Writing Our Moment

 

            The Maine School of Science and Mathematics sits in the recesses of northern Maine in the small town of Limestone. One bus runs to the town at 7:00 a.m. every day for any passengers that may want to venture to the pastured setting. The deep green pine forests, usually associated with Maine, have been deconstructed to make way for the endless potato fields that stretch along the side of the road. Quiet and undisturbed, the school sits on a small hill surrounded by grassland. MSSM’s somber color and plain architecture compliments the school’s surrounding atmosphere: gray, cold, and quiet. The students and teachers of MSSM do not. 

         “We’re the island of misfit toys. We’re all a bunch of Rudolfs.” Said Sarah Benjamin, a former MSSM student, with a laugh.

 

            She hadn’t visited MSSM since graduation two years ago. The location of her college is too far west. She explains that it might be a few years before she visits again but with MSSM’s insecure funding, no one can be sure of the school’s future. There has been discussion of moving the school away from the isolated Limestone to the more populated Brunswick, to attract more potential students. The school’s problematic funding is in part due to the consistent decline in applicants.

 

            “I would like to see more opportunities for students but there’s not much down in Limestone, Maine.” Said Luke Shorty, a mathematics teacher at MSSM.

 

            As a charter school in a secluded rural area, MSSM has to develop inventive ways to attract students and faculty. Documentaries, like The Lottery and Waiting for Superman, broadcast the positive and negative aspects of urban charter schools. Rural charter schools receive notably less attention.

            Technology education (or a focus in mathematics and the sciences) is thought to be an essential prerequisite in advancing the United States to a nation of greater capability and prosperity. The U.S. needs to do better in school. However, the problem is not the child, the problem is the school and the proof is in the numbers. The United States ranking in the 2010 Programme for International Student Assessment showed the disappointment of the U.S. education system: Reading – 14/34 OECD countries, Math 25/34 OECD countries, Science -  17/34 OECD countries. Average, below average, and average.

            Global academic defeat has not hindered the development of the latest scholastic experiment: the charter school. The term “charter”, meaning contracts for teachers in the public education sector, was coined in 1970 by Ray Budde. Albert Shanker advanced the charter idea of the “charter school” and in the 1980 the first charter schoolesque institutions were developed. The first act to permit charter schools was passed in 1991. Ten years later, charter schools still serve as the luminous promise of United States education reform.

            The problems of urban charter schools have been exposed by the media but the problems of rural charter schools have been remarkably less exposed. The Maine School of Science and Mathematics stands as a school that utilizes all of the new “proven” techniques of better education: it is a charter school and it is a magnet school for mathematics and the sciences. The problem is the backcountry that surrounds the school.

            A math and science school located in a place predominantly populated by potato fields does not appeal to many students or parents. However, the school is planning to utilize its surroundings to enhance MSSM’s appeal. Seclusion can be a positive feature.

             Currently in the works are plans of outreach and partnership. Luke Shorty is a former student and the teacher of advanced math (the lowest level math class available at MSSM), multi-variable calculus, and differential equations and variables (the highest level math class available at MSSM). Mr. Shorty, an energetic man with a booming voice, explains that the school is attempting to involve the University of Maine system. The UMaine system will help MSSM establish an early college program. UMaine at Presque Isle is willing to work with MSSM by providing them with more language and mathematics courses. The close proximity of the UMaine schools provides a good out lit for students.

 

             “For outreach the board of trustees is pursuing early college programs.” Said Shorty.

 

             Last year students developed windmills and the University of Maine took up their ideas and created a windmill competition. In addition to the green technology partnerships, MSSM has started to develop ways to teach students about farming and technology in relation to nature. One out lit has been the use of a green house.

           

            “We grow parsley, carrots, you name it. We use worms and observe the fertility of the soil depending on what we feed them.” Said Jim, a junior at MSSM.

 

            Using the solitary Maine outdoors to teach about plant growth is an example of how MSSM utilizes the cause of their declining applicants, seclusion, for good. But even with all the efforts and intended programs, there is no sure plan for the school’s future and many teachers and students ponder the schools hereafter. Nevertheless, MSSM is presently “home” to one-hundred and four boarders.

            The lobby, so familiar to Sarah Benjamin on her visit to her alma mater, has gone through a few decorative changes to increase the homey feel: the hallway outside adorns pictures of students on the walls and curtains decorate the windows. The student lobby has all the necessities of a living space: a kitchen is located adjacent to the sitting room and there are tables to study at.

 

 

 

 

After classes, the makeshift family room serves as the go to place for students. Some leaf through and study thick binders and text books. Some sit, engrossed by the content on their computer screens. Others watch science fiction on TV.

            Sarah Benjamin sat at a table and looked around the familiar room. Her mother, also sitting at the table, spoke of how her daughter had left home earlier than expected to go to the “math school in the middle of nowhere.” The two women understood that the school offered both unique academics and social experiences not provided by Sarah’s sending school.

 

            “(MSSM) allows kids that don’t feel comfortable at a mainstream high school a place to thrive – really, that’s the bottom line,” Said Sarah’s mother. “The kids here didn’t fit in, for whatever reason, they didn’t feel comfortable at their local high school and whether it was because of their academics or because maybe they’re really introverted and being around all those people is just too much…it just allows them to have a positive experience in secondary education.”

           

            Many teachers and students attested to the fact that the seclusion of the school brought out a sense of community. The school holds the mentality of “competing against oneself.” There is no class rank and students have no outside source of community in their farmland location. Students explained that every MSSM student feels the rigor of the MSSM work load and this encourages students to share their strengths and weaknesses by aiding each other with homework. Some math classes, specifically designed to have this effect, give students difficult worksheets that are almost impossible to do alone. The point of these worksheets is to promote the idea of cooperation. It is common knowledge (among students) that no MSSM student has received a high grade after doing a work sheet alone. It is not difficult to ask fellow students for help because the small population and the close living courters maintain a sense of familiarity among the students.

 

            “Students help struggling students and that’s pretty amazing…especially in a school that you would figure to be pretty competitive.” Said MSSM’s wellness teacher.

 

            As Sarah’s mother discussed earlier, the school provides a learning space that caters to introverted students by giving them familiarity so that they may have an intact space to develop social skills.

 

            “I didn’t have a lot of social skills, it was really hard for me socially.” Said Sarah about her sending school. “So, coming up here, there is something about being put in that type of dormitory situation with forty other girls where you learn social skills and you learn how to better interact with people.”

 

            The school provides a positive sense of camaraderie but there is also a negative side to the close proximity and isolated area. MSSM restructured its school year: students go home every month for either three days or a week. School buses go to the various regions of Maine and students from abroad or other states find host families in Limestone to stay with. The reconstruction of the school year was in large part due to cases of depression brought on by the dark, cold isolated farmland.

            At the first year orientation meeting a parent in the audience asked the anticipated question: “I heard that you have to send kids home every month now. What does being up here do to kids?”

            The question was answered with a description of the new method of sending students home once a month. There was also an explanation of how the school always has faculty on hand to aid and speak to students at any time. Nonetheless, having a school in isolated cropland six hours from the most populated city in Maine brings about a sense of detachment.

 

            “Sometimes I don’t even know what’s happening in the news or pop culture.” Said Luke, a sophomore at MSSM.

 

            A new proposition is to move MSSM to a more populated area. The proposal of moving the school to Brunswick is still on the table but there are many logistical issues.

 

            “If MSSM expands you’ll need more teachers, you’ll need more of an adult community. It’s really about a ratio of students to teachers. Right now it’s ten to one, maybe a little under ten to one.” Said Shorty.

 

            The goal of relocation is more applicants and more accessibility of the school. A more populated MSSM would mean larger class sizes would be larger and attention would be less individualized. Teachers wonder whether students would be able to manage the rigorous work load with less attention. The current system of the school shows that individual attention is paramount.

 

            “I had eight kids in three of my classes. We’re working with, generally, a gifted and talented population. In other places I’ve seen the other places I’ve been, both of my parents were teachers, the gifted and talented students languish. Because they don’t often have special needs.” Said Sarah Goletz, an MSSM English teacher. “Very Often, gifted and talented students have special needs that get masked by the fact that their gifted and talented. Here, this might be the only place they actually get the attention they need to overcome the potential difficulty their having and flower.”

 

            Sarah Goletz lives with her husband, also an employee of MSSM, in northern Maine near the students. The two, both in their late twenties, keep a constant eye out for potential backup plans in case the funding for the school falls through and MSSM ceases to exist. The decreasing applicants and small class sizes, though beneficial for many reasons, are a hindrance to the security of those that work for MSSM. A lot is on the line for Sarah and her husband. Still, the young couple chooses to live in Limestone because of the positive qualities of the school and the students.

            Upon entering the English classroom for the interview, Ms. Wag (Sarah Goletz) was in the midst of a group of teenage boys. A group of students sat around her classroom with open math books, discussing movies. She sat at the center of the gathering, lounging and grading papers. She shooed the boys out of the room. She explained that their class got out an hour and a half ago and that they stuck around to talk to her.

 

            “Get out!” She said with a laugh as they laughed in reply, obeying her command.

 

            Someone on the way out addressed her as “Ms. Wag.”

 

            “My name is Sara Goletz, I got married three years ago yesterday. My maiden name is Wagenfeller. I was called Wag because so many people were named Sarah and I went to a large school. Why should I get rid of that awesome name when I spent my whole life wearing it?”

 

            Ms. Wag and Mr. Goletz, who works in administration and runs the yearbook, anticipate every year because of the insecure funding of MSSM. The idea to relocate, though potentially problematic, is still in deliberation. Relocation could possibly increase applicants and secure the school. If this ends up being the case, the positive effects of small class sizes would be sacrificed but the security of the young couple’s jobs would remain intact.

            Isolation, however, was not always an issue for MSSM.

            The desolate Limestone used to be “an economic hub” according to Luke Shorty, math teacher and former student of MSSM. The reason for the activity years ago was the Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. Loring was the “closest (air force base), believe it or not, to Europe, Russia.” Said Luke Shorty. The base stayed active throughout the Cold War and when the War ended the base was no longer necessary. The creation of MSSM was built off the availability of the building that was once the Loring Air Force Base.

            “Like a lot of things in life…sometimes they’re driven by political forces that we don’t have any say over and that’s kind of this story here.” Said Shorty about the creation of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics.

 

            When Loring was still active the town of Limestone was, in the eyes of Mainers, bustling. There was an array of businesses that developed the town of Limestone and the surrounding Aroostook county towns. This portrait of a bustling Limestone is contrary to the farmland laden Limestone of today.

 

            “There are two (stores) on one side of main street and an IGA.” Said Shorty.

 

            This year the Brunswick Navel Air Force Base in Brunswick, Maine will be closing. Brunswick, the home of Bowdoin College, is the proposed spot for MSSM’s move and with the closing of the base the move seems almost perfect.

 

             “(Brunswick is) closer to the population hub so they will probably weather that closure a lot easier than Aroostook County.” Said Shorty.

 

            If the school was in the midst of an area with a large and active population, MSSM would have an easier time attracting potential students. The fact that Brunswick is a college town and further south (closer to civilization) gives evidence of staying power for the economic security of the town. Population, though the solution to the problem of diminishing applicants, may not be enough incentive to deal with the problems associated with moving locations.

 

            “There are people that have lived here their whole lives so they have a personnel issue. But other than that you have a logistic issue. It’s very expensive to move the school. If you move down to Brunswick you would need another school building. You’ll need to make labs and labs are expensive. People will want state of the art labs and things of that nature like Dorms.”Said Shorty. “Faculty. Do you pay for the faculty to relocate? Do you fire them all and rehire. (Do you) go through a rehiring process. That opens a whole new can of worms. Will it help us in certain aspects? Absolutely. If we were closer to the population it would be easier to attract more students. But it could even potentially be done here depending on what MSSM does with their curriculum. If it was a more hands on curriculum…if people were making tesla coils and doing genetics experiments and stuff like that might attract more people.”

 

            Some worry about the possible problems an active community might have on the students. MSSM is a selective school but selectivity is becoming more difficult to maintain with the shrinking number of applicants: one MSSM administrator stated that the school was looking to accept around eighteen students for next year’s first year class. The possible increase in applicants would solve this problem but the active social atmosphere of a more populated town might not be conducive to the school’s rigorous curriculum.

            To a city charter school, the problems that an increase to Brunswick, Maine might pose could seem comical. MSSM’s population of 104 boarders contrasts the 1800-2000 students at the Dorothy I. Heights Community Academy Public Charter Schools and many other city based charter schools. A student population of 1800-2000 is low for a city school. Lotteries are a common vehicle for selecting students to attend city charter schools. The high number of applicants guarantees a struggle to find a spot in a city school. MSSM, with its rural population, does not have a “high number of applicants’ problem.” Because of this, the foundation of a very small school could easily be altered with a slightly higher population or active surrounding community. Some members of the administration feel that the potential alterations of the school will not be positive.

 

            “As a public charter school, we are required to enroll students who meet the city residency requirements as long as our campuses have slots available. We must conduct an annual enrollment lottery if we have more enrollment applications and returning students than available slots.” Said Ashaki E. Goodall, Director of Development and External Affairs at the Dorothy I Height Community Academy Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C.

 

            MSSM’s curriculum is not as restricted as most charter schools.

 

            “I’m not really sure how we function as a public school. It’s kind of bizarre.” Said Alex, a senior at MSSM.

 

            Because MSSM does not have a high level of applicants or community students, the school is able to initiate the system that serves as their identifier: MSSM’s rigorous grading system.

 

            “We don’t do GPA or honor roll but there are other motivations. If you don’t do well, if you have a C or lower, you have structured study. People do get A’s here. But, if you are doing exceptionally well in a course you are usually bumped to a higher level.” Said Jane Smith*, a current sophomore at MSSM.

 

            This is the schools unique quality. If a student can succeed at MSSM a student can succeed in college. That is the philosophy. Test taking will be a breeze. Reading, writing, and solving problems will be an easy feat. However, being in a world where grades are required for college admission, parents are starting to feel concerned about the future of their children and they are pulling out of the MSSM school system. The pressure to keep students and increase applicants questions the unique grading system of MSSM and students wonder if the current grading system will still exist in the future.

            The topic of grading is one of the most debated topics in the MSSM community is the grading system and the difficulty of classes. The school advertises a college ready initiative but many parents would say that the actions of the school were contrary to this agenda in regards to the evaluation systems of the school. Students are given a large challenging course load and if students display the ability to handle the material well, an A as the parents would say, the student is moved to a higher level class. The administration argues that the challenge of the curriculum prepares students for higher education but parents argue that the inability to score well in classes prevents students from getting accepted to a prestigious college or university.

            As teachers explained, MSSM is not held to state standards because MSSM’s students continually exceed the standards. The school prides itself on this and how the excellence in student testing reflects the rigorous academics of the school. However, lately, there has been a debate on student success at the school. What does a student transcript look like if A students are being bumped up until they can’t be bumped up anymore? What about standardized tests?

            MSSM students are known to do exceptionally well on standardized tests. The school’s performance on standardized tests is one of the reasons for the wide berth of freedom given to the school (wider, even, than most public charter schools).

 

            “We are not held to the Department of Education rules. In the creation of MSSM, one of the things that created this – charter schools, board of directors say: you are going to hire an amazing faculty and the board of trustees will certify your teachers and we will waive any regulations the Maine department of education puts on us…you are to educate the students how you see best fit for the gifted and talented students and that is what we have been doing.” Said Luke Shorty.

 

            Unlike conventional public charter schools, like the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School, the Maine School of Science and Mathematics is not subject to stringent state regulations. MSSM was given a lot of freedom because of the high test scores of its students. The supposed negative effect of a more populated area and a larger school population is lower test scores because of the presupposed distractions and less individualized attention.

            As of now the secluded location increases MSSM’s obscurity. The students and teachers admit that they aren’t surprised when people don’t know about the school: it’s in the middle of nowhere. However, being obscure does not stop the school from being selective. The Maine School of Science and Mathematics stands as a selective school, graduating a class of about forty to fifty students a year. It was ranked number 12 in the U.S. News and World Reports best public schools. The school only accepts students that have demonstrated an ability to thrive within the MSSM system. Selection is based on sending school grades, standardized test scores, extra-curricular activities, essays, demonstration of passion for the arts or sciences, and the “special something else” exhibited in the interview.

            The small student community of MSSM isn’t only because of the low acceptance rate. In addition to the low number of acceptances, a third of the enrolled freshmen end up leaving the school because of curriculum difficulty or because they are not ready to be away from home. They go back to their sending schools.

 

            “If students who were doing exceptionally well at their sending school come here and have difficulty and start struggling, we set some things in place to help with that. Sometimes structured study helps people, sometimes it doesn’t. It’s one of the tools we have in place. We have academic team meetings if a student is really in trouble.” Said Luke Shorty.

 

            He spoke calmly of the students that struggled: academic struggle was not unique. It was something the school prepared for and had a system for. Structured study is a required study period for students who get a C or below in any class. There are also other means of aiding students, including individualized help from teachers which is only possible in a small school.

 

             “We try to stem those problems before they get out of hand. If we can’t fix them, well, the beauty of MSSM is that we can say MSSM is not working for you but you have a sending school you were doing well at: let’s put you back there.” Said Shorty.

 

            This results in a high number of students who got back to their sending schools or transfer out. But the number could be higher with less individualized attention in an equally rigorous course load, which is the fear of many students and teachers. 

 

            “Administrators are afraid that the increase in population will hurt the academics of MSSM and the performance of students.” Said James, a junior at MSSM, about the school’s potential move to Brunswick.

 

            MSSM has the hope of gaining funding and students with current courses and programs, regardless of what plans the school holds for the future. Visiting a class at MSSM demonstrates the effect of small class sizes and dedicated teachers. That’s truly it: the teachers and students that decide to trek to the middle of nowhere for an extended period of time usually want to be there. The remote location makes the venture to Limestone a long haul for most and because of this MSSM is a boarding school. The vast majority of students board in the residential hall alongside the school. The school is separated into two buildings: the living courters where the students’ board and the academic building where students have classes. Teaching is integrated in an MSSM teacher’s daily life and this lifestyle is one that many teachers knowingly choose. Some classes, like a night time astronomy class, take advantage of the fact that the students are also boarders. The fact that most MSSM students are live in students allows teachers to take on a twenty-four hour role. Most teachers live nearby. The teachers that were interviewed seemed pleased to have the constant role.

 

            “The best way to serve them is to get to know them, get to know how they think and to provide consistency between home life and school life and we can do that. We have the whole support team always working with them.” Said Sarah Goletz, “getting to that place of met cognition where people are able to see how they learn and work on that. Not necessarily through resources but through teachers that are willing to sit with them.”

 

            Goletz’s view is that students are responsive to the constant education system: “We are constantly working with kids of high intelligence and motivation. Kids that want to get more out of their education. “I have a hard core of students who want everything I can possibly give them. The student body is different. Even the students that speak of education as an invasion of their time. The students took an initiative to come here. You know that lying dormant somewhere is a love of learning.”

 

            The teachers, students, and administration faculty interview conveyed, intentionally or unintentionally, the characteristics that bring the school to light. The detrimental aspects that prevent an increase in applicants are, in part, due to the isolation of the school but the isolation, in many ways, plays a positive role in the school environment.

            Individual attention allows the school to possess uncommon qualities: all of the computers in the computer lab were put together by former students.

            Class atmosphere seems to be constructive:

            An example is Mr. McCartney’s English class. The class contains a kitchen counter covered in tea makings. Behind the black board and desks sits a wall of books and living room furnishings: couches are placed behind a neat row of desks. All students, given the option of couch or desk, choose to sit at a desk. Mr. McCartney also sits at a desk, amongst his students, with his red tea pot that reads “Keep Calm and Carry On” and his red mug with the same phrase. The eight students sit in a row and discuss American Indian literature using imaginary numbers and the variable x to analyze literary concepts.

            Many public charter schools hold lotteries and admit all students that meet state specified guidelines.

 

            “Each year our enrollment target changes slightly, and we have consistently increased our enrollment.  Across our 5 physical campus and 1 online campus, we currently have approximately 1800 students, and next year our target is approximately 2000 students in grades PK3 – 8^th.” Said Ashaki E. Goodall, Director of Development and External Affairs at the Dorothy I Height Community Academy Public Charter Schools, “As a public charter school we are required to enroll students who meet the city residency requirements as long as our campuses have slots available.  We must conduct an annual enrollment lottery if we have more enrollment applications and returning students than available slots.”

            MSSM does not have these goals or city requirements. The decline in applicants has not reduced the selectivity of the school: an admissions director shared that the school might be excepting a total of seventeen students for its incoming first year class. Upholding standards is not the only reason the school remains selective: a student needs to demonstrate the ability to live independently in an isolated area. However, the isolation of the surrounding area encourages students to form intimate bonds.

            “It was that sense of community that made MSSM so special for me throughout my years…because it definitely wasn’t the location that brought me here.” Said Luke Shorty about his time as a student at MSSM.

            “Nobody judges you here. We’re all coming from a different and we all pretty much want the same thing.” Sarah Benjamin said about the sense of community and desire to learn amongst the MSSM students.

 

            And because the school is in a desolate location, the students that choose to go to MSSM are usually students that are willing to devote the majority of their time to academia and school related activity. The positives and negatives of MSSM, and charter schools nationwide, present reminders of the initial romanticized charter school promise: to improve the education of the United States and provide an education choice to students that cannot afford alternative to public schools. The methodology of charter schools is simple: the perks of a private school and the perks of a public school fused together. Freedom to compose a school alongside the pressure, brought on by public funding, to meet requirements of success.

            Charter schools were intended to provide the accessibility of a selective, prestigious institution without the tuition. Whether the goal of a further advanced nation is achievable through the charter school system is under question with the display of documentation of urban charter schools. The less broadcasted rural charter schools have shown problems and successes separate from their urban counterparts.  “According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. The number has gone from 207, or 13 percent, of all charter schools in 2000 to 652, or 15 percent, in 2008, according to the most recent statistics.”¹ An increasing number of parents and students are choosing rural charter schools. The MSSM system, different from the conventional big city charter school system, has proven to be a more effective methodology in some ways. However, the problems with the schooling system and the problems brought on by the surrounding isolated area cannot, and should not, be ignored.

 

 

 

           

 

 

           

 

             

 

 

           

 

             

 

¹The National Charter School Research Center November 2010 E-Newsletter

           

 

           

 

             

           

             

 

 

 

I just realized that I forgot to post this so here it is…

Rory Mchugh was ready to rumble. He delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his opponent’s stomach, ducking with his waist to dodge the retaliating blow to his jaw. He sized up his foe, blocking a few jabs with his forearms while staying balanced. His opponent threw out an overhead snap kick, which Rory deftly side-stepped shortly before sweeping his opponent right under the knee, knocking him briefly to the ground. His adversary quickly gained his footing and furiously attempted a balls-to-the-wall full-throttle knee to the nose. Anticipating this fury, Rory caught the knee with a quick movement of his leg, downing his opponent. This is one of many examples of Rory’s self described “beast-ness” in Fighters Uncaged, a recently released title available for the Xbox Kinect, a motion gaming add-on to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console. Rather than use a controller, Rory utilized his entire body, annihilating his opponent in what he considers one of the best games to be released for Kinect to date. “The internet dogged the game because it was too hard, but the Kinect Addict knows where it’s at,” said Rory.     

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[Caption: Rory ‘beasting’ at Fighters Uncaged]

On the internet, Rory is known as the Kinect Addict, a fledgling enthusiastic Irish YouTube star with a thick Boston accent that spends much of his time crafting outspoken reviews, tips and guides on various Kinect titles. Posting his first video in November, Rory, under the YouTube account TheKINECTADDICT, has made a remarkable impression on the gaming community, providing the type of no-nonsense enthusiasm that people want to hear. He has since transferred over to the YouTube account kinectaddict, where he creates higher quality videos that are more Kinect-centric. 

Most recently, Rory attended the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Boston, where he met up with my friend Adam Singer and alternated between ogling girls in skimpy clothing and playing the latest Kinect titles. “Rory is not a complicated person, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy to describe. He’s loud, he’s confident, and he knows more about the Kinect than the people who design the games. I should know, I saw him talk to one of them, and the designer seemed out of his depth,” said Adam Singer of his time with Rory at PAX.

[Caption: This photo was taken by Adam Singer approximately 4 seconds after he was first made aware of Rory McHugh’s existence. Note the amused but wary bystanders in the background.]

Besides for checking out the latest Kinect titles, Rory also spent a considerable amount of time at PAX checking out the other notable hardware. “Whenever Rory wasn’t raving about the Kinect, he was running around the floor with a bag of spicy-peanuts and a permanent hard-on,” said Adam Singer of Rory’s time not spent with the Kinect at PAX. 

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[Caption: Rory harassing the ladies]

After Adam told me about his PAX exploits with Rory, I knew it would be a great opportunity to drive up and meet him. Given that I’m a gaming journalist myself, meeting Rory had the added benefit of being quite an interesting connection. Being that I was going to be down in Boston for the Dropkick Murphy’s show anyway, I contacted Rory and we set up a meeting for the day after St. Patrick’s Day at his apartment in Taunton, Massachusetts, a quaint factory town near Rhode Island that looked like it was transplanted straight from another quaint factory town in the Midwest.

Given our not-exactly advanced age, Adam’s father insisted on being overprotective and ran a background check on Rory, turning up two prior arrests in the last year, one for a 2 AM domestic dispute, a second for driving without a license and insurance, which explained his lack of transportation and reluctance to meet us at a halfway point. The domestic dispute, it turned out, was with his ex-girlfriend Bridget, who as a result gained custody of their three year old son Shane.

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[Caption: Three year old Shane entering ‘Junior Beast-Mode’]

Actually, Rory’s dispute with Bridget is the sole reason that Rory became the Kinect Addict. During his relationship with Bridget, Rory was employed at a local steel factory, where he worked under Bridget’s brother. Rory claims that he got the job after apprenticing at the factory for several months and rising up the ranks to his current position, but in all likelihood Bridget’s brother gave him the job, as they were dating prior to his employment at the factory. The coincidence is just too great. After their relationship soured, Bridget’s brother fired Rory by using a bogus mental health claim that Rory was unfit to work, which Rory is currently suing the factory over.

At first looking for alternative employment, Rory headed over to a friend’s house in the early days of his unemployment to seek advice. Instead, they ended up playing his friend’s newly purchased Kinect. Rory had such a great time with motion gaming, that he was inspired to pick up a Kinect and shortly after ended his job search. After purchasing his own Kinect, Rory decided to live off his pension for the time being and attempt to make it as a games journalist, creating video content five days a week and spending the majority of his time playing Kinect. 

[Caption: An early video of Rory refuting a review of Fighters Uncaged by IGN Entertainment]     

He has since created over one thousand videos and is generating revenue from them, although not enough to be comprable to a full-time, or even part-time job.         

On the day of our meeting, we arrived at Rory’s apartment complex about an hour late due to some directional technicalities, pulling into a gravel-filled parking area. Rory, in baggy gray sweats, flip flops, and an oversized T-shirt, was standing out by the mailbox, looking annoyed. He saw us, nodded in our direction and without a word, turned to go inside, obviously ticked off about having to stand outside for a bit. As we climbed the stairs to his apartment, we made some small talk and calmed his mood, and started talking to him about his role as a games journalist, which seemed to perk him up.

We walked into his apartment, a three room place that Rory told us he paid $80,000 for, and sat down on his couch. The walls were littered with crude drawings in crayon and gibberish scribbles and the entire main living area was stacked, pyramid-style, with energy drinks, like a shrine to the Gods of excess energy, of which Rory has in abundance. Despite first appearances, the place was surprisingly well put together. The kitchen was well stocked, and there was a clear space dedicated to Kinect playing, equipped with an enormous flat screen TV, a Kinect and Xbox 360, a masking tape outline on the floor to designate were to stand and a touch of sentimentality, a picture of Rory’s three year old son Shane.    

After we sat down on the couch, Rory got down to business and busted out the Kinect and showed us how he made his videos with a Flip HD camera, which he strategically placed on a shelf in the back of the room. After explaning a little bit about his background and how he got started with the Kinect, Rory inserted the games that he was to show us that afternoon.

Although Rory hopes to one day review and work on Kinect titles for either Ubisoft or Microsoft, he currently supplies all his own equipment, including games, hardware and travel expenses. While many games journalists work reviewing and writing about games as a hobby or side-gig, using free handouts from companies at as a form of revenue, Rory intends to make this a full-time career. “Kinect is the future!” Rory said, “I’m not just another clown trying to make it, I’m the Kinect Addict.” 

War: What is it Good For? was a perfect title for the first year studies class taught by Ernesto Mestre—a serious subject infused with a hint of laughter to lighten the mood. Ernesto is the type of professor who scoffs at being referred to as “Professor Mestre” and proudly wore a baseball cap emblazoned with a rooster and the word “cock” to class on a regular basis. He could be seen riding his wooden scooter across campus, and was a regular at the gym, where he would greet his students with a smile and friendly conversation. When his creative writing-focused first year studies class first met in the autumn of 2009 in the poorly ventilated, yet cozy, upstairs room in Sheffield building, none of his newly acquired donnees thought that they would quickly be faced with the task of replacing him.

            In the spring on 2010 Ernesto was being assessed for tenure, which he ultimately did not receive, meaning that he was to leave his teaching position at Sarah Lawrence College. The same school that proudly advertizes its one-of-a-kind, individual donning and conference system was stripping an entire group of first-year students of their don. But the students’ responses to this hurdle in their academic career are surprisingly disparate. The students that previously made up War: What is it Good For? do not all have harrowing tales of intellectual anguish, in fact most of them view the experience in a relatively positive light.

There were three very different and intriguing responses to the experience, which were very clearly marked in three of Ernesto’s past students. Sasha Maglio, a native New Yorker and charming comic book fiend, became extremely attached to Ernesto during their year together—she used her individual conferences with her don not only to discuss conference work, but also to create a stable relationship with an adult. “Ernesto and I got along really well,” says Sasha, “It was kind of like having a family member around after a while”.

But Sasha’s experience isn’t analogous to her entire class. Omar Noel, another New Yorker, is soft-spoken and easy-going. Although he admired Ernesto, and formed a friendship with him, he was not nearly as attached to his don as Sasha. When asked about his relationship with Ernesto, Omar simply said: “Academically, socially—I felt I could really express myself. I felt comfortable enough to really open up”.

            Katelyn Bornholdt represents the final drastic, disparate view. Katelyn, a Californian with very clear-cut goals, says “The relationship I ended up having with my don [Ernesto] was much more personal, and less academic relationship—and so I needed someone to advise me more with academics”. Katelyn viewed the emotional bond with Ernesto as a positive aspect of her first year of college, but says she appreciates the “kick in the pants” she receives from her current don.

            “I would’ve changed dons at the end of my first year, whether or not the situation [Ernesto’s dismissal] had happened,” confessed Katelyn. She admitted that although she appreciated the emotional and social relationship she had with Ernesto, she was looking for someone more grounded in academia who could offer her more obvious roads to success—such as internships and letters of recommendation. Although Katelyn’s relationship with Ernesto was different from that of the majority of her peers, her resilience, independence and general positive attitude toward the change are common amongst her classmates.

When asked how Ernesto’s absence affected his sophomore year at Sarah Lawrence, Omar replied “Not so much, it [replacing his don] didn’t take as long as I thought it would. There were teachers I had in mind before he left”. Omar, of course, missed Ernesto, but has made a smooth adjustment to his new don, finding himself very comfortable once more. Omar even ultimately views his experience as a good one: “I see it as a positive thing. Ernesto… he was great, there were some times when the balance between buddy and professor got fuzzy, but with Mary [his current don] that’s a little more concrete.”

Even Sasha, who was incredibly close with Ernesto, says that she has found herself coping without him just fine. Although she misses her don, of course, she says about her relationship with her new don: “I like Brahm a lot, I do. I never see him,” she laughs, “but that’s because I’m a very independent person and he’s very independent as well.” Sasha spoke about the ways in which Ernesto could have helped her through emotionally rough patches this year, but confessed that her new don had also helped her through just fine: “He sat down with me, we had tea—it was really good,” she said.

            Ernesto, it seems, formed a very intimate bond with each of his students, becoming emotionally attached and creating a safety net for each of them, but academically he was relatively easy to cope without—simply because of the very high standards to which a Sarah Lawrence professor is held. Professors who teach at Sarah Lawrence are necessarily intelligent and capable of filling the role of the don, but it is the emotional bond that is unique to a good don/donnee relationship.

So it goes to show that perhaps being forced to switch dons at the end of freshman year isn’t the worst thing that could have happened. Sarah Lawrence College shapes its students so much that, within their first year, students discover vast changes in interests or concentrations—perhaps being given the opportunity to reassess the don/donnee relationship can be seen as an opportunity to start over with someone who the student him or herself chooses, rather than being assigned by chance. Although Ernesto Mestre was an undeniably caring, affectionate, and supportive don, his donnees are able to function academically without him—and seem to view his absence more as that of a dear friend, than as a professor.

            But how has this loss affected Ernesto, himself? In the last year, without his donnees, and away from Sarah Lawrence campus, none of his ex-donnees have heard from Ernesto in months. Omar says the last time he heard from his original don was “very, very long ago”. Hayden Miller, another student from Ernesto’s first year studies, says he last heard from him “Months ago—the beginning of the school year”. Maddie Gaw also says the last time she spoke to Ernesto was last year. Jacqueline Goodman says “it’s been over a year since I’ve heard from him”. Although this long silence is, of course, in large part due to the inevitably busy schedules of Ernesto’s donnees, it is uncharacteristic of the man as described by his students. It seems that the same professor whose first year studies class came to both love and depend upon him because of his deep attachment to each of them, has also found himself adjusting to the change just fine. Despite numerous emails and phone calls, Ernesto was ultimately unable to offer an interview, which seems to imply that whatever Ernesto is doing in his post-Sarah Lawrence career, he is, without a doubt, still pouring the same affection and dedication into it, as he did into creating a safe environment for the members of War: What is it Good For?    —Emily Harrington

Katelyn Bornholdt

Sasha Maglio

Omar Noel

                “What the fuck am I going to do with a liberal arts degree.” Said a first year at Sarah Lawrence College in a group interview held on a bathroom floor, due to the tolerable temperature of the room compared to the high heat in the rest of the house.  

            After a beat, the same student turned to her friend lounging in a bathtub (fully clothed) and said, “I think Sarah Lawrence prepares you better for the world. I really feel like the great thing about Sarah Lawrence is that (you are judged on) merit.”

            And yes, many first years adhere to the Sarah Lawrence approach because of the ideals of merit. Still, many of the same first years recognized, in their short experience at SLC, that evaluations did not mean there were no grades.

            Yes, there are grades.

            After receiving the initial “Fat Envelope”, Sarah Lawrence College’s class of 2014 entered a world that is fondly regarded as “progressive.” Sarah Lawrence does not require SAT scores and the majority of classes, offered to all grade levels, are seminar style. Grades are not printed on final assessments. A Sarah Lawrence student must request an unofficial transcript from the registrar to view grades. Writing is highly valued in both students and professors: the students exhibit their understanding through the written word and professors write out evaluations for their students.

            In this realm of counterculture it is implied that self direction and inventiveness sit at a higher caliber than any grade. When scores don’t play a part in education, students can develop and learn without fearing low grades. Students do not learn to do the minimal for the best grade; young scholars develop ideas and immerse themselves in all they can.

            However, this theory is not ideal, especially in a system with grades. The underground SLC grades are well hidden but they do exist.

            “Professors are reluctant to present grades because of the ideals of the school but students are curious because grades do, in fact, exist.”Said James Neily, a first year at Sarah Lawrence College.

            The no grades, no majors, and no exams image of Sarah Lawrence gives an inaccurate portrayal of SLC as a school of penultimate freedom. Grades “do, in fact, exist”, classes are small and rigorous, and conference papers act as a parallel for exams (a more in depth and beneficial parallel). However, grades don’t seem to fit into the ideals of the school that focus on “a deeper education” (hence the new school motto, the old being “You are different. So are we”). Do students worry about grades in an institution where the predominant focus is to be, simply, educated?

            “Grade structure can be nerve racking especially when talking about graduate school but (as time goes by) this is expected to dissipate,” Said Rob Winslow, a junior at Sarah Lawrence College.

            Some students do not wish to adapt to the system over time.

            “Grades, for me, have always been a source of pressure. I didn’t like having grades when I had grades. But now, I would feel kind of awkward approaching my professors to ask “how am I doing?” said a first year student, planning to transfer out of SLC.

            Why are students finding inquiry about grades necessary at an avant-garde place like Sarah Lawrence? This question presents the conundrum of educating yourself at a progressive school in a world where tradition is still prevalent.

            “It used to be that students were discouraged from taking an interest in grades because of the college’s philosophy that evaluations are much more significant than the short hand that grades provide,” Said Daniel Licht, Sarah Lawrence College’s registrar, “Philosophically, that is still what the college believes but we do recognize there is an external world out there.”

            Many attend Sarah Lawrence with the intention of attending a graduate school afterwards and the registrar is who they go to for their transcripts. In the past students looked into their grades when transcripts became necessary (for going abroad, for programs outside of SLC, or for graduate school) but, according to Licht, the interest in grades is higher now than it was ten years ago. However, the existence of grades does not take away from the philosophies of the school; they are just a necessary measure for a world that still values grades.

            “Over the years the college recognized that students needed grades so grades are provided,” Said Licht, “But, it’s a sort of currency, something that you use that is portable. When you apply to graduate school, when you apply for other programs, often admissions officials in other schools don’t have the time or willingness to read through evaluations. They’d much rather look at grades and make a quicker admissions decision.”

            To the delight of the school, SLC has had good fortune with student acceptances to graduate schools partly because of the analytical work done in classes: “I think graduate schools love Sarah Lawrence,” Said Ellyn Ruddick- Sunstein, an SLC sophomore.

            The general consensus of the students interviewed was that Sarah Lawrence has structure but the system is freer (more progressive, if you will) than other institutions. Some seek more structure.

            “The freedom we have here needs self motivation,” Said Winslow.

            Breaking away from the mold of definitive numbers is one that is painful for some and may contribute to the number of transfers after the first year. Still, many develop the ability to gauge their own performance.

            “You’ll know if you’re not doing well,” Said Ruddick- Sunstein.

            If a student obtains the ability to articulate thoughts efficiently, analyze ideas, and self motivate, the goals that Sarah Lawrence claims to have will be met. At Sarah Lawrence, the goal should not be the grade. 

             “Grades, in a way, are sold as objective measures of student performance because they are easy to look over and quickly make decisions, but they are really not objective measures. They are subjective measures on a standardized scale. They can’t be as meaningful to students as the thoughtful comments the faculty writes in evaluations,” Said Licht.

            Those that worry about the future are comforted with the idea, supported by the administration, that they are preparing themselves and that grades are not a defining factor for the future. And those that continue to be concerned can rest assured that they will be graded.

-Jean Lee

For varying opinions:

http://www.cappex.com/colleges/reviews/Sarah-Lawrence-College-195304

Out of more than 900 applicants, only 16 exceptional actors are admitted into NYU Tisch’s graduate acting program each year. They are young, they are talented, they are marketable, and they are, above all, attractive people. This program has a definite allure among most actors who move to New York City to ‘make it’ but some people question whether the almost impossibly high standards for admission truly warrant the results of this three-year program that rewards the actor with an MFA in Drama. There are countless actors that are attracted to this city, hoping for their ‘big break’, and NYU’s graduate program provides a level of training that can create, or in some cases stifle, these stars in the making.

The 16 actors who form a working ensemble for three years are handpicked through a rigorous audition process that entails the preparation of four monologues no longer than 2 minutes each: 2 classical and 2 contemporary, that are required to demonstrate the actor’s broadest acting range, and 16 bars of a song to be performed a cappella on demand. Actors are required to bring a headshot and detailed resume of their past work and study of acting, along with a personal statement; NYU is adamant in their belief that good actors are of necessity interesting, ‘worldly’ people with ‘talent and soul’. See the director talking about NYU actors here: http://gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu/object/mwd_video_1.html

The audition process is carried out so that the program can cherry-pick the crème de la crème of the actors who audition, people who they can groom into captivating artists. It is not easy to predict the kinds of actors NYU will choose. Scott Freeman, a prominent NYC acting teachers, says, “I’ve found graduates of NYU to be fresh and inspired and UNIQUE.”

Here is a picture of the class of 2011.

 

Brian Smolin is a 27-years-old actor in New York City who has auditioned for the NYU graduate acting program 3 years in a row with no success. The last two times he was picked for the callbacks only to be disappointed yet again in the final round. He notes (with a hint of bitterness in his voice) that the people who are admitted are inevitably “gorgeous and ethnic.” This is coming from a guy who is good-looking and, I can attest, a truthful and compelling actor. He now says he has decided to “f*** it” and move to Los Angeles.

Although the NYU program is claimed by most actors, directors, agents, and teachers to be the top-notch graduate school for acting in the country (the Yale School of Drama comes in at a close second), the number of alumni who are actually successful is, at best, surprisingly minimal. Meg Pantera, a well-known agent in the city, says that out of the most successful actors, “the majority of them don’t come out of graduate school…it is true that an actor gets the opportunity to work with some famous teachers and directors” at NYU but there are also smaller conservatories or studios where you can work and learn just the same.

Most of the actors who graduate from NYU do go on to careers that are satisfying and fulfilling in the acting world, while some go into different departments of the theatre and film world, and still others disappear from the scene. “On average”, claims Pantera, “over half the actors who took their BA or MFA degrees in acting have left the business because actors get out and realize they’re not prepared for the real world.” Very few make it to that high echelon of ‘successful’ actors we see in the public limelight.

Of course, Pantera adds, “it depends on what you call success. It really all comes down to talent. Actors [graduating out of NYU] are all usually of a very high standard so people take an extra look.” Undoubtedly, most of the graduates have an easier transition to the professional world of acting than those who come to this city on their own. Freeman agrees: “NYU provides an actor with an imprimatur that opens doors. And by the time one graduates, or at least at the showcase, if one does well, everyone in the industry knows who you are. At least in New York.”

Here is a video of a recent NYU grad student, Heather Lind, performing a monologue:
http://gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu/object/heather_lind_video.html

There is an old adage that says that acting can’t be taught and that one just has to ‘get out there and go for it’, learning along the way. “In the old days, actors did that by working in repertoire companies. 50 years ago there weren’t schools for actors. People who were interested learned on the job,” says Pantera. “Not every actor goes to graduate school. Right now that’s the trend, the ‘in thing’. I don’t know if that’s going to continue because people start to realize that when they get out, they have to face the reality of paying back loans when the average actor doesn’t make money after school and is not independently wealthy.”

Aya Cash is a dedicated, talented, and spunky young actress in New York who got her BA in acting did not go to graduate school. She says, however, that she is ‘where I want to be in terms of success. I am supporting myself, my boyfriend and I just bought a house on our combined acting careers, and I’m doing roles that I love and care about.” She combines theatre, her true passion (she is on Broadway at the moment in ‘The Other Place’) with commercials, the real “payer of bills”, as she notes wryly.
On graduate acting schools, she says: “You go there if you want to go there so that you will be confident of your technique and experience. All that matters once you get in that audition room is whether or not you can act. How you got there is of little or no concern to the people watching.”

NYU’s program, however, can sometimes result in actors feeling constrained by their training. Freeman says, “NYU’s curriculum requires a great deal of technical training in the areas of voice and body. That may lead some to feel like “robots”, because often the whole way a person moves and speaks, such a large part of our identity, is challenged. NYU, [however,] due to the founding influence of Zelda Fichandler and during the years that Ron Van Lieu served as head of acting, earned a reputation as a program with a humanistic focus: taking into consideration the whole person, their unique personality, gifts, and artistry. I have no doubt, from what I’ve seen, that that has not changed.”

Here is another video of a recent NYU grad student, Isaiah Johnson, performing a monologue: http://gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu/object/isaiah_johnson_video.html

Meg Pantera disagrees: “Anyone should have training in their field, whether it’s at graduate school or not. Graduate schools in general, [however,] create a false sense of security, by putting actors in little niches, (‘you’re going to play the ingénue, you’re going to be the character actress, etc…’) instead of letting the actor play and develop into whatever they are right for. Because of this, it can end up stifling an actor’s creativity and only leave them with the tools for roles they are not right for.”

By way of example, she adds, “I know an actress who came out of a graduate program and couldn’t find work until I told her to switch her marketability as one particular character to one more suited for her. In school, they had taught her to do something that did not fit her type. Educators work in institutions so they have their own way of doing things. For example, Robin Williams was kicked out of Juilliard because he didn’t conform to their standards. Obviously he is an extremely gifted individual.”

But no matter what ‘experts’ say, or people in the business, there really is no recipe for success that an actor should follow. There are countless actors who never went to formal acting training and who are now ‘making it big’. There are other actors, such as Meryl Streep, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, who most likely benefited enormously from that experience. Would she have been as successful had she not had that training? Probably. ‘Natural talent’ is definitely a part of the business. Realists would say, however, that hard work and networking are even more important. So whether or not graduate school directly affects your success as an actor shouldn’t matter; it will hopefully allow you to explore your art form and develop a technique that directly affects your confidence in the auditioning room. 

Imani Jade Powers

 - Casey Juliette Sussman

Sarah Lawrence College has recently made the decision to join the NCAA (http://www.ncaa.org/). This decision was the result of a long process of deliberation among the Board of Trustees, the Athletics Department, the Dean and the President of the college, as well as among students who wanted to voice their concerns about the allocation of SLC’s fiscal resources.

“I think that the move to a higher division before recruiting is a bad idea” said Bethany Iddings, a sophomore at Sarah Lawrence who worked as the manager of the basketball team this year. “We will be putting students in an athletic program where they wont be able to succeed and it will discourage athletes from joining teams - no one wants to be on a team that loses.”

Though the thought of SLC competing at a division III level seems like a joke to some, others point out that several of our sports teams are already competing at a comparable level. The women’s’ volleyball team won the season championship last season  (http://www.slc.edu/undergraduate/physical-education-athletics/athletics/womens-tennis/index.html) and women’s’ tennis swept their conference  (http://www.slc.edu/undergraduate/physical-education-athletics/athletics/womens-tennis/index.html). So maybe some of our athletes are capable of facing higher competition, but we will have to put in work to bring our other teams up to par. So some wonder why we are deciding to intensify our sports program before we even have enough variety of teams to meet the league’s requirement.

The strongest motivation behind the move to join the NCAA is the hope of making the college more attractive to a broader pool of applicants. According to the college’s administration department, 25-35% of students looking at liberal arts colleges are also looking to play college sports. The move aspires to attract prospective students who are looking for a more serious athletic academic program to accompany the unique and rigorous academic structure that Sarah Lawrence offers.

But joining the NCAA will have a certain impact on everyone at the college. There will have to be a designated time slot each evening during which professors will not be allowed to schedule classes so that athletes won’t face conflicts with practice or game times. But more importantly, being a member of the NCAA will cost approximately an additional $150,000 a year in fees, coaches’ salaries, and travel costs. Some students have expressed concern that the move is a bad allocation of funds.

Erin Adam, a junior and a member of Student Senate stated, “My view is that there are better ways Sarah Lawrence could utilize the funds that would impact a wider section of the student body”. Erin believes she is speaking on behalf of a number of the college’s constituents. “In a recent Student Senate meeting, Paige Crandall [the Dean of Student Affairs] asked Student Senate Representatives if they had any ideas for campus improvements. She left with an extensive list of suggested improvements that ranged from strengthening academic departments such as Journalism and Education to campus maintenance and operations. We continue to hear about Sarah Lawrence’s struggles with fundraising and low endowment, and investing in a variety of other campus concerns that directly impact more of the campus would be more constructive”.

It is true that only about 10% of Sarah Lawrence students are involved in athletics so it seems the move may be geared more toward impacting admissions than to satisfying the existing student body.

 But is this the right way for Sarah Lawrence to be attempting to increase admissions? The reason many people choose Sarah Lawrence is that it doesn’t have the feel of a mainstream college campus. There are no frat parties or weekend sports games attracting crowds. Some students are concerned with who the move to become an NCAA member will attract to the college and that the move might change the character of SLC’s student body.

“The program we are pushing for needs a “jock”ier type, the people who live, breathe, and speak sports,” commented Bethany. “Athletes tend to want to be more sociable, they want team parties, they want homecoming. If we want to make the program worthwhile, we will have to make it a good program with good athletes. If that’s who we are trying to be, if that’s who we are trying to compete against, if those are the people we are trying to attract, that’s going to bring a whole new dynamic to the school”.

Bethany has already witnessed tension on campus between athletes and non-athletes and worries that this tension might rise. “We’ve already had people complaining about the soccer team “jock” and the parties they’re having and they aren’t even that “jocky”. Imagine what will happen once we have enough athletes to have all our sports teams successfully meet the level of competition of the NCAA”.

On the other hand, Max Mallory, the co-captain of the basketball team, thinks that the concerns that the move will attract “jocks” or “meatheads” to the school are absurd and unfounded. He argues, “These views are the product of ignorance of athletic culture. Athletes are some of the most intelligent and dedicated people I know. They are able to manage their time, they have leadership qualities, are good team players and are focused. All of these qualities translate beautifully to an academic setting”.

Mallory further argues, “The move won’t mean that the college is going to start attracting people that are very different than the people it attracts now and it will not drastically change the character of the college”. This is also the perspective of the Dean who has stated that increasing the seriousness of the school’s athletics will in no way compromise its academic rigor. The donning system, class structure, and academic caliber will remain at the forefront and the fact that SLC will be in the NCAA division will only be a factor in the decisions of prospective students who are already attracted to these core defining aspects of the college.

“I would say to critics” Mallory adds, “Why would you limit the things that can be attractive about a school to prospective students?”

But Bethany argues, “We have intramurals, we have sports teams, why to we have to be reaching out trying to become division III – it just doesn’t make sense. Besides, its going to take years to get the image across that SLC is an athletic school in order to be attractive to a wider range of kids. In the meantime we will be discouraging our students and wasting all this money”.

The move will not happen overnight. It will take a total of five years before SLC is an official member of the NCAA division III. There will be an “exploratory” year and then a four-year period as a trial member in which it will be decided if the college is a good fit for the league. After this period, it will be left to see whether being an NCAA member will in fact broaden the applicant pool that Sarah Lawrence has to choose from. If so, it may in fact enrich the college experience at SLC, but it may result that the artsy intellectuals and the athlete culture don’t mix. Applicants that are a good match and qualified for Sarah Lawrence, as well as good at athletics might be hard to find. As Bethany says, “We are lucky to have a select few now, but there aren’t too many talented poets who can also dominate on the basketball or tennis court”.

(http://www.slc.edu/undergraduate/physical-education-athletics/athletics/index.html)

         Outside of a restaurant on the Upper West Side in New York City about five years ago in April, sat a man seemingly foreign to the neighborhood’s repute. Nothing about him was particularly appealing; he was a slightly overweight man in his early forties.

          Then the man, identified as James, turned around, and not only did his drunken smile attract attention, but his sign was equally riveting. The sign read “NINJAS KILLED MY FAMILY, NEED MONEY FOR KUNG-FU LESSONS.” As a group of teenagers gathered around him, they were not only amused, but demanded more. The students took pictures with him, evoked comical banter, and more importantly continued to shell out cash. The group of teenagers continued to laugh as they walked away, discussing the sheer genius of his sign.

            Three years later, during a rainy July of Summer 2009, outside of a French bar on the Lower East Side, sat James, surrounded by a small crowd. The crowd dispersed a bit, as Alexa, now a Sophomore in college, bolted towards him.  Disregarding the fact that James meets thousands of people weekly and would not, and did not, remember her, she retold the story of him entertaining her friends a couple years ago. Alexa, who described her self as usually more sensitive to issues such as James, one of thousands of homeless men in New York City, couldn’t help but “indulge.” As Alexa ushered her friend to join for a picture, she pointed out his sign. “NEED MONEY TO GET DRUNK SO THAT 2 WOMEN CAN TAKE ME HOME AND MOLEST ME.” After just spending over twelve dollars per drink at the bar, Alexa and her friend each gave James five dollars, declaring James a much better way to spend money.

            As the two friends walked away, they commented on how they had quickly ignored the homeless man with a jingling cup earlier that day in Washington Square Park. However, their guilt left as quickly as it arrived. “We agreed that James was honest, resourceful and above all, hilarious. We couldn’t help but give him money,” concluded Alexa Peters.

            Last week, I went in search of James. As I, the typical New Yorker rarely give to someone who doesn’t excite me or put on a show, I wanted to see what James actually did with all the money I assumed he made. I wanted to shadow him around and speak with him. However, in a city that at times can seem so small, I expected to stumble upon James. I lingered at the Columbus Circle station, where a friend had once observed him smoking two cigarettes, holding a sign, and making jokes.  I scanned the area from East Houston and Bowery to Delancey and Essex one night after dinner. I even asked friends to text me immediately if they saw or heard of him in a specific location. Yet, James was nowhere to be found.

            As I realized finding James, would be a lot harder than I thought, I decided use google and blogs to aid my hunt. I searched, “nyc homeless man with ninja signs.” To my surprise, there was James, all over the Internet. Not only was he spotted as recently as last May, giving hope he’s still around, he has been categorized as a legend. He is on the HearldDaily’s blog as one of the “local legends.” Through that one google search I found various articles, blogs, and pictures dating back to 2006. As I feel happy for James with, at minimum five glorified years on New York City streets, I begin to fantasize. I imagine that by now he has probably raised enough money for a home or found a job. Then reality set in. James is probably still on the streets and getting older. In my head I hear the echo of a newscaster deeming this winter one of the coldest ever. The search for James now seems extremely insensitive and ignorant.

            This led me to a new search. What are the programs and resources available to the many homeless men and women in New York City? As the New York City Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) reports that there are 29% less unsheltered individuals in New York, which still leaves at minimum over 3,000 individuals who are accounted for (New York City Department of Homeless Services). As the nation’s current economic problems have created a wide spread housing crisis and has also caused the end of programs such as ADVANTAGE, that helps subsidize emergency shelter for homeless individuals, finding shelter in New York City isn’t easy. What program could I tell James about if I ever found him?

           

 

Just past the Bronxville train station, past the boutiques and restaurants and up a hilly road which winds past large, suburban houses boasting an array of carefully planned gardens is Sarah Lawrence College.   Last year, a white tent stood on the lawn in front of the impressive Westlands building with its multiple chimneys and stained glass windows.  Beneath it sat the families and friends of the graduating senior class of 2010 as the students took their first steps into the job market.

Karen Lawrence, President of the college, closed her commencement address with the following words, “Mobilize the passion for learning that we have nurtured in you at Sarah Lawrence in the service of multiple purposes…We wish you the best as you continue the serious creative work in the world that you have begun at Sarah Lawrence College.”

One year has passed since that date and although the job market has improved, it’s still not what it once was a few years ago.  Horror stories of liberal arts college graduates winding up on the streets, desperate for work and living in homeless shelters pepper news stories.  A liberal arts education isn’t what it once was, after all.

Yet Sarah Lawrence has turned out the likes of Barbara Walters, Vera Wang and Rob Emmanuel.  Their photos and descriptions are displayed proudly on the college’s website, giving prospective students the (perhaps false) impression that they too can be as successful as these notaries by receiving a liberal arts education. 

So what happens to the other graduates?  The ones that don’t go on to have widely successful careers and six figure salaries.  What happens to the average Sarah Lawrence graduate?

The college doesn’t keep track.  Angela Cherubini, head of Career Counseling at the school said, “We don’t really keep that data on record.”  However, there’s certainly one way to find out: ask the graduates themselves.

Most of them seem to have centered themselves in the New York area, sharing small apartments and paying off their rent with starting jobs.  Others have gone straight to graduate school in hopes of delaying the inevitable launch out of the college bubble.  Even more have plans to return to graduate school after taking a year or two off in the real world.

Emma Harris, a 2010 graduate who is now living in Bushwick, Brooklyn, says, “My plan was to live off my Red Cross certification as long as I could, and then go to grad school.”  She is currently working at the college as a swim teacher.  She has also taken up the roles of Assistant Aquatics Director and lifeguard at the College of New Rochelle.

Ashley Getting, another graduate, plans to do the same after fulfilling her time with Teach for America.  “I definitely think graduate school is in the cards,” she says.  “I just have to finish my time here first.”

Even Rachel Schneider has plans for furthering her education, although it is perhaps not as orthodox as one would expect.  Currently working as a dietary aid and server at a nursing home, she hopes to go to school for her massage therapy license.  

Yet while all of these students plan to go back to graduate school, their jobs aren’t nearly as glamorous as they once thought they might be.  Rachel first had plans to become a teacher but, due to the lack of jobs in Oregon and the low pay, she instead decided to go straight into the job market.  Ashley also had plans of becoming something other than one of the teachers for Teach for America but, left with no clear career path after college, she signed on for a two year contract to teach in Mississippi.

The fact remains that none of these graduates have failed as much as the news would imply.  Instead of landing themselves without jobs, homes, or pay, the graduates from Sarah Lawrence have been able to eke out a living from what were once perhaps considered “summer jobs.”  Lifeguarding and massage therapy aren’t necessarily traditional jobs for college graduates, but they are something.

“It’s hard to get a job in this economy, but I found one,” Rachel points out. “I’m taking it day by day.”

But not all Sarah Lawrence students necessarily go straight into the job market after graduation.  Last year, a large portion of the graduating class found solace in graduate school, hoping to postpone the inevitable job search.  However, graduate school may be the way to go when it comes to Sarah Lawrence.  Jasmin Brown, who is expecting to receive her associate’s degree in fashion design at Parsons in May, has already received several offers for internships which she hopes will eventually lead to jobs after her graduation.

“I’ve gotten calls from both Michael Kors and Oscar de la Renta to interview for upcoming internships this summer,” Jasmin says. “It’s a way to get my foot in the door.”

Certainly, her prospective internships may sound more glamorous than the other jobs that graduates are landing.  Yet graduate school and unpaid internships require something that not all students find readily available: money.  After four years at Sarah Lawrence College, currently the most expensive school in the United States, many students find themselves out of luck as far as their financial situation goes.  Emma has found herself living in a loft with several others.

““I have trouble standing up in the room of the girl who lives above me,” Emma says. “But it’s okay for her, because she’s shorter than I am.”

Ashley also lives in shared quarters, taking up residence in an old plantation house that dates back to the Civil War era with several others.

Even with poor living quarters and meager salaries, these students have eked out a living for themselves. In fact, many of these students find themselves with a support group just by living with others.  Jasmin, who lives off campus while she’s attending Parsons, has no such group.

“As a fashion student, we don’t get a lot of time to socialize with the rest of the university because work is so time consuming,” she says.  “You can be in there for fourteen hours…draping, pattern making…”  

These are students first starting out in their careers.  They have low end jobs and shared apartments, but they’re bearing with it.  They’re no worse off than many others their age, though there is a certain irony that the costliest education available to undergraduates doesn’t land any student a well-paying job immediately.  It’s clear, however, that they won’t remain at this level for the rest of their lives.

 “I don’t want to stay here forever,” Jasmin says.

Written by Catherine Griffin

Known for a popular fashion blog entitled Vogue Gone Rogue, Kristy Elena is currently recognized for her new job as a full-time blogger for Sunglass Hut (http://www.fulltimefabulous.com/) and almost seems as if she is out to change the world with all of her travels. One of many who entered a nationwide contest, Elena won a paid blogging gig and an apartment in New York City.  She has been officially on the job since February.

Kristy sees blogging as an important tool to link those who create a product with those who purchase it. To her, fashion blogs bring a whole new reality to the industry that helps designers understand consumer standards and learn to grow and change to meet the criteria.

“Blogging gives a voice to real people – the people who are actual consumers of fashion. Their thoughts, desires, concerns, likes, dislikes are out there for everyone to see, read and interact with. Blogging keeps issues alive that normally get no attention in the press, and it exposes us to variety—variety of people; shapes, sizes, ethnicities, ages, variety of ideas and beliefs, variety of styles. The idea of a fashionable person is broader thanks to blogging. Once upon a time, companies created products, sent them out into the market and we had the option to purchase or not purchase those items, but no real dialogue took place about them. We were the voiceless consumer and what we were supposed to like was dictated by advertisers and companies. With blogging and the advent of the digital age, designers and manufacturers get to hear back from the consumer and are held accountable for the products they create. I can’t possibly predict what the future will hold, but I hope that blogging continues to challenge the fashion industry into making itself better,” said Elena.

                With a love for adventure, Kristy could not be more perfect for the task. She has already been given the opportunity to travel for work.  “I’ve been to a few places so far, namely Florida and Milan for Fashion Week. But I actually lived in Milan for almost two years on my own and had previously attended Milan Fashion Week as well. As the year progresses I will likely visit several other countries as well,” Elena seemed to light up as she spoke.

                While attending design school in Milan, Kristy started Vogue Gone Rogue (http://www.voguegonerogue.com/) in an effort to share her ideas and creativity with others interested in fashion.  The blog features video, text, and photographs—all by Elena. In fact, due to her less-than-traditional upbringing, she had become somewhat of a professional photographer by the age of 7, showing her first exhibit at the age of 8. Her father was also a professional photographer and she spent a lot of time in his dark room learning  traditional methods of photography.

                 “Some of my favorite moments involved sitting at the retouching studio and learning how to hand-retouch and hand-paint black and white photographs. I also remember the times I got to spend in the dark room where I learned how to develop photographs,” she said. 

                Elena has become very accustomed to travel—she took her first trip when she was just over a month old. She was born in New York City, but grew up in Southern California where her father’s dark room is located. After moving to Greece with her parents for four years, Elena returned to the states and attended high school and college in New Jersey. With an MFA in Multimedia Communications and Marketing, she moved to New York City and began working as a fashion stylist, creative director, and editor for both photo and video shoots. In 2009, she began attending design college in Milan while freelancing.  Two years later, she returned to the states where she won the Sunglass Hut contest.

Her international travels and worldwide view on fashion have given Elena an edge in the industry as well as a passion for the art.  Her love for blogging is evident in both Vogue Gone Rogue and Full Time Fabulous, but she said she never would have expected to make a career of it.

“I’ve always loved fashion, but I hadn’t considered it as a career possibility until I moved to New York and saw the way fashion influences and reacts to the world around it. I see it as a constantly changing industry that adapts to the times and reflects worldwide mentalities. Fashion is such a creative and reflective medium that definitely doesn’t get enough credit due to some silly misconceptions created by people who want to use it in order to make others feel inferior. But in reality, that’s not what fashion is at all,” explained Elena, “I think my situation is different than the typical experience that most professional fashion bloggers have as I have been hired directly by a company to blog full time as my job on a blog that they have designated specifically for this purpose. Most other fashion bloggers do collaboration work with different companies then post it on their own personal blogs.”

Although Elena is currently working for a large corporation, she doesn’t believe that this hinders her abilities to be completely honest about her opinions. “If I didn’t love sunglasses and support Sunglass Hut’s ideals I would have never applied for the position. The brand is all about quality and I have loved sunglasses my entire life, so it feels very natural sharing the products on the blog. They don’t dictate my posts at all and they don’t really give me assignments. They help me come up with ideas and often send me invites to events, but that’s more so that I can continue to post on a daily basis without feeling burnt out. One of the reasons I was so excited about this opportunity is because it’s completely unprecedented. No brand has really created a blog like this before, where the blogger isn’t forced to talk specifically about the brand and its products. This is much more natural and free form. And I feel that part of the reason they chose me is because of my thoughts on fashion.”

She believes that the point of being fashionable is having your own personal style. This is where the idea of Vogue Gone Rogue was born. Being able to decide to go against the grain and forsake popular trends for the styles one personally prefers can be an integral part of fashion. 

“In terms of style, going rogue is wearing your personal style regardless what mainstream sources might tell you is the “proper style” to have. Though things like ‘proper fit’ and ‘dressing to your size’ are hugely important for every single person, the rest comes down to opinion and taste. Style is subjective. Conform to no one else’s but your own. Go rogue. Make sense?” she smiled.

It’s about working to make the industry the best it can be. Kristy hopes that bloggers will help bring awareness to the major issues that need to be dealt with in the fashion industry. Common issues like model size or creating pieces that only seem to fit one specific type of body can be easily resolved by bringing awareness to the fact that there are various kinds of people in the world. Blogging is a huge part of that conversation.

“For me, being Vogue Gone Rogue means loving fashion but challenging the industry to be better. Every industry in the world has its fair share of issues that get swept under the rug - I believe it’s the job of those people who work, interact and love that industry to uncover the dirt and clean it up for real,” Elena said, determined.

by Tara Kearns

“Sarah Lawrence can’t be cooped up in the stairwell of Westlands. A free spirit like her needs to get out and explore, and you’re just the person to take her places.”

Along the stairwell of the Westlands building, the beating heart of Sarah Lawrence College’s administration, there hangs an antique portrait of the liberal arts school’s namesake.  Sarah Bates Lawrence lived in this English Tudor -style building with her husband, William Van Duzer Lawrence, before the latter founded the college in 1926.  In 2011, this portrait would become the inspiration for a new way of incorporating the history of their school into the everyday lives of Sarah Lawrence students.

Standing just about 12” high if you count the multi-use craft stick on which she is propped, “Flat Sarah” began floating around the college’s campus in early March.  Arms crossed, long skirt flowing behind her, a look of almost amused condescension in her eye, a paper doll -like version of Sarah Lawrence’s portrait can be found in any of the school’s central locations.  And beyond.

Over the past few weeks Flat Sarah has visited Chicago, parts of Massachusetts, the Florida Keys, San Francisco, New York City, and London.  She has been photographed alongside James Joyce, Keanu Reeves, and Sarah Lawrence herself.  She flew first class on Virgin Atlantic, went for a swim, made a guest appearance at a radio station, dressed up as all five of the Spice Girls, and played the role of study-buddy to a great number of SLC students.  

“I love Flat Sarah,” beams senior Lydia Delauro. “She lives in my pencil holder and welcomes me to my room every time I walk in.” 

Junior Sebas Barreneche, who is currently living and working in New York City on a leave of absence from Sarah Lawrence, was “extremely excited” when friends from school introduced him to Flat Sarah on spring break.  “It was almost like an SLC event I could be a part of.  When you leave the school, you miss it a ridiculous amount.”

Barreneche explains that Flat Sarah traveled from New York to Palm Beach to Miami and then to the Florida Keys with his friends.  “She came out with us, in my pocket, on St. Patrick’s Day through a pub crawl in Key West and took pictures at insanely Real American College Spring Break events.”  

The amusement and entertainment that students have enjoyed with Flat Sarah is only a small part of her intended purpose.  (And the “Fine Print” that can be found on the reverse side of the cutout does put some restriction on the kind of amusement that students are encouraged to gain from Flat Sarah: “William Van Duzer won’t tolerate you sassing his lady,” it reads.)  If students do what they are encouraged to do and post photos and videos of their adventures with Flat Sarah on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Flickr, the result will be an image boost for SLC.

Patricia Pasquale, Web Project Manager at the Office of Communications, explains that the Flat Sarah initiative is intended to be a fun way to “get the Sarah Lawrence name out there, using our social media sites.”  

According to Pasquale, Flat Sarah is “not an original idea.”  “Other schools have done similar things,” she says, “and, of course, there’s Flat Stanley.”  

The Flat Stanley Project, which Pasquale refers to, was begun in elementary schools in the mid-1990’s as a means of encouraging letter-writing and journal-keeping in children.  The students at a school would cut out paper “Flat Stanleys” and document their activities with him in a journal that would then be mailed to another school where students would do the same thing, and so on.

While Flat Stanley may be counted as an obvious inspiration for the Flat Sarahs that have infiltrated Sarah Lawrence, the “Mini” Flat Sarah that we have been referring to has its direct origins in a campus joke.  

A life-size cardboard cutout of Sarah Lawrence, based on the same portrait from the Westlands building, first made an appearance at the SLC Expo, a fair that takes place on campus during the first week of classes in September at which each administrative department has its own booth.  Pasquale explains that over the years a kind of competition to have the most creative display has developed between the Office of Communications and some of the other departments.  

“The year before we had rubber ducks so we really needed to step it up.”  

Enter Flat Sarah.  Students, staff, and even the college’s President Karen Lawrence (no relation) got the opportunity to have their photo taken with their school’s namesake.  She even had a little dialogue bubble attached to her on which Pasquale and her colleagues wrote witty phrases such as “I like your last name.”  

“Everyone got a huge kick out of her at the Expo, so we wanted to give people their own.”

Students are certainly getting a kick out of Flat Sarah’s new travel-sized self—and not just students but staff members at the library, the pub, and Westlands have reacted positively to Flat Sarah—but do they see her as a positive and efficient means of advertising Sarah Lawrence College?

“I think the Flat Sarah initiative is a great advertising project on behalf of the school,” insists Barreneche, who posted a video he and his friends took with her on the Sarah Lawrence College facebook page. “We [are] all legitimately exited about taking pictures with ‘her’.”

Senior Brianna Leone agrees that Flat Sarah is “fun to have around” but is not so confident in her ability to make a significant impact on getting prospective students interested in SLC.

“I think the entire SLC community needs to embrace mini Flat Sarah in order for it to be a successful marketing campaign,” Leone argues.  

She gives an example of the kind of indifference that she believes will inhibit many students from actually engaging with Flat Sarah to the point of posting their experiences online: “I wanted to bring her to Boston but obviously wasn’t excited enough by the prospect of taking pictures of her on the Freedom Trail.  So she stayed on top of my mini-fridge in Andrews Court for the weekend instead.”

Lydia Delauro is also unsure of whether or not Flat Sarah is a great advertising tool but says that ultimately she is “awesome for school morale.”

Some students see an even deeper meaning in Flat Sarah.  “It seems to me that she’s meant to be a subversion of the ‘Sarah Lawrence as an all-girl school’ stereotype,” says senior Veronica Fettig.  

Certainly that misconception has harmed SLC’s public image in the past.  While Pasquale insists that Fettig’s thought was not part of the conception of Flat Sarah, the fact that students have been interpreting the initiative in different ways speaks to its positive effect.  

What’s next for Flat Sarah?  Patricia Pasquale shares that we can expect to see a lot of her on Admitted Students Day in April and that she will be a presence at upcoming alumni reunions.  

“I think a Flat Sarah, and possibly William, face mask is needed,” suggests Sebas Barrenche.  

While there are no plans for something like that at the moment, Pasquale will say this: “Flat Sarah will be making an appearance at Commencement.”  

(photos taken from the Sarah Lawrence College facebook page.
get your own Flat Sarah here!)