2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the editor
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: Opinions
To the Editor:
In 1968 several friends and I were taking a very taxing yet worthwhile English literature course and it came time to take a pre-A. (I have no idea whether there still are pre-As at Middlebury. They were "previously announced examinations" - scheduled tests.) This one wasn't easy - it took each of our smarts to come up with the unique individual response this course demanded. After class, over coffee in the Crest Room, one guy asked, "What did you get for Question 5?"
"Jeff," my friend Goldie said, "there were four questions."
"You know," Jeff said, "the one that started, 'Affirm your integrity by affixing your monicker...'" Mind you, Jeff had been up for several days cramming himself full of knowledge and various apothecary products in order to perform at his finest. "I got into this great riff about integrity and affirmation. Wrote half a blue book on it."
"Uh, Jeff," said Goldie, "you answered the Honor Code." In that moment Jeff cemented his place in '60s Middlebury community lore.
Sincerely,
Peter Knobler '68
To the Editor:
To any victim of sexual assault my article traumatized - I am deeply sorry. I would especially like to apologize to the victim in the case I cited. I meant absolutely no harm, nor did I in any way want to exonerate a sexual offender or belittle the suffering you went through. I was unaware that the case I used to begin my article was real, and had I known that, I would not have used it as evidence in my piece of what I still feel to be a valid point, one which I stand by. I never meant to say that sexual assault was not a big issue in any case, nor did I mean to imply that it should not be addressed. I merely suggested that the methods of spreading awareness about these important issues used on this campus alienate the very people who are needed to help resolve them.
Sincerely,
Nate Ackerly '10
To the Editor:
I am an officer of the Middlebury Musicians' Guild, and I was recently informed that MCAB has decided not to let student bands play the all-campus picnic this Friday, save the already well-established Market Zero. Last year's well-attended festival featured a variety of student bands, so I was dismayed to learn of the change to this year's event. But MCAB's decision is part of an ongoing trend of a lack of support for Middlebury's music scene - including the reluctance to book student bands for Pub Night, the refusal to let an on-campus act open for Cake and the overall scarcity of events promoting Midd's musicians. The prevailing sentiment on campus is that our music scene is dead, but is it really the fault of the bands? Commons Crawl (organized by the Commons co-chairs) was a smashing success, demonstrating not only the talent of the College's bands, both prominent and lesser-known, but also the enthusiasm of the student body to listen and have a great time doing it. By booking off-campus acts for the all-campus picnic, MCAB sends the message that student bands are not even worthy of being background music for a few hours, which is ludicrous and insulting. Midd's music scene will never thrive unless the event organizers let it. For the future, I humbly request MCAB to recognize the talent here on campus before turning to expensive off-campus acts - give our musicians the respect they deserve.
In 1968 several friends and I were taking a very taxing yet worthwhile English literature course and it came time to take a pre-A. (I have no idea whether there still are pre-As at Middlebury. They were "previously announced examinations" - scheduled tests.) This one wasn't easy - it took each of our smarts to come up with the unique individual response this course demanded. After class, over coffee in the Crest Room, one guy asked, "What did you get for Question 5?"
"Jeff," my friend Goldie said, "there were four questions."
"You know," Jeff said, "the one that started, 'Affirm your integrity by affixing your monicker...'" Mind you, Jeff had been up for several days cramming himself full of knowledge and various apothecary products in order to perform at his finest. "I got into this great riff about integrity and affirmation. Wrote half a blue book on it."
"Uh, Jeff," said Goldie, "you answered the Honor Code." In that moment Jeff cemented his place in '60s Middlebury community lore.
Sincerely,
Peter Knobler '68
To the Editor:
To any victim of sexual assault my article traumatized - I am deeply sorry. I would especially like to apologize to the victim in the case I cited. I meant absolutely no harm, nor did I in any way want to exonerate a sexual offender or belittle the suffering you went through. I was unaware that the case I used to begin my article was real, and had I known that, I would not have used it as evidence in my piece of what I still feel to be a valid point, one which I stand by. I never meant to say that sexual assault was not a big issue in any case, nor did I mean to imply that it should not be addressed. I merely suggested that the methods of spreading awareness about these important issues used on this campus alienate the very people who are needed to help resolve them.
Sincerely,
Nate Ackerly '10
To the Editor:
I am an officer of the Middlebury Musicians' Guild, and I was recently informed that MCAB has decided not to let student bands play the all-campus picnic this Friday, save the already well-established Market Zero. Last year's well-attended festival featured a variety of student bands, so I was dismayed to learn of the change to this year's event. But MCAB's decision is part of an ongoing trend of a lack of support for Middlebury's music scene - including the reluctance to book student bands for Pub Night, the refusal to let an on-campus act open for Cake and the overall scarcity of events promoting Midd's musicians. The prevailing sentiment on campus is that our music scene is dead, but is it really the fault of the bands? Commons Crawl (organized by the Commons co-chairs) was a smashing success, demonstrating not only the talent of the College's bands, both prominent and lesser-known, but also the enthusiasm of the student body to listen and have a great time doing it. By booking off-campus acts for the all-campus picnic, MCAB sends the message that student bands are not even worthy of being background music for a few hours, which is ludicrous and insulting. Midd's music scene will never thrive unless the event organizers let it. For the future, I humbly request MCAB to recognize the talent here on campus before turning to expensive off-campus acts - give our musicians the respect they deserve.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Micah
posted 5/08/08 @ 12:35 PM EST
Regarding Charlie's letter about MCAB damaging the music scene on campus:
Time and time again, students look to blame others when they are unhappy with the status quo rather than taking responsibility and action. (Continued…)
Daniel Sheron
posted 5/09/08 @ 3:42 PM EST
Micah,
While I agree with you that the Grille is an innappropriate venue for live music in general (even solo acoustic acts don't sound good there), I find your assessment of the situation for on campus bands to be woefully unsupportive. (Continued…)
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