Editorial New Health Center/Howard Dean

Author: [no author name found]

Shifting Outward: New Health Center Location



The Parton Health Center recently vacated its longtime home in Carr Hall to occupy a newly renovated space in Centeno House on Route 30. The Department of Public Safety will soon follow suit, abandoning its location at the heart of campus in favor of a more peripheral location.

The outward shift of these vital services raises serious questions about accessibility.

Now tucked in the corner of campus, the Health Center is no longer on most students' route back to their dorms. In extreme circumstances, students will make the extra effort to visit the Center. But most of the Health Center's traffic doesn't come from the extremes.

A student who would otherwise pass by and pick up a free condom - or see a nurse about a minor ailment - might be dissuaded from doing so by the more remote location. This places the burden on the Health Center to draw students to its new location. The Center also must make its usual assortment of complimentary products - namely condoms and pain relievers - available in other, more central parts of campus.

We're also concerned that intoxicated students might not be able to make it to Centeno House as easily as Carr Hall.

The Department of Public Safety must therefore embrace the responsibility of transporting students to the Health Center.

Indeed, an additional five-minute walk in the dead of winter may be enough to discourage someone in need of help from seeking medical attention.

We ask the Health Center staff to carefully weigh these concerns. Otherwise, they may put more distance between themselves and the student body than a five-minute walk.



Vermont's Own: Howard Dean



It's not every day that a former Vermont governor captures the national political imagination. But Howard Dean, it seems, is the exception.

His straight-talking brand of politics has catapulted him from semi-obscurity to center stage. As his campaign gathers momentum, Middlebury students have a rare chance to engage the political process.

We know first-hand Dean's accomplishments in Vermont - accomplishments he holds up as a model of what he can achieve nationally.

More than any other candidate, Dean displays genuine interest in engaging the younger demographic. The "Bands for Dean" event at Higher Ground in Winooski, Vt., tonight is just one example of what's become a guiding principle in the campaign.

As Dean courts young voters, he enlivens the political process in a meaningful way.

Middlebury students who identify with Dean's politics should seize the opportunity to become key players in the campaign.

Those who don't can still experience the Dean for America movement as a productive force in national politics - one that's opening new pathways for participation, including the Internet and face-to-face Meet Ups with other supporters, to name just two.

We hope Dean's red-faced, rolled-up-sleeves style of campaigning will herald a revival of political activism on campus.