Hudson River.


Tracy BrttContributor

Uncodied grading system at Vassar leads to confusi

Ithink many of us can agree that discus-

sion-based classes have lot of inherentvalue and worth in the case of an liberalarts education, but often regrettably this dis-course comes at the expense of clear gradingpractices. Unlike issues with particular pro-fessors and syllabi, the issue of ambiguousgrading affects almost all Vassar students,unless of course you have a perfect 4.0. Con-sider a situation where you are assigned amajor project that is worth a signicant por-tion of your grade. The professor gives youa topic, but you are not quite sure how theprofessor wants you to explore the topic.Despite these unclear standards, you exert asubstantial amount of effort, sacrice a gooddeal of sleep, and even go to the Writing Cen-ter before you turn the paper in. Yet regard-less of your diligence, your professor hands itback, and you get a B+/ A-.

At this point, the grade leads to so manyquestions, but gives so few answers: Whatdoes the dreaded slash grade even mean? Is

it a B+ or an A-? How could such a hybrideven occur? Why cant professors stick totraditional grades? What social construct arewe defying today?

In my frustration and search for answers

to these elusive questions, I went to the re-cent Vassar Today panel discussion on aca-demics. First, the panel felt the need to giveme the You shouldnt focus so much ongrades speech, which I nd disingenuousand ultimately unhelpful. Yes, I love learn-ing. It certainly is a valid goal which is inter-twined with the mission of the school. Butthis seems contradictory in light of many ofthe Colleges policies. If I hadnt focused somuch on grades, I never would have gotteninto Vassar, as the Admissions Ofce holdsthem in high regard. Additionally, if gradesare so unimportant, why do professors evengive them to us? Other viable solutions doexist. Why not give us written evaluationslike Hampshire College? Do we really needto continue to cling to the idea of writtengrades to give meaning to our work?

Along these lines, I was interested in whatBen Lotto, the Dean of Freshman and a pro-fessor in the math department, would say

about the importance of the professor. But,to put it nicely, I am not buying it. If gradesare meant to be a means to an end, why arethey continuing to be used as an end in ofthemselves? An end, after consideration

seems as though its a standard which is usedoften arbitrarily and without consistency.

Dean of Planning and Academic AffairsRachel Kitzinger actually told me what sheuses slash grades for. The rst two reasonsshe gave make sense, given an explanationin the comments. First, Kitzinger says thatoften the rst grade is the grade earned, andthe second grade indicates the direction inwhich the grade is going. So, in the B+/ A-example, the grade earned was a B+, but it iscloser to an A- than a B. The second reasonshe gave was that the two grades are evalu-ating two different things, for example formand content. Lastly, the most confusing andseemingly most common reason is that pro-fessors are inventing new grades. Because ofgrade ination, professors feel guilty to givegrades below a B-, so they dont, and theymake up grades. This follows with Lottos as-sertion that grading is an agonizing processthat is often without purpose or consistency

among professors.While I am not going to address

ation, I know one thing that wougrading clearer and a more pleasantGrading rubrics. When professo

out assignments, they should instrstudents how to be successful or,words, get an A. I admit that on somments it may be hard to describe wof work deserves an A verses whata B. If this is indeed the case, give ample. Some professors could arguewould stamp out originality and leaing, uncreative papers; but, professappropriate a certain portion of thecreativity and originality. Also, whilneed enough specicity to be clear,be vague enough to allow for indilike good paper topics. I know thisline, but I feel as though if professto give rubrics, and stop giving slas(or at least explain them), they woubetter work. Ultimately, this wouldhappier students who are less frustneedlessly complicated grading sysreform of which would also benetfessors themselves.

Victoria WeissContributor

DoyoulikewhAtyourereADing? wAnttoJointheStAffofTheVassar ChroniCl

nAtionAl & foreign AffAirS, ArtS & Culture, lASt pAge, AnD Copy [email protected]


7/20pAge 7

Ideological manifestos endure the test oftime not only because of their meaning-ful impacts on historical events, but also

because of the lessons they offer to posterity.Among such preeminent titles as Karl MarxsThe Communist Manifesto, Mao ZedongsLit-tle Red Book, and Adolf HitlersMein Kampf,Muammar al-Gaddas Green Book remainsregrettably little known abroad, despite itscentrality to political life in the Great SocialistPeoples Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

TheJamahiriya, a neologism that plays onthe traditional Arabic word for republicbesttranslated as Republic of the Massesis notyour typical Peoples Republic, andThe GreenBook is not your typical political manifesto. Inlight of its recent rebellion and the UN-spon-sored intervention, the media has focused ex-tensively on Libya in recent weeks, but there

has only been minimal in-depth coverage ofthe eccentric Gadda. Who is this man? Whatdoes he stand for? And why are so many peopledead-set upon seeing him unseated?

In order to answer these questions one mustreturn to the primary sources, so as to compli-cate the one-dimensional image of Gadda-as-self-parody curried by an uncritical media.Written in 1975, six years after the SeptemberRevolution, Gaddas opus consists of a com-pilation of mini-essays and aphorisms on vari-ous economic, social, and gendered issues.

Prior to the current crisis, it had been widelyavailable throughout Libya for a cheap price,and two hours of every school day were devotedto a study ofThe Green Book. Underscoring itscentrality in society, Gadda often reads fromthe book at ofcial events as he rambles off na-tionalist speeches. On the subject of bombastic

prattle, Gaddas writing style is to rhetoricallyrepeat his important points ad nauseum foremphasis instead of unpacking his ideas andoffering evidence.

Laid out in fewer than 150 large-print, one-inch margin pages, this book is divided intothree sections: The Solution of the Problemof Democracy, The Solution of the EconomicProblem, and The Social Basis of the ThirdInternational Theory. We will address eachpoint in turn.

Part OneIn The Solution of the Problem of Democ-

racy, Gadda outlines his ideal scheme of po-litical organization: A form of mass democracycharacterized by peoples committees. Con-fronting the vexing issue of the instruments ofgovernment, Gadda vehemently denounces

political parties and parliaments. The partyis a contemporary form of dictatorship, heasserts, a system based on propaganda andundemocratic assemblies ruled by a narrowsegment of society. That a party can come tocontrol government by attaining 51 percent ofvotes in an election is a dictatorial governingbody in the guise of false democracy to the re-maining 49 percent. Parliaments, as represen-tatives are isolated from the people and merelyserve party interest, are equally undemocratic;parliaments are similarly prone to factionalstruggles that prevent the will of the massesfrom being heard. Parliaments abort democ-

racy, he afrms.To remedy this, Gadda proposes a complex

system of interlocking localized Popular Con-ferences and Peoples Committees, rangingdown to the Basic Popular Conferences chosenfrom among the peoplethe purest embodi-

ment of popular democracy. Without elections,parties, or parliaments, the people become theinstrument of government, and the problem ofdemocracy in the world is conclusively solved.However, the almost complete omission ofany executive bodies in Gaddas ideal statebetrays the grave disconnect between theoryand reality.

The police and military forces utilized byGadda in maintaining his absolute grip onpower for 41 years are ominously alluded to inhis closing lines. Recalling the logic of Thrasy-machus, Gadda asserts that [TheJamahiri-ya] is genuine democracy but, realistically, thestrong always rules. Thus, it becomes evidentthat Gaddas philosophy is illustrative of hisdeeply contradictory character. This is a manwho repeatedly asserts that he holds no politi-cal ofce, had himself crowned King of Africa,upholds democracy as the only true form ofgovernment and then uses his executive forcesto violently crush dissent. Consistency is notGaddas strong suit.

Part TwoThe Solution of the Economic Problem

reads like a bad rendition of MarxsDas Kapi-tal, in which Gadda outlines the problemsof private property and the need for a social-ist revolution. He begins with the traditional,socialist philosophy: Wage labor alienates theworking class by taking away what they pro-duce and giving it to the bourgeoisie. Moreover,not only does wage labor alienate the workingclass, enslaving them to the bourgeoisie, writesGadda, it insults them because wage labor ismerely a form of charity, and people shouldnot be forced to accept charity. Instead, peopleshould revert back to pre-industrial modes ofproduction where they produce everythingthat they consume. Only then can the massestruly be free.

Ironically, Gaddas brand of socialismseems to be founded on private property. Hisassertion that people should make what theyconsume goes hand in hand with the claim thatthey should own everything that they consume.For instance, according to Gadda, housing isa fundamental need. When someone lives in ahouse that is not their owneither as a guestor a tenantit is therefore a form of slavery be-cause they are dependent on the landlord.

Gaddas emphasis on ownership derivesin large part from his belief that the economyis a zero-sum game, meaning there are justenough resources to fulll everyones basic

needs. Therefore, while people should receiveeverything that they need to survive, theyshould not be given any more than the bareminimum. Any form of savings or investment,Gadda argues, is a crime against humanity. Ifsomeone has money left over, past what theyneed to consume, then by Gaddas reasoning,someone else must not have enough to fullltheir needs.

This theory of a zero-sum economy ties intoGaddas belief in private property and homeownership, because the entire landlord-tenantrelationship is built on the premise that thelandlord has more housing than he needs andthe tenant does not own enough. This theory

is not unique to housinganyone who ownsmore of a given resource than they need tosatisfy their immediate consumption must betaking those resources away from everyoneelse. Therefore, Gaddas grand solution is aform of socialism that allows everyone to claimprivate ownership over the resources that theyneed to satisfy these immediate needs.

In total, Gaddas economic theory isenough to send the entirety of the Vassar Col-lege Economics Department into cardiac ar-rest. To start, Gadda assumes that there areonly enough resources in the world to satisfyeveryones basic needs, which is simply notthe case. True, some countries have a moredifcult time reaching this level of consump-tion than others, but Libya clearly has enoughexcess resources to fund Gaddas $70 billionbank account, so it is safe to say that there areenough resources to go around.

Furthermore, Gaddas theory is counter-productive because the economy can onlygrow if people do consume more than theyabsolutely need and then look for new ways tospend their excess money. In the United Statesof America, when we buy that second car thatwe dont really need, the car company experi-ences an increase in demand which causes itto increase production. This in turn causes itto create new jobs which give money to morepeople who can in turn spend it on frivolousthings. Only in this way can the economy grow.Should a society function in the way Gadd-a suggests, it would revert to the economicequivalent of the dark ages, but seeing as Gad-da cites them as a golden era of production,that seems to be his intention.

Part Three

In The Social Basis of the Third UniversalTheorywhich he fails to distinguish fromthe unenumerated First and SecondGaddatraces the movement of history directly to thesocial factors that bind together the interestsof the family, the tribe, the nation, and human-ity at large, and offers his insights into the op-timal social organization of society. At the baseof this model, Gadda argues a posteriori thatthis relationship is strongest at the familialaxis and weakens centrifugally. Accordingly,The Green Book stresses the importance oftribal afliation and affairs, tribes being theoptimal combination of loyalty and social or-ganizationa social system which is strongly

institutionalized in theJamahiriya, lief certainly unbiased by his descentancient and powerful Gadhadhfa tribwho aided his coup.

In framing the nature of Libyas solution, it is noteworthy that Gadda constructs the world in a quasi-Oparadigm of civilization, to which thmust climb to escape barbarity. Forhe afrms that boxing and wrestlindence that mankind has not rid itself age behavior, and that it will cease omankind ascends the ladder of civWhether this obsession with confoa normative idea of civilization andfrom supposed barbarism offers ainto the complex worldview of posAfrican leaders, or whether it is simplnonsensical framework constructed a remains unclear.

In addition, Gadda offers the aphothere is no other solution but to be inwith the natural rule that each natioreligion, for religious schisms threata strong society. Naturally, such arevolutionary threat to the people nejudicial enforcement: Most mosqueunder the direct oversight of the govand conform to its politically-approvpretation of Islam. By thus co-optiinto the essence of the nation and coand politicizing its doctrines, Gaddaundermine the problem of Islam as which he asserts is the only rival to factor in inuencing the peoples unitthe social factor will eventually gaConsequentially, approximately 97of Libyas populace professes Sunnthe rest are foreigners. Of note, L

the largest proportion of Buddhists Africa, although there does not exissanctioned temple so as to protect thfrom democracys greatest threat: Tof Siddhartha Gautama.

Frankly, it is amazing that the mproduced this political philosophyUniversal Theoryhas managed to hpower for over 40 years, let alone stavarmed rebels and NATO air strikes, like to seriously underscore one idecans need to learn more about this mtal world gure as well as his unique which is on par with that of any ofmost interesting gures.

Green Book provides insight into Libyan leaders philsop

ArtS & Culture

ChroniCle,Ap

bookofThemonTh

Colonel Muammar Gadda has ruled over Libya for the past 41 years.

Jeremy Bright,Senior EditorMatthew Brock,Senior EditorMichael Greene,Researcher


8/20

nAtionAl AffAirS


Speaking on February 22, 2011 at Oak-brook Preparatory School, a privateChristian K-12 school in Spartanburg,

South Carolina, potential Republican presi-

dential candidate Rick Santorum caused astir, primarily among liberals, with conten-tious comments about the crusades andAmericas place in the Middle East:

The idea that the Crusades and the ghtof Christendom against Islam is somehowan aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical, Santorum claimed, And that iswhat the perception is by the American leftwho hates Christendom. They hate Christen-dom. They hate Western civilization at thecore. Thats the problem.

This sound-bite, which was picked upacross the Internet, was touted as evidenceby such media outlets as the Hufngton Postthat the Republicans and the religious rightare clinging to essentially medieval views ofthe Middle East, and are trying to guide ourforeign policy toward toward more involve-

ment in the region for misguided, intolerantpurposes. Furthermore, Santorums beliefthat the United States is part of the nebulousentity he calls Christendom added furthershock. Laying aside the hyperbolic and un-productive campaign trail rhetoric that liber-als hate Christianity, Santorums commentsyieldwhen viewed critically through thelens of a historianimportant lessons onhow history and historical concepts are notstatic, but are constantly changing with eachnew (mis)application assigned to them bythe media, scholars, and even politicians.

As with any primary source, Santorumscomments must be removed from the iso-lated, and potentially misleading realm ofsound-bite, and put into a proper context.That the former senator chose to focus hisremarks on faith should not be surprising, ashe was speaking in a Christian school duringthe lead-up to a presidential election that willno doubt witness a full-scale mobilizationeffort of core conservative constituencies,among them the religious right.

Santorum chose to begin his remarks byciting the 1960 speech by President JohnF. Kennedy that dealt with the separationof church and state, a notion that Santorumcalled a lie, the disastrous consequencesof which included the privatization of faith.Santorum made his contentious remarksabout the Crusades while chiding the Mus-lim community for supposedly not doingenough to identify radicalized individualsand work with authorities. Asked to clarifyhis comments, he seemed to back away fromthe most militant interpretation, saying thatWhat Im talking about is Onward Ameri-can soldiers. What were talking about arecore American values. All men are createdequalthats a Christian value, but its anAmerican value. Its become part of our na-tional religion, if you will. The point I wastrying to make was that the national faith,the national ideal, is rooted in the Christianidealin the Judeo-Christian concept of theperson.

One can see that Rick Santorums contro-versial statements about the Crusades andchurch and state were delivered and framedwithin what have become traditional no-

tions among many on the religious right thatAmerica is fundamentally a Christian nationand that, as such, it is our national duty to beinvolved in the Middle East, a tradition goingback to the Middle Ages. It is here that theuse and evolution of historical fact becomesmost striking.

The concept of Christendom dates backto a time when, besieged by the Muslim ca-liphate in the East and their corsairs in theMediterranean, Magyar tribesmen in CentralEurope, and the Vikings from the North, thepeople of Europe formed an identity basedin large part on a sense of being part of thesame Christian commonwealth. When thesevarious invasions simmered down in the 11thcentury, it was this Christian culture, led bythe international institution of the CatholicChurch and the increasingly powerful ofceof the Pope, that went on to launch the Cru-sades. That Rick Santorum chose to invokethe specter of this Christendom illustrateshow selective popular interpretations of his-tory can be.

As centralized states such as France andEngland emerged, forming a new nexus of

state-based identity which has prevailedsince at least the 14th century, the idea ofChristendom began to decay. The collapse ofthe universal sense of unity based on sharedChristian belief, and the schisms within themedieval Church, whose authority had neverbeen challenged and would be irreparablyshattered in the Protestant Reformation,does not diminish the utility of the ideal ofChristendom in the eyes of some Christians.Santorums contention that America is acountry based on Christian ideals, a part ofChristendom, is a failure to understandthe history of our country in the context ofits cultural inheritanceits mission framedby those weary of the ofcial churches andtenuous position of religious minorities inEurope. By hearkening back to a simplerChristian identity, Santorums comments

can be seen as furthering the othering ofMuslims in American political discourse.

When Pope Urban II launched whatwould become the First Crusade at Clermontin 1095, he painted a vividand mostlyfabricatedpicture of the suffering of Ortho-dox Christians under the rule of the newlyarrived Turks in the East. His call to takeup arms was thus framed partly as a defen-sive measure. He would take this further inother versions of the speech, in which theplight of Eastern Christians was replaced byheartwrenching images of the body of Christhimself assailed by indels. Christian blood,redeemed by the blood of Christ, has beenshed, and Christian esh, akin to the eshof Christ, has been subjected to unspeakabledegradation and servitude.

The crusaders, who were simply called pil-

grims until the 13 centurywhen the termcrusader emerged from the French forsigned with the crosswere thus impelledto hurry to the defense of the Holy Land andof Christ himself. It is in this context thatSantorums assertion that the crusades werenot an offensive movement on the part ofChristendom are made intelligible, and hisothering of Muslims in relation to Chris-tendom becomes dangerously clear. He issimply reafrming traditional Christian no-tions that involvement in the Holy Land is apurely defensive measure. This ties in wellwith Americas current entanglements in the

Middle East, which, from the earliest days af-ter Sept. 11 to the opening salvos of the IraqWar, have always been framed as measuresto defend the U.S. against terrorists in theregion; offensive has always become defen-sive.

Yet, that Santorum conates modern

foreign policy with the Crusade movementshows his failure to fully understand whathe is talking about. The medieval Crusades,which consisted of several famous large-scaleexpeditions and a more continuous ow ofpilgrims and warriors from 1095 c.e. to theloss of Acre (the Crusaders last foothold inthe Holy Land) in 1292 c.e., were motivatedby far different forces than our current wars.An immense devotion to the Christian faithand to the institution of pilgrimage, a soci-ety permeated by the violence of a warrior-aristocracy with a collective sense of sin andguilty conscience, a newfound sense of Euro-pean condence after a century of continuousinvasions, and other such factors were whatdrove men, women, children, and monks, toleave their homes behind and march to theaid of the Holy Sepulcher.

Despite what Santorum appears to believe,however, Christendom has not maintained acontinuous legacy of crusade stretching to themodern day. By the 14 and 15 centuries, Eu-rope, driven from the Holy Land, was too di-vided to attempt to recapture the Holy Land,though many still called for such a course wellinto the Renaissance. By the time of the En-lightenment, however, the Crusades had cometo be viewed as resulting from blind religiousbigotry, ignorance, and greed for personalwealth on the part of crusaders; in short, theywere irrational. Europeans became involvedin the crumbling Ottoman Empire from the

late 18 century onward, which wasin its dismemberment following Woand the establishment of the modernthe Middle East under primarily Brtection and, later, of Israel. This invohistorically distinct from the crusadlier centuries, was motivated by w

ferent factors. Competition among tPowers for colonies and economic pother of which were objectives for thestates. This drive for colonies is whathe seeds of modern American invin the region. That Santorum can ably conate the two periods of inteillustrates how little he understands roots of the Middle Easts difcultieslarly radical Islam.

Furthermore, he chooses to substfor medieval rhetoric, not only distoidentity of the United States in relatligious minorities within our borderMuslims, but dangerously infusing black-and-white thinking and ideawar into our political discourse. Thto the larger issue of how the Crusachanged in perception over the centuhow history responds to the agendaases of those who wield it. Santorumers like him often misapply historicaconation with modern events in ware unproductive, as in President GBushs accidental labeling of the Iraa crusade in 2003. Still, the parallelsthe medieval Crusades and the Unitinterminable involvement in the Miare such that comparison cannot avdrawn, and our vision of the past wiue to be shaped by those who domnational discourse, even if they do nwhat they are talking about.

Onward Christian soldiers? The political perversion of histoMichael Greene

Researcher


9/20pAge 9

nAtionAl AffAirS

ChroniCle,Ap

In American society, the gold stan-dard for representation has alwaysbeen the local representative serv-

ing as a national actor. Indeed, this is the

means by which all of our representativesidentify. We see this organization on thenational level, with congress comprised ofsenators and representatives; we see thison the state and municipal level, with rep-resentatives serving from a series of dis-tricts; we even see this at Vassar Collegewith house and class presidents. Each ofthese sub-level units were formulated inthe image of the American Republic, andcan thus be examined as parallels.

In order to fully understand the im-plications of this system, it is necessaryto explore the composition of the UnitedStates at the time our governing docu-ments were written. The image of theunied American nation that we treasuretoday is a creation of a specic form of na -tionalist revisionist history crafted after

the Civil War. The American identities ofthe 18th century would be almost unrec-ognizable to todays citizens.

In the years preceding the AmericanRevolution, the vast majority of Ameri-cans associated by colony or state. TheseThirteen Colonies viewed themselvesas independent nations, unied only bytheir relation to the distant British power.In an era before mass communication andtransportation, these colonies operated,more or less, as autonomous bodieslevying their own taxes, building theirown infrastructure and even going to warwith each other over territory. Any co lo-nial citizen would have self-identied bycolony, not as an American; the languagesimply hadnt entered into the discourse.

While the American Revolution didmuch to solidify national unity, the seven-year struggle for independence was notenough to overcome almost a century ofopposition. The rst attempt at a consti-tution, The Articles of Confederation, es-tablished a weak federal government thatprovided for each state to retain its sov-ereignty, freedom, and independence.Notably, the Articles never used the wordnation to describe the new Americanunion, instead stating: The said Stateshereby severally enter into a rm league offriendship with each other. These States,bearing their own laws, regulations, cur-rency, etc. were, effectively, a collection ofindependent nations with a strong trea-tysimilar to the Eropean Union today.

When nally crafted in 1787, the Con-stitution, as we know it today, was therst to form a Federal Government thatcoordinated the actions of all the formerlyindependent States. However, the role ofthe State in this new document still tookpredominance, with each state provid-ing its own congressmen to representthe interests of the state on the nationallevel. This structure was never intendedas a form of efciency, it was designedto maintain the rights of each state. Eachsubsequent state constitution and munic-ipality followed a similar structure, divid-ing the individual state into increasingly

smaller districts.There is, one must admit, a certain de-

gree of practicality to a system like this,especially for a pre-industrialized nation.Again, the lack of rapid transport andmass communication ensured that themajority of citizens remained in a small

community, which, for the most part,never experienced any interaction withthe federal government. It wasnt until themid-19th century development of massiveinfrastructurespecically the locomo-tivethat the affairs of the nation becameintertwined with the local community.The nearby representative ensured that,despite limitations on travel and com-munication, there was always somebodynearby who knew the community andcould articulate, as well as address, com-munity interests. At the time, this was themost efcient and effective way for indi-vidual voice and state issues to be heard.

Fast-forward to 2011 and a differentpicture begins to emerge. The state ormunicipality no longer holds predomi-nance in the lives of the citizenry. Thanks

to television; fast transportation; and, es-pecially, the internet, citizens today thinkon a national scale. No longer is the stateviewed as an independent nation, butis instead seen as a sub-unit of a largerAmerican nation. Todays American po-litical identities cross state lines to formnational movements and political partiesthat represent far more the interests ofthe state.

Despite the radical shift in how Ameri-cans self-identify, the system in place hashardly changed. Indeed, much of the inef-ciency of the Federal Government arisesfrom the fact that there is no clear dividebetween state and national issues. AnAmerican congressman, despite his ownpersonal beliefs on the current nationalissues, is always beholden to the state herepresents. Many Americans have lookedon in dismay, as session after session ofcongress is unable to move forward onany agenda items or deal with nationalcrises. Time and time again, citizens havequestioned: Why cant they just put per-sonal interests behind them and vote forthe nation as a whole?

The fault arises from the xed constitu-

ent bodies. No matter how important anissue may be for the nation as a whole,they have been charged, by the systemitself, with representing and address-ing the problems faced by their state andonly their stateat the cost of solving theproblems of the national government. It isbecause of the system that supports onlystate needs that Congressmen pile mil-lions of dollars into pork-barrel items orearmarks that benet the needs of a smallconstituency at the expense of all otherAmerican taxpayers. It is because of thisneed that a Democratic representative

from Kentucky has to choose betweenvoting yes on e ither the health care re-form or on the cap and trade bill; nally

choosing no on the former, to regainthe constituent support he lost in votingyes on the latter. These individuals, nowcharged with making decisions on the na-tional level, are beholden to the interestgroups of a small few.

There is one individual who does notrun on a xed constituent base in theAmerican system: The president. The in-dividual striving for the White House isexpected to present ideas and goals thatspan beyond the scope of one state, coun-ty, or town. Their election is viewed as anational thermometer, gauging the trendsof the entire nation and, in theory, settingthe tone and the agenda for the next fouryears. Unfortunately, the one person man-dated to speak for the nation as a whole,is unable to actually deal with legislation

for the nation as a whole. Yes, the partysystem has developed power structuresthat recognize the presidents adminis-tration as the voice for the party and, yes,the administrations proposed legislationcarries weight. However, when it comesdown to it, the actual work of legislationalways falls on the backs of individualstied to the state and limited interests.

What is needed then is a division of thestate and the nationalor a divorce fromxed constituent bases. The AmericanCongress needs to be reworked so thateach congressman is elected in a nationalelection. This would allow for new constit-uent groups to arise: Ones that care aboutissues that expand far beyond the realm ofan individual state. In a system organizedthis way, congressmen, like the president,

would speak with the voice of the Ameri-can people. Their election would become astamp of approval that reaches beyond allstate politics and allows them to success-fully address the needs of the majority ofAmericans. A new system would also al-low for current minority voices or partiesto establish themselves as legitimate ac-tors in American politics. So, what wouldthis new system look like?

Congress should be reorganized tomimic a parliamentary system, whereseats are not awarded by population butby percentage of the national vote. Assum-

ing that the number of voting meboth the House and the Senate remain the same, and assuming

voter turnout for presidential (around 40 percent): 2 percent of(or 2,600,000 votes) would secuin the Senate, while .2 percent of(26,000 votes) would secure a sehouse.

This would allow for a massivecation of who could serve as ancan Congressmen. Take for examfact that, according to a Feb. 4, 2lup poll, 36 percent of Americaa positive image of socialism. Hnowhere in America is there apopulation where more than 50of the voters consider themselveist. These individuals are spreathe nation, thus effectively closinthe socialist voice in American In a system with open constitu

ies, an organization such as the party could rally support from acnation and secure a legitimate voigovernment.

The same problems we have dabout the American system can bright here at Vassar. This is becVassar Student Association (VSAcil, like the American Congress, oitself on xed constituent bodiesof States, we organize by House. Thowever, is the same: It is almossible to fully represent the divstudent voice on this campus

This is, of course, part of the behind the proposal of the new sesystem. If the VSA Council, like Cwere divorced from specic conbodies, it could also become mu

effective in addressing the needconstituents. The proposed RCouncil, rather than diminish houwould empower the house presipositively affect life in the houseing them to more easily address concerns of residence. At the samit would establish a VSA Councilcluded students that want to mative changes here at Vassar. Woultruly be a better form of democra

Mathew Leonard 11 is PresideVassar Student Association.

Geographic representation hinders national progreMathew Leonard

Contributor

A depiction of the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Congress should bereorganized to mimic a

parliamentary system, whereseats are not awarded by

population but by percentageof the national vote.


10/20

nAtionAl AffAirS

Aword of caution: This article maycause euphoric ashbacks to the fallof 2008. It was a simpler time, my

sophomore year of college; my friends and

I lived in the dorms, we thought we couldnd true love at 3:30 a.m. in the Mug on aThursday, we outdid each other to see whocould eat more Doritos, and our favoritepastime was bashing John McCain as heslogged towards his Election Day drub-bing at the hands of Our Lord and Savior,Barack Hussein Obama from Afrier, Ho-nolulu. I guess I didnt get it all out of mysystem.

Remember all the way back to 2004.John McCain was speaking at the Re-publican National Convention: We needa constructive domestic debate. Ratherthan discuss how we can best achieve ourobjectives in Iraq, some have preferred touse the issue as a political weapon to scorepoints in this election. This is simply irre-sponsiblethe stakes in Iraq are too high.

We must show bipartisan resolve to pre-vail in Iraq, and not allow the insurgentsto believe that they are winning minds inWashington. Our troops, the Iraqi people,and the world need to see unied Ameri-can political leadership.

Smarter minds than mine have takenthis particular gem and torn it to shreds, soI want to just do a little bit more of a quiet,respectful dissection. The problem withthis quote is that it essentially rules outproductive debate on the (at the time con-troversial) War on Iraq; you are either withthe Republicans in participating in a warthat was poorly planned, poorly fought,and extremely expensive, or you are withthe terrorists. There is no room for con-structive disagreement. Clearly, if you dis-agree even a little, the terrorists have won

your mindas if Joe Bidens mind is somesort of prize.

By the way, I say it was controversial atthe time because it is simply not contro-versial now. It is not even fun to make funof how badly conceived and poorly man-aged the whole business in Iraq was; it justmakes me depressed. The only reason to

do it is to get straight As in my PoliticalScience classes.

I guess I can understand the sentiment:At a time of war, when the lives of UnitedStates citizens engaged in dangerous com-bat missions are on the line, some feel itbest to limit criticism of the war, even thatwhich is constructive, because it can be

seen as damaging to your troops and si-multaneously a morale-booster for the en-emy. So if that is the honorable Senatorsperspective, then I suppose we can expectunqualied support for the men and wom-en in uniform ying over Libya as theybravely engage in the process of removinganother dangerous Middle Easter tyrant.Right? Lets see what McCain had to say.

[President Obama] waited too long inLibya, theres no doubt in my mind. Butnow, it is what it is, he said on Mar. 20,2011.

This policy has been characterized byconfusion, indecision, and delay, he saidon Mar. 27.

I welcome the Presidents clarity thatthe U.S. goal is for Gadda to leave power,but an equal amount of clarity is still re-quired on how we accomplished that goal,he said on Mar. 29.

My friends, I know how to win wars.And if I were President, American soldierswould be pulling down statues of Gaddaall over Libya by now. It would have been2003 all over again. (All right, I made thatone up.)

Taken separately, none of these quotes isparticularly damning, and McCains posi-tion, instead of outright hostility towardsObamas policy, seems to be a grudging,Well, not exactly what I would have done,but not half bad, either. But, taken in thecontext of his (and other Republicans)statements during the Iraq war, which as-serted that anyone who criticized anythingabout the war was consorting with the en-emy, it seems just a touch dodgy.

McCains quote from 2004 makes thepoint that debate needs to be constructive,rather than simply being snarky for politi-cal points. I agree, Senator. So explain tome how complaining that Obama shouldhave gone in earlier and offering no alter-native to the current strategy is construc-tive. It is what it is is not a constructive

statement; its a resignation to what youconsider to be a wrong course of action. Sodo you want to change it, or are you justlooking forwait for itpolitical points?

Reading this, you might feel obligated

to point out that McCain is never goingto be seeking any political ofce higherthan his current senate seat, which wasrelatively safe. Good counterpoint. ButMcCain wasnt running for ofce in 2004either; he was just shilling for his party.And thats exactly what hes doing now.Any strike against Obama is a potentialgain for whomever the Republican Partynominates for President in 2012. McCainhas been perfectly willing to be a good Re-publican drone when called on before, andthere is no reason to think he wont be per-fectly willing to do so again. His criticismof Obama this time is no different.

In fairness, I dont disagree with Mc-Cain; the no-y zone should have beenimposed earlier (as much a fault of the UNas of Obama), which would have preventedsome of the earlier massacres; the Presi-dent didnt consult Congress, essentiallytaking us to war while stepping aroundthe need to actually declare it; and Obamahas not outlined a detailed plan to removeQadda and steer the country to a peaceful,stable, democratic government at minimalcost to US taxpayers. Did we not learn any-

thing from Iraq? Were going to taa Middle Eastern dictator with lic plan to create an orderly trana stable government, and then premove any US military presence.

this movie before, and I distinctlyber it sucking.

But thats not the point here; was a Republican president, theseissues, but when the president isber of the opposite party, most of rally-around-the-ag rubbish goesout the window. Constructive debadered incredibly difcult when ospends all the time theyre in poweYou hate America! and all the tarent in power yelling, You suckIraq would not have been so botcthe Republicans let members of bties have a mature conversation Maybe we can make this Libya swork if they are willing to offer sugrather than complaints.

All of this is not to let Obamhook, by the way. Communicatboth ways. But if Republicans are terested in making our governmerather than simply scoring politicathey need to be willing to offer concriticism and, just as key, they newilling to take it.

McCain criticism of Bush, Obama shows double standaRyan Martin-Patterson

Contributor


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11/20

foreign AffAirS

pAge 11 ChroniCle,Ap

After the ouster of Zine Ben-Ali of Tu-nisia and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt inJan. and Feb. of this year, it looked as

if the restorm unleashed by the Dec. 2010

self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, ayoung Tunisian street vendor, would con-sume all the autocratic and repressive re-gimes of North Africa, the Near East, andthe Arabian and Gulf peninsulas. In Jordan,Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Bahrain, Yemen,Libya and recently, Syria, exuberant anddetermined crowds pushed for the ouster oftheir own autocratsor at the very least, theopening of the political arena to more voicesand participants. The monarchies of SaudiArabia, Morocco and Jordan used a mix-ture of nancial bribery, acknowledgementof some public grievances, resignations ofdismal governments, and the adoption ofcosmetic political reforms to quell populardiscontent. For now, it seems as if these mo-narchical regimes have secured a modicumof social peace.

The most violent and repressive responsesto the revolutionary wave of popular protestshave been in Bahrain, Syria, Yemen, andLibya. The strongmen in Syria and Yemen,except for the brief moment when Ali Ab-dullah Saleh seemed to have lost condence,remain immovable. Every round of popularprotest against them has been followed byfunerals for martyrs killed by their securityforces and supporters. Bahrain and Libya,so far, seem to have been countries wherethe ruling regimes have gone the furthest torepress and turn back the tide of the popu-lar revolutionary protests. On Mar. 16, 2011,after a month of tolerating demonstrationsin Manamas Pearl Square, King Hamad binIsa al-Khalifa of Bahrain nally called on hisequally autocratic allies in the Gulf Council,in particular Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to send

in soldiers and tanks to squelch the increas-ing volatile movement for political change.They willingly obliged, driving protestors offthe public square and destroying the monu-ment signaling their democratic aspirations.In Libya, Colonel Muammar Gadda, hissons and allies continue to ght ferociously,in the face of a NATO aerial offensive, tothwart the aspirations of the newly emer-gent opposition.

The violence and stalemate in Libya hasbecome emblematic of the conundrum ofchange in the region. It is now clear thatwhat started as popular protests by Libyansinspired by the examples of the Tunisiansand Egyptians has degenerated into a civilwar, waged largely by factions of a dividedruling elite. It was a civil war that could havebeen avoided if only the Libyan revolution

had followed the similar scripts of its neigh-borspeaceful, determined, and cohesivepopulations united by common aspirationsoutstare a strongman and refuse to be drawninto the trap of using violence in retaliation.

The primary reason for the failure of thescript is the nature of the Libyan leadershipand regime headed by Colonel Gadda. Inthe four decades that he has shrewdly clungto power in Libya, the Colonel has been abundle of contradictions and inconsisten-cies. Claiming to be inheritor of the mantleof Omar Mokhtar, Libyas most prominentanti-colonial hero, Gadda has restricted

rather than facilitated the freedom of hiscompatriots. Though his public spectacleslauded Libyan nationalism, he fosteredtribal afliations to ensure the hegemonyand dominance of his kinsmen in politics.The Colonel claims to have created the Ja-mahiriya, the rst state of the masses inwhich ordinary citizens control power, but

the countrys resources and meaningful au-thority are, in reality, concentrated in thehands of a very small clique. At the core, theColonel is a military autocrat like his neigh-bors in Tunisia and Egypt were, but unlikethem, he has hollowed out rather than builda strong and cohesive national force.

Internationally, the Colonel sees himselfas the brotherly leader of a global anti-im-perialist movement and an ardent supporterof African Unity but has invested billionsof Libyan dollars in the very imperialistEuropean and North American countriesthat he claims he is ghting against. Also,he has armed some of the most violentand reactionary groups in various Africancountries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone,Chad, Sudan, and Uganda. Needless to say,the inconsistent actions of the Colonel haveearned him support as well as opprobriumin different quarters around the world. Ithas also made it very difcult to predict hisactions in any given situation.

Gadda and his ruling clique were com-pletely caught off guard by the spiriteddemonstrations in Benghazi on Feb. 15,2011. Despite the unfolding regional po-litical maelstrom around him in Decemberand January, the Colonel had deluded him-self that Libya would be an exception. Hewarned political activists and other mediagures that he would not tolerate any at-tempts to disturb the peace in Libya. Thenervous and poorly trained security forcesin Benghazi had interpreted that to meanshoot rst when the demonstrations start-ed. They killed around thirty-ve protestors,before thinking or consulting with the Colo-nels sons. Rather than stopping the protest,the deaths led people in other Libyan cities,like Derna and Al Bayda, to join in the anti-government revolt. Within a week, the pro-testors overran the main military garrisonsin Benghazi, capturing signicant amountsof arms.

The Libyan regime seemed shell-shockedas city after city fell under the sway of theanti-government forces that later formedthemselves into the National TransitionalCouncil. The Colonel and his son, Saif Islam,blamed drugs, Al-Qaeda and foreign agentprovocateurs for the spread of the protests.Indeed there have been suggestions thatthere are ickers of Al-Qaeda amongstthe protestors, as well as conrmation ofCIA and MI5 presence and support for the

rebels. These claims aside, the ruthlessnesswith which the Gadda regime retaliatedand sought to reestablish control against thepopulation centers that had rebelled or hadbeen captured by the rebels sent shockwavesthrough the world, even in capitals favor-ably disposed towards the Colonels regime.Libyan government ofcials, diplomats andgenerals, some genuinely horried at the re-gimes punitive actions against the civilianpopulation, and others tacitly encouragedby the European and U.S. governments, de-serted the regime and the rebel government.The situation in the country raised the spec-

ter of a humanitarian crisis, or even a trag-edy like those that have occurred in Somaliaand Rwanda; it prompted a widespread callfor intervention to protect civilian lives.

The process of mobilizing internationalintervention in Libya was fraught with thecontradictory morality, impulses, and inter-ests embedded in our contemporary global

politics. Since the 1990s the UN has beeninvested with a responsibility to protect thesovereignty of states without reservation,even as it depends on the archaic West-phalian model of international politics tofulll this responsibility. But if the UN had aresponsibility to act: Why in Libya? Why notin Yemen, Syria, or Bahrain?

Getting the UN Security Council membersto adopt Resolution 1972 (2011)whichcalled for an immediate ceasere, imposi-tion of a no-y zone, an arms embargo, andthe freezing of the assets of key members ofthe Libyan regimebecame a rather tortu-ous process. Moved by a mixture of concern,shame, and outright arm-twisting, France,Britain, and the U.S. were able to get thevote of

Vassar Chronicle, April 2011

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