vassar-college-alumni

"Energy Trading and Risk Management is a great resource to help grapple with the very interesting but oftentimes complex issues that arise in energy trading and risk management."

"It's a bit surreal what we are experiencing today: loss of billions of dollars in Harvard's endowment, a global recession, high unemployment, millions of home foreclosures, IRS auditing Harvard, etc. – all due to the use of financial WMDs [Weapons of Mass Destruction]!""

"In the challenging world of energy trading, fortune favours the prepared. Whether one is brave enough (or not) comes second and not having a clear strategy would be borderline foolishness."

"Although banquets at professional meetings (like the chemists' "misogynists' dinner" of 1880) had long excluded women, the ban began to seem a little less intimidating around 1900, when several women scientists began in their own quiet way to challenge some of these age-old restrictions. Thus, for example, Mary Whitney of Vassar College, who had attended the founding meeting of the American Astronomical Society at in Wisconsin in 1899 with her protégée and successor, , was still not sure whether they would be welcome at the society's banquet in Washington, D.C., in 1902. President noticed her unease and wrote to assure her that they were indeed expected to attend ... Newcomb's encouragement induced these women to go, and thereby set a precedent for later meetings."

"... Suppose a large number of values, subject to variations on either side of a , and suppose these variations bound by no common law. Then, if a sufficiently large number of such values are taken into consideration, it will be found that the variations on either side of the mean value will counterbalance one another. If, then, we regard the absolute motions of the stars as subject to no common law, i.e., if we suppose the stars to be pursuing their courses independent of any common , and if a very large number of s are taken together, if would follow from this principle, that in the aggregate the peculiar proper motions would cancel one another, and the mean result would be unaffected by them and would give only the . This method of treatment, based upon the , is called the method of "," and is of wide application ..."

"At the present time we employ a for making certain observations which can best be made then, and for other work which is not possible at another time. The most important work, and one which demands the coöperation of at widely distant places, is the observation of s. These occur at other times, but only the brighter stars can be followed to the and such stars are not frequent in its path. During an eclipse, however, stars down to the eleventh are easily followed until they disappear, and any star whose position is accurately determned is available. If an Observatory has undertaken the investigation of the Moon's place, it takes advantage of a total eclipse and prepares a list of stars which are to be occulted at other distant observatoreis, and sends a circular requesting observations. Such a circular was issued by the , Russia, for the eclipse of March 10th. The time of an occultation is much less difficult to determine than a contact of an eclipse. The Moon has no atmosphere, so that the star disappears instantaneously."

"did not accept the but evolved one of his own in which he makes the planets revolve about the Sun, but the Sun carries them with itself about the Earth. Part of his observations he reduced himself, publishing among other things a book on the , one on comets, and one on the lunar theory, and an important star catalogue. He had planned several other valuable works, but his early death cut short his projects. He was the first to perceive the importance of applying refraction to observations. He improved the values of the Sun's and Moon's , he discovered two variations in the Moon's longitude in addition to those already known, and one in latitude. In short he improved many values which depended on accurate observation for their determination."

"A is one that undergoes a change in brightness. With some stars the change is as great as four or even six , while with others it may be only one magnitude, and in some cases as small as half a magnitude. This change in brightness is observed by comparing the light of the variable with the light of some standard star which is assumed to be constant in brightness, the comparison being made either directly, or through the medium of some sort of artificial star."

"At the we met , the Director, but were especially pleased to see who had made suck a name for herself by her work on . She was in charge of the reduction of the Paris astrographic plates, and we were interested to compare her computing bureau with the one at . She offered to escort us to to visit the venerable , and invitation which we were delighted to accept. We were charmed with picturesque dwelling, made from the stables of the old chateau, with its low-ceiled rooms and quaint winding passages. They made a fascinating setting for the indomitable old Frenchman, who in spite of his eighty years, was planning to make another ascent of that summer, even if he had to be carried to the summit in a chair. He also asked many questions about the college in America where young girls studied mathematical astronomy."

"Mary Whitney … established a student-based research program at Vassar, focusing on observations of comets, s, and, after , on s. … In 1906 she developed an undergraduate course on variable stars, probably the first in the world, on which Caroline Furness based her 1915 textbook."

"After completing her A.B. and A.M. degrees as a student of astronomer Mary Whitney at Vassar College, Caroline Furness became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy at (1900). She collaborated with Whitney as her assistant between 1909 and 1911, each sending their variable star observations to . A member of the from 1911, Furness succeeded Whitney in 1913, and prepared for publication a volume of variable star observations made at Vassar from 1901 to 1912. In 1915 she authored the well-received An Introduction to the Study of Variable Stars."

"While leafing through a pile of the press clippings that regularly cross my desk at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I was struck particularly by two headlines in the ' (May 31, 1991;sect A:1) that said, "Menopause Becoming 'Au Courant' as It Hits Women of Baby Boom" and, as the article continued on another page, "Menopause Comes of Age as Medical and Social Issue." Indeed, , in general—in terms of research, services, and access to care—has come of age and become a priority medically, socially, and politically."

"Yentl, the 19th-century heroine of Isaac Bashevis Singer's short story, ... had to disguise herself as a man to attend school and study the . Being "just like a man" has historically been a price women have had to pay for equality. Being different from men has meant being second-class and less than equal for most of recorded time and throughout most of the world. It may therefore be sad, but not surprising, that women have all too often been treated less than equally in social relations, political endeavors, business, education, research, and health care."

"... You can easily find charts of ideal weight ranges: the tables of and the are the most reliable. But those charts can be confusing by giving wide ranges and often lumping men and women together. So I suggest that if you've picked up more than fifteen extra pounds or weigh more than 15% of your ideal body weight according to those charts, talk to your doctor. Is the weight a new gain, or have you maintained it for years? Are you currently ?"

"is good for a woman's heart. While generally accepted when the estrogen is produced naturally, this theory has been a matter of great controversy when the estrogen is administered "artificially" in (HRT) for women during and after . After a half century of conflicting data, we can affirm with growing confidence that, at the very least, estrogen reduces key cardiovascular risk factors in women at a time when they become especially vulnerable to heart disease, namely, after 50 years of age."

"Any kind of can be a very scary and daunting experience. But knowing how to navigate the and what to expect, at each step, may be the best antidote."

"Dr. Bernadine Healy is perhaps best known for leading some of the largest, most respected medical institutions in the country. But on Valentine's Day 1999, she was dealt a blow that shattered her world. That was the night when Healy found out that she had brain cancer. Doctors gave her three months live without treatment. With , her chances increased to 18 months to two years. But eight years later, Healy is still thriving. Her book, "Living Time," is written from two perspectives — that of the physician and that of the patient -- about her fight against brain cancer. She hopes it will help people diagnosed with the disease to realize that cancer isn't "dying time" — it's "living time.""

"was established and equipped at the opening of the college in 1865. The has an of 12⅓ inches aperture and a focal length of 16¾ feet. It was originally made by }} of New York, but in 1872 the glass was re-cut by }}, and in 1888 the telescope was re-mounted by & }}. It was also at that time provided with electrical illumination for the . The magnifying powers, negative and positive, range from 150 to 600. A made by }} was added in 1890. This spectroscope has a prism for star spectra and a }} grating for the solar spectrum. There is also a }} direct-vision spectroscope. The has an objective aperture of 3¾ inches. It was made by }} of Philadelphia. In 1889 it was re-mounted by }}. The clock and chronograph are of }} manufacture."

"Firstly, we wish to know whence comes the comet and whither it goes. We wish to follow its path, as it sweeps its way through our solar system. As this orbit is controlled by the same law of gravity which controls all celestial motion, an exact knowledge of a comet's course among the planets, gives the basis of investigation regarding its relation to the solar system and to the realms of space beyond. Therefore one important line of investigation is the determination of the positions of the comet in the sky, from whence may be obtained its orbit in space. Secondly, the astronomer wished to know what are the nature and constitution of comets. The investigation of this question is of comparatively recent origin, and belongs to ."

"The stupid and the children of genius alike emancipate themselves from conventions."

"There are so many ways that persons of intelligence have of expressing themselves. Some of these ways have little in common, many of them are contradictory in method, most of them differ in the effect aimed at, or the impression made."

"There certainly is at present, then, no standard English, either in writing or in speaking, that is easily and cheaply available. There is no one correct way of writing or of speaking English. Within certain limits there are many ways of attaining correctness."

"Letters of friendship, of love, of hate, of business, of state, have come into new value within the last twenty-five years. Reading them has come to be one of the most alluring pleasures of a large class of persons."

"The letter writer who spends his individuality in faddish paper, colored ink, and enigmatic paging, who 'crosses' his manuscript or insists upon paper so thin that it is hard to know which side one is reading, will need large revenues of talent to keep him from living behind his means in his claims on his reader's attention."

"Going to college was a thing quite by itself, an experience to be reckoned with--something like Platonic love, or getting religion."

"By 1870... Vassar did not stand, even in the funny papers, any longer for prigs, freaks, social rebels, or eloquent and earnest fanatics. What did it stand for? Freedom from any obligation upon the students to concern themselves with that question was one of the factors of the spaciousness that prevailed for ten years."

"A young generation felt a strange call from the future and so turned a perfectly courteous back upon the past with its failures; and with a resolute morning face fronted the new order of things where everybody should have a fair chance, where it should never be too late to make a fresh start, and where friendship should be the leading business of individuals and of nations."

"As an instructor in English literature, Miss Jordan's success has been marked. The magnetism, thoroughness, and sympathy of her work have been alike conspicuous. Broad-minded and scholarly, she has exacted from her pupils what she has given: fidelity in the study of English, and constant attention to its best models."

"Saddam had viewed this route, with its almost impenetrable terrain of canals, villages, rickety bridges, hidden tar swamps and dense groves of palm trees, as his not-so-secret weapon in bogging down the Americans. Thousands of Saddam loyalists, both Iraqi regulars and foreign jihadi warriors from Syria, Egypt and Palestinian refugee camps, would hunker down in towns and ambush points along the route. They had excavated thousands of bunkers along the main roads, sown mines and pre-positioned tens of thousands of weapons. When Saddam famously promised to sink the American invaders into a "quagmire," he was probably thinking of the road from Nasiriyah to Al Kut. It was the worst place in Iraq to send an invading army. Mattis planned to subvert the quagmire strategy Saddam had planned there by throwing out a basic element of military doctrine: His Marines would assault through the planned route and continue moving without pausing to establish rear security. According to conventional wisdom, invading armies take great pains to secure supply lines to their rear, or they perish. In Mattis' plan, the Marines would never stop charging."

"In the months leading up to the war on Iraq, battles over doctrine and tactics were still raging within the military. The struggle was primarily between the more cautious "Clinton generals" in the Army, who advocated a methodical invasion with a robust force of several hundred thousand, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his acolytes, who argued for a much smaller invasion force- one that would rely on speed and mobility more than on firepower. Rumsfeld's interest in "maneuver warfare," as the doctrine that emphasizes mobility over firepower is called, predated invasion planning for Iraq. Ever since becoming Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld had been pushing for his vision of a stripped-down, more mobile military force on the Pentagon as part of a sweeping transformation plan. Mattis and the Marine Corps had been moving in that direction for nearly a decade. The Iraq campaign would showcase the Marines' role in Iraq as a rush. While the U.S. Army- all-powerful, slow-moving and cautious- planned its methodical, logistically robust movement up a broad, desert highway, Mattis prepared the Marines for an entirely different campaign. After seizing southern oil facilities within the first forty-eight hours of the war, Mattis planned to immediately send First Recon and a force of some 6,000 Marines into a violent assault through Iraq's Fertile Crescent. Their mission would be to seize the most treacherous route to Baghdad- the roughly 185-kilometer-long, canal-laced urban and agricultural corridor from Nasiriyah to Al Kut."

"The General is a small man in his mid-fifties who moves and speaks quickly, with a vowel-mashing speech impediment that gives him a sort of folksy charm. A bold thinker, Mattis' favorite battlefield expression is "Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative." On the battlefield, his call sign is "Chaos." His plan for the Marines in Iraq would hinge on disregarding sacred tenets of American military doctrine. His goal was not to shield his Marines from Chaos, but to embrace it. No unit would embody this daring philosophy than First Recon."

"Late in the afternoon of March 24, 2003, I was digging a hole by a bridge over the Euphrates River in Iraq. I was a reporter embedded with a platoon of Marines in the elite 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. We had been under rocket and machine-gun fire for several hours. The bridge was a key crossing point for the American invasion and was hotly contested by several thousand Iraqi paramilitaries firing on our position from three sides. More than a dozen Americans had already paid for this bridge crossing with their lives. The Recon Marines I accompanied- the Special Forces of the Corps- had been ordered to hold a position beside the bridge and wait. An armored assault across the Euphrates was due any time now, and the Recon Marines were standing by to rescue the crews of any armored vehicles disabled by enemy fire. In classic military tradition, the assault had been repeatedly delayed. Now, as night approached, the Recon Marines were ordered to dig in. Machine-gun fire raked the palm trees overhead. To avoid the bullets I excavated my hole from a kneeling position. Weighted down with forty pounds of body armor and gear, I felt myself wheeze each time I pitched by shovel into the earth and scratched out more clay. I was midway through this exhausting task when I felt a steely hand grip my arm, then heard a voice: "That's it, brother. Work those biceps." Sergeant Rudy Reyes stood over me, offering an encouraging smile. It seemed Rudy had chosen this moment to continue the fitness instruction program he had begun- without my ever asking- when we had met a couple of weeks earlier, prior to the invasion. Eyeing the progress of my excavation on this combat-filled afternoon, Rudy pounded my back and added, "You see, brother. Just a little bit of fitness every day is all you need." Pausing to allow an enemy mortar to explode in the field to our rear, Rudy concluded, "Keep this up, you'll be in shape in no time.""