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NEWS
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FEATURES
VOICES
F
irst year advisors Sean Lanigan
and Julia MoIftt are leaving the
College at the end oI this term. Three
years ago Lanigan and MoIftt were
hired to serve as the frst First Year
Advisors.
The primary responsibility oI a
First Year Advisor, as described by
the two, involves being attentive,
available, and accessible to frst year
students, developing a sense oI Iresh-
man community, and helping them
navigate through the various and
important decision making processes
made by Ireshman, such as register-
ing Ior classes and selecting a FWT.
Having already received his Mas-
ters in Divinity Irom Yale University,
Lanigan will be working towards
becoming ordained as an Episcopal
priest and is relocating to New York.
MoIftt, who received her Masters
in Higher Education Irom Harvard
University, plans to move to Boston
and continue working in education,
Iocusing on the counseling/advising
feld.
The pair regrets that they will not be
able to see their 'inaugural class oI
advisees, the Class oI 2013, gradu-
ate, and will miss the Bennington
community as a whole. MoIftt re-
marks that Bennington 'is an amaz-
ing unique place. |I hope| that stu-
dents really embrace Bennington and
what it has to oIIer. Lanigan adds
that he '|loves| seeing people change
and grow and develop and learn new
things about themselves and then cel-
ebrate that. I`m going to miss not
seeing that.
The frst year advisors will be
missed in the college community.
They strongly encourage Bennington
students to keep in touch and also
take advantage oI the services pro-
vided by the Dean`s OIfce and Aca-
demic Services in the Iuture Ior their
advising needs. Lanigan`s last day is
May eleventh and MoIftt`s is June
fIteenth.
The College does plan on hiring two
new First Year Advisors Ior the 2012-
2013 academic year.
Bennington Says Good-bye to FYAs
Sean Lani gan and Jul i a Moffi tt resi gn from posi ti ons they hel ped create
Y CEIENE AkkEkA 'T5
VOICES EDITOR
the Bennington Free Press
T H E B E N N I N G T O N C O L L E G E S T U D E N T N E W S P A P E R
Volume 17 Issue 3 | Friday, April 30, 2012
Y EN ZUCKEk'T5
I
n its Winter 2012 Bicycle & Pe-
destrian Project Guide, the Ben-
nington County Regional Commis-
sion noted: 'Downtown Bennington
is only fve miles Irom the village
oI North Bennington-easy cycling
distance, yet conditions on the only
direct, connecting roads discourage
cycling. This is readily observed on
campus: reaching North Bennington
and downtown Bennington on bike
is diIfcult, iI not dangerous, because
oI the sloping trails, rocky roads, and
speeding traIfc. The Bennington
Chamber oI Commerce has plans
to make the surrounding town more
accessible through a new bike path
that will connect North Bennington`s
Four Corners to the large businesses
on Northside Drive. Part oI the pro-
posed trail will pass through Ben-
nington College, Irom behind Han-
naIord and by the house on the corner
oI North Bennington Road and Silk
Road.
'I am happy to say that we have
enormous momentum right now and
our next step is to start the process,
said Joann Erenhouse, the director oI
the Chamber oI Commerce. 'Bike
path plans have been talked about Ior
years but now we have a real work-
ing committee with real support Irom
all aspects oI the community. The
Chamber oI Commerce had already
been aware oI the lack oI biking op-
portunities in the town oI Bennington
and the diIfculty in presenting new
ones. But a breakthrough moment
came when Erenhouse attended the
Western New England Greenway
ConIerence last Iall, envisioning a
set oI trails on which a biker could
go Irom New York City to Montre-
al. Combined with new inIormation
on inIormally used trailways and
rebuilding prompted by Hurricane
Irene, new opportunities Ior devel-
opment are abundant. Some oI these
potential trails include development
on Benmont Avenue, the Hicks Av-
enue Bridge, and parts oI the Rail
Bed, creating a series oI connecting
Iormal and inIormal routes until the
Chamber oI Commerce can success-
Iully negotiate with the Vermont Rail
System to acquire the abandoned
railroad beds.
Many members oI the Bennington
community are coming together in
support oI these plans, Irom local
cyclists and citizen advocates to or-
ganizations such as the Vermont De-
partment oI Health, the Rotary Club,
and the School and the agencies oI
the Bennington Economic Develop-
ment Task Force. The Chamber oI
Commerce also believes that the col-
lege has a place in this project, and
is extremely eager to have it partici-
pate. Citing the Berkshires students
who created an alignment study Ior
the trail as an example oI helpIul par-
ticipation, Ms. Erenhouse said, 'Get
students to help us blaze the trail, cre-
ate a demand Ior the trail. And stay
connected to the project. The most
important thing the community can
do is to demand such amenities and
use them! By expressing their sup-
port, this will happen sooner than
later. With help, the bike trail with
be able to fourish and become an
invigorating resource Ior the college
and everyone in the community.
Path Boon to Bennington Bikers
Bike path will connect North Bennington and businesses on Northside Drive
HANNAH CCIEkT 'T2 ENNINGTCN kUTE 5CUAD FENCEk 1E55E NIIE5TCNE 'T3, kIGHT, IN HEk WINNING NATCH AT THE
U5ACFC TCUkNANENT IN HAkTFCkD, CCNNETICUT.
Brute Squad Defeats Odds, Some Competition
Y 1C5HUA A. A. CUCHEk 'T2
NEW5 EDITCk
S
urprises abound! Not only
does Bennington College have
a Fencing team, it`s a pretty
good one. On April 8th, the Benning-
ton Brute Squad scored 22nd overall
and Jessi Milestone `13 scored 5th
in the Women`s Saber section at the
United States Association oI Colle-
giate Fencing Clubs.
The USACFC is the nations largest
collegiate Iencing competition with
over 700 Iencers Irom over 40 col-
leges. Many oI these schools have
hired coaches and larger teams, while
others are student run like the Brute
Squad. Bennington competed in the
Men and Women`s Sabre and Epee
and the Women`s Ioil competition.
Milestone adds, 'We were by Iar the
greenest school at USACFCs this
year, but by no means the worst per-
Iorming. The Women`s Sabre squad,
which Milestone competes with,
was the best perIorming oI Benning-
ton`s squads, placing 11th out oI 28
teams. 'When Jessi got her medal, we
cheered the loudest even though our
club was one oI the smallest, says
Nathan Liu 15.
While other teams may not have
scored as high as Women`s Sabre,
individual Iencers did win impor-
tant matches, such as Women`s Epee
against New England Intercollegiate
Fencing ConIerence winner Dart-
mouth College.
The Bennington team has competed
against teams with proIessional back-
ing, even though the Brute Squad is
a student run club. The Fencing Club
was started by long time Iencer Mile-
stone as a student organization, which
makes it diIIerent Irom Bennington`s
only sport team, Soccer. This puts
the Brute Squad in the same category
as the Bennington Sustainable Food
Project, and it has the same Iunding
restraints. Also unlike the Soccer
team, the Fencing club does not bare
the school colors, blue and white,
or the oIfcial mascot, the Pioneers.
However, according to Milestone, in
the next academic year the organiza-
tion will become an oIfcial school
sport, which will allow Ior greater
Iunding and institutional support.
The Bennington Fencing Team wins big at USACFC
Dear Reader,
The BFP is a student-run, school-spon-
sored publication whose purpose is to in-
form, represent and entertain the members
of Bennington College and the surround-
ing community about issues relevant to the
diverse readership in as fair and accurate a
manner as is possible.
News content in the BFP aims to be
accurate, balanced, readable, relevant and
signifcant to readers. The Voices section is
the sole opinion of the writer and the views
expressed are not neccesarily those of the
BFP. With that, we welcome any feedback:
criticism, praise or suggestions. Letters
must be typed and signed by the author
and submitted to bfpeditors@gmail.com
or in the editors mailbox at Commons.
All letters submitted to the staff of the BFP
become property of the staff and will not
be returned. Additionally, the BFP reserves
the right to edit any letter submitted for
length, grammar, punctuation and clarity.
Sincerely,
Connie Panzariello 12
Editor-In-Chief
>>Skinny
Sam Watts 12 has been interested in sacred
spaces since his freshman year. As a member of
the interfaith group, Sam had been a part of an
ongoing discussion about the lack of meditation
space and other outlets for spirituality. The
previous Interfaith Room in Down Commons
is now a conference room. A conversation
then started about 'fnding a specifc space Ior
contemplative practice and reverence so that
people could go there at any time and they
wouldnt feel like they were competing with
anyone. It was also important to them that they
create a space without religious connotation.
Outside of the interfaith group, Sam starting
looking into ways he could achieve this end.
Bennington really encourages people to get
involved in what theyre learning and Ive
been frustrated that I hadnt been able to get
my hands dirty. As his senior work, Sam plans
to create a temporary space next to the student
garden where students and staff will be free to
contemplate and pray whenever they please.
Sam leads a twice-a-week discussion of the
space as a way to foster community. Rachel
Kelleher 15 says, [Sam]s our teacher. Hes
our guide. Sam makes sure weve done our
homework and he writes on the board our
ideas about the project are constantly evolving.
Another part of the project is the
Contemplative Speaker Lecture Series
featuring faith leaders speaking about the
spiritual practices of their faith traditions.
The purpose of the lecture series is to enrich
conversation and thought on campus and to
support a larger initiative to raise awareness
about religious, spiritual, and contemplative
life on campus says Watts. The next lecture
is May 2nd with Rabbi Joshua Boettiger, of
Benningtons Congregation Beth El, meeting in
the EAC at 7pm.
The Sacred Space Project plans to begin
construction in May.
Your chance to Dunk Duncan
Watts Energizes Spir-
ituality on Campus
Dunkin Duncan (Sorry, We Had to do it)
Y IIIY kCWN 'T5
Y CCNNIE PANZAkIEIIC 'T2
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Dont like our new look?
Rotimi does! How can you
disagree with him? Seri-
ously. What have you ever
done that measures up to
anything hes done. Jesus.
The Goslings Have
Hatched
They might be cute but
the walk from PB to VAPA
just got more dangerous.
Creepy Thing on Craigslist
Deleted
Lets try and keep our sub-
tle advances to our fellow
students, shall we?
Everyones Vibe Harshed
How many stoners does it
take to crack a Home De-
pot safe?
Fear and Sexual Desire
are Very Similar Things
- Guess who?
Benningtongif. tumblr.
com
Go take a dump(.fm) and
think about your life,
choices, etc.
Lil B is Trapped in Based
World!
YOU SWIM!!! YOU SWIM!!!!!!
YALALALALA
Starting Tumblrs Cata-
loguing Fellow Students
Movements
The new hotness!
I had a lovers quarrel
with the world
Robert Frosts gravestone
I Watched Karen Gover
Read the Last BFP
And felt really awkward
when she read that joke. I
hope she took it as a joke.
Maybe I shouldnt write
this.
Sploid.com is Back!
Sadly not the agressively
lazy news blog of old,
more of a code sandbox.
Still better than Nick Den-
tons Gawker.
Too Insidery?
Connies sorry. Josh doesnt
care.
Happy Birthday to the
second best News Editor
Ever!
Love, Connie, the best
News Editor ev4rrrrr
2
THE BENNINGTON FREE PRESS / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3 N E W S
T
he Bennington Sustainable Food Project
(BSFP) is coming closer to accomplishing
its goal of creating a student-run co-operative
caf, or co-op. Plans have been set in motion
to build a food cart from which the organiza-
tion can sell drinks such as coffee and lemon-
ade. While a lack of capital and building plans
present obstacles, they hope to have it built and
ready to operate for a debut at this years Sun-
fest.
BSFP member Sofe Sherman-Burton `13
sees it as an important step in accomplishing
the organizations ultimate vision of a venue
from which to sell coffee, bulk grains, garden
produce, and other organic food. The BSFP is
eager and optimistic that the cart will be ready
to use soon, paving the road for future green ef-
forts on campus.
The Bennington Sustainable Food Project
meets every Tuesday at 9 pm in Down Com-
mons.
A Moveable Feast: BSFP Gets a Cart
Y EN ZUCKEk 'T5
Last issue in the article Plain China
Launches Third Volume, News Editor Joshua
A. A. Boucher 12 incorrectly reported that
this years Volume of Plain China will not
include anything from the 2011 volume of the
Silo, Bennington Colleges journal of arts and
letters. While Issue One of the current volume
of Plain China does not have any Bennington
writing, Issue Two, released April 16th, in-
cludes art work by Mena Ahmed `13. Ahmed`s
artwork accompanies Miscarriage Synesthesia,
a nonfction piece by Joanna Vogel 11 oI
Emerson College. The third and fnal issue oI
this volume of Plain China includes writing
by Crystal Barrick 11 and artwork by Lani
DePonte 11. Boucher and the Bennington Free
Press regret the error.
The date of Jazz Lounge was incorrect in last
issue. Voices Editor Celene Barrera 15 hopes
this did not lead to undue confusion.
Finally, spelling, grammatical, and word
choice errors were too numerous to count in
last and all previous issues. If you would like
to help copy edit, please come to our informa-
tion meeting this Sunday at 8 pm in Wooley
Common Room.
xoxo,
Connie P, EIC
Corrections:
g discussion about the lack of meditation
space and other outlets for spirituality. The
previous Interfaith Room in Down Commons
is now a conference room. A conversation
then started about 'fnding a specifc space Ior
contemplative practice and reverence so that
people could go there at any time and they
wouldnt feel like they were competing with
anyone. It was also important to them that they
Outside of the interfaith group, Sam starting
looking into ways he could achieve this end.
Bennington really encourages people to get
involved in what theyre learning and Ive
been frustrated that I hadnt been able to get
my hands dirty. As his senior work, Sam plans
to create a temporary space next to the student
garden where students and staff will be free to
Sam leads a twice-a-week discussion of the
space as a way to foster community. Rachel
Kelleher 15 says, [Sam]s our teacher. Hes
our guide. Sam makes sure weve done our
homework and he writes on the board our
ideas about the project are constantly evolving.
Another part of the project is the
Contemplative Speaker Lecture Series
featuring faith leaders speaking about the
spiritual practices of their faith traditions.
The purpose of the lecture series is to enrich
Your chance to
Dunk Duncan !!!
Sunfest 2012
What space most inspired you on the Ben-
nington campus? For me, it was the secret gar-
den. To this day I can picture myself sneaking
in there as a student, hidden under the vines
and the high brick walls, a little awestruck
and full of possibility. Taken from a letter to
alumni written by Penelope Wilson 45, this
love of our grounds is perhaps the sentiment
that inspired the senior class to direct their
gift towards campus renewal this year. Ms.
Wilson, herself a Board of Trustees member, is
leading the overall drive for campus renewal
by encouraging alumni and current students
to come together and raise money to give the
school some much needed face-lifts. When
$2,000,000 is donated towards campus renewal
and when 2,500 donors give to the Benning-
ton Fund, Ms. Wilson will give an additional
$1,000,000 towards improving, fxing and
renovating the college.
The Senior Class Gift goal is two fold: raise
$8,000 towards the renewal fund and gain 160
donors towards the 2500 donor goal. This drive
is being led by the Senior Class Gift Committee,
comprised of 20 students, who are brainstorm-
ing creative ways to fundraise for the 2012 gift.
Most notably, the committee is organizing a
Dunk Tank at Sunfest where our Dean, Duncan
Dobbleman has issued his own challenge to the
students: For every 25 donors the senior class
gift gets, Dobbleman will be dunked. I Dunked
Duncan! pins will be given out baring his face.
The Committee is encouraging their fellow
students, faculty and staff to follow Dobble-
mans lead and get dunked for a cause, in addi-
tion to those who they already have signed up.
Anybody who donates to the gift will get a shot
at the Dunk Tank and any amount will do. Cur-
rently 52 donors (parents, students, and staff)
have given $1,854 meaning that the seniors are
$6,146 and 108 donors short of their goal.
Cindy Luce, Annual Giving Manager, con-
frmed donations to the campus renewal part oI
the Penelope Wilson Challenge have reached
the $2,000,000 point. Kathleen Oliver Parker
`47 signifcantly helped the monetary eIIort by
donating $1,000,000 to the renewal goal. The
amount that has not been reached, however, is
the 2,500 donors to the Bennington Fund. Cur-
rently, we are 775 donations short of that goal,
meaning that 1,725 people, including current
class gift donations, have made some generous
contributions to the cause so far. Reaching the
monetary goal, however exciting, should not
deter people and especially seniors from donat-
ing to the gift fund. As Director of Annual
Giving, Ellen Janis put it, Your relationship
with the school changes when you gradu-
ate. The gift is about what the last four years
meant to you and why youre glad you came
here. This is driven by the seniors and its their
project, not ours. Furthermore, the money will
be used to make much-needed improvements
to the campuss buildings like Dickinson and
the Stickney Observatory, not to mention help
the colleges level of energy sustainability. The
more money donors and donations to the class
gift, the more campus renewal efforts become
possible for future generations.
If you would like to give, please visit the
table set up by The Senior Gift Committee in
Down Commons this week or visit the Senior
Class Gift page to make electronic donations
or learn more.
DONATE TO THE SENIOR GIFT FUND!
BFP MEETING
SUNDAY 8PM
WOOLLEY
3
The BenningTon Free Press / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3 F E A T U R E S
I dont know about everybody else, but for me Sunfest conjures up half-repressed, half-heroic memories of experimenting with psychedelics and vomiting on the
lawn in Iront oI terrifed onlookers, Iollowed by a shower during which Campus SaIety showed up and asked someone iI I`d had 'a Iew too many doodies (what?). But
maybe Ior you, it evokes Iond recollections oI that super sweet dinosaur temp-tattoo that you Iound, or talking to your oI-age Iriends over the divider separating the Beer
Garden Irom your own sad, sober world. Maybe whenever you hear the sound oI a ukelele being lackadaisically strummed by a member oI Bennington`s Medieval
Bard Contingent, you are brought back, Proust-like, to your roommate`s picnic blanket-nee-bedsheet, eating a hot dog and inadvertently having your Iace painted in an
exact reproduction oI Navajo war paint (or, equally likely, the Ke$ha/Coachella/That One Free People Catalogue aesthetic oI sunny-canyon-roadtrippy lomographic
sexiness that you were hoping to achieve is ruined because your Iriend is hilarious and instead has chosen to draw two rainbow penises pointing at your mouth). Maybe you
remember a single one oI the bands that played over the course oI the day. For me they typically blend into a sort oI pleasantly indistinct, yell-y, guitar-y cacophony until
nighttime comes and People Who Are Not From Here start to sing very loud songs. The point I`m trying to make is that SunIest is never boring unless you`re doing it wrong.
For those who have never experienced SunIest, be you Freshmen or Howard Hughes/Hoarders shut-ins who bottle your urine and stockpile newspapers
and cat corpses in your dorm room, here are some things that you can do to get the most out oI your frst time (note my superhuman restraint here).
1
Free Shit (and not-so-free-shit)
HopeIully you already know how to go outside and enjoy
yourself, but are you aware of the fact that there is going to be
a dunk tank? Have you ever been dunked in a dunk tank? Me
neither, maybe you should try it. Also, guys, there are sno-
cones`; look Iorward to overhearing millions oI girls (mostly)
asking 'IS MY TONGUE BLUE? or declaring 'OH MY
GOD YOUR TONGUE IS SO BLUE. There will be cotton
candy as well, in case you fnd that you aren`t adequately sticky
and irresistible to ants already. Student vendors will be selling
things, probably snacks and ceramics, and if you havent
already spent your money on mood-or-perception-altering
substances (sold by 'student vendors oI a diIIerent kind)
you may enjoy the thrill of buying something that you will
immediately eat or break. Austin Haytkno, events coordinator,
also mentioned 'Medieval bout reenactments so... hopeIully
this year we will have actual blood sport too. It`s about time.
2
Bands and tans
The bands are technically the main purpose oI the
entire event, so make sure to at least situate yourself
in close proximity to the stage/pagoda thing in the
middle oI the lawn so you can get a great underboob/
sideboob/wholeboob tan (that`s right, Grey Gardens
recluses, sometimes theres accidental or semi-
intentional nudity!) as you listen to the musical
stylings oI Iriends and acquaintances while the sun is
still high (as are you, in all likelihood). In the evening
starting at 7:30, the winner oI the Bennington College
battle oI the bands, Hot Babes, will be perIorming,
Iollowed by Quintron and Miss Pussycat, O`Death,
and the What Cheer? Brigade. This is something
that you should defnitely awaken yourselI Irom
your three-burger late aIternoon slumber Ior.
3
Treat yo self
Basically, you guys, don`t stay in your room. SunIest
is the day set aside on the Bennington calendar
Ior passing out on the lawn and getting a Freddie
Kreuger sunburn, day-drinking, and generally
Iorgetting that you are (technically) an adult attending
an accredited educational institution. It`s nice
out, so stop pretending that you know how to read.
Also I still really need to know what a 'doodie
is, so iI anyone has any leads, help me out. And
also don`t have too many oI them, I guess.
2012
Del Valle Does Sunfest: A Guide
The time of year has come again: Sunfest
is almost here, bringing with it lots of
great music, fun times, and apparently
a dunk tank, thanks to the Program and
Activities Council. The lineup includes
ODeath, Quintron and Miss Pussycat,
and The What? Cheer Brigade, as well as
Bennington locals and Battle of the Bands
victors Hot Babes, featuring Jay Kineke
15 and Christian Mailloux 14. Make sure
you have some sunglasses and sunscreen
by May 5th, because youll want to be
outside all day to hear all this great music.
ODeath, a Brooklyn-based group,
contains a multitalented bunch of
musicians: Greg Jamie (vocals, guitar),
Gabe Darling (backing vocals, guitar,
ukulele, banjo, piano), David Rogers-
Berry (drums, whoop(?)), Bob Pycior
(fddle, guitar, piano), and Dan Sager
(trombone, euphonium, keys). They take
advantage of the range of instruments
to create a unique, energetic sound
thats not too in your face but has a
driving force that will keep you listening
to their expertly crafted harmonies.
Quintron and Miss Pussycat is a quirky
duo from New Orleans, citing their pros
on their website as exciting clothes, high
energy, very raw/original, always violent
and interesting, and extremely creative,
colorful, not like anything else you will see
in a rock club, respectively. Since their
listed cons are: Unable to drive a manual
transition, sometimes mistakes 6 for 9, and
sometimes unpracticed and distracted,
it doesnt seem like theres much to lose.
The What? Cheer Brigade believes
that great parties dont need electricity,
but theyre really just talking in terms of
amplifcation: this nineteen piece brass
band from Providence has plenty of energy
in their music, which they describe as an
aggressive mix of Bollywood, The Balkans,
New Orleans, Samba and Hip-Hop, played
with the intensity of metal. They may
be unplugged, but youll still probably be
able to hear them all the way from CAPA.
Sunfest is Saturday, May 5th.

4bout the 4rnsts
Y NAkEN 1CHN5CN 'T5
Y ENNA DEI VAIIE 'T3
F
or this issues column, Im doing
things a little differently instead
of answering your questions, I
went to ask Dr. Randy Anselmo about
some of mine so I could share his answers
with you. I was primarily concerned with
what sexual health at Bennington College
meant in the eyes of the people who work
in Health Services. Dr. Randy graciously
agreed to sit down with me to talk about
sexual health, pleasure, responsibility, and
desire. If you even for a second wondered
if folks at Bennington would make you
feel ashamed or weird about anything
you bring up (or bring in), please know
that they want to focus on removing the
taboos and stigma of sex in a no judgment
zone, since none of us in here is perfect,
recognizing that sex is just another part
of healthy living and functioning.
If there is one thing you should have
picked up on by now through reading
this column, its that communication is
vital to every aspect of sexual health.
You should feel comfortable talking
to your partner(s) and doctors about
sexually transmitted infections (STI),
contraceptives, expectations and desires,
and everything in between. Of course,
thats the ideal, and we all know that most
of us live somewhere short of that. While
it is best to think in preventative terms,
Health Services does offer STI screening
and diagnostic tests (HIV, Chlamydia,
Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Herpes Simplex,
and Hepatitis B and C) and they are more
than willing to address the whole gamut
when it comes to contraceptives and
pregnancy (including condoms and other
barrier contraceptives, oral and other
forms of hormonal contraceptives, IUDs
[which I just learned more about and
sound pretty amazing], Plan B [AKA the
morning after pill], abortion, and resources
for pre-natal care). Its important to note
that not all of these services are offered
on campus but you can get referrals
and assistance in navigating the health
care waters outside of Bennington too.
In our conversation, Dr. Randy and I
kept returning to the idea of perceptions
vs. reality when it comes to sex at
Bennington for our generation (I refuse
to say millenials). He felt it important
to note that students have a wide variety
of sexual experience and knowledge.
Though you may feel like everyone else
already knows it all when it comes to sex,
thats decidedly untrue. Like Ive said
in other columns, not everyone here has
had sex and even those who do are often
missing a lot of information (like how to
put on a condom correctly Google that
shit!). He also stressed that a lot of people
of our generation grew up with readily
available porn that gave us false ideas
about sex: porn is not representative of
normative behavior, but rather, is a form
of entertainment concocted to titillate the
audience and excite neurotransmitters that
make them more likely to spend money
on said entertainment. That isnt to say
that porn is bad, just that you need to
remember to separate fantasy from reality.
If you ever have questions or want
information you should really consider
coming in to talk to Dr. Randy (or, if
you prefer a female practitioner, Betsy
Browning, a Certifed Nurse-Midwife).
You can always e-mail (healthservices@
bennington.edu) or call (802-440-4426)
Health Services if you feel uncomfortable
just walking in. Remember, sexual
health isnt just restricted to infections
and pregnancy Health Services is
also a resource for more expansive
interpretations of safer sex, including how
alcohol and drugs may play into your sex
life, consent, methods of talking to your
research that the female scholars she was
researching were not only meditating on
texts and humanist concerns, but also what
we would consider today to be science.
They were talking about telescopes, they
were talking about the stars, and they were
talking about chemistry and alchemy.
She then started following the path
of the people who most interested her,
discovering a little known subculture of the
17
th
century: People had little labs in their
home kitchens and were making magic
potions, as well as dinners. Princesses were
ordering telescopes, writing to scientists
and putting people in touch with each
other. There was this enormous interest.
Simone: On Health
partner(s), answering questions about
whether something is normal or safe, etc.
They also are really excited to support
student initiated projects about these
issues, so please contact Dr. Randy if you
are interested in developing any projects
or programs about health at Bennington.
Bisous,
Mme. Simonde de Boudoir
P.S. Everyone, regardless of gender,
should get the HPV vaccine right away.
The vaccine protects against 4 different
strains, including the ones that are
responsible for 70% of cervical cancer
and 90% of genital warts). Health
Services can even help you get it for
free if your insurance doesnt cover it!
Websites to Visit
Dr. Randys Recommendations:

http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/std/
Mme. Simone de Boudoirs
Recommendations:
http://www.scarleteen.com/ (this is an
amazing site - not just for teens!)
http://yesmeansyesblog.wordpress.com/
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/
http://www.rainn.org/
http://www.fundabortionnow.org/
4
The BenningTon Free Press / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3 F E A T U R E S
Benningtons very own Carol Pal,
history professor, soon to be published
author, and snack-sharer extraordinaire, is
taking a yearlong leave of absence to accept
the Dibner History of Science fellowship at
the Huntington Library in California. Pal
described the Huntington as paradise,
complete with beautiful gardens and an
extensive collection of rare books and
manuscripts. In addition to resources and
technology to aid them with their research,
the program also provides scholars with
monetary resources to live on for the year
they are away from their regular positions.
Pal is going to use the fellowship to work
on her upcoming second book, Transient
Technologies.
The reason to take one of these
fellowships is to get a sustained period of
time working on a big project and a book
is as big of a project as a historian can get,
Pal explained. She is particularly looking
forward to the Huntingtons tradition of
assembling a community of scholars
who share an interest in the same area
of investigation. During Pals tenure at
Huntington, they will be focusing on Early
Modern issues in the history of science.
You meet together for workshops, for
lunch, to bounce around ideas and maybe
even organize a symposium. Its absolutely
wonderful! In addition to the Dibner
Fellowship, Pal has also received an
additional fellowship from the National
Endowment of Humanities. It is a summer
stipend that will enable her to do research in
the United Kingdom, including the British
Library in London and the Baudleian
Library at Oxford University. She is going
to use this time to transcribe excerpts from
manuscripts for later use in her research at
Huntington. At the end of her fellowship,
Pal is hoping to have enough to write an
article and a second book.
Pal`s frst book, Republic of Women:
Rethinking the Republic of Letters in the
Seventeenth Century, concerns an interest
she originally developed during work on
her undergraduate degree. The text itself
is derived from a part of her dissertation,
which came in at a behemoth 639 pages.
As the length presented a challenge to
publishers, she decided to split the material
into two books. Republic of Women
is about a community of women who
discussed intellectual matters through an
extensive exchange of letters in the 17
th

century. Pal realized during her dissertation
Pal Goes to History Paradise
Y CCNNIE PANZAkIEIIC 'T2
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
One of the most important realizations Pal
had was the accessibility of these matters
to people of the time. You didnt have to
be a scientist to be interested in science
in the 17
th
century because there was not
yet any professional category of science.
Anyone could do it.
Pal expressed her desire to tell a larger
story about science in the 17
th
century
through the lives and letters of the women
she researched, describing them as
windows into this time. These women
knew everybody and everybody knew
them. This wasnt just a circle of ladies
but all of the most famous intellectuals in
the 17
th
century Republic of Letters - Rene
Descartes, Sir Robert Boyle and Pierre
Bayle. Everybody knew these women,
respected them and asked them their
opinions. They were right in the thick of
it, but today nobody knows this. Pal was
interested in not only why gender didnt
exclude these women from intellectual
discourse in the 17
th
century, but also why
this had changed just ffty years later.
Thats what exciting to me Im telling
a story about women but the story winds
up being not about them, but a much, much
bigger world.
Carol Pal's frst book, The Republic
of Women: Rethinking the Republic of
Letters in the Seventeenth Century,' is
being published by Cambridge University
Press in May.
Photo courtesy of Carol Pal
5
The BenningTon Free Press / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3
V O I C E S
Y PETE FEY 'T3
For Petes Sake: On Education
Fracking Up

I like watching Castle. By no
means am I a huge fan, because aside
from the eponymous character, I have no
idea who any of the other people are on
that show. Even the actors. Now, while
I would like to learn more about this
crime solvin mystery writer and the day
players who fesh out his supporting cast,
Ive recently encountered an obstacle:
the newly established Bennington
torrent blocker. I know, I know, my
use of the lovingly-provided campus
internet falls under the category of
illegal. But so does my use of Q-Tips
to clean my ears and my tendency to
jaywalk despite discouraging signage.
Im not trying to say that the episodes
of Castle I download are vindicated by
their insignifcance. I would just like
to emphasize that I dont particularly
think that anyone is coming to police my
downloads anytime soon.
You cant really begrudge the
administration for making this choice.
They are the ones maintaining the
Internet, managing bandwidth, and
providing access freely to us. Except for
the fact that no small part of our tuition
must go towards this care, I`m satisfed
with how Benningtons tenebrous
upper-management deals with serious
issues, like torrent sites. I am, however,
a bit concerned that choices like these
are implemented without the student
body being informed about them. It
Walshin it Up: Torrent Blocking
Y KIIIIAN WAI5H 'T4
The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting
them OUT. This may be done by:
Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders.
Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the
ground.
LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, includ-
ing the foor/ground, another ball, another player, offcial, or other item
outside of the playing feld. (wall, cieling, feld, etc)
The Opening Rush
Game begins by placing the dodgeballs along the center line. Players then
take a position behind their end line (all players with one hand on the
wall.) Following a signal by the offcial, teams may approach the center-
line to retrieve the balls. This signal offcially starts the contest. Once a
ball is retrieved it must be taken behind the attack-line before it can be
legally thrown.
5-Second Violation
In order to reduce stalling, a violation will be called if a team controls all
six (6) balls on their side of the court for more than 5 seconds.
Rule Enforcement
During pool play or regular-season matches, rules will be enforced pri-
marily by the honor system. Players will be expected to rule whether or
not a hit was legal or whether they were legally eliminated. All contests
will be supervised by two (2) court monitors. The court monitors respon-
sibility will be to rule on any situation in which teams cannot agree. The
court monitor`s deciscion is fnal- no exceptions.
makes it all the more diIfcult when
you turn up Fillion-less.
I tried to talk to someone in
the IT department to get some more
technical reasoning about why the
school might be implementing the
torrent equivalent of the Berlin Wall,
but on the three occasions I went
there they were either busy or gone-
or there was only a student worker,
unprepared to do anything but change
out the toner cartridges. Considering
this lack oI hard Iacts, I fgured that
it wasnt unreasonable to assume
that allowing these torrent fles to be
downloaded was slowing down the
average students connection. I mean,
weve all experienced those unusually
slow Internet days here, when
everyones emailing their midterms
and researching at 3:00 in the morning.
Whats strange to me, then, is that the
campus Internet and Gmail services
seem to have gotten slower and less
reliable after this torrent block than
before.
Then whats the deal? Have
we made some sort of backroom
agreement with the RIAA to put a
stop to illegal downloads of Maroon
5s Hands All Over? Are we getting
kickbacks from Lamar Smith? Who
can say for sure? Well, actually, the
administration can say for sure. They
can tell us, the student body, at least
during some part of the decision-
making process, what they plan to do
with the resources that weve paid for
with our tuition, and maybe enter into
some kind of respectful discourse.
A papal balcony speech would be
acceptable. Even a note on the fridge.

Y 1AKE NEIEkDIEkCK 'T3
The hydraulic fracturing industry
has grown substantially over the last ten
years due to technological advancements
and increasing proftability. The biggest
advancement came with a process known
as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, wherein
shale strata is bombarded with explosives
and pressurized with a mix of chemicals
and water to form interconnected fractures
from which gas can escape. While natural
gas has become a viable option for
electricity production compared to other
sources such as coal, the development of
hydraulic fracturing in certain areas like
the Marcellus and Utica Shales will cause
signifcant environmental damage.
In the extraction process, millions
of gallons of water, proppants, and
chemicals are pumped into a well. This
can leave signifcant amounts of hazardous
contaminants in water that comes back to
the surface. In hydraulic fracturing fuids,
chemical substances other than water
make up approximately 0.5 to 1 percent of
the total volume; however, the very large
volumes used require correspondingly
large volumes of a variety of compounds.
Companies have started recycling the
wastewater, lessening the demand for
freshwater sources, but some methods to
do so can leave behind salts and sludge
highly concentrated with radioactive
material. Rather than paying to dispose
or reuse the wastewater, other operators
have began selling it to communities that
then use the sludge, with its high salt
content, to de-ice roads during the winter.
From roadways, this waste material leaks
easily into watersheds that support aquatic
and human needs. The actual wells may
produce gas for a month, yet will continue
to ooze waste for 20-30 years. Each well
could produce 27 tons of salt per year by
some estimates of Pennsylvania offcials.
Horizontal fracking is analagous
to exploding a bomb underground, and the
pressures involved in moving the fuid are
capable of producing earthquakes along
natural faults. The lower tier of New York
State is riddled with potential faults and the
risk of a fault failure remains a risk to non-
industrial infrastructure within the public
sector. Even if the fracturing does not cause
a fault slip, many fault lines could run to
underground aquifers. The movement
of fracking fuid out of regulated zones
then becomes diffcult to regulate and the
operators become less accountable. The
chief concern with the Marcellus Shale
is that localized faulting has not been
suffciently mapped and therefore drilling
could lead to any number of contamination
scenarios.
There is a multitude of ecological
problems that are not only associated with
drilling, but also everything that comes
with the development of a natural gas
operation. Vast sections of roadways must
be built to haul equipment and drilling
supplies, not to mention the transport of the
gas either by truck or pipeline. This leads
to increased traffc in the rural areas where
the development is planned. Roads bring
noise, air pollution and safety concerns. By
cutting up the landscape, gas development
also fragments habitat for wildlife.
Towns that live near these
drilling operations have become de
facto laboratories for the study of
environmental toxicology. Although
some of the chemicals used in the fuid
are relatively benign, other substances
have been found to be highly toxic,
resulting in short and long term adverse
health effects on both humans and
animals. As concerning as these added
substances are, there are additional
hazards from naturally occurring
toxicants such as heavy metals, volatile
organics, and radioactive compounds
that are mobilized during gas extraction
and return to the surface with the gas/
chemical mix in wastewater. The
most dramatic case of toxic exposure
to hydraulic fracturing fuid resulted
in the death of 17 cows within one
hour from direct exposure. The fnal
necropsy report listed the most likely
cause of death as respiratory failure
with circulatory collapse.
Commercials advocating
the development of the natural gas
industry in the US have touted the
need for energy independence and the
millions of jobs that will be created,
but at what cost to environmental and
human health? Is fracking a bridge
to our energy future, or is it simply
perpetuating our countrys dependence
on fossil fuels?
While there is not a single
option, renewable or not, that comes
without some kind of environmental
price, fracking does not seem like a
viable answer to this nations energy
problems. Until questions like the
long-term consequences to human
and animal health are answered, this
energy extraction process needs to be
rigorously regulated or stopped.

This heat must be getting to me.
Although I know there are an inane amount
of weeks left in the semester, a process of
refection has already begun, accompanied
by a growing sense of yearning for long
summer nights spent trying to re-enact
certain Corona commercials.
My frst year at Bennington
is nearly fnished. In a word, its been
challenging. I transferred from a school
where class attendance was decidedly
optional and the student body was unifed
more as lackeys to select male athletic
teams than aspiring intellects. Quite
frankly, school was a joke.
Yet, it was a joke that everyone
was allowed to join in on, and that
was the aspect of Kansas State that I
appreciated the most. It was established
like all land-grant universities with the
charge to educate essentially anyone
and everyone. There were to be loose
admission standards, the idea being that
everyone is able to be educated, and that
the state-supported university should not
be one to shut the gates of education on
its citizens. There is a romanticism in that
which harkens to the better aspects of our
human nature, a belief in government
educating its citizens because only those
citizens that are educated will be able to
truly participate in a government worth
being governed by.
While that was the plan, the result
has been an utter perversion of that ideal.
To this day, basically anyone can attend
Kansas State, but the underfunded pitiable
place they are attending is educational only
if looking at PowerPoints, completing
multiple-choice tests, and reading
overpriced textbooks is considered the
backbone of good instruction. There are
of course exceptions, but the majority
of state university students experience
nothing like Bennington, an institution
that has given me the most intellectually
stimulating year of my life.
So how was that ideal lost? We
can look no further than ourselves. While
the purpose of this article is not to harp on
any single individual or school, I cannot
help but imagine that the growth of private
schooling at all educational levels has
been brutally detrimental to that of public
institutionw. With limited private and
public resources that can possibly be spent
on education, why would we spend any on
institutions that do not spread the blessings
of education to all? Indeed, I argue that
private education should not exist.
It is easy to argue with me. Some
will say that private schooling creates
competition for the public school, bettering
both. Others will say private schooling
offers an alternative to those that cannot
for whatever reason be properly educated
in a public setting. And further still there
are those that are irrationally untrusting
of all government and will automatically
envisage my ideal as some sort of 1984
scenario. What these arguments fail to
consider is that the education of our fellow
citizens is not a competition, but something
that the community needs to be intimately
involved in. If something is not working,
instead of leaving and creating a new
progressive college, charter, or private
school, we need to change the existing
public system so that all students - not only
those that are fortunate enough to be able
to leave - can beneft. A rising tide truly
lifts all boats.
And so that is what I am feeling
as I fnish my second term at Bennington. I
love it here, and am so grateful I came. But
with my enrollment have I not also given
up some of my ideals? Do I feel that I am
better than those who cannot, for whatever
reason, be educated in this wonderful
environment? Do I deserve this education
more? I am tired. I need a Corona. Maybe
even a Corona Extra.
Map of shale gas formations in the U.S. Courtesy of EHelpfulTips.
THE BFP STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF
CCNNIE PANZAkIEIIC 'T2
FEATURES EDITOR
kACHEI 1ACK5CN 'T4
NEWS EDITOR
1C5HUA CUCHEk 'T2
VOICES EDITOR
CEIENE AkkEkA 'T5
ARTS EDITOR
NIKE GCIDIN 'T4
PRODUCTION MANAGER
ETHAN CLARK-MOSCHELLA
'T4
COPY EDITOR
EIIIE 5HENKEk 'T3
SPECIAL THANKS
TO ALL OUR CONTRIBUTORS!!
Bennington.edu: More
Art Than Science
Y NIKE GCIDIN 'T4, AkT5 EDITCk
WITH kEPCkTING Y HANNAH DAVID5CN 'T5
In August of 2011 the College
went live with a long awaited and much
vaunted redesign of www.bennington.
edu. After months of delay and a good
deal of rumor, the tension broke to mixed
reviews- Poorly coded website thats four
months late. Seriously Bennington? wrote
Ben Broderick Phillips 13 on Facebook.
Others were forgiving of technical faults,
more intrigued by a radically new layout
which by and large has drawn interest
and accolades- most notably receiving a
nomination for best school/university
website in the 2012 Webby Awards
(whether Bennington brings home the big
prize will be known later in May).
While concept and theory rule the
roost at the Colleges website, technical
execution lacks polish even eight months
later. Formatting for mobile devices
remains unaddressed, privileged access
areas for students and faculty feel re-heated
and content beyond the main page is bound
by strangely formatted boxes- which might
not be so bad if not for the ever present
mid-page scroll bars they necessitate. One
can hardly help but feel that the Colleges
technical partner, Myriad Media, may have
been out of their league when tasked with
executing the Colleges design demands.
There is more to art than science, however,
and the design decisions at play are not
without merit- or novelty.
The entire team [] was comprised
of the same people responsible for the
ongoing communications work of the
College. Wrote Vice President for
Communications Janet Marsden in an
email exchange with BFP contributor
Hannah Davidson 15. Because these are
enormous undertakings, many institutions
hire external PR frms or ad agencies Ior
these kinds of projects [] which is why
so many college websites have a generic
quality to them. We wanted something that
was uniquely Bennington.
Unique indeed- the most striking aspect
of the redesign is the navigation system,
which not only defes conventions that
dictate navigation rest at the top of a page,
but adds a vertical axis along the left side
as well. Navigation becomes a bi-axis
experience, with the left side navigation
bar adapting to the active section in the
lower navigation bar. The work of Carol
Jessop (the Colleges primary designer
for over a decade) is clearly present in
the overarching design language, which
emulates the Schools printed materials in
both typography and general aesthetics. In
spite of Jessops extensive roots developing
print materials for the College, the site
steers clear of skeuomorphic representation
in its main instances, and does furnish an
experience which is both visually pleasing
authentically digital throughout.
So wheres the Webby? Bennington is
playing in a coveted feld (three oI fve
nominees in the category credit a third
party agency with their productions), and
the competition makes strong conceptual
and technical showings throughout. It is
immediately clear even to a layman that
Bennington is outclassed in technical
execution, but even discarding technical
qualifcations leaves the College in a tough
position- while the navigation layout is
daring, the jury is still out on whether or
not it is actually useful. Other schools in
the category take more novel approaches
to telling their stories by positioning
student work front and center in portfolio
style layouts; only Bennington and The
University of the Arts in Philadelphia
adhere to the classic set of content divisions-
About, Academics and Admissions.
While Bennington does showcase student
work on the Tapped In blog, it doesnt take
the narrative leap others do in highlighting
it as the pivotal means of storytelling.
While technical issues continue to mar a
novel experiment in web design and layout,
the issue of more genuine importance is
whether or not that layout actually makes
a robust case for its own use in practice.
The Bennington website feels a bit like a
concept (which isnt entirely inappropriate
given the Schools place in the collegiate
mythos) and time will tell if the crux of
its design will be remembered as such- a
genesis, or a concept that never quite took
off.
6
The BenningTon Free Press / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3 A R T S
Each term, the faculty drama production
generates excitement campus-wide and
(generally) elicits rave reviews from
both students and faculty. This term, Jean
Randich and a talented group of students
have taken on When Youre Here, the story
of a chain restaurant manager struggling
to keep his Iamily together and stay afoat
amid a period of change. The show was
written by visiting faculty member Sam
Hunter, who observes rehearsals once a
week; Randich says that both she and the
cast have 'profted Irom his dramatic sense
oI Feng Shui. It`s terrifcally Iun to work
on a new play with the luxury of having the
playwright in rehearsal. Sam did a major
rewrite aIter hearing the frst cast read-
thru. He is gifted at crafting the charge
of emotional inarticulacy, expressive
builds in language, and multi-generational
characters.
The show takes place in the dining
room of an Olive Garden during Familia
Week, an event designed to bring the
families of the restaurants employees
closer to their working relations. One of
the most interesting challenges has been
that since the play takes place entirely
inside this restaurant, the set has to
essentially function as a restaurant, says
Ashley Connell 13, Assistant Director. It
just sometimes makes me laugh to think
that, if we needed to, we could pretty much
serve food in our little restaurant. I think
we even considered it at one point.
The show focuses on concepts
relevant to our generation, asking questions
that viewers may recognize as their own.
Randich asks the Bennington audience
to keep some things in mind when they
attend the performance: The motto of
the Olive Garden restaurant chain: When
Youre Here, Youre Family. What does it
mean to be family? What does it mean to
be present? What does it mean to be here?
When Youre Here will be
opening this May in Lester Martin Theater.
Admission is free for students.E-mail
tickets@bennington.edu for reservations.
As far as I can tell, the only things
Jack and Meg White have in common are
their vampiric skin complexions. For evi-
dence of this, all one needs to do is exam-
ine their musical activity in the near-half
decade it has been since the White Stripes
played their fnal show in September 2007
(though their dissolution wasn`t made of-
fcial until an online announcement in
February 2011). Meg has done absolutely
nothing except drink beer. I`m serious.
All I know is that virtually every time I go
to the Magic Stick in Detroit, she`s there
pounding brews with her hubby, Jackson
Smith. Based on this experience, I believe
the law of probability suggests that she has
not spent any time doing anything else in
the last four and a half years. Einstein said
that. Look it up.
By comparison, Jack`s schedule has
been characteristically hectic. He`s made
music with his other bands, both good
(the Raconteurs) and baaaaad (the Dead
Weather). He`s been frantically racking up
production credits for other artists (every-
one from rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson
to, um, Insane Clown Posse) like a starv-
ing squirrel gathers nuts for an ice age. And
he`s been running a vinyl empire, Third
Man Records, out of his adoptive home of
Nashville, all the while screaming into the
21st Century abyss about the ills of digi-
tal technology and its inferiority to analog
music.
But he`s fnally getting back into
making music again or, at least, music
that doesn`t involve the unbearable shitti-
ness of the Dead Weather. Namely, his new
solo album, Blunderbuss. Not only is it his
frst solo record, but it`s also the frst record
he`s made (not counting all that production
work) since the White Stripes ended, and
the frst he`s made without being stuck be-
hind a drum kit in the Dead Weather since
the Raconteurs` Consolers Of The Lonely
in 2008. Thus, a lazy critic (I enjoy refer-
ring to myself in the third person some-
times) could be forgiven for assuming that
Blunderbuss would amount to a compre-
hensive survey of his already-established
musical palette; a defnitive 'I`m back!
statement. Instead, it`s yet another intrepid
step in White`s ever-restless musical evo-
lution. Given the guy`s track record, just
about the only thing unsurprising about it
is how surprising it is.
Rich with graceful, dexterous
piano lines, folksy instrumentation and
percussive, hip-hop infuenced rhythms
(check out 'Freedom At 21. that`s a
damn rap song), Blunderbuss sounds al-
most nothing like anything White has done
before. Sure, electric piano-driven opener
'Missing Pieces re-appropriates the chord
sequence from the Stripes` classic 'Dead
Leaves And The Dirty Ground, but the
song sees White singing about shedding
appendages and bloody noses, as if his
old self is disintegrating. The next track,
searing rocker 'Sixteen Saltines, merits
Stripes comparisons, as does the gorgeous-
ly tender, countrifed title track. But the rest
constitutes a signifcant departure. Side 2
in particular falls into a tongue-in-cheek,
honky-tonk/folk template reminiscent of
early-70s Kinks before commencing with
the stunning one-two punch of the dreamy
reverie 'On And On And On and quirky,
jazzy 'Take Me With You When You Go.
In exploring all this new territory,
Jack has failed (or, more accurately, did
not attempt) to make a great rock record of
the sort that the White Stripes and the Ra-
conteurs used to the kind that might have
made me forget about the Dead Weather.
But the adventurousness of Blunderbuss
tells me his creativity is far from dried up-
he just doesn`t always channel it the way
we expect him to.
Preview
When
Youre Here
Y NAkEN 1CHN5CN 'T5
WINOGRAD ON WHITE
Blunderbuss Doesnt Dissapoint
Y 1EkENY WINCGkAD 'T3
MR. WHITE IS NOT A CAPA FELLOW.
Ethan Clark-Moschella, BFP Production Manager and
Layout Editor, is a madman. He is actually insane. I dont know what happens inside his
brain. Currently he is staring into the camera on his computer and moaning, mouth agape,
taking pictures of himself superimposed against clouds. I just noticed his nails are painted
pretty colors. Now, without missing a beat, he has gone from taking pictures of his tonsils
to editing our back page. When asked what it is like inside his brain, he responded Its
like... WAAAAAAAAAGHHHH while making strange motions with his hands.
7
THE BENNINGTON FREE PRESS / April 30th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3 A R T S
MAY
ArtistsNowFilmSeries:BeautifulLosers
Sunday,May6,2:00pm
TheClark
ThisdocumentarybyAaronRoseandJoshuaLeonardfollowsagroupof
do-it-yourselfartistswhoemergedfromthe90ssubculturesof
skateboarding,punk,andgrafftitomakeanindeliblemarkontheart
world.
HowBengalsScrollPaintingBardsSeetheModernWorld
Tuesday,May8,5:30pm
TheClark
AfreelecturebyClarkFellowFrankKorom,ProfessorofReligionand
AnthropologyatBostonUniversity.
MementoMori:TheArtandCommerceofGravestonesin
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Gravestones,someoftherichestandmostbeautifulmaterialartifacts
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OceanicVerses
Friday,May18,8:00pm
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OceanicVersesisafull-lengthmultimediaoperacreatedbyPaola
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AgainstthebackdropoftheMediterraneanSea,OceanicVersesfollows
thosewhosailtoescapeandthosewhosailtoarrive.
Save Community! Community is
probably the best comedy (other than Parks
and Rec) on television, but that really has
little to do with its chances of being re-
newed. What Community really needs is
RATINGS without them, advertisers will
be uninterested in spending big bucks on
commercials and NBC wont care how
many #SixSeasonsandaMovie Petitions
you sign. Heres what might actually save
the show:
You: 18-34 year olds dominate Commu-
nitys audience- gold dust to corporate
advertisers. Problem: We watch the show
on the Internet. The Big Four (NBC, ABC,
CBS, FOX) and advertisers are behind in
their calculations of ratings in terms of
online watching. Essentially, if you watch
the same episode of Community 12 times
on Hulu, the networks dont care because
they dont yet know how to. There are also
fewer advertising opportunities online and
TV essentially runs on the happy tears (and
other bodily fuids) of ad execs. To make
any type of signifcant leeway in the fght,
you have to actually sit down on Thursday
and watch the show good n live.
Syndication Deals: Community has two
syndication deals: One with Hulu (see
above as to why its not too helpful) and
one with Comedy Central that will air re-
runs of the show starting late 2013. A stan-
dard, proftable syndication deal consists
of 88 episodes- Community stands about
21 episodes short of that. If NBC wants to
take full monetary advantage of the deal
with Comedy Central, theyll renew Com-
munity for a fnal season. As it stands now,
Community is actually losing money for
NBC, so the network needs to have real
faith that the show will do well in syndica-
tion (and sell to more affliates in the mean-
time) for them to see any real hope in this
option.
Why It Could Die: Community costs NBC
$ 2 million an episode to produce. NBC is
struggling to make that back in ads and has
no guarantee that the syndication deal will
actually be lucrative (to keep in syndica-
tion, the show would have to get good rat-
ings). NBC needs money.
Short of It: Yall should start organizing
viewing parties on Thursday nights at 9
unless youve enjoyed your six-year wait
for new episodes of Arrested Development
(have I ever told you about the time I met
David Cross? Hes kind of a dick.)
Watch Misfts before the inevitably medio-
cre American version premieres this fall.
Misfts is about a group of teens sentenced
to community service and the powers they
develop after a freak nuclear-power storm.
It has humor, magic, tragedy and excellent
actors portraying the offenders. Its also
inherently a BRITISH show. The Brits,
for all their stereotyped rigidity, are a lot
more free with what they let air; these kids
curse, have sex, and make lots of trouble
that would have the Parents Television
Council clutching their pearls. A sanitized
CW (because you know thats where it will
air) version of Misfts will most likely fail
to capture the shows full potential. Bonus:
Its all on Hulu.
Politics, Battles and.Brooklyn
HBO, for better or for worse, is once again
the most talked about cable network al-
leged hipster racism, sexposition, and all.
Even though Girls and GoT are getting all
of the press (DINKLAGE!), I would en-
courage you to check out Veep by British
comedy auteur Armado Ianucci. Veep is a
cinema-verite look (one step further than
Offce style documentary, with lots of curs-
ing) at a fctional American VP (Julia Lou-
is-Dreyfus) and her dysfunctional, mostly
well-meaning staff of misfts. Previous
work of Ianuccis worth checking out: In
the Loop, his Oscar nominated dramedy
about British/American politics and The
Thick of It, loosely based on the inner
workings of Tony Blairs administration.
Look out for Connie's New Blog, girl-
watchestoomuchtv.tumblr.com. She'll
start it when she fnishes watching TV
that's too good for you to know about.
Hot Babes Win Battle of the Bands,
To Perform At Sunfest!
Congratulations to the winners of the P.A.C.s Battle of the Bands, Hot Babes.
Hot Babes is composed of Jay Kineke and Christian Milloux. Competing with 12
other Bennington Bands, from the syth-pop jams of Stoop Kid to the stripped down
sexual grooves of Goth Goth, The lo-f surf-pop duo won the hearts of judges and
audience alike with their musicianship and music. They will be performing in an
evening time slot at Sunfest on May 5th.
COURTESY OF HOT BABES
On The Tube: Community In Peril, Mishts Get
Cleaned Up and Armando Ianucci Does The Ofhce
Y CCNNIE PANZAkIEIIC 'T2, EDITCk IN
Prohle: Ethan C-M
Y NIKE GCIDIN 'T4, AkT5 EDITCk
B A C K P A G E
8
The BenningTon Free Press / April 27th, 2012 > Vol. 17 No. 3
t h e g o s l i n g s h a v e h a t c h e d .
A VERY
BOUCHER
BIRTHDAY

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