May 2011
2 posts
The Problem With Doing Algorithms in Farmland
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...
The Kinect Addict- Daniel Horowitz
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...
April 2011
12 posts
The Lost Don--A Year Later
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...
Sarah Lawrence College: A Deeper Education
“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...
NYU Graduate Acting Contenders: How do we fare?
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...
SLC NCAA: Artists and Hipsters Beware, the Jocks...
- 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...
Is being homeless actually funny?
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...
The Graduates
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...
Kristy Elena
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...
Finding Flat Sarah's Dimensions
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...
Yoko
by Elisa Liu
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Henry and the Homeless By Rachel Sander
Window of 15-19 Mosholu Parkway Building
Residents of 15-19 Mosholu Parkway were shocked on January 28th when their mail stopped being delivered.
“I thought is just might be,” long time resident Henry Perry said, “but as soon as I talked to the mail carrier, I realized this was a bigger issue.”
The mail carrier informed Perry that a notice should have been posted to inform all residents that...
3 tags
Anonymous "Likes" You A Little
By: Melanie Dostis
It use to be, if someone liked you they sent you a cute note in class- a simple “I like you,” which you read as you avoided the careful watch of your teacher and the curious glare of other students. As you got older, it became a lot of “I heard from blank who knows blank and he heard blank say you’re really cute.” However, the concept of saying “I like you a little”...
SLC's New website upsets students because of...
In an effort to attract more students to the most expensive college in the United States, Sarah Lawrence College has started a new initiative to redo their admissions material. However, the new website that was created to be more smart phone friendly, more interactive, and better representation the unique college that is Sarah Lawrence, has sparked much controversy.
“It looks like every other...
March 2011
20 posts
Silent Spring, Skill vs. Luck
The first chapter of Silent Spring is written in an entirely different tone than the rest of the book. Rachel Carson uses the “zooming in” method that Capote also uses in the first chapter of his book, In Cold Blood. She starts out, “There once was a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings”(1). Carson illustrates the beautiful,...
Right to Write, the Privileged and the Imprisoned...
Interesting question: What do you get when you throw two college students from one of the most prestigious, most expensive private schools in the nation into a room with twenty or more long-term incarcerated criminals at a small county jail and ask them to exchange intimate details of their individual life experiences… in the form of writing? The answer is Sarah Lawrence...
NYC Sweatshop Hummus Protests: NYC residents take...
It was a beautiful day in Manhattan’s East Village. The light breeze carried the first signs of spring as fifteen people gathered on the street outside a small local grocery store, called (ironically, given the circumstances) Holyland Market. The group felt invigorated by the day’s warmth, which intensified their sense of determination for their cause. These fifteen people were a mix of young and...
Multiplying Carbon Footprints: Rally for Women's...
On February 29, 2011, six-thousand people were brought together by Facebook and word of mouth in support of Planned Parenthood. On February 18, 2011 congress passed the Pence Amendment to end federal funds for Planned Parenthood. The imposing threat of defunding Title X was exacerbated by the decision of congress. To protest the decision the Planned Parenthood of New City administered the Rally...
Sarah Lawrence Spiritual Space Examined
The Sarah Lawrence Spiritual Space is like a legend to most of the college’s students. They know it exists somewhere, tucked away in the basement of Bates. But few have actually ventured past the sparse room that houses vending machines, down the narrow hallway that leads to the Spiritual Space.
The walls of this small hallway are lined with a bulletin board, fliers, space for...
A Cold-Blooded Business is, well...Cold
Being assigned to read Marek Fuchs’ book in Marek Fuchs’ class puts every student in an awkward position. Write a critical response, and see a possible lowering of your grade, write an unnecessary praiseworthy response, and feel like you’re pandering for a higher evaluation. I’m going to go with the first option and see where that one lands me.
...
From Morocco to Alabama to NYC: A Journey in...
A tall, slender yet athletic young man saunters towards me with his feet perpetually turned out like a soccer player. He greets me with a firm handshake, looking me square in the eye, and says “Good morning” in an accent that is difficult to place. He wears a button down checkered shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, with a black leather jacket and baseball cap to top it off. His headphones are...
Lyles House
A small road winds through the heart of Sarah Lawrence, a small liberal arts school situated mostly in Yonkers but, by virtue of its post office, designated as part of Bronxville. A scenic lawn and several trees dot the sides of this road which runs past the large, stone Westlands building, the modern library, and finally a series of small colonial-style houses. Tucked away, mostly out of sight,...
The Void -Kylie DeForge
It’s a room without a ceiling. The walls are made of dark slate-colored tiles and the tops of several partially-constructed skyscrapers are peering out above them. It is dark outside, but lit by the city lights. It’s so incomplete— it’s so beautiful.
Standing in the chasm between ruin and restoration, it is still pretty messy around here. James is waiting a few feet away, but he doesn’t seem to...
Derby Diva: Nancy Lombardo
by Elisa Liu
Nancy Lombardo is tall and thin with a Mia Farrow pixie haircut. Today, she is wearing an all black ensemble: a thin down jacket, a pair of skinny jeans, and high heels. For all outside appearances, she is just another homemaker with two children living a quiet life in a small, upper middle class town in Westchester. However, Nancy has a secret life she doesn’t bother to share with...
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
“The rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the impetuous and heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature.” (Carson 7) Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring imagines a world exactly as the title suggests, a world where the birds have stopped chirping, a world where spring has become silent with no sign of life. She dives into one of the main...
Silent Spring
Silent Spring Rachel Carson
At the time Carson was writing, her news was groundbreaking. The average reader’s eyes were being opened to terrible truths that had never troubled them before. Our generation is somewhat better informed about the environmental issues Carson first exposed to the public. However, even though I have been aware of them, I have never been presented with the details that...
silent spring - A token for its timeliness
The first chapter of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is written in a voice that reflects that of a story teller. The chapter describes a quaint, peaceful town that is stripped of life by a seemingly mystical power: “Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and...
Silent Spring begins with an intriguing opening. Very much like the opening to In Cold Blood, which was so successful, Rachel Carson slowly hones in closer and closer to the subject she is trying to ultimately describe. She also toys with the reader briefly by offering a description of a mysterious and seemingly inexplicable calamity. The reader is definitely hooked by her description of the...
The Music and Noise in Silent Spring By Hanako...
Rachel Carson begins her nonfiction book, Silent Spring, by painting an imaginary Eden curiously placed in the past tense. Then, out of nowhere, an apocalyptic manifestation devastates all forms of life, transforming the town from enchanting to eerie. Carson’s narrative voice interrupts the drama with a stern warning: “a grim specter has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy...
Now for something a little different but also...
When you go to a liberal arts school, if you ask around about music tastes, most people answer with the world “eclectic” while twirling their ironically penciled mustaches. I’m always amused by that answer to then find out that by a wide variety, they actually meant a small niche group of indie bands that include usually include The Decembrists, some band that they liked before they...
Why Silent Was Taken Seriously
Most people take their health very seriously. We try to get regular check ups, limit alcohol use, incorporate exercise, and above all eat “well.” However, what we, the average consumers, consider eating “well” is exactly what Rachel Carson contests in “Silent Spring.” Through vivid images of once effervescent lands now deserted, Carson extensively describes the long-lasting harm caused...
Metal at SLC- Unfinished, Need about 300 more...
Traditionally, the Sarah Lawrence music scene is primarily known for its showcase of musical interest and talent in the genres of Indie rock and Folk. However, a recent new wave of musicians and fans interested in Metal have recently become a vocal but often disenfranchised minority on campus. One of these musicians is Noah Rosenfeld ’12, whose primary musical expertise lies in...
The Effectiveness of a Silent Spring
Silent Spring: the cornerstone of the new environmental movement and the book that changed the way society viewed chemicals forever. Rachel Carson did humanity a service by writing her book, but she didn’t stop there. After vast criticism, she defended it and the truths it contained. Following numerous talk shows, reports and public appearances, she finally won over the public. This is the...
February 2011
25 posts
An unexpected death explained
By Melanie Dostis
Jack Rohman, a tall and thin boy with shaggy hair would be donning a cap and gown this upcoming May for his college graduation. Such will not be the case as Rohman now lies buried back home in the town of Mount Washington, California and the Sarah Lawrence community is left asking why he was taken so soon.
Rohman was raised in Los Angeles,...
For "Buffy" Fans, the Stakes are Raised
by Tara Kearns
“… absurd… a travesty. It didn’t surprise me all too much when more rumours…started to pop up around the internet, we’ve been dealing with things like that for years, but if the net is speaking the truth on this one I’ve gotta say: I’m pissed.”
“There’s a slight chance it’ll turn out ok, but I’m not hopeful.”
“Don’t do it… It wouldn’t be the same, therefore it shouldn’t...
silent spring: elisa liu
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Rachel Carson’s novel Silent Spring sparked an environmental movement after its publication in the sixties that...
Fat Studies
“My weight goes up and down sometimes, I have been average weight and sometimes I am fat, and right now, I am fat,” says Kathleen LeBesco. However, as mother of a toddler, and a Communications professor at Marymount Manhattan College, LeBesco does not make excuses for her body type.
“We have this idea that fat is an insult, a pejorative term,” she says, “We want people to see fatness as a neutral...
Silent Spring. -Kylie DeForge
I definitely didn’t enjoy Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring as much as I did Capote’s In Cold Blood. First of all, I felt as if the beginning was over-dramatized to the point where it almost sounded silly. I suppose this could be because environmental issues aren’t such a huge shock in this day and age when they were virtually unheard of back when the book was written. I just didn’t...
The Scandal: Birds, DDT, and the Environment-...
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring played a vital role in kick starting the environmental movement. The book has been widely praised and is thought to be one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism in the twentieth century. However, as writers and readers we need to ask, does it stand the test of time?
While I can appreciate the impact Silent Spring had on the American public in 1962,...
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Silent Spring- sophisticated yet ineffective,...
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring written in 1962, became an inspiration for the environmental movement. Her book is a cry to all to eliminate the use of toxins which she believes will inevitably lead to destruction. Her mission was simple: state the facts so the reader can know about the situation and stand up to bring about change. Carson’s environmental message was snapped up by intellectuals and...
Silent Spring.
Maybe it’s because I am not an environmentalist, or because the repeated use of the word “DDT” makes me nervous, but I had an extremely hard time getting to the end of the Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. The lack of narrative and the overwhelming use of facts was hard to follow. However, as a writer, there were many good things Carson did in her book.
In the beginning of the book, in the...
Silent Spring-A product of the 1960s
Rachel Carson’s landmark achievement of the 1960s is a non-fiction book that reads like a scientific article-cum-novel. She attempts to interweave passages of poetic ‘waxing’ on nature’s beauty with the hard facts of what man has done to destroy it. Her analysis is overwhelmingly harsh (as the subject requires) but lacks a certain narrative that would have perhaps reeled in the non-scientific...
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And Your Bird Can’t Sing: Rachel Carson’s...
by Tara Kearns
click “read more” to access.
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s 1962 “classic that launched the environmental movement” opens with the description of an idyllic American town “where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings.” That is, until catastrophe—perpetrated by the very people who lived there—struck. Carson then reveals that the town she has...
Silent Spring- Significant, But Not Entertaining
Have you ever seen the film Hotel Rwanda? Did you know that the film is based on events surrounding a war between two African tribes in Rwanda? Now would you actually want to read a history book that explains the origins and details of this horrific war? Or would you rather watch the handsome Don Cheadle portray these events for you on screen, feel really bad for about fifteen minutes,...
In Cold Blood - Ahmed Khedr
Set in Kansas, Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood is a page-turner on the 1959 multiple murders of the Clutter family. The book brings the reader very close to all the individuals involved with great detail and precision. Capote manages to make the reader involved by going into every individual’s inner personal thoughts. The murderers are depicted in a manner that humanizes them forming a connection...
A Review of Capote's In Cold Blood: A Truly...
In his genuine and fruitful efforts to explore the underdeveloped genre of the nonfiction novel, Truman Capote produced what I would like to dub ‘the nonfictional fiction novel.’
He used his keen cinematic eye for things to grasp and retain the readers of In Cold Blood. For example, the way he switches between scenes of the Clutter family and scenes of the murderers-to-be in the first...
Truman Capote "In Cold Blood"
The vividly detailed description in Capotes writing is what makes his book so consistently captivating. His writing is poetic and avoids the dryness that a writer risks in dwelling too much on detail. There is a constant air of suspense in the book. Capote unveils the story in a sporadic nature, letting the reader in on certain important details early on, such as who is killed and who the...
In Cold Blood: A Written Documentary?
Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood features all the devices of a good a novel, including a concise three-act structure, a multiplicity of perspectives from all the major characters, and a clear developed setting and supporting cast that organically grows out of the fear and paranoia created in Holcomb by the Clutter murders. Besides for working well as a novel, In Cold Blood more importantly...
In Cold Blood
In Cold Blood starts with a description of Holcomb, Kansas (the town and the people) before the events of November, 1959. The account then moves to “the master of River Valley Farm”, Herbert Clutter, and his family. Truman Capote describes Mr. Clutter and his family as pious, hard working individuals and pulls the reader into an emotional connection with the victims of the crime. Capote’s...
