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(03/06/14 2:24pm)
On Wednesday March 5, the Christian holiday of Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, a six-week long period of discipline and devotion. Ash Wednesday emphasizes human mortality and Lent traditionally asks observers to take up a specific discipline. Many students describe this period as a specially reflective and humbling experience, one that can both connect students with their faithful traditions from home or add unique challenges and significance in a college environment.
In honor of the holiday, Chaplain Laurie Jordan ran a service at Mead Chapel that required her to respect the varied styles of worship within the Christian tradition, unlike most church services that cater to a specific denomination.
“I try to use the basics, prior to all the splits in Christianity,” said Jordan. “So it’s not really dealing with the tender breaking points.”
The service included a Psalm of Confession, when the congregation asks God to absolve their sins, A Litany of Penitence, when sins are detailed with greater specificity, a Great Thanksgiving, when the congregation thanks the lord for his gifts, the Breaking of Bred, a communion, and an organ postlude.
Jordan expressed particular enthusiasm for one defining ceremonial practices of Ash Wednesday — the imposition of Ashes — when the chaplain draws a cross with ashes over one’s forehead and recites, “Remember that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.” According to Jordan, this reminder can be particularly important for students.
“The ashes represents that you may feel young and vital and invincible. But every one of us is going to die one day and our bodies are either going to be burned or decayed,” said Jordan.
Blake Harper ’15, whose father is a priest and is involved in numerous religious life organizations on campus, echoes a similar sentiment.
“Sometimes you can feel like on the college on the hill you are on top of the world,” said Harper. “It is a humbling experience [on] Ash Wednesday just to know how small we are.” He added that this notion uplifts not discourages him.
After the service, many students leave the ashes on their forehead for the remainder of the day.
Blake reports seeing many people he did not know were observant Christians with the ashes.
“It’s just a time when people are not afraid to express their religious identity,” said Harper.
Matthew Blake ’16.5 claims many people who are not familiar with Christianity ask him questions about Lent.
“I’ve had to do a lot of translating,” said Blake. “I’ve had to express what it means to be a Christian to other people and that has made me more reflective on what it means to be a Christian.”
After Ash Wednesday, Christians enter Lent, a time when many observers fast, deny themselves a particular luxury and involve themselves with various religious practices.
Shannon Reinert ’15, who leads the Newman Catholic Student Organization, cited desserts and makeup as examples of indulgences she gave up.
Gregory Markowitz ’15 said that he was not raised religious but has became a more involved Christian while on campus and was officially accepted into the catholic church last summer. Last year, he did not attend Ash Wednesday service but fasted every Wednesday and Friday, ate exclusively vegetarian foods, and tried to meet someone new every day during Lent.
“I was constantly asking myself ‘why am I doing this...to please God,” Marowitz said. “So when you’re hungry, it’s a constant reminder.”
Some do not give something up but add another ritual into their routine.
According to Faith Whang ’15, the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship plans to practice a daily fifteen minute pray period but she expresses concerns over maintaining this routine on campus.
“When you’re at Middlebury, you’re in this bubble where everything is about you,” said Whang, “I’ve noticed that even trying to take a little piece of the day away from me is hard.”
She refers to a popular axiom while referring to the struggles of maintaining her faith at school.
“Someone told me freshman year that college is three things: sleep, study, and social life and you can only do two. Adding faith is like a fourth thing,” Whang said.
Like Whang, Harper does not give up a specific luxury but adds a new ritual to his day: devotional readings with friends.
“It is a time to think about the way we spend our time, think about the way we use our resources, think about the way we treat each other,” Harper said.
(10/30/13 9:50pm)
Shacksbury Cider, the creation of Colin Davis ’03, David Dolginow ’09 and Michael Lee, is no Woodchuck Hard Cider, as they proudly proclaim. Rather, this new hard cider company in Shoreham, Vt. boasts something unique.
Their brewing process harks back to America’s earliest settlers, when pioneers like Johnny Appleseed planted smaller cider apples instead of the standard larger ones sold in grocery stores today.
Back when the first Europeans were settling Vermont and the greater New England area, law required that homesteaders plant 50 apple trees each.
The apples they planted — cider apples — were more bitter than desert apples and the apples we consume today. However, once fermented, the apples produced a tasty cider that helped alleviate the trouble of uneasy access to portable water.
A few historical developments prevented the beverage from entering widespread commercial use the way beer and wine did. Urbanization encroached on once rural orchards, prohibition theoretically stopped all alcohol consumption and the popularization and accessibility of German beer.
A few heirloom trees survived the changes that took place in Vermont. And now, the three cider-connoisseurs of Shacksbury Cider are determined to harvest these tree’s fruits once again.
The team searched through cow pastures, forests and down remote country roads in search of these rare trees. With the apple tree owners’ permission, they collected apples in a primitive yet surprisingly effective and ultimately efficient way. They simply using a standard pole to shake the fruit off branches and into a tarp.
Their quest extends beyond just Shacksbury Cider, though, and on a larger scale, is called “The Lost Apples Project.”
Kickstarter, the world’s largest online crowd-funding platform, helped finance the trio’s adventure.
After their fruitful search, they’ve successfully brewed cider and hope to put their first batches on the market this week.
They distinguish their product from other mass-produced hard ciders by their brewing method which they claim preserves the natural tastes of the apples.
“It is pretty much a very different product,” said Dolginow. “That juice has already been cooked up and stabilize. What you’re doing is taking a lot of the amazing characteristics that make really good cider out of the juice.”
Shacksbury Cider possesses a much more complex, more rich taste than the “sweet pixy stick flavor” of today’s hard ciders, according to the Shacksbury Cider team.
They compare their product to wine because of the sophistication of the art form inherent in its crafting and creation.
One key question remains unanswered. If these cider apples were lost and cider-making changed so drastically from the time of the first settlers to our current drink, how did these men learn a lost art? Europeans taught them. Producers in Spain, France and England educated them about traditional ciders and how to brew them.
Their process and learning lent itself to a simple philosophy that backs their entire endeavor and acts as a guiding principle for Shacksbury Cider.
“You can’t fake the fruits,” said Dolginow.
According to him, that marks another essential difference between their production and other’s.
“To start with the fruit that [other commercial cider makers] are using isn’t the right fruit,” said Dolginow. “The end products you sit down with, you wouldn’t consider the same product.”
The team wants to make Vermont the Borolo of hard ciders. The northern Italian town produces excellent wine but is less glamorous than other wine-producing regions like the Napa valley, which renders the comparison appropriate, according to Lee.
However, a few impediments stand in the way of them reaching national markets and fulfilling their goal.
First, Shacksbury Cider lacks a consistent source of apples. Until now, they’ve relied solely on apples they’ve gathered from other people’s property.
In attempts to combat this limitation, Shacksbury cider hopes to work with local growers to plant 500 cider apple trees. For the property owners, this might be a risk, as the trees take 5 years to fully mature and do not promise any successful results.
Shacksbury Cider also lacks their own press and must share one with other local apple growers. Since a tree costs only 20 dollars, the Lost Tree Project has asked for donations in a three minute film online.
To what end, Lee asks himself towards the video’s end. “To revive [a] tradition, to find the perfect apples, and make the perfect cider.”
(10/10/13 12:29am)
Whether you eat there once a week, or just enjoy a sub from time to time, we can all agree that Costello’s Market is a staple of Middlebury.
Many students of the College frequent this Italian market in the Marble Works Many move in and out quickly, rushing to class or to a club meeting, just picking up a sandwich and leaving. As a result, many of us have yet to meet the faces behind it all.
Meet Carolyn Costello. She has lived in Middlebury her entire life and co-owns the market, located at 2 Maple St., with her husband John Costello.
The couple has worked in the restaurant business for their entire lives, but as John began to approach his sixties, he chose to leave the stress of working on-the-line after 40 years.
The couple then decided to open Costello’s market in 2007, which Carolyn describes as a daunting leap of faith. They were uncertain whether the Restaurant’s business could support them both. Costello’s, however, has since earned a loyal customer base.
Costello’s boasts an extensive menu of unique sandwiches, salads, pasta and seafood. It occupies a cozy storefront with authentic Italian products covering every inch of it.
The couple purchases vegetables from local growers but are influenced primarily by their almost yearly travels to Italy. According to Carolyn, however, John has an open mind and believes that he can learn about cooking from anybody.
She attributes a great deal of the business’s success to her husband’s culinary skills and speaks about him with admiration.
“John is extremely talented, I believe,” Carolyn said. “That is my opinion. He is very humble, so he would never say that. I think he is very creative.”
A long past with the community has also aided Costello’s success. Carolyn comes from a long line of successful Middlebury business owners; her uncle ran a bakery here, and her grandfather owned a gas station where the Otter Creek bakery currently is.
“That is another plus when you’re opening a business,” said Carolyn, “for people to know who you are and a little bit of your history.”
The couple works tirelessly around the clock, sometimes seventy hours a week.
“But it’s ok,” said Carolyn, “because all this hard work is paying off. We have this great business.”
For those of us who spend only four years here in Middlebury, it is hard to imagine the connection that Carolyn feels with the town.
“When I go shopping it takes me an hour to get one thing because I know everybody at the grocery store,” Carolyn said. “I just love the people. Everyone knows everyone.”
She believes that Middlebury has changed noticeably throughout her time here, growing in size and developing new commercial centers. Still, she believes that it retains its distinct charm and intimacy.
“It is nice to have that small feel even though I know it isn’t as small as it used to be,” said Carolyn.
She chats with nearly all her customers, extending her small town friendliness to Middlebury students.
“A lot of times, I feel they are my own kids,” said Carolyn.
To her, meeting new customers and connecting with old ones is her favorite part of going to work. The couple lack any grand ambitions of expanding but hope to maintain their pattern of consistent growth.
“We just want to keep on going like we have been going,” said Carolyn. “We feel quite lucky to have what we have.”
And the Middlebury community feels lucky to have Costello’s as well.
(10/02/13 11:44pm)
John Wetzel, founder of Stone Leaf Teahouse in downtown Middlebury views tea as more than just a drink. Rather, it is a way of connecting people.
“It’s history, it’s culture, it’s modern society,” Wetzel said.
Wetzel had not truly tasted tea until he worked on a fishing boat after he graduated college. Sure, he had drank “tea” before in his life, but the ship’s captain informed him that his mass-produced bagged tea was not real tea. It was an imposter.
He introduced Wetzel to an Oolong variety of the rural Yunan region, China. Its sweet scent inspired Wetzel’s career.
Wetzel worked a series of jobs in construction and outdoor education, maintaining a fervent curiosity with tea all the while.
Years later, Wetzel rode a motor-scooter across the Central Highlands of Taiwan, visiting various tea growers. It was this experience that prompted him to open his very own tea shop.
“The hardest thing is buying the plane ticket,” said Wetzel, “That’s the analogy, taking that one leap when you’re not coming back,” referencing his signing the shop’s lease in 2009.
He remembers customers asking him behind the counter, during the store’s infant stages, whether he believed it could succeed. 2009, a year after the recession’s height, was a difficult time to open a business. Wetzel attributes his success to perseverance and to doing his homework.
He has traveled to India, China, Taiwan, Japan and elsewhere, finding suppliers for the shop. Two specific experiences he recalls with great joy include visiting the traditional Dai tribesmen in China harvesting tea leaves, as well as exploring an industrial tea complex in Japan.
To Wetzel, the economic component comes second to honing his craft.
“Making money is not the focal point,” said Wetzel “It’s my study, so that’s the focal point.”
The Stone Leaf Teahouse provides sustainably grown teas from China, Japan, Taiwan, India and Nepal. Each tea’s detailed description demonstrates an exceptional expertise, yet Wetzel humbly insists that making tasty tea requires no special knowledge.
Wetzel tells his customers, “The right way to make tea is how you like it.”
He sees his role bringing teas from across the globe to Middlebury as part of a larger operation.
“The reality of the world is we are connected,” said Wetzel. “We’re still breathing the same air and seeing the same moon and this is our way of sharing that connection.”
(09/18/13 8:30pm)
At a crowded hearing at Middlebury Union Middle School on Sept. 10, concerned citizens voiced their opposition to Vermont Gas’ proposed 43-mile pipeline from Colchester to Middlebury that would provide natural gas to Addison county. On Oct. 8., the selectboard will be voting on the circumstances that must be present in order for them to consider supporting the pipeline. Town members urged the town’s public service board to deny Vermont Gas the Certificate of Public Good required for construction.
Close to 600 people attended the hearing. Those in opposition dominated the speaking time at the assembly, with all but a few raising their voices in opposition to the pipeline. Before the assembly meeting, a demonstration that brought together speakers and activists against fracking was held outside.
The meeting came after a long battle between the project’s supporters, who claim that fracked gas will lower energy costs considerably, while posing less environmental risk than gasoline or oil, and opponents, who claim that the project conflicts with the state’s renewable energy goals.
“We would be thrilled if all our vehicles ran on hopes, wishes, and dreams but they do not,” said Joseph Fusco, an executive at Casella Waste Management, a trucking company in Vt. He went on to laud the benefits of switching the company’s trucks from diesel fuel to natural gas and was one of the few speakers who received no applause.
An editorial response to the event by columnist Angelo Lynn added that natural gas is 51 percent cheaper than fuel oil and that cheaper energy would produce numerous jobs.
Opponents, however, doubted the credibility of the supporters’ economic claims and asserted that the dangers of constructing the pipeline are significant.
“We’re involved in a discussion over whether we’re going to have fossil fuels or … natural gas,” said Nate Palmer, a resident of Monkton. “That’s like saying: do you want fossil fuels or fossil fuel light?”
Many cited Governor Peter Shumlin’s goal for the state of relying on 90 percent renewable energy by 2050.
“We thought Vermont was a leader,” said Marly Lotourelley. “If you had told me back then that I would be someday fighting a natural gas pipeline here I would have laughed at you. I hope the joke is not on us.”
Theatrics punctuated the otherwise stern nature of the event. Actors performed a skit about a farmer trying to file a complaint against Vermont Gas, beset by bureaucratic obstruction. One speaker dressed up as a pirate, emphasizing that the pipeline was a “gangplank” to the future.
Many opponents came from out of town, including a group of students who took a bus in from Burlington.
“I am part of the future as a student ... and I believe that by promoting natural gas use in the state that that’s not leading us to a sustainable future,” said Sophia Hoffacker, a student at the University of Vermont. “That is why I oppose this pipeline and that is why I am here.”
(05/08/13 9:30pm)
Bo Muller-Moore, a Montpelier-based design artist who created a popular “Eat More Kale” t-shirts, always hoped that his designs would grab peoples attention, but he never expected his mantra to become so controversial.
The brainchild of a local Kale grower, these three words first appeared on a single t-shirt. This design grew increasingly popular and quickly became a local trend. Now, the slogan has become focus of a patent lawsuit by Chik-fil-A, a fast food giant that claims the phrase’s similarity to their motto “Eat Mor Chikin” dilutes their marketing campaign.
Muller-Moore rejects Chick-fil-A’s allegations. He claims that in all of his conversations about his T-shirts, overlap with Chick-fil-A has never come up before.
“I have attended hundreds of festivals and farmers markets and craftshows and I’ve had hundreds of thousands of conversations about this one single design,” said Muller-Moore. “Out of all those times Chick-Fil-A was never brought up once.”
Depite Muller-Moore’s claims to the contrary, Chick-fil-A maintains that his slogan represents copyright infringement, and the company has urged Muller-Moore to cease and desist from his attempts to trademark this design.
Muller-Moore, however, is not backing down — and neither are his supporters.
Ben and Jerry’s offered Muller-Moore an hour-long televised meeting to discuss his T-shirts and the integrity of his design.
Governor Peter Shulin organized a press conference on his behalf.
Team Kale, a group of his more ardent fans, has already raised $20,000 for his legal fees.
His advocates fight for more than a t-shirt. Weeks after the story gained national attention, an elderly Bennington veteran wrote him a letter of which Muller-Moore is especially appreciative.
“It had saddened him so much that the US he had grown up in and fought for had come to a point where laws were now so skewed in favor of the rich and famous that the small and insignificant didn’t even get a chance to blossom,” said Muller-More.
“The trademark office now protects the marketing departments of billionaires,” said Muller-More. “It does not protect consumers and it sure as hell does not protect the start-ups and the mom and pops.”
Yet Muller-More sees a distinct social consciousness in his customers. To him, Vermont is an oasis of innovative entrepreneurialism in a nation increasingly consumed by big business.
“My customers have come from those areas in which people [care] where their money goes,” said Muller-Moore.
Muller-Moore describes himself as an “accidental activist” — an individual who stumbled into social advocacy after an unexpected episode with Chick-fil-A.
“When I say “Eat More Kale,” I don’t specifically mean go out and eat loads more kale,” said Muller-Moore. “What I mean by ‘eat more kale’ is spend some money at your local farmer’s market, know where your co-op is, know where the organic sections of your big box store is, go to potlucks that feature better dishes than just jello salads and tuna casseroles.”
To Muller-Moore, “Eat More Kale” is more than a reminder to eat leafy greens. Both he and his supporters see the slogan as a rallying cry in the local-food movement’s struggle against large-scale agri-business and a motto to live by.
“If you know what kale is or if you are keeping company with people that grow and eat kale you are probably making some good decisions in life,” said Muller-Moore.
(04/24/13 1:12pm)
Horatio Seymour’s tomb does not look like one belonging to a much-celebrated man. A stone stump shadowed by grand monuments, the grave attracts little attention. Yet while Seymour’s tombstone might not capture the esteem of the late United States senator from Vermont, it certainly honors his soft-spoken spirit.
Born in Linchfield, Conn. in 1778, Seymour moved to Middlebury as a 21-year-old lawyer studying in the law office of Daniel Chipman and quickly ascended through western Vermont’s combative political scene as an honest and uncontentious statesman.
His reticent political style reflects the less publicized political scene of his day, the era before televised debates. Seymour struggled to overcome his characteristically reserved approach to a business defined by the pursuit of popularity. His virtues, described by the Middlebury National Standard in 1826 as “fearlessness, promptitude and decision,” were shrouded by his uninspiring public speaking performance.
In the early 19th century, politics was more about pleasing the right people than pleasing the most people. Seymour’s lack of charismatic appeal was a minor setback; the young lawyer’s career accelerated rapidly. He secured positions as Middlebury’s postmaster, then the state’s attorney, executive council member and finally was elected by the Vermont House of Representatives Executive Council to the United States Senate in 1820.
Locals admired Seymour as an “uncommonly amiable man, kind, conciliatory, and always regardful of the feelings of others, and though decided in his own opinions, showing a respectful deference to the opinions of those who differed from him,” as written in an 1857 issue of the Middlebury Registrar.
Yet an electoral battle in 1826 against Vermont’s governor Cornelius Van Ness would test the strength of his support. Van Ness stood in stark contrast to nearly everything Seymour represented. An unprincipled opportunist, Van Ness mindlessly vacillated with public sentiment, offered back room deals and engaged in the sort of popularity contest that Seymour avoided, capitalizing on his handsomeness. After Seymour rejected Van Ness’s proposal to trade offices of senator and governor, Van Ness launched a vicious campaign against Seymour’s character. Because both supported President John Quincy Adam’s America System (stimulating infrastructure and asserting the role of a national bank in opposition to the nascent Jacksonian ideology), the only political ammunition the two rivals were left to employ was cheap attacks at each other’s pasts and personalities.
Judah Spooner, editor of St. Albans Repertory, criticized Van Ness for alleged corruption as a customs official and attorney. The Sentinel, another local periodical, attacked Seymour’s persuasive skills, asking, “On what occasion or question during five sessions in the senate, has [Seymour] stood up as an able debater, or a powerful advocate of the great interests of agriculture, commerce and manufacturing?”
Vermonters, weary of Van Ness’s insincerity, overwhelmingly supported Seymour, who won just narrowly in Vermont’s legislature. During this whole ordeal, Seymour remained, “calm as a summers morning.”
His senate career witnessed few impassioned speeches. Yet observers noted his profound aptitude for highlighting new points and articulating his opinions with comprehensive evidence and firm logic. Seymour quietly contemplated the affairs of his country as his colleagues stirred a cacophony of political warfare. Like his tombstone, he attracted little attention, yet contained an abundance of insight.
(04/10/13 1:50pm)
Vermont’s House of Representatives judiciary committee recently passed a controversial piece of legislation called Bill H.200 in an effort to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, which would change the manner in which persons found to be in possession of marijuana will be prosecuted. This legislation would have a significant impact on the enforcement of marijuana-related crimes.
The legislation was created in large part due to the variety of enforcement mechanisms that exist in different counties in Vermont. According to Representative Linda Waite-Simpson (D), the legislation is meant to remedy this problem.
“[H.200] is about making sure that we are allowing Vermonters across the state to be treated equitably in the criminal justice system,” said Waite-Simpson.
According to representative Christopher Pearson (Progressive), each county treats marijuana possession differently. Waite-Simpson explains officers in Chittenden have effectively decriminalized marijuana.
In areas like Chittenden County, police officers routinely throw away small amounts of marijuana and issue warnings rather than pressing criminal charges.
Other counties, however, impose harsher regulations on marijuana possession. In Addison County, for example, residents are charged and punished through Vermont’s criminal justice system for the possession of any amount of marijuana.
“The penalty seems out of line with the act of possessing a small amount of marijuana,” said Pearson.
H.200 would make marijuana possession under two ounces for individuals over 21 a civil offense (the same category as a speeding ticket), and mirror the laws for underage alcohol possession for others.
Many critics of harsh marijuana enforcement claim that the potentially disastrous consequences of marijuana possession are unfair.
Both Waite-Simpson and Pearson mentioned some of the serious repercussions of marijuana convictions under current law. People convicted of marijuana possession are often ineligible for federal financial aid for education, professional licenses and many job opportunities.
“We felt this was really something that would keep people in poverty from accessing tools that might get them out of poverty,” said Waite-Simpson.
Pearson also mentioned this effort would save police departments $750,000 and enable officers time to pursue more serious crimes.
Still, the issue of decriminalizing a controlled substance raises concerns.
“There is concern about the message to our young people,” said Waite-Simpson, referencing other representatives’ concerns that this bill will encourage teens to experiment with marijuana.
Other contentious issues include the difficulty in preventing “drugged driving.” Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the active ingredient in marijuana — can remain in an individual’s body for thirty days after usage. Since there is no equivalent of a breathalyzer for marijuana, reliable detection of marijuana users on the road is difficult for officers who are not generally equipped with blood testing equipment. The committee has considered assigning a task force to develop a procedure for effectively identifying high drivers.
Another contention involved is the specific quantity decriminalized. The current proposal decriminalizes marijuana under two ounces. Most states which have enacted similar measures decriminalize one ounce. Critics argue that two ounces is an excessive amount of marijuana for any individual to be carrying around. The committee also recently scrapped a clause that would decriminalize possession of a limited number of marijuana plants.
Despite these concerns, the bill enjoys high support in the legislature.
“I think there will certainly be a heated debate when it comes to the house floor — and perhaps the senate as well — but I think the votes are there,” said Pearson in a recent statement.
More radical measures, like legalization, are not viable, according to Pearson. Vermont, unlike Colorado, has no referendum system and thus does not give voters — who are much more likely to oppose federal law — the right to change state law through direct democracy.
In addition, most Vermont legislators find full legalization to be too drastic of a change. Pearson is keeping his ambitions realistic in light of this fact. He and other proponents of drug-legislation reform are being careful not to inflame critics by taking one step at a time.
“We are dealing with a lot of important issues in Montpelier so I would not want to bog down in this one ... it is important but we are dealing with a lot more important things,” said Pearson.
(03/14/13 4:00am)
Cemeteries rarely make the pages of a newspaper. Graveyards tend not to interfere in the affairs of living individuals, confining the dead beneath endless rows of slate tombs, engraved with reticent epitaphs, and haunted by silence. Though people have performed burial rituals since before they were really human (excavations have revealed Neanderthal burial customs), few cultures hide death so thoroughly. As a professor and director of graduate studies of American art and architecture at Stanford University Keith Eggener explains, graveyards are “seen as an American phenomenon. We send our old people off to homes and hospitals to die; we only go to the cemetery for funerals and then avoid them.”
This defining impulse, to cloak life’s most troubling experience (its end) in dry ceremonial form, tantalizes a reporters imagination, provoking the infinite mystery of uncovering the memories symbolized by these architecturally modest slabs of rock.
West Cemetery, an expanse of land framed by South Main Street and Hepburn Road, is the eternal home to some of Middlebury’s earliest pioneers. This series profiles the daring individuals who settled Vermont’s thick pine forests, battling the famines, violence and blizzards that plagued frontier life in America’s infancy. Like all graveyards, West Cemetery elicits frustratingly little information about its residents, evoking an eerie sense of secrecy.
On Daniel Chipman’s (Oct. 22, 1765 to April 23, 1850) tombstone, the Chipman Family coat of arms is engraved — a white escutcheon dotted with six stars, crossed by a red shoulder belt, exhibits an intriguing detail. A white leopard rests on top the shield in a stance of ferocious anticipation, wearing a crown, which, according to one Chipman family genealogy, was bestowed to a soldier who first attacked the walls of a besieged city, a tradition harking back to the families origins in Bristol, England. Future generations of Chipmans would continue to embrace this intrepid spirit.
John Chipman, who left Barnstable, England for Boston, Mass. in 1631, a fatherless pauper, quickly rose to prominence in America’s early Plymouth colony as a churchly patriarch and Deputy to Court. In 1775, his grandchild, Samuel Chipman relocated from Salisbury, Conn. to Vermont’s rugged western frontier in Tinmouth, Rutland County to work as a blacksmith and farmer with his wife Hannah and six sons, one of whom was, Daniel Chipman.
Daniel toiled on his family’s farm throughout his youth. His brother, Nathaniel, tutored him in law. In 1784, Daniel entered Dartmouth, and his “confirmed habits of industry” propelled him to the top of his class. Soon, every courtroom in Addison County and several bordering ones, witnessed Daniels impassioned arguments, earning him the reputation as one of the regions most capable lawyers, along with Vermont legend Samuel Miller. According to Smith’s History of Addison County, published in 1886, his persuasive talents emanated, “from the power of his argument and the weight of his opinions, rather than from any polished oratory.”
In 1794, the year Daniel moved to Middlebury, the town contained only 62 buildings. The villagers constructed a courthouse to host Vermont’s itinerant state legislature in 1800 and 1806, which served as the community’s sole meeting space until the erection of a church in 1809. The yeomanry of this agricultural village, like most rural America, was largely Republicans, and thus favored a decentralized preindustrial nation. Daniel, however, ascended local politics as a proponent of the Federalist Party. An article titled “Early Congress Man” from Green Mountain Heritage, a regional periodical, explains he attended five different constitutional conventions.
He shocked the House of Representatives, serving as its Speaker, when he refused to resign his chair to the governor, as social custom dictated, hushing scores of legislators who insisted on addressing the governor as chairman. The governor, feeling uncomfortable in his new undignified seat to the right of Daniel, turned to the Speaker and said, “there seems to be great confusion.” To which Daniel responded “there is indeed, but your excellency may rest assured that the most perfect order will be preserved in the House, over which I have the honor to preside.” An 1836 speech he gave in Montpelier insists that respecting divisions of power is essential to check the dangerous tide of un-tempered ambition, and that habit stunts individuals ability complete the delicate task of harmonizing various areas of power.
At the 1850 Vermont Constitutional Convention, illness forced him to retire. He died shortly after his return, in his Ripton Mansion.
Despite embracing the distinct self-sufficient character of Vermont’s frontier, Daniel held firm to the conviction that individuals needed to respect a broader set of shared laws and institutions, expressly faithful that the United States Constitution could check the type of raw aggression he witnessed in the American Revolution and War of 1812. He was fortunate to die in 1850 and not 10 years later, when the Civil War started.
(02/27/13 4:46pm)
The upcoming TEDxMiddlebury conference is expected to offer the fundamental TED organization promise of, “ideas worth spreading,” according to Roy Wang ’16 who is currently serving as one of the event’s organizers. Scheduled for March 9 at the Center for the Arts concert hall, the event features the first ever student speaker, Ryan Kim ’14, selected through an audition process last fall.
Featuring a diverse range of speakers, the TEDxMiddlebury Board aims to plan an event with fewer speakers but a larger audience than the past three TEDx conferences, according to co-head of the TEDxMiddlebury Board Josh Swartz ’15. TED talks, an organization that hosts renowned speakers, inspired schools across the nation to form independently organized TEDx conferences that embrace similar principles.
“I think the whole idea of TED of sharing ideas and the fact that it is so interdisciplinary epitomizes the liberal arts spirit in many ways,” said member of the TEDxMiddlebury Board, Martin Fowler ’15.5. “That’s why we’re here to learn from each other and I think this is a great addition.”
The theme for this year’s conference is “The Road not Taken,” a topic inspired by the Robert Frost poem of the same name. According to co-head Amanda Wiggans ’14.5, this theme is especially relevant to Middlebury students.
“At Middlebury there are a lot of ways you can just go through the motions … I think it’s really exciting and important to go beyond that,” said Wiggans.
The notion of defying convention for bold and innovative alternatives will be addressed through various approaches. According to Fowler, the diverse range of speakers strengthens the theme by providing a wide range of angles to view “the Road not Taken,” from.
“I like the fact that we’re so open and that we allow them to bring their perspective and how they view the theme... They are incredibly different,” said Fowler.
Co-leader of the TEDxMiddlebury Board Josh Swartz ’14.5 added that maintaining coherence among such a diverse cast of speakers presents challenges.
“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges we face as organizers is making an event that seems consistent but provides people from so many fields of work,” said Swartz.
(01/24/13 12:04am)
For the members of this year’s Solar Decathlon team, designing a home is not an exercise in engineering or architecture but a reflection of a community’s values. InSite, this year’s submission to the Department of Energy’s biennial competition, aims to foster communal spirit through their sustainably designed home.
“I think it’s just been interesting that instead of thinking about the design first ... the students on the team thought about the concepts and they said we’re not just thinking about about the house,” said Project Coordinator Gwen Cook ’13. “We’re thinking beyond that [while asking ourselves] what are the things we see in society that we want to change, and how can we then use the house to do that?”
The group has integrated their emphasis on strong community into their design. Their Five Points of InSiteful architecture outline the essential components of community-oriented design. These points include condensing energy networks, staying close to home, emphasizing public areas, celebrating nature in all contexts, utilizing street space and supporting a cooperative atmosphere.
One essential decision that advanced this goal, according to Cordelia Newbury ’13, was sacrificing the size of individual space for a larger common space, forcing the inhabitants out of solitude in their private rooms and into a shared location.
Another important goal was locating the building within walking distance of highly-frequented places, according to Newbury, reducing the residence’s dependence on cars and making it easier for individuals to interact with the outdoors.
A large window in front diminishes the traditional barrier between street and house, enhancing the outdoors’ visibility inside the home.
Yet amongst the team’s most prized inventions is their solar path, making them the first team in Solar Decathlon history to place solar panels away from the main house. Solar energy will instead travel through a solar path that will also serve as a physical walkway. According to Cook, this innovation fosters walkability, aesthetics and sustainability.
While team members expressed pride in their design, many also noted upcoming concerns.
Construction began on Jan. 18. One of the team’s most difficult struggles — transporting the home from Vermont to Irvine, Calif. — has yet to come. For this task, the group paneled the home and organized railway transportation.
Cook expressed concerns over the College’s lack of an engineering department, which could lead other teams to have a comparatively more innovative approach in that field.
According to Construction Manager Kate Eiseman ’15, this group has dealt with prior challenges well.
“Innovation is born within constraints ... we find that the best pieces of our house and the design are coming from the challenges,” said Eisman. Visiting Lecturer in Architecture Andrea K. Murray, the Solar Decathalon faculty adviser, believes that Middlebury’s liberal arts curriculum, while excluding an engineering department, provides the group with a unique advantage.
“I think our most unique trait is that we’re a liberal arts school ... I see it as a huge advantage because we approach each problem from a multidisciplinary perspective,” said Murray.
Cook believes this group is effective in collaborating their various specialties.
“This time around I think it is a much more organic, larger group of students who have all come together and are working jointly. It’s a very collaborative and democratic process which can be frustrating at times but it’s exciting to have everyone making decisions together,” said Cook.
Newbury says the group’s success is more rewarding than a traditional assignment in which the highest honor is an A grade. The end result of this project is something tangible and useful.
Participants expressed gratification in a conviction that the values they spread are important. “I think the competition is about changing the way we relate to space and changing the cultural expectations about how we live,” said Eisman.
(12/05/12 9:50pm)
On Saturday, Oct. 27 long before most students had awoken, the Great Hall in McCardell Bicentennial Hall bustled with participants of the 2012 GlobeMed Hilltop Global Health Conference.
The three-day event attracted a record number of students and featured an impressive assortment of health professionals, from Dr. Michael Rich of Partners in Health to Dr. Rishi Rattan of Physicians for Haiti. Members of the College’s chapter of GlobeMed who hosted the event note that the event highlights many strides the organization has made in promoting world health.
“I don’t think that sort of event would have been as successful a few years ago just because there wasn’t the base of support from the administration in terms of funding and recognition and from the students,” said co-president Hannah Judge ’13.
Since the group’s inception in September 2009, membership has risen from two to 40.
Beyond the organization’s rise in numbers, GlobeMed has cemented itself as an integral part of the community, fostered dialogue and educated students on important topics in global health.
Just a few years ago, Middlebury GlobeMed was an infant organization. A new chapter under the national umbrella, GlobeMed sets up clubs of interested students on campus and partners them with grassroots movements.
The group began its partnership with the Africa-2000 Network, a program in 13 African countries supporting community based projects aimed at environmental protection It has since then switched its partnership to Gardens for Health International, sending interns to Rwanda to support local staff who combat child malnutrition through agriculture.
Changes in the group have enhanced the scopes of its activities substantially. A strong leadership structure, active student base and support from faculty and other organizations are responsible for making GlobeMed one of the campus’s most visible organizations.
GlobeMed is made up of the executive board and a base of staff members. While executive board members are given specific roles and have more experience in the group than staff members, the divide is minimal.
“Other chapters have very invested executive boards and leadership but what sets us apart is that staff members are really invested and excited and step up to take on different tasks,” explains Judge.
Though leadership is not rigid, the group is still disciplined and focused. Armel Nibasumba ’16 explains he felt little hesitation about jumping right into the core of the group, involving himself in many important tasks such as organizing an a cappella show.
“I felt it was easy to feel I was in the group ... you get to connect to members easily,” said Nibasumba.
The group meets every Sunday, often drawing nearly 50 participants. The meetings split into small groups, which converse about issues relevant to global health. This year, discussions focus on human rights. According to Nibasumba, all members feel compelled to speak, fostering dynamic dialogue.
The Middlebury GlobeMed chapter also considers input from outside the group as well. GlobeMed is connected with various other clubs on campus and has strong relations with many staff members.
Executive board member Ellen Halle ’13 notes the groups warm relations with the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, who co-sponsored their colloquium for the World Day of Social Justice and an emerging partnership with the pre-health office.
“Through leveraging those relationships it’s really helped to get our name out on campus,” said Halle. “I think there is more of an awareness that each class you take in a liberal arts education that has anything to do with international development relates to global health.”
The new global health minor has added an academic dimension to global health on campus, increasing interest in the subject and organization. Dean of Curriculumn and Faculty Development and Director of Natural Sciences Robert Cluss has supported the group in many ways, from offering Epidemiology in winter term to trying to offer the global health course all semesters.
Among the strongest factors in the group’s formula for success is the support of students. The organization hosts a variety of creative and well-attended fundraising from GlobeMed-goes-red, to their annual ski race. Their ambitious fundraising targeting 20 thousand seems feasible at this moment.
These advances have made GlobeMed a role-model organization on campus, drawing on the school’s resources and the enthusiasm of group members.
Associate Dean of Students for Student Activities and Orientation JJ Boggs cites its inventive fundraising, strong organizational structure and positive message as qualities other organizations should try to emulate.
“I think they’ve discovered a magic formula,” says Boggs.
(10/31/12 8:39pm)
Last week, the College’s Board of Trustees approved the school’s first study abroad program to India. Starting next year, the school will send eight students, current sophomores in strong academic standings, to New Delhi. The school will be operated as a C.V. Starr Middlebury School Abroad.
The school will begin accepting applications from students this year, and the first group of students will go abroad during the fall semester of next year.
Classes will be offered through the University of New Delhi’s St. Stephens College and Lady Shri Ram College for Women, two of India’s top institutions. Students who participate in the new school will also take Hindi classes at the American Institute of Indian Studies. Those who stay in India for a full year will be able to participate in an internship to recieve course credit.
This program pioneers a form of international study with considerable differences from the school’s usual offerings. To begin, it is the school’s first program in South Asia.
While all divisions of the International Studies program have offered programs in their specific region, South Asian studies has been an exception. Their program in Delhi promises to correct this issue.
For Anis Mebarki ’15, who plans to major in either South Asian or General Asian history, this provides an essential opportunity to enrich his class room studies.
“I thought it would make sense for me to go to a place where I can actually live that culture”, said Mebarki, “and not just study it from an outsider’s perspective and objectify and make it this country that’s just in books with these far away people.”
While all South Asian studies majors are encouraged to apply for the program, the college also urges student’s outside the department to apply and is even recruiting qualified candidates outside the College, according to Acting Dean of International Programs Paul Monod.
That the school offers no instruction in a South Asian language has been a major impediment. Students in this program will attend classes in Hindi through the American Institute of Indian Studies. No prior knowledge of the language is assumed.
Some, like Stephanie Ovitt ’15.5, who plans to apply for next fall, see learning the language as a valuable asset in today’s era.
“A lot of times in communications between the U.S. and India, things get lost and misunderstood, [and] that damages relationships,” said Evans.
Mebarki believes that using English will enchance students’ experiences, allowing them to approach Indian culture from a more open-minded perspective.
“I feel this will allow student’s to more deeply involve themselves with the material they are studying ... It is going to be in the language that most of us are pretty comfortable in so you can’t really use the excuse ‘Oh I can’t write this paper in [this foreign language],” said Mebarki.
For Professor of History and History Department Chair Ian Barrow, the time for better cultural understanding has became increasingly important.
“I think this program has really dovetailed very nicely with increasing student appetitive and interest in India, and also [the] increasing geopolitical importance of India,” said Barrow.
For Monod, this experience represents a new, open, opportunity for student’s to enrich their understanding of the world.
He mentions the program’s lack of a language prerequisite and acceptance to student’s outside the South Asian Studies programs as ways of opening the opportunity to a wage range of student’s.
“It gives you an experience that combines the cultural experience of studying abroad — which in India is one that you are aware of everyday when you wake up — but on the other hand the educational experience of studying at such great institution,” said Monod.
The Middlebury C.V. Starr School in India is the lastest addition to the Collge’s now nearly 40 official overseas programs in 17 countries.
The second-newest school, offered in Cameroon for French-speaking students, was approved by the board of trustees last year.
(10/03/12 8:35pm)
For the planners of JusTalks, an initiative to foster dialogue on issues of identity, Middlebury is a school with one element missing.
“We don’t talk enough about identity,” said Hudson Nicholas ’14 who is helping organize JusTalks.
This student-driven social intiative will begin on Jan. 18, 2013 with a keynote address followed by a day of large group activities and small discussion sessions. JusTalks was born from the concerns of a group of students, many of whom are memebers of Middlebury’s Social Justice Coalition.
The creators of JusTalks initially petitioned the school to add a course requirement on issues of race and identity. When this petition failed to achieve change, they came up with the idea for JusTalks, which, according to Alice Oshima ’15, will be required for first years starting in the fall of 2013.
After the event’s conception, the group held endorsement meetings with various clubs on campus, gaining a large group of supporters.
JusTalks sees their upcoming programming during Winter Term as away to foster a more diverse community.
Another founding JustTalks member, Katie McCreary ’15, believes that the College will benefit more from encouraging a more understanding climate on campus, instead of actually recruiting a more heterogenous student body.
“I went to public school in Washington, D.C. ... It [had] people from all over the city, from the wealthiest to some of the poorest. I think a lot of students here don’t really get that opportunity because Middlebury itself is pretty homogenous. [Race and identity are] not necessarily discussed a lot,” said McCreary.
Oshima sees JusTalks as a starting point for the larger goal of establishing a more diverse social climate at the College.
“I think JusTalks is just a beginning step to a much larger change I would like to see happen,” said McCreary.
“I guess a broader goal would be to have a more diverse welcoming community, and the more we learn about each other and each other’s differences, the more that community will be created.”
Though the group is excited for an opportunity to spark dialogue, which they hope will help to create broader changes in the campus, they remain concerned about a few key issues.
Nicholas fears the event will come off as generic and pedantic but stresses that JusTalks is a unique opportunity to discuss important issues, not assert any one opinion.
“I think what we’re trying to do is put [students] in a situation that allow the things that they care about to come out, instead of [the students] having some preconceived notion of where the conversation is going to go,” he said.
Oshima worries people will not feel JusTalks is right for them if they do not identify with a minority group.
“We’ve wanted to make sure that someone who is a white male who is heterosexual, able, who doesn’t feel discriminated against ... that that person doesn’t feel like JusTalks is not for them,” said Oshima.
“Everyone is totally welcomed,” she added.
(09/26/12 11:20pm)
At midnight on Wednesday, Sept. 12, hundreds of students, packed in libraries, common rooms and dorms across campus eagerly clicked through pages of Middlebury’s online box-office, hoping to score tickets to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s lecture.
Since its announcement last spring, the Dalai Lama’s visit, which will feature a talk of peace and hope, has been much anticipated by most of the community. But for many others, the matter is more complicated.
The Dalai Lama’s visit is unsettling for some Chinese students, whose home government portrays him as a divisive political enemy.
The Dalai Lama’s pending visit disturbs Yanwei Wang ’16, who is originally from central China. He viewed the free ticket as an overly confrontational method of spreading a biased, anti-Chinese perspective across campus.
“I am worried he might say things to his advantage rather than the truth,” Wang said.
“I think if the intention of the administration is to give people more knowledge, then they could arrange meetings with him ... but not invite him to the campus because [in doing so] the school assumes everyone will be happy and supportive,” he continued.
Others who remain concerned about the Dalai Lama’s visit see the event as a unique opportunity to hear a renowned, if somewhat controversial, voice who could offer a counterargument to their home country’s accepted views.
Alec Mackenzie ’15, who lived in China for 16 years before coming to Middlebury, expressed an overall enthusiasm for the Dalai Lama’s approaching visit.
“I’m really excited to see the Dalai Lama, but I also want to know what he thinks about [China],” said Mackenzie. “[In] coming from China, I never read any news about the Dalai Lama.”
Roy Wang ’16, from Xinjiang Province, China, was surprised and frightened by the upcoming visit; however, he still plans to attend the Dalai Lama’s lecture.
“It will be a good experience for me to listen to a voice other than the Chinese government,” says Wang. “Even if I cannot stand to hear what the Dalai Lama says about my county... I will stay. I will definitely want to hear what he says.”
Ye Tian ‘16, a first-year student from China, explains that while he is worried about the Dalai Lama insulting his nation, he also feels the event is intended to foster dialogue on more enduring issues than territorial bickering.
“I think [the subject of the Dalai Lama’s talk] is somehow far away from politics. I think those things are something more general, more religious or more spiritual to teach everybody,” said Tian.
The administration has said that the event is not aimed at addressing political issues, but broader spiritual matters that are easily relatable to all students. College Chaplain Laurie Jordan, who helped organize the event, claims the school takes no particular side on the question of Tibetan independence.
Though the potential concern for Chinese students was well known from the start, Jordan believes the College, as an educational institution, has the responsibility of broadening people’s horizons, which can sometimes lead to discomfort.
Jordan addressed initiatives taken to calm certain students’ worries, such as creating a list of useful advisers to talk to and a plan to speak with First-Year Councilors who may have Chinese students living in their halls.
“What we wanted to do is to have him as a high level guest ... to come and speak at the College about his wisdom or experience in a way that related to the issues of religious traditions and spirituality,” said Jordan.
Jordan also mentioned that controversial speakers have come to the College in the past, citing Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Chief Justice John Roberts and President George W. Bush’s press secretary Ari Fleischer.
According to Jordan, none of these speakers were invited to speak as a sign of support for that individual but rather as an attempt to expose students to a wide range of perspectives.
“Our motivation [in bringing the Dalai Lama] had nothing to do with politics. Our main aim was to create an event that would get a conversation going about the place of ancient wisdom in modern times,” said Jordan.