Issue 30

Tabula RaSaapRil 2012RooSevelT academy

Issue No. 30 | Roosevelt Academy’s Student Newspaper | April 2012

Also inside:

CURARTS & CULTUREMoss“Moss - the Dutch Byron of the twenty-first century.”?RA student Frits Brouwer reports on one of Amsterdam’s hottest bands du jour.

SPORTSRacism on the Field“FA’s dubious ruling and their method of treating an appeal, which is funda-mentally wrong.”As racism and other forms of discrimi-nation intensify in the world of foot-ball, the rules and policies that govern the tournaments seem to deteriorate, making it difficult to see who’s to blame in times of conflict.

ARTS & CULTUREInternational Art“Dina Goldstein decided that the point has come whereas Snow White and all her Disney mates need to grow up once and for all”How does she do it? Julia Knie, Arts & Culture Editor, analyses how feminist artist Goldstein breaks society’s expec-tations and frontiers in celebration of International Women’s Day.

SPORTSChess Boxing“... chess boxing is an option for everyone who enjoys a good fight but wants to look sophisticated in the meantime. Playing chess, like a boss.” Bored of the sports offered by SportsCo? Want to combine your intellectual skills with physical endurance? We present: Chess Boxing.

>> Page 5 >> Page 6

>> Page 4 >> Page 6

PROFESSOR SPOTLIGHT

Who is behind door number one? Find out on page 3...

Tabula RaSaapRil 2012

RooSevelT academy

2

Middelburg

Daily BoardChair Dorothée GreversSecretary Dewi ZlochTreasurer Wouter Dijkstra

Editorial BoardEditor in Chief Dorothée Grevers Arts & Culture Julia KnieCurrent Affairs Dorothée GreversEntertainment Limo BaroudMiddelburg Dorothée GreversOpinionated Chelsea Tjin-Kon-KoenRA Lukas HadtsteinSports Nick Hirchstein

Design TeamDesign Manager Remco ZwetslootDesignersDorothée GreversEmma de MoelGideon SinkeRemco Zwetsloot

Promotion Manager Dewi Zloch

Contact InfoRoosevelt AcademyLange Noordstraat 14331 CB MiddelburgThe Netherlands

[email protected] facebook.com/pages/Tabula-RASA/190309257678552

Disclaimer: Tabula RASA is edited, writ-ten, and published entirely by Roosevelt Academy students. It may not reflect or express the official views and opinions of Roosevelt Academy. Any and all mistakes are the responsibility of the Editors. Complaints, comments, and other issues should be e-mailed to the Editorial Team at [email protected], including your full name and link to the university college (ex: student, instruc-tor, etc.). All reasonable e-mails will be dealt with and, so far as space allows, printed.

Colophon

By Sven KooimanTabula RASA / Writer

On Friday the 9th of March, a small audience of around 50 people gathered in Ko d’ooooor for an ‘Avonduren’ concert by The Pole Siblings and Idiot Wind. The audience consisted of a wide variety of people; ranging from enthusiastic RA students to fifty year old connoisseurs in suits. The combination of differ-ent people and the small-scale environment of Ko d’ooooor made the atmosphere cosy and relaxed. RA students who hand-ed out home-made cupcakes completed this feeling.

The evening started with the performance by the Swedish band, The Pole Siblings (Guitar-ist/Banjo player Johan Stolpe remarked that they were actually from Finland but moved to Swe-den recently). The Pole Siblings is a due comprised of Sophia Stolpe sweet voice accompanied by the voice and raw guitar/ban-jo playing of her brother, Johan Stople.

Their performance was hu-morously interrupted by Johan when he was in desperate need of a guitar pick and was then provided with one by a bounte-ous person in the audience.

The second act of the night was Idiot Wind, an act consist-ing of vocalist Amanda Bergman who combines her beautiful voice with a piano. Unfortunate-ly, she had been struck by a cold at the time. Nevertheless, she silenced the audience and cap-tured their attention until the very last song despite avoiding the higher notes.

Bergman’s husband, the suc-

Veritas Forum Middelburg on Human Rights

By Jitse AmelinkTabula RASA / Writer

Everyone has human rights, but some have more human rights than others. Is this true? What is the foundation of these rights, are they universal and how does they impact daily life?

These issues along with vari-ous others concerning human rights will be discussed and de-bated during the first Veritas Fo-rum in Middelburg. The speak-ers for this forum are Prof. Dr.

Jan Willem Sap, Dr. Bas de Gaay Fortman, and RA dean Prof. Dr.

Barbara Oomen. With their dif-ferent perspectives and academic backgrounds they will discuss the various aspects of human rights.

Veritas Forum Middelburg is

The goal of these fora is the pur-suit of ‘veritas’ (Latin for truth).

“...the Veritas Forum [exists]... to engage both university students and faculty...in a discussion of some of society’s most pressing matters.

- Jitse Amelink

part of the Veritas Forum, an in-ternational organization founded

at Harvard University in 1992 to engage both university students and faculty from different back-grounds in the discussion of some of society’s most pressing matters.

cessful folk singer ‘The Tallest Man On Earth’, was absent due to the cold. He had decided not to come because he was to per-form at the fabrIQ festival in Den Bosch the next day.

Idiot Wind will compose and perform the soundtrack of the up-coming movie ‘Once a Year’. The last song of the evening was per-formed by both The Pole Siblings and Idiot Wind and was a cover of ‘In Dreams’ by Roy Orbinson.

All in all, it formed a harmoni-ous closure of an enjoyable eve-ning.The audience responded en-thusiastically to the concert and gratefully used the opportunity to speak (and hug) to the artists afterwards.

For future concerts in and around Middelburg keep an eye on the RASA and Music Society newsletters.

The Veritas Forum on Hu-man Rights will take place on Thursday, April 5th in the Burgerzaal. The forum starts at 20:00, doors open at 19:30.

Avonduren at Ko D’oooooor Brings Scandinavia to Middelburg

Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo


3

RAInternational Professor Spotlight

By Lukas Hadtstein Tabula RASA / RA Editor

Q: How did you end up teaching at Roosevelt Acad-emy? What brought you to Middelburg?

A: I am presently a Full Mer-it Professor of Humanities, Philosophy & Religion at Fer-ris State University, Michigan (USA), on a one-year leave of absence. RA offered me the pos-sibility to create a philosophy program; so it was the idea of creating a program in philoso-phy that brought me to Middel-burg.

Q: Where have you stud-ied? What was your major?

A: I took, most recently, a Doctorat d’État (Habilitation; summa cum laude) in Philoso-phy, the History of Ideas, and Comparative Literatures from the University of Nice (France), with a dissertation in Herme-neutics (trying to figure out

furt (Germany), in Middle High German and Old Dutch love songs (University of Hull, UK), and in International Education (USA).

Q: What is your favorite book, or who is your favou-rite author?

A: I have gotten a great deal

PhD Defense: Prof. Anya Luscombe

“I have been a scuba instructor, cross-country skier, horse caregiver, house renovator, and dog trainer.” - David Aiken, Philosophy Professor

‘Out of Africa’, both against the enormity of the African land-scape and against the simplic-ity of Isak Dinesen’s (Karen von Blixen) text.

Q: Do you have any inter-esting hobbies?

A: At various times of my life I have been a scuba instructor, cross-country skier, horse care-giver, house renovator, and dog trainer. Right now, I am sim-ply the caretaker of three olive trees.

Q: What is the one thing you want to have done be-fore you die?

A:I am doing that thing today.

Q: What is your most fond memory of student life?

A: From my student days I remember most fondly eating in the Menze at the University of Frankfurt (Germany). They used to have the best soups (my favorite was lentil soup with wuerstchen in it), at rock bot-tom prices; and a lot of students in philosophy, politics, and lit-erature would meet there for hours talking about the state of the universe at large, and other weighty matters.

Q: So far, what has been your best experience at Roosevelt Academy?

A: It is absolutely the class-room experience, which I find addictive.

Dr. David AikenInstructor of Humanities, Philosophy & Religion

the rules for reading texts, and particularly ancient texts); be-fore that I took a Doctorat de Troisième Cycle in Philosophy from the University of Stras-bourg (France), with a disserta-tion on tragedy as an expression of philosophy.

Before that I took two Master degrees, first in the US, in Hu-manities (Literature, Philoso-phy, and Theology), then again in France, with a thesis on the notion of the tragic in Nietzsche.

I have also done some post-doctoral work, in Greek Philol-ogy at the University of Frank-

of pleasure from reading any and all of Neil Gaiman’s books; but I think that my favorite au-thor, because of her wonderful intelligence, is probably George Elliot.

Q: What is your favourite song?

A: I don’t know about a par-ticular song in the traditional sense of this question, but I am certainly a fan of Mozart. Per-haps I most like his Clarinette concerto in A, K622, the Ada-gio, because of the way it was framed in Sydney Pollack’s film,

Q: How did you end up teaching at Roosevelt Acad-emy? What brought you to Middelburg?

I have lived in the region since the 1990s. Prior to coming to RA, I taught English and film at the Bremen University in Germany. I commuted by high-speed train. In 2006, I read about a new col-lege north of Ghent in Zeeland, and applied for a job. After a

teaching demonstration and an interview, I was hired. Nearly 7 years later, I am truly happy with my decision.

Q: Where did you study? What was your major?

I got my BA in English and German from the University of Nebraska in the USA and my MA from the University of Nebraska graduate college. I carried out graduate research in literature at Ghent University.

Q: What is your favourite book, or author?

I enjoy Ursula Le Guin and Ed-ward Abbey. I am fascinated by the Beat Generation – Allen Gins-berg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. Their work from the 1950s is absolutely incredible.

Q: What is your favourite song?

Songs by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Mudhoney. I also like Ameri-can music from the 60s and 70s – the Doors and Led Zeppelin. Hope Sandoval has been a favou-rite for years.

Q: Do you have any inter-esting hobbies?

I have camped all over North

America, often for weeks at a time. It is harder with a toddler now, but we will soon be rough-ing it in Alberta, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Q: What is the one thing you want to do before you die?

I want to learn French so I can read Rimbaud properly. I want to publish more poetry and visit Peru. Most of all I want to contin-ue doing what I am already doing. That might sound insincere but I really mean it. RA is a special place.

Q: What is your most fond memory of student life?

Study abroad, for sure. I re-ceived a few scholarships, learned German, traveled throughout Eastern Europe, and met my wife while at the same time earning university credits.

Q: So far, what has been your best experience at Roo-sevelt Academy?

Getting the job. I knew right away I would stay a long time. Students work incredibly hard. Professors are deeply committed. I am proud to be part of such an experimental college.

February 17th ended up being a “joyous day” for Pro-fessor Anya Luscombe, after she received her PhD for her thesis entitled “Sending the Right Message: Forty Years of BBC Radio News.”

Luscombe had researched and written the thesis while working full-time at Roos-evelt Academy and keeping up with a young family – a feat certainly worthy of con-sideration in and of itself. During the event in Utrecht, her initial nervousness was overcome by her genuine interest in other professor’s questions.

To students pursuing a PhD in the future Luscombe says, “The most important thing is that you chose a sub-ject you’re passionate about. That will sustain your inter-est for a few years. That you can’t wait to tell the rest of the world about. You don’t just receive a PhD. It’s hard work, but satisfying, too.”



Chad Weidner, MAInstructor of Arts & Hu-manities, Academic Core

ADVERTISEMENT


RooSevelT academy

4

Arts & Culture

Candles lined up in the back of the room, a harp glowing in the corner, wooden tables with post-cards reading “Coffee, Love & Art” strewn across them.

The light pre-show chatter of students sitting on couch-es or pillows on the floor - such was the ambiance in Ko d’ooooooor that night. One would almost expect Allen Ginsberg to emerge from the shadows and speak of “angel-headed hipsters”.

L’ordre du jour was self written material and covers. Songs of love, time, and dis-covery were performed dur-ing the night as well as a bun-dle of intriguing poems, both homemade or borrowed.

The first few songs were lovely self-written piec-es about time and Prince Charming. The performance then shifted to poetry fol-lowed by a beautiful piece on the harp. The next two performers shared an en-ergetic song entitled “New Territory”. After this, a poem about the birth of a lion was shared as well as two more original pieces about love and dark places.

Then an intermission was due: a slight bustle as people moved out of their seats for coffee and cake. After the break, more enchanting harp music and some Dutch poetry.

Then some jazz and a new take on Brubeck’s Take 5, some modern poetry and Blake. The closing act was by Silence who “selflessly promoted” their upcoming gig at Ko d’ooooooor ( April 7th!) and ended the evening on an enlightening note.

I got the feeling the art-ists were trying to tell us that time is of the essence.

For this I’d like to person-ally thank all the performers for conveying messages of hope in the midst of a seem-ingly insurmountable work-load. Thank you. This is the kind of event that leaves one inspired and feeling free to create. I hope there will be many more to come.

By: Eva JoussetWriter / Tabula RASA

Music, Poetry &

Candlelight Night

By Julia KnieTabula RASA / Arts & Culture

Editor

While some of us embraced International woman’s day on March 8th enthusiastically oth-ers remained halted by skepti-cism. Is such a day needed at all? What an appropriate timing to talk about feminist art and to introduce Dina Goldstein’s modern interpretation of Dis-ney princesses.

Dina Goldstein decided that the point has come whereas Snow White and all her Disney mates need to grow up once and for all.

While Snow White might have gotten to marry her dream prince in full delighted splendor with the evil stepmother out of the way - daily life has taken its toll on the housewife in Gold-stein’s interpretation of the post-fairytale events in the life of the princess.

In the photo, Snow White carries two babies on her arm with the dream prince careless-ly starring at the television. The scene seems to be far removed from what comes to mind when thinking of the typical princess. She looks into the camera as she realizes that the days of in-dependence and carefree ado-lescence are over as soon as one gets children.

Even more shocking are the visual account of the Rapun-zel as a cancer patient in hos-pital. The wig of voluminous long blond hair lies next to her on the bed. Attention is drawn immediately to her blank bald head.

These photos are intended to make visible the insecurities and problems of contemporary women that are often silenced in mainstream educational pro-

grams. As a kid Dina Goldstein re-

frained from watching Disney movies voluntarily. Somehow these fairytales represented a little too much ivory tower fa-natism and neat idols and bared little real life application.

Primarily fairytales are in-

ment and photography enabled her to find an artistic expression to challenge the notion of ideal-ization of the feminine in main-stream education.

Instead she shows women ac-knowledging their vulnerabili-ties more bluntly as is shown in the photos; it’s about the fear

Courtesy image

Dina GolDstein’s Fallen Disney Princesses

“, According to the artist, Disney stories continued to convey outworn ideas of morality.

- Julia Knie, Author

Tel Aviv, Israel but lives cur-rently in Vancouver,Canada. She pursued her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Langara College for Photography. The series Fallen Princesses from 2009 granted her several awards and solo ex-hibitions all around the world.

Dina Goldstein is not just a successful artist but also a car-ing mother. Consequently, take Mrs Goldtsein as a good exam-ple that one mustn’t look des-perately to fairytales in order to find the best fit for a female role model, but that they are right there: the successful women in our own contemporary society with all their virtues and vices. Is there anything more to say? Happy International women’s day.

On a final note, I hope to see further interpretations from Dina Goldberg on Disney mov-ies in the future and ponder al-ready what the Lion king would look like!

tended to provide for moral education. Disney stories con-tinued to convey outworn ideas of morality, according to the artist. Fortunately enough her field of expertise in advertise-

to suffer from breast cancer (as was the case for the artists mother) or to be left without the support of the husband when raising children.

The artist was born 1969 in

Snow White, Dina Goldberg

International Art


5

Arts & Culture

MOSS IN DE SPOT

“Their lyrics form a formidable incentive not to squander the limited amount of love contained in a human life.

- Frits Brouwer

By Frits BrouwerTabula RASA /Writer

With the release of their lat-est studio album, Moss has gained the fame of a true world act within the Netherlands, and their complete tour has been strictly dedicated to the promo-tion of their new vinyl, Orna-ments.

For this reason, the setlist consists of a rather balanced mélange of songs off of the new record and some older singles, brought to the audience with the tightness, the drums like a heartbeat, the polyphonic choruses and the harmonious, slightly psychedelic guitar riffs of the album.

Ornaments’ lyrics deal with love, with frustrated affection, and carry titles like “Everything Died In Your Heart” and “Give Love To The Ones You Love”; the latter of which forms a for-midable incentive not to squan-der the limited amount of love contained in a human life.

Dorleijn’s voice is even more intense, sharper, and the clear-er the vocals become, more energetic the sound. In “I Like The Chemistry”, not exactly the most exciting song ever record-ed, the vocals begin to bring about a catharsis with which Dorleijn, in “New Arms”, both cuts and polishes.

Interaction between band members is almost absent. Gui-tar rock is combined with indie,

topped off by some of the Neth-erland’s finest singing.

Every now and then, Dorleijn and the drummer, Finn Kruyn-ing, joke around with the audi-ence a little. When they inform the audience that “This is our last song,” the audience reacts with a mellow, “Yeah right”.

whereas other songs like “The Hunter” lack potential. How-ever, one starts to wonder how Moss manages to encorporate a tambourine in every single song in such a way that it still fitting.

No further comment on tradi-tional instrumental skills is re-quired for the already beatified

Dorleijn would repeat, “This is our last song. I don’t need to ex-plain thát, do I?” And later on playfully responds to the audi-ence’s protests with “That’s not the way it works!”

But never during the show does that begin to truly border on annoyance. It is the music the audience came for. “Angry Young Man”, the single from their second record Never Be Scared / Don’t Be A Hero with the grotesque clip featuring a pregnant man, is equally full-bodied as the dryly poignant recording. Moreover, it is even more direct, more vehement, and more subtle when the five men hum along the chorus.

“I Apologise” is a rightful hit,

Moss, but as the set continues, more and more comparisons seem to be justified. The guys from Amsterdam evidently lis-tened to Fleet Foxes and Beach House and Low. Dorleijn mir-rors Robin Pecknold and the band fully desires to profit from the folk rock hype. Yet still their songs are truly songs of experi-ence, poems fit to music, form-ing poetic pearls of a modern bohemian making Moss the Dutch Byron of the twenty-first century.

Moss’s albums include The Long Way Back (2007), Never Be Scared / Don’t Be A hero (2009), and Ornaments (2012)

HaPPily ever aFter?

All photos courtesy of Dina Goldberg


RooSevelT academy Sports

6

By Sebastian Frattina della Frattina

Tabula RASA / Writer

It is hard to overlook the dis-crimination and racism that has stained football since the turn of the New Year. Though football and controversy have always gone hand-in-hand, there has been a worrying increase in rac-ism since 2012. Undoubtedly the most controversial of cases has been the Evra-Suarez episode.

After the Premier League match between rivals Manches-ter United and Liverpool in late November last year, Manchester filed an official complaint to the English Football Association.

In the letter, the club made it clear that their vice-captain, French international Patrice Evra, was racially abused by Liv-erpool striker Luis Suarez. What

was to follow is a saga that has filled English football with nega-tive press and dispute.

After weeks of investigation, including a court case involv-ing both Manchester United and Liverpool parties, the English FA reached the unanimous decision to see Suarez guilty of racially abusing Evra. Finally, Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000 as well as be-coming the English’s public en-emy number one. Evra was seen as the victim; Suarez the villain.

Neither should be blamed; the English FA is the real villain. The manner in which they, as a football body, dealt with the situ-ation is the cause of the saga. A swift, delay-less handling of the situation would have eliminated the hype and controversy.

The real problem is the man-ner in which the English FA has structurally created itself to pre-vent those launching appealing from taking action. For instance,

if Liverpool wanted to appeal, the FA would increase the length of Suarez’s ban, regardless of whether they were right or wrong. Suarez felt like the vic-tim, since he stated that he never used any racist words.

The footballer was found guilty because of the English FA’s own set of rules and regulations which are strongly influenced by their culture and norms. This is understandable - a player play-ing in a foreign league needs to adapt to these rules - but it por-trays a picture of Suarez that is not true.

This could have been proven were it not for the FA’s dubious ruling and their method of treat-ing an appeal, which is funda-mentally wrong. Had their struc-ture been more lenient, perhaps a different outcome regarding the Suarez case would have been concluded.

out. If both end in stalemate, the player with the black pieces win, as a sign of affirmative action. The game of chess follows the rules of speedchess, meaning that both players have a maximum time of twelve minutes to finish the game. If one player goes beyond this limit, he or she will lose.

The art of chess boxing requires a high degree of skill, both mentally and physically, making it a sport suitable for only a few. The stra-tegical component is very large in this new field of sports.

One has to think about his next move on the chessboard even when he is fighting. And of course during the fight, you have to try to knock any good strategies out of your op-ponents head.

The alternating rounds are sepa-rated by only a one minute break, making the fight exhausting on many levels.

However, chess boxing is an option for everyone who enjoys a good fight but wants to look so-phisticated in the meantime. Play-ing chess, like a boss.

From a cartoon joke to a real life sport. It is the story of chess box-ing which, surprisingly enough, consists out of chess and boxing: a sport that combines brains and muscles. In 1992, cartoonist Enki Bilal invented chess boxing in one of his graphic novels.

Where many jokes never be-come reality, it did this time. After the establishment of the World Chess Boxing Organisation (WCBO) in 2003, the first World Championship in Chess Box-ing was held in Amsterdam. The tournament set out to unveil the toughest and smartest (wo)man on the planet.

The hybrid sport of chess boxing starts with a three minute round of chess, followed by a four minute round of fighting. A contender can win the match by either accom-plishing checkmate or by knock-

By Nick HirschsteinTabula RASA / Sports Editor

SILLY SPORTS

Chess BoxingThe Real Culprits: The English FA

Courtesy image

Courtesy image

Offers you the Sportspass!

Sportspass

For free:

!" Hockey

!" Indoor Soccer

!" Outdoor Soccer

!" Basketball

!" Ballet

!" Modern Dance

!" Ballroom

!" Dancing

!" Swimming

Sportspass Plus Karate

!" Regular Sportspass

!" Karate classes, taught

by world champion So-

kotan Richard Pluijgers

Sportspass Plus Gym

!" Regular Sportspass

!" Unlimited access to

Migron Sports Gym,

including all their

group lessons !

€20 €35 €80

Order your Sportspass now at

www.rasasportsco.nl

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

POSITIONS OPEN FOR 2012-2013:- Editor-in-Chief- Treasurer- Secretary- Design Manager- Section Editor- Designer

For more info, contact us at tabularasa@

roac.nl

Tabula RaSaapRil 2012RooSevelT academy Entertainment

7

By Limo BaroudEntertainment Editor / Tabula RASA

The “Basically” Script:THE ARTISTTabula RASA saves you a few

hours of your life each issue by tell-ing you what ‘’basically’’ happens in movies. This time: The Artist.

FADE IN:INT. LARGE CINEMA AUDITORIUM

George Valentin……

THE END


RooSevelT academy Entertainment

8

Below you’ll find status updates from movie characters. Can you guess from which films

they’re from?

By Limo Baroud / Tabula RASA Entertainment Editor

status craze

1: Avatar, 2: Twilight, 3: Paranormal Activity, 4: Puss In boots, 5: Forrest Gump

SudokuLEVEL: EASY LEVEL: MEDIUM

LEVEL: HARD LEVEL: HIDE THE RAZORS

ADVERTISEMENT

YOU!

tabulaRASAis looking for

are you the new campus life editor? experience is a plus, but not requiredweekly meetings on Mondays at 20.30

more [email protected]

TABULA RASA IS ALSO LOOKING FOR OTHER SECTION EDITORS AND DE-SIGNERS FOR THIS SEMESTER OR NEXT SEMESTER.

Documents

Issue 30