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(05/07/13 6:07pm)
On Tuesday, May 7, students and community members marched across campus to protest the College's support for the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Colchester, VT to Chittenden and Addison County. The march in included roughly 25 students and seven community members and was co-organized by local community opposition group Rising Tide Vermont. Marchers held signs reading "No Fracking" and "No Pipelines" in addition to their large sign pictured above, which portrayed a model pipeline. The group was led in chants by Anna Shireman-Grabowski '15.5, finished their march by delivering a petition to CFO Patrick Norton and President Liebowitz at Old Chapel. Following the petition's delivery, the group held a press conference outside Old Chapel.
(05/07/13 5:48pm)
On Tuesday, May 7, students had the opportunity to sample and purchase local food in the Mahaney Center for the Arts from noon to 2 p.m. The event, "Taste of Addison County," was put on my the Middlebury College Farmstand, which is the College's Online Farmers Market. Local food offered at the event included pies, dips, jams, pastries, bread, honey, and applesauce.
(04/07/13 11:48pm)
On Thursday, April 4, Middlebury's Solar Decathlon team welcomed visitors to Ridgeline parking lot, the location of the team's new house, InSite. Festivities included speeches by President Ron Liebowitz and student leaders on the Solar Decathlon team as well as an InSite trivia competition, live music from student band The Blue Laws, and snacks from The Middlebury Natural Foods Co-Op, Monument Farms and Otter Creek Bakery.
Watch a video about the event here.
(04/07/13 11:31pm)
On Saturday, April 6, percussion ensemble Pulse performed in Hepburn Zoo. Pulse, a group from Skidmore College, is a found-object percussion group. Listen to the full 30-minute show here:
[soundcloud url="http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/86867768" params="" width=" 100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]
(03/06/13 5:26pm)
The Campus' Leah Pickett '13 and Molly Talbert '13.5 will be liveblogging "Beyond Divestment: Money and Finance for Living Economy," a talk by president of the New Economics Institute Bob Massie and Scholar in Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben. Beyond Divestment is a day-long summit aiming to explore economic alternatives in the areas of alternative currencies, time banking, impact investing, financial system regulation and reform, and "new economy" coalition building. The New Economics Institute is live streaming the events here.
1:33 (Leah) - The event has drawn to a close. Two representatives of Middlebury's Divestment For Our Future group closed out the program and invited participants to come to BiHall 219 at 3:30 today for the series' next event.
1:29 (Leah) - McKibben: The composition of the board of trustees is a major roadblock because these people are 1) very rich, 2) often connected to Wall Street, 3) not inclined to look the morality and utilitarianism of investments, and 4) mostly interested in the “bottom line.”
1:22 (Leah) - We’ve now entered the Q&A portion of the presentation. The first question is: What’s the same and what’s different in terms of divestment from South Africa and divestment from fossil fuels? The answer: in South Africa, people still thought the issue of apartheid was irrelevant; it was too big, too far away, and initially appeared to have too little to do with Americans’ own lives. It took a lot of time for people to draw parallels between what was going on in South Africa and our own experiences and history in the United States. This kind of awareness will grow. The “disgrace” of not talking about climate issues in politics extended to the “pathetic reporters” who refused to ask about it during the presidential campaign, but Hurricane Sandy brought the issues to people’s minds. Massie links Hurricane Sandy (McKibben later references Hurricane Irene as well) to major events in South Africa that raised people’s awareness of the issue and finally galvanized them to action. Significantly, Massie talks about the "political miscalculation" that those talking about divesting from South Africa weren't serious. They were in fact very serious, and only once people realized that this was a crisis that was not going to go away did policy really start to change. The implications for campaigns for divestment on college campuses are clear.
1:15 (Molly) - Massie says, "There is a mix of theory and practice unfolding around the country right now [regarding the new economy] and I don’t think anything is going to be the same … people are asking what is an economy, what is a business, what is the role of an investment?"
1:08 (Leah) - Massie says that not only are places and ideas changing, but places as well. Vermont is a prime example of one of these places; he says it is a “leadership community” in the country because, on the state and organizational level, it is experimenting with so many ideas for the new economic model at the same time.
1:06 (Leah) - Think about it: how neoliberal are your economics textbooks at Middlebury? (Probably very.) Massie cites a change in the ways we learn about economics in school as one of the ways we can experience a paradigm shift towards this “new economy.”
1:03 (Leah) - Massie: The idea of this “New Economy” is referred to by different names; sometimes the solidarity economy, sharing economy, resilient economy, sustaining economy, restorative economy, and collaborative economy. Though all these terms emphasize different aspects of the concept, they all posit that the economy should be an, “instrument to serve the needs of the people and the planet, rather than a machine that takes people in, crunches them up, and spits them out.”
12:58 (Molly) – Bob Massie refers to a YouTube video that has recently gone viral, illustrating wealth inequality in the U.S.
12:54 (Leah) - Massie: “You want people to see things in a way so that they can never ‘unsee’ them’… that’s a process of social transformation.” He delves into discussing the financial industry, saying that some of the major issues of our time are climate, growth, our broken economics and financial system, and the massive wealth inequalities in America. He asks what a "sane" democracy would do to solve these issues.
12:52 (Leah) - McKibben: divestment is “a wedge for making us understand how we can get off a system that quite literally is destroying the planet around us. Fifty years in the future, people aren’t going to care about… the fiscal cliff, the sequester; they’ll be asking ‘the Arctic melted, and then what did you do?’ And that’s really, at some level, the question we’re addressing with all this work.”
12:51 (Molly) – Bob Massie begins his talk. “For many of you, we’re going to be talking about this for the rest of our lives.”
12:49 (Molly) – Bill McKibben wrapping up his speech, saying, “The most important phrase that came out of the last five years with the financial crisis was probably, “too big to fail” … Really, when you think about it, anything that is “too big to fail” is too big.”
12:46 (Molly) – “The image to think about when we think about the new economy, … [is that] when we were growing up, when we got information we got three TV channels. Now, we live in a world with a multiplicity of information,” said Bill McKibben.
12:43 (Leah) - The Orchard is completely full. McKibben is in the midst of explaining why the most important “concrete reality” we have to deal with that will force our society to move in new directions is “the reality of what is happening ecologically on the planet.” A term he has brought up multiple times is "the new economy."
12:42 (Molly) – Bill McKibben speaking, saying, “We have to get off coal, oil, and gas and we have to do it fast.”
12:40 (Leah) - McKibben introduces Massie as a “hero in this really important work of trying to imagine what possible economic futures look like.”
(03/06/13 4:54pm)
The Be Bright campaign, sponsored by Middlebury's Sustainability Integration Office, launched the "Pledge Ride" event Wed., March 6 on Hepburn Road. The Pledge Ride aimed to involve students in the energy literacy campaign by requiring them to take an energy pledge — in which they pledged to be more environmentally conscious in one specific way — before getting on the trolley. The trolley, drawn by two horses from Thornapple Farm in New Haven, took students on a 10-minute trip around Proctor.
(03/03/13 10:26pm)
On Sat., March 2, students had an opportunity to attend Burlington's very own Mardi Gras celebration as part of the 18th Annual Magic Hat Mardi Gras on Church Street. The event benefitted the Women's Rape Crisis Center of Chittenden County, and attendees were treated to an array of floats in the event's "Grand Parade." Other events included a performance by gypsy-swing band Caravan of Thieves, a King & Queen of Mardi Gras Costume Contest, music from Sambatucada, an Afro-Brazillian band, and a Mardi Gras after party on Church Street complete with New Orleans cuisine, Magic Hat beer, and live music.
(03/01/13 4:17pm)
The Campus Current will be liveblogging the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity's workshop on novel writing, activism, and refugees. The event, facilitated by VT Refugee Resettlement Program Director Judy Scott, is part of the 2013 CCSRE 2013 Symposium, "No Place Like Home, Imagining Race, Ethnicity and Migration."
12:10 - Scott ends with a slideshow of refugee camps around the world, emphasizing the degree to which conditions in refugee camps may be worse than commonly thought. "In a refugee camp," Scott says. "You are not in a position to make decisions. You're not deciding what you're going to eat today ... you aren't deciding what to wear, or what classes you're going to take, or what books you're going to read — because there aren't any. A refugee camp is a human warehouse ... unless someone decides to take that person out, that's where they're going to stay for the rest of their life." She points out that less than one percent of refugees worldwide are accepted for resettlement, which means that within the simulation, not a single person would have survived to be resettled.
12:05 - Scott leads a discussion on the drawbacks of living in a refugee camps; participants focus on issues of security, the lingering sense of lacking a home and of "otherness" from native Canadians, and restrictions on personal liberties such as freedom of movement.
12:00 - Arrival at the refugee camp over the border of Canada: "what you don't know is that you're walking into a sort of prison." Scott asks participants to write down how old they'll be in 17 years; 17 years, she says, is the average number of years refugees spend in camps by the time they arrive at the Burlington International Airport to begin the process of resettlement.
11:55 - "Your children are looking at you with these dull expressions, because you're not taking care of them like you have all their lives."
11:45 - "You all realize at the same moment: you will have to walk to Canada." Participants have by this point also had their cars stolen, and have been told to imagine embarking on a walk towards Bristol. Scott draws our attention to the fact that it is unfair that other Vermonters appear to retain their cell phones, ATM cards, and cars, while we, as citizens associated with the College, must flee to Canada while steadily losing everything we own.
11:40 - Participants must now add their ATM and credit cards to the manila folder — in addition to losing reliable means of communication, we are now asked to imagine having no access to emergency funds.
11:35 - In the scenario, the National Guard has taken over Middlebury Union High School, and students protest the "hate campaign" against the College. As a Professor at the College, we are asked to imagine the fear involved in being associated with a school whose associated faculty, staff, and students have become the target of military violence. It is becoming increasingly clear that this scenario describes many scenarios of political, racial, and religious persecution and violence that create many of the world's refugees.
11:30 - Participants are asked to imagine that they are a Professors of Geography at Middlebury College, and that they are attending this very workshop. A scenario is constructed in which the police attempt to arrest everyone at the workshop; anyone associated with the College has been deemed a danger to the country. Participants have the opportunity to "flee to Canada" or "turn themselves in." Scott informs us that those who turned themselves in were tortured for information; the decision is made to flee to Canada. Everyone must place their cellular phones in a separate manila folder to simulate the confusion and lack of information available to those fleeing their country.
11:25 - Scott primes the 22 participants by saying, "Today, we will engage in an exercise in which you will have to suspend disbelief," emphasizing that we will be asked only to imagine, "experiences that are common for those who have come to Vermont as refugees." She asks people first to think about whether they operate on the "fundamental assumption that you would always live in the country in which they are born; that it would always be your homeland."
11:20 - "I am going to ask you to imagine unimaginable things," Scott says. She says that the objective of this workshop will be to better understand the refugee experience, and that workshop participants will be asked to adopt the persona of specific refugee characters. Participants range from faculty and staff to visitors who self-identify as having no direct connection to the College.
(02/22/13 11:08pm)
On Thursday, Feb. 21, students packed the Gamut Room for "The Middlebury Moth: Rude Awakenings." The Middlebury Moth, modeled after The Moth New York City, features student storytellers who must tell true stories focused on a specific theme without consulting notes. On Thursday, stories ranged from a tale of including a Public Safety officer on a mass email about "drunk dinner" to an account of a harrowing run-in in the mountains of Mexico. Between stories, hosts Cody Gohl '13, Rachel Liddell '15 and Luke Greenway '14.5 read answers collected from the audience before the show that responded to the question "Where did you wake up?"
Click below to listen to the entire event. Student presenters, in order and with start time in parentheses, are as follows: Jasmine Ross '16 (00:1:40); Nate Rifkin '15 (00:14:45); Aoife Duna '16.5 (00:29:48); Nick Libbey '13 (00:43:08); Audrey Tolbert '13 (1:00:12); and Nicholas Hemerling '14.5 (1:22:42).
https://soundcloud.com/middcampus/the-middlebury-moth-rude
(11/29/12 1:12pm)
"Reflections on Quw'ustun Tribe Identities," an exhibition of dry pastel portraits by Levi Westerveld '15.5, recently completed its exhibition period at the M Gallery in the Old Stone Mill. The Campus' Leah Pickett interviewed Westerveld Discusses ExhibitWesterveld on his drawings toward the end of the exhibition and produced the video above.
Additional information was provided by the individual exhibit's page on the M Gallery website:
This exhibition is a series of portraits of First Nations from the Quw’ustun’ tribe living in the Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island. During my stay in the tribe this summer I met and interviewed some of the four thousand incredible human beings that have bonded with this land over many generations. Some of them told me stories, some of them let me draw their portraits, and some of them remained silent.
The fascinating process of creation is a pleasure, but it also gives greater definition to one’s sense of self. Over time, through making many marks on paper, I have become familiar with my specific way of interpreting the face. For me, the eyes are an important point of connection; as I draw, I often feel as if the eyes can transmit the essence of a person. This connection was vital when making these images, for, while each portrait is the result of sketches and photographs, they also derive – perhaps most importantly – from my personal interpretation of my subjects’ identities. Coming from a very different culture, it was difficult to connect with the aboriginal people I met. Art allowed me to establish that relationship more firmly.
Studying the way that curving planes of light and shadow comprise the appearance of a face made a deep impression on me and helped me grasp the multi-faceted nature of my subjects’ identities. Some of these facts were wisdom, wholeness, and strength; others were the scars of terrible experience that these people have endured in the past and, in fact, still endure today. Other facets I saw, but cannot explain; still others I never glimpsed at all.
My use of charcoal and dry pastels is influenced by the prehistoric drawings in caves from my region in the southwestern France. The texture and color produced by these media is reminiscent of the soils that form the Earth’s exterior and communicates a connection between the faces and nature. By capturing my interpretation of these people – the stories behind their faces, their relationship to the land, their complex individual and collective identities – I hope to break down some of the barriers that have been erected as a result of the history between their society and our own. Displayed together, the viewer can appreciate each image in its own right but cannot deny the essential unity of the series.
(11/15/12 8:32pm)
On Thursday, Nov. 15 storytellers took to the Gamut Room stage for The Middlebury Moth's food-themed story night. Performers were Dan Egol '13, Conor Luck '15, Jordan Collins '15.5, Janet Bering '13 and Professor of Theatre Alex Draper. Stories ranged from Egol's account of a night almost spent in jail in Cuba and Collins' sushi-themed sixteenth birthday party to Draper's experience as a caterer. The Middlebury Moth, inspired by the public radio show "The Moth", has only two rules: no notes allowed and all stories must be true.
(11/15/12 5:57pm)
On Thursday, Nov. 15 the Fly Fishing Club invited journalist and fly fisher John Merwin of Dorset, VT to Middlebury for a lecture. Merwin is one of the world's most widely read angling journalists, and he works as fishing editor of Field and Stream Magazine. Merwin discussed the evolution of the sport and talked about his favorite places to fish.
(11/15/12 12:00am)
On Wednesday, Nov. 14 students gathered in Atwater Dining Hall for a dinner planned by the Middlebury Southern Society. The menu included fried chicken, fried okra, black eyed peas, collard greens, mashed potatoes, shrimps and grits, key lime pie, and biscuits.
(10/28/12 8:06pm)
Student band Stoop Kid set up on top of a pick-up truck on Friday, Oct. 26 for an impromptu performance. Band members include Taylor Bickford (guitar), Joel Feier (drums), Paul Donnelly (bass), Erik Benepe (guitar), Elias Alexander (saxophone), and Parker Ziegler (trombone). You can watch a older performance at the Gamut Room's outdoor amphitheater on YouTube. (Courtesy/Justin Chan)
(10/07/12 5:50pm)
(10/04/12 2:57am)
(09/29/12 5:42pm)
On Thursday, brother and sister Ben Schiffer '10 and Rachel Schiffer '06.5 paired up for "wire^2", an original show that combined Rachel's wire walking, Ben's electronic music, and dance. Rachel currently performs at the Midnight Circus in Chicago, while Ben is set to begin a job in sound design for Cirque de Soleil this fall. The event was part of the Clifford Symposium. (Campus/Brendan Mahoney)
(09/21/12 8:36pm)
Students on Battell Beach squared off in a game of capture the flag, an event organized by the Pick-Up Games superblock. The 25 participants were treated to Cookie Love cookies and music throughout the competition. The superblock's next event will be a board game night in the Mods.