LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Author: [no author name found]

Wished She'd Been There

To The Editor:

The article "Soup and Art" about Sara Garland's one-woman show suggests that Ms. Garland wrote the play she performed. From the description, the play is clearly either part or all of "The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe," by Jane Wagner. Lily Tomlin has been performing this play on tour for years (it was written for her), and it's amazing. I'm sorry I missed Ms. Garland's interpretation.

— Margaret Levine Young, Middlebury Resident

Want to "Hang-Out?"

To The Editor:

When was the last time you had an invitation to "hang out?" For me, it was in Chicago when I had called Michael Jordan's restaurant to make a dinner reservation and was provided with ample "hang time," as Jordan put it, before I actually got to speak with a real person. We invite you to enjoy a different kind of "hang time" this weekend.

As part of a series of Earth Day related events (April 19-22), the Environmental Council (EC) is encouraging the campus community to participate in National Hanging Out Day (officially April 19) by choosing to air dry one's laundry. Students will be temporarily hanging clotheslines around the campus and distributing clothespins labeled "CO2 Eliminator" for those who do laundry on campus. As faculty and staff of an institution committed to environmental mindfulness and stewardship, we can unite with our students by taking time to reflect on our own lifestyle choices while hanging our weekend wash loads out to dry at home.

According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado-based environmental think tank founded by Amory and Hunter Lovins, electric dryers account for 6 to 10 percent of residential energy consumption. Clothes dryers use an average of 1060 kWh of electricity annually, emitting approximately 1738 pounds of CO2. These negative impacts can be avoided by the simple lifestyle choice of air drying laundry.

The EC has been conducting an inventory of the College's greenhouse gas emissions by collecting energy use, waste generation and transportation data and then using an emissions calculator to estimate carbon dioxide equivalents. Between 1990 and 2000, based on our data to date, there has been almost a doubling of C02 emissions (an increase of 94 percent). The most significant contributors to these emissions are the College's fossil fuel use. The EC will use this information as a basis for developing a strategy for the College to minimize its contributions to global warming. Our recommendations will likely include a greater emphasis on conservation, additional energy efficiency measures, use of renewable energy and supplementing campus initiatives with the purchase of carbon offsets.

To learn more about global warming, the EC has helped to organize a regional Environmental Fair that will take place on the Middlebury Town Green on Sunday, April 21 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to more than 30 exhibits on a diverse array of environmental topics and an opportunity to test drive several fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles, Professor Rich Wolfson will be speaking about the impacts of global warming on our environment and climate.

— Connie Leach Bisson, Campus Sustainability Coordinator

WRMC Brings Humor and Interest to SGA Debate

To the Editor:

The Student Government Association (SGA) debate held this past Monday night was the most successful SGA presidential and Student Co-Chair Of Community Council (SC-COCC) debate in recent memory. With an overwhelming number of students attending and countless others listening at home on 91.1 FM, the level of student participation in the event was uprecedented. From all over campus students called in and instant messaged a surplus of questions for the candidates. Compared to past years, when only a handful of students attended the debates, this year's debate actively made students part of the process.

The Elections Council and the SGA would like to thank WRMC and Ben Weber in particular, for making the debates accessible and enjoyable for a larger number of students. With only short notice, the WRMC moderators were able to bring much appreciated humor to what is usually just a dry discussion.

At first, the candidates, other members of the SGA and I were all disappointed on Sunday when The Campus chose not to moderate this year's debate. This decision forced us to question how seriously The Campus took the election and their relationship with the SGA. Two years ago, tension between the SGA and The Campus, which arose during the presidential debate, undermined the productivity of both bodies. I would encourage next year's editor-in-chief of The Campus and the winner of this week's SGA elections to recognize the importance of a good working relationship between the two bodies, not only for The Campus and the SGA, but also for the entire Middlebury College community.



— Sara Schuman '02, Chair of the Elections Council