On Campus
Vassar College

It's hard to believe that 12 years ago, the college had one central fax machine. "It was running all the time," recalls Cassie McIntyre, who sat across from it as it hummed incessantly during her shifts at the Message Center. "People were lined up, and some would come every day to send a fax, but they'd always need help." Back in the days before the Internet and cell phones, the Message Center was hopping. Packages and flowers filtered through the office.

The operators also received and forwarded all messages, scheduled fire drills, handled maintenance issues, handed out keys, and collected and stamped exams and papers for professors. "The switchboard never stopped. It was a mad house, but I loved it."

A native of Ireland, McIntyre worked as a statistician at IBM before she moved on to the college. "Vassar reminded me a lot of England and Ireland, so I felt right at home," she says. Around the time she took the job in 1990, the college started phasing out the telegram, often used by students to contact their parents for money. At that point, 16 women worked in the office, which operated around the clock. Students also worked part-time answering the phones, where up to 20 calls came through at a time. Before security moved in next door, the Message Center handled all emergencies and maintenance issues. They also collected over a hundred packages and deliveries a day, and then notified each recipient. "On Valentine's Day, the place was stacked with flowers. It was such a circus," she says.

Good thing McIntyre is a patient person! As the mother of six, she's also a practiced hand at doling out advice to student callers who seek her help. When students wanted to know how they should cook a ham or what they could use to remove a stain, they often sought her advice. During her time at the college, McIntyre has answered countless questions, calmed irritated callers, reported weather forecasts, and helped students find a restaurant or the best place to get a haircut. "I was in touch with the students and knew what was going on in their lives," she says.

For the past 17 years, the only consistent thing about the Message Center has been McIntyre's presence. Over time, delivery trucks started dropping off packages to the Post Office, typewriters turned into computers, and students suddenly had cell phones and could find cooking tips and check the weather forecast online. "They still call me with questions," she says, "but today they certainly don't call up to ask what kind of shampoo they should use." Perhaps the biggest change was the introduction of the Parlance speech recognition system, a computerized system that routes incoming calls.

Today, McIntyre answers questions via email, and most of her phone calls are generated either by someone lost in the automated phone system or who requests an operator. "Someone called up once annoyed and said, 'That man on the phone just now, I asked him a question and he didn't know anything!' I said, 'Well, that's not a man, it's a computer,'" she says with a laugh.

There is also another new addition to the Message Center: the original sign. When an alum recently returned for his 20th reunion, he approached college historian Elizabeth Daniels, presenting her with the original tin sign, wrapped like a present. "The student gave it to her and said, 'I have a confession to make. I took this maybe 20 years ago, but I brought it back.' Without a hitch, Mrs. Daniels said, 'You took that? That was a terrible thing for you to do!'" Cleaned up, the sign now hangs above the Message Center.

Now, as the lone employee of the Message Center, McIntyre gives visitors a warm welcome, still answers the occasional phone call, and does clerical work for the Campus Activities Office before turning out the lights at five o'clock. "My job has changed, but I still really enjoy it, and I'm still helping people."

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

Sarah Vowell doesn't drive, can't swim, is afraid of heights, and spends her free time at the sites of gory presidential assassinations. So why is she coming to Vassar? This year's pick for the Alex Krieger Memorial Lecture (previous humorists have included John Irving, Tom Wolfe, and David Sedaris), the best-selling author, social observer, and cartoon super hero is coming to make us laugh.

Known for her edgy commentaries and razor-sharp wit, Vowell is a regular on NPR's This American Life, where she's tackled everything from presidential primaries to her father's homemade life-size cannon. If NPR's not your style, she's also a regular guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Late Show with David Letterman. She's even hit the cartoon world as the voice of Violet Parr in The Incredibles.

Currently at work on her fifth book, Vowell's writing has been described as "literary stand-up comedy with a lot of heart and perfect delivery" (Kirkus Review). In the best-selling Assassination Vacation, Vowell bums a ride to examine the tourist sites of famous presidential assassinations. "Like Lincoln, I would like to believe the ballot is stronger than the bullet. Then again, he said that before he got shot," writes Vowell, who's often said the goal of her writing is to show that history doesn't have to be a bore. As a critic and social observer, Vowell's writing has also appeared everywhere from Time and the Village Voice to Spin and GQ.

Vowell will deliver an hour-long reading, with a question-and-answer session and book signing, on February 15, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. in Students' Building. First come, first served, so get there early!

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

Milton Bellin (1913-1997) Office Scene: Study for Mural, Teachers College of Connecticut (Central Connecticut State University), New Britain, 1940

The people have spoken! After several suggestions from loyal FLLAC fans, the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center has extended its Thursday hours to 9:00pm to provide a place for the community to unwind after work and enjoy the center's programming. The new hours began on February 1, 2007 with jazz by Studio Stu, refreshments, a short film screening, and special tours of the current exhibition, For the People: American Mural Drawings of the 1930s and 1940s.

Now showing in the Prints and Drawings Galleries, For the People features preliminary sketches and studies for public murals, often commissioned as part of the New Deal for public and government properties such as post offices, hospitals, colleges, high schools, and even ships and night clubs. The exhibit also includes the sketches that eventually turned into several local murals. Drawing in large part from the FLLAC's own collection, the exhibit includes nearly 30 drawings, paintings, and sketchbooks used to create the framework for the murals (photos of the finished murals are often provided for contrast).

"This type of art was meant for the everyday person," explains curator Patricia Phagan. "The artists wanted to connect with the person on the street and create common scenes." The murals provided an uplifting effect during the Great Depression and often reflect a real sense of place and history. The exhibition features in-depth guided tours of local murals, including the Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck post offices and Poughkeepsie's Main Street Mural.

For information on Thursdays at the Art Center or on the current exhibit, which is sponsored by the Smart Family Foundation, visit http://fllac.vassar.edu.

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

The recipient of this year's AAVC Award for Distinguished Achievement, Vera Cooper Rubin, will give a lecture titled "How I Left Vassar and Found Dark Matter: Reflections on Vassar and Astronomy" on February 8, 2007 at 3:30 p.m. in Sanders Auditorium. Dr. Rubin is one of the world's leading astronomers and is credited with proving the existence of dark matter. She is a senior fellow in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

The Message Center, circa 1960. Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections.

According to Maya Peraza-Baker '08, a researcher for the VCencyclopedia, Vassar had "telephone service" as early as 1902 – presumably for internal use only, as the connection to the New York Telephone Company wasn't made until 1916. Even after the campus was hooked up to the outside world, there were apparently very few telephones on campus until 1926 when a "modern" system was installed – a switchboard, with operators routing calls in and out from campus offices, dormitories, and faculty houses. It wasn't until 1982 (just a little over 20 years ago!) that members of the campus com- munity were able to direct-dial off-campus calls.

The Internet and cell phones have, of course, radically changed the way we communicate. But in a world where the options are multiplying faster than we can create buzz words to describe them – where face-booking is a verb! – how do we communicate effectively? According to Bret Ingerman, vice president for Computing and Information Services, Vassar's email system processed 25,665,680 messages in December 2006, although only a little more than a million of those made it past the spam filters. Of those messages, Vassar people generated 347,473!

In the Office of College Relations, an important part of our job is to keep the Vassar community informed about what's happening on campus. We'd really like to know how you'd like to get your campus news. Do you want it in print, or online? Do you like to search for it yourself, or do you want it sent to you automatically via email?

Within the next week or so, every member of the Vassar community will receive an email from College Relations with a link to a brief online survey on campus communications. As an incentive to respond, we will enter each person who completes the survey in a drawing for a $20 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble. (College Relations employees are not eligible for the drawing.) A total of 10 gift certificates will be awarded. And if that's not enough? You'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped us develop a more effective communications strategy.

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

Professor Brigham on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

With the recent publication of his widely praised new book Is Iraq Another Vietnam? (PublicAffairs), Shirley Ecker Boskey Professor of History and International Relations Robert Brigham has emerged as one of the most quoted analysts of the Iraq War for the BBC, Los Angeles Times, NPR, USA Today, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, andall told over 100 media outlets worldwide. Brigham's phone really began ringing off the hook as President Bush prepared to travel to Vietnam this past fall, and on January 14 he published commissioned opinion pieces in the Sunday Washington Post and the Independent (London). "The day after Bush's surge talk announcing his new Iraq strategy, I did 16 interviews, and I made sure they spelled and pronounced Vassar correctly in every one of them!" Brigham reported.

Strong reviews of Is Iraq Another Vietnam? have ranged from the New York Review of Books to the Washington Post Book World, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch cited the book as one of the best of 2006. On Monday, February 5, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. in Students' Building, Brigham will lecture about his next book, which will explore Iraq in a broader U.S. foreign policy framework. "I will talk about the surge, what we now know about the insurgency and militias, the problems of nation-building, the likely endgame in Iraq, and the lasting legacies of this war," he said. "Vietnam will be a backdrop, but it will not overwhelm the conversation."

By   Fri, Feb 02, 2007

Snow is falling (all two flakes of it), but it's already time to start planning for summer. With deadlines fast approaching, here are some opportunities for your 9th or 10th graders. The Eleanor Roosevelt Girls' Leadership Workshop (held July 14-22, 2007 and then July 28-August 4, 2007) strives to empower girls. For more information or an application, visit http://www.ervk.org, email ervkglw@ervk.org, or call 845-229-5302.

Applications are due by February 15, 2007. The Summer Scholars Program (June 22-July 6, 2007) allows students to explore various topics at local colleges. Visit http://www.dcboces.org/summerscholars for application information. Applications are due by March 2, 2007.

Fri, Feb 02, 2007

Sharon Beverly, director of athletics and professor of physical education, has been named chair of the NCAA's Division III Nominating Committee as of January. The committee coordinates nominations to the Division III Management Council and other associated committees.

In December, Michael Pisani, associate professor of music and chair of the Music Department, received an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Deems Taylor Award for his book Imagining Native America in Music (Yale University Press, 2006). An online interview and excerpt from his book were also published at http://www.newmusicbox.org, a newsletter of the American Music Center.

Associate professor of history Nancy Bisaha was invited to attend the workshop "Before Copernicus" at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Participants discussed the scientific, cultural, and religious influences that shaped Copernican thought.

Of the 35 fellowships recently awarded in New York State by the National Endowment for the Humanities, two were awarded to Vassar professors. Sumita Choudhury, associate professor of history, received a six-month grant to pursue her work on The Cadiere/Girard Affair: Seduction and Heresy in 18th-Century French Political Culture. Visiting associate professor of English and women's studies Karen Robertson received a full-year grant to complete Pocahontas among the Jacobeans.

Giovanna Borradori, associate professor of philosophy, presented two lectures on terrorism last November at the Universidad Pontificia Catolica del Peru in Lima. One lecture, "Philosophy in a Time of Terror Four Years Later," reassessed her book Philosophy in a Time of Terror, now available in 20 languages. She also presented a lecture titled "Beyond the Culture of Terrorism."

Associate professor of religion and Jewish studies Marc Michael Epstein received a grant from the Lucius Littauer Foundation for the publication of his forthcoming work Overthrowing the Idols: A Radical Reappraisal of Jewish Visual Culture, a new study of med-ieval Jewish art.

Seungsook Moon, associate professor of sociology and director of Asian studies, was invited to give a lecture at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. Her talk was published as "Betwixt and between Law and Practices: Korean Women in the Workplace," in Edging toward Full Empowerment: South Korean Women in the Workplace and the Political Arena (Asia Program Special Report, no. 132, Sept. 2006).