News in Brief

BILL To address hygiene AND SEXUAL HEALTH PASSED

Community Council unanimously approved a Student Government Association (SGA) bill that would supply condoms, tampons and pads in each of the first-year dorms at their meeting on Oct. 8. The bill, drafted by the SGA Sexual and Relationship Respect Committee (SRR), follows previous efforts to make tampons and pads available in public restrooms on campus. 

“Pads and tampons are expensive, and we feel that access to basic sanitary and health needs should not be limited by cost,” said Cece Alter ’19, director of the SRR committee. 

The committee decided to include condoms in the bill because they are available in some first-year dorms but not in others. The SRR committee hopes this will promote safe sexual practices.

As part of a pilot program last winter term, the SRR provided condoms, tampons and pads in the bathrooms of Battell. After conducting a survey, the SRR learned that students appreciated the program and that the products were widely used. The initiative was deemed valuable enough to be expanded to all first-year dorms.

The committee has worked with Facilities Services to ensure that the products will be restocked throughout the year. At this point in time, both teams are working to determine which bathrooms are most necessary to stock with the products. Once that is decided, condoms, tampons and pads will be made available in those locations.

- Gibson Grimm 

Blockchain technology club established

Blockchain technology is intersecting with liberal arts thinking strategies thanks to Pedro Miranda ’19.5 and the college’s new Blockchain Club. Miranda, the founder and president, was inspired to create the club after working at blockchain consulting firm ConsenSys this past summer and wanted to bring his experiences back to the college in an innovative way.

“Blockchain technology refers to a particular way in which data is stored, transferred and secured,” said Michael Borenstein ’19, a club member. “A blockchain is a decentralized database where everyone has a copy of the database itself and is responsible for keeping it up to date and verifying new entries to the database.

 “I realized that I had an advantage being a liberal arts student. I had more problem-solving capabilities, more holistic methods,” Miranda said. “I wanted to bring my experience back to campus.”

Miranda’s goal is to prove that there is value in the interaction between liberal arts, blockchain and other technology. In this respect, the first two meetings of the club have been successful — roughly 40 percent of attendees came from a computer science background, another 40 percent from economics, and the remaining 20 percent from a variety of majors, including political science, philosophy and mathematics. One of the club’s goals is to reach people with technical and non-technical backgrounds.

At the meetings, students engage in blockchain news updates, lessons in the technology and facilitated discussions. 

The club also engages with the Middlebury Investment Committee, who came to a meeting to speak about cryptocurrency. Connor O’Day ’17, who works at ConsenSys, will be speaking at the club on Nov. 7.

“I want to prove that it is worth talking about technology in a liberal arts environment,” Miranda said. “What makes us so unique is that we’re able to address a very technical concept in a holistic and broad manner.”

Other club executives include Vice President Chris Amata ’20 and board members Michael Borenstein ’19, Alex Baskin ’19, Youssef Halim ’20.5 and David Valentin ’19. The Middlebury Blockchain Club meets on Wednesdays on a bi-weekly basis, in Bicentennial Hall room 220.

 - Riley Board